Not such a shy old mountain

Sunday

Today was another exciting day trip day and the sun was out for us again.  We'd had a few rainy ones in the city but this morning it was bright and clear, perfect mountain spotting weather.  We were off to see Mount Fuji (Fuji-san).

It turned out to be a bit of a long journey for only half our rail pass would cover us, but we were sure Mr Fuji would be worth the exploitative train fare.  Plus it was such a pretty journey through the hilly/mountainous countryside, and we even caught an early glimpse of Fuji-san on the way.

This was very encouraging because although the mountain doesn't move he is elusively difficult to spot.  Apparently he is a shy mountain who almost permanently hides amoungst clouds and winter is the only reliable time to see him clearly.  We met two German girls who did not have any success in seeing Fuji and they told us that they spoke to a man who lived in the area who had only ever seen him 100% clear 3 times in his life.  So we were prepared for this but couldn't help but be a bit hopeful since the day we'd chosen was so clear.    

On arrival in Kawaguchi-ko we didn't follow everyone else onto the bus that goes around the lake we took off straight for Mount Tenjo from whose top you can view Fuji-san.  We'd had plans to climb up it and down again however the lady in the tourst office looked very doubtful about this and encouraged us to take the cable car up and just walk back down.

So this we did and I'm glad.  Not only because the mountain seemed to have sheer sloped sides but also because the view across the lake and surrounding mountains from the cable car was beautiful.

On the way up we were on the wrong side of the hill to see Fuji-san so we waited with baited breath to turn the corner at the top.  When we did we were disoppointed to see dear old Fuji-san with his upper half all covered by cloud.  We took our eyes off him for a minute and he hid himself away.  It was still a stunning view though and a beautiful mountain.

We felt there was still hope though, as the clouds were on the move and there was clear sky ahead.  So we decided to kill some time by walking up to the summit to see the shrine at the top.  Doing this we were lazily glad that we hadn't attempted to climb the whole thing, it was the kind of steep walking that makes Rob irritable and me sleepy.  Good to get to the top though the shrine was slightly tinsier than we'd imagined.

On the way back down we stopped to eat our picnic in a more secluded spot that had a view of our shy mountain over the way.  As we'd hoped the cloud was clearing for a bit and we decided to try and sit it out.  And sit we did, for an hour!  But after this time we were rewarded with more of a view.

By this time we really needed to start our walk down if we were going to catch the good train but we felt we couldn't leave because we just knew it would happen as soon as we did.  So we decided to scrap the walk down and get the cable car back down which would buy us another half an hour or so.

With that decision made we went back down to the bigger viewing area which did actually seem to have a better view.  And after another half an hour or so of taking slightly cloudy pictures the cloud actually parted and we got a full view of Fuji-san.  it was all so pretty, with the parting cloud and with the full view.  We were really glad that we'd stayed on a bit longer.

It was so nice we almost decided to miss our train and get a later one but since that would be over two hours later we decided that we'd had a gorgeous time and got what we'd come for.  We even got the obligatory Amy and Rob photo.

So with a final glance back we hopped on the cable car and scurried back to the station just in the knick of time.  We got a final glimpse at Fuji-San behind the station as we departed.

The journey back went quickly and prettily but about half way there we started feeling a bit sleepy.  When we changed trains we felt this was our chance to get a drink and to try out the can vending machines we'd had our eye on.  At first we'd been surprised how many people drink iced coffee in the cold and then one day we saw that someone had got a hot drink out.  Now that is not impressive in itself but a hot can vending machine:  we thought that was smart.  We think we should get these in the UK.  They'd sell millions on UK railway platforms.

Back at last we stopped off at the big station near where we were staying to get some dinner.  Apparently the area is good for Tonkatsu and one place in particular and we fancied a last good katsu before we leave.  We eventually found the place, had to wait half an hour for them to open, but then were rewarded with and excellent dinner.  It was nice to eat in a proper restaurant.  The it was home to watch "Fast and Furious; Tokyo Drift" which covered loads of the areas we explored the other day which was fun (even if it was ridiculous).  Rob even mucked about and brought a bit of Andy Warhol to Mount Fuji. 

We now have only two days left to see the rest of the city and only two days left of our whole adventure.

Tokyo immersion

Friday and Saturday

We were ready to explore the city when we got up on Friday morning.  But first we got some delicious breakfast at our guest house with free coffee and everything  The guest house is beautifully designed.

First stop in the city was the tourist office to get some help getting our bearings.  We spent about a year in there getting excellent advice about where to go, what to see and where to find things.  We also investigated going to see a Sumo match, partaking in some Kendo and an evening out doing karaoke.

