Travel Blog #11 Part 2

Hakone is a small mountain town with a majestic river running through the center, steep hills on all sides, the white and pinks of cherry blossoms polka-dotting the spring green of the evergreens. We stayed at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel. We splurged a bit for this, thinking we might not get many chances to enjoy a nice ryokan in our lifetimes. Boy was it worth it. And let me tell you, it was a far cry from the hostels I stayed in throughout Australia. Words cannot describe how thankful I am to be past that stage. We had tatami mats for flooring, sliding doors in the Japanese style, futon beds, a view of the river, a private onsen (a bathtub), and joy of joys, a vending machine right outside our door. We had a bit of a rest and watched Your Name, the aforementioned anime movie, as Cole had not seen it before. What a delight.

Later, it was onsen time! However, people with tattoos are often not allowed to bathe in public onsen. I am tragically betattooed so Matt and Cole went to the public onsen and I was relegated to our bathtub. It might not be the “authentic” experience, but our bathroom did have a speaker and dimmable lights so I had a thoroughly relaxing time listening through In My Last Life by Andrew Bayer. Matt and Cole were very relaxed from their bath too, and we enjoyed the rest of our evening reading in peaceful quietude.

Our goal was to go up the Hakone Ropeway to reach the observation areas for viewing Mt. Fuji. We made our way up the mountain, marveling at the mountain views from our gondola, until we weren’t. Sheer whiteness. Endless-ness. Stretching beyond the human imagination. The clouds and rain and steam from the mountain had rolled in and obscured our views completely. Bummer. So we rode the gondola all the way up the mountain, took a selfie in the clouds, then headed straight back down. We spent the afternoon going to a pottery museum, enjoying tea in a tranquil garden, devouring gyoza, then doing some shopping and laundry. Errands must be done, even on vacation. Alas. We had another 8 course meal for dinner, this one a little less adventurous but still exceptional. We were certainly enjoying dining like kings. After dinner, we read and watched some soccer highlights. It was a lowkey but much needed day after our busyness in Tokyo.

Since the weather was practically perfect, Mt. Fuji shone in all her magisterial glory. It is a hugely impressive rock. 3,776 meters pretty dang tall (again, for you imperial system users, that's super duper tall). I now understand why it’s such an important mountain in Japan. It reminded me a bit of seeing Denali for the first time - awe, wonder, delight. It's also elusive like Denali; there was a cloud that obscured a bit of the view and continued to increase as the day went on so our view was always a bit obstructed. Ain't that just the way.

We took the ropeway to Lake Ashinoko, where we boarded a pirate ship / pirate ferry to cross the island. It was a bluebird day and we reveled in it. We went to a nearby shrine and gawked at the absolutely massive cedar trees surrounding the shrine. Well, I did. I won’t speak for Matt and Cole. Evidently the Shinto priests agree with my assessment on the big, beautiful trees, as many are considered sacred trees, or shinboku (神木). After, we went to a gloriously manicured park with sweeping views over the lake. We were taking our sweet time, slowing perambulating through the park without a care in the world. We were planning to go to an intriguing sounding Open Air Museum, but weren’t worried about time as public transport is so easy and convenient in Japan. Until it isn’t. Mass amounts of tourists in small towns can overwhelm even Japan’s impeccable bus system. We missed a bus by seconds, for which I blame Matt but you’ll have to ask him why for yourself. We waited for more buses, but none would let us on as they were too full. Then we walked back to town, got in a massive line and boarded the first bus we could find. Which naturally took us in the opposite direction of the Museum. So we rode that bus, standing room only, for a half hour back to Hakone. We then immediately jumped on a bus heading back up to Gora to try to make it to the Museum. We missed it by 3 minutes. A pretty big L. Dejectedly, we walked away to find some dinner to eat our disappointment. Every single restaurant nearby was closed. Another L. Konbini dinner it is. We took the slow train back down to Hakone, then made our way to the next town over to get ready for our night bus bound for Osaka.

