Trip Report - A magical 3 week+ sojourn through Japan
Nov 6th, 2008 | 03:29 AM
#21
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OKAYAMA AND KURASHIKI
Our next port of call was Shiraishi Island but we had allowed ourselves two days in which to get there. I had read in a guide book about going ferry hopping around the Seto Inland Sea and we thought that sounded an idyllic way to go. One of the books gave a suggested route but, despite spending ages on the internet trying to research how to do it, had been able to glean very little information. In the end we decided to wait until we got there and work it out on the spot. Well of course that all rather fell apart.
When we had arrived at Hiroshima I had asked at the tourist office about how to get to some of the other islands and I had been told that what we were trying to do was impossible. We had then hoped that may be the staff at Iwaso would be able to help us out by contacting the ferry line direct for us. However the person at the desk didnt have sufficient English to really understand what we were trying to accomplish. So, in the end we decided to take the ferry which goes direct from Miyajima to Hiroshima Port and make more enquiries there. (Cost about $20 as compared to going back on free JR ferry and train to Hiroshima but a good time saver and a very pleasant trip in itself). We still had no luck at Hiroshima Port. I had thought there would be an office for SKK who is a company which runs day tours around the inland sea, but there didnt appear to be one at all and so ended up at another tourist office. After quite some time trying to communicate what we wanted to do they also threw up their hands in horror and said not possible. By this stage we were starting to get the idea that it was not meant to be and decided to simply catch a train to Kurashiki which was meant to be rather pretty instead.
This we did and as we had to go through Okayama on the way we decided to get off and spend a bit of time there as my guidebook said the Korakuen garden at Okayama was amongst the three best in all of Japan. It was a gorgeous day and the gardens were only a short bus ride from the station. I have to say that we were both rather disappointed with the gardens. Japan is of course famous for its gardens and, as one of three best in Japan, we were expecting something spectacular. What we got was simply pleasant. They were not particularly big and there was a nice lake, some lily ponds, a small rice paddy field, a tea plantation and quite a lot of lawn. As proper lawns, especially large expanses of them, seem to be quite rare in Japan we wondered if this was part of the reason why the Japanese like these gardens so much. It was not permitted to walk on the laws and obviously a lot of care was taken over them. We had lunch (which we had bought at a bakery near the station) beside the lake which was nice and then headed back to the station. All in all, we probably spent only a bit over an hour actually walking around (and had pretty well seen everything) plus an extra half hour sitting have lunch.
Our time in Kurashiki made up for our disappointment at Korekuen though. Our only mistake here was to choose a hotel close to the station because we didnt want to have to carry our bags too far. We paid far too much money for what we got, a fairly souless Japanese business style hotel. The room was small, the furnishings very dated and well used, and the bathroom was tiny. It certainly wasnt possible for two people to stand in there side by side and I have literally seen bathrooms in caravans which were bigger than this one. The entire bathroom came as a prefabricated moulded unit which you step into. The shower was over the area where you stand to use the washbasin so that meant the floor was wet for any subsequent use.
The Bikan (touristy) area of Kurashiki was much closer to the station what we had expected and we would have done better to walk down to that. Kurashiki is mainly famous for the canal running through the middle of town. It is bordered on either side by large willow trees and has a number of bridges and is quite charming. It was most enjoyable wandering around. It was possible to take a punt for a short distance down the river which no doubt would have been very relaxing. Plenty of fish in the canal to watch and a couple of swans as well. These were the only swans we saw during the entire trip so perhaps they are not native to Japan and these ones had been brought in specially for a bit of extra atmosphere. There were a number of people who had set up the wares on the ground alongside the canal so we browsed through these and a number of second hand antique shops.
Kurashiki has a lot of museums for its size and we visited the Ohara Art Museum which we enjoyed. Its main gallery is composed mainly of European art but there were also Japanese galleries in some of the other buildings as well. I knew that photography was not permitted of the paintings but it hadnt occurred to me that included taking a photo through a rather delightful shaped window overlooking the town. They must have had CCTV because by the time I had walked the 4-5 steps back into the main gallery a guard was waiting to tell me off.
We also visited the Ohashi house which was the home of a wealthy merchant and, whilst interesting, was not particularly special.
Had our best Italian meal for our trip that night which we thoroughly enjoyed. Outside of the large cities there doesnt seem to be an awful lot of ethnic cuisine, except that Italian is popular. We went to several Italian restaurants when we wanted a break from Japanese food but overall found the standard of them to be not that great. They rather reminded me of what we might have seen in an Italian restaurant 40 years ago at home with a very limited menu of pizza and pasta dishes. I wont even go near the chain of Italian places which has food to go like a McDonalds with no seats at all to sit down. I would have loved to have seen someone trying to eat their spaghetti whilst walking down the street.
Next Shiraishi Island and my 2 minutes of fame on Japanese TV.
Our next port of call was Shiraishi Island but we had allowed ourselves two days in which to get there. I had read in a guide book about going ferry hopping around the Seto Inland Sea and we thought that sounded an idyllic way to go. One of the books gave a suggested route but, despite spending ages on the internet trying to research how to do it, had been able to glean very little information. In the end we decided to wait until we got there and work it out on the spot. Well of course that all rather fell apart.
When we had arrived at Hiroshima I had asked at the tourist office about how to get to some of the other islands and I had been told that what we were trying to do was impossible. We had then hoped that may be the staff at Iwaso would be able to help us out by contacting the ferry line direct for us. However the person at the desk didnt have sufficient English to really understand what we were trying to accomplish. So, in the end we decided to take the ferry which goes direct from Miyajima to Hiroshima Port and make more enquiries there. (Cost about $20 as compared to going back on free JR ferry and train to Hiroshima but a good time saver and a very pleasant trip in itself). We still had no luck at Hiroshima Port. I had thought there would be an office for SKK who is a company which runs day tours around the inland sea, but there didnt appear to be one at all and so ended up at another tourist office. After quite some time trying to communicate what we wanted to do they also threw up their hands in horror and said not possible. By this stage we were starting to get the idea that it was not meant to be and decided to simply catch a train to Kurashiki which was meant to be rather pretty instead.
This we did and as we had to go through Okayama on the way we decided to get off and spend a bit of time there as my guidebook said the Korakuen garden at Okayama was amongst the three best in all of Japan. It was a gorgeous day and the gardens were only a short bus ride from the station. I have to say that we were both rather disappointed with the gardens. Japan is of course famous for its gardens and, as one of three best in Japan, we were expecting something spectacular. What we got was simply pleasant. They were not particularly big and there was a nice lake, some lily ponds, a small rice paddy field, a tea plantation and quite a lot of lawn. As proper lawns, especially large expanses of them, seem to be quite rare in Japan we wondered if this was part of the reason why the Japanese like these gardens so much. It was not permitted to walk on the laws and obviously a lot of care was taken over them. We had lunch (which we had bought at a bakery near the station) beside the lake which was nice and then headed back to the station. All in all, we probably spent only a bit over an hour actually walking around (and had pretty well seen everything) plus an extra half hour sitting have lunch.
Our time in Kurashiki made up for our disappointment at Korekuen though. Our only mistake here was to choose a hotel close to the station because we didnt want to have to carry our bags too far. We paid far too much money for what we got, a fairly souless Japanese business style hotel. The room was small, the furnishings very dated and well used, and the bathroom was tiny. It certainly wasnt possible for two people to stand in there side by side and I have literally seen bathrooms in caravans which were bigger than this one. The entire bathroom came as a prefabricated moulded unit which you step into. The shower was over the area where you stand to use the washbasin so that meant the floor was wet for any subsequent use.
The Bikan (touristy) area of Kurashiki was much closer to the station what we had expected and we would have done better to walk down to that. Kurashiki is mainly famous for the canal running through the middle of town. It is bordered on either side by large willow trees and has a number of bridges and is quite charming. It was most enjoyable wandering around. It was possible to take a punt for a short distance down the river which no doubt would have been very relaxing. Plenty of fish in the canal to watch and a couple of swans as well. These were the only swans we saw during the entire trip so perhaps they are not native to Japan and these ones had been brought in specially for a bit of extra atmosphere. There were a number of people who had set up the wares on the ground alongside the canal so we browsed through these and a number of second hand antique shops.
Kurashiki has a lot of museums for its size and we visited the Ohara Art Museum which we enjoyed. Its main gallery is composed mainly of European art but there were also Japanese galleries in some of the other buildings as well. I knew that photography was not permitted of the paintings but it hadnt occurred to me that included taking a photo through a rather delightful shaped window overlooking the town. They must have had CCTV because by the time I had walked the 4-5 steps back into the main gallery a guard was waiting to tell me off.
We also visited the Ohashi house which was the home of a wealthy merchant and, whilst interesting, was not particularly special.
Had our best Italian meal for our trip that night which we thoroughly enjoyed. Outside of the large cities there doesnt seem to be an awful lot of ethnic cuisine, except that Italian is popular. We went to several Italian restaurants when we wanted a break from Japanese food but overall found the standard of them to be not that great. They rather reminded me of what we might have seen in an Italian restaurant 40 years ago at home with a very limited menu of pizza and pasta dishes. I wont even go near the chain of Italian places which has food to go like a McDonalds with no seats at all to sit down. I would have loved to have seen someone trying to eat their spaghetti whilst walking down the street.
Next Shiraishi Island and my 2 minutes of fame on Japanese TV.
Nov 9th, 2008 | 07:19 AM
#22
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 6,412
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still enjoying this wonderful report. Since you made it to Shiraishi Island you must have found out that the ferries don't stop there from Hiroshima. At the Hiroshima port they probably didn't know enough English to explain that it would take a long time to catch the ferries to S island so better to go by train. I think you would have had to catch the three plus hour ferry to Matsuyama. Change ferries there for a several hour ferry to Osaka or Kobe. Get off there and take the train to back track to Okayama/Kurashiki all in over 14 hours or so
http://www.amychavez.addr.com/is-dtl/directions.htm
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html
so how did you get on tv?
http://www.amychavez.addr.com/is-dtl/directions.htm
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html
so how did you get on tv?
