Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

Well thats it time is up on my Japan trip. In eighteen hours I will be back in Melbourne. 

This morning I went out to Rikugien gardens which is a Strolling garden, with 88 views that were of special beauty or interest. There was a wonderful old teahouse called Tsutsji-no-chaya nestled amongst the maples. It is an extremely well planed and maintained garden and it was lovely to spend a few hours, walking, sketching, looking and reading in it. 

Some parting thoughts....

For some reason I keep forgetting to mention the birds I come across in my travels so I will mention some of them now: 

In the Nikko National park I saw seventeen eagles all at once. Five of then in the foreground and another twelve in the background. They were just gliding in the air looking for food.

In Naoshima and Hugi there were eagles or hawks ( I cant tell the difference very well). Every now and then you wold be walking and the reelitive silence would be broken by a eagles screech.  You cold often see them near the coast. It is  very beautiful how they seam to be suspended in the air and I always find it amazing that such a big and heavy bird can look so very elegant up in the air. 

Japan is not a third so wacky as the commercials or the anima or the stories would lead you to believe. Most people are delightfully ordinary although there are set neashis where behaviour or dress is particularly interesting, like cosplay and the love of AKB48. 

I really enjoy seeing lots of people on bikes and not just young people but people of all ages. As cars are so expensive bike riding is a  legitimate form of transport in Japan the face that you can buy almost anything you need in your local area is also a bonus as you don't have to travel far.  you will see mums with dropping of children at day care on bikes, business men in suits on bikes, elderly men and women on bikes even people in the delivery service on bikes with small trailers behind them.  I also like that people are just wearing there normal clothes and it is a very lated back form of transport. 

Well thats it from me. I now need to think about getting a train out to the airport. See you all when I get back to Melbourne.

Acushla

Second last day and my last night in Japan.

Gosh oh mighty, time dose fly when you are having fun. Five weeks are up and it is time to squeeze everything back into my suitcase plus one or to suviners  and get ready to fly back to Melbourne tomorrow afternoon. I got up and made my way to the Tsukiji Market out in Ginza, it is open to the public as of 9am so that we don't get in the way during the busy time between  5 and 8 am. It was a truly spectacular sight, I don't belive I have ever seen so many dead fish before, or any meat for that matter, all in one place and the vast majority of it had already been sold and was packed up and shipped out to the different restaurants and fish shops of Tokyo. Row upon row of stalls with boxes,  tanks or freezers of fish, crustations and squid. I saw a couple of hole tunas - I never realised how big they were. The sellers had saws to cut up the tuna as knives would be to difficult. Quite surprisingly it didn't smell that bad, of cause of fish but not nearly as awful as I imagined it could be with the shear quantity of fish that they had in one area. 

Once I left the market went in search of the Nagakin capsule tower by Kisho Kurokawa. After quite a walk, a few dead ends and being very worried that my umbrella would turn inside out because of the wind I found the tower. With my great powers of navigation/luck/ persistence I went in search of a  jazz cafe that had been recommended to me. I did find the cafe but as it was only 11:30 they were closed, it will just have to wait until the next time I am in Tokyo. The rain and wind only getting worse it was time to find a cafe for an early lunch and a spot of reading. 

After lunch it was off to the 21-21 design sight to see an exhibition on Ikko Tanaka- a Japanese designer. I was a wonderful exhibition and a great building as well. After the exhibition the sun was shining so I spent the next while reading in the park. Then walked back to Azabujuban as the sen set. I have spent the last thirty minutes packing my bag so I don't have to tomorrow. All that is left to do this evening is to go out to my good bye dinner with Keir. I cant believe I will be back in Melbourne on wednesday. See you all soon!

P.s. to be hones my I didn't have to squeeze anything into my suitcase as I don't have that much stuff and the bag is sufficiently big. I used the word squeezed for dramatic effect only. 

A lazy sunday in Tokyo.

