Ishikawa
 

I am planning for another trip to Japan to coincide with Ultraman Festival.

We'll be travelling from Arao (for Ultraman Land) and moving up until we reach Tokyo (for Ultrafes). I am told that there is an Ultraman Stadium in Ishikawaken Nomigunteraimachi. Anyone has any idea where this place is? and what is the best option to reach the place if I travel from Hakata Station?

Thanks in advance! :) :) ;)

Ishikawa is a prefecture (ken) in western central Japan. Kanazawa is in Ishikawa-ken. That *machi location sounds like a part of a city, like the Hill District in Pittsburgh.

From Hakata you'd take the shinkansen to Shin Osaka and then a Limited Express Thunderbird to Ishikawa-ken. That's the general direction, anyway.

No responsive info from me, sorry, but you are like me, planning your second trip as soon as you get back from the first one! I just got back from the second trip and am planning the third one already.

Just fyi, there are quite a few Ultraman fans at www.japan-guide.com forum also. I got a lot of good anime and character (Gundam) info for the trip w/my son from there.

I think it is the town of Terai, a 6-minute local train ride from Komatsu

hi emd! welcome back... I did post some Qs in Japan Guide.com but nothing conclusive for the Ultraman Stadium queries... :)

mrwunrfl, thanks so much... your post does helps a lot.

Ishikawaken Nomigunteraimachi

Just a tip to help determining the location, Nomigunteraimachi should be separated as Nomi-gun, Tera-machi. "gun"is another unit to describe a district. So Tera-machi is in Nomi-gun which is in Ishikawa-ken. Usually districts ending with gun are considered to be rather rural areas than urban. e.g. shi (usually translated as city) as in kanazawa-shi is supposed to be urban.

Ok, I entered in the site. According to it,

1. that's actually Nomi-shi (city) and not gun. It's possible it USED to be Nomi-gun. That happens.
2.Acces from Kanazawa JR station, take a Hokuriku-Tetsudo Bus, Direction Terai-Yakuba (town hall), get off at Tedori-Gawa-Bashi (Tedori River Bridge). It does not say how long the bus ride is.
3.Admission free (things to rent inside - costumes ?)
4. Wednesday closed
5. The place is also called Tedori Fish Land.

OK...Tedori Fish Land is not a place you'd want to go out of your way to visit. Really. It's nothing special. When mentioned, people laugh - honestly. It's a place kids go in summer sometimes. If you are a huge Ultraman fan, then you might want to have a look, but, I don't know...up to you I guess. It's a lot of time to spend to see a stadium.

From Kanazawa Station, the bus will take you about an hour to get there. The buses to Terai are not frequent.

If you do go to Terai, there are many good Kutani-yaki (pottery/ceramic) shops and factories, as well as a museum. Not really well served by bus, taxi might be the only way to get around if you wanted to do a Kutani-yaki "tour" of the area as well...unless you rented a car.

mrwunfrl, kappa & kimjapan, thanks. your advices are precious.

kimjapan, husband & son are huge fans of Ultraman. (son actually were more excited about his Ultraman Club visits than our Disneyland & Sea visits). We'll have to reconsider whether to visit Ultraman Stadium or not, after taking account we do have to go out of our way to get there.

thanks everyone!

I took a look at that site. It looks a bit like the Bandai Museum in Tokyo that my son and I went to one day last spring. Only a fan can understand the appeal (and the fantasy they can keep very alive in these type of theme places). It was very cool and i wouldn't have missed it, even if I had had to travel further to see it w/my son (14 yr old at the time).

Thanks for the explanation of the name, kappa. So, I did figure it out. Is the -gun a subunit of a prefecture? Is it political or geographical? But it sounds like a -gun is a rural area until it becomes urban and then it is a -shi. So, now I understand that when I went to Ise Shi I went to Ise city (and "Shi" was used to distinguish the city name from the shrine at Ise or the Ise bay). Then I don't understand why Gifu city is not referred to as Gifu Shi to distinguish it from the prefecture name.

actually, I got the name through search function of the area postcode. I vaguely had an idea of the place's name thru questions posted at JapanGuide and an Ultraman fan website.

emd, you are correct. my husband were already raring to go even though at first we have no idea where it is located. I am just afraid that both he & son might get disappointed, but I think we'll end up at Ultraman Stadium anyway... :)

Kim said "OK...Tedori Fish Land is not a place you'd want to go out of your way to visit. Really.."

I understand the sentiment and tend to agree. That must be a very local attraction in Ishakawa-ken and not well known to other parts of Japan. Being Ultraman fan, you husband and kid would enjoy but I hope YOU will not to bored, supposing you will make it. Hakata to Ishiakwa is a looong way. You would not do it even for an over night trip. By train it seems too complicated and I don't know if flying is convenient either. It will up to how eager your family is about Ultraman things. WONDER why they built this Ultraman Land in such a country side (I'm assuming, the area may not be that rural.). Your husband must be young to be a Ultraman fan?