Nov 9th, 2008 | 05:23 PM
#23
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Joined: Sep 2003
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Hawaiian Traveller, we knew that Hiroshima to Shiraishi direct was not possible but had been hoping to do something like, Hiroshima, Omishima, Ikuchijima to Onomichi, then pick up train to get down to Kasaoka to pick up the ferry to Shiraishi. The intention had been to do it over two days staying on one of the islands along the way, possibly at Setoda.
We were subsequently told by Amy (of the website you fave)that there are no longer any passenger services which would let you do this sort of trip anymore, it is really only freight nowdays.
We did consider going from Hiroshima to Matsuyama and then train back to Kasaoka but decided that the cost of the ferry trip was rather expensive. To go to Kurashiki by train was free on the JR Pass so we went with that.
Will do another longer post with next portion of trip in a couple of days. My mother has been readmitted to hospital and we have just found out she has Parkinson's Disease so things are not so great here. However, will get back to the report because, if nothing else, it lets me forget my worries.
We were subsequently told by Amy (of the website you fave)that there are no longer any passenger services which would let you do this sort of trip anymore, it is really only freight nowdays.
We did consider going from Hiroshima to Matsuyama and then train back to Kasaoka but decided that the cost of the ferry trip was rather expensive. To go to Kurashiki by train was free on the JR Pass so we went with that.
Will do another longer post with next portion of trip in a couple of days. My mother has been readmitted to hospital and we have just found out she has Parkinson's Disease so things are not so great here. However, will get back to the report because, if nothing else, it lets me forget my worries.
Nov 10th, 2008 | 04:46 AM
#25
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,267
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shandy, I hope your Mom is in good hands w/competent physicians.
When you get back here, we are all fantasizing re how you got on Japanese TV. My son and I also had a TV, well, more like a large screen, fame experience in Japan.
Was it at least a little windy when you walked through the bamboo groves at Sagano? One of my fondest auditory memories from all my travels is the sound of the tops of the tall bamboo clanking into each other as they swayed in the breeze. It is almost a musical sound.
When you get back here, we are all fantasizing re how you got on Japanese TV. My son and I also had a TV, well, more like a large screen, fame experience in Japan.
Was it at least a little windy when you walked through the bamboo groves at Sagano? One of my fondest auditory memories from all my travels is the sound of the tops of the tall bamboo clanking into each other as they swayed in the breeze. It is almost a musical sound.
Nov 10th, 2008 | 11:23 AM
#27
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 6,412
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I too hope for the best for your Mom! We will be awaiting your return.
emd, are you planning a return to the magic soon? I know what you mean, I can't shake the want to return and explore more and more. I usually loose that feeling for a place after 2 or 3 visits.....not Japan for some reason
Aloha!
emd, are you planning a return to the magic soon? I know what you mean, I can't shake the want to return and explore more and more. I usually loose that feeling for a place after 2 or 3 visits.....not Japan for some reason
Aloha!
Nov 10th, 2008 | 02:18 PM
#28
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,318
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shandy - I hope your Mum is doing okay...
I agree with what you said about Himeji-jo - I couldn't believe the way some of those seniors just zoomed up the almost vertical stairways....
The last part of your trip is where I am planning to go - could you share what business hotel you stayed at in Kurashiki. I was planning to stay at the Toyoko Inn there. It looks to be about halfway to the Bikan area.
Looking forward to the rest of your report...
I agree with what you said about Himeji-jo - I couldn't believe the way some of those seniors just zoomed up the almost vertical stairways....
The last part of your trip is where I am planning to go - could you share what business hotel you stayed at in Kurashiki. I was planning to stay at the Toyoko Inn there. It looks to be about halfway to the Bikan area.
Looking forward to the rest of your report...
Nov 11th, 2008 | 11:02 PM
#29
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Thank you to all for your kind wishes.
Mara, I am afraid I didn't take down the name of the hotel we stayed at in Kurashiki, but it was part of the station complex itself. It definitely wasn't a Toyoko Inn though.
We did stay at a Toyoko Inn in Kanazawa and we were very pleasantly surprised by it. It was quite cheap and the hotel appeared to be quite new, or if not, recently refurbished. Yes the bedroom and the bathroom were both small, but they had really made an effort to make it look as bright and airy as possible. Fixtures and fittings were quite good and everything lovely and clean. There were coin washing machines/dryers downstairs, free internet, English newspaper and free Japanese breakfast each morning. I don't know that I would have wanted to stay there too many days in view of how small the room was, but for an overight it was absolutely fine. Also, I wouldn't necessarily expect the staff to speak English as it caters primarily for Japanese businessman. They didn't at Kanazawa but it was not a problem. Checking in and checking out is pretty much the same all over the world.
I didn't really say all that much about the Ohara Museum in Kurashiki but should mention that if you like European art you should definitely go have a look. There were works there by Monet, Gaugain, Moglidiano, Picasso and Pissaro. We were rather astounded as to how this small provinicial museum had managed to acquire them.
Mara, I am afraid I didn't take down the name of the hotel we stayed at in Kurashiki, but it was part of the station complex itself. It definitely wasn't a Toyoko Inn though.
We did stay at a Toyoko Inn in Kanazawa and we were very pleasantly surprised by it. It was quite cheap and the hotel appeared to be quite new, or if not, recently refurbished. Yes the bedroom and the bathroom were both small, but they had really made an effort to make it look as bright and airy as possible. Fixtures and fittings were quite good and everything lovely and clean. There were coin washing machines/dryers downstairs, free internet, English newspaper and free Japanese breakfast each morning. I don't know that I would have wanted to stay there too many days in view of how small the room was, but for an overight it was absolutely fine. Also, I wouldn't necessarily expect the staff to speak English as it caters primarily for Japanese businessman. They didn't at Kanazawa but it was not a problem. Checking in and checking out is pretty much the same all over the world.
I didn't really say all that much about the Ohara Museum in Kurashiki but should mention that if you like European art you should definitely go have a look. There were works there by Monet, Gaugain, Moglidiano, Picasso and Pissaro. We were rather astounded as to how this small provinicial museum had managed to acquire them.
Nov 12th, 2008 | 04:54 AM
#30
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Joined: Sep 2003
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SHIRAISHI ISLAND
We heard about Shiraishi from an Aussie who had previously stayed there. Shiraishi is a tiny little island (pop around 700 I think) in the Seto Inland Sea just off the coast from Kasaoka about a 20 min ferry trip.
The Okayama Prefecture has several different locations, including Shiraishi, where they run the International Villas as a non-profit organisation. This is purpose built accommodation for international visitors only at a very cheap cost, ¥2500 per night. They are nothing fancy but are to give foreigners a chance to spend some time outside of the usual tourist haunts and learn a little about Japanese life. The Shiraishi Villa takes a max of 10 people, 5 bedrooms with a communal kitchen/dining room.
We thought this sounded ideal, a chance to chill out for several days and spend some time in the local community, not to mention the incredibly cheap cost. You can only book three months ahead so I set the date in my calendar, not that I was particularly concerned. Shiraishi really only comes to life during the summer months when they do get quite a few Japanese who come to stay for a beach holiday. By the time we were coming the only bar and restaurant on the island had already closed until next summer. I was therefore rather flummoxed when I went to make my booking to find that it was already full. Someone had beaten me to the punch and booked the entire villa for their group.
So what to do now? We had organised half our travelling arrangements to be on Shiraishi for the weekend of the 5th as it was their local festival that day where they carry a mikoshi (portable shrine) around the island and we thought it would be great fun to go and watch. I knew of a website for Amy Chavez an American who lives on the island (with her Aussie husband) and they run the Moooo Bar (never knew you could get so many clothes, bags, cups, other items with cow prints on them) which is the happening place on the island over summer. Amy is a great character, very effervescent, and in her spare time helps organise accommodation with the locals. After a few emails back and forth as to just what sort of thing we were after she suggested we stay at a minshuku called the Amano Beach House which was the same price as the villas, ¥2500 per night. The extra bonus of communicating with Amy was that we received a personal invitation to take part in carrying the local mikoshi.
We knew we would have to do our own cooking on the island so we stopped off at the local supermarket at Kurashiki before we caught the train to Kasaoka.. It is quite an experience in itself to see what is available for the locals to buy. It just gives you that little bit of extra insight as to how they live. It was quite different as to what was available in the food halls of the fancy department stores. We were glad that we had bought some spaghetti earlier on the trip at the speciality section of the food hall in Kyoto because there was none available at the supermarket. Considering how popular Italian food is in Japan we thought this was rather strange. The food we had most missed on our travels was cheese and, although, this was a large supermarket the cheese there was limited to some small rounds of camerbert and Kraft style processed cheese (soft and flavourless). By this stage I would have killed for a good blue vein or nice strong cheddar. Anyway, we stocked up on some few things to keep us going for the 3 days and just as well we did. There is one small general store on the island but whilst we were there, there was hardly anything on the shelves, mainly nibblies and ice cream. Perhaps during the tourist season they keep a larger range of foods available.
The train trip to Kasaoka was uneventful and it was only about a 10 min walk max to the ferry terminal from the train station so that was quite simple. (They were happy to look after our luggage whilst we had a browse around town until the next ferry left). We loved the sign in English with an arrow to the ferry terminal. I know that it is difficult for a number of the Asian races to say the letter R and it comes out as L but the sign to the Sanyo Kaisen FeLLy Boat seemed to be taking it a bit far.
Whilst waiting for the ferry we met the group who had booked the Villa en masse and would you believe they were a group of Australians. It was turning into an Australian invasion. John who is a school teacher, and speaks Japanese very well, takes a group over approx once a year acting as a tour leader for them. He loves Japan and obviously cant get enough of it. I suppose this is his way of indulging his love for Japan. Hopefully we didnt take the shine off him. When I was talking to one of the women a day or two later I told her about what the two of us had done and intending to do. She was absolutely amazed that we could accomplish our itinerary without ever having been to Japan before or speaking any Japanese. However, they were very pleased with what John had organised for them and his leadership so I am sure they remained very happy.
The ferry ride over was enjoyable with all the little islands dotted throughout the Inland Sea, however on the mainland there is a lot of industrialisation.