But one by one these options were eliminated due to price and practicality.  The Sumo guys are out of town, Kendo would be in the outskirts and very expensive and Karaoke also priced us out - plus karaoke is more fun in a group. But that's ok, good to get your options (or lack of them) straight and it's not like there's nothing else to see in Tokyo and loads of it is free.

So it was time to get out and about and first stop was Sushi for lunch.  Yum.

Then time for some shopping.  Luckily the tourist office and good sushi train restaurant were based in Ginza, Tokyo's biggest shopping district.  The shops were multiple and overwhelming.  Huge department stores smaller boutiques such as the Hello Kitty shop for example.  It felt like Bond St and Regent St.  Lots of designer stores like Chanel and Prada.  Not for the likes of us!

We spent hours exploring, playing and buying some pressies (at more affordable place - don't get too excited people about the photo below, this was for Rob's niece and nephew!)

Then when we were at breaking point we popped into an English style pub for a drink as there doesn't seem to be any Japanese pubs.

We were well and truely sleepy after our day of shopping so after a couple of drinks we grabbed some cheap dinner in the station, made for "home" and got some more use out of the guest house's DVD collection.

But the next morning we were rested and ready for more.  With another good Andon brek and coffee inside us we started our second day of exploration and total emmersion.  We started in Akihabara the electronics end of town.  In Japan things tend to be segmented.  Restaurants sell one type of food and the town is divided and designated into areas.

Akihabara is full of computer shops, electronics shops, computer game halls and maid cafes.  Maid cafes have apparently been invented for stressed business men to come and be looked after and payed with like a child - apparently in an innocent rather than dirty way.  It certainly wasn't underground and there were women dressed as maids everywhere handing out fliers.  Bizarre.

We got a few more bits and pieces from around here and had an excellent soba noodle lunch before getting back on our way.

Stop two was Shinbuya junction which Rob had an image of in his mind from playing computer games as a kid.  The junction was huge and crazy and when the cars stop people flood in from all sides.

We had a bit of a look about at all the cool kid shops, quite different from yesterday's more fancy shops - a kind of Carnaby street to yesterday's Bond Street.  People are incredibly fashion conscious here and everybody is fully dressed up and styled and seems to be shopping at all times.  God knows where they get their money from, especially the teenagers.

Third stop was Harajuku for another type of shopping experience again; probably more like Camden if we're making comparisons.

It was fun here as it was pedestrianised and we found a fun shop to spend a while in before climbing up some stairs to a cute little cafe overlooking the street.  We'd been hoping to spot some Harajuku girls around this area and finally we did in the cafe.  All dolled up, literally, in their puffy dresses, big shoes, tights, bunches, make up, hair accessories, and full on jewelry.  Unfortunately we didn't get a photo (as they are people not tourist attractions apparently) but I got this one of the view from the cafe.

Final stop was Shinjuku, another busy area of the city, famous or it's night life.  It was dark now and so shining and shimmering in all it's manic glory.  We walked around for quite a while, swept up by the crowds and buzz but then felt it was time for a drink.

We saw a sign for a bar up on a second floor so climbed up to investigate.  However at the top of the stairs there was pictures of naked people tied up and others holding whips. So on second thoughts we decided this maybe wasn't the place for us (not today anyway) and so literally hurled ourselves down the stairs back onto the road. 

Eventually we found a bar that wasn't a maid cafe, porn bar, karaoke bar, darts bar or restaurant and happily had a small beer.  The downside to the bar, which we only discovered when we paid up, was that they had a cover charge per person that was nearly as much as the drinks and so one quiet drink proved pretty pricey.  Oh well, it was fun to be out and about for a bit but that expenditure put an end to it really.  Plus we needed to find a cash point on the way home - always a mission with our funny foreign bank cards! 

However, we went home feeling we'd had a really good explore of Tokyo and a really fun couple of days.  We were looking forward to getting out of the city the next day - we're off to visit Mr Fuji-san.

Tea Master of Ceremonies

Thursday.

Tokyo was a calling and we were ready.  We lazed around in the morning in our business hotel, got packed up and got to Matsumoto station.  We were a little early so we went to... (cue Darth Vader Star Wars music)...  Starbucks!  Well it was the only coffee shop about and to be honest it might as well have been a different place the service was so nice.

After a pleasant train ride, we arrived in Ueno station (North Tokyo).  We had cunningly noticed that this would be a better place to get off rather than going all the way into Tokyo's main station.  One quick two stop ride on subway, a quick 10 minute walk and we were at our last stop for the whole blooming trip, Andon Ryokan. 