We made it to Osaka, not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed, but ready to explore. We went to Osaka Castle first. It’s a really impressive structure, with possibly even more impressive gardens, rock walls, and moats around it. It’s also essentially a museum so we got to learn a bit about the history of Osaka and the castle itself. It turns out, just about everything in Japan has been burned down or destroyed 1-3 times. As I mentioned before, lots of war. Also sometimes a candle gets knocked over and, well, wood based buildings and fire don't mix well. The castle provides an excellent view of the city; one can imagine the sense of power when the most powerful man in Japan sat in this castle, overlooking the valley, no skyscrapers obstructing his magisterial views.

Apparently, the Osaka Aquarium of great renown. There was no hyperbole; it’s superb. The highlights were: dolphins, seals, manta rays and all the other types of rays, penguins(!), otters, Great Barrier Reef fish and coral, and whale sharks. Emphasis on whale sharks. What majestic, gentle giants. After the aquarium, we had to charge our phones and regroup with overpriced, mediocre pizza. A small L. We ended up going to the Umeda Sky observation tower to enjoy Osaka in all its glory. Not as spectacular or sweeping as Tokyo, to be fair, but very nice regardless. Our hotel was a pretty big drop in quality from our ryokan in Hakone. One can’t live in luxury forever. At least, one can’t live in luxury if they’ve been marginally employed for the last 6 months. We had our own room but shared bathroom/shower. Not too bad for $10 a night.

The following day we made our way to Nara. Nara is the home of Todai-ji Temple, one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, which in turn houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha in Japan. Also, a lot of deer. Nearly tame deer that politely bow to you as they ask for treats. It’s extremely cute and very good fun. The local stores sell little rice cakes for the deer, which is presumably where they most of their calories as there are hundreds of us silly tourists feeding them every day.

Anyway, back to the Temple. The building and statue are immense. They were originally built around the year 700, but naturally have been burned and destroyed a few times. I felt a spiritual weight inside the temple, not unlike when I’m in a large cathedral. There’s a reverence and piety that makes the air feel more dense somehow. I like being in these types of structures because they remind me of how small I am, how there are bigger forces at play in the world beyond my own petty machinations. It’s a time to come out of oneself and consider the world and universe at large.

We spent the day wandering the shrine and temple grounds of Nara. Nara was once the capital of Japan and so has ancient history and a plethora of shrines and temples that continue to function today. It’s a serene place, the light rain enhancing the tranquil atmosphere. Later the weather changed from lightly raining to absolutely deluge and we got completely drenched. Which was pretty amusing, especially if you could see the size of our dollar store umbrellas that are effectively useless when it's properly raining, except that it delayed us to getting to see the high-speed mochi pounding we so looked forward to. Another L. We also went to McDonalds for kicks and it was actually quite good! Why don’t McDonald's in the U.S. put fried eggs on burgers? Or serve teriyaki chicken?!

We went to Kyoto the next morning. We started the day with a glorious stroll through the bamboo forests of Kyoto. Bamboo being a novelty to me, I quite enjoy seeing them. The way the grey-green bamboo trees (are they called bamboo trees even though it’s a grass?) let in shimmering morning rays through their tall canopies is most pleasing. We even got lucky enough to hear a shamisen player along the path to Tenryu-ji Temple. I love his artist moniker, Tokyo Ghetto Shamisen, combining urban life and traditional music. I couldn’t have been happier to hear his music in a bamboo forest as I've long been a fan of traditional Japanese music. Magic in real life. The temple itself was also quite lovely. Spring at the height of its power, blooming flowers in every direction. Our primary purpose at the temple was to see the Cloud Dragon painting in the Dharma Hall. It’s a ceiling painting of a dragon and I found it astonishing. I got the sense, as I walked around the room, that the eyes of the dragon followed me. That the dragon was the one moving, not me. I don’t understand how that works, but the mystery adds to power of the painting. We should paint more ceilings.

Next we made our way to Saiho-ji, the Moss Temple. This was my most treasured temple/shrine experience in Japan yet. It’s also the quietest and most reverent temple we’ve been to. With virtually no talking, everyone respected the serenity of the place. You start by copying a sutra (they provide paper with kanji to trace). I found the experience to be quite calming, a form of meditation I can get behind: a thoughtful exercise that quiets and focuses the mind with movement. Suitably focused, you then walk the path around the temple grounds. This will come as a great surprise, but it’s basically all moss. Moss, incredible little streams, ponds, rocks, and trees. It’s the epitome of Japanese gardens. I’m certain I’ve been happier than in that moment, but it’s hard to remember when.

