A tale of two Japans: a trip report
Apr 25th, 2013 | 02:12 PM
#41
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,897
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Sue, I see that you are determined to get this done but I am following along dutifully, even though our only destinations in common are Tokyo and Kyoto for our October trip. I feel slighted that I am the only Fodorite posting on this thread that you have not acknowledged 
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Apr 25th, 2013 | 02:42 PM
#42
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 6,412
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Still here and following along too! I am getting a kick out of your first impressions in Japan. Takes me back a ways. Lucky to have experienced Hikone at sakura time.....actually most castles in Japan are beautiful in the cherry blossom season.
Craig, seemaskt and samantha are missing kudos but only Craig is crying about it
Aloha!
Craig, seemaskt and samantha are missing kudos but only Craig is crying about it
Aloha!
Apr 25th, 2013 | 02:58 PM
#43
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Joined: Feb 2003
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Oh Craig, I thought I had gotten everyone, but I see you are right, although I read your kind remarks I managed to overlook making reference to same, I'm so sorry. I hereby award you the Official Sue Seal of Acknowledgement, and better than that, I look forward to hearing about your own October trip and even about your anticipation, for anticipation of a trip is surely half the fun.
Greetings Seemaskt, I remember your own report which was full of your culinary reflections on Japan. Don't know as we succeeded as well as you did in sampling the local cuisine, but we did give it a try. I have to admit, I enjoyed the 'vendor' food the best.
Greetings Seemaskt, I remember your own report which was full of your culinary reflections on Japan. Don't know as we succeeded as well as you did in sampling the local cuisine, but we did give it a try. I have to admit, I enjoyed the 'vendor' food the best.
Apr 25th, 2013 | 03:04 PM
#44
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Joined: Feb 2003
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What's this, hawaiian, I missed Samantha too? Oi vey, yes, there she is, SamanthaCanyon, all the way back on April 22 at 4:59. So hello, Samantha, albeit belatedly, sorry about that, glad you are enjoying my report.
I am back for four days - actually six days since leaving Japan, and I'm STILL nodding off in the middle of the afternoon and struggling not to pace around the house in the middle of the night. Hawaiian, you've been many times, surely you have a recipe for jet lag ?!
I am back for four days - actually six days since leaving Japan, and I'm STILL nodding off in the middle of the afternoon and struggling not to pace around the house in the middle of the night. Hawaiian, you've been many times, surely you have a recipe for jet lag ?!
Apr 25th, 2013 | 04:10 PM
#47
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13 April, day eleven. Day trip to Magome-Tsumago from Nagoya.
I had done a lot of homework for this outing, beginning with ensuring that we would catch an 08:00 train out of Nagoya for Nakatsugawa arriving 08:50, because according to the websites that I checked, there would be a DAILY bus at 09:10 leaving Nakatsugawa station for Magome. But when we arrive in Nakatsugawa, we march over to the bus stop (clearly labelled so that even non-compass-toting folk can find it, "MAGOME" - yes, in English) only to find that on weekends (today was Saturday), that the next bus would not be until 09:40.
Naturally someone has updated the websites since, and the schedules now read that a bus leaves at 09:10 'weekdays only' so that I look like a moron who can't read, but I swear to you, that that was not what the websites said almost right up until the time we left for Japan. Anyway, it is just as well, arriving at 08:50 for a 09:40 bus allows us time to do important things, like scope out a washroom, buy sandwiches at the station, re-read the bus notices, and examine our shoelaces as we stand in line at the stop. And yes, believe it or not, we were second in line, even arriving at 08:50. It's a Saturday, as I said, and hiking enthusiasts are out in earnest, enough to almost fill the bus when it arrives.
I also learn an interesting aspect of Japanese culture, which is that it is not just North American tourists who fail to read signs. The bus notice I have referred to detailed the terms of payment, a great relief to me as those here on Fodors know, because this was a detail missing from schedules posted on-line. Don Topaz had assured me that nobody would yell at me if I got on a bus without a ticket, assuming one was required, but in a country full of samurai swords, being yelled at was not my principal concern. Anyway here is the info for those needing it: the rule for the Magome bus follows the rule that I have found applies in general for short-distance buses in Japan, to wit, that it is a pay-per-distance system, and so payment is settled as you exit and not as you board and certainly not before you board (i.e. with a pre-purchased ticket.) As for my fellow hikers, mainly Japanese, many boarded without pulling a ticket out of the dispenser as they boarded, notwithstanding clearly posted information to the contrary, which made me feel better for some reason.
We arrive in Magome around 10:05, and spouse and I begin our hike, stopping at one of the shops in Magome only to pick up a cold drink. I have this idea that we will save ourselves part of the uphill walk if we catch the Magome to Tsumago bus operated by 'ontake Kotsu', which according to their schedule
http://www.japan-guide.com/bus/kiso.html
will leave Magome at 10:50. So, my guess is that that bus will arrive at the stop labelled 'shimizu' on this map:
http://magomechaya.com/English/images/ura-01.pdf
...at around 10:55 or so. It being just after 10:00 now, I figure if we stroll determinedly, we can have our stroll and make the Shimizu stop by 10:55 in time for the bus, too.
Which we do, but there are two problems. The first is that while I estimated the time perfectly, I underestimated the grade of the hill to be climbed, the result being that spouse is wheezing fit to have a heart attack by the time we reach the ''shimizu' stop. The second is that there is a schedule on the stop that informs us, contrary to information published elsewhere, that the bus will arrive at this stop at 10:58 (it is now 10:57) --- but only between 22 April and 4 May, or some such, whatever, today is as we know, the thirteenth.
I try to distract my wheezing spouse with the fact that it is a beautiful day, that we will enjoy hiking up the mountain, but he is obstinately wondering why we roared up two thirds of the mountain in a futile effort to avoid walking up the last third.
I had done a lot of homework for this outing, beginning with ensuring that we would catch an 08:00 train out of Nagoya for Nakatsugawa arriving 08:50, because according to the websites that I checked, there would be a DAILY bus at 09:10 leaving Nakatsugawa station for Magome. But when we arrive in Nakatsugawa, we march over to the bus stop (clearly labelled so that even non-compass-toting folk can find it, "MAGOME" - yes, in English) only to find that on weekends (today was Saturday), that the next bus would not be until 09:40.
Naturally someone has updated the websites since, and the schedules now read that a bus leaves at 09:10 'weekdays only' so that I look like a moron who can't read, but I swear to you, that that was not what the websites said almost right up until the time we left for Japan. Anyway, it is just as well, arriving at 08:50 for a 09:40 bus allows us time to do important things, like scope out a washroom, buy sandwiches at the station, re-read the bus notices, and examine our shoelaces as we stand in line at the stop. And yes, believe it or not, we were second in line, even arriving at 08:50. It's a Saturday, as I said, and hiking enthusiasts are out in earnest, enough to almost fill the bus when it arrives.
I also learn an interesting aspect of Japanese culture, which is that it is not just North American tourists who fail to read signs. The bus notice I have referred to detailed the terms of payment, a great relief to me as those here on Fodors know, because this was a detail missing from schedules posted on-line. Don Topaz had assured me that nobody would yell at me if I got on a bus without a ticket, assuming one was required, but in a country full of samurai swords, being yelled at was not my principal concern. Anyway here is the info for those needing it: the rule for the Magome bus follows the rule that I have found applies in general for short-distance buses in Japan, to wit, that it is a pay-per-distance system, and so payment is settled as you exit and not as you board and certainly not before you board (i.e. with a pre-purchased ticket.) As for my fellow hikers, mainly Japanese, many boarded without pulling a ticket out of the dispenser as they boarded, notwithstanding clearly posted information to the contrary, which made me feel better for some reason.
