BG Report: JR Shirasagi train to Nagoya
This train immerses you in Japan’s green mountains
Watch on YouTube (10:38)
The JR Shirasagi is a limited express train that runs between the Japanese cities of Nagoya and Kanazawa. It goes by Lake Biwa and through the mountains of southern Gifu Prefecture.
I rode the three-hour train from Kanazawa one morning. And I got lucky with my seat choice – the best views and no sunshine in my face! With the twists and turns of this train, that takes work to accomplish. Luckily, my research paid off and I guessed right.

When we got to the eastern shores of Lake Biwa, Japan’s oldest and biggest lake, I could see it right outside my window. (I noticed that the salarymen on the other side of the train car were sleeping, with their curtains drawn, due to the sunshine on that side.)
In Maibara, the train pulled in from the north, but then reversed and pulled out, back towards the north. Then it took a side line to the east, and we all turned our seats around so we could be facing the (new) front. And outside my window now was huge Mt. Ibuki, an imposing mountain towering above the other, smaller ones.

Mt. Ibuki, from the train window
Around here, I checked my BG because it was lunch time. It was 136. As I’ve said before, post-breakfast blood sugars are often my higher ones. So, on a day like today on the Shirasagi, when a morning BG is excellent, I am always pleased. Must have been the thoroughly enjoyable ride.

I had my lunch in the seat as I watched the mountains slowly give way to flatter lands and the increasing sprawl of Nagoya. The three-hour ride ended right on time, and I was in Nagoya.
Blood sugar was still A-ok.