This blog post was writen yesterday, Sunday the 11th of November:

Today I went to the Tokyo Design Festa -vol 36. It was held in the Tokyo Big Sight out in Odaiba, the human made island in Tokyo bay. The history of Odaiba starts in 1853 when six fortres islands were built in Tokyo bay in direct response to Commodore Perry's gunboat diplomacy and the threat to Tokyo from attack by ship. In the 1980's the islands were joined together by creating more human made islands between them. It hosts a bunch of bold architecture from the 90's  including the Fuji TV Center - which looks like it has been made out to  meccano, the Telecom Centre. Also the museum of marintine science which is very literal design and is built as a large six story cruse liner and the Tokyo Big Sight - Tokyo's largest exhibition and convention centre. The Design Festa hosts 10,000 Stalls, it was like 200 Rose street markets side by side. On top of the stalls there was live music and dance performances as well as  a catwalk. Some artist had even got a wall to paint or draw on over the two day event and continued to add to the pieces over the weekend. A fair share of the people how attended the fiesta were dressed up to some extent. At the lower end you had people wearing near normal cloths but  hosting bunny ears or a fake zombie bite on their neck. At the other end of the specrum you had women dressed up in doles clothing ranging from pink a frilly to goth with black lace. Men dresses as samurai or wearing suits with top or bola hats, even a man dressed up as a panda bear with SMD suit on. My favourite was the stem punk costumes expeshaly the ones that incorporated kimonos with steam punk, very cool indeed. 

I was going to spend the afternoon exploring other parts of Odaiba but the rain and cold made it an unpleasant experience. Instead I slowly made my way back to Azabujuban with a detour to a cozy cafe to read a book and write the last of my post cards. The post cards are very unlikely to get to Australia before I do but they have been sent non the less. Keir and I spent the evening chatting while he did work and I went to the laundry mat to do washing a sat down to write this post. 

If you go out in the woods today...

Wednesday, thursday and friday saturday 

On wednesday I went to A.... To pick  up my train/bus pass to Nikko. From there I visited the temple and got to look at some of the extreamly recognisabel buildings in the area. These included the Tokyo tower and the Asahi beer hall. I then went to Ueno park and spent the rest of the day in the park, and the National Tokyo museum. In the Museum was an exhibition for  Izumo Oyashiro temple, that was built Round ..... years ago. It was 48 meters tall and the set of stairs leading up to the temple is 109 meters long. I am still not sure if the design they presented was accurate or one of a number of design solutions to the arcilogical evidence they have found. All i can say is that the model they presented was truly impressive. The rest of the museum hosted a range of Japanese artefacts, art and even swards and clothing. One of the interesting collections they had was a very large collection of ..... which are the toggles that were used to keep a medicine pouch connected to a belt sash, but with the introduction of Western style trousers the .... became  ireelavent, but a  very sort after collectors item. 

That evening Keri and I drank wine and watch lots in Translation. 

I was a a Tokyo Metro train at 7am on Thursday morning heading to A so that I could catch my train to Nikko. Once on the train to Nikko I -like the majority of my cohort- made myself comftable and snoozed for the two hour train journey. Once in  Nikko  I dropped of my spare cloths at my hostel then jumped on a bus to the temple district. The temple district is were I spent the rest of my daylight hours. There were some truly lovely temples, even one that looked like a consatena temple, with its folded walls. These temples had the most decoration that I had seen so fare, every beam was caved with beautiful birds or dragons or in the  case of one temple monkeys! One of the temples I visited later in the day was expeshaly for something to do with love. There were lots of cupels writing out wishes on wooden planks, or tying pieces of paper to love hart shaped posts. Towards the end of the day I noticed a path that wound up the hill, so being the inquisitive person that I am I followed it. It went up and up to a shrine at the top of the hill then back down into the valley. It was a very pleasent walk,  unfortunately I had to turn around instead of following the path further as the light would be gone by five and The temple complex would close. Once back in the hostel I meet two  women one from Taiwan the other form Singapore. We went out to find dinner, which was a bit of an adventure in it own right as apparently there are not many restaurants open in Nikko on a thursday night, and we walked for quite away to find a place. In the end found a resturant that seved local food and we got to sit in our own traditional dining  room with  tamian mats. One  of the specialtys is the skin of beam curd which I got to try prepared in thee or four different ways. The other specialty was soba, in which we got two try three different flavours. The third was mushroom tempura. All the food was delishous and the experennce of dining in our own room was lovely, I think It was the first time I had eaten at the same table with someone in three weeks. Back in the hostel I met a Rushin traveler and we sat around sipping saki, eating Japanese  sweets and talked into the night. 

