Chibanian has been getting a lot of attention lately, and I thought it was one of the places I had to visit as a walking spot in the suburbs of Tokyo, but I didn’t want to waste a whole day just on Chibanian, so I decided to go to the nearby (?) Chibanian. I also decided to extend my visit to Animal Wonder Resort (Ichihara Zou no Kuni).
Kominato Railway Line
Kominato Railway Line
At Goi, transfer to the Kominato Railway. It takes about one hour by train alone to get to Tibanian.
There were a surprisingly large number of passengers, perhaps because the autumn leaves in Yoro Gorge are in season. I wanted to take a picture pulled back from this one because the seats would be filled up if I didn’t get into the car soon, but I had to be patient.
I recommend the one-day free ticket, which costs 1,800 yen for adults and 900 yen for children.
Satoyama Torokko No. 92
The train passed Satoyama Torokko No. 92 at Satomi Station.
The observation car had no window glass and looked a little cold in this season.
The locomotive is connected to the train, but there is no smoke. The locomotive is said to be equipped with a clean diesel engine.
Also, at Satomi station, they were selling yaki-imo (baked sweet potato) even inside the train. The selling phrase was “You can eat them in the train!” The price is a reasonable 200 yen each.
At Tsukisaki Station, an announcement was made, “This is the station where you get off the train at Chibanian. According to Google, it is 2.3 km from Tsukisaki Station to the Chibanian.
I didn’t want to go back the same way to Ichihara Elephant Country, so I decided to go to Kazusa-Okubo Station, one stop ahead.
Kazusa-Okubo Station
Kazusa-Okubo Station was a tasteful station with a roof and walls made of tin.
At Kazusa-Okubo station, there was no announcement about the Cibanian; according to Google, it is 2.6 km from Kamiso-Okubo Station to the Chibanian. 7 or 8 people got off the train, but the rest of them walked toward Yoro Gorge Station instead of going toward the Chibanian.
Chibanian
Yoro River in the direction of Yoro Gorge
Leaving the station and heading north on the Kiyosumi Yoro Line, you will soon cross the Yoro River. Chibanian is located downstream of this Yoro River. However, this photo is taken in the direction of Yoro Valley on the upstream side. Is it really the season of autumn leaves in Yoro Valley?
Road to Cibanian
This is the road to Cibanian. Traffic is relatively heavy and a bit dangerous. As you can see in the picture, buses also come quite often.
Cibanian letters at a bus turnaround
I found the word ” Chibanian” in what appears to be a bus turnaround area! The direction seems to be correct. It’s a straight road, so there’s no way to make a mistake.
Bus stop “Cibanian”
Here, we found the bus stop ” Chibanian”! Right now, there are only 6 services a day, but when it is officially approved, it will be a dollar-box route for Kominato Railways buses. Perhaps.
Flag of “Cibanian Village”
Turning left from the Kiyosumi Yoro Line at Tabuchi, the flag of “Chibanian no Sato” was flying. Somehow, Chibanian seems like the name of a loose character. I wonder if he is a relative of Chiba-kun.
Junction
A little fork in the road. You can go from either direction (I think), but pedestrians should cross the U-shaped ditch and take the path on the left.
A place to store materials explaining the geological strata
If you do so, you will receive a document explaining the strata here.
Stratigraphic Explanation Materials
The two documents that were placed were “Geomagnetic Reversal Strata of Tabuchi in the Yoro River Basin” and “GUIDE MAP around Tabuchi Geomagnetic Reversal Strata”.
Downhill
It is a steep descent.
Final approach to Tibanian
The person ahead of me, with his hand outstretched in front of him, is taking a picture of an outcrop of geomagnetic inversion strata, where the Tibanian is located.
When it rains the day before, the river rises and the road along the river is flooded.
I decided to go to the Cibanian today because it had not rained for the past few days.
Outcrops of geomagnetic inversion strata
This is the outcrop of the geomagnetic inversion formation.
I thought this was important because there were many holes for sample collection at relatively low elevations.
Heart of the Cibanian
But actually, it seems that the heart of the so-called Cibanian is at the top of the stairs on the left, where there are many of these colored stakes.
The disappearing plate Byk-E shows the layer of volcanic ash from Mt. Ontake that erupted 770,000 years ago. The lower part of Byk-E is a reverse magnetic pole zone in the opposite direction of the current magnetism. The magnetic poles gradually transition from above Byk-E to the positive pole zone in the same direction as the current magnetism.
Incidentally, there is no relationship between the geomagnetic reversal and the eruption of Mt. Ontake. However, they have the advantage of being easily visible.
Some people put the azimuth needle on the reverse magnetic pole zone and said it was not reversed, but is there enough magnetic force to tell by such a simple measurement method?
Come to think of it, is the Bunkui Pass in Ina City, Nagano Prefecture, famous for its zero magnetic field, located above the magnetic pole transition zone? If we had carefully studied that place, the name Inanian might have been populated by now.
The fact that the most recent geomagnetic reversal occurred 770,000 years ago and the extremely fast sedimentation rate of this formation allows for detailed analysis is the reason for its high reputation in the scientific community.
