Japan January 2010
 

Jan 1:  ATL to MSP in F. Breakfast served even though flight only 2 hours: raisin bran, light yogurt, fruit (cantaloupe, pineapple, orange, kiwi), bagel.

Lounge at MSP a bit downmarket, but lots of windows. 

MSP to NRT, upper deck of 747 in 77A. Bigger than some Tokyo hotel rooms. Weird seam in seat, not very comfortable for normal sitting.

Service Northwest (from carts), food Delta (crabcakes with spaghetti squash and leeks, very good), choice of cheese and fruit or ice cream for dessert---really nothing special. Seats hellish, but took Ambien for last seven hours and slept well (and missed second food service.

Jan 2:  Cash at Citibank at NRT, jR pass exchange easy and got tickets for N'Ex and onto Nagoya at same time. Tight connection, no time to buy food, but otherwise easy

Oops, meant to preface with apologies for long overdue report as well as stream of conciousness approach---these were notes that I took en route with my trusty iPhone.

Looking forward to more!

Jan 2, cont: Train to Nagoya easy. Walk to Hotel Kanko---very posh public spaces, nattily dressed staff  although room decor a bit rundown (but clean). Already dark, so short walk in neighborhood, dinner from Coco mart (takana/mustard greens onigiri, coconut jelly for dessert, beer). "My Fair Lady" on TV.

Jan 3:  Pastries & OJ fron last night's Coco run + hot tea in room. Check out and leave bag to visit Nagoya castle. Busy with Japanese tourists.  

Walk back to hotel, retrieve bag, walk to train station. Busy travel day, so longish wait at Maibara for train to Kanazawa. Enclosed shelters on platform, so not too bad for waiting. Noise pervasive.
Jan 3, cont: Walk back to hotel, retrieve bag, walk to train station. Busy travel day, so longish wait at Maibara for train to Kanazawa. Enclosed shelters on platform, so not too bad for waiting. Noise pervasive.

Train to Kanazawa: old school. Excellent chirashi sushi purchased at Nagoya statiion: crab, ikura, tiny scallops, clams, fried fish, broiled salmon, etc. And beer. 

Lots of tunnels, lots of snow. Mist-shrouded pine-covered hills with tidy houses between them and tracks. Infrastructure a mess as usual. Check into Dormy Inn near train station

Dinner with Goodwill Guide (nice young woman who speaks Italian as well as English, so she gets tp practice both) at restaurant in station, including jibuni (simmered duck with turnip, gluten, mushroom). This not part of my official guided visit, so I'm not obligated tp pay for her dinner but do anyway.

Onsen at hotel very nice. New property, pretty posh for budget accomodation.

Onsen at hotel very nice. 

Apologies for cutting and pasting weirdness--iPhone and Fodor's not a perfect marriage.

Jan 4: meet guide at 10:00, buy bus tickets (day ticket for Kanazawa, ticket to Shirakawa-go and then on to Takayama). Visit geisha district (Ochaya Shima) and have wagashi with matcha, gold leaf shop and demo, katsu lunch (my request), Kenrokuen garden, samurai house & garden (really lovely garden), temple (big New Year's crowd), mont-blanc dessert at station cafe at end of day.

Normally we'd have eaten lunch at the market, but this was Monday and market largely closed. Some museums also closed.

Skip dinner (sake and dried persimmon instead), do onsen, sleep well.

Jan 5:  onsen in AM, then breakfast at hotel (bargain at 840¥ instead of 1100¥, don't know why) which had excellent selection and quality. End up chatting with a French woman who is similarly impressed with the selection, unusually wide-ranging tastes considering that she's French and isn't at all familiar with the food; her traveling companion isn't as enthusiastic, but we're all bemused at the presence of ratatouille. A little shopping at the station: posh department store and very nice food hall in station.  Bus at 12:35 to Shirakawa-go, more and more snow. Lots of tunnels. Long tunnels, interrupted by vistas of progressively deeper snow. Finally near whiteout, fairyland of trees. Avalanche breaks everywhere.   

A pause in the narrative here to point out that Nagoya wasn't a place that I particularly wanted to visit, it just happened to be about as far as I could get from Narita on a shinkansen. I'd originally planned on taking a sleeper to Kanazawa, but I was traveling on a JR pass and so would have had to wait until arrival at NRT to book a berth, and since I was traveling over the New Year's holiday didn't want to take the risk.

Had I been going to Kyoto I could have made it all the way there, but my destination was Kanazawa. I could have continued on Maibara, but there's nothing whatsoever to see in Maibara.