Amy also happened to be on the ferry as well so we caught up with her. She and Peter have been living on the island for about 12 years I think and obviously love it. They did say it gets very cold and gloomy in winter though and have taken to moving to another part of Japan during the winter. When we got off the ferry Peter was there with his jeep and took us down to Amano Beach House which was great. It would have been a bit hard identifying which house otherwise.
Amy had told us that the Amano was a very typical house It was s a very ramshackle affair which seemed to be put together with basically anything they can find, bits of corrugated iron, pieces of timber etc. There are lots of things piled up all over the place outside the house such as large reels (presumably had rope for the boats on them), The kitchen and bathroom facilities can only be called extremely basic. There was a toilet inside (Japanese style) and outside a western style loo had been put in. The shower was in a sort of lean to on the side and not the sort of place you would want to linger overly long, although I must say the water was hot and the water pressure excellent. Our outdoor kitchen was under cover and consisted of one portable gas ring stove and a trough to wash things up in. Having said all this, our actual bedroom/living quarters was amazing. It had beautiful tatami mats and was very large, in fact the largest room we had anywhere. Futons were comfortable and the two household shrines were in this room which were quite elaborate. Our host had absolutely no English whatsoever and as she found it rather too nervewracking to handle receiving cash direct, we had to pay the money to Amy.
The Amano is right on the waters edge and it was so peaceful just sitting outside overlooking the water. There were plenty of birds and also quite a lot of flying fish which was good entertainment in itself. I had no idea how high a flying fish could jump. The village was a 15-20 min slow stroll away along the waters edge, not that there was anything much in the village itself. Wandering around the streets the first evening was delightful as they had quite a lot of lanterns up and lit for the festival.
The following day we took it very easy, luxuriating in not having to rush around seeing something or moving on. We eventually walked around the entire island which is only about 7km in circumference. Some glorious views along the way of the small islands. In the middle it is quite mountainous. There are quite a number of walking trails through the forested areas but after encountering a lot of spider webs I said not for me. We did encounter a couple of snakes along the way, but although I am paranoid about spiders, snakes dont really bother me.
The Sunday was the main festival day. Amy had told us that the island festival was in trouble because, like many of these places, the young people leave the island as soon as they are old enough for the bright lights and jobs on the mainland which means the local population now consists of predominantly older people. The previous year the festival had been cancelled because there simply werent enough able bodied people to help pull the mikoshi around the island. However this year they had got their act together again. There are 8 separate neighbourhoods on the island, each with its own shrine. Each neighbourhood takes it in turn to host the festival and they pull their mikoshi and puppet type figure sitting on top, around the entire island so he can go meet his friends at all the other neighbourhood shrines. The sake starts flowing at about 8am and continues all day long.
We woke up about 6am to the sound of rain and it was such a shame for the locals because it bucketed down continuously all day without any let up. The day before and the day afterwards were perfect weatherwise. I think we had caught the very tail end of a typhoon which had hit a lot further south 2-3 days beforehand. At about 7pm I walked outside and within the space of a few minutes it stopped pouring, the strong winds stopped completely and for the first time all day we could see more than a few 100 metres. It was quite clear all the way over to the mainland. It stayed like this for about 15 mins and then the rain and the wind came back again. I could only think that it was the eye of the storm had passed over us.
We walked down to Amys house at 8am as arranged to see what we should be doing in terms of joining in with the festival. However we never actually got a chance to help pull the mikoshi around because in view of the rain it was decided that only the host neighbourhood would do so. Of course that didnt mean the festivities should stop all together and the rain was a good excuse to drink all the more sake, so there I was just after 8am drinking sake and eating prawns. None of the locals really spoke any English so they kept offering more sake instead and, of course, it would have seemed impolite to refuse
A cameraman had come over from the regional TV news station to film the festival and one of the locals was obviously very keen to be on the TV. He apparently decided that he had a better chance of making an appearance by dragging me into the picture. So he stood beside me beaming whilst the cameraman/reporter asked me a few questions (in excellent English) as to why an Australian was on this tiny island, what did I think of Japan etc. I have no idea whether it actually went to air but perhaps I had my two minutes of fame. Considering what the weather was like, may be it did as a change from showing pictures of the pouring rain.
We all trudged up the hill to the main shrine on the island which I must say is really quite elaborate for such a small island. We spent quite some time there watching the ceremonies and then the two of us headed back down again in time to see the mikoshi being pulled through the streets. It was rather a strange sight. Everyone was in their festival happy coats and some didnt bother to cover up at all, just allowing themselves to become saturated (it wasnt actually cold), others had raincoats on top, others with one arm pulling the mikoshi and the other arm holding up an umbrella.
By lunchtime the two of us were soaked to the skin and decided that we had enough and certainly couldnt consume any more sake, so headed back to the Amano. As we are both bookworms we actually quite enjoyed the afternoon, just lying around, reading our books, listening to music and even an afternoon nap. I blame the sake. We had ordered Bento Boxes for lunch and instead of just eating them as is, we threw most of it into a wok and turned into this very strange type of fried rice. It wasnt half bad in the end but Gordon Ramsay has nothing to fear, I dont think we have discovered a new culinary masterpiece.
It actually probably was quite lucky that we were at the Amano in the end because when I spoke to some of the people from the International Villas they said that the common room areas of the Villas was fairly small so with all 10 of them crammed in for the entire day there wasnt a huge amount of room.
The next day we woke to glorious sunshine. The locals dont like to waste any time because by 6am all the festival lights were being taken down and they were burning all the bamboo they had cut to decorate their houses in piles on the sand. It didnt take long to pack up and we strolled down to the ferry terminal to catch the 8.30am ferry and then train up to Kanazawa which was right on the other side of Japan.
We heard about Shiraishi from an Aussie who had previously stayed there. Shiraishi is a tiny little island (pop around 700 I think) in the Seto Inland Sea just off the coast from Kasaoka about a 20 min ferry trip.
The Okayama Prefecture has several different locations, including Shiraishi, where they run the International Villas as a non-profit organisation. This is purpose built accommodation for international visitors only at a very cheap cost, ¥2500 per night. They are nothing fancy but are to give foreigners a chance to spend some time outside of the usual tourist haunts and learn a little about Japanese life. The Shiraishi Villa takes a max of 10 people, 5 bedrooms with a communal kitchen/dining room.
We thought this sounded ideal, a chance to chill out for several days and spend some time in the local community, not to mention the incredibly cheap cost. You can only book three months ahead so I set the date in my calendar, not that I was particularly concerned. Shiraishi really only comes to life during the summer months when they do get quite a few Japanese who come to stay for a beach holiday. By the time we were coming the only bar and restaurant on the island had already closed until next summer. I was therefore rather flummoxed when I went to make my booking to find that it was already full. Someone had beaten me to the punch and booked the entire villa for their group.
So what to do now? We had organised half our travelling arrangements to be on Shiraishi for the weekend of the 5th as it was their local festival that day where they carry a mikoshi (portable shrine) around the island and we thought it would be great fun to go and watch. I knew of a website for Amy Chavez an American who lives on the island (with her Aussie husband) and they run the Moooo Bar (never knew you could get so many clothes, bags, cups, other items with cow prints on them) which is the happening place on the island over summer. Amy is a great character, very effervescent, and in her spare time helps organise accommodation with the locals. After a few emails back and forth as to just what sort of thing we were after she suggested we stay at a minshuku called the Amano Beach House which was the same price as the villas, ¥2500 per night. The extra bonus of communicating with Amy was that we received a personal invitation to take part in carrying the local mikoshi.
We knew we would have to do our own cooking on the island so we stopped off at the local supermarket at Kurashiki before we caught the train to Kasaoka.. It is quite an experience in itself to see what is available for the locals to buy. It just gives you that little bit of extra insight as to how they live. It was quite different as to what was available in the food halls of the fancy department stores. We were glad that we had bought some spaghetti earlier on the trip at the speciality section of the food hall in Kyoto because there was none available at the supermarket. Considering how popular Italian food is in Japan we thought this was rather strange. The food we had most missed on our travels was cheese and, although, this was a large supermarket the cheese there was limited to some small rounds of camerbert and Kraft style processed cheese (soft and flavourless). By this stage I would have killed for a good blue vein or nice strong cheddar. Anyway, we stocked up on some few things to keep us going for the 3 days and just as well we did. There is one small general store on the island but whilst we were there, there was hardly anything on the shelves, mainly nibblies and ice cream. Perhaps during the tourist season they keep a larger range of foods available.
The train trip to Kasaoka was uneventful and it was only about a 10 min walk max to the ferry terminal from the train station so that was quite simple. (They were happy to look after our luggage whilst we had a browse around town until the next ferry left). We loved the sign in English with an arrow to the ferry terminal. I know that it is difficult for a number of the Asian races to say the letter R and it comes out as L but the sign to the Sanyo Kaisen FeLLy Boat seemed to be taking it a bit far.
Whilst waiting for the ferry we met the group who had booked the Villa en masse and would you believe they were a group of Australians. It was turning into an Australian invasion. John who is a school teacher, and speaks Japanese very well, takes a group over approx once a year acting as a tour leader for them. He loves Japan and obviously cant get enough of it. I suppose this is his way of indulging his love for Japan. Hopefully we didnt take the shine off him. When I was talking to one of the women a day or two later I told her about what the two of us had done and intending to do. She was absolutely amazed that we could accomplish our itinerary without ever having been to Japan before or speaking any Japanese. However, they were very pleased with what John had organised for them and his leadership so I am sure they remained very happy.
The ferry ride over was enjoyable with all the little islands dotted throughout the Inland Sea, however on the mainland there is a lot of industrialisation.
Amy also happened to be on the ferry as well so we caught up with her. She and Peter have been living on the island for about 12 years I think and obviously love it. They did say it gets very cold and gloomy in winter though and have taken to moving to another part of Japan during the winter. When we got off the ferry Peter was there with his jeep and took us down to Amano Beach House which was great. It would have been a bit hard identifying which house otherwise.
