The loooooong road home - to Yamadera.

In order to have 2 uses left on the ticket, I decided to travel back to Tokyo in one day.  It was a marathon.  6.28 at Odate, a short wait at Akita station, a train to Shinjo　（ 新庄 )　in Yamagata, a change of train again in Uzen Chitose 　（羽前千歳）　and a train to Yamadera (山寺)　where  there is a mountain temple on a road less traveled, where foreigners are few and far between.
When I left Odate it was snowing chira chira - fluttering gently. It continued on and off the whole way to Yamadera.  Akita and Shinjo are both Shinkansen stations - unlike most of Japan the Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen can run on ordinary guage tracks as well as the designated Shinkansen lines.  I am not sure how many passengers Shinjo gets, but the station is light and airy, usuing lots of glass and cedar wood.   It was cold, snowy and windy in Shinjo, obscuring the visibility of  the Dewa Sanzan mountains on the sea side.   I had enough time for a quick walk around and to buy some take away coffee and an onigiri.  I got onto the train wondering if a stop at Yamadera would be feasible.

outside Odate - little snow

outside odate- more snow...

snow at Akita station falling chira chira

On the way to Shinjo

Shinjo looking west

Shinjo station

South of Shinjo