Japan - 2016

With Russia’s land mass so large and a population of ~143M, we were now in Japan for 3 weeks with its population of ~127M in a land mass ~2% of Russia’s!  So let’s kick off with where we travelled in Japan using their amazing railway system and occasional local bus, with the main cities flagged on the map below.

There is so much of the Japanese culture and way of doing things we found very fascinating, so will intertwine some of those observations with the sightseeing in and around various cities but very simply, Japan and its people were great.

Arriving into Narita Airport on Siberian Airways, clearing Immigration was quick, efficient and painless.  We found the JR (Japan Railways) office, filled out the forms needed, showed passports, handed them our ‘exchange pass’ and were handed JR Passes to use for the next 21 days.  The passes were activated immediately by buying reserved seats on NEX, the Narita Express train into Tokyo Station about 1 hour away.

Next challenge, find the NEX station in Narita airport, which was when we became more aware of the visual and auditory ‘assault’ that is Japan.  Unless in one of their very beautiful and peaceful gardens, you seem continuously surrounded by some sort of sign for something, or lights, or advertising, or people talking or little beepers sounding warnings of some sort, even their credit machines ‘chat’ to you.

With a NEX train found, it had to have right number because most trains have a number and even a name.  We had the right number, so now found the right carriage because each carriage door stops at designated spots on the platform. 

We waited for disembarking passengers to finish, piled in, stowed bags, found our seats and sat down at our reserved seats.  There were still a few people on the train, some looking at us slightly oddly, but the train departed, travelled for about 5 mins then stopped and ALL the remaining people got off.

Time to be introduced to a range of things that are very typically Japanese.  We were happily sitting there… alone… when out of nowhere a man appeared next to us, very politely showering us with a lot of Japanese words.  He was well dressed in a nice uniform, white gloves on and kept talking to us with a form of unmistaken insistence.  Then one word of English popped out, “cleaning!”

Cleaning stairs and handrails by hand

Then it dawned on us, we had jumped on the train in Terminal 1, it had moved to Terminal 2 and they had to clean the train before it reversed in direction bound for Tokyo.  

He insisted, “cleaning, cleaning”, so we collected our bags and stepped back onto the platform, joining everyone else waiting to get on.

That brief little interaction is so typical of many things that are Japan.  

First they are fastidiously clean, their buses, cars, taxis, hotels, windows, the small hand wipes they give you before any meal, and the lack of rubbish or graffiti anywhere, we even watched people dusting the metal support pylons and staircases in railway stations. 

In a queue waiting

Throughout Japan there were very few rubbish bins and we later learned, it is their custom to take their rubbish home with them.  They have processes for everything and they follow them, including how and where you queue for trains or buses. 

They are very polite, bowing to you if you make way for them on the street, on a bus… anywhere.  Taxi drivers are immaculate in their suits, hats and white gloves as are the bus and train drivers.  

Many workers have uniforms to wear, which they do with a visible sense of pride and always spotlessly clean.

When you buy something in a shop, no matter how small, they chat to you and say thank you and a lot of other similar words, especially ‘gozaimasu’, an expression we heard constantly.  

And all of this plus many many more were so consistent throughout all the parts of the country we visited.

So lets get you warmed up a little with just a few of the places we visited and experienced whilst in and around Tokyo and its 13.6M people.  We stayed in Tokyo twice so there will be a few more experiences later.

Some of Tokyo’s most visited locations are…

Ueno Park with its sculptures and shrines and Senso-ji Temple, which was packed with people promenading, down the path to the temple between small shops. We visited an old Tokyo area called Omoide Yokocho (memory lanes), enjoying dinner at one of the many small food stalls famous for their chicken skewers.

Within Ueno Park

Promenading on way to Senso-ji Temple

Enjoying chicken skewers in Omoide Yokocho

Before leaving on this trip, we had worked through our checklist that includes expected temperatures and rainfall.  There is now a new item we have added to the list… typhoons and hurricanes!  It was typhoon season in this part of the world as we popped our heads up out of the subway to be greeted with torrential rain, the remains of typhoon Malakas directly overhead.  When we left Japan, the remains of typhoon Chaba, a super typhoon also passed overhead where we were staying, again dumping a lot of rain.