Amy had told us that the Amano was a very typical house It was s a very ramshackle affair which seemed to be put together with basically anything they can find, bits of corrugated iron, pieces of timber etc. There are lots of things piled up all over the place outside the house such as large reels (presumably had rope for the boats on them), The kitchen and bathroom facilities can only be called extremely basic. There was a toilet inside (Japanese style) and outside a western style loo had been put in. The shower was in a sort of lean to on the side and not the sort of place you would want to linger overly long, although I must say the water was hot and the water pressure excellent. Our outdoor kitchen was under cover and consisted of one portable gas ring stove and a trough to wash things up in. Having said all this, our actual bedroom/living quarters was amazing. It had beautiful tatami mats and was very large, in fact the largest room we had anywhere. Futons were comfortable and the two household shrines were in this room which were quite elaborate. Our host had absolutely no English whatsoever and as she found it rather too nervewracking to handle receiving cash direct, we had to pay the money to Amy.
The Amano is right on the waters edge and it was so peaceful just sitting outside overlooking the water. There were plenty of birds and also quite a lot of flying fish which was good entertainment in itself. I had no idea how high a flying fish could jump. The village was a 15-20 min slow stroll away along the waters edge, not that there was anything much in the village itself. Wandering around the streets the first evening was delightful as they had quite a lot of lanterns up and lit for the festival.
The following day we took it very easy, luxuriating in not having to rush around seeing something or moving on. We eventually walked around the entire island which is only about 7km in circumference. Some glorious views along the way of the small islands. In the middle it is quite mountainous. There are quite a number of walking trails through the forested areas but after encountering a lot of spider webs I said not for me. We did encounter a couple of snakes along the way, but although I am paranoid about spiders, snakes dont really bother me.
The Sunday was the main festival day. Amy had told us that the island festival was in trouble because, like many of these places, the young people leave the island as soon as they are old enough for the bright lights and jobs on the mainland which means the local population now consists of predominantly older people. The previous year the festival had been cancelled because there simply werent enough able bodied people to help pull the mikoshi around the island. However this year they had got their act together again. There are 8 separate neighbourhoods on the island, each with its own shrine. Each neighbourhood takes it in turn to host the festival and they pull their mikoshi and puppet type figure sitting on top, around the entire island so he can go meet his friends at all the other neighbourhood shrines. The sake starts flowing at about 8am and continues all day long.
We woke up about 6am to the sound of rain and it was such a shame for the locals because it bucketed down continuously all day without any let up. The day before and the day afterwards were perfect weatherwise. I think we had caught the very tail end of a typhoon which had hit a lot further south 2-3 days beforehand. At about 7pm I walked outside and within the space of a few minutes it stopped pouring, the strong winds stopped completely and for the first time all day we could see more than a few 100 metres. It was quite clear all the way over to the mainland. It stayed like this for about 15 mins and then the rain and the wind came back again. I could only think that it was the eye of the storm had passed over us.
We walked down to Amys house at 8am as arranged to see what we should be doing in terms of joining in with the festival. However we never actually got a chance to help pull the mikoshi around because in view of the rain it was decided that only the host neighbourhood would do so. Of course that didnt mean the festivities should stop all together and the rain was a good excuse to drink all the more sake, so there I was just after 8am drinking sake and eating prawns. None of the locals really spoke any English so they kept offering more sake instead and, of course, it would have seemed impolite to refuse
A cameraman had come over from the regional TV news station to film the festival and one of the locals was obviously very keen to be on the TV. He apparently decided that he had a better chance of making an appearance by dragging me into the picture. So he stood beside me beaming whilst the cameraman/reporter asked me a few questions (in excellent English) as to why an Australian was on this tiny island, what did I think of Japan etc. I have no idea whether it actually went to air but perhaps I had my two minutes of fame. Considering what the weather was like, may be it did as a change from showing pictures of the pouring rain.
We all trudged up the hill to the main shrine on the island which I must say is really quite elaborate for such a small island. We spent quite some time there watching the ceremonies and then the two of us headed back down again in time to see the mikoshi being pulled through the streets. It was rather a strange sight. Everyone was in their festival happy coats and some didnt bother to cover up at all, just allowing themselves to become saturated (it wasnt actually cold), others had raincoats on top, others with one arm pulling the mikoshi and the other arm holding up an umbrella.
By lunchtime the two of us were soaked to the skin and decided that we had enough and certainly couldnt consume any more sake, so headed back to the Amano. As we are both bookworms we actually quite enjoyed the afternoon, just lying around, reading our books, listening to music and even an afternoon nap. I blame the sake. We had ordered Bento Boxes for lunch and instead of just eating them as is, we threw most of it into a wok and turned into this very strange type of fried rice. It wasnt half bad in the end but Gordon Ramsay has nothing to fear, I dont think we have discovered a new culinary masterpiece.
It actually probably was quite lucky that we were at the Amano in the end because when I spoke to some of the people from the International Villas they said that the common room areas of the Villas was fairly small so with all 10 of them crammed in for the entire day there wasnt a huge amount of room.
The next day we woke to glorious sunshine. The locals dont like to waste any time because by 6am all the festival lights were being taken down and they were burning all the bamboo they had cut to decorate their houses in piles on the sand. It didnt take long to pack up and we strolled down to the ferry terminal to catch the 8.30am ferry and then train up to Kanazawa which was right on the other side of Japan.
Nov 12th, 2008 | 05:57 PM
#31
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,005
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Mara, I believe the Italian restaurant that we really enjoyed at Kurashiki is called Rentenchi and is on the main street. If you walking towards the Bikan area from the train station it is on the main street and on the left hand side approx a couple of blocks down.
Nov 14th, 2008 | 07:28 PM
#32
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Joined: Sep 2003
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KANAZAWA
I was very glad that I had my spreadsheet that I compiled from Hyperdia before we left because when we got to Kasaoka station the attendant there was completely flummoxed by our request for tickets to Kanazawa. As he had no English at all, may be we were not getting across what we wanted. In the end we simply followed my directions on my spreadsheet which actually entailed going back 3 stations to where we could pick up a shinkasen to take us through to Shin-Osaka. Once at Shin-Osaka we originally thought that the man in the reservation office was telling us there were no trains to Kanazawa, he kept crossing his arms. After a couple of minutes we realised he simply meant there were no reserved seats left. Despite the lack of reservation there was absolutely no problem getting a non-smoking seat in the unreserved carriages so that was fine.
We had been hoping to see a bit more of a rural scene as we traversed across Japan to the other coast but once again in was quite built up along the train line. We passed an absolutely huge lake along the way and the mountains looked lovely in the background.
It was just before 3pm when we arrived which was pretty good considering the distance we had travelled with a ferry ride and several changes of train to boot. We were both taken with Kanazawa as a town. The station area itself is very modern, rather reminiscent of Kyoto station, and care had been taken with the streetscapes around the town to make them look pleasant. The old area of town, geisha and samurai districts both had a lot of atmosphere as well. Although it is city sized, it had a more intimate feel to it then the other places we had been visited.
It was only a short walk to the Toyoko Inn which we had booked. I think there are about three Toyoko Inns in Kanazawa and the one we booked was Toyoko Inn Kanazawa-eki Higashiguchi. As you walk out of the station turn right on to the main road and walk down the street a few 100 metres and it is on the same side of the road as the station (about 5 mins) It is not particularly close to the attractions but all the buses leave from the station so we did not find that a problem. On returning to the station, several of the bus lines went straight pass the hotel so we were just able to jump off.
This is a Japanese business hotel and, as such, you have to expect small rooms. However, the room was spotless, very modern and the furnishings of a good quality. The bathroom was equally small but also pristine. They have gone to quite some attention to ensure that it looks reasonably light and airy despite the small size of the room. They are plenty of toiletries on available, even a face mask! There is also a free Japanese breakfast downstairs in the morning, English reading newspapers, free internet and coin washing machines/dryers.
Although it does not have "atmosphere", I would have to put this place down as one of the best value for money places we stayed at for our nearly four weeks in Japan. The place was full of Japanese businessmen, and seeing what they would typically expect to stay at is also a valid experience in itself. The staff at the desk had no English at all but checking in/checking out is fairly universal anyway so that was fine. The only time we had trouble understanding what was going on was when the girl presented us with a very large basket full of merchandise. Eventually we worked out that we were entitled to one gift each for staying. We opted for a carry bag each, one of those ones which fold up into themselves so you can pop them into a purse and then take out when needed.
As check-in is not until 4pm they took our bags and put them down on the floor near reception until our room was available. Who needs fancy security and storage systems? They simply tied the two bags together and then put a very loose net over the top of them which had a number of bells attached to it. If anyone had tried to take a bag, they would immediately hear the tinkle of the bells and investigate.
We headed off to the Higashi Chaya (geisha) district and had a very pleasant evening wandering around there. It is the largest geisha district in Japan outside Kyoto. All the buildings were timbered with vertical or lattice woodwork and had lots of atmosphere. We did a tour through Shima which was an authentic geisha house and virtually unchanged. We found it fascinating and although you could do it in 20 mins we would have certainly spent well over an hour there.
One of the things I really enjoyed about Kanazawa was the quality of the shopping there. There appeared to be a lot more artisan type shops with one off or limited production high class merchandise. Elsewhere we had kept seeing the same things over and over again.
Kanazawa is responsible for producing 98% of the goods made with gold in Japan and it shows. The Sakuda Gold Leaf Store is certainly worth stopping at for a browse even if you are not buying, although I did succumb to a rather nice pendant. There are two walls which are totally covered in gold leaf, one inside and one outside. That the one outside could stay in such great condition was amazing. It has been the most fabulous sheen to it.
Whilst we were wandering around the area, a monk in full costume went from door to door chanting. Im not sure whether he was begging (one of the storekeepers gave him money) or blessing the shops, or both, but he looked fantastic and really added to the atmosphere as it was descending into evening and all the lanterns had lit up.
We read in the local paper that Kanazawa has three times the annual rainfall of England and that a local saying is that to forget your lunch is an inconvenience but to forget your umbrella is a disaster. I am pleased to say that whilst it was bit grey on occasions it fortunately didnt rain on us.