Here’s a little question. The river in this area runs north-south and the sample holes are dug in an east-west direction. If the sample is rotated, won’t the north-south direction be switched? The river is winding, so if the sample is taken in the north-south direction at the point where the river flows in the east-west direction, even if it rolls, the direction of the magnetic poles at the front and back will remain the same, and I think that stable measurement will be possible. I wonder if this is simply an amateur’s idea.
Satomi Station
Road coming from Tsukisaki Station to Cibanian
After observing the Cibanian, I headed for Elephant Country. The road from Tsukisaki Station to Cibanian looks like this. I think this road has a larger percentage of well-maintained sidewalks than the road from Kazusa-Okubo Station.
Yoro River seen from Hinosaki Bridge
I cross the Yoro River again.
According to Wikipedia, the name of the Yoro River is said to come from the ancient word for the back of the knee, “yohoro,” which describes the many bends in the river. It is indeed a wiggly bend, and we will cross it four or five times today.
I knew that the back of the knee was called “hikagami,” but I didn’t know it was also called “yohoro.
Tree dahlia
The most conspicuous flower that stood out while walking around was this tree dahlia, which was planted in gardens here and there.
Satomi Station
I thought I had come to a place where there were many people, but it was Satomi Station.
They were selling yaki-imo (baked sweet potatoes), which they had just come to sell on the train. It was right around lunch time, so I bought one.
Baked sweet potatoes sold at Satomi station
It was a hunky sweet potato that tasted like chestnuts, which I like. The skin wasn’t too charred, but it was cooked well enough, a very careful job. This is a must buy.
Satoyama Torokko Lunchbox
A Satoyama trolley lunch box was also purchased. The price was 600 yen, or something like that (I forget). It was also delicious.
While I was eating, they brought me a cup of tea. They are very kind people.
Animal Wonder Resort (Ichihara Zou no Kuni)
200 yen rental bicycle
Found a bike rental place in a corner of Satomi station!
There is no caretaker. You are supposed to cooperate with the management of the bike rental service by putting 200 yen in a cooperation fee box that looks like a bird’s nest box.
It looked interesting, so I rented the black bicycle on the left. There is no key on the bike.
As soon as I started pedaling, I thought “the pedals are a little heavy,” and gradually it became harder and harder to pedal even on level ground.
It has gears, and when I changed the gears, the gear ratio seemed to have changed, but the pedal weight is the same. I decided to pedal with a higher gear ratio because it is better to pedal a longer distance at a time.
Takataki Lake
This is Takataki Lake. The bridge you see is the Sakai Bridge that crosses the lake, through which you will pass.
Near the Sakai Bridge is an island-like area where heavy machinery was clearing the land.
I had originally planned to visit Animal Wonder Resort on foot, and a Google Maps search for walking showed a route around the east side of a temple called Chosenji. I only went as far as Chosen-ji Temple, but it looked as if I would not be able to get there if I continued on.
On my way back to the temple, I asked a local for directions and was told to return to the Sayuri World area, so it would be wise not to take that route.
If you search for a route by car, it will show you the road that the locals told us to take. Even if you are going on foot, please search in car mode when you are in the vicinity of Animal Wonder Resort.
Animal Wonder Resort
Finally, we came to Animal Wonder Resort. It takes about 50 minutes from Satomi Station. I guess it is faster than walking. The pedals were heavy, though.
Two rental bicycles were already placed at the bicycle parking lot.
Ichihara Cat Country
Just before entering the Land of Elephants (Animal Wonder Resort) was the Land of Cats.
Animal Wonder Resort Entrance
Is the arch where it says “entrance” the entrance for groups only?
Entrance Tickets and Brochures
Admission is 1,800 yen for adults, 900 yen for elementary school students, and 500 yen for children 3 and older. Considering the cost of feeding the gluttonous elephants, this is a reasonable price.
Capybara
Inside is a zoo. There is also a capybara. The hair is bristly. It has four toes on its front feet and three on its hind feet. They are neither even-toed nor odd-toed. They are rodents.
Elephant and elephant trainer coming down from the mountain
The elephant show will begin at 14:30. A Thai elephant man comes down from the mountain on an elephant. He was wearing a Santa hat because of the season.
The elephant show was a show that visitors could enjoy together, hanging from the elephant’s nose, being given a hat to wear, and so on. However, since I wanted to catch the 3:45 p.m. train, I left Elephant Country after about 15 minutes of fun.
Satomi Station again
Satomi Station
The 15:45 train on the timetable on the Kominato Railway website is the Satoyama Torokko-go, but today it has been changed to a temporary train. I feel a bit disappointed and relieved that it is not cold, but I have mixed feelings.
I see that there is a tablet and ticket system between Satomi station and Kazusa-Ushiku.
I was surprised with nostalgia when I saw the tablet case being handed over on the platform. I tried to take a picture of it in a hurry, but I missed the decisive moment because there was a person in between.
Walking data
Course: Kazusa-Okubo Station, Kominato Railway Line -> Chibanian -> Animal Wonder Resort (Ichihara Zou no Kuni) -> Satomi Station, Kominato Railway Line
Distance: 21.0 km (including 12.3 km by bicycle)
Time: 5h2m