We arrive in Magome around 10:05, and spouse and I begin our hike, stopping at one of the shops in Magome only to pick up a cold drink. I have this idea that we will save ourselves part of the uphill walk if we catch the Magome to Tsumago bus operated by 'ontake Kotsu', which according to their schedule
http://www.japan-guide.com/bus/kiso.html
will leave Magome at 10:50. So, my guess is that that bus will arrive at the stop labelled 'shimizu' on this map:
http://magomechaya.com/English/images/ura-01.pdf
...at around 10:55 or so. It being just after 10:00 now, I figure if we stroll determinedly, we can have our stroll and make the Shimizu stop by 10:55 in time for the bus, too.
Which we do, but there are two problems. The first is that while I estimated the time perfectly, I underestimated the grade of the hill to be climbed, the result being that spouse is wheezing fit to have a heart attack by the time we reach the ''shimizu' stop. The second is that there is a schedule on the stop that informs us, contrary to information published elsewhere, that the bus will arrive at this stop at 10:58 (it is now 10:57) --- but only between 22 April and 4 May, or some such, whatever, today is as we know, the thirteenth.
I try to distract my wheezing spouse with the fact that it is a beautiful day, that we will enjoy hiking up the mountain, but he is obstinately wondering why we roared up two thirds of the mountain in a futile effort to avoid walking up the last third.
Apr 25th, 2013 | 05:51 PM
#49
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Joined: Feb 2003
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Marija - Spouse didn't always think so, this trip. (and hello to Bokhara2).
********************
13 April, day eleven (continued).
Around this time we find the first of a series of 'bear bells.' Now, being Canadians we know the old joke, that bear spoor is often found full of bells and pepper spray, and so we feel this bell is useful for little more than as a summons to dinner, and certainly not a deterrent to one being made into dinner. We ring it for laughs anyway, and at this point we meet our companions for the balance of the day, a couple more or less retired, like ourselves, but unlike ourselves, from Australia. They had been discussing between themselves as to whether they should continue the hike, not because they feared its length, but because they believed their options for returning to Nakatsugawa (where they were staying) were limited to taking the bus back there from Tsumago. No fear, I tell them, you can catch a train from Tsumago rail station to Nakatsugawa, and yes, I was certain that there would be a bus to Tsumago rail station from Tsumago, notwithstanding that as we have seen, any certainty that I have with bus schedules should be regarded with some skepticism.
Anyway they decided to throw in their lot with us, and we will in due course complete the balance of the hike together. Meanwhile the remainder of the uphill climb was indeed short, at least in this writer's view (one of her party wishes to voice dissent), and not long after we reach the summit, "Magetomage" on the linked map, we run into other English-speaking hikers headed in the opposite direction. They assure us that Tsumago is less than two hours away, and also affirm that a rest stop complete with free tea is nearby. And sure enough, not long after parting ways with the other hikers, we come upon something that could figure in a Grimm's fairy tale - a hut in the woods, complete with fire in the fire pit, and no joke, an old man dressed in traditional conical hat handing out plums soaked in wine and hot tea for only a suggested donation. But best of all there are toilets without, and yours truly would have been grateful even if all she found were the pit toilets that she expected in such a remote spot. Instead she finds, not just flush toilets, but toilets with heated seats, which feature she hopes will catch on with the folks at Parks Canada, although she is not holding her breath.
Tea quaffed and plums consumed, we bid sayonara to our host, and not long afterward come upon a lovely shrine lit by a shaft of sunlight piercing the dark evergreen canopy. My hiking map informs us that this is a 'Shrine to the Goddess of Mercy for Easy Delivery.' Now I accept that my knowledge of Japanese obstetrics is extremely limited, but it does seem to me like delivery would be easier if the poor woman wasn't expected to hike all the way up here to do the deed in the first place. Unless I've misunderstood something, which is likely.
Onward we trek, now passing a lovely mountain stream. I indicate to my companions that we should be keeping our eyes out for the 'Male and Female Waterfalls' although how to distinguish the two I have no idea. And we do indeed come upon two waterfalls, and we still don't know which is which, not even after sitting down to picnic in the proximity, which was a fine idea shared by several other Japanese hikers.
We reach the outskirts of Tsumago by about 1:30 in the afternoon, just about three and a half hours after starting out, lunch included. We split up with our Australian companions to explore the town, which we find a delightful place, far more interesting than Magome. We take up an invitation by a vendor to try some steamed buns, one filled with bean paste and the other with some kind of walnut paste. The buns are nice but even nicer is the vendor's invitation to consume his fare with tea that he provides beside a crackling fire in a fire pit. We also try a sample of roast chestnuts - no, thank you, they taste a bit like squash to us - but have better luck with Sakura (cherry flavoured) soft ice cream. Elsewhere in the town (lest you think it's about nothing but eating) are some ancient noticeboards dating from the time the local lord posted edicts in the town, and a waterwheel.
It's a pretty village but after an hour or so we've seen it, with the notable exception of a museum or two which we're not in the mood for on such a fine day, and so we hike to the nearby bus stop to await with our Oz companions the bus to Tsumago station. It is here that I am reminded, for the umpteenth time, that Japan's success in engineering everything from electronics to cars does not extend to even pavement. I have nearly tripped in Kyoto, stumbled in Takayama, and almost lost my balance in Nagoya thanks to uneven grades, and here in Tsumago I finally manage it, fortunately with mainly my dignity damaged. But it's a reminder to slow down and be more careful, the last thing we need is an injury to either of us at this stage.
We say so long to our Oz friends when they alight from the train at Nakatsugawa and are ourselves back in Nagoya by 5 p.m.
And here endeth day eleven.
********************
13 April, day eleven (continued).
Around this time we find the first of a series of 'bear bells.' Now, being Canadians we know the old joke, that bear spoor is often found full of bells and pepper spray, and so we feel this bell is useful for little more than as a summons to dinner, and certainly not a deterrent to one being made into dinner. We ring it for laughs anyway, and at this point we meet our companions for the balance of the day, a couple more or less retired, like ourselves, but unlike ourselves, from Australia. They had been discussing between themselves as to whether they should continue the hike, not because they feared its length, but because they believed their options for returning to Nakatsugawa (where they were staying) were limited to taking the bus back there from Tsumago. No fear, I tell them, you can catch a train from Tsumago rail station to Nakatsugawa, and yes, I was certain that there would be a bus to Tsumago rail station from Tsumago, notwithstanding that as we have seen, any certainty that I have with bus schedules should be regarded with some skepticism.
Anyway they decided to throw in their lot with us, and we will in due course complete the balance of the hike together. Meanwhile the remainder of the uphill climb was indeed short, at least in this writer's view (one of her party wishes to voice dissent), and not long after we reach the summit, "Magetomage" on the linked map, we run into other English-speaking hikers headed in the opposite direction. They assure us that Tsumago is less than two hours away, and also affirm that a rest stop complete with free tea is nearby. And sure enough, not long after parting ways with the other hikers, we come upon something that could figure in a Grimm's fairy tale - a hut in the woods, complete with fire in the fire pit, and no joke, an old man dressed in traditional conical hat handing out plums soaked in wine and hot tea for only a suggested donation. But best of all there are toilets without, and yours truly would have been grateful even if all she found were the pit toilets that she expected in such a remote spot. Instead she finds, not just flush toilets, but toilets with heated seats, which feature she hopes will catch on with the folks at Parks Canada, although she is not holding her breath.
Tea quaffed and plums consumed, we bid sayonara to our host, and not long afterward come upon a lovely shrine lit by a shaft of sunlight piercing the dark evergreen canopy. My hiking map informs us that this is a 'Shrine to the Goddess of Mercy for Easy Delivery.' Now I accept that my knowledge of Japanese obstetrics is extremely limited, but it does seem to me like delivery would be easier if the poor woman wasn't expected to hike all the way up here to do the deed in the first place. Unless I've misunderstood something, which is likely.
