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Farewell to the Sanko Line

Miyoshi Station

I'm rather sad. Today marked the last day of operation of the Sanko Line in Chugoku, Japan. I'd long wanted to ride this quiet rural line, but never got around to it. Now it is too late.

The line runs from Miyoshi, inland of Hiroshima, to Gotsu on the San'in Coast, one of my favourite regions of Japan. I've been through both those end points, but never on the direct line between them.

For a nice photographic essay of the route I recommend taking a look at niepong3t's photos on Instagram, like this one.

The next Japanese line scheduled to close is the Yubari to Shin-Yubari stretch in Hokkaido in one year's time, a year later than I first thought. Hopefully I can make if back to Hokkaido first.

Gotsu Station

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