#Sky over Lake West#: A 14-Day Free Independent Journey to Kansai — D7: Conan Town, Gosho Aoyama Manga Factory

Reviewing and supplementing omissions from the previous travelogue. After smoothly checking into the Tottori Super Hotel, I immediately returned to Tottori Station to reserve the reserved-seat tickets for the train departing at 12:56 on May 29 to Amanohashidate. However, there were no volunteers at the station at that time. While puzzling over the ticket machine, I saw a young man coming to buy tickets. After he finished, I asked him for help. Perhaps because I am lucky, the young man could actually speak Chinese (though he used Japanese when operating the machine). I smoothly reserved the reserved-seat tickets and also bought round-trip tickets from Tottori to Yura for May 29. YES! Done. Thanks to the young man's help.

With the ticket issue resolved, I could book a hotel in Amanohashidate. The description of the Amanohashidate Inn seemed good, so I placed an order.

Since we had to catch the 10:48 train from Yura Station back to Tottori on the morning of the 29th, we actually didn't have much time to spend in Conan Town. So we decided to leave early on the 29th, taking the 5:17 train. That meant checking out and storing luggage around 4 to 5 a.m. When communicating with the front desk, they said no one would be at the front desk that early. If we needed to store luggage, we could leave it the night before and just leave directly the next morning. The room was locked with a password lock and had no key card. Well, that was the only way. We packed our luggage and left it at the front desk.

May 29, 2025, another beautiful day.

We left the hotel a little after 4 a.m. and arrived at the station platform to wait for the train. It was already bright, but almost no one was around.

These were our round-trip tickets from Tottori to Yura, not specifying a particular train; they could be used for one round trip within the validity period.

For the outbound trip, we took the 5:17 train from Tottori, arriving at Yura at 6:27, with no transfer needed.

For the return trip, we took the 10:48 train from Yura, transferred at Kurayoshi Station (different platform), and arrived back at Tottori Station at 12:00.

This train had a place for parking bicycles, which was great!

Arriving at the station, you could immediately feel the Conan elements from the surrounding environment. The platform and the stairs of the footbridge had Conan motifs.

The small waiting room was fully covered as well.

The local area even calls Yura Station "Conan Station."

Leaving the station's small square and walking toward the Gosho Aoyama Manga Factory, there were many statues of characters from Detective Conan along the roadside, very beautiful and interesting.

Mikatashopping Street mainly sells Conan souvenirs. Of course, it wasn't open yet this early.

Even the manhole covers had Conan patterns.

Hey, can I hitch a ride?

The bus shelter also had a Conan sculpture.

Taking a photo with a beautiful woman. Don't look at me like that, okay? I admit I'm handsome.

Checked in at the Gosho Aoyama Manga Factory, which opens at 9:30 a.m.

Exit of Conan Street.

It was still early, so we went for a walk in the Yura Daiba Park.

Then we went to see the Yura Daiba site.

The Yura Daiba site is a historical remnant in Hokuei Town, Tottori Prefecture, and is a National Historic Site of Japan. This site is a battery (fort) remnant from the end of the Edo period, with high historical value and cultural significance.

Batteries were usually built near the seaside. After visiting the Daiba site, we went to the seaside.

When it was almost time, we returned to the Gosho Aoyama Manga Factory. It opened exactly at 9:30, and we became the first visitors to enter that day.

Due to time constraints, we had to leave. We walked 1.2 km back to Yura Station, passing by Mikatashopping Street, but had no time to browse.

We smoothly boarded the 10:48 train, transferred at Kurayoshi Station, and arrived back at Tottori Station at 12:00.

We went back to the hotel to pick up our stored luggage. In a hurry, we had checked in last night when it was dark and left early this morning without having a chance to see the hotel's environment. Actually, the hotel lobby was quite nice.

After saying goodbye to the front desk, we went to Tottori Station, took a photo, bought a bento box from the supermarket, and then entered the station to wait.

At 12:56, the train departed on time.

At 14:23, we arrived at Toyooka Station.

Here we transferred to a Kyoto Tango Railway train.

At 14:51, we continued on to Amanohashidate.

At 16:15, we arrived smoothly at Amanohashidate Station.

Navigated to the booked Amanohashidate Inn. The location was a bit remote; it took 15 minutes to walk.

During check-in, I asked the front desk if we could add dinner and breakfast for the next day. The answer was that dinner was too late, but breakfast was possible. Okay, we added breakfast.

When booking the hotel, the description looked good. After entering the room, we found it was indeed nice: spacious, with a small balcony facing the sea. The bathroom had "three separate areas" — the toilet, bath, and sink were all independent, not interfering with each other. The hot spring was open two periods each day (4 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.).

If dinner had been booked, the hotel could deliver it to the room. That was great, how romantic! Too bad we couldn't add it.

Just after 5 p.m., we went out for a walk and to find food. Strolling along the seaside walking path, beautiful scenery was right in front of us.

We went to the sightseeing boat pier to check the timetable.

Basically, there was a boat every half hour.

For dinner, we had grilled meat noodles, the specialty of the shop. Delicious and not expensive.

In the evening, we enjoyed the hotel's free hot spring. During the time I went, there were very few people; I only encountered two guests speaking Japanese.