Mrwunrfl ,

> Is the -gun a subunit of a prefecture?

It is, exactly. Inside Ken (Prefecture), it can usually be subunits such as Shi or Gun.

> Is it political or geographical?

It is Political (Governmental).

> Then I don't understand why Gifu city is not referred to as Gifu Shi to distinguish it from the prefecture name.

To make it clear, one would call either Gigu-ken (pref.) or Gigu-shi (city) but some times you might say just Gifu to describe a historical gifu area generally. That naming existed before the government separated the area into ken - shi - gun, etc, I supopose.

http://www.tedori.co.jp/park/facilities/

http://www.tedori.co.jp/park/ultraman/index.html

Take a look at above page. That's the site of Tedori Fish Land. Ultraman Stadium is a part of it. Do these photos make you want to go there more (or less ?)

The Ultraman Stadium is a part of Tedori Fish Land. There's shopping, a game center, some old rides, food...reminds of when I went to the Expo in Springfield, MA when I was an elementary school school student. The stadium is probably its biggest draw these days...they've also added a pet shop attraction though, so they still seem to be trying to attract visitors. Not sure how successful the place is these days.

Actually, the photos look nicer than the real thing. Honestly, I think it would be a shame to spend all that time and energy getting there when there is so much else to enjoy.

kappa,

my husband is 30. used to be a collector, but stopped when we got married. renewed his interest when son starts showing his ability in naming all the Ultraman figures. (I still have problem differentiating Gaia & Tiga)

It seems similar to Ultraman Club (maybe a tad bigger), which we did enjoy going to (we went to Ultraman Club 3 times). Have to show the pics to husband for him to decide. Thanks for the links!

from the pics, it seems that the park is similar to our neighbourhood funfair. :P (the one where u buy $1 token for a ride) - used to enjoy it when i was little, ages ago :)

Isn't Terai closer to Komatsu than to Kanazawa? And Komatsu is a bit closer to Hakata, but it is still a 5.5 hour trip by train from Hakata to Terai via Komatsu.

ANA has nonstops from Fukuoka to Komatsu. The Fukuoka airport is very easy to get to by a nice subway from Hakata station.

Tedori Fishland is about at the halfway point between my house and Komatsu Airport.

kimjapan,

any idea how big the Ultraman Stadium really is? & when does any Ultraman make their appearance there? (weekends only or daily appearance?)

The idea of flying there did occur to me, but there's no promotion fare (the 12600 yen tickets) in Aug.

Need to research more on the place & its surrounding area, so we can get the most of the trip there (if we decide to go).

Their website says shows are at 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00 on weekdays and Saturdays, and an extra show at 4:30 on Sundays and holidays. Then it says that "the time and contents of the show may be altered according to the conditions of the day so please inquire beforehand"...probably meaning that if there aren't people they don't do the show, or do one a day. The price of admission to the show is 500 yen per person over age 2.

Can't see anywhere the exact size of the place, but it doesn't seem to be very big. All of Tedori Fish Land isn't very big really, and the Ultraman stadium is only a part of it.

I can't tell if any characters appear outside of the show or not.

> Isn't Terai closer to Komatsu than to Kanazawa?

The site says if you take a bus from Komatsu airport, you have to change at one point to the bus (Hikuriku Bus I mentioned above) coming from Kanazawa to get to Tedori.

ok, but doesn't the map on the ultraman-stadium site, the one in Japanese, show Komatsu airport? And I think it shows that the airport is southwest of the city and Terai to the northeast. Which means that JR Komatsu station is going to be closer to Terai. According to hyperdia it is only 6 minutes.

I recall someone giving me that info too... that's why I thot that it might be doable.

Looks like we are going to put Ultraman Stadium in our itinerary for the time being. :)

Basically we will
Arrive at Fukuoka Airport

Spend 2/3 nights with visits to Ultraman Land & Mitsui Greenland (because of Masked Rider but this is optional). I got the impression that the area is particularly proud of their pears... will try to look for the fruit that's as big as a baby's head

Move up, maybe stop at Shin-Osaka for a night & spend a day at Universal Studio
Find a way to Ultraman Stadium (most probably we'll spend at least 1/2 day there).

Kyoto / Osaka (this is for me, although I don't think the 2 boys will enjoy shrines, temples, park as much as I do)

Tokyo for Ultrafes (1 full day) & compulsory visit to Ultraman Club

now that is an unusual itinerary! I recommend a stop in Hiroshima. You might also enjoy a visit to Himeji castle. Both of those places are on the way from Fukuoka.

> ok, but doesn't the map on the > ultraman-stadium site, the one in Japanese, show Komatsu airport? And I think it shows that the airport is southwest of the city and Terai to the northeast. Which means that JR Komatsu station is going to be closer to Terai. According to hyperdia it is only 6 minutes

Mrwunrfl, the UltramaStadium site mentions only 3 means of acces.
1) By bus from Kanazawa Station
2) By bus from Komatsu Station
3) By car
I don't know why it does not say the acces from Terai Station???

