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| Japan June 2011 |
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Saturday 4th - I parked my car around 5:15am, and flew out at 6:20. I had reserved seats for each of the 4 legs but ended up with none of the ones I booked... but booking the airport lounge at Gold Coast was a good investment. After arriving (and successfully deciphering my first complete word in Hiragana "ください = Kudasai = please" - yay!) I took the express train to Shin-Osaka and my hotel. I needed to stretch my legs so I walked back to the centre of town - a good hike on a pleasant evening. I passed some guys practicing baseball but without the ball - just swinging their bats; and kids letting off fireworks on the banks of the Yodo river. There was a cheerful Saturday night crowd in the Umeda area; I bought a snack-size sushi pack - breakfast in Melbourne, dinner in Osaka! After some effort I found an ATM that accepted my card, and toasted my arrival at The Frame House ukulele bar in Kitahama, where Mitsuko(?) remembered me from my last visit, and their bar girl had spent a couple of years in Brisbane.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Sunday - I caught the 8am Shinkansen to Tokyo. They announced that you could use WiFi on the train, but I couldn't get it to work on my phone, and the conductor didn't speak English. I noticed the girl next to me had been reading a book in English so I asked her - and between her & the conductor they let me know that WiFi was only for existing subscribers... but thereafter we had a great chat! Her name is Beni & she was travelling with her sister Hana for a holiday at Tokyo Disneyland. When I said I was from Melbourne she immediately asked about the penguins there, so my experience as a volunteer penguin guide & researcher came in very handy! The sisters work at a cake shop in Osaka & I made a plan to try to visit it.
After the trip of about 2½ hours, I got off the train at Shinagawa in the south of Tokyo, to meet Mike, an old uni buddy of mine. He was about to head off to San Francisco but had an early lunch and a terrific catch-up, and he kindly leant me his PASMO card which made my travel in Tokyo very convenient. After lunch I went to Harajuku - an market sort of area with lots of counter-culture on show, & nearby Yoyogi Park. The park was full of people, seemingly all sorts of community groups. There were some picnicing, studying, or rehearsing lines possibly, running through dance routines, playing games and exercising their dogs. I pulled my uke out, and sure enough within a few more paces I found a beginners ukulele class happening so I joined in! I was a bit surprised that they used the English for chord names. I taught them Country Road (a big hit in Japan) and the Sukiyaki song. Continuing on, I stumbled upon Odajima and "Ukulele Afternoon" rehearsing on the opposite side of the park. I joined in a little bit but they had some fairly sophisticated arrangements. I noticed they do a lot more 'picking' than I'm used to in MUK - maybe because they like Western songs but don't know quite how to properly pronounce the words, so they play the melody as an instrumental? After a few songs I continued on - I heard some drumming but it turned out to be African, not Taiko... in fact the only Taiko I found on my trip was an arcade game.
Exploring further, I found myself amongst hundreds of excited teenage girls heading into & out of the Yoyogi stadium - they were all cheerleaders, presumably there was a big competition on (all their uniforms had the team names etc in English). There was a big eco expo next door, just finishing up for the day, and Cirque de Soleil had set up further along. I walked up past Meiji Jingu - it was closing for the day so I didn't get to check it out, but the gardens were a terrific island of calm in the middle of a major city. Nearing Shinjuku the scale of all the buildings increased - it's one of several CBD areas of Tokyo, and a major hub for railways, crowds, shopping, business and entertainment. I had a good look around, I think I found the seedier side of town, but then found a very nice cafe for dinner.
I'd decided to try a capsule hotel. There wasn't much information in English so it was a bit hard to be sure of what was the right thing to do, but basically you get changed in a big locker room and then go to another room containing the capsules. They had a modest bathroom nearby but the main bathroom for washing was upstairs, and full of naked guys parading around... a little bit too communal. I felt very conspicuous, I'm sure it would've been fine but I made it a very quick wash! The capsule was not so much like an MRI machine, or coffin, and more like being on a top bunk, or even a bit like being in a 2-person tent. It had a bamboo blind at the corridor/'foot' end, and I had a very good sleep!
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Monday - The funny things you notice: crows in Japan sound like WC Fields, whereas those in Australia sound like Bob Hawke. Anyway, adjacent to Shinjuku Station, Red Bull had set up an F1 car which apparently had driven through Tokyo the day before. I grabbed some breakfast, including a banana - I've been deprived in Australia! - and caught the train to Tokyo Station expecting it to be abuzz with activity, but it was pretty quiet. There were small crowds around the station, but outside there were just skyscrapers and the occasional jogger. I presume everyone was at work - but it just wasn't the Tokyo I expected. I walked down to Hibuya Park, and then up through Ginza. It was good to get my bearings but there wasn't a lot to see. I took a train to Hamamatsucho, wandered down to the river for a quick look at the Rainbow bridge, then back past Zojoji Temple to Tokyo Tower which turned out to be a fairly dated and tacky landmark, although the video screens pointing out the city's sights and history were OK. The food court, however...!
