Kobe to Tokyo - another big day driving, Ninja roadside stop and I meet Japan's most famous Youtuber
Trip Diary Day 24 - 22 April 2019
Check out Episode 18 of our Epic Family Road Trip Across Japan.
Isuzu Bakery and Lima Coffee Roasters Kobe
Another big day in the saddle. I expected this drive to be 7 plus hours. 500 and something kilometres after 700 and something kilometres the day before. We bought breakfast at the Isuzu Bakery - sandwiches and donuts. The girl behind the counter eventually told me to stop videoing. Oops. I thought I was just shooting pastries. I think she thought I was some freak shooting other customers. About 3500 yen (AU$43) for the sangers and pastries. Yeah, we bought a lot of sangers and pastries. Guess where the next stop before left Kobe would be? If you’ve been paying attention you’d have guessed coffee. There is a Lima Coffee Roasters in Kobe. The same mob as the Lima Coffee Roasters in far away Takamatsu. The Kobe shop was smaller than the Takamatsu store. The front of the shop is dominated by the coffee roaster and an eclectic bunch of nick knacks. We bought two large most excellent coffees to takeaway. There wasn’t enough room in the shop to sit down. I’d parked on the pedestrian walkway in the tiny street outside anyway. We ate the donuts and drank coffee in the car. We were finally on the road by 11.30 am.
Kobe to Tokyo
Ninjas!
We stopped a few times. Petrol was the first stop just inside Osaka Prefecture. We didn’t stop as many times as yesterday though. We didn’t have quite as far to go. We had a memorable stop at Konan Ninja roadside stop. Why he hell are there Ninja themed roadhouses? Why the hell not. Road trips can be pretty boring. Nothing livens the kids, and parents, up more than entering a themed roadhouse. This one was covered top to bottom with Ninjas and Ninja paraphernalia. The downside is there is a lot of junk on sale, toys and souvenirs, you don’t really need. So we bought Georgia a doll and Brandy a ninja sword and throwing stars. We should’ve bought one of the little freaks, tanuki statues, with their oversized testicles. They had shelf loads of tanuki too.
Parman!
We met Parman! So who the hell is Parman? Apparently he is a Tokyo Youtuber. His assistants said he was number one famous Youtuber in Japan. He was wearing a US flag singlet and Aussie flag shorts and blond hair so he stood out a bit. I saw his two assistants photographing him on a hill near the roadhouse when we arrived. As we were leaving I saw a cute little van. I videoed it and Parman and his two friends came over and we talked. The van was Parman’s. I tried to video a quick chat with Parman but I fucked up the interview part. The camera was already recording so when I thought I turned the recording on I actually turned it off. You’re not missing much. It essentially went like this:
“This is Parman, Japan’s most famous Youtuber”.
”Hiiii” he waves.
”I am famous in Australia”.
”Oh”, he waves and gives the double peace sign.
”Origato Parman”.
”Byeee” he waves again.
You’ll be able to see my glorious interview fail on Youtube when I get around to posting the video (sometime in 2021 I suspect). Parman and his friends said he was Youtube famous but I haven’t been able to find anything on him. My Google fu has failed me. If you know of him and have a link to his Youtube channel I would be eternally grateful.
The next stop was 10 mins down the road from Konan at Tsuchiyama SA stop for Iced coffees from 7-eleven. You buy a plastic cup full of ice and then you get a shot of coffee from a machine. We bought milk to top it up and a long donut from one of the fast food kiosks outside. Do donuts have to be round? Is churros considered a donut? Is a long donut just a tube of cake made from donut batter? Just a few fleeting thoughts as we continued on down the road.
After the next stop we passed Parman's tiny van on the highway. They were hunched over concentrating on the road so they didn’t see me gesticulating and waving and shouting that I’d fucked up the interview. Maybe they were just ignoring me because they suspect I’m not that famous in Australia.
Nagashino-Shitaragahara PA was a samurai themed stop but we just went to the toilet. There’s not much you can do in the toilet that is samurai themed. I suppose you can have a slash like you’re using a katana but roadhouse toilets are spotless so I didn’t want to be responsible for one stray drip.
