Last January we visited Kobe, and amongst other things we wanted to visit an ‘amusement park’ but couldn’t because it was closed. I was determined to go, which is one of the reasons I’m back here in Osaka.
Therefore today I day-tripped to Kobe (about an hour away) and finally visited Samaura-Yuen park!
The train station closest the park is right at the base of a ropeway leading up Mount Hachibuse. I purchased the ‘full course ticket’ which gave me round trip fares for each ‘ride’ for ¥2100, and was on the ropeway a few minutes after disembarking the train.
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The view from the carriage was lovely, especially on a day as nice as today. The above photo views south, and Kobe/Osaka are to my left. The pier structure is Suma Fishing Park, a complex where you can pay an admission fee to fish from all day!
Immediately after the ropeway comes the ‘Carlator’. This is a transportation system which is essentially an escalator but instead of standing you sit in a large metal basket. What has made this strange conveyance infamous is that it’s also said to be the most uncomfortable ride in Japan 🙂
The bouncing and shaking is incredible, and I was laughing like a maniac throughout. We’d learned of this on YouTube but the jerking was much more than I expected. If you’ve never heard of a Carlator, that’s because only two were ever made and the other (at another Japanese location) was closed over fifty years ago!
The Carlator was immediately followed by ‘The Sightseeing Lift’, a single-person chairlift with (as you can see in the photo) no seatbelt. The seats were sized for the average Japanese person, which means they felt a little small for me, and this ride was actually a little scary. It felt unsafe, but then it’s been running for 60+ years now so I’m sure it’s perfectly fine 🙂
Incidentally counting this chairlift I’ve now been on three ropeways this trip, none of which I’d ever rode before! Could there be any more to look forward to before I leave Japan?
And then came the ‘Cycle Monorail’, a short monorail that you (the rider) need to power via cycling. I did something like this once at Yokohama with Bernard, but given this one was about 250 meters up a mountain you can appreciate the views were much better. The pedals were difficult to move, and after my unending exertions these few weeks that was a bit of a challenge!
I rode the chairlift back and went to the top of the ‘observation tower’ which did indeed have good sights. Look closely and you’ll see the chairlift in the lower right of the above pic.
The above is looking east toward Kobe (near) and Osaka (far). The visibility was fantastic today and I could see to the far distant mountains. It had become hot by this point but there was one more attraction in the park I needed to experience.
Inside the tower was a revolving restaurant! This was perhaps what I was most looking forward to at the park, and I happily ate my ‘beefsteak pilaf’ while watching my view very slow change as the entire third floor of the building slowly rotated. I think I’ve experienced a revolving restaurant before but was probably young enough I’ve forgotten the experience (or maybe it never happened at all) so now I’m happy that I’ve definitely cross this one off the bucket list!
The second floor of the observation tower is a game center with retro prize and video games. Many of these had seen better days but still worked, although I think the should have put more retro prizes into them.
They only had four video games: identical Space Imvaders DX cocktail cabs. One was broken, and the picture-tube screens of the other three showed evidence of decay. I don’t think there’s much life left in these guys.
“Write down anything you want”, said the visitors book. On a page with a striking depiction of Pikachu, I did just that!
Samaura-Yuen was dated and rickety and in need of maintenance but I greatly enjoyed my short stay. I’ve got a video of me on the Carlator and I think I just laughed the entire time. I arrived right at opening and had the ‘rides’ (and most of the park) to myself, but I was happy to see when I left that the ropeway carriages were bursting with people heading up, including young people. I like to think that this quaint and nostalgic old park has many years of happiness left in it.