Onward we trek, now passing a lovely mountain stream. I indicate to my companions that we should be keeping our eyes out for the 'Male and Female Waterfalls' although how to distinguish the two I have no idea. And we do indeed come upon two waterfalls, and we still don't know which is which, not even after sitting down to picnic in the proximity, which was a fine idea shared by several other Japanese hikers.
We reach the outskirts of Tsumago by about 1:30 in the afternoon, just about three and a half hours after starting out, lunch included. We split up with our Australian companions to explore the town, which we find a delightful place, far more interesting than Magome. We take up an invitation by a vendor to try some steamed buns, one filled with bean paste and the other with some kind of walnut paste. The buns are nice but even nicer is the vendor's invitation to consume his fare with tea that he provides beside a crackling fire in a fire pit. We also try a sample of roast chestnuts - no, thank you, they taste a bit like squash to us - but have better luck with Sakura (cherry flavoured) soft ice cream. Elsewhere in the town (lest you think it's about nothing but eating) are some ancient noticeboards dating from the time the local lord posted edicts in the town, and a waterwheel.
It's a pretty village but after an hour or so we've seen it, with the notable exception of a museum or two which we're not in the mood for on such a fine day, and so we hike to the nearby bus stop to await with our Oz companions the bus to Tsumago station. It is here that I am reminded, for the umpteenth time, that Japan's success in engineering everything from electronics to cars does not extend to even pavement. I have nearly tripped in Kyoto, stumbled in Takayama, and almost lost my balance in Nagoya thanks to uneven grades, and here in Tsumago I finally manage it, fortunately with mainly my dignity damaged. But it's a reminder to slow down and be more careful, the last thing we need is an injury to either of us at this stage.
We say so long to our Oz friends when they alight from the train at Nakatsugawa and are ourselves back in Nagoya by 5 p.m.
And here endeth day eleven.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 06:43 AM
#51
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Joined: Feb 2003
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Thank you Don Topaz, except that I woke up this morning and realized that I have made reference to 'Tsumago rail station' which does not of course exist. The rail station that serves Tsumago is NAGISO; regular buses from Tsumago will take one there. It is also possible to walk it, Nagiso being much closer to Tsumago, than Nakatsugawa is to Magome.
**********
14 Apr, day 12: Nagoya to Okayama
We had promised ourselves a second look at the TCMIT, but I had also hoped to squeeze in the peace museum at Osaka and/or Fushimi Inari this day, en route to Okayama. TCMIT won out, and so we head back to it this fine morning.
We do a quick overview of the loom section, before heading over to the automotive section. In between there is a fine steam engine on display, and a section on metallurgy, which may prove of especial interest to those with an interest in the 'Titanic' and why or how that doomed ship's metal hull failed so drastically.
For those who can't, like us, make the plant tour at Toyota, this museum really does demonstrate the assembly line process very well. Here is a giant 3 ton press, set up to do a demonstration 'press' of automotive body parts, complete with robots whirring around to do the 'welding' only the welding is represented by glowing electric lights. There are demonstrations of tools and of dies, and working demonstrations of other auto components such as differentials, and of advances in steering including rack and pinion. In short, we emerge three hours later (including time for a snack) with a healthy respect for the gazillion odd parts that make up a car.
After a quick hop from Sako to the main rail station, we walk back to the hotel to pick up our bags, having figured out that we spend not much more time walking the entire distance, than walking in between the platforms of the rail and subway stations. Then we roll our bags back to the station, there to hop onto the Hikari for Okayama, a medium sized city where far less English appears to spoken than in Nagoya or Kyoto. We are starting to relax about taking the train, even the bullet train: it really is very well organized. Just know that the shinkansens pull up to the platform no later than three minutes before departure, and ye had best get aboard pronto, because it WILL leave on schedule. The marquee display in the station, as well as the train itself, will be clearly marked as to type, so one has little excuse for hopping a NOZOMI (not covered by JR pass) instead of an HIKARI, say.
My watchstrap broke this trip, followed by my watch for some reason giving up the ghost completely, even though I'd just changed the battery. So once at Okayama, we head into a "BIC Camera" store which I assure you sells a whole lot more than cameras. There are six floors of electronics and appliances, and most especially, there is a large section of watches. Here, for the princely sum of 980 yen, I find another watch, complete with battery and even already set to the correct time. (I do not make a practice of investing in expensive watches, as I have a tendency to destroy any watch no matter what the price.)
I am curious to see the home appliance section. There are large refrigerator-freezers here of the kind I've seen coming on the North American market, one with the fridge section divided into completely separate compartments. But curiously there are very few standard ovens or ranges to be found, and I don't know if that is typical of the market here in general or just of this store. There are many more models of tabletop dishwashers to be found than at home, and also a model that looks like it's designed to fit into a shallow shelf - none of this is surprising given the small size of many Japanese homes. Oh, and many, many models of microwaves and toaster ovens, in contrast to the dearth of radiant ones.
Prices on most electronics, including Apple iPads and so forth, didn't seem much different from at home, once we did the currency conversion.
This evening's search for supper is a tad challenging since outside of our hotel we find fewer people speaking English. The menu comes with photos but no English explanations, and what is more I can't quite make out the subject of the photos. I think I can discern some rice in one photo and that's the item I indicate to the waitress, and then settle down to hope for the best. It turns out to be an omelette with mushrooms and rice, and it was reasonably good. Unfortunately I suspect it also contained whopping amounts of MSG, because I soon have a headache.
This reminds spouse that he's out of ibuprofen, so we head to a pharmacy in a department store. The pharmacist assures us that a given product is ibuprofen, but as I don't read the squiggle on the side, I am reluctant to risk a miscommunication on this. Instead we settle on 'Aspirin', one of the few brand names both recognizable and printed in English, and of course Aspirin is an antiinflammatory like ibuprofen, so it should do the job. The Aspirin comes with a complimentary towel made out of some kind of reuseable material (not cotton.) It seems a bit odd to market a towel with a drug, but the towel turns out to be very useful. We have noted how few washrooms provide paper towels, and even an electric hand dryer is often missing.
And here endeth day 12.
**********
14 Apr, day 12: Nagoya to Okayama
We had promised ourselves a second look at the TCMIT, but I had also hoped to squeeze in the peace museum at Osaka and/or Fushimi Inari this day, en route to Okayama. TCMIT won out, and so we head back to it this fine morning.
We do a quick overview of the loom section, before heading over to the automotive section. In between there is a fine steam engine on display, and a section on metallurgy, which may prove of especial interest to those with an interest in the 'Titanic' and why or how that doomed ship's metal hull failed so drastically.
For those who can't, like us, make the plant tour at Toyota, this museum really does demonstrate the assembly line process very well. Here is a giant 3 ton press, set up to do a demonstration 'press' of automotive body parts, complete with robots whirring around to do the 'welding' only the welding is represented by glowing electric lights. There are demonstrations of tools and of dies, and working demonstrations of other auto components such as differentials, and of advances in steering including rack and pinion. In short, we emerge three hours later (including time for a snack) with a healthy respect for the gazillion odd parts that make up a car.
After a quick hop from Sako to the main rail station, we walk back to the hotel to pick up our bags, having figured out that we spend not much more time walking the entire distance, than walking in between the platforms of the rail and subway stations. Then we roll our bags back to the station, there to hop onto the Hikari for Okayama, a medium sized city where far less English appears to spoken than in Nagoya or Kyoto. We are starting to relax about taking the train, even the bullet train: it really is very well organized. Just know that the shinkansens pull up to the platform no later than three minutes before departure, and ye had best get aboard pronto, because it WILL leave on schedule. The marquee display in the station, as well as the train itself, will be clearly marked as to type, so one has little excuse for hopping a NOZOMI (not covered by JR pass) instead of an HIKARI, say.