After this, we had a coffee break, I returned from my reveries, and we went to town for sushi. Our first proper sushi of the trip! It was as you would expect, very good. After sushi, we made our way to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. This involved much wading through traffic of the tourist variety. As the former capital and the spiritual heart of Japan, Kyoto is the tourist town of Japan, for foreigners and Japanese alike. And boy do we come out in droves to see the sights. This temple is impressive, with massive buildings and history spanning back to 780. It features a massive wooden terrace overlooking the city and the surrounding hills. Plus, a shrine, a pagoda, and a lovely pathway through the trees.

We got to our hotel for a rest and (for me) a power nap. Rejuvenated, we had more gyoza for dinner! One of Cole’s friends recommended this spot and it was honestly a highlight of the trip. It’s the sort of small food joint where a line forms up outside to wait for 30-60 minutes for tables to open, so you know it’s good. The restaurant was convivial and energetic. The staff spoke English fairly well and were so much fun. They taught us some Japanese words and marveled when we said anything in Japanese (probably insincere flattery but I'll take whatever I can get). We had incredible gyoza, including chicken wing gyoza and dessert gyoza! We found a British pub nearby so we decided to go see if the footy was on after dinner. We watched Arsenal lose to Bournemouth, to our great delight and then went to Ginza Music Bar. This was a recommendation from our friend Takatora who we met in Tokyo at the museum. His friend runs this bar and he told us it was very good. He told no lie. It’s a bar where they play records on a sensational sound system and serve drinks, that's it. No Spotify playlist and a dusty record player in the corner. The vibes were immaculate, the music banger after banger.

The next morning we headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine for the Hike of 10,000 Torii Gates. It’s a unique thing, walking under literally thousands of torii gates up a mountain. Once you reach the first city overlook / cafe stop on the hike (there’s always little places to get refreshment and buy souvenirs at these places) the crowds thinned out and you get to walk in peace. We meandered through a magic section of forest and saw lots of little shrines and Torii gates all over the place. Fushimi Inari Shrine is the head shrine for Inari, the Shinto deity of rice, foxes, agriculture, success in business, among other things. It's an important deity and important shrine in Japanese culture and you can tell it has great importance to the locals. I loved the hike, reveling in the forests and sheer number of Torii and kitsune statues.

After the hike, we wandered to the Imperial Palace Gardens and had a nap under some lovely camphor trees. There are few things I love more than an afternoon snooze in a park (naps on a sunny beach after backpacking and red bean paste I suppose. I really like eating and sleeping.). Once again refreshed, we headed back to Osaka. We decided that we had to test out the arcade section of Round One, so we went back for round 2. There was a train game where you control a commuter train and convey your passengers around Tokyo. Hilarious. I found a rhythm game like Guitar Hero but had a keyboard-like interface and only played Anime and J-pop bangers. It was incredible. So good, I’d go back again..

After we said our farewells to Cole, Matt and I had a few recovery days in and around Osaka. We went to some cafes, wandered, ate tasty food, watched some movies, napped and read a lot. We went back to Round One for round 3 of arcade games - we had to play the train game and rhythm game one more time. It turned out that besides soccer camaraderie, Cole also was key to our success in handling logistics. Or possibly it’s just easier to travel in groups of 3+ where it’s more likely someone is paying attention to navigation. Or Matt and I are very distractible. One morning we took a day trip to Himeji which has one of the most picturesque castles in Japan. We rode the rails for an hour and a half to Himeji and upon arriving, Matt had a realization. A most unfortunate realization. We didn’t check out of our hotel. We were supposed to switch hotels in Osaka, and we just didn’t do it. We simply forgot we had to check out. So we got back on the train and headed back to our hotel, where reception had all our belongings in bags near the desk. He was a German man who spoke English, thankfully. We told him what had happened and he was utterly perplexed. Completely baffled. He said things like “what do you mean you ‘forgot’ to check out?” and “I just don’t understand how you could not check out when you knew you had a new hotel to go to.” Fair enough man, we asked ourselves the same thing. It’s a genuinely hilarious thing, trying to explain an event of negligence and incompetence to a logical and rational German man. He was gracious about the whole event, but utterly perplexed. Again, fair enough.

