Himeji had a monorail?!?!

I posted this photo a week ago or so guessing that it was a beam from a former JR or Sanyo Railway line.

anonymous commenter stated that this could be from the old Himeji Monorail (!?!?!) which I never heard of before just now. I guess there was one. This pdf (good reading if you want to know about all the monorails in Japan btw) has some information on the monorail. It states that the Himeji Monorail was in operation from 1966 to 1974. Not even 10 years! In their first year of operation the monorail only took on 1000 passengers a day, 1/3 of the expected ridership, which fell in the following years. There were ideas about connecting it to Himeji castle and to the port but both of those fell through. Sounds like Springfield.

Thanks for the comment anonymous!

I also found this YouTube video which shows the same pillar:

Shikama Station

Himeji-SanyoRwy-1, originally uploaded by sleepytako.

Shikama station is where the Sanyo Aboshi line splits off from the Sanyo Main line to Himeji. The train heading to Sanyo Aboshi is pictured.

2 Koku Ramen - ２国ラーメン

2koku-ramen, originally uploaded by sleepytako.

My favorite ramen is from２国 (Nikoku) in Nagata-ku, Kobe. It's got all the lovely stuff; garlic, kimchi, onion, bean sprouts, and a lot of meat, but nothing's too overpowering. It's balanced in its flavor. Some ramen is just too overpowering and it makes you feel like you ate a brick--Nikoku doesn't do that.

My "Nikoku ramen," on the left, was ¥900. Yuko's normal ramen, on the right, was ¥570. Gyoza are ¥280.

It's open 11AM~3AM (the next day, 2AM on Sundays and holidays) according to this blog which also has a photo of the giant ramen bowl sign outside of the shop.

大きな地図で見る

Rust on a Shutter

Himeji-Aboshi-2, originally uploaded by sleepytako.


Photo taken near Aboshi station, Hyogo.