My watchstrap broke this trip, followed by my watch for some reason giving up the ghost completely, even though I'd just changed the battery. So once at Okayama, we head into a "BIC Camera" store which I assure you sells a whole lot more than cameras. There are six floors of electronics and appliances, and most especially, there is a large section of watches. Here, for the princely sum of 980 yen, I find another watch, complete with battery and even already set to the correct time. (I do not make a practice of investing in expensive watches, as I have a tendency to destroy any watch no matter what the price.)
I am curious to see the home appliance section. There are large refrigerator-freezers here of the kind I've seen coming on the North American market, one with the fridge section divided into completely separate compartments. But curiously there are very few standard ovens or ranges to be found, and I don't know if that is typical of the market here in general or just of this store. There are many more models of tabletop dishwashers to be found than at home, and also a model that looks like it's designed to fit into a shallow shelf - none of this is surprising given the small size of many Japanese homes. Oh, and many, many models of microwaves and toaster ovens, in contrast to the dearth of radiant ones.
Prices on most electronics, including Apple iPads and so forth, didn't seem much different from at home, once we did the currency conversion.
This evening's search for supper is a tad challenging since outside of our hotel we find fewer people speaking English. The menu comes with photos but no English explanations, and what is more I can't quite make out the subject of the photos. I think I can discern some rice in one photo and that's the item I indicate to the waitress, and then settle down to hope for the best. It turns out to be an omelette with mushrooms and rice, and it was reasonably good. Unfortunately I suspect it also contained whopping amounts of MSG, because I soon have a headache.
This reminds spouse that he's out of ibuprofen, so we head to a pharmacy in a department store. The pharmacist assures us that a given product is ibuprofen, but as I don't read the squiggle on the side, I am reluctant to risk a miscommunication on this. Instead we settle on 'Aspirin', one of the few brand names both recognizable and printed in English, and of course Aspirin is an antiinflammatory like ibuprofen, so it should do the job. The Aspirin comes with a complimentary towel made out of some kind of reuseable material (not cotton.) It seems a bit odd to market a towel with a drug, but the towel turns out to be very useful. We have noted how few washrooms provide paper towels, and even an electric hand dryer is often missing.
And here endeth day 12.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 07:05 AM
#52
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,941
Likes: 0
Trying to work out why you are going to Okayama. I used to go there to get the ferry to Shikoku but now there is a bridge so....
Japanese people carry small handkerchiefs which they use to dry their hands in the bathroom. That's why you won't find paper towels or even hot air dryers in most places outside tourist hotels/restaurants.
Glad you are enjoying the Shink (as my kids call it). You can't go far wrong, there are even marks on the platform where you should stand to get on at the correct car. And you will have noticed that people line up meticulously before the train arrives.
Japanese people carry small handkerchiefs which they use to dry their hands in the bathroom. That's why you won't find paper towels or even hot air dryers in most places outside tourist hotels/restaurants.
Glad you are enjoying the Shink (as my kids call it). You can't go far wrong, there are even marks on the platform where you should stand to get on at the correct car. And you will have noticed that people line up meticulously before the train arrives.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 07:31 AM
#53
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,623
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15 April, day 13. Day trip to Onomichi and a sampling of the 'Shimanami Kaido.'
I am greatly relieved to awaken and find that the weather is to be fine for this, the day of our cycling trip.
We arrive in Onomichi and find the bike rental station next to the 'Green Hill Hotel' which is not far from Onomichi rail station. After a few minutes spent adjusting the height of the seats and so forth, and after a little paperwork - we are ready. We are required to deposit 1000 yen for each bike, the deal being that if one drops off the bike at a depot other than this one, one forfeits the deposit. Other than that, it is a very reasonable 500 yen per day for each bike. The bikes are built for service, not for speed, but I am pleased to see that they do come with a few gears. The locks seem very flimsy but should do for this civilized country of low crime.
Our next task is to find the dock for the boat to Setoda. Now, the Shimanamikaido bikeway follows all but one of the bridges spanning the various islands in between the major islands of Honshu (where we are now) and Shikoku. If you plan to cycle the entire 70 km route, you have a choice of starting at Imabari, on Shikoku, or starting on the island of Mukaishima, just off Honshu.
Here's the map:
http://tinyurl.com/d2gbl6a
Either way, the authorities do not want cyclists on the bridge between Mukaishima and Onomichi/Honshu, they ask that one take the short ferry instead. All other bridges are bike friendly, and cost only nominal toll fares each.
Yours truly, whilst an enthusiastic cyclist, was not certain she wanted to do a full 70 km bike ride in unfamiliar territory, and she was very certain her spouse would not want to do it. So, I decided we would take the ferry - a different line - to Setoda, which is a village on the island of Ikuchijima; bike the quiet rural bike path as far as the vicinity of Tatara bridge, and then loop back to take the same ferry back to Onomichi. This I estimated would involve a bike ride of around 20 km roundtrip, an easy run that would give us a taste of the Shimanami but still ensure that we would return home married and not divorced. Most importantly, it would not involve biking on any actual road shared with cars, which can be the case for other parts of the Shimanami. It also meant that we would already know where to get the return ferry to Onomichi, which was important as my readers will soon understand.
Anyway I had been given to understand that one bought the tickets for the ferry to Setoda in the lobby of the Green Hill Hotel, which is on the second floor of that fine establishment. There I am told to go 'downstairs' but when I return to the first floor, no ticket dispenser can I find. Worse, we cannot find the dock for said ferry, only the dock for the ferry to Mukaishima.
At this point a kind Japanese couple, also with bikes, notice our bewilderment and offer to help. This is a good time to point out that our experience in almost every country we have visited is that we have always run into kind locals willing but not necessarily able to help, and sometimes into the bargain things are complicated by said locals being actually less informed than ourselves. This was to be the case here. Our kind Japanese couple acknowledge that they are themselves doing the Shimanami kaido for the first time, and that they too are bound for Setoda. They insist that the Mukaishima will do the job. I begin to waver - even though my research told me the next ferry to Setoda was not until 10:10 - 40 minutes from now - how can I know better than one who speaks the language?
As soon as we all four board the ferry I know something is wrong - the fare is far too low, only 100 yen each. Sure enough, when we dock a mere five minutes later at Mukaishima, with no prospect of going onward to Setoda, I indicate that this is not where we want to go. "There's a boat to Setoda?" the Japanese woman of the couple asks, and sure enough, she does know less than I do. It is now clear that they intend to BIKE to Setoda from Mukaishima, and this was what they had thought we wanted to do. But our couple is helpful after all: they translate to the ferry operator to please point out the proper dock to us, once the ferry goes back to Onomichi (which it will do immediately.)
Things don't appear to be too bad - we are only out 400 yen or so for the roundtrip, we will not lose much time, and sure enough, when we arrive back, the operator does indeed point the way - to the BASEMENT floor of the Green Hill Hotel. Of course. That's what was meant by 'downstairs.' And there I find the ticket machine, and a helpful lady who assures me that notwithstanding the pleasure craft docked at the dock immediately adjacent to the Mukaishima ferry dock, that is our dock. I buy 2 tickets, 840 yen each: the lady assures me that I can pay for the bikes once aboard, about 300 yen.
And sure enough, just before 10:10, the ferry turns up, even marked "ONOMICHI-SETODA" on the side. We are off.
I am greatly relieved to awaken and find that the weather is to be fine for this, the day of our cycling trip.
We arrive in Onomichi and find the bike rental station next to the 'Green Hill Hotel' which is not far from Onomichi rail station. After a few minutes spent adjusting the height of the seats and so forth, and after a little paperwork - we are ready. We are required to deposit 1000 yen for each bike, the deal being that if one drops off the bike at a depot other than this one, one forfeits the deposit. Other than that, it is a very reasonable 500 yen per day for each bike. The bikes are built for service, not for speed, but I am pleased to see that they do come with a few gears. The locks seem very flimsy but should do for this civilized country of low crime.