Some friendly Tokyo locals

First time in Tokyo and we had a hotel to locate and each subway is like a labyrinth with multiple exits fanning off everywhere.  It pays to know beforehand what exit to use, which we didn’t and had popped up who knows where.  

So we asked a young man by pointing to a name on a slightly sodden map. He didn’t speak much English but ran off back into his office and came back with a person who spoke a little. 

Within Ueno Park

They both looked at the map, muttering between them before the new person said, “he will take you” which the young man did, seemingly happy to get soaked in the process, despite his umbrella. 

This is when we also learned the Japanese are a very helpful, friendly people, something impressively repeated often during our time in Japan.  Additionally… on multiple occasions, we had people walk up to us and start a conversation by usually asking, “where we were from?” or simply wishing us a happy trip.

It was time for dinner, so we ventured outside despite the pelting rain but didn’t get far before finding a small ramen noodle place, the young lady at the entrance keen to welcome us in, so we tried to walk in but alas, we had to order first. 

She showed us a vending machine outside with pictures of the meals on it.  We had to select a meal, insert some money, collect the dispensed coupon and hand it to her before entering!  Our bench overlooked the cooks so were able to watch what they did which was truly fascinating, including the chatter constantly going on between them. 

Not pretty I know BUT tasty

Within minutes we had 2 bowls each, one with a soup/meat/vegetable mix in it and the other the noodles.  We watched how the locals sitting around us ea,t so copied them and were soon sucking and slurping away at our meals, bowls held close to our mouths quite literally.

We really like Japanese food and for the next 3 weeks we enjoyed the experience of every meal and eating things we were familiar with, but also trying many new combinations, styles and ways they prepare and present their food, some we didn’t even know what they were… a true delight!

Whilst in the constantly bustling Tokyo we took the subways everywhere, mind you we had a few ‘false starts’ after buying tickets and then trying to go through the wrong entry or exit gates.  It takes a little while to understand the implications of multiple train operators with their own vending machines and gates. 

We also learnt to buy tickets near the entry gates we wanted to use because a few times we had to go back and get refunds.  Sounds complicated, but you get used to it and once we learnt to match colours we were fine.

Our first Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto set us up well for subsequent trips and what a treat they are!  Again you find the carriage and door location on the platform and only minutes before departure, this long sleek ‘thing’ glides into the station, the obligatory announcements and sing along chimes notifying its arrival.

Shinkansen (bullet train) arriving

As intriguing are the hand gestures by all the railway staff involved with each train, both in it and on the platform.  They all signal with their glove covered hands in an almost ritualised manner, pointing to the direction of travel, the platform, their watch, the screens advising of departure, back to the platform, the direction of travel.

Train staff get ready to leave on time

These trains really move along and they are so smooth.  The JR rail network is massive, so we were able to easily reach each main city we visited and always on time!

Top speed bottom left corner... impressive!

Kyoto, formerly the capital of Japan, is rich with things to see and do, both within the city and slightly outside its boundaries. We had a very busy 4 full days, despite continuing rain in and around Kyoto and know we could spend many more days visiting historical locations and downright beautiful places.  Using Kyoto as a base and our JR Pass, we also visited Himeji and Nara.

Highlights included seeing one of the largest timber buildings in the world in the form of Nishi Honganji Temple, including many locals dressed in rental kimonos…

Kinkakau, the Golden Temple…

The VERY beautiful Golden Temple

Fushimi Inari and its 10,000 bright red Tori gates…

Tori gates and more tori gates

Gion and Ponto Cho Alley with its old houses and many restaurants

Nijō Castle, the shogun palace with its deliberately squeaky floors to warn of approaching people.

Gate of Nijō Castle

The all white 400 year old Himeji Castle is one of the remaining feudal castles, designed to look like a white heron, and then we strolled through the beautiful gardens next to it.