Friday sore me up bright and early again to catch a bus up to the Nikko hight plains for a day of hiking and wonderful scenery. I started off at the shores of lake Yunoko then walked through the senjogahara Plateau folowing the Yukawa river. At the start it was just me walking through the plains but as the morning wore one I came across more hikers ( most of them walking in the opposite directing). It was nice to think that I had the plain to myself but comforting to know that others would come by if anything should happen. You could hear people coming before you would see then, as the tinkering of bare bells would signal some ones approach. Thats right people out hiking in Japan need to have bells attached to there bags so that they are making lots of notice so the bears      go else were. Even I had purchased a bare bell as the Nikko National park is home a few bares and in early October a hiker was attacked, a tale of someone being silly rather then safe apparently. So with my knapsack on my back I jingled through the plateau. It was such beautiful surroundings, the grass plains in the foreground with the mountains behind. Even though it was only 14 degrees,  when the sun was out it was lovely and warm. At one point a got to watch a big flock of swift-like birds as they moved from one location to another in a big black flock. 

11:30 sore me at Ryuza falls  for my second waterfall for the day. It was then only a little walk to the shores of lake Chuzenji were I stopped for a picnic lunch. After lunch I walked along the lake side to Chuzenji. It was very pleasant and I stopped a few times to just sit and watch the waves brake  on the shore. By 1:30  I was at Kegon falls for my third and final waterfall for the day. At 2:30 I had to start lining up to get the 3pm bus back to Nikko. Even though the trip is only meant to take one hours if it is very busy it can take more like two and a half hours, also the bus only takes the first thirty  people and there was about fifty of us so lining up early is a good idea. Winding down the mountain in the bus was truly amazing. The turns were near to 360 degree turns as the road dubbed back on it self constantly all the way down the mountain.

 Back in Nikko ai had time to grab a snack before getting on the 4:50 train back to Tokyo. i was in Tokyo by 7:30 and in Azubuguban by 8:45 very ready for a showr and bed. unfortunelty this was not to be - or more corectly not untill much later - as Keir had not hid the key outside I was unable to get into his flat. After calling Keir he was able to leave work and get home by 10:30. I needed to find a way to ocupy myself for an hour and a half. I had managed to run out of money and only had ¥456 on me, banks are colsed after five and I was not shore were the closest seven eleven was. ¥456 in not enough yen to get you much from a cafe in Japan so hiding in a cafe was not an option. In the end I went to the convenience store bout some yoghurt then went to a vending machine to get a hot chocolate. I then wrapped up in my coat in the outdoor stair well to Keir's apartment and listened to music and played games ( cogs and set ) on my ipad until Keri came home. 

Today after a very big sleep in -awake at 10am and in bed until 11am- Keir and I went out for brunch to my favourite vegetarian restaurant in Azabujuban. At 1:30pm Keir and I parted ways, he to work and me to a garden. I spend three hours in the Koishikawa gardens, listening to music, looking at the view and painting. It was a very pleasant way to spend a day. Once the garden closed I took to metro to Shibuya in such of a jazz cafe. Unfortunately I have been unable to find the cafe but I did find a craft shop selling lots a funky material. An hour or so later I exited the shop, with some great fabric which you will see turned into some summer dresses  and skirts ( with the help of Stephi). Shibuya at night is truly a spectacular sight, neon signs light up the side of buildings. The amount of people out of the streets even now at 9:30pm is amazing ( I write this is a second story cafe looking down on all the pedestrians). 

The intersection near the train station is terrifying I don't think I have ever see so many people moving all at once outside of a sports or movie event. There must have been hundreds of people crossing the road when the lights went green. Think of Flinders street station intersection times ten or twenty, it was full on. I got to watch all the people crossing the road from the second story of the train station, it s fascinating to watch the flow of people and how they have to more around cars that have been cought in the intersection. Well I think Ill call it a night for this blog, it is 9:45 and I still need to get back to Azabujuban. I send lots of love,  Acushla. 

