Japan 04/26 – Kobe Fruit + Flower Park
Content warning – this trip contains whole days without rollercoasters. I would say it’s me slowing down, but choose to blame the industry doing so instead.
It’s been far too long since my last visit to Japan at just over 6 years months. The simple FOMO of the previous trip carried over once again, inspired by some longstanding unfinished business with a particular couple of places, and a continued desire to explore new parts of the country by means of their fading amusement parks.
Day 0
Nothing much to report on the travel front, thankfully. Flew into Osaka via Beijing because it was offensively cheap, but too short of a layover to get up to anything cheeky.
Oh, they did try and cancel the Japan leg earlier in the year when the two countries fell out politically again, because the airline anticipated not making any money on flights between them, but it was rebooked with relative ease and only ended up being a minor inconvenience.
Hit the ground half-running with some shopping shenanigans before near-passing out in a Mcdonalds once sitting down and travel fatigue could set in. Time for a reset.
Day 1
Picked up a hire car the next morning, a loyal and faithful cubular Suzuki that served us faultlessly and provided a quintessential local driving experience. Didn’t have much in Osaka to hang around for so immediately busted out of the city in search of a new genre entirely.
Why ride coasters when you can look at horse courses?
This is Hanshin Racecourse.
It’s free to enter on non-race days.
Good place for a picnic.
And generally very pretty.
Can’t help but think of Thunder Dolphin when I see the hole in that roof.
Not sold? Coasters it is then.
Kobe Fruit & Flower Park
The flower bit of the name is up through there.
But turn left before that for the real deal.
Started strong, as always, on the #1 Hurry Coaster, a mini Meisho with some inspired shaping.
Both coasters here came from a defunct park in Osaka in the ’90s, so that’s fun.
The other, bigger #2 Jet Coaster also has a bee(?) on it.
It’s somewhat jet coaster inspired, as the name would suggest, but also a bit jankier and wilder than usual with the stumpy two-car trains.
In a mine-cart-esque kinda way, was a rather fun experience to kick off the obscure coaster hunting.
Had some local strawberry sorbet to fulfil the fruit part of the equation, then hit the road, simple.