2012 CHI-BA+KUN Ambassadors in Choshi (Part 2).

Just need to post this because of my strange obsession with signs like this...:D

So, onto Part 2 of our tour in Choshi! (Here's Part 1.)

CHI-BA+KUN Ambassadors in front of Choshi Station!

After lunch and a little souvenir shopping, we reconvened in front of Choshi Station to hop onto the Choshi Electric Railway ("Choshi Dentetsu," 銚子電鉄).

Random neat thing about the Choshi Dentetsu...it doesn't have its own station, so you actually have to walk through the JR platforms to it! The Choshi Dentetsu is actually located on an extention of the JR platform. (Also, note the lone Suica ticket gate...yay country living!)

Our guide, Ishigami-san telling us all sorts of fun facts about the Choshi Dentetsu!

Ishigami-san is one of the Choshi Tourist Attendants (銚子観光アテンダント). Apparently these "attendants," or guides, have a neat system of specifically showing visitors around by explaining stuffon shuttle buses running around the city and the Choshi Dentetsu.

Here are a few things I learned from Ishigami-san:

Hopping off the train really quickly to poke around. The Ambassadors were totally filmed and on the news later on that day!

Apparently the trains currently running are originally from other railways - for instance, the train we were riding (pictured above) originally ran on one of the Keio lines in Tokyo. (I think. I don't have much confidence in my memory.)

This red train is the Choshi Dentetsu's newest addition!

I can't remember which station exactly, but I think this is the only point on the railway where the trains can bypass each other! There's only one track for the rest of the line.

Ashikajima is the station located furthest east in the Kanto Region!

Hydrangea season!

Also forgot which station it was, but one of the station had TONS of hydrangea on both sides of the tracks, and it was super pretty!! The super dusty train windows added a really interested effect to this photo.

Learning about this fun sculpture at Inubo Station.

Finally, we got off the train at Inubo Station, where we said goodbye to Ishigami-san and met our new guides, three people from the Kanko Sendokai, an organization of Choshi's volunteer guides.

Parting knowledge from Ishigami-san: nure-sembei ice cream!

Nure-sembei is another famous food from Choshi. It's basically sembei (rice crackers) soaked in soy sauce. High school students from a local high school developed a new famous food for Choshi - ice cream with little bits of these crackers mixed in! Needless to say, it's reaaaaally interesting, and actually quite different from the soy sauce soft serve in my previous post. If you're looking for an adventure, there's definitely one here.

Inubosaki Lighthouse! And also, the only white mailbox in Japan!

Inubosaki Lighthouse is another one of Choshi's most popular destinations for tourists. Take a light hike up the 99 step corkscrew staircase within the tower, and you can enjoy some really spectacular views of Choshi (and perhaps beyond, if the weather is clear enough)!

Also, the mailbox is super cool too, because it is currently the only white mailbox in Japan! (Normally mailboxes in Japan are bright red.) It was installed just earlier this year in March, for White Day!

You'll spot lots of these signs climbing up the lighthouse. They are encouraging/torturing you!

Nearly half of the sign has faded away, but it marks the 99th step of the Inubosaki Lighthouse! Goal!!

Really lovely weather from atop the lighthouse! You can kinda see Choshi Port Tower jutting out of the horizon.

Our final destination: Chikyu no Maruku Mieru Oka!

After the lighthouse, we proceeded onto our next and final destination for the day, the Chikyu no Maruku Mieru Oka Ocean View Observatory (地球の丸く見える丘展望館). As the name says, the earth (err...horizon?) looks round viewed from here!

Listening the guide's explanation. I guess it's easiest to see the round-ish horizon from on top of here?

The earth may not look so round in this photo, but it's a gorgeous view nonetheless! Spot the windmills?

They have these plates showing what landmarks are in each direction. Not pictured here (nor could we see them that day), but apparently if you are a good kid you might be able to see as far as Mt. Fuji, or even Hawaii! Thank you lovely guides~.

Anyway, it was my second time in Choshi, and with the great weather - and more importantly, meeting so many warm personalities, I feel that it really is a lovely place! Choshi, I really love that you've got a sense of humor:

The note says "take it, you thief!" :D

Tiles here and there outside of the entrance to the observatory had Choshi's famous products inscribed on them, like this cabbage tile! I love hidden surprises like this :D

Anyway, Choshi is a lovely place, and it was even more fun with the great company of the CHI-BA+KUN Ambassadors! Can't wait for our next tour!