During my trip to Japan for EXO Planet #5 EXplOration in Fukuoka, I did a little mini side-trip to Tottori while en-route from Fukuoka back to Osaka.
The Tottori region itself is not by any means a famous tourist attraction in Japan. It seems to be more frequently visited by Japanese themselves, probably as a way to avoid the influx of overseas tourists at other spots. It’s definitely interesting to spot some random EXO-L taking CBX-inspired pilgrimage shots while we were there.
My trip would not be possible without the guide posted by @onlaymon on Twitter. Kudos to this kind soul and make sure to thank her too if you ended up using the tips on my blog!
I spent a total of 3-days in the Tottori area and a summary of my itinerary as follows;
- Day 1: Daisen Milk no Sato
- Day 2: Sakaiminato Yokai Town – stamp rally & museum visit
- Day 3: Kurayoshi & Tottori Sand Dunes
This post will go through my Day 1 adventure in Tottori and will cover how I got to Tottori and onwards to Daisen Milk no Sato.
How to get to the Tottori area (JR pass & without)
The area is accessible by train and during my trip, I combined the Tottori visit with my annual dosage of EXO concert in Fukuoka.
The most economical way to travel by train in Japan is to utilise the value pass offered by their railway company. There are two choices when it comes to Japan Railways (JR) pass to purchase for this route. The Sanyo Sanin Area Pass and the Kansai Wide Area Pass.
Sanyo Sanin Area Pass
This was the pass I’ve purchased and I chose this as it covers not only Tottori but also my trip down to Fukuoka. The pass is valid for 7 days and within that time I made the trip from Osaka -> Fukuoka -> Tottori -> Osaka.
Please refer to the official website for rates and updates to the coverage here.
It is possible to purchase the railway pass after arrival in Japan, however I highly recommend buying it in advance since you do get a discount for the effort plus the line at the JR office to physically purchase it is quite long, even in the morning.
I purchased mine via the website KLOOK in this link. After making payment, the pass can be picked up from JR e-MCO machine as detailed in this step-by-step guide shared by KLOOK.
The pass covers train ride all the way to Sakaiminato where the Yokai Town CBX visited is located. On top of that, it also covers some of the top attractions in Kansai area such as Kyoto, Nara, Arashiyama and Himeji Castle.
You can reserved seats with this pass for free, which you should for long distance train or you might end up having to stand for a good few hours. Seat reservation can only be done at JR West counters.
Due to the cost, I would only recommend this option if you’re travelling out all the way to Fukuoka, on the Sanyo Shinkansen to make it worth your money.
Kansai Wide Area Pass
This is a cheaper alternative if you are not planning to travel all the way to Fukuoka.
This pass can be purchased via KLOOK as well, but will only cover the trip from Osaka up to Tottori Station. It will not cover onwards trip to Yokai Town, a separate fee is necessary for that.
Similarly, the pass still covers the Hello Kitty Haruka from airport to Osaka city and the attractions in Kansai area mentioned in the previous pass. However, you can only ride on non-reserved seat (first come first serve). No seat reservation can be made on any train using this pass.
If you are not planning to extend your journey beyond Tottori, this is a more cost effective choice as ticket from Tottori Station to Sakaiminato Station (Yokai Town) will only cost you ¥1,980 one way on a non-express train. So even with a roundtrip, you can theoretically do the trip under ¥14,000.
Travelling without JR Pass
If you are not planning to do a full tour of all the spots CBX visited or your trip will run longer than the 5-7 days limit, you may consider just buying ticket normally from the machine.
Cheapest fare for a one way trip from Osaka Station to Tottori Station will cost ¥3,960. This however will require 2 train changes along the way and extra 1.5 hours travel time compared to the more expensive direct train.
Alternatively, the direct route on Ltd Exp Super Hakuto will cost ¥6,590 on non-reserved seat.
There will be additional costs in visiting other attractions with the highest cost being the train from Tottori Station to Yokai Town at Sakaiminato Station (¥1,980 one way train).