 

Monday I slept in as the prospect of getting up to an alarm was horid. No matter that it was the last day of my JR pass and I should utilise  getting me up before I was ready was not going to happen. I had half planed to got to Nikko for a day trip but that would require being up at 6am and the wether look bad. Instead I slept in took a seris of trains out to Kamakura about one hour from Tokyo. I visited Daibutsu - the great Buddha statue and sat down in the gardens to try and get his portrait. I was going to go along the hiking trail but it looked like rain and the sky was getting dark early because of the clouds. Instead I went for a walk along the beach. It was quite a strange expernece as the sand was gray and black and insted of sea gulls there were crows. That and the ominous rain clouds let to a rather spooky beach walk. 

I spent the evening posting photos and blogposts before Keri and I sat down with a bottle of wine to watch lost in translation. Now that I have spent time in Tokyo I was surprised at how the characters managed to drive passed the rainbow bridge and Tokyo tower in the same taxi ride, it must have cost them a fortune! But the pass and centerment of the film was great, the  seance of isolation that both characters feel and how it is heightened  by the cultural and language barriers is wonderful. I realy enjoyed the film. 

Today (Tuseday) I had a rather chilled out da  as the weather has been very rainy. I spent the morning in the Tokyo film museum going through the history of Japanese film, and waatching lots of small segments og Japanese film. Then spent the afternoon in Shinjuku which was great. After the rain in the morning the afternoon brought a think mist and all the towers of Shinjuku desolved into the mist. The neon sighs on the buildings seamed to loom up out at you as walked down the street. It was a very pleasent afternoon. This evening I headed back to Keri's in order to catch up with friends and family from home and make dinner. Once it got late in Australia I went out to a cafe in Azubujuban which is were I have spent the last hour or so writing up the last couple of days and eating cake and drinking hot caramel milk with rum ( a taste sensation one which I may not repeat). Now it is time for a book and bed. To prepare for tomorrows adventure. 

I hope life is treating you all well and as I head back to Melbourne in one week I will see the vast majority of you soon. I hope you all have a lovely day.

Acushla .

Scenic sunday..

7am on Sunday morning sore me on a train out to Gunma prefecture the closest assess to the Japanies alpine region from Tokyo. The train from tokyo to Jomo kogen took under two hours and then a bus to the TanigawadKe ropeway. My trip to Gunma was a very last minuet affaire; as on the last days of my Japan Rail pass I wanted to go to an out door onsen and see some nice scenery, apparently Ganma had both so it sounded perfect. I didnt have a chance to do much research into what it would be like, So as we wound up the mountain on the bus I got to see just how beautiful the surroundings were and it took my by suprise. The trees were laden with autumn colour and there was even snow on the top of the mountains. 

In my head the cable car would take me to the top of a mountain range where I could walk autumn grass and trees so i got a shock when i realised that we would be going above the snow line. Apparently the snow had fallen earlier then usual this year making the day trip a very popular one. That was certainly true around the observation platform many Tokyo day trippers ranging from hikers with nails in there bots for grip to couples  and families with women in high heals. I decided to head away from the crowds and started walking up a hiking trail once I had got around the bend it was as if I could have been the only one on the mountain. As I wound my way up every ten minutes I would pass some one coming down track but as soon as they had rounded the corner it was only me, the snow, and an amazing view. I had a wonderful time walking along for about an hour. At one point  there s a trail going up to a look out but after 15 minutes it became obvious that although I could climb up getting back down the slippery slope was going to be an issue without pols or nailed boots. I reluctantly turned around to follow the less steep path and I am very glad I did as I managed to fall over on the way down into a drift of snow which was luckily quite a soft landing.

I had a wonderful time walking through the snow the view was stunning at all times. I had to get the cable car back to the bus stop inorder to get my bus back to Minakami station. At the bus stop I bumped into a friendly Japanese cupple I had met on the bus up. They were extrealmy friendly and it was lovely to chat with them. They were in there seventies and not for the first time I wish to be as fit, healthy and active as a Japanese grandmother when I get older. 