Our next task is to find the dock for the boat to Setoda. Now, the Shimanamikaido bikeway follows all but one of the bridges spanning the various islands in between the major islands of Honshu (where we are now) and Shikoku. If you plan to cycle the entire 70 km route, you have a choice of starting at Imabari, on Shikoku, or starting on the island of Mukaishima, just off Honshu.
Here's the map:
http://tinyurl.com/d2gbl6a
Either way, the authorities do not want cyclists on the bridge between Mukaishima and Onomichi/Honshu, they ask that one take the short ferry instead. All other bridges are bike friendly, and cost only nominal toll fares each.
Yours truly, whilst an enthusiastic cyclist, was not certain she wanted to do a full 70 km bike ride in unfamiliar territory, and she was very certain her spouse would not want to do it. So, I decided we would take the ferry - a different line - to Setoda, which is a village on the island of Ikuchijima; bike the quiet rural bike path as far as the vicinity of Tatara bridge, and then loop back to take the same ferry back to Onomichi. This I estimated would involve a bike ride of around 20 km roundtrip, an easy run that would give us a taste of the Shimanami but still ensure that we would return home married and not divorced. Most importantly, it would not involve biking on any actual road shared with cars, which can be the case for other parts of the Shimanami. It also meant that we would already know where to get the return ferry to Onomichi, which was important as my readers will soon understand.
Anyway I had been given to understand that one bought the tickets for the ferry to Setoda in the lobby of the Green Hill Hotel, which is on the second floor of that fine establishment. There I am told to go 'downstairs' but when I return to the first floor, no ticket dispenser can I find. Worse, we cannot find the dock for said ferry, only the dock for the ferry to Mukaishima.
At this point a kind Japanese couple, also with bikes, notice our bewilderment and offer to help. This is a good time to point out that our experience in almost every country we have visited is that we have always run into kind locals willing but not necessarily able to help, and sometimes into the bargain things are complicated by said locals being actually less informed than ourselves. This was to be the case here. Our kind Japanese couple acknowledge that they are themselves doing the Shimanami kaido for the first time, and that they too are bound for Setoda. They insist that the Mukaishima will do the job. I begin to waver - even though my research told me the next ferry to Setoda was not until 10:10 - 40 minutes from now - how can I know better than one who speaks the language?
As soon as we all four board the ferry I know something is wrong - the fare is far too low, only 100 yen each. Sure enough, when we dock a mere five minutes later at Mukaishima, with no prospect of going onward to Setoda, I indicate that this is not where we want to go. "There's a boat to Setoda?" the Japanese woman of the couple asks, and sure enough, she does know less than I do. It is now clear that they intend to BIKE to Setoda from Mukaishima, and this was what they had thought we wanted to do. But our couple is helpful after all: they translate to the ferry operator to please point out the proper dock to us, once the ferry goes back to Onomichi (which it will do immediately.)
Things don't appear to be too bad - we are only out 400 yen or so for the roundtrip, we will not lose much time, and sure enough, when we arrive back, the operator does indeed point the way - to the BASEMENT floor of the Green Hill Hotel. Of course. That's what was meant by 'downstairs.' And there I find the ticket machine, and a helpful lady who assures me that notwithstanding the pleasure craft docked at the dock immediately adjacent to the Mukaishima ferry dock, that is our dock. I buy 2 tickets, 840 yen each: the lady assures me that I can pay for the bikes once aboard, about 300 yen.
And sure enough, just before 10:10, the ferry turns up, even marked "ONOMICHI-SETODA" on the side. We are off.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 07:59 AM
#54
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,623
Likes: 0
15 April, day 13 (continued.)
It's about a 40 minute cruise on a small glassed-in launch to Setoda, where we arrive just before 11 a.m. There we find, not too surprisingly, that the wind is up, and moreover we realize that we will be biking into the wind for most of the way to Tatara bridge.
This doesn't faze me in the least - I cannot say the same for my companion - and now we are pumping away merrily - okay maybe the merriment is mainly mine - on a fabulous bike path. The waves lap at the breakwater beside us, the leaves of coconut palms soaring overhead crackle in the wind, and ever-present is the joyous sound to any cyclist's heart, the sound of whirring wheels.
This is citrus growing country and while the harvest is apparently being brought in, there are still plenty of orange trees and lemon trees laden with almost ripened fruit. (Indeed, we were given bottles of lemon flavoured water as a complimentary part of our bike rental.) "Rural" is a relative term, it is still well populated here, but there is actually significant space between the houses, and moreover we are virtually alone, the first such experience we've had in Japan; we meet only the occasional pedestrian or group of fellow cyclists. If one seeks a beach in Japan, I direct them here - there are several stretches of sand, including a long one at a place called, tellingly, "Sunset Beach" and which looks like it gets a lot of customers in warmer months.
The path is well serviced with the necessities (read: restrooms) and what with visits to same and photo-taking, we make the entrance to Tatara bridge just before noon. I reassure spouse that the ramp up to the bridge is the only uphill we will be biking today, and that, along with the appearance of snacks, brightens his outlook considerably. There is a picnic area with sheltered tables provided, and the view of the bridge, surrounding sea and islands, is quite delightful, as I had hoped.
Lunch finished, we decide to bike across Tatara bridge - it is a fairly long one in the series, about 1.5 km long - and on the other side we find an oddly shaped edifice that is apparently an observation deck. So after locking the bikes, we ascend the stairs to enjoy the view, this time facing the opposite direction. There's a small park featuring cherry trees of the double blossom variety, and yes, they are in bloom.
Around 12:30 we decide to head back, our ferry back will leave at 13:40, and the ride back is a joy - we sail across the bridge, sail DOWN the ramp, and with the wind now behind us, literally almost sail, the wind pushing us, back to Setoda by 13:20 or so. And this, even on bikes that admittedly are not quite as nimble as my aluminum-framed hybrid back home.
We decide to sit and sun ourselves on the dock as we await the ferry. A Japanese woman in a kimono walks up - I noticed her on the boat on the way out - and she begins to ask us, apparently, for directions - I say apparently, since she speaks only Japanese. "Yes, this will be the boat to Onomichi" I reply, trusting the word "Onomichi" to be reassuring, which it is. So much so that she continues to chat animatedly in Japanese, whilst I nod politely and try not to let on that for all I know, she could be discussing the theory of relativity. I daresay this is the experience many long-suffering Japanese have with English-speakers all the time: having someone speak to you as if you understood.
It's about a 40 minute cruise on a small glassed-in launch to Setoda, where we arrive just before 11 a.m. There we find, not too surprisingly, that the wind is up, and moreover we realize that we will be biking into the wind for most of the way to Tatara bridge.
This doesn't faze me in the least - I cannot say the same for my companion - and now we are pumping away merrily - okay maybe the merriment is mainly mine - on a fabulous bike path. The waves lap at the breakwater beside us, the leaves of coconut palms soaring overhead crackle in the wind, and ever-present is the joyous sound to any cyclist's heart, the sound of whirring wheels.
This is citrus growing country and while the harvest is apparently being brought in, there are still plenty of orange trees and lemon trees laden with almost ripened fruit. (Indeed, we were given bottles of lemon flavoured water as a complimentary part of our bike rental.) "Rural" is a relative term, it is still well populated here, but there is actually significant space between the houses, and moreover we are virtually alone, the first such experience we've had in Japan; we meet only the occasional pedestrian or group of fellow cyclists. If one seeks a beach in Japan, I direct them here - there are several stretches of sand, including a long one at a place called, tellingly, "Sunset Beach" and which looks like it gets a lot of customers in warmer months.