Himeji Castle

Garden next to Himeji Castle

Nara Park is famous for its deer’s walking throughout it and always keen to get whatever food they can from you.  

Within the park is the world’s largest timber building at 48m high, Todaiji Temple with its huge 15m high budha, cast in 749 AD.  

Near the park were 2 beautiful gardens we slowly strolled through, each rock, tree, shrub, pathway, pond or bridge deliberately placed to create the desired affect.

Huge budha in Todaiji Temple

Sightseeing in Japan does include, like many places, many temples as well as shrines, either Shinto or Buddhist, but they are far more informal than ones in the west.  

You learn when you are close to them when you see a red tori gate or a grey one, the latter indicating you’re entering the area of the Shinto shrine.

From Kyoto we moved on to Kanazawa, a city spared of bombing during World War II and location of one of the 3 best gardens in Japan, Kenrokuen Gardens.  This city is also famous for gold leaf production, which was on display in the old area of Higashi Chaya.  

It was very interesting to go through Nomura Samurai House located in the samurai area of Kanazawa, to see how these famous warriors used to live so simply along with a few of the famous and very old katanas or swords.

Very old katana blades

Samurai armour

By now we had stayed in a few hotels and had been using but also looking at the very technical toilets with ‘control panels’ on one side.  The time had come!  

Before sitting down, you can push a button to warm up the toilet seat and then there is another setting for when you do sit, water starts flowing very gently like a waterfall.  Not sure why, maybe to get you in the mood.

Then there are the other buttons… spray and bidet, plus a control for how intense you want whatever was going to happen.  For some reason… I pushed spray then waited.  

Nothing happened for a little while, save the sounds of something happening below and then warm water started squirting, hitting not what is was meant to hit, but it felt nice anyway… if you know what I mean!

They are very clever these Japanese!

Takayama was a day visit destination for us using a small local train and this heritage town is located in the mountains.  

Welcome to Takayama

It was a much quieter than the very bustling tourist destinations like Kyoto, so it was a lovely change to walk amongst all the old merchant timber buildings, the city renowned for its carpentry skills.

Old timber homes of merchants, Takayama

The Olympic flame of Nagano

Next stop was Nagano, home to the Winter Olympics of 1998 and we were here to really see one main attraction.  

To view them meant taking a local bus to Jigokudani and then walking nearly 2kms along dirt paths in a very beautiful forest until we reached the entrance of the National Park. 

We were here to hopefully see the famous snow monkeys, who bath is hot pools during the winter, otherwise known as macaques.

 

Well there wasn’t any snow but there were a lot of monkeys, including baby ones. 

There was one natural hot pool (onsen) and nearby, a fast running river amongst large rocks down into a valley.  

Aaaah... its so warm

What are you looking at!

There were stacks of photos taken of monkeys sitting next to the pool, drinking from it and some very young monkeys enjoying a swim in its warm water.  

It was also fabulous to watch older monkeys, once the commitment had been made, cross the surging river by jumping rapidly from rock to rock.

Taking the jump

Another day trip was to Matsumoto to see the castle of the same name.  This castle is one of the oldest in Japan still in its original condition, standing resplendent overlooking a large lake and the obligatory red bridge on one side. 

Matsumoto Castle

As we climbed up and through the castle, you could see how it had been designed to defend itself using various weapons, let alone the massive timber beams that have kept it standing for so long.

Morioka is a small town located in the north of Honshu, Japan’s main island, and also the location of our first experience of a ryokan, a type of traditional Japanese inn that originated in the Edo period (1603–1868), when such inns served travelers along Japan's highways. They typically feature tatami-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may talk with the owner.

These tested the knees

The ryokan we stayed in was a family affair, with the mother running it and Nikki and her husband running the intimate little bar/restaurant area, including cooking all the food.  

Breakfast was very traditional Japanese with each day different in terms of what was provided.