I had a moment of panic when the big wide new tollway we were travelling disappeared from the GPS. The car GPS couldn't find it. The road probably opened before the last update of the GPS. As far as GPS was concerned we were driving through virgin forest so it kept trying to find a route to the nearest road. Waze knew what it was doing though. I’d taken to using Waze on my phone as well. It was good for revealing hidden speed cameras. Yes they are are thing in Japan. Although you do have to be quite a bit over the limit to be booked. Apparently. I wasn’t going to risk it because Japanese speeding fines could be expensive. As much as AU$3000 in some places. Most expressways in Japan have a fairly low speed limit. As little as 80 kph so sometimes you might push the limit a little to get somewhere in a decent amount of time. However one long section somewhere between Nagoya and Tokyo had a blistering 120 kph speed limit.
The highway went through the outskirts of Nagoya over a couple of long suspension bridges that passed by a couple of big theme parks. One huge roller coaster was higher than the roadway on the bridge. I would put that roller coaster into the scary as fuck category.
Mount Fuji came and went without being sighted. Sometimes you can see Fuji from 100 km away given the right weather conditions and the road not cutting through tunnels in the mountains. The tunnels make sight seeing a little tricky.
Tokyo - The B Suidobashi Hotel
As darkness fell we finally approached the outer limits of Tokyo. We arrived at the B Suidobashi Hotel at around 8 pm and checked in. The clerk said all the parking around here was around 4000 yen (AU$50) per day. Fuck, that wasn’t in the itinerary. He said street parking across the road was bookable online for 2000 yen (AU$25) per day but only the 23rd, tomorrow, was available. Our clerk helped me sign up and make the reservation. He then said I can park in the hotel driveway till tomorrow. And again after the other parking expires. He spent 30 or 40 mins helping me organise parking. It was one of those times when hotel reception staff went above and beyond to help a guest. Thanks B Suidobashi. Upstairs the room was tiny but it was okay. Next to zero floor space though. Squeezing 4 people, even if two of them are tiny, into what is essentially a double room is a neat trick. We went out after 9 for dinner and saw Tokyo Dome right away. We were only a block away and it is huge. Suidobashi is in the Bunkyo-ku region of Tokyo. It is about 20 minutes on the Train from Suidobashi Station to Tokyo. Roller coasters and Ferris wheels seem to be the theme of the day. A Building across the road from the Tokyo Dome had a Ferris wheel and roller coaster on and through it.
Tsukemen Mita-Seimenjo Suidobashi
After a couple of days of hard driving we didn’t have enough energy to venture very far for dinner so we walked around the corner and found Tsukemen Mita-Seimenjo. Great cheap tsukemen. With tsukemen noodles you dip the noodles in a sauce and slurp. Great fun unless you have misophonia. Then it sucks to have a million people surrounding you slurping like there is no tomorrow. The kid's meal for Brandy came with a toy - a pirate stab the barrel game - so he was as happy as Larry. Our meals came with gyoza and fried chicken so we gave Georgia the Gyoza. Gyoza is still one of Georgia’s favourite foods. Michelle makes it quite often. 3500 yen (AU$43) all up. An order of magnitude cheaper than meal from the night before. Excellent value from this busy little local joint.
Lawson for our regular supplies. Yoghurt, milk, and chocolate almonds for Michelle. Home by 11. The kids shared bed again just like the previous night in Kobe. I think they should suck it up - Michelle and I have had to share a bed for decades. We’re meeting our friends Ippei and Janine for lunch tomorrow at 1 pm in Ginza. We’re not sure what to do before and after. We didn’t have any plans. I suspect there will be coffee involved somewhere. Maybe hedgehogs. We have a sushi dinner booked for 6 pm. Two sleeps left in Japan.
Epic Family Road Trip Japan on Youtube
Check out Episode 18 of our Epic Family Road Trip Across Japan.
Many of the pictures on this page are by Michelle. Essentially the good ones. Michelle retains full copyright and they can not be reproduced without permission. For licensing and using the photos contact Michelle at Michelle Newnan Photography