Next, to Ueno - firstly to check out a tourism office... sorry to say but all the tourist info places I found were very ordinary. They did help me find an internet cafe though - and disaster! - my tour the next day had been cancelled. I'd worry about that later. It was a nice cheery afternoon around Ueno and I had fun wandering around the park; there were groups of female student tour guides... perhaps?... overall it seemed to be a bit of an academically-inclined area with lots of museums around. I then set off towards Akihabara - the electronics and gadget district (with added anime girls), yet again misjudging the distance. There were lots of electronics shops- not a lot that you wouldn't find in a big shopping centre at home, though I might not've found the more distinctive outlets. Then back to the hotel for a short break - I was staying at the Shinagawa Prince which would've been great for my tour pick-up the next morning, and which is almost a self-contained resort. I then headed out Koenji to go to Odajima's "Hikoroku" ukulele bar. It was great to get out into a normal suburb away from the tourist attractions, and given that I was the sole patron, we had a great chat, a uke & shamisen jam, we swapped CDs and he even cooked me up some dinner.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Tuesday - I tried the space shuttle controls of the toilet in the hotel; these are commonly found throughout Japan. It was ... unusual.
Downstairs, I jumped online and within a couple of minutes had booked the first hotel I found in Hakone-Yumoto. Accommodation sorted, I jumped on the Shinkansen to Odawara, where I looked lost enough for a girl from the tourism office to approach me with information about the '2 Day Freepass' which for about $50 gave me all transport and a brochure with a self-guided tour itinerary around the Hakone area. Perfect! I took the local train to Hakone-Yumoto, was delayed by a tourism survey for a few minutes on arrival, and found the hotel after a few minutes despite taking the wrong road. The reception area was very stately and distinguished, unfortunately the room didn't quite match the atmosphere but it was OK.
I followed the recommended course for the afternoon - bus, walk through the Ancient Cedar Avenue, Hakone Checkpoint, cruise on a tall ship on Lake Ashi (at first I thought it was "Lake Asahi" and would be made of beer), ropeway to Owakudani to see the volcanic steam vents, then ropeway and cablecar to Gora railway station, and mountain railway back. I caught a brief, faint glimpse of Mt Fuji from Hakone Machi-ko. The transport was fun in itself, the scenery was fantastic under gloomy skies, and everyone was very friendly - though for a touristy area it seemed quiet. More so in the evening where I went walking through town and past a bunch of resorts in search of something nice for dinner... I had a long, frustrating and fruitless trek past a bunch of sleepy-looking resorts. One had a bit of activity - coaches of important-looking salarymen were negotiating the narrow mountain roads. Back in town, I found a fancyish cafe and with the place to myself I had a good chat with the proprietor and his family.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Wednesday - I took the mountain railway back up to Gora to find an ATM and then one station back down to check out the Hakone Open-Air Museum sculpture park where I had a very enjoyable morning (in light drizzle), enjoying the art and resting my feet in the hot spring/foot bath. Back up at Gora I had a horrible railway hotdog for lunch, and caught the bus which, after doing a 180 on a turntable, took me to the Yunessun hot spring & water park resort. I walked in through front reception, and went up the next two floors before I saw a single person. But then I found the spa section and there were enough people to make it worthwhile... it still seemed quiet though. The indoor section had a several huge spas, and a sound & light show every hour. Outdoors I tried a series of small hot pools, with various novelty "flavours", eg coffee, sake, red wine, green tea, charcoal (again, no beer); all very enjoyable. I didn't try the 'naked' section - I'm too worried about committing a faux pas. Like the capsule hotel they had a "no tattoo" policy which I was delighted about, I'm not very keen on tattoos!
Before leaving Hakone I went back up to Owakudani to see Mt Fuji again, but it was too cloudy. I took the train to Shinjuku - I had a carriage with a window facing backwards from the train and it was cool to express through the cities, on one of the plaza of parallel tracks, leaving behind each station's barn-shaped roof and pool of light.