The path is well serviced with the necessities (read: restrooms) and what with visits to same and photo-taking, we make the entrance to Tatara bridge just before noon. I reassure spouse that the ramp up to the bridge is the only uphill we will be biking today, and that, along with the appearance of snacks, brightens his outlook considerably. There is a picnic area with sheltered tables provided, and the view of the bridge, surrounding sea and islands, is quite delightful, as I had hoped.
Lunch finished, we decide to bike across Tatara bridge - it is a fairly long one in the series, about 1.5 km long - and on the other side we find an oddly shaped edifice that is apparently an observation deck. So after locking the bikes, we ascend the stairs to enjoy the view, this time facing the opposite direction. There's a small park featuring cherry trees of the double blossom variety, and yes, they are in bloom.
Around 12:30 we decide to head back, our ferry back will leave at 13:40, and the ride back is a joy - we sail across the bridge, sail DOWN the ramp, and with the wind now behind us, literally almost sail, the wind pushing us, back to Setoda by 13:20 or so. And this, even on bikes that admittedly are not quite as nimble as my aluminum-framed hybrid back home.
We decide to sit and sun ourselves on the dock as we await the ferry. A Japanese woman in a kimono walks up - I noticed her on the boat on the way out - and she begins to ask us, apparently, for directions - I say apparently, since she speaks only Japanese. "Yes, this will be the boat to Onomichi" I reply, trusting the word "Onomichi" to be reassuring, which it is. So much so that she continues to chat animatedly in Japanese, whilst I nod politely and try not to let on that for all I know, she could be discussing the theory of relativity. I daresay this is the experience many long-suffering Japanese have with English-speakers all the time: having someone speak to you as if you understood.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 08:48 AM
#55
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,623
Likes: 0
15 April, day 13 (continued)
I will here interject and post a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honshu-...Bridge_Project
Which should make clear just where we had biked. There are three systems of bridges connecting Honshu and Shikoku; the most famous of the three, which carries a JR line, is the Seto-Chuo Expressway (sometimes just known as the Seto Ohashi); it lies to the east of the system on which we cycled. Our system, the Nishiseto Expressway (also known as the Shimamami Kaido) is the only one that can be crossed by bike or foot. If you click on the link in the Wikipedia article for the Tatara bridge, you will get a fine photo of the bridge we crossed over (and back again.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TataraOhashi.jpg
**************
We arrive back in Onomichi at around 14:20, and immediately opt to get a takeout coffee to enjoy whilst sitting on a park bench overlooking the waterfront. Onomichi is not very active as a port, but there certainly are signs of port activity: several barges with cranes cruise back and forth in front of us, trying to look important, and for all I know they are.
Coffee finished, we head off on our bikes to explore Onomichi, which has a very charming historic district with a number of temples on a hillside. The idea is to bike over to where a cablecar will whisk us to the top, and then walk down. But things don't exactly go as planned...because yes, I get it wrong. Again.
Spouse points out, with maddening logic, that cablecars need, well, cables, and the point at which I was having us pull the bikes over was at some distance from where we could see cables. He is perfectly right of course, but for some reason, I am deaf to logic this afternoon. I spy a feature I think I saw back home, on google street view, and decide this is the point where we can walk to the cablecar station.
I am of course premature; the stairs up which I lead us lead to more stairs, and more stairs, and more....After the debacle of the uphill portion of the Magome-Tsumago hike, spouse is justified in thinking I am trying to finish him off with a heart attack, thereby qualifying me to collect the insurance. All humour aside, we are heading into a period of life in which heart attacks are not just a theoretical possibility, and I begin, after having us climb about 80 stairs or so, to be truly worried. This makes me tense, and so when we finally gasp our way up, all the way up, to Senkouji temple, with spouse not yet actually dead of a heart attack, my relief expresses itself as grouchiness.
And so it is that we eventually arrive, both of us grouchy, just in time to reach a place that the local tourist board promotes thus:
"Make an unforgettable memory at Senkoji Temple & Park on your anniversary day. The Observatory that has been selected as a "Top 100 Night View" will be the best place to declare your feeling of love or your appreciation to your lover while gazing at the night view."
Yes, and here we were, ready to declare our appreciation by tossing each other off the hill we'd just climbed.
But the view! Who could long remain grouchy, with such a view. And so we allow a kind Japanese lady to snap our photo in front of some sort of monument that another lady had donated, in years past, to commemorate this haven for lovers.
We also loved the cablecar down. And loved that we still had the bikes in our possession, and so could ride back to Onomichi station, there to turn them in.
We walk to Onomichi station by 16:30, a bit ahead of schedule, and thus we decide to improvise our return route: we opt for an earlier "Kodama" train instead of our planned "Hikari" from Fukuyama to Okayama. (Onomichi itself is linked to Fukuyama by an ordinary commuter train.) That's when we found that Kodamas are shinkansen in name and form only: I swear, that thing pulls over to let not just faster shinkansens, but donkey carts, go past. So notwithstanding we set off for Okayama almost 30 minutes earlier than originally planned, we actually arrive back in Okayama at about the same time we originally planned: 6 p.m or so.
And here endeth day 13.
I will here interject and post a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honshu-...Bridge_Project
Which should make clear just where we had biked. There are three systems of bridges connecting Honshu and Shikoku; the most famous of the three, which carries a JR line, is the Seto-Chuo Expressway (sometimes just known as the Seto Ohashi); it lies to the east of the system on which we cycled. Our system, the Nishiseto Expressway (also known as the Shimamami Kaido) is the only one that can be crossed by bike or foot. If you click on the link in the Wikipedia article for the Tatara bridge, you will get a fine photo of the bridge we crossed over (and back again.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TataraOhashi.jpg
**************
We arrive back in Onomichi at around 14:20, and immediately opt to get a takeout coffee to enjoy whilst sitting on a park bench overlooking the waterfront. Onomichi is not very active as a port, but there certainly are signs of port activity: several barges with cranes cruise back and forth in front of us, trying to look important, and for all I know they are.
Coffee finished, we head off on our bikes to explore Onomichi, which has a very charming historic district with a number of temples on a hillside. The idea is to bike over to where a cablecar will whisk us to the top, and then walk down. But things don't exactly go as planned...because yes, I get it wrong. Again.
Spouse points out, with maddening logic, that cablecars need, well, cables, and the point at which I was having us pull the bikes over was at some distance from where we could see cables. He is perfectly right of course, but for some reason, I am deaf to logic this afternoon. I spy a feature I think I saw back home, on google street view, and decide this is the point where we can walk to the cablecar station.
I am of course premature; the stairs up which I lead us lead to more stairs, and more stairs, and more....After the debacle of the uphill portion of the Magome-Tsumago hike, spouse is justified in thinking I am trying to finish him off with a heart attack, thereby qualifying me to collect the insurance. All humour aside, we are heading into a period of life in which heart attacks are not just a theoretical possibility, and I begin, after having us climb about 80 stairs or so, to be truly worried. This makes me tense, and so when we finally gasp our way up, all the way up, to Senkouji temple, with spouse not yet actually dead of a heart attack, my relief expresses itself as grouchiness.
And so it is that we eventually arrive, both of us grouchy, just in time to reach a place that the local tourist board promotes thus:
"Make an unforgettable memory at Senkoji Temple & Park on your anniversary day. The Observatory that has been selected as a "Top 100 Night View" will be the best place to declare your feeling of love or your appreciation to your lover while gazing at the night view."
Yes, and here we were, ready to declare our appreciation by tossing each other off the hill we'd just climbed.
But the view! Who could long remain grouchy, with such a view. And so we allow a kind Japanese lady to snap our photo in front of some sort of monument that another lady had donated, in years past, to commemorate this haven for lovers.
We also loved the cablecar down. And loved that we still had the bikes in our possession, and so could ride back to Onomichi station, there to turn them in.