It's a great little place.  Unbelievely compact as you'd expect in Tokyo but it has won archecture awards and is a very modern hostel/Ryokan.  Our room is probably the smallest we've stayed in Japan but comfortable ans cosy.  Best of all it has a DVD player and LAN internet in each room and there are free DVDs down stairs.  Good considering how expensive Tokyo is. 

The next best thing about Andon is it does an official Tea Ceremony on a Thursday!  We found out about this a couple of days ago and booked on after previous non-starters.  So after checking in and moving in we went out for a little dinner in a tiny, tiny restaurant (space for 4 people at a counter) and got cooked a gorgeous dinner by a very lovely old lady.  Then we were back at 18:30 to great the Master of Tea Ceremonies and our hour of tradition.

We were joined by four other people and the lady who works here explained some of the details of the ceremony just before we started.  To begin with we were each given a piece of paper that we had to fold the top corner of.  Then in turn you are passed a plate of Japanese sweet cakes from which you take one using chopsticks and a practiced little routine of passing the sticks between your hands.  Then before you can eat your sweetie you have to bow and ask the person to your left if you can eat it before them.  Once they say yes you eat it.  Everyone does this using the proper Japanese phrases.


Then the tea master goes through a very precise ritual to make the tea.  It's detailed so prepared to be bored...

1.  First take the scoop in the right hand in a delicate way, take one full cup of water pour it into the bowl.  Put back the scoop.
2.  Take the bowl first with the right hand then the left, circle the water around the bowl slowly two times to warm / wash it.  Pour the contents of the bowl using left hand into other pot.
3.  Put the bowl down, left hand off first then right, pick the tea spoon in the right hand and the lid of the tea and the tea powder pot in the left.
4.  Add 2 scopes of powdered green tea, spread the powder out in the tea bowl, place the tea cap back on the powder pot, place the pot back and the spoon.
5.  Take the scoop in the right hand, fill 1/2 full and pour into the tea bowl.  Put back the scoop.
6.  Take the whisk in the right hand and hold the bowl with the left.  Whisk the contents until bubbly.  Put back the whisk.
7.  Pick up the bowl, right then left, with the picture on the bowl facing yourself.  Turn in two times so that the picture ends up pointed at the recipient and place in front of them.

So that's making the tea!  Then the person with tea has to say can I drink the tea, then the person to their left says you can.  You then pick it up in your right then left hand, turn the bowl so in 2 turns so that the picture is facing you.  You then drink the tea in 4 slurps, finishing it on the 4th and slurping loudly (to indicate enjoyment).  Then you wipe the bowl and turn it back in 2 turns to how it was and put the bowl back where it was.

After that intense fun, it was time for us each to take turns to make a tea for our partner.  Amy went first and MC Tea talked her through it although she had watched and learned very carefully whilst he was making the last 6 cups.

She made me a right old lovely brothy cup of green tea!  It was then my go...

We really enjoyed this, it was great to see how it works and to get to have a go. After these cups of tea we were buzzing as wed also been given two with dinner, a few that morning and a couple of cups of coffee that day.  So we borrowed a silly film from downstairs to unwind in front of and eventually passed out.  We set the alarm earlyish as we were excited to get out and about the next day.

Fun in the sun

* Wednesday

Today's plan was to go to the Kiso valley and do a short 7.7km hike between Magome and Tsumago down the old Kiso road, part of the Nakasendo route to the capital in the Edo period.  These towns are two of eleven post towns on the Kiso stretch of the route and now have been restored and preserved as virtual museums of Japan's feudal past.  Today was another day I'd really been looking forward to and I'm glad to say that this day totally lived up to my expectations.

To get to Magome, our starting point, we had to get a train and then a bus.  By the time we got there it was nearly midday (we had to wait an hour for a bus) but we had coffee and snack to keep us going so we forfeited lunch to get going on our walk.

All the way there on the train it had been getting sunnier and sunnier and by the time we got to Magome it was well and truly a warm day which was perfect.  Magome was indeed a pretty little town/village with brown wooden houses scattered along a steep paved street and all the old features maintained and preserved.  The sunny backdrop set it off beautfully.

But the prettiest part was the view of the hills all around I think. 

As soon as we climbed out of the village the panoramic views were immense, this doesn't do it justice.

And all the spring flowers were out, not just cherry blossom.  It felt like home with all the daffodils about.

Our 7.7km journey took us past peaceful little houses,

through many a forest,

and of course past an obligatory shrine (we are so ungrateful these days).

Excitingly we also spotted a snake.

But the most beautiful sights were the two waterfalls we passed.