Once in Minakami I had to change busses to get up to Takargawa Onsen. Te bus ride up was stunning, passing a big dam and driving through many autumn trees. On the bus up I met a group of fellow day trippers, two of them were teaching English in Japan and the third was studying English that were also going to the onsen. It was lovely to meet other English speakers that allowed me to join them as it was nice to have people to chat with and it meant that I didn't have to sit there awkwardly by myself. Once walking down to the baths by hte river there s nothing left to do then get your kit of wrap a tiny modesty towel around your privets and descend into the wonderfully hot water. The modesty towel was because this onsen is one of the few were the baths are mixed gender. Once you got over the initial shock that there were a hole lot of  naked people around,  you started to not notice it any more and just accept the fact. No one really cares about nudity in Japan as the Japanes separate nudity from  sex, everyone know that people are not going to look like super models and no one is really paying close attention anyway. 

The surounds were just wonderful! I dont know if any description I can creat will do it justice. All the trees were perfectly in bloom proudly displaying their autumn coats. There was a river that separates the different baths  and there were five or six different baths, varying in temperature and size. It means that we where able to partake in awase-yu -onsen hopping (or mix and match) walking quickly between pools -as it was very cold outside) and sinking into hot water again with relief. We were in the Onsen for two hours before it closed. As the sun went down and the lanterns went on the pools stated to steam as the air temperature around then decreased. The hole complex become amazingly beautiful in the mist, the lanterns glowing, the trees getting the last rays of sunlight and Ryokan guests shuffling away in their yukata or bath robes.  

In a chance of good luck the we got a lift back to Minakami saving us 1,100 yen and twenty minuts. I was then time to yet on a local train and head back to Tokyo. Over two hours later I was back in Tokyo extremely sleepy and worn out. Like a zombie I managed the tokyo metro system to get back to our apartment, within minuets of walking through the door I was fast asleep.  It was the most wonderful day. I could not have asked or wished for better. 

Hanging out in Hagi

"I am in the front car of a Shinkansen from shin Yamaguchi to Shin Kobe. While i was waiting to get on the train at Yamaguchi a Nazomi train went passed, They are the relay relay fast trains. It zipped through at an astonishing speed in the middle track away from either platform.

The nozomi from kobe to tokyo only stops at two less plassses then my Hikari is, six instead of eight, I'm an not sure if this is why it is faster because it goes through stations or if it travels at a faster speed between the stations. Maybe both? 

(Note after looking into this I was correct it is both that the train stopes less and has a faster track speed 300km/h verses 270km/h for the train I was on.) 

My day in Hugi was fascinating, after getting a map for the information center near the train station i managed to get myself  lost not once but twice. The first time i relisedi was not were i wanted to be was when i  relised i was walking in the direction of Yamagouchi and i should of be en walking to the cost a full 90 degrees in the wrong direction and i had been doing so for 30 minutes. Unlike all other places in Japan for some reason my maps function on my ipad did not work -it may have something to do with not having been in the area with internet connection for the maps to download just a guess. The second time i got lost -which was only 20 minutes after the time before- i managed to be walking in completely the wrong direction. Luckily this diversion lead me to a grocery store which was extreamly fortunate because i had yet to eat breakfast and it was to be all i could find to eat untill 7pm. After a strange breakfast of a cold milky coffee , fruit jelly (which i thought was yogurt) and a packet of rice crackers i set of in the right direction. My first stop was the Hagi Uragami Museum which had a very fine collection of ceramics including a vast range of Hagi-yaki and wood block prints. The range of textures, forms and colours of the pottery were stunning. Some could have been made from dragon skin, such was the  patten of the glaze cracking. Others were liking looking down from an aroplain on a large delta region, with all the venes created on the surface of the bowl. Others again were pock marked, the blemishes making them interesting and unique. I then walked through the old samurai residential district, I viseted the house of Kikuya - a very wealthy and privileged merchants house as well as the ruins of Hagi castle.  once the sun had set I found a cafe that had been recommended to me. I sat in the warmth and wrote post cards while drinking a proper coffee. 