Other highlights whilst we were at Kanazawa were the Kenrokuen gardens. These were much more what we had expected in terms of a fabulous Japanese garden. The sculpted trees were fascinating, some of them had obviously taken 100s of years. The lake was beautiful and it was very serene for the most part. When we first entered I thought this was going to be terrible because there were so many bus tours there, but once we moved further away we were able to escape them. We enjoyed a wander through the Seison-kaku Villa (extra cost) as well which are situated in the garden. It was really interesting to see what type of villa was built for the very wealthy and compare it to, say, a British stately mansion. It gives a good insight into the cultural differences between east and west. It had beautifully tatami floors, very little furniture, exquisite gardens which could be viewed from the balcony, Dutch ceramics built into the walls of all things, and a surprising use of colour on the walls upstairs. That was an indication of wealth in itself as the colours would have been so expensive to purchase, lapis lazuli etc.
The Myoryu-Ji (Ninja) Temple was fascinating as well. It took a little finding but was well worth the effort. The temple itself was never actually occupied by the Ninja but encompasses a lot of devices used by the Ninja hence its depiction as being a Ninja temple. You can only go through it on a tour which is only offered in Japanese but we were given notes in English to read as we went though so we could understand what we were seeing. There were secret rooms, trapdoors, secret staircases, trick shoji doors which took you to different areas and special staircase where the guards hiding underneath could could see through to spear the enemies feet. There was also a room for committing seppuku (ritual suicide). Once you walked into the room, it was not possible to open the door to come out again, which probably rather helped you in making your decision about committing seppuku.
On our second evening we decided to walk through the samurai district but got ourselves hopelessly lost along the way. We stopped in front of a supermarket and asked someone if they could show us where we were on our map. They couldnt work it out and then got another couple of people to help. Of course, no one spoke in English and none of them seemed to understand our map (which was in English but they understood the name of the area we were trying to reach. Eventually they motioned us to follow a woman well into her 60s carrying a couple of bag of groceries in each hand. This we did and once again, we were so struck by the generosity of the Japanese. We must have followed her for nearly half an hour and Im sure we werent going towards where she lived. She would not allow us to help carry her bags, and when we tried to tell her half way there that we now knew where we were on the map she just kept walking and motioning us to follow. It was after 7pm by now and presumably she wanted to be at home preparing tea but she just kept going until she got us to the actual doorway of where we wanted to be.
The samurai district was lovely to wander around with its earthen walled streets. We browsed through one very upmarket shop selling Japanese porcelain and other artefacts choosing what we would purchase if we had a ton of money. Unfortunately, practically everything in the shop was outside our price range. We then wandered along by the canal and which was lined with restaurants. Many of them looked enticing and you could easily have come every night for a week I am sure.
We eventually had dinner at a very small establishment The Cottage and had a wonderful evening there. The restaurant could seat only about a dozen people max. It was owned by a Japanese woman and her English husband and they had just returned to Japan after 11 years in Ireland. We started off by being the only two patrons and had a great time chatting to our Japanese host. We had just finished telling her that Japan appeared to full of Australian tourists, that we couldnt escape them, when in walked a group of six people. Of course they were group of 6 Australian travel writers doing a tour of Japan so we burst out laughing. The writers were good fun and a night of laughter ensued. One of them took quite a lot of notes of what we had seen and done so I am waiting to see if I get quoted in a local travel magazine. By the time we left, our Japanese host came out and gave us both a big hug and we were quite sorry that we were leaving in the morning and couldnt return the following night.
Next Festival Time in Takayama and Shirakawa-go
I was very glad that I had my spreadsheet that I compiled from Hyperdia before we left because when we got to Kasaoka station the attendant there was completely flummoxed by our request for tickets to Kanazawa. As he had no English at all, may be we were not getting across what we wanted. In the end we simply followed my directions on my spreadsheet which actually entailed going back 3 stations to where we could pick up a shinkasen to take us through to Shin-Osaka. Once at Shin-Osaka we originally thought that the man in the reservation office was telling us there were no trains to Kanazawa, he kept crossing his arms. After a couple of minutes we realised he simply meant there were no reserved seats left. Despite the lack of reservation there was absolutely no problem getting a non-smoking seat in the unreserved carriages so that was fine.
We had been hoping to see a bit more of a rural scene as we traversed across Japan to the other coast but once again in was quite built up along the train line. We passed an absolutely huge lake along the way and the mountains looked lovely in the background.
It was just before 3pm when we arrived which was pretty good considering the distance we had travelled with a ferry ride and several changes of train to boot. We were both taken with Kanazawa as a town. The station area itself is very modern, rather reminiscent of Kyoto station, and care had been taken with the streetscapes around the town to make them look pleasant. The old area of town, geisha and samurai districts both had a lot of atmosphere as well. Although it is city sized, it had a more intimate feel to it then the other places we had been visited.
It was only a short walk to the Toyoko Inn which we had booked. I think there are about three Toyoko Inns in Kanazawa and the one we booked was Toyoko Inn Kanazawa-eki Higashiguchi. As you walk out of the station turn right on to the main road and walk down the street a few 100 metres and it is on the same side of the road as the station (about 5 mins) It is not particularly close to the attractions but all the buses leave from the station so we did not find that a problem. On returning to the station, several of the bus lines went straight pass the hotel so we were just able to jump off.
This is a Japanese business hotel and, as such, you have to expect small rooms. However, the room was spotless, very modern and the furnishings of a good quality. The bathroom was equally small but also pristine. They have gone to quite some attention to ensure that it looks reasonably light and airy despite the small size of the room. They are plenty of toiletries on available, even a face mask! There is also a free Japanese breakfast downstairs in the morning, English reading newspapers, free internet and coin washing machines/dryers.
Although it does not have "atmosphere", I would have to put this place down as one of the best value for money places we stayed at for our nearly four weeks in Japan. The place was full of Japanese businessmen, and seeing what they would typically expect to stay at is also a valid experience in itself. The staff at the desk had no English at all but checking in/checking out is fairly universal anyway so that was fine. The only time we had trouble understanding what was going on was when the girl presented us with a very large basket full of merchandise. Eventually we worked out that we were entitled to one gift each for staying. We opted for a carry bag each, one of those ones which fold up into themselves so you can pop them into a purse and then take out when needed.
As check-in is not until 4pm they took our bags and put them down on the floor near reception until our room was available. Who needs fancy security and storage systems? They simply tied the two bags together and then put a very loose net over the top of them which had a number of bells attached to it. If anyone had tried to take a bag, they would immediately hear the tinkle of the bells and investigate.
We headed off to the Higashi Chaya (geisha) district and had a very pleasant evening wandering around there. It is the largest geisha district in Japan outside Kyoto. All the buildings were timbered with vertical or lattice woodwork and had lots of atmosphere. We did a tour through Shima which was an authentic geisha house and virtually unchanged. We found it fascinating and although you could do it in 20 mins we would have certainly spent well over an hour there.
One of the things I really enjoyed about Kanazawa was the quality of the shopping there. There appeared to be a lot more artisan type shops with one off or limited production high class merchandise. Elsewhere we had kept seeing the same things over and over again.
Kanazawa is responsible for producing 98% of the goods made with gold in Japan and it shows. The Sakuda Gold Leaf Store is certainly worth stopping at for a browse even if you are not buying, although I did succumb to a rather nice pendant. There are two walls which are totally covered in gold leaf, one inside and one outside. That the one outside could stay in such great condition was amazing. It has been the most fabulous sheen to it.
Whilst we were wandering around the area, a monk in full costume went from door to door chanting. Im not sure whether he was begging (one of the storekeepers gave him money) or blessing the shops, or both, but he looked fantastic and really added to the atmosphere as it was descending into evening and all the lanterns had lit up.
We read in the local paper that Kanazawa has three times the annual rainfall of England and that a local saying is that to forget your lunch is an inconvenience but to forget your umbrella is a disaster. I am pleased to say that whilst it was bit grey on occasions it fortunately didnt rain on us.
Other highlights whilst we were at Kanazawa were the Kenrokuen gardens. These were much more what we had expected in terms of a fabulous Japanese garden. The sculpted trees were fascinating, some of them had obviously taken 100s of years. The lake was beautiful and it was very serene for the most part. When we first entered I thought this was going to be terrible because there were so many bus tours there, but once we moved further away we were able to escape them. We enjoyed a wander through the Seison-kaku Villa (extra cost) as well which are situated in the garden. It was really interesting to see what type of villa was built for the very wealthy and compare it to, say, a British stately mansion. It gives a good insight into the cultural differences between east and west. It had beautifully tatami floors, very little furniture, exquisite gardens which could be viewed from the balcony, Dutch ceramics built into the walls of all things, and a surprising use of colour on the walls upstairs. That was an indication of wealth in itself as the colours would have been so expensive to purchase, lapis lazuli etc.
The Myoryu-Ji (Ninja) Temple was fascinating as well. It took a little finding but was well worth the effort. The temple itself was never actually occupied by the Ninja but encompasses a lot of devices used by the Ninja hence its depiction as being a Ninja temple. You can only go through it on a tour which is only offered in Japanese but we were given notes in English to read as we went though so we could understand what we were seeing. There were secret rooms, trapdoors, secret staircases, trick shoji doors which took you to different areas and special staircase where the guards hiding underneath could could see through to spear the enemies feet. There was also a room for committing seppuku (ritual suicide). Once you walked into the room, it was not possible to open the door to come out again, which probably rather helped you in making your decision about committing seppuku.
On our second evening we decided to walk through the samurai district but got ourselves hopelessly lost along the way. We stopped in front of a supermarket and asked someone if they could show us where we were on our map. They couldnt work it out and then got another couple of people to help. Of course, no one spoke in English and none of them seemed to understand our map (which was in English but they understood the name of the area we were trying to reach. Eventually they motioned us to follow a woman well into her 60s carrying a couple of bag of groceries in each hand. This we did and once again, we were so struck by the generosity of the Japanese. We must have followed her for nearly half an hour and Im sure we werent going towards where she lived. She would not allow us to help carry her bags, and when we tried to tell her half way there that we now knew where we were on the map she just kept walking and motioning us to follow. It was after 7pm by now and presumably she wanted to be at home preparing tea but she just kept going until she got us to the actual doorway of where we wanted to be.
