Destination - Chōshi City (Bōsō Peninsula, Chiba Prefecture)

This time there are 7 of us traveling to Chōshi City located on the northeastern coast of the beautiful Bōsō Peninsula. The first thing we did for this trip was to go to Nippon Car Rental in Yokosuka and pick up a van. Then we drove to Kurihama to catch the Tokyo Wan Car Ferry that would take us to Bōsō Peninsula.

Here comes our Ferry!

After driving onto the Ferry we all went to the third deck and got nice seats in front of the window so we could enjoy the view while crossing Tokyo Bay.

The trip takes about 40 minutes.

After arriving at Kanaya Ferry port on the Bōsō Peninsula we made the long drive to Chōshi City. Of course the first place we visited was a local products center so we could buy local Chiba Prefecture products. Chiba is famous for their peanuts and fish.

After shopping at the local products center we made a quick stop at a convenience store to buy some drinks for our room party and then we drove to our Inn.

We have arrived at  Ryokan Ashikaso

We will be staying here for the next 2 nights!

Day 2: Let's go sightseeing!

After a fantastic breakfast at our Inn we walked to the local train station.

This is the Choshi Dentetsu train line. We plan to ride the train to the station next to the Yamasa Soy Sauce factory where we have a 10:00 am reservation for a tour of the factory.

However, we have a small problem... no train is scheduled to arrive in time for us to get to the factory for our reservation!

No problem, we'll change our plan and take a bus instead. It's a short walk to the bus stop.

And, right on time our bus arrives.

The bus drops us off in Chōshi City near the Yamasa Soy Sauce Factory.

Welcome to the Yamasa factory. This is the visitors information center. The first part of the tour is a video presentation on the Yamasa company history and how soy sauce is made. They also informed us that taking pictures of making videos with cell phones or cameras was not permitted.  

So, after I took this picture of the route we would walk for our tour I put my camera away.

After the Yamasa tour we walked to the nearest Choshi Dentetsu train station.

And, here comes our train.

The Choshi Dentetsu train line is single track and trains can only pass each other at certain locations. So that the train driver knows there won't be a mistake and a head on collision with another train he's given the special key used to switch the tracks. 

There are only 2 cars on our train but there's plenty of room for everyone. We are on our way to visit the Inubosaki Lighthouse!

It took less than 20 minutes to reach the train station closest to the Inubosaki Lighthouse. From the station to the lighthouse is about a 10 minute walk. 

The Inubosaki Lighthouse has been selected as one of the 100 best lighthouses in the world. It is said to be the most visited lighthouse in Japan.

There are 99 steps to get to the top of the lighthouse. There is no elevator. 

The view from the top is amazing!

Now that we did that we ate lunch at bakery next to the lighthouse and started walking back to the train station.

The Choshi Grand Hotel is very close to the lighthouse.

We have returned to the Inubo train station and because we walked very quickly to get here...

...we are just in time to catch our train! 

Soon we have arrived at the Ashikajima train station that is the station closest to our Inn. The plan is to go back to our Inn and spend time enjoying the Inn's onsen hot spring bath and for me taking a nap!

And, just like that we are rested up and back at Ashikajima station ready to go back to Chōshi City for a night out in town.

Here comes the train.

We have arrived at the main station in Chōshi City and we're ready to party!

We have a reservation at this seafood restaurant.

Let the party begin.

Kanpai!

Everyone is having a good time. The food and service was excellent. 

Day 3: Time to go home.

After breakfast everyone posed for a group picture in front of the Inn. The lady on the right-side of the picture is the owner of the Inn. She's 72 years old and full of energy. Everything about this Inn was fantastic. We had a wonderful time here and I'm sure I'll be back here again in the future.

On our drive back to the Kanaya Ferry port we stopped at 3 different Michi-no-Eki (roadside station). 

Many Michi-no-Eki are like a famers market. 

This Michi-no-Eki had a giant peanut in front of it. Like I said, Chiba prefecture is famous for their peanuts.

Well, we finally arrived at Kanaya Ferry Port.

And, this is the Ferry that will be departing at 15:20 with us onboard. 

So, that's it for this 3 day trip. I think all seven of us had a good time, I know that I did. I'm including additional pictures from the trip below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Extra pictures from the Chōshi trip!