Jan 5, cont: Arrive Shirawakago, look for coin locker, ask at info office. Instead they hold my bag at office until the minshuku owner will come to get me between 3:00 and 5:00. In the interim I visit the world heritage museum. Lots of Japanese day trippers but some areas still feel pretty isolated---easy to imagine slipping into a stream or being buried in a mini avalanche or just being covered up by the heavy, heavy snowfall. 

Shimizu minshuku overnight. Wife speaks some English but pretty reserved. Older couple from Tokyo arrives and then later two Australian girls, both Asian. Julie Chinese background but speaks Japanese well and enthusiastically. Monica originally from East Timor. Conversation consequently much easier.  Dinner: nabe (cooked at individual brazers) with Hida beef, cold barbecued fish (eat it head and all), tempura, otsukemeno, soup, gomaae, tofu and boiled turnip...

Another pause to explain that I'd not planned on taking my big suitcase (which is a 19" rolling bag, so not very big in any case) with me to the minshuku, and had instead packed just what I'd need for my overnight there. The staff at the bus station spoke essentially no English, however, so my attempt to find the coin lockers (it's the same term in Japanese, just insert some extra vowels) were unsuccessful. Turns out the were located inside the teeny tiny waiting room. Oh well.

Normally you could walk from the bus station to the minshuku, but the blizzard made this pretty much impossible if you didn't already know the way.

The food at Shimizu was excellent, served around the traditional hearth (irori). Wear loose-fitting clothes so as to avoid cutting off circulation to your feet while sitting on the floor.

Jan 5, cont: We'd have liked to visit the town onsen (which is reportedly nice) but owner clearly not enthusiastic about taking us, so never mind. Walking not even remotely possible in the dark and snow. So instead we used the bathroom in the house. Old school: dressing room with sink for brushing teeth, etc. and separate room where you shower and wash your hair and so forth (seated) before climbing into the one person tub for a soak. I was the third most senior guest, and the most senior (husband of retired couple) skipped the bath, so that meant I was second after his wife, but it just didn't look all that inviting so I just did the shower and called it a day.

We stayed up pretty late yacking, finally headed for bed once we'd all bathed.  

Futon very comfortable, very warm (even after heater cut off automatically), but jet lag interrupted sleep. 

Jan 6: Breakfast scrambled eggs and sausage, hoda miso (on brazier), kabocha, natto, miso with tofu and enoki, otsukemeno (with tiny red "ume"), rapini with bonito flakes, osechi, tangerine...

Owner basically kicks us out at 9:30, husband drives us to bus stop. Bus to Takayama more tunnels, more snow. It's colder today. 

Jan 6, cont: Snowing in Takayama, very gray, so decide to take 12:43 Hida wide-view to Nagoya, connecting Shinkansen onto Osaka. Bento of Hida beef on train, beer. 

Great views from train: narrow mountain ravines, river running alongside. Less snow, more sun. I'm in thefirst car, so can see out the front as well.

My original plan had been to have lunch in Takayama and wander around for the afternoon before heading on to Osaka, but the weather was really icky and so I just skipped it and took an earlier train.

Love all the detail, Therese!

Thanks, rizzuto. It's a bit random, a mix of travel minutiae and impressions that I happened to record at the time. I'm planning my third trip (in as many years) for November and realized I'd never posted the Japan portion of January's visit. I'm at he recovering from surgery right now, so it's also a great alternative to watching TV.

Another aside re travel minutiae...

If you do happen to visit Snow Country in January or February, do heed the warnings about snow. I came prepared, with knee-high waterproof boots (paddock boots, actually, so also warm and very good for walking distances, so oli wore them in Kanazawa as well). I also had long underwear, ski socks (worn over conventional trouser socks, great for the tatami at the minshuku), and chemical toe warmers. Even my not very loquacious hostess at the minshuku was impressed. Long down coat, gloves with liners, two scarves, ear muffs, and umbrella completed my ensemble.

Just checked out your web site, thursdaysd. Very entertaining, though I've now got a serious envy headache: I get 20 days of vacation a year, period. If I don't use it I lose it, and I will never, ever get any more unless I change employers. <sigh>

I do get some interesting travel through work, though, so that's a good thing.

Jan 6, cont: Transfer at Nagoya to Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka, then subway to Shinsaibashi. Dormy Inn not nearly so luxe as Kanazawa version but room large and well-equipped: great TV, tea kettle, fridge, desk, Ethernet, etc. Full-size bed, narrow alcove for closet, cozy jammies. Full bath in hideous shades of blue (blue walls and ceiling, blue tub, blue tile), fancy toilet.

Bed rock-like, as usual (futons generally more comfortable). Bay window equipped with door to close it off. Quiet though building rocks from adjacent highway traffic. At first I mistake this motion for a possible earthquake.  