A slight correction on my previous post. If you take a bus from Komatsu for Tedori, you have to change at "Terai Town Hall" stop and change to Bus GOING TO Kanazawa Station and get off at "Tedori Bridge" stop. That's true Komatsu is closer to Tedori (ca.6km) than from Kanazawa (ca.30km).

unusual in a good way or bad? ;)all points made are duly noted and taken account to make this trip a success ! :)

I've not done any research on anything else other than the Ultraman sites yet, because that will be the main focus of our next trip. I've heard so much about Himeji castle on this site, maybe I'll convince the 2 boys to visit it.

Hiroshima.... maybe.My "2 boys" sometime have attention deficit disorder for anything that has nothing to do with toys, electrical & gadgets. :) (I once had to scapped off a free holiday to Vietnam because my boys would have nothing to do)... oh well, a mom gotta do what a mom gotta do... :p

you guys are excellent. I've been looking up for info abt Ultraman Stadium since last year (on other sites, though) and was thinking I might only get the info in 2-3 months time and here, you guys helped me get a clearer picture of the place within days! now, I have to do research on train travel & connection.

BTW, is Aug a school holiday period in Japan? If it is a school holiday, & there'll be bigger crowd everywhere, the chances of us seeing Ultraman appearances would be greater. Right?

Oh, I wasn't making a judgement, just an observation. The "usual" is Tokyo and Kyoto and maybe a sidetrip to Hiroshima.

Considering how convenient Hiroshima is to the necessary, Ultraman, part of your itinerary, you really ought to put it on your itinerary until you can find a good reason not to go there.

How old is your son?

he's going to be 4.

knows all the Ultraman moves, the names, a big fan of Baltan Seijin. although can't speak Japanese, can sing in Japanese (thanks to Ultraman soundtracks) :)

oh, ok, then his age might be a good reason not to go to the museum in Hiroshima. I was guessing 12 or older.

> can sing in Japanese (thanks to Ultraman soundtracks ..

((8)) Muneh ni Tsukehteru mahk wa ryuusei ... ((8))

sorry, need to ask help from you kind & wonderful people again...

I need to find where this place is exactly as there is a Tsuburaya Jungle attraction/shops of everything Ultraman. From the website, it looks like a smaller version of Ultraman Stadium, but I would like to check out the place for our all thing Ultraman itinerary in Aug.

From the postcode search i found it was located in :
oosakafu prefecture, kaidukashi and it town of sawa. Please help!

Thank you in advance.... :) :) :)

It is in Osaka prefecture. You will be going through that area on your way to Ishikawa-ken.

I would guess it is along the coast of Osaka prefecture. I found a Kaizoku city on a map but no Kaidoku on the map or on hyperdia.

JIS Code is 27208 for Kaidukashi
Postal code is 597-0062 for Sawa

I suppose you already saw the following link, which may not be much of a help since it's only in Japanese.

http://www.tsuburaya-jungle.jp/index.html

It is located in Kaizuka-shi (city), in Osaka-fu Prefecture (so outside Osaka-shi). The access is : by train, take Nankai-Honsen Line from let's say Naniwa Stn (in Osaka shi) for direction Wakayama and get off at Kaizuka-shi. This takes 30 minutes. At Kaizuka Stn, West-Exit, you have to take a taxi for Costa-Mall-Nishoku-No-Hama that's where the Tsuburaya Jungle is located.
Hama is beach and it looks like the site is located on the Osaka Bay. There used to be free shuttle bus from Kaizuka Stn but it does not run any more. Does it mean this site does not attract enough people?

*I just prefer traditional spelling
Oosaka > Osaka
Kaiduka > Kaizuka

> Kaizuka Stn, West-Exit, you have to take a taxi

This taxi ride is 15 minutes as the site says.

Also, Tsuburaya Jungle is on the 2nd floor of Costa Mall.

thank you!!! I know I could count on you guys to help out.

anytime you happen to come to Kuala Lumpur, drop me a note so that I can repay your kindness.... :)

now I just need to study the train connection again, as am not familiar with any of the names that Kappa mention yet

Take look at teh following taible tables. They are for trains departing Nanba (correction, it was not Naniwa - the same kanji though) for Wakayama.
4, 5, etc on the left are hours. Only black and orange ones stop at Kaizuka but not the red ones. The orange ones afre faster with less stops than black and takes 30 minutes to Kaizuka.

http://www.nankai.co.jp/traffic/jikoku/index.html
Mon - Fri

http://www.nankai.co.jp/traffic/jikoku/index.html

Nanba is one of the central railway stations in Osaka-shi.
Sat & Sun

Ooops, bad editing. The second link is for Sat & Sun. Also the green ones stop at Kaizuka, only the red ones don't.