We walk to Onomichi station by 16:30, a bit ahead of schedule, and thus we decide to improvise our return route: we opt for an earlier "Kodama" train instead of our planned "Hikari" from Fukuyama to Okayama. (Onomichi itself is linked to Fukuyama by an ordinary commuter train.) That's when we found that Kodamas are shinkansen in name and form only: I swear, that thing pulls over to let not just faster shinkansens, but donkey carts, go past. So notwithstanding we set off for Okayama almost 30 minutes earlier than originally planned, we actually arrive back in Okayama at about the same time we originally planned: 6 p.m or so.
And here endeth day 13.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 10:04 AM
#56
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,623
Likes: 0
16 April, day 14. Okayama to Tokyo.
For those wondering when my tale is going to end, I can at least promise that this chapter will be a (slightly) shorter one. For today is mainly devoted to getting to Tokyo, just over four hours by "Hikari" shinkansen, with arrival in Shinagawa scheduled for just shy of 1:30 in the afternoon.
This much I have mercifully forgotten about the shinkansen: the chime that plays before arrival at each station. At one point, I couldn't get it out of my head. Other than that, I love these trains.
The scenery outside our train window I come to associate with the sound of the train: whirr, whirr, whirr, as it bombs past houses and rice paddies and warehouses; WHUMP! as it heads into yet another tunnel. Japan, it seems, is just one long chain of low, older, rounded mountains. Very different in character from the younger, more jagged mountains of North America that I have seen.
In due course we arrive at Shinagawa - the accent, it seems, is placed on the second syllable, hence, Shin AH gah wah. I had timed our arrival for early afternoon, since I was pretty sure nobody was going to appreciate our lugging baggage onto the Yamanote line during rush hour. We alight the Yamanote line at Meguro - many people swear by Shinjuku as the most convenient place for a tourist to stay in Tokyo, but we came to like the relative calm of Meguro. In the Meguro train station, once again some kind soul helps us, this time to find the taxi rank outside the station where the shuttle bus for our hotel is to be found.
Spouse has recently started using a CPAP machine, a device to assist with breathing for those suffering from sleep apnea. Such device requires distilled water for use in the device's humidifier. We'd taken the precaution of writing down the characters for 'distilled water' before leaving home, and even at that it took our landlord's help in Kyoto to find a pharmacy that would sell us some. Many pharmacies in Japan seem to be strictly dispensaries, and sell nothing except prescription medicine. A few offer an expanded line of products, and it was from one of these that we had bought our last batch of distilled water, in Kyoto. My advice: when you find it, buy enough for your entire trip, it will save you time.
As it was, we had let ourselves run low ( I say, 'we', partly to atone for my role in the mountain climbing debacles of days past), and once we'd checked in to our hotel, we began our search. We hopped over to Ebisu, where I'd heard there were lots of shops, only to be told by one drug store (there are such things in Japan that resemble 'drug stores' of the North American variety) that 'we don't have this product in Japan.' We find this a bit much: it is one thing to admit one's store doesn't carry a product, but to announce that a country of 120 million plus has no use for distilled water borders on the grandiose. Anyway, after much searching, including in the famed "Mitzukoshi" department store, we finally find the item by asking a dispensary type pharmacy for a reference for an 'expanded' type pharmacy. Our errand done, we return to partake of tempura for supper in a chain restaurant, 'Tendon' that we find just outside Meguro station.
And here endeth day 14.
For those wondering when my tale is going to end, I can at least promise that this chapter will be a (slightly) shorter one. For today is mainly devoted to getting to Tokyo, just over four hours by "Hikari" shinkansen, with arrival in Shinagawa scheduled for just shy of 1:30 in the afternoon.
This much I have mercifully forgotten about the shinkansen: the chime that plays before arrival at each station. At one point, I couldn't get it out of my head. Other than that, I love these trains.
The scenery outside our train window I come to associate with the sound of the train: whirr, whirr, whirr, as it bombs past houses and rice paddies and warehouses; WHUMP! as it heads into yet another tunnel. Japan, it seems, is just one long chain of low, older, rounded mountains. Very different in character from the younger, more jagged mountains of North America that I have seen.
In due course we arrive at Shinagawa - the accent, it seems, is placed on the second syllable, hence, Shin AH gah wah. I had timed our arrival for early afternoon, since I was pretty sure nobody was going to appreciate our lugging baggage onto the Yamanote line during rush hour. We alight the Yamanote line at Meguro - many people swear by Shinjuku as the most convenient place for a tourist to stay in Tokyo, but we came to like the relative calm of Meguro. In the Meguro train station, once again some kind soul helps us, this time to find the taxi rank outside the station where the shuttle bus for our hotel is to be found.
Spouse has recently started using a CPAP machine, a device to assist with breathing for those suffering from sleep apnea. Such device requires distilled water for use in the device's humidifier. We'd taken the precaution of writing down the characters for 'distilled water' before leaving home, and even at that it took our landlord's help in Kyoto to find a pharmacy that would sell us some. Many pharmacies in Japan seem to be strictly dispensaries, and sell nothing except prescription medicine. A few offer an expanded line of products, and it was from one of these that we had bought our last batch of distilled water, in Kyoto. My advice: when you find it, buy enough for your entire trip, it will save you time.
As it was, we had let ourselves run low ( I say, 'we', partly to atone for my role in the mountain climbing debacles of days past), and once we'd checked in to our hotel, we began our search. We hopped over to Ebisu, where I'd heard there were lots of shops, only to be told by one drug store (there are such things in Japan that resemble 'drug stores' of the North American variety) that 'we don't have this product in Japan.' We find this a bit much: it is one thing to admit one's store doesn't carry a product, but to announce that a country of 120 million plus has no use for distilled water borders on the grandiose. Anyway, after much searching, including in the famed "Mitzukoshi" department store, we finally find the item by asking a dispensary type pharmacy for a reference for an 'expanded' type pharmacy. Our errand done, we return to partake of tempura for supper in a chain restaurant, 'Tendon' that we find just outside Meguro station.
And here endeth day 14.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 10:38 AM
#57
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,623
Likes: 0
Postcript to day 14
Thanks to Hawaiiantraveler and others, we did remember to reserve seats D and E on the train back to Tokyo, and to have our camera ready just east of Shizuoka, if memory serves. We did indeed see Fuji - a bit hazy perhaps, it appeared as little more than a cloud, some dark patches and some white (snow) - and by heaven, we had to be fast with that camera, because that shinkansen gathers no moss as it thunders by. It wasn't quite as good a scene as spouse saw from the plane enroute to Osaka, but I CAN say that I've seen it.
Also, both coming and going to Okayama we caught a glimpse of Himeji castle. It is indeed mainly 'under wraps' for renovation, we only knew it was Himeji because the officials have used a scaffold cover on which is printed a life-sized photo of the castle.
**********
Day 15. Tokyo, Ghibli Museum and Edo-Tokyo museum.
Today we took the shuttle from our hotel to Shinagawa station, because that is the only station served by our hotel shuttle in the early mornings. This way we got a chance to experience the famous white gloved 'packers' who oversee the boarding of the Yamanote and other lines during rush hour Tokyo.
My impression is that these 'packers' are actually principally there to ensure safety under demanding conditions, they tuck in coats and purses and so forth before the subway car doors close, and more than that, they actually stop too many people from boarding each car.
And here's something that I wish security personnel at airports all over North America, but especially at LAX, would learn from the Japanese: SHOW DO NOT TELL. In other words, if you want people to go somewhere, stand sideways on, and gesture, preferably with a white-gloved (and hence very visible) hand, the direction you wish people to take. In LAX, for example, I heard an official try to give a direction by shouting out "wicket 22 or 23" but of course, folks in line will first have to figure out if wicket 22 or 23 is to the right, or the left, of the line in which they are standing. Had the official gestured the direction, people would have instinctively followed his or her outstretched hand. Gestures as opposed to verbal instructions also keep the noise down, something much to be desired in crowds.