Another aside: I like cities, and so Osaka was a deliberate choice on my part. Cities can be inherently problematic for solo women travellers, however: nightlife, bars, etc. Safe options include the cinema, concerts (especially traditional or classical music, pub crawl type tours, and dancing. Not clubbing, mind you, but dancing. Dance enthusiasts can be found just about anywhere these days, and styles include ballroom, swing, country western, and various flavors of folk dancing. The dances are typically sponsored by a social club and newcomers are welcome. The evening often starts with a lesson.

I'd looked into swing dancing in Osaka, and there was a dance. Unfortunately I put the wrong date on my calendar. Oh well.

Jan 6, cont: Forget to go swing dancing (damnit), go to Daimaru (fancy old school depato) for chirashi sushi bento (marked down) and tangerines and snow peas. They wrap and tape everything and include a litle cold pack in the sushi bag (in case I'm leaving for the tropics, I suppose). 

Onsen not nearly so posh (though cool in an all-wood sort of way) and water not very hot. So I scrub and shower and wash hair and so forth as usual, but only soak for a brief time before putting on my jammies. I do have the scary blue bathroom upstairs, but I'm not sure I want to soak there. Plus the toiletries in the common bath are very nice and I don't get my bathroom all steamy and messy.

Jan 7: Breakfast also not posh: green salad, bread basket (which I skip the first day), yogurt, juice, soup (from thermos, with mini croutons to stir in), hot beverages

Bathe in onsen, subway to Osaka Castle. Visit Peace Museum, castle (with audio guide at no charge).  Walk a lot, regroup in afternoon, head back out to Dotonbori and market street (picking up extra nice nigiri bento---lots of cool roes). Street scene just amazingly busy and crowded. Drivers routinely run red lights. Osakans keep to the right. Fall asleep early. 

Jan 8:  Breakfast the same. We eat in a room furnished with rustic furniture, like the onsen, all watching a large TV featuring the usual silliness. Large central table. Sort of like summer camp, particularly as we're mostly still all wearing our comfy regulation jammies.

I am the only westerner, and several people chat me up, including a couple who work in the U.S. The wife finds it cool that I prefer the Japanese common baths to the western style en suite option.

Onsen, then pack and check out. 

Jan 8, cont: Subway to Shin-Osaka, Shinkansen to Himeji. Himeji tidy, with broad avenue leading to castle. Very nice, glad I wore two sets of stockings with my dress (slippers available but awkward on very steep stairs) and floors would otherwise have been very chilly. It's nice to swish around this big castle's wooden floors in stocking feet: you sort of feel like you're at home.  

Forgot to mention that I'd stowed my luggage in a locker at the train station in Himeji while I visited the castle.

Much is made of the luggage transportation services in Japan, and certainly they would be handy if I were moving house or for some reason needed to bring along a wedding dress or ski equipment or similar. For every day travel, though, I can't quite see the point: another thing to plan for, another thing to pay for.

Jan 8, cont: Long-ish wait for train at Himeji---poor planning on my part. Sit on platform and watch Nozomi scream by. I'm alone except for station staff. I happen to a mild fascination with trains, so this ends up being an unexpected bonus for me.

Hikari to Hiroshima packed. Sit next to sleeping Japanese business guy who eventually wakes and attempts to chat me up, in spite of my wearing ear plugs (due to irritating American toddler travelling with his overwhelmed parents) and my obvious failure to understand a word that he is saying. He finally scrapes together a few words of English and we chat a bit.  It's much easier for him to listen to English than to speak, and I've got nearly zero Japanese apart from greetings and vocabulary. 

Jan 8, cont: Originally I'd planned on visiting Hiroshima that afternoon but it's getting late and I'd timed my ferry ride to Miyajima to coincide with high tide so that the famous red torii will appear to be floating.

So instead I transfer to local JR to Miyajima-guchi and then to JR ferry to island. Check into Kinsui Villas where desk clerk manages mostly by pointing to the English language information sheet. It is, of course, much easier for my to read the instructions, but he is very nice. 

Kinsui Villa is a sister property to the upmarket Kinsuikan. It's located right across the street from the ferry landing. My room is a very narrow loft style, all recently remodeled and very nice, with an enormous window looking out onto the adjacent forest. Green tea with bean paste-stuffed maple leaf sweet in the room, and complimentary drink and senbei at the cafe downstairs, and a coupon for a memento of some sort to be picked up at Kinsuikan gift shop---all very organized. I pick out my yukata and book dinner (in the dining room).

Jan 8, cont: A walk along the waterfront to see the shrine illuminated before dinner and then to the restaurant, where I've booked for 7:00. Waiter thoroughly rattled at the prospect of explaining dinner to me. I don't really need any thing explained (ask for the fire under the skillet to be lit five minutes before I want to eat its contents, etc.) but he's worried that I don't understand. He gets another guy to explain it and I tell him what I think I'm supposed to do and he agrees.