The samurai district was lovely to wander around with its earthen walled streets. We browsed through one very upmarket shop selling Japanese porcelain and other artefacts choosing what we would purchase if we had a ton of money. Unfortunately, practically everything in the shop was outside our price range. We then wandered along by the canal and which was lined with restaurants. Many of them looked enticing and you could easily have come every night for a week I am sure.
We eventually had dinner at a very small establishment The Cottage and had a wonderful evening there. The restaurant could seat only about a dozen people max. It was owned by a Japanese woman and her English husband and they had just returned to Japan after 11 years in Ireland. We started off by being the only two patrons and had a great time chatting to our Japanese host. We had just finished telling her that Japan appeared to full of Australian tourists, that we couldnt escape them, when in walked a group of six people. Of course they were group of 6 Australian travel writers doing a tour of Japan so we burst out laughing. The writers were good fun and a night of laughter ensued. One of them took quite a lot of notes of what we had seen and done so I am waiting to see if I get quoted in a local travel magazine. By the time we left, our Japanese host came out and gave us both a big hug and we were quite sorry that we were leaving in the morning and couldnt return the following night.
Next Festival Time in Takayama and Shirakawa-go
Nov 17th, 2008 | 05:57 AM
#35
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,005
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SHIRAKAWA AND TAKAYAMA
We had organised our bus reservation from Kanazawa to Shirakawa prior to leaving Australia. At first I thought how on earth are we going to do this as the website was only in Japanese but one of the girls from the Hida Tourist Office in Takayama arranged it for us. A reservation is required for this bus and thank goodness we hadnt waited until we got to Kanazawa to do so as the bus was full. The trip itself was less than hour. As the bus drove through numerous tunnels there wasnt a lot of great scenery along the way.
Once we reached the Shirakawa valley itself it was a different story altogether. It was a beautiful sunny day and the valley with the river snaking through it, the farm houses dotted here and then and the mountains rising in the background was picture postcard perfect.
We were a bit concerned at first at there not being lockers big enough to put our bags in (first time we had encountered this) but then realised that we could leave them at the Tourist Info Office for a small fee (¥300 per piece).
The gassho-zukuri (thatched) houses are fantastic. There used to be hundreds of them through the valleys but the numbers declined steadily as the upkeep of them is enormous and rethatching is a major undertaking, not to mention very expensive. For the last 30 years the Preservation Society decides which 5 houses can be rethatched and allocates the money and manpower for it. It takes 200 men, two days to rethatch a house which gives you an idea of how big the job is.
As we had until 6pm before picking up the bus again to Takayama we just spent the day slowly meandering around. We went up to the top of the hill to the lookout and had a quiet laugh to ourselves watching a professional photographer up there. He had a number of bench seat which he would rush around putting out as a Japanese tour group arrived, take a group photo of them all and then stack all the benches away again. 10 minutes later he would start the process all over again.
We went though two of the houses open to the public and found them very interesting, especially seeing how they were put together at the attic level. Each of these thatched houses have 4 or 5 levels with full use being made of all the attic levels. Because of the winter snow the houses are steeply pitched which means that there are 2 or 3 levels within the pitched roof. The traditional industry was to have silkworms up at the top level. A fire would be lit on the ground level and the smoke and heat would permeate up through each level via the slatted floors. The heat would keep the silkworms happy and the smoke was good for keeping pests out of the thatch.
A walk alongside by the river was delightful and in the later afternoon we stopped at a café. Once again we were the only two people and we had a delightful half an hour talking to the owner who was a connoisseur of classical music (which was playing in the background).
If you are short on time you could certainly make do with catching the early afternoon bus without feeling that you had short-changed yourself. As stay overnight would no doubt be wonderful but we were quite happy with our compromise. We felt we had seen what we wanted to without rushing around and by mid-afternoon all the tour groups had gone so it was quite peaceful by then.
It took about another hour to drive into Takayama and was virtually all by tunnels on their brand new road, which I think has cut the driving time in half.
Our hotel in Takayama was the Rickshaw Inn and we quite happy with it. It was probably a bit pricey as compared to some of the excellent deals I had picked up elsewhere, but as it was the weekend of the Autumn Festival I knew that we would be paying top price. We stayed in a Japanese style room with private bathroom. For those who want a "Japanese experience" whilst still having western comfort this is probably a good in-between. If you are after a fully "traditional ryokan" experience, than this is not the place for it.
The location was good, about halfway between the train station and the old area of town, So it was an easy walk to the station and an easy walk to all the attractions as well. The staff were very friendly and the girls at the front desk had good English. They get a lot of foreigners here. The communal loungeroom and small kitchenettte were a nice bonus, as were a number of books to browse through. There were some good touches in terms of prints, hangings etc along the corridors and do pick up a copy of their recommended restaurants.
Our first morning we went and visited the Morning Markets and had a pleasant stroll through them. Because it was a festival weekend the market was much bigger than usual and there was a lot of food on offer. As we moved along to the street where the festival floats are located the crowds increased until just before the temple you could barely move.
The Takayama Festivals (Spring and Autumn) are considered to be among the premier festivals of Japan and the highlight is the huge and very elaborate festival floats which are paraded and then hauled through the streets.
The weather was great and everyone was partaking in the carnival type atmosphere. Literally hundreds of the locals are involved in the festival in one way or another and most of them were dressed in traditional costumes which also added to the atmosphere. As the festival is cancelled if there is any chance of rain (the floats are far too precious to be allowed to get wet) everyone was happy.
One the highlights is the marionette performances so we stopped to see them but I have to say we werent very excited about it. You could see that it took a lot of skill but I wouldnt be killing myself to try and get a spot to see the performance. In fact, we took the easy option and sat and watched in on a big screen in a tent beside the temple (nice and shady) instead of competing with the 100s of people outside in the sun jostling to get a vantage point.
Takayama is also famous for its shops and buildings from the Edo period and we had a most enjoyable afternoon wandering around them.
In the evening we wandered up to the main street for the night festival. We secured a spot by sitting in the gutter of the road and had a great vantage point for watching the floats. I had expected it be much more than crowded than it was but as I suppose the floats are pulled for some distance and there are lots of places from where you can view them. Whilst waiting I bought some Hida Beef on skewers which the butcher shop behind was cooking. They were absolutely delicious. There is good reason why Hida Beef is so famous.
The night festival is just sublime. The local school children came and performed a lion dance and the floats look enchanting as they are festooned with lamps. It takes quite some time to get all them lined up in the main street but we were not bored for a second. Once they are lined up everyone was able to get up and walk around them all and take photos. Those who had been pulling them were happy to pose in their costumes and have snaps taken, if they werent too busy consuming their bento boxes, beer or sake which they no doubt deserved after all the hard work.
All in all it was a fantastic night (apart from poor choice of restaurant for tea we should have stuck to the recommended ones on our list from the Rickshaw)
The following morning we went to the Takayama Museum of Art. We considered this to be the hidden gem in Takayama. There is very little advertising given to it and I didn't see it mentioned in any of the guidebooks I had, perhaps because there is nothing Japanese about it.
It is a purpose built museum which specialises in Art Nouveau and has works by Lalique, Gallé, Tiffany and other famous glass makers. The Lalique glass fountain which used to stand in the Champs Elysee Arcade is magnificent and still in working order. There is also a Viennese Secession Room and a number of works by Macintosh of Scotland.
Despite being the festival weekend, I think I saw a total of four other people during our entire time there. To be able to wander around the rooms all by ourselves was a luxury in itself. We had lunch at the restaurant there, sitting outside in the sun whilst overlooking the valley. My Hida Steak sandwich was wonderful.
On the way out I noticed a plaque from Michelin listing the Museum as a 3 star attraction and we certainly agreed but, as mentioned, we were staggered that Takayama doesnt promote it more.
The former Government Offices (Takayama Jinya) are also worth visiting. We didnt look at any of the old houses as felt we had sufficiently done that elsewhere or the Hida Folk Village.
In the afternoon I did the Higashiyama Walking Course sort of. A couple of times I missed the next section so had to double back until I found the right path again, It was lovely wandering amongst the temples and the trees though. The Walking Course eventually takes you up the hill to Shiroyama Park and once up there I managed to get myself hopelessly lost. It was getting fairly late into the afternoon and I was in fact starting to get quite worried as I wandered through the forest. I did have a bit of a map but none of the place names that I came across in the park matched those in the guidebook. However, eventually I did find one and finally made it to the top where you had a great view. Going back was actually very straightforward as I just had to walk straight down the hill into the old area of Takayama.
I had been keen to buy a piece of silk that I could use to make a wall hanging but so far hadnt found anything I fancied. Whilst in Takayama I had found some but then realised that it was in fact an obi (the wide sash that you wind around your waist in a formal kimono) and was only about a $1000 so that was out of the question. Then later on I came across a secondhand store which had quite a number of old obis. I found one there for only about $50 which I am now using as a table runner. There was no one in the store when I first walked in but after a minute two the shopowner had seen me and came running. He looked absolutely fabulous because he had been taking part in the festival and was all decked in a very traditional male kimono. I think I bought the obi just as much because he looked so great as for the piece of material itself. As my girlfriend and I walked to dinner we passed a material shop which had some silk in the window which looked absolutely stunning. I said that was it exactly what I wanted but unfortunately it wasnt meant to be. When we returned in the morning and I told the owner that I just wanted to buy about 6 feet from the bolt of material he was horrified. Apparently I had to buy the entire bolt as it was for a kimono a mere snip at about $2500. At least I know I have good taste.
Next The end of our trip Matsumoto and Tokyo
We had organised our bus reservation from Kanazawa to Shirakawa prior to leaving Australia. At first I thought how on earth are we going to do this as the website was only in Japanese but one of the girls from the Hida Tourist Office in Takayama arranged it for us. A reservation is required for this bus and thank goodness we hadnt waited until we got to Kanazawa to do so as the bus was full. The trip itself was less than hour. As the bus drove through numerous tunnels there wasnt a lot of great scenery along the way.
Once we reached the Shirakawa valley itself it was a different story altogether. It was a beautiful sunny day and the valley with the river snaking through it, the farm houses dotted here and then and the mountains rising in the background was picture postcard perfect.
