A special bus takes us to a part of Japan with a special dance, special mountain, and more.

Some people say it’s not the destination that matters so much as the journey, but if the destination didn’t matter, then we’d all be planning creative trips to the post office for our next vacation. So while our Japanese-language reporter Masanuki Sunakoma was excited to take a ride on Japan’s first full-flat overnight sleeper bus, he was also excited to see the sights at his destination, Tokushima City in Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku.

To recap, Masanuki hopped on the Sommeil Profond overnight bus at the Busta Shinjuku bus terminal in downtown Tokyo at 9:55 p.m. and strapped into his full-flat bed for the journey to Shikoku. Japan’s overnight buses are remarkably punctual, and they arrived right on time at Tokushima Station at 6 o’clock the next morning.

Taking a quick look around the building, Masanuki smiled at the quaint discovery that Tokushima Station still has manned ticket gates, where you show your ticket to an actual person instead of just sticking it into an automated machine.

He also made sure to pay a visit to local good-luck charm the Buji Kaeru. Buji means “safe” in Japanese and kaeru is how you pronounce the words for both “return” and “frog.” All that wordplay comes together in the Buji Kaeru, a frog figurine that people passing through the station will pat for good luck and a safe journey.

▼ Masanuki wasn’t 100-percent sure if you’re supposed to visit the Buji Kaeru when arriving in Toushima City or leaving, but he figured an on-arrival pat wouldn’t hurt.

Tokushima’s biggest claim to fame is the Awa Odori festival. Held each summer, the celebration’s history stretches back hundreds of years to the feudal period of the 1500s, when reveling peasants would dance en masse in the streets of town. The distinct dance movements and outfits worn by performers are so strongly associated with Tokushima that even the mailbox in front of the station has a pair of dancers decorating it, a counterpart to Hirosaki’s apple mailbox in Aomori Prefecture.

Even though Masanuki’s sightseeing was going to be focused on Tokushima City, he was glad that his bus had come in at the station, because its underground bike parking lot also rents bikes for use by travelers.

▼ That note next to the number 2, レンタサイクルの貸し出しも行っております means “We also have rental cycles.”

The rental cycle counter opens at 6 in the morning, and renting an electric-assist bike for the whole day (until 10 p.m.) is just 600 yen (US$4.15), and prices start at just 300 yen for a five-hour non-assisted bike rental. Note, though, that you do have to provide a 3,000-yen deposit, which you get back when you return the bike.

▼ The rental cycle counter location

Now that he had his wheels, it was time for Masanuki to get on the road. Pedaling through the town lit in the soft sunlight of the morning, passing over some of the city’s many beautiful rivers and gazing at Mt Bizan, he felt invigorated.

Well, he felt sort of invigorated. He also still felt a little stiff from the long bus ride, and he also wanted to take a bath. Thankfully, there’s no better place to find yourself thinking “I want to take a bath” than Japan, what with the country’s rich bathhouse culture, and so Masanuki rode to Shinmachi Onsen, a public bath not far from the station.

▼ Rental cycle counter to Shinmachi Onsen

Shinmachi Onsen opened all the way back in 1950, and it has a great for-locals feel to it. They’re open from 6 a.m. and charge 450 yen (US$3.10) plus an additional 40 yen for a small towel rental, which felt like a serious bargain for how great their multiple types of baths and sauna felt. Add in an after-bath can of local-brand Tokushima Coffee (made with locally produced wasanbon fine-grain sugar), and Masanuki was totally refreshed.

The more thorough description of how he was feeling, though, would be refreshed and hungry. To address the latter part of his condition, he decided to hit up another place that opens early, Cafe Takashima, which starts serving breakfast at 7:30.

▼ Shinmachi Onsen to Takashima

It was easy to see that Takashima has been in business a long time, and Masanuki was even more intrigued when he read the cafe’s motto written on its sign, which says “Good flavors for people who visit, and happiness for people as they go home.”

Less philosophically, he was also strongly drawn to the “Special Burger” shown in the sign by the entrance introducing the cafe’s most popular menu items.

Takashima has been in business for about 65 years, and yet no one else seems to have come up with the tasty idea they have for the Special Burger, which is a hamburger patty, ham, egg, cheese, tomato, cucumber, and lettuce, all between slices of golden-brown toast. This is a tremendously tasty hot sandwich, and at 650 yen, it’s a pretty good deal too!

Now bathed, caffeinated, and fed, Masanuki had all of his morning needs met, so now it was time to get to sightseeing.

As he pedaled over the Shinmachigawa River and through town, he spotted other travelers in the garb of pilgrims making the Shikoku Pilgrimage circuit, an 88-temple trek with its official starting point in Tokushima Prefecture.

Masanuki wasn’t headed to a temple, though. He was headed to a mountain, and a very special mountain at that.

▼ Takashima to Mt. Bentenyama

It’s about 20 minutes by bike from Takashima to Mt. Bentenyama, which has a sign at its base to draw passersby’s attention.

▼ 弁天山 = Bentenyama

Being the rugged outdoorsman that he is, it was Masanuki’s intention to hike all the way to the top of the mountain in order to visit the shrine at its peak. In the interest of full disclosure, we should mention that Masanuki would be making his attempt to summit Mt. Bentenyama outside of its official climbing season, which doesn’t begin until a ceremony is held on June 1 of every year. Still, he wasn’t too scared, because Mt. Bentenyama is the official shortest mountain in Japan.

▼ Yep, that’s the whole thing!

The June 1 official climbing season start isn’t because it has trails that are treacherous outside of summer, but because the 6-1 date aligns with Mt. Bentenyama’s height of 6.1 meters (20 feet). You’re actually allowed to make the ascent 365 days a year, and unlike Mt. Fuji, the path to the top is open 24 hours a day.

Avoiding getting lost and encountering no dangerous wildlife along the way, Masanuki made it to the top in about 12 seconds. He took a moment to say a prayer at the shrine, and also purchased a certificate of ascent and a goshuin stamped paper for good luck for 100 yen each from the self-service shop.

“Come on back again sometime!” said a friendly local man Masanuki encountered after coming back down from the peak, and while he’s not sure when he’ll next be in this part of Tokushima, if he has even a single spare minute, he can slot another Mt. Bentenyama hike into it.

Next on Masanuki’s itinerary was a ride back towards downtown to experience the famous Awa Odori, and we’ll be back soon with part two of our Tokushima overnight bus travelogue soon!

Photos ©SoraNews24
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