Plan your route using Hyperdia as you’ll be able to sort the recommended route by cost or number of transfers.
Day 1: Daisen Milk no Sato (大山ミルぅのさとう)
We started our Tottori leg of the trip with a visit to Daisen Milk no Sato.
Right after EXO’s Fukuoka concert ended, we hopped on the train the very same night to Okayama which is a city located in between between Fukuoka and Tottori. We spent the night in Okayama so that we’ll be able to take an early train to Tottori in the morning.
The next day, we went onboard the Ltd Express Yakumo train to Yonago Station to start our CBX travel adventure. We had to drag our luggages along of course, but the station had a pretty decent amount of lockers so we had no problem storing the luggage.
Daisen Milk no Sato
Closing days:
– Closed during winter season from December to mid-March (see website for actual dates)
– Closed every 2nd and 4th Tuesday
Opening hours:
10am to 5pm
Entrance fee: Free. Additional fee required to join activities.
Official website: Link
Daisen Milk Farm is accessible from Yonago Station by the Daisen Loop Bus but at a very infrequent timing. To be specific it is only available during weekend and public holiday. There should be a normal bus during other times, but information on this are quite sparse. On top of that, normal buses will stop around 15mins away from Daisen Milk no Sato at “Masumizukogen” bus stop.
Daisen Loop Bus
Availability:
Only during weekends and public holidays from 27 April to 24 November
Fare:
¥1,200 unlimited ride pass per day (as at October 2019)
You can purchase the 3-day unlimited bus ride pass for ¥1,800 which will cover the selected bus rides to other attractions in Tottori
Timetable:
Downloadable from this link
Note:
– The day-pass can be purchased from the driver. The bus will stop right in front of the Daisen Milk entrance.
– The timing of bus from and back to Yonago Station is very sparse so plan your trip properly.
I opted for the day-pass instead of the 3-day pass as I didn’t want to limit any future bus plan to the selected route/timing covered by the pass.
The moment we got off the bus we were greeted by the cute cows by the roadside. It was a rainy day and Mt Daisen was sadly hidden behind the thick clouds.
Before we get too comfortable and start chilling out at the grassy areas, we decided to pop-in to the gift shop. As stated on the official site, the soft serve milk ice cream is sold at limited quantity (4,500 cones). Naturally our Asian instinct kicks in and we started lining up. Line wasn’t long since it was early morning. I can’t be sure if the ice cream do get sold out by the evening though. The soft serve is amazing! Actually all the milk-based products here are pretty high quality. This coming from a person who doesn’t enjoy dairy on normal days.
We grabbed the snacks that CBX tried during their visit, which were the Mochi of Milk and Creamy Milk Cake.
I am quite devastated to see that the swing they were riding on during the show was no more 😭 It’s supposed to be right beside the tree but it’s not there.
Visitors can try their hands at making ice cream just like CBX did during the show. It’ll cost ¥1,600 for 3-4 people. Advance reservations is necessary via phone 7 days prior to your visit as detailed in their website. @onlaymon mentioned in her Tottori guide that she had her hotel call 3 days in advance and still got a spot for the experience.
There are two restaurants located inside the main building, one serving Western food and the other a BBQ restaurant.
We chose to have Western Food and the restaurant served quite an interesting array of dishes with a milky twist. I had the Shrimp and Cheese Macaroni with Milk Sauce which was amazing!
CBX also visited the Horse Riding Club Daisen Riding Center (大山乗馬センター) located in the same area as this Milk Farm. However, it is not served by the Daisen Loop Bus. It is served by another sightseeing bus covered under the day-pass but you’ll have to double back to Yonago Station to take it.
We decided to give the horses a miss and we headed back to Yonago Station after lunch. From the station, we rode onboard the yokai train (yes same as the one CBX rode) to Sakaiminato Station where the Yokai Town is located.
I’ll be updating for my yokai adventure at the town on my next post. See you guys soon! ♥️
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