We were a bit concerned at first at there not being lockers big enough to put our bags in (first time we had encountered this) but then realised that we could leave them at the Tourist Info Office for a small fee (¥300 per piece).
The gassho-zukuri (thatched) houses are fantastic. There used to be hundreds of them through the valleys but the numbers declined steadily as the upkeep of them is enormous and rethatching is a major undertaking, not to mention very expensive. For the last 30 years the Preservation Society decides which 5 houses can be rethatched and allocates the money and manpower for it. It takes 200 men, two days to rethatch a house which gives you an idea of how big the job is.
As we had until 6pm before picking up the bus again to Takayama we just spent the day slowly meandering around. We went up to the top of the hill to the lookout and had a quiet laugh to ourselves watching a professional photographer up there. He had a number of bench seat which he would rush around putting out as a Japanese tour group arrived, take a group photo of them all and then stack all the benches away again. 10 minutes later he would start the process all over again.
We went though two of the houses open to the public and found them very interesting, especially seeing how they were put together at the attic level. Each of these thatched houses have 4 or 5 levels with full use being made of all the attic levels. Because of the winter snow the houses are steeply pitched which means that there are 2 or 3 levels within the pitched roof. The traditional industry was to have silkworms up at the top level. A fire would be lit on the ground level and the smoke and heat would permeate up through each level via the slatted floors. The heat would keep the silkworms happy and the smoke was good for keeping pests out of the thatch.
A walk alongside by the river was delightful and in the later afternoon we stopped at a café. Once again we were the only two people and we had a delightful half an hour talking to the owner who was a connoisseur of classical music (which was playing in the background).
If you are short on time you could certainly make do with catching the early afternoon bus without feeling that you had short-changed yourself. As stay overnight would no doubt be wonderful but we were quite happy with our compromise. We felt we had seen what we wanted to without rushing around and by mid-afternoon all the tour groups had gone so it was quite peaceful by then.
It took about another hour to drive into Takayama and was virtually all by tunnels on their brand new road, which I think has cut the driving time in half.
Our hotel in Takayama was the Rickshaw Inn and we quite happy with it. It was probably a bit pricey as compared to some of the excellent deals I had picked up elsewhere, but as it was the weekend of the Autumn Festival I knew that we would be paying top price. We stayed in a Japanese style room with private bathroom. For those who want a "Japanese experience" whilst still having western comfort this is probably a good in-between. If you are after a fully "traditional ryokan" experience, than this is not the place for it.
The location was good, about halfway between the train station and the old area of town, So it was an easy walk to the station and an easy walk to all the attractions as well. The staff were very friendly and the girls at the front desk had good English. They get a lot of foreigners here. The communal loungeroom and small kitchenettte were a nice bonus, as were a number of books to browse through. There were some good touches in terms of prints, hangings etc along the corridors and do pick up a copy of their recommended restaurants.
Our first morning we went and visited the Morning Markets and had a pleasant stroll through them. Because it was a festival weekend the market was much bigger than usual and there was a lot of food on offer. As we moved along to the street where the festival floats are located the crowds increased until just before the temple you could barely move.
The Takayama Festivals (Spring and Autumn) are considered to be among the premier festivals of Japan and the highlight is the huge and very elaborate festival floats which are paraded and then hauled through the streets.
The weather was great and everyone was partaking in the carnival type atmosphere. Literally hundreds of the locals are involved in the festival in one way or another and most of them were dressed in traditional costumes which also added to the atmosphere. As the festival is cancelled if there is any chance of rain (the floats are far too precious to be allowed to get wet) everyone was happy.
One the highlights is the marionette performances so we stopped to see them but I have to say we werent very excited about it. You could see that it took a lot of skill but I wouldnt be killing myself to try and get a spot to see the performance. In fact, we took the easy option and sat and watched in on a big screen in a tent beside the temple (nice and shady) instead of competing with the 100s of people outside in the sun jostling to get a vantage point.
Takayama is also famous for its shops and buildings from the Edo period and we had a most enjoyable afternoon wandering around them.
In the evening we wandered up to the main street for the night festival. We secured a spot by sitting in the gutter of the road and had a great vantage point for watching the floats. I had expected it be much more than crowded than it was but as I suppose the floats are pulled for some distance and there are lots of places from where you can view them. Whilst waiting I bought some Hida Beef on skewers which the butcher shop behind was cooking. They were absolutely delicious. There is good reason why Hida Beef is so famous.
The night festival is just sublime. The local school children came and performed a lion dance and the floats look enchanting as they are festooned with lamps. It takes quite some time to get all them lined up in the main street but we were not bored for a second. Once they are lined up everyone was able to get up and walk around them all and take photos. Those who had been pulling them were happy to pose in their costumes and have snaps taken, if they werent too busy consuming their bento boxes, beer or sake which they no doubt deserved after all the hard work.
All in all it was a fantastic night (apart from poor choice of restaurant for tea we should have stuck to the recommended ones on our list from the Rickshaw)
The following morning we went to the Takayama Museum of Art. We considered this to be the hidden gem in Takayama. There is very little advertising given to it and I didn't see it mentioned in any of the guidebooks I had, perhaps because there is nothing Japanese about it.
It is a purpose built museum which specialises in Art Nouveau and has works by Lalique, Gallé, Tiffany and other famous glass makers. The Lalique glass fountain which used to stand in the Champs Elysee Arcade is magnificent and still in working order. There is also a Viennese Secession Room and a number of works by Macintosh of Scotland.
Despite being the festival weekend, I think I saw a total of four other people during our entire time there. To be able to wander around the rooms all by ourselves was a luxury in itself. We had lunch at the restaurant there, sitting outside in the sun whilst overlooking the valley. My Hida Steak sandwich was wonderful.
On the way out I noticed a plaque from Michelin listing the Museum as a 3 star attraction and we certainly agreed but, as mentioned, we were staggered that Takayama doesnt promote it more.
The former Government Offices (Takayama Jinya) are also worth visiting. We didnt look at any of the old houses as felt we had sufficiently done that elsewhere or the Hida Folk Village.
In the afternoon I did the Higashiyama Walking Course sort of. A couple of times I missed the next section so had to double back until I found the right path again, It was lovely wandering amongst the temples and the trees though. The Walking Course eventually takes you up the hill to Shiroyama Park and once up there I managed to get myself hopelessly lost. It was getting fairly late into the afternoon and I was in fact starting to get quite worried as I wandered through the forest. I did have a bit of a map but none of the place names that I came across in the park matched those in the guidebook. However, eventually I did find one and finally made it to the top where you had a great view. Going back was actually very straightforward as I just had to walk straight down the hill into the old area of Takayama.
I had been keen to buy a piece of silk that I could use to make a wall hanging but so far hadnt found anything I fancied. Whilst in Takayama I had found some but then realised that it was in fact an obi (the wide sash that you wind around your waist in a formal kimono) and was only about a $1000 so that was out of the question. Then later on I came across a secondhand store which had quite a number of old obis. I found one there for only about $50 which I am now using as a table runner. There was no one in the store when I first walked in but after a minute two the shopowner had seen me and came running. He looked absolutely fabulous because he had been taking part in the festival and was all decked in a very traditional male kimono. I think I bought the obi just as much because he looked so great as for the piece of material itself. As my girlfriend and I walked to dinner we passed a material shop which had some silk in the window which looked absolutely stunning. I said that was it exactly what I wanted but unfortunately it wasnt meant to be. When we returned in the morning and I told the owner that I just wanted to buy about 6 feet from the bolt of material he was horrified. Apparently I had to buy the entire bolt as it was for a kimono a mere snip at about $2500. At least I know I have good taste.
Next The end of our trip Matsumoto and Tokyo
Nov 22nd, 2008 | 02:24 PM
#36
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,005
Likes: 0
MATSUMOTO AND TOKYO
Despite having our JR Pass we had opted to take the bus across the Alps to Matsumoto and then pick up the train from there to Tokyo and it was worth it.
It took a little under 2 hrs to do the drive and the scenery was spectacular. No tunnels this time, just trees in their glorious autumn colours, mountains and the lake and dams. It would have been lovely to have had a car so we could simply stop off occasionally and take the time to appreciate the scenery There were quite a number of hydro-electric stations along the way and it really seemed very strange to me to see the power lines from the stations running up the hills in amongst all the trees. As bushfires are so prevalent here, any power transmission lines would have a large fire break around them.
We spent several hours in Matsumoto so that we could go and see the castle there, which is only about a 10-15 min walk from the station. We obviously had not had enough of festivals yet because when we got towards the castle precincts we realised there was a soba noodle festival. Lots of demonstrations on how to make soba noodles, lots of food to try etc. The downside of this was that there were a lot of people who wanted to see the castle as well so we had quite a bit of waiting around in lines to view the castle as we moved from level to level. Despite this, enjoyed the castle. Once again, probably thought it looked more spectacular from the outside than from the inside though.
As we walked back to the station we passed a small shop selling second hand books and prints. It has to be THE most cluttered shop I have ever been in. For every step you took, you had to stop and pick up all the prints and books off the floor and put them down on another bit of floor behind you. I bought one lovely old watercolour painting which was an incredible bargain. It is at the framers as I write this and I just hope he does it justice. It should look a million dollars compared to the paltry amount I paid for it by the time the framer is finished. My girlfriend ended up buying three prints as well and fortunately all four prints survived the trip hope in the cardboard tubes we bought.
The train trip from Matsumoto was rather long and boring for the most part, but the tedium was relieved by a shopping catalogue in our seat backs. It was of course all in Japansese but some of the pictures of the merchandise had us in stiches as we made more and more outrageous suggestions to each other, as to what they could be selling or what the purpose of the gadget.
Our hotel in Tokyo was once again the Grand Prince Akasaka and, although we had only spent one night there, we almost felt as though we were returning home. It was wonderful to know exactly where we were going once we got to Tokyo station. Jumped on the subway line we needed, knew exactly what exit to take and around which corner to turn to get to the hotel.