Dinner is excellent (and an enormous amount if food) but experience somewhat marred by large family with very cranky baby and short-tempered mother and whiny school-age siblings. Father of almost zero help, so I can see why Mom is short-tempered. Family finally leaves, only to be replaced by loud drunk couples.

More walking after dinner. It's now very, very quiet and it feels like I'm the only visitor.

My room has a toilet and sink (what we'd call a powder room in the U.S.) but no bath or shower. The common bath is nice, and features views over the water. I sleepvery soundly in my cozy loft bed).  

This is where my notes stop, so there will be a brief intermission while I try to piece together the next few days. Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.

Hope your recovery is going well!

I was lucky with vacation when I was working - I eventually got 25 days plus 12 public holidays. The situation's much better in Europe, though. I'm really enjoying this - sooner you than me with all that snow! I do have a couple of questions.

You mentioned "Wear loose-fitting clothes" for dinner in the minshuku at Shirawakago - I thought you were usually supplied with a yukata - is that just ryokans? What was wrong with the bath?

Did the Dormy Inn in Kanazawa have an en-suite bathroom?

A propos of nothing: Ryokans (esp of the type Therese seems to have stayed in in Takayama) pull me in both directions. I really enjoy the Japanese rooms -- I find them amazingly serene and welcoming. But the in-room dining is a deal-breaker for me, cause I never know if there will be a place in the room where I can eat while sitting in a proper chair. I've reached the point where I'm too old & fat to comfortably sit on the floor, even with the legless chair seats that you find.

Dinner was served early at the minshuku, and I hadn't changed into my yukata. In any case it wasn't really cozy enough to make me want to change at that point. No central heat.

And no central heat in the bathing "suite" either, so unless you're soaking in the tub or running hot water over yourself from the hand shower, you're mostly not too interested in lingering. This is very different from a large public bath (sento) or onsen, where it's all pretty warm and cozy.

I stayed in a normal Japanese studio apartment in Tokyo a couple years ago, also in January, and the only effective means of heating the bathroom was to fill the tub. Otherwise it was a cold, wet tomb.

It's no accident that heated toilet seats are so popular in Japan.

The Kanazawa Dormy Inn has en suite bathrooms. Mine featured a shower, but I never bothered to use it.

The dining area in the minshuku in Shirakawa-go was the central room of the house and all the guests eat together at a table that wraps around a sort of fire pit in the middle of the room. You can't stretch your feet out in front of you (as they'd then be in the fire pit), so you alternate between sitting on your haunches, cross-legged, or a bit sideways. Or I suppose you could just stretch out lengthwise once dinner was over and the evening had moved on to telling funny stories and drinking beer.

As rizzuto says, it's very convivial but not always comfortable. I'd practiced sitting in the positions quite a bit before the trip, and that helped.

Oh, and you'll get a yukata or some sort of pajamas pretty much everywhere you stay in Japan, including bare bones business hotels. You also get much more complete toiletry kits: razor, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb. It's perfectly acceptable to roam the hotel in your pjs, popping put to do a load of laundry, buying beer from a vending machine, whatever.

"I'd practiced sitting in the positions quite a bit before the trip, and that helped." - I've started doing that. I think it's going to take a <i>lot</i> of practice.... [creak]

While you're at it you should practice getting up and down from a kneeling position, and standing on one foot (while getting shoes on and off). Slip ons and zip closures much, much preferable to lace up shoes. All very good "core strengthening" exercises.

Jan 9: Breakfast is in the dining room. My waiter this morning is 93 if he's a day and clearly petrified of the experience that awaits. I'm shown to my table, where a lovely assortment of dishes is laid out, including some items that I'll be cooking (including a nice broth with teeny tiny clams in it). Just about the time I'm looking around for the rice he approaches and offers me a choice between "something something shiro something" and "something something something something something". Now I know that shiro means white, and if I'd not been trying to figure out what the second option was I'd probably have caught "gohan", which is rice. The other option is a sort of wild rice with twigs mixed in. I'd had it the night before, but definitely prefer white rice for breakfast. It took us all a great deal longer to get the rice question sorted than it should have, particularly as it would have been very easy to simply show me the rice cookers in the front of the room.

Breakfast was almost as much food as dinner, and featured plenty of fish and vegetables. A western breakfast is also offered.

Onsen and packing after breakfast and leave my bag with the front desk. I visit the main shrine (now very busy) and end up doing quite a lot of walking in parks and visiting a very interesting Buddhist temple. It was surprisingly easy to get away from crowds.

By now it's early afternoon, so I retrieve my bag and take the ferry back to the mainland. In the end I don't visit Hiroshima at all.