Kakogawa Plaza Hotel - Hotel #3

My third hotel in Japan was the Kakogawa Plaza Hotel in... Kakogawa. It was a long travel day to get to Kakogawa from Toyama. I left the Toyama Station on the Thunderbird shinkansen.

Once at the Shin-Osaka Station, I needed to make a transfer to the Kobe Line... oh boy, was I in trouble. If you want a challenge in traveling, try doing train transfers in Japan. I was fortunate the firm had printed a map of the train lines and stops and had translated some of the stops into English. They also wrote and gave me a note in Japanese, basically saying I was trying to get to Kakogawa on the Kobe Line and it asked if I was on the right platform, LOL. The map and my Japanese note came in handy.

After I found the Kobe Line, I used the note to ask for help from a girl that was waiting for a train on the platform; although she had broken English, she was able to communicate to me which platform was the correct one. My train transfer was almost 100% successful; however, I ended up getting on a train that stopped at every station on its way to Kakogawa, instead of a rapid train, which only stops occasionally.

One other slight bit of confusion was added in... because there was so many stops, I lost count of how many had gone by and the train was nearing Higashi-Kakogawa Station... was this my stop? It had the name "Kakogawa" in it... oh no! Do I get off? (BTW: heavy luggage is a pain to get off and on trains and the trains are very crowded.) On the train some girls had bumped into me, said what I believe was "excuse me" in Japanese, and were giggling to each other after I told them it was OK in English. So I showed the map to the girls and asked them for help; my stop was the one after the Higashi-Kakogawa Station (thank goodness I didn't get off).

It was raining when I arrived in Kakogawa and luckily the hotel was only a short walk away.

Map given to me by the firm. I was able to translate some more of the stops into English for Ken. I took a photograph of the map and e-mailed it to him before he left the U.S.

Additional map of the JR West Railway system I found and e-mailed to Ken.

Kakogawa Plaza Hotel at night.

Hotel lobby.

My room was large for Japanese standards; it was the the largest room I stayed in during my entire trip in Japan.

Ken found his way to me with the use of the maps and a huge, descriptive e-mail I sent. He barely fit into the bathroom with ~six-inches to spare above his head.

Ken with the mini-toothpaste that was replenished each day.

View from the hotel.