As I walked up to the hotel, the bellhop could see me from about 100 metres away pulling my little case behind me. He literally ran down to me and took all my bits and pieces. I have never had anyone run to me like that before, I felt like royalty. On another occasion, I walked up to the elevator and there was a bellhop there already waiting with a number of bags. There were only the two of us and I motioned her to go in first before me. The poor girl was so grateful that I had allowed her to share the lift with me. She had obviously intended to wait until the next elevator. It makes one wonder how they are usually treated.
We were once again very happy with our stay at the Grand Prince. The concierge was very helpful and, although we completely confused the front desk with our bookings because the person staying in the room wasnt necessarily the person who had booked the room and I, in fact, stayed in a different room each night (long story), they managed to cope.
Before we started this trip my number one thing to do in Tokyo was to go see the old area of Asakusa and the Sensoji temple but after all our travels, and many temples later, I now didnt really care less about seeing it how things change in such a short period of time.
We had an absolute ball the day we spent wandering around the Shibuya and Harajuku areas. As it was a Sunday there were lots of girls (and quite a few boys, and even a couple of boys dressed as girls) all done up in their weird and wacky outfits. They were a revelation to behold. There were lots of bands playing by Yoyogi park with 100s of screaming girls egging them on. We came across yet another festival and saw a wonderful performance of people with drums - lots of very stylised movements.
We wandered along the streets, gawked at some of the clothes available for sale and were amazed at the number of people crossing near Shibuya station at night and all the neon lights. We would literally have spent 20 mins watching the really large display on the Q-Front store.
I had heard that Oriental Bazaar on Omotesandra Avenue was a one stop shop for gifts and, yes, we managed to buy quite a few. All in all, a really fun day and a great contrast to all the very traditional Japanese we had already experienced.
Over the next couple of days we also went to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Actually, we went twice because the first day we went we nearly there and commenting on how it was good that we had beaten the rush on the subway before we worked out it was a public holiday. We didnt get to see the tuna auction but had a great time just wandering around and doing our best to not get seriously maimed or killed by all the vehicles going every which way. I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast of sushi but my two friends gave it a miss. (We had been joined by another friend who was continuing on to Europe with my girlfriend after I headed back to Australia).
The Hama Detached Gardens were quite nice but I wouldnt go out of my way to visit them as compared to the other gardens we had already seen. We were both looking forward to the boat trip up the Sumida River from the Gardens to the Asakusa area but have to say we were both less than enthralled. It was really rather boring for the most part.
Uneo Park is a good spot to wander around and we enjoyed the Tokyo National Museum. The metal work from the 8th century was stunning and worth the trip in itself as far as I was concerned.
After three days it was time for me to head back to the airport. As it was getting dark as I left, the drive back to the airport was much nicer than the drive in. All those neon lights turned Tokyo into something of a fantasy land. The Japanese Eiffel Tower looked great all lit up and I am still wondering how I could not have noticed it on the way into Tokyo.
Flew home with Japan Airlines and service was good. The only hiccup was when, after we had landed, and we were about to disembark we were all told to sit down again. Apparently one of the passengers was running a high fever and so we were all in temporary quarantine until a doctor had checked him out. Fortunately it was only a 10 minute delay or so before they let us off.
Well, as you can guess by now, we had a fantastic holiday and I cant wait to start planning the next one, whether it be Japan, Europe or somewhere totally new.
Despite having our JR Pass we had opted to take the bus across the Alps to Matsumoto and then pick up the train from there to Tokyo and it was worth it.
It took a little under 2 hrs to do the drive and the scenery was spectacular. No tunnels this time, just trees in their glorious autumn colours, mountains and the lake and dams. It would have been lovely to have had a car so we could simply stop off occasionally and take the time to appreciate the scenery There were quite a number of hydro-electric stations along the way and it really seemed very strange to me to see the power lines from the stations running up the hills in amongst all the trees. As bushfires are so prevalent here, any power transmission lines would have a large fire break around them.
We spent several hours in Matsumoto so that we could go and see the castle there, which is only about a 10-15 min walk from the station. We obviously had not had enough of festivals yet because when we got towards the castle precincts we realised there was a soba noodle festival. Lots of demonstrations on how to make soba noodles, lots of food to try etc. The downside of this was that there were a lot of people who wanted to see the castle as well so we had quite a bit of waiting around in lines to view the castle as we moved from level to level. Despite this, enjoyed the castle. Once again, probably thought it looked more spectacular from the outside than from the inside though.
As we walked back to the station we passed a small shop selling second hand books and prints. It has to be THE most cluttered shop I have ever been in. For every step you took, you had to stop and pick up all the prints and books off the floor and put them down on another bit of floor behind you. I bought one lovely old watercolour painting which was an incredible bargain. It is at the framers as I write this and I just hope he does it justice. It should look a million dollars compared to the paltry amount I paid for it by the time the framer is finished. My girlfriend ended up buying three prints as well and fortunately all four prints survived the trip hope in the cardboard tubes we bought.
The train trip from Matsumoto was rather long and boring for the most part, but the tedium was relieved by a shopping catalogue in our seat backs. It was of course all in Japansese but some of the pictures of the merchandise had us in stiches as we made more and more outrageous suggestions to each other, as to what they could be selling or what the purpose of the gadget.
Our hotel in Tokyo was once again the Grand Prince Akasaka and, although we had only spent one night there, we almost felt as though we were returning home. It was wonderful to know exactly where we were going once we got to Tokyo station. Jumped on the subway line we needed, knew exactly what exit to take and around which corner to turn to get to the hotel.
As I walked up to the hotel, the bellhop could see me from about 100 metres away pulling my little case behind me. He literally ran down to me and took all my bits and pieces. I have never had anyone run to me like that before, I felt like royalty. On another occasion, I walked up to the elevator and there was a bellhop there already waiting with a number of bags. There were only the two of us and I motioned her to go in first before me. The poor girl was so grateful that I had allowed her to share the lift with me. She had obviously intended to wait until the next elevator. It makes one wonder how they are usually treated.
We were once again very happy with our stay at the Grand Prince. The concierge was very helpful and, although we completely confused the front desk with our bookings because the person staying in the room wasnt necessarily the person who had booked the room and I, in fact, stayed in a different room each night (long story), they managed to cope.
Before we started this trip my number one thing to do in Tokyo was to go see the old area of Asakusa and the Sensoji temple but after all our travels, and many temples later, I now didnt really care less about seeing it how things change in such a short period of time.
We had an absolute ball the day we spent wandering around the Shibuya and Harajuku areas. As it was a Sunday there were lots of girls (and quite a few boys, and even a couple of boys dressed as girls) all done up in their weird and wacky outfits. They were a revelation to behold. There were lots of bands playing by Yoyogi park with 100s of screaming girls egging them on. We came across yet another festival and saw a wonderful performance of people with drums - lots of very stylised movements.
We wandered along the streets, gawked at some of the clothes available for sale and were amazed at the number of people crossing near Shibuya station at night and all the neon lights. We would literally have spent 20 mins watching the really large display on the Q-Front store.
I had heard that Oriental Bazaar on Omotesandra Avenue was a one stop shop for gifts and, yes, we managed to buy quite a few. All in all, a really fun day and a great contrast to all the very traditional Japanese we had already experienced.
Over the next couple of days we also went to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Actually, we went twice because the first day we went we nearly there and commenting on how it was good that we had beaten the rush on the subway before we worked out it was a public holiday. We didnt get to see the tuna auction but had a great time just wandering around and doing our best to not get seriously maimed or killed by all the vehicles going every which way. I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast of sushi but my two friends gave it a miss. (We had been joined by another friend who was continuing on to Europe with my girlfriend after I headed back to Australia).
The Hama Detached Gardens were quite nice but I wouldnt go out of my way to visit them as compared to the other gardens we had already seen. We were both looking forward to the boat trip up the Sumida River from the Gardens to the Asakusa area but have to say we were both less than enthralled. It was really rather boring for the most part.
Uneo Park is a good spot to wander around and we enjoyed the Tokyo National Museum. The metal work from the 8th century was stunning and worth the trip in itself as far as I was concerned.
After three days it was time for me to head back to the airport. As it was getting dark as I left, the drive back to the airport was much nicer than the drive in. All those neon lights turned Tokyo into something of a fantasy land. The Japanese Eiffel Tower looked great all lit up and I am still wondering how I could not have noticed it on the way into Tokyo.
Flew home with Japan Airlines and service was good. The only hiccup was when, after we had landed, and we were about to disembark we were all told to sit down again. Apparently one of the passengers was running a high fever and so we were all in temporary quarantine until a doctor had checked him out. Fortunately it was only a 10 minute delay or so before they let us off.
Well, as you can guess by now, we had a fantastic holiday and I cant wait to start planning the next one, whether it be Japan, Europe or somewhere totally new.
Nov 23rd, 2008 | 09:00 AM
#39
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 6,412
Likes: 0
shandy,
Do you remember the date that you rode the train to Matsumoto? I am interested in your report of fall foliage in the area. We will be doing a trip in the area next fall and wanted to get the dates narrowed down.
Would you do an overnight in Matsumoto if you had another chance? We plan on renting a car a driving around a bit. Thanks again for taking your time to do this wonderful report. You help more than you know by doing this.
Aloha!
Do you remember the date that you rode the train to Matsumoto? I am interested in your report of fall foliage in the area. We will be doing a trip in the area next fall and wanted to get the dates narrowed down.
Would you do an overnight in Matsumoto if you had another chance? We plan on renting a car a driving around a bit. Thanks again for taking your time to do this wonderful report. You help more than you know by doing this.
Aloha!
Nov 23rd, 2008 | 04:03 PM
#40
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,005
Likes: 0
Pat - what makes you thing the dog is still not in the bed and I am in the doghouse for having gone away minus hubby Fortunately I can say that I have reclaimed my place in the bed and the dog has taken up residence on a pillow on the floor beside the bed now. Unfortunately whilst I have been away he has taken up waking us in the morning to demand his breakfast - in the past he slept until we woke up if we were having a lie in.
Fortunately I can say that I have reclaimed my place in the bed and the dog has taken up residence on a pillow on the floor beside the bed now. Unfortunately whilst I have been away he has taken up waking us in the morning to demand his breakfast - in the past he slept until we woke up if we were having a lie in.