Yesterdays adventure is still to come, but it dose involve snow! 

Riding the Shimanami kaido

The post below was wiriten on my way back to Tokyo on saturday. So the Momday in question was last week. 

 On monday I took a train out to imabari to spend the afternoon bike riding across the Shimanami kaido - a series of sevel bridges conecting Shikoku to Honshu via a series of six islands. In a lack of planing I managed to be in the wrong train station and had to ride 10km to the start of the first bridge. The assent to the bridge was a sight to behold - about one kilometre of ramp way that twisted up so that you are finally level with the bridge about 150 meters in the air. The first bridge was 6km long, it was very very fun. Gliding along a bridge up in the air over the inland sea with pitchuesc islands dotted around. Once I got to the first island I folowed the coast around the island passing ship building sights and fishing towns. I had lunch at a rose farm before heading off to the next bridge and the next island. On the second island - i spend a long time just sitting  at a look out as the wether was so lovely and the view so spectaculars. Being a little unsure where the port was that i needed to get my ferry from i decided to head there early incase i got lost. With some help form some locals i managed to get to the port, but when i was there i could not figure out how to get a ticket or where the ferry would dock. unfortunately the men i met either fishermen or a taxi driver ( the taxi driver offed that he could drive me the nearly 35 km back!). Someone finally pointed me to a deserted building gesturing that I could get a ticket from there. At this time in was 45 minutes early for the ferry but still had no idea how to get a ticket, so I decided to just sit and listen to music. Twenty minuets later a lady in a car turns up and walks into the empty building that I have been staking out. It turns out that because there are so few ferries each day she goes home between ferries. Very relived that my bike and i had a lift back to Imabari I sat down to watch the sun set. A ferry, bike and train ride later I was back in Matsuyama,and ready to visit the Onsen!   

Tuesday

I spent Tuesday morning exploring  Matsuyama castle. Lets just say that If I was a Japanese war lord I would not attack that castle. It is extrealmy well defended. Every wall has slots for guns and bows and there were about seven different gates. I have yet to find out if anyone every tried to attack it when it was an active castle and what the out come was. I spent the afternoon traveling from Matsuyama to Hiroshima by train and vegged  out in the hostel that night. I really like the Japan Rail net work expeshaly the Shinkansen. Not only do  they just look cool but they get you from a to b not only quickly but in comfort. The seats are comfy and the legroom extrealmy generous, a love to sit T the window and look out at the cities, towns, and countryside zoom past. 

I spent my first day in Hiroshima visiting the peace park, around three hundred school children had also decided to visit the park. Most had either red, yellow or white hats on so they could be easily recognised as students. The park was very pleasant on a cool autumn day. I then walked over to visit the peace museum. I never knew but the mayor of Hiroshima writes a letter protesting nuclear weapons every time a country dose nuclear tests and sends it to the president/priminister and ambassador of that country. I spent the evening "sampling"  saki at the hostel.  

Thursday was a very cold wind kind of a day, but against the elements I  headed out to Miajima. The 'floaring' pavilions and the gate are truly stunning. High tied was at 11:50am so the hole time I was there I got to see the buildings look as if they were floating on the water. I walked up to the Daisho-in temple up the path of 500 Rakan statues each with its own facial expression. In amongst theses statues of Shaka Nyorai's desiples are statues that look baby like, theses statues are particulaly unnerving ( you can deseide when I upload the photos). Thanks to Steven Mofat statues are eserly seen as sinister and untrustworthy. usually this is not the case with Bhudist statues but these baby ones I can just imagen them moving when im not watching. I also learnt why Jizo Bosatsu wear bibs- something that I had been curious about since Koya-san. It is to keep them warm and protect them, apparently parents that have lost children take particular care of Jizo images as though they were their lost children. The temple complex was very beautiful expeshaly with the autume leaves turning colours. In the afternoon I headed off for Hagi, it is a little out of the way but nothing the JR train system was not up to with some patience on my behalf. I went from Shinkansen to a local line at Asa then a one carriage train from Matsuyama to Hagi. The last section hugged the coast line but as it was after sun set I didn't get to enjoy it until my  journey back to Tokyo this morning.