This morning I had an alfresco breakfast on the forecourt outside Tokyo station though it didn't include the sandwich in the picture.  I had that for breakfast the previous day.  It was described as a marmalade and fruit sandwich.  It certainly had bits of mandarin orange in it and maybe bits of pear.  The yellow cream could have been custard and the white stuff had the air of cheap whipped cream.  There were a couple of dark patches that could conceivably be traces of Frank Cooper's Oxford Marmalade. It was not distasteful.

That was about 7.30 because I couldn't wait to get away from my hotel this morning.  By some mischance I'd got myself a smoking room for two nights.  It was horrible.  I wanted to change it obviously but that proved impossible so I held my nose and this morning leapt into the shower about 6.30 to wash the smell off me and sped away.

My three days in Kamakura were great but hanging about those festival events in the heat, and even more so moving about in the heat had been no fun so I was determined to have a rest day yesterday. Relaxing in an air conditioned but smoke infested hotel room held no attractions so I opted for a day on air conditioned trains. It proved exceptionally fine.

I'd read about a scenic rail route that had been devastated in 2011 (I think associated with the earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japaan then) but that had been brought fully back into service over the ensuing decade. It's called the Tadami line and the train runs three times a day.  Only the train that starts about lunchtime was of any use to me.  The morning train is too early to get to and the evening one runs in the dark which doesn't do much for sightseeing.

I headed for the starting point at Aizuwakamatsu.  That required three diffferent trains and about three hours travel.  The Tadami line train then takes just short of five hours to get to its terminus at Koide. Another three trains and a couple of hours to get back to Tokyo. With gaps between trains and so on we're talking a twelve hour day here.

The Tadami line trip itself was lovely.  I wouldn't say it's the most scenic line I've ever been on but there are fine mountains and rivers and there was fun on the train and off.  We stopped for half an hour at one little place where they were having a bit of a party to celebrate the first anniversary of the re-opening of the line.  We were all given the gift of a memorial fan. Scenes of delight on both sides.

Food and drink was on sale at stalls outside the small station.  I had some Japanese wine and a couple of juicy yakitori and posed in a Japanese Railways hat for the amusement of the staff.

Earlier a large group of Japanese tourists had got on accompanied by two guides who yattered away volubly, presumably about the surrounding scenery.  When the group got off I expected the guides to go with them but no, they stayed.  Here's one.

Later they left the train but were replaced by another chap in a very fetching railway decorated robe that I failed to get a snap of sadly, so I guess they were employed by the railway.

I'd got chatting a bit with a couple of passengers.  They were apparently on a motor bike holiday but taking a day out of the saddle for the train trip.  The lady of the party 

was very keen on typing into her phone then thrusting the translated wisdom about the effects of snow on the landscape and other such gems in front of me.  I duly read, admired and thanked her.

I'd left my backpack in a locker in Tokyo to lighten my load but by the time we'd left the station party my hands were full, what the gift of a fan and various pamphlets I'd been given and my camera. So I was slightly burdened and could usefully have slipped stuff into my backpack had I had it with me.  Then a trolley came round selling odds and ends in the way of souvenirs and the chap sitting opposite me bought what I thought was an A4 size picture of Tadami trains which I assumed was probably for a grandchild.  No such thing.  It was a plastic folder which he gave me to hold my fan and papers.  Not to be outdone his friend bought a couple of postcards and other mementoes for me to slip into the folder.  Was that not extraordinary and kind.

I didn't take many pictures of the scenery because taken through glass they are often spoilt by reflections and so on but here's one to give you an idea of the area we passed through.

When I'd put my backpack in a locker before leaving Tokyo in the morning I'd been happy to note that the lockers were beside a large pillar with a big 4 on it beside stairs leading to platform 4 which is the platform I'd be using to get back to my hotel in Kanda.  I hadn't reckoned on the rather obvious fact that there could be, and indeed were, a multitude of sets of steps leading to platform 4 and I failed to light upon the correct one straightaway.  It took a while in fact but now I know there's a handy help on the internet to locate the different groups of lockers in Tokyo station.

After that breakfast on the forecourt (It was a banana, slices of apple, and a pot of yogurt accompanied by a refreshingly cool cafe au lait.) I jumped onto the 08.03 to Okayama where I'm writing this before heading out for an evening meal.