Then just as we were sightly starting to tire we started to approach Tsumago.  Tsumago is even prettier than Magome and hard to believe that until the 1960s it was practically a ghost town.  But the villagers campaigned and saved the town and managed to get it protected status so that it can remain as beautiful as it was in it's hay day (no pun intended) hundreds of years ago.

Once we arrived in Tsumago we had a walk around the little cobbled streets and in the shops with hand made wooden spoons and chopsticks and bowls.  Then as it was sunny and we'd had no lunch we celebrated the completion of our walk with an ice cream.

As there was only four trains a day back to Matsumoto and very few buses to the station we didn't have much choice but to make our way back after our ice cream.  So we decided to wait to eat back in Matsomoto as we'd seen a nice noodle place near our hotel.

But we were happy to do so as it had been such a perfect day.  The weather was just brilliant, the scenery gorgeous and spring like and peaceful and the towns at either end were ideal starting and finishing points.  I'm so glad we had such a great outdoorsy day before we head into the craziness of Tokyo.

Going loco down in Matsumoto

* Tuesday.

Today it was time to go back down south.  We got up in Morioka, got up and ready and headed down the station for an early but post rush hour train.  We had to change 3 times to get to Matsumoto with only 8 minutes between changes.  But you could set your clock by Japanese trains so of course the whole thing was a pleasure.  The 4 hours of trains was snoozed away mostly and by 14:00 we'd rocked up in crazy middle of nowhere Matsumoto.

We were immediately taken by Matsumoto because even though it was little, it is pretty, fun, has it's amenities were we like them and the Hotel was not too far away.  We stayed in a Hotel Dormy again.  I likes me a business hotel on the 7th floor after 5 days on the bounce in Ryokans.  There is something beautifully anonymous about it.

We had a coffee down the road until our room was ready, dumped our bags in the room and headed out to see the sights.

It is very easy to walk about.  The centre is about a square km or so.  The town itself is sandwiched between mountains in a nice little valley.  There's a lovely little river running through it.

Along the river side is a street that has been around since the Edo period.  We noticed it had several frog statues on it.  We later found out that the frog thing is just a play on words with what the street name is called or something.  Not quite the legend we were hop(p)ing for.  But these Samurai frogs cheered me right up!

The main draw of the town is the castle, Matsumoto-jo.  The castles in Japan, and this one in particular, are so well looked after.  It had a very impressive moat and had surrounding cherry blossom.

The castle looks like it only has five floors but actually it has six.

A "hidden floor" is inside with no windows and it is where they used to stock pile weapons and food in case of invasion.  We went into the castle and had a good poke about.  It had some interesting stuff in there.  They had a "running" floor around the second level for the Samurai to charge about in bashing and kersplatting the enemy coming up the battlements.  We saw the hidden floor; you'd have to be short to hang around there.  Also it had a "moon watching" extension where the Samurai would sit and relax.  But the best thing was the view from the top.

Very nice.  So after leaving the castle we wandered around a little (everything seems to shut in Matsumoto between 17:00 and 18:00) and then found a quite little English pub (huh?) called the Old Rock.  Have to admit, this is the first English pub we've seen in Japan outback and it was quite funny to go in it.  They really have tried to make it the same as what they think we have:  oak bar, fish and chips, burgers and pints.  It was all very cute.  And made me a little homesick.

We even had a few (well 3) beers there.  It was grand.  Tomorrow we are going for a lovely day out in the country to the Kiso valley for a little hike in rural Japan.

The legend of Tono

* Monday (By Amy)

Today we were going into the Tono Valley to learn about Japanese folklore. Tono itself is a small town set in a bowl of low mountains among flat rice fields and the wider Tono Valley has a living legacy of farming and folk traditions and legends. We'd heard that you can hire bikes and choose from a few cycle routes that take you to different sites from the legends, which was what we planned to do. I was really looking forward to this (however it never bodes well to be too excited!).

As expected it took an hour and a half or so to get there on a nice little rattly train and then we had a hunt for the tourist information office. When we found it and mentioned about cycle routes it took a while for this to register with them, which was a worry, but then they dug out a Japanese map with routes on which we could use to match up against our English route map. And they definitely had bikes for hire so at this point we were all on track.

However from here it went a bit down hill (but not literally unfortunately). First of all we took the wrong route out of town so then had to turn back on ourselves. Then when we headed off in the right direction it turned out to be really unappealing. The one road that we were due to follow for about 10km there and back was a major road out of the the town and it was busy and fast.