In point of fact, the Japanese to this observer appear to be masters at crowd control; one would think this would follow as a matter of necessity, but I am told that other densely populated countries, e.g. China, have yet to learn the art. I am particularly impressed, as we ride the trains in Tokyo, to find bilingual electronic displays over each door showing one not just the name of the next station, but where relative to the rest of the train your car is, and where, in a given station, will be found escalators versus stairways and elevators and so forth. And always a voice announces, in addition to the name of the forthcoming station, "the doors will open on the [left/right] side of the train." This kind of calm, precise direction minimizes stress for everyone, and maximizes efficiency, a point still seemingly lost on officials elsewhere in the world.
As I await our turn to board the Yamanote line, I recall the scene we witnessed back when we were walking to the shinkansen platform in Kyoto. A man back at the ticket gate was losing it, and I do mean, losing it: he was shouting at the top of his lungs, what, I of course did not know, but he was clearly a very unhappy camper. And all the while two officials spoke to him soothingly, and made little bows to him - but other than that, did not give way. Again I was impressed, I felt very secure, knowing I was in the hands of such well trained people.
Thanks to Hawaiiantraveler and others, we did remember to reserve seats D and E on the train back to Tokyo, and to have our camera ready just east of Shizuoka, if memory serves. We did indeed see Fuji - a bit hazy perhaps, it appeared as little more than a cloud, some dark patches and some white (snow) - and by heaven, we had to be fast with that camera, because that shinkansen gathers no moss as it thunders by. It wasn't quite as good a scene as spouse saw from the plane enroute to Osaka, but I CAN say that I've seen it.
Also, both coming and going to Okayama we caught a glimpse of Himeji castle. It is indeed mainly 'under wraps' for renovation, we only knew it was Himeji because the officials have used a scaffold cover on which is printed a life-sized photo of the castle.
**********
Day 15. Tokyo, Ghibli Museum and Edo-Tokyo museum.
Today we took the shuttle from our hotel to Shinagawa station, because that is the only station served by our hotel shuttle in the early mornings. This way we got a chance to experience the famous white gloved 'packers' who oversee the boarding of the Yamanote and other lines during rush hour Tokyo.
My impression is that these 'packers' are actually principally there to ensure safety under demanding conditions, they tuck in coats and purses and so forth before the subway car doors close, and more than that, they actually stop too many people from boarding each car.
And here's something that I wish security personnel at airports all over North America, but especially at LAX, would learn from the Japanese: SHOW DO NOT TELL. In other words, if you want people to go somewhere, stand sideways on, and gesture, preferably with a white-gloved (and hence very visible) hand, the direction you wish people to take. In LAX, for example, I heard an official try to give a direction by shouting out "wicket 22 or 23" but of course, folks in line will first have to figure out if wicket 22 or 23 is to the right, or the left, of the line in which they are standing. Had the official gestured the direction, people would have instinctively followed his or her outstretched hand. Gestures as opposed to verbal instructions also keep the noise down, something much to be desired in crowds.
In point of fact, the Japanese to this observer appear to be masters at crowd control; one would think this would follow as a matter of necessity, but I am told that other densely populated countries, e.g. China, have yet to learn the art. I am particularly impressed, as we ride the trains in Tokyo, to find bilingual electronic displays over each door showing one not just the name of the next station, but where relative to the rest of the train your car is, and where, in a given station, will be found escalators versus stairways and elevators and so forth. And always a voice announces, in addition to the name of the forthcoming station, "the doors will open on the [left/right] side of the train." This kind of calm, precise direction minimizes stress for everyone, and maximizes efficiency, a point still seemingly lost on officials elsewhere in the world.
As I await our turn to board the Yamanote line, I recall the scene we witnessed back when we were walking to the shinkansen platform in Kyoto. A man back at the ticket gate was losing it, and I do mean, losing it: he was shouting at the top of his lungs, what, I of course did not know, but he was clearly a very unhappy camper. And all the while two officials spoke to him soothingly, and made little bows to him - but other than that, did not give way. Again I was impressed, I felt very secure, knowing I was in the hands of such well trained people.
Apr 26th, 2013 | 11:41 AM
#58
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 5,142
Likes: 0
Thanks for this report sue!
I always enjoy reading about places I've just been to and can compare notes. We spent the majority of our 10 days in Japan in Tokyo so a very different trip to yours but the similarities stand out.
We too struggled to comprehend the hiragana and referred to it as 'double dutch' and we only saw Mt. Fuji heavily veiled in clouds on our very last day. It didn't matter that it was barely visible there was no mistaking that iconic cone topped with snow!
I always enjoy reading about places I've just been to and can compare notes. We spent the majority of our 10 days in Japan in Tokyo so a very different trip to yours but the similarities stand out.
We too struggled to comprehend the hiragana and referred to it as 'double dutch' and we only saw Mt. Fuji heavily veiled in clouds on our very last day. It didn't matter that it was barely visible there was no mistaking that iconic cone topped with snow!
Apr 26th, 2013 | 03:11 PM
#60
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,623
Likes: 0
Greetings Sassy_cat. We were more fortunate when in New Zealand when it came to having clear views of volcanic cones, we saw Tongariro on a cloudless day. So we had at least some idea of what Fuji probably looked like had we gotten a clearer view.
Kavey, I am glad so many are enjoying it, because in truth I am typing at top speed almost stream-of-consciousness style, I have no time to edit.
*****************
This morning's mission, should we decide to accept it, is to go to the Ghibli museum. While we enjoyed this place, I confess in hindsight that we overpaid for our tickets, even allowing for the convenience of getting them in advance via JTB. Tickets or at least vouchers for this museum can also be obtained after arrival in Japan at machines in 'Lawson' stores which are indeed to be found almost everywhere, and said tickets can be obtained for 1000 yen each; except on weekends and holiday periods, time slots should be available especially if one is prepared to be even somewhat flexible. In contrast, JTB charges very high, almost extortionate handling fees and postage fees; tax also applies, so the end result is that one can end up paying almost three times what one would in Japan. For the diehard afficiando, it might be worth it, of course.
The second thing I note is that this museum is really more about animated film-making than the art of character drawing per se. While it does a wonderful job of showing the user the journey from the drawing to film, I think in hindsight I would rather have gone to the Manga museum in Kyoto. But for all that, I did enjoy the Ghibli, and it did fulfill somewhat our desire to have some insight into a very important part of Japanese 'pop' culture.
Kavey, I am glad so many are enjoying it, because in truth I am typing at top speed almost stream-of-consciousness style, I have no time to edit.
*****************
This morning's mission, should we decide to accept it, is to go to the Ghibli museum. While we enjoyed this place, I confess in hindsight that we overpaid for our tickets, even allowing for the convenience of getting them in advance via JTB. Tickets or at least vouchers for this museum can also be obtained after arrival in Japan at machines in 'Lawson' stores which are indeed to be found almost everywhere, and said tickets can be obtained for 1000 yen each; except on weekends and holiday periods, time slots should be available especially if one is prepared to be even somewhat flexible. In contrast, JTB charges very high, almost extortionate handling fees and postage fees; tax also applies, so the end result is that one can end up paying almost three times what one would in Japan. For the diehard afficiando, it might be worth it, of course.
The second thing I note is that this museum is really more about animated film-making than the art of character drawing per se. While it does a wonderful job of showing the user the journey from the drawing to film, I think in hindsight I would rather have gone to the Manga museum in Kyoto. But for all that, I did enjoy the Ghibli, and it did fulfill somewhat our desire to have some insight into a very important part of Japanese 'pop' culture.