Finding the next hotel was an interesting challenge - it was just north of Shinjuku, in Okubo, which I think is a bit of a Korean district - I'm sure that the hotel was a street to the west of where it's website directions indicate! But once there I found a very comfortable cheap guest house that might've once been all a private residence, and now has a couple of rooms for travellers. The sign-in book suggested that I was the first guest for two weeks, however when I checked out I think another couple of people had arrived. The proprietors were very friendly and we managed a few conversations despite having none of each others' languages.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Thursday - My friend Yoshie from Taiko classes in Melbourne was back home in Japan and working at Foot Therapy next to the Subnade mall, which was a slight challenge to find. She had invited me to try a foot massage, which was great! Afterwards I had a look around Shinjuku, including a couple of the observation decks (Sumitomo Building, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building). These were free but I managed to pay 600 yen (around $7) for a glass of coke. I then took Yoshie's advice and went to Asakusa, a historic district. Although I'd seen enough temples, the Sensoji was great in that it had a real festival atmosphere to it with cheerful crowds, street vendors & stalls and so forth. The district was overshadowed by the spectacular new Sky Tree observation tower which is nearing completion. I explored the local shops & neighborhood, and then headed to the "Music Instrument District" near Ochanomizu. I had a blast window-shopping the heaps of instrument shops, some specialising in certain instruments - one seemed to be solely guitar effects - and lots of general ones. There was no shortage of ukuleles, some of the guitar shops had maybe a third of the shop dedicated to them.
As evening settled in I went to Shibuya and discovered the Tokyo I'd been expecting all along - the massive crowds flooding the streets when the traffic lights changed. There was a good fun crowd around the whole district.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Friday - Keen to explorer another section of Tokyo outside the Yamanote circle line, I took the Yurikamome ("Seagull"... or Eureka Moment"?) to Odaiba, an artificial island in the bay. I'd hoped to see the Science and Innovation Museum but it was closed due to the earthquake & wouldn't open until the next day. Instead I went to the slightly daggy Museum of Maritime Science, which had no English explanations, and was, like the rest of Odaiba, a bit of a wasteland. I walked around the waterfront, and it was hard to understand how the region could be so dead in the middle of such a populous city. At one point the train stopped at a station in the middle of a paddock with no buildings or roads, and more stations just a couple of hundred metres away.
I took the Shinkansen back to Osaka and then off to Tondabayashi to visit my friend Chi - it was wonderful to see her again and catch up on lots of news!
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Saturday - We had a fantastic & relaxing day. We went to Kaiyukan Aquarium (they have penguins!) including the "Cawaii [cute] Collection". Chi loves seafood and told me about all of the fish that were on display, that she had eaten recently. Otherwise, we just helped each other learn some more of our respective languages & cultures, and I was able to answer some music/ukulele questions for her. I usually find that the best part of any trip is to experience some of the everyday life of the locals, rather than just going to the tourist attractions, and it was certainly true in this case. Furthermore, I'm sure Chi has been practicing her English; it has been a barrier in the past for us to get to know each other and it was great to learn more about her, her work and so forth.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Sunday - We went for a bushwalk at Mount Kongo, a short drive from Chi's place. We'd left it a bit late to walk all the way up, so took the ropeway instead - this turned out to be a good choice as there was a bit of rain around. Up on the mountain, we had a look at a small astronomical observatory, and continued up to the picnic/cafe area which had a big series of scoreboards for regular climbers to register their numbers of ascents. Unfortunately heavy clouds obscured the views, but they partially lifted for a few minutes just when we reached the lookout tower.
And then, alas, it was already time for a farewell dinner- Chi was back into work the next day, and I had a couple more days' sightseeing.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Monday - I went to visit Beni and her family at Patisserie de Lolo, and ended up staying for over an hour I think! It was great to meet everyone and to try some of their delicious & healthy(!) cakes. I said a careful "Ohayo gozaimasu" when introduced to Beni's father, Show, and he answered with "Good morning, are you on Twitter?" He was very interested in Melbourne and in my ukulele. The whole store had a bit of Disney feel to it after Beni & Hana's holiday the previous week. Be sure to drop in if you're in the Takaminosato area (just across from the station, 8 stations from Tennoji on the Kintetsu line).
I went back to Tennoji for a look around, but not much was open - the zoo and even the park were closed for the day. I had a look at the Tsutenkaku Tower but wasn't very impressed by it and given that I was now in the "pre-departure cash budgeting" phase I gave it a miss. Similarly my phone battery level was dwindling so I kept turning it off, but it kept turning itself back on, I think due to the humidity playing with the circuitry; with limited recharging opportunities and still a couple of rendezvous in the works, this became quite stressful! I took a train to Kyoto, and while waiting for the city bus, I was greeted by three high-school girls who asked for my autograph. I had a great afternoon seeing Ginkaku-ji, and after getting lost looking for it last year, I found and followed the Philosopher's Path (Tetsugaku no michi), past various other temples and along the small river with the occasional carp swimming past. I went back to Gion, past sights familiar from last year; at one point I was delighted to hear someone practicing ukulele, and I waved my uke at the high-school girl when she looked out her window. I found a great shopping arcade and a nice cafe for dinner & people-watching; then walked back to Kyoto station for the trip back to Shin Osaka.
