Symbol Road statuesPhoto: ブルーノ・プラス / CC BY 4.0
Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
Twenty-eight bronze Galaxy Express 999 and Space Battleship Yamato figures line the arcade — the town’s 1999 tribute to its port-and-rails century. Free, and great fun to photograph.
- Short enough to be certain of: 30 min door to door, so even a tender day works.
Why Symbol Road statues is famous
The street from Tsuruga Station to Kehi Jingu is lined with bronze statues (28 by most counts) from Galaxy Express 999 and Space Battleship Yamato, installed in 1999. Leiji Matsumoto's stories are about departure by rail and sea, which is why a port town with a famous railway history chose them.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
50 min for bothFormer Tsuruga Port Station
A pocket museum of the boat-train era, when Tokyo–Tsuruga–Vladivostok was the fastest way from Japan to Paris.
See the detail
1 hr for bothKanegasaki-gu
The “love shrine” on the hill over the museum quarter — a short stair climb, a harbor view, and in early April the cherry-blossom flower-exchange festival..
See the detail
1 hr for bothChienamiki bookstore at otta
A curated forest of a bookshop beside the shinkansen station — the pleasant surprise of the newest corner of this very old port.
See the detail