After visiting Kitakyushu, I continued traveling by train. My next destination was Shimonoseki, which is the major city of Yamaguchi Prefecture, about 1,100 kilometers west of Tokyo. The population is about 247,000. I visited there for the first time in six years. Shimonoseki is famous for its fishing industry, specifically, blowfish. It's a very luxury food in Japan.
To get to Shimonoseki, I took the JR Kyushu Sanyo main line from Moji station. My vehicle was an inter-island train between Kyushu and Honshu (the mainland of Japan) islands via Kanmon Undersea Tunnel. What was new with this undersea railway? I realized that the EMU JR Kyushu 415-0 series, which was an aged standard commuter train, had already disappeared from the track. Replacing the 415-0 series, the 415-1500 series was being commissioned as an inter-island train. Different from the 415-0 series, the 415-1500 series has stainless-steel bodies and bolster-less bogies. The same model had already been retired from the JR East lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but it's still full of energy on the JR West lines. Long time no see, the 415-1500 series!
After arriving at Shimonoseki station, I visited an observation deck of Kaikyo Yume Tower, which is a landmark of Shimonoseki City. What jumped into my eyes there was Kanmon Strait on the border between Honshu and Kyushu islands. The maximum tidal speed in this strait is about 4.8 meters per second, making it one of the foremost straits for swift currents in Japan.
To be continued...