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| From Japan June 2011 |
Tuesday - My last day :-( I'd received some messages about an ash cloud affecting flights in Australia, so I asked the hotel if I could stick around to use the internet in their dining room a bit longer, and as a result I got to listen in to the staff's almost military-style daily huddle, where 3 of them reported on the days' news, and then all of them recited the company's mantra in unison.
I had been very impressed by the amount of primary school children through to quite elderly cyclists in Japan; bikes were very popular for local transport with everyone. However as I approached Shin Osaka station for the final time, heaps of bikes that were apparently illegally parked, were being loaded on trucks for removal - I'm sure there would be some angst later in the day when people returned to find that their bike had been impounded! In the station, I asked the tourist office about their city tour, but it seemed a lot more complicated than just seeing the sights on my own; and they didn't take credit cards and it would've been a hassle to get more cash out.
I went to the touristy/restaurant Dotonbori district, which Chi had taken me to last year. I saw a turtle swimming in Dotonbori gawa, and enjoyed some takoyaki for lunch. I found a very cool market arcade slightly away from the tourist section, and it was great to see where locals do their shopping. I went to have a look at the temple district but all the temples were closed, but it was nice to walk past. Next I went to see the Science Museum & planetarium - it was very quiet, there was very little info in English, and the exhibits were pretty standard; but all up it was an OK way to spend the afternoon. I walked over to the newly redeveloped Osaka station via the network of underground shopping malls. I'd left plenty of time to get to Kansai airport, but the trains took much longer, and weren't as frequent as I expected, leaving me a touch stressed in addition to being rather sad that my trip was almost over. I had a great view of the train drivers' cabin though, and was amazed how the stops were accurate to within a couple of seconds of the driver's schedule.
I was delighted that Chi came to the airport to see me off - it was a wonderful farewell, I certainly hope that our paths cross again sometime soon. Thanks Chi!
Wednesday - Arriving at Gold Coast, I managed to avoid being filmed by the Border Patrol TV show. The ash clouds were not affecting my flights, the only incident was that I was seated in 1A and was close to the action during boarding, when a ground technician went to step backwards out of the cabin and someone had moved the stairs slightly and left a gap, which left him dangling in the air for a moment - he managed to grab the door and the cabin staff helped pull him back inside, before he went down the stairs & gave a very stern lecture to the stair attendant.
And then - back home! Thanks Japan! I was 2kg lighter, I think due to the food there being very healthy, and not what my system is used to; plus I'd done lots of walking. But I'd had a fantastic time learning more about the country and meeting friends old and new.
FAQ
- I've had lots of questions about the effects of the earthquake, tsunami and radiation - I didn't feel any tremors, and the disasters had occurred a few hundred kilometres from the places I went. However the tourist crowds were small and some attractions were closed. There were lots of reports about the clean-up and recovery on the news, and a few locals were interested in talking about what the effects had been.
- historically Japan has been very expensive, but with the recent progress of the respective economies, there are some great bargains. I scored some bargains with all the most I paid for a night at a hotel being around $90/night, and in some cases I paid close to half of that.
- it's very easy to travel around, despite not knowing Japanese. One gotcha is the mix of different railway companies, the smartcard tickets generally work across the different companies in a city, but the paper tickets don't always... but it's not a big problem, you just buy the ticket for the next part of the journey. I'd learnt some Hiragana, most signs were in Kanji, Hiragana and English; and the train lines in Tokyo were designated with a colour, a Roman letter and station numbers, it was very easy to figure everything out.
- it's very easy to travel around, despite not knowing Japanese. One gotcha is the mix of different railway companies, the smartcard tickets generally work across the different companies in a city, but the paper tickets don't always... but it's not a big problem, you just buy the ticket for the next part of the journey. I'd learnt some Hiragana, most signs were in Kanji, Hiragana and English; and the train lines in Tokyo were designated with a colour, a Roman letter and station numbers, it was very easy to figure everything out.
- Since returning home, I've discovered heaps of restaurants in Melbourne named after places I've been, eg "Yoyogi", "Shinjuku", "Shibuya" etc...
- I've decided that the cities themselves aren't very endearing, they reminded me at times of just being giant factories, additionally, tourist attractions and information are a bit under-par. However the people are fantastic and I was very well looked after. And everywhere I went, all the staff were immaculately attired, friendly, thorough and clinically efficient.
The Commonwealth Bank had sold me the idea of using a Travel Money card, which I managed to slightly overdraw by about $16, but its minimum deposit is $200... so it looks like I'll be keeping it in overdraft until I need it again. I'm still to be convinced about whether there's much of a benefit to it.
Big thanks to Eli, Michelle, Chi, Mike, Yoshie, Beni & the Takemoto family at Patisserie de Lolo, Odajima, Stephanie, and everyone else that helped along the way!