It took a little getting used to sleeping on the beds with their bean bag style pillows, taking our shoes off at the front entrance, wearing slippers to protect the tatami floors but changing slippers whenever using the public toilet area.

Exploring Morioka at night

Nikki, who spoke a little English, tried hard to teach us a little more Japanese and was delightfully friendly and also introduced us to the local saké and the right way of drinking it along with a very nice sake plum wine.

Each night we tried to eat out by exploring each city and finding something new.  In Morioka this was slightly more challenging because unlike most other city’s we had visited, there were no English menus, in fact we were the only other westerners we saw whilst there.

The Japanese like to advertise and this includes their meals.  Each restaurant typically has at least colour photos on display of each item on the menu, but many go a little further and have plastic life like replicas of each meal on display out front.  

So in Morioka when ordering food, I would take the waiter outside and simply point to items on display in the window.

Plastic replica food

Our primary reason for being in Morioka was to visit Mt Hachimantai summit using local buses to view the autumn leaves on display.  We were a little too early in the season for a colourful extravaganza but the bus trips were certainly different.

We boarded the bus to go up the mountain in town, a few others joining us and off we went.  After 30 minutes into the journey, we stopped at a hotel and about 30 others boarded, all sporting hiking poles and backpacks. 

A lady came down the aisle handing out a small brochure written in Japanese, picked up a microphone and started a running commentary for the rest of the trip.  We were inadvertently on a scenic tour, its just we had no idea what was being pointed out.  The scenery atop the mountain was quite pleasant however.

View from summit of Mt Hachimantai

Typhoon Chaba also made its presence felt during our final night in Morioka in with its level 1 strength rain depression passing directly overhead, thankfully having lost power after being the most powerful super typhoon ever recorded, with wind gusts of over 300 kph and having unfortunately killed some people in South Korea.

Whilst based in Tokyo for the last few days of our visit through Japan, we took a bullet train to Hakone to try and catch a glimpse of the famous Mt Fuji.  Hakone is well set up for tourists, including locals ones, with a circuit you can take involving 2 small local trains climbing into the mountains, a funicular and cable car taking you across the mountains, a replica old sailing ship across a lake, then a local bus back to the main railway station.

Cable car to left over remains of very recent eruption

Now this is a boat!

We did get an extremely brief glimpse of the top of Mt Fuji amongst the clouds but the cable car ride over the top of the still slightly active volcanic eruption and smell of sulphur was certainly an unexpected highlight.

Our only view of Mt Fuji

Our final experiences in Japan happened in around where we were staying in Shinjuku, not far from the world famous Shinjuku Station with its 20 railway lines passing through it, 36 platforms over multiple levels and 200 exits for people to use to get in and out of.  It handles over 2 million passengers through it every day and we made the mistake on one occasion to arrive into it during the busy period.

One exit of the 200 in Shinjuku Station

We visited the Eiffel Tower looking Tokyo Tower one night, then the district of Shibuya to experience crossing one of the busiest and craziest intersections in the world and admiring the ancient sword making skills and intricate artwork on the historical exhibits in the Japan Sword Museum.

Tokyo Tower

Our final Japanese experience was visiting Meiji Jingu Shrine, which included walking through the large forest surrounding the shrine, all 100,000 trees having been planted during the shrines construction.  The shrine was completed and dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shoken in 1920, eight years after the passing of the emperor and six years after the passing of the empress.  It is one of the most popular shrines and revered sites in Japan.

On arriving at this magnificent shrine, we were treated to witnessing a procession of people undertaking a wedding ceremony, the bride and groom dressed very traditionally, the fathers then mothers leading the procession behind them.

Wedding procession at Meiji Jingu Shrine

As we flew out of Japan after having enjoyed it so much and with much more we could experience, we knew we would be returning again, something we don’t say very often but Japan is quite the destination.

Japan is a very photographic place so if you want to see just a few too many extra final photos of it... then just click the links below.

CLICK HERE for more photos Japan 2016

CLICK HERE for more photos of Japan & Simple Things

Enjoy and go well!