We actually went to Himeji a couple days later and had a lovely time. It is a truly beautiful castle. The castle grounds and gardens were divine as well. We had some yummy burgers and kebabs and the most sensational whipped cream and strawberry sandwich. Travel tip: if you don’t know what to eat in a new city, watch what the locals do. If the locals buy desserts from a food stand called “Fruit Sand” (they shorten “sandwich” to “sand” here, a fact I find endlessly amusing: “do you want sand for dinner? No thanks, I had sand for lunch.”) then you should too. The strawberries just hit different here. More on that later.

The following day, we rode the Shinkansen to Fukuoka to visit Caleb and Chie. The Shinkansen is amazing, by the way. It’s so fast, comfortable, and efficient. The best, though not the cheapest, way to get around. Matt and Caleb hadn’t seen each other in about 10 years, since Caleb’s wedding. Funny how time passes. Caleb, Matt, and I got lunch, wandered around Ohori Park for a couple hours. Caleb and Matt were able to get reacquainted and we told stories of our trip. More importantly, I had a strawberry crepe (is it a crepe if it has 2 scoops of ice cream in it?) that transported me to a different plane of existence. A higher plane, where colors are more vibrant, sounds more crisp, tastes more effervescent. A plane where your senses are so aflame that they become mixed; you can see flavors, hear tastes, smell sounds. I don’t know what they put in these strawberries, but I like it and want some more of it.

Later, having returned to this boring, banal plane, we cooked fajitas and enjoyed our time together playing piano and playing with Caleb and Chie’s child, Ren. For dessert, we had strawberries that cost about $1.20 each and a $50 mango. Food in Japan is generally cheap, but luxury goods abound. And let me tell you, these strawberries taste better than strawberries you’ve had. And the mango was otherworldly. It was actually so rich and sweet it was more akin to eating cake than fruit. Thanks Matt, for splurging for our benefit.

Nagasaki is a lovely city. First impressions? Clean air and good vibes. It’s a small city, nestled in the mountains surrounded by the ocean. It feels fresh and open there. It’s a small city, a measly 400,000 people (this is small for Japan). Not as clean as Tokyo, not as aesthetic as Fukuoka, but it has such charm. I fell in love immediately. The city pushes up against the mountains so you feel like you’re in the mountains, which is probably why I like it so much. We went to the Peace Park and Atomic history park in Nagasaki in the morning. There were statues from various countries around the world sent in a show of solidarity with Japan, showing that the world does not want more war, more bombs. It’s an encouraging place. While you see the evidence and history of the destruction, the parks in Nagasaki had a hopeful atmosphere. That peace is possible, that we can come together as humans. I actually left both Nagasaki and Hiroshima with more hope than despair. The past is horrendous, but what these cities have become is astonishing. I’m amazed by the gumption and grit of the Japanese people to rebuild after utter desolation. Even in the face of death and destruction, there is hope.

Later, we stumbled upon a really cool cathedral and visited a one-legged torii, all that remained of the gate after the bombing. We visited the Dejima museum, which I particularly enjoyed as I had been reading a historical fiction book about Nagasaki and the Dutch trading port at Dejima in the 1800s. We went to another museum, the Oura Cathedral museum, which told the story of Christianity in Japan. Nagasaki has long been a link between Japan and the Western world, with the Portuguese, Spanish, and later Dutch landing and trading there. As a result, there is more Western influence in Nagasaki, which includes Christianity and churches. Christianity was banned in Japan for 200+ years and after this banned was lifted in the 1800s, there was a group of “Hidden Christians” found here, who were so called as they kept practicing their faith for the entire 200+ years it was banned in Japan. It naturally morphed and evolved over those 200 years in hiding, but the tenacity still astounds. The history of the area and the mixing of cultures makes Nagasaki a fascinating place to visit.