It was such a shame because all around you off in the distance you could see mountains and forests and we believed that down the road would be pretty sights. But the trouble was that we didn't really know this for sure and the route to them was not tempting and didn't really seem worth it. Also as we knew little about the legends we weren't sure how we would register significant locations from the stories.

So we decided to turn around do a little off route exploring and then return the bikes to walk around the town instead and learn the stories at one of the Tono's museums. After turning around there was a track off to the left so we headed off down that for a bit which was fun. We were cycling between the fields of crops and at once you got more of a feel for rural life.

Unfortunately quite quickly this route turned into people's houses and we were starting to get some funny looks so we reluctantly returned to the road. The trip back took us back over the big river at the edge of town and so we decided to stop off here to eat our picnic as the sun had come out and it was all looking scenic.

By the time we got back to the station to return the bikes we felt we'd salvaged the morning despite not getting the adventure I'd been looking forward to. We'd been out for two hours, done some exercise, seen some of rural Japan (definitely not something we'd seen previously) and had a nice picnic by the river. The only thing we'd really not managed was to learn about the legends of Tono.

We still had two and a half hours to do this with the assistance of the municipal museum and the folklore village. So we marched off in search of these. They were really easy to find which was great but then as we got up to the front door it all looked a bit dark inside and we saw that they were shut on Mondays!!! It seems this was really not going to happen. At this point we had to give up and return with our tail between our legs, buy chocolate and get an earlier train home. It seems that the legends of Tono will have to remain elusively mysterious to us.

Back at the ranch (Ryokan) we returned to our snuggly room to pack up our stuff and watch a film. If the truth be told we both have a bit of a cold and it's freezing outside so it didn't do any harm to cosy up with some green tea for a couple of hours. We then had dinner at the restaurant downstairs as it had opened again.  We had another authentic dinner comprised of nine bowls of food!  It included jellied leaves of some kind, cold tofu, fried fish in soy sauce, raw ginger tuna and a noodle dish with tofu, bacon and egg.  Again the friendly waitress and pathetic but cute dog made the evening complete and it happily concluded our slightly funny day.

Maybe we'll get another chance to find out about some Japanese folklore, we'll be looking out for that as well as still hunting for a chance to attend a tea ceremony.

Samurai Street

* Sunday

Samurai Street. Sounds like a new Japanese soap opera doesn't it? Well we went there today as a nice little day trip to Kakunadate (pronounced ka-kun-o-da-tay). In the Edo period this was a place where many Samurai and their families lived. The street today is all privately owned but some houses are open to the public for free or for a fee.

It was a doddle getting there on the train, then straight into the tourist office for a map and a small 2km walk to the street. We had seen some Samurai houses before in Kanazawa but this district felt much bigger and older. This Samurai has lost her sword...

We walked around the houses, admiring the emptiness of the rooms (there is no clutter in Japanese life it seems) and some of the old beautiful architecture. There were a few little shops around selling pretty posh stuff. It all seemed a fairly popular day trip by the hords of Japanese tourists here. In one of the shops was this mad man.

It got me thinking, it would be great if there was a kind of Kentwell Hall experience here, whereby you go and see how people lived in the Edo period. I'd very much enjoy that. I wonder if one exists? If it does, I think we're going to miss it. The free houses were all very interesting but didn't give much depth.

To combat this, we found the Aoyagi Samurai Manor Museum for a 500yen each. The manor house and other buildings on the property have belonged to the family since 1603. They were quite important Samurai family. In recent years, the descendents have collected together Samurai artefacts throught the generations of their family and have displayed it all in a fairly informative museum. And they even have a detailed leaflet with descriptions in English. Always useful for us mono-ligual plebs. This was the main house.

I was particularly interested in the Armory. I love the scary, devil like armor of the Samurai. I love the fake horns on the helmets and the scary masks...

There was also some pictures and art from the period discovered in the family storehouses.

We then went on to have a look at the hand on exhibits and demonstrations in the farmer's residence. There was weaving and cherry-bark crafts. It provided a little light entertainment for a Sunday afternoon.

Ame's particular favourite piece of craft was these massive gowns! We think they must have been for show or special occassions. Or for a big giant mega Samurai master!

It was all very pleasant. We learned a few things and left a little Samuraied out for the day. We had a lovely cuppa around the station, got the train back, had early tea (managed to concock sausage, chips and veg out of a menu!) then returned to our Ryokan. They informed us yesterday that they have a private function on in the restaurant tonight and sure enough there were lots of woman in kimonos walking into our place and then they had a rock and roll time downstairs laughing and joking. We listened from upstairs while we watched a film and did oour washing. Tomorrow we are going to the Tono valley to learn somethings about Japanese folklore.