House of Red Leaves

Posted on 10/11/2014 by Luke

There is a famous phrase in Japan, ‘You haven’t seen real beauty until you’ve seen Nikko.’ So far on this trip, I haven’t really seen a thing. Only darkness. I wake up at 9 a.m., and the first thing I do is take a look at the view from the ryokan window. No skyscrapers here, only mountains and sky.

Outside, the air is clean, and a reasonable 20°C, so I take one last soak in the outdoor onsen before paying for the room and leaving. I realise once I am all the way at the bus stop that I’ve forgotten to pay for my ice cream. The bus stop tells me I have half an hour before the next bus, so I decide to explore the Yumoto onsen area.

Despite this being the highest point in these mountains that the bus chooses to stop, and at an altitude of 1,475 metres, there is a huge natural lake up here. Lake Yunoko, translating to mean, ‘Hot Water Lake.’ The lake sits almost completely still. Formed twenty thousand years ago when a nearby volcano erupted, the lake is a nesting ground for wild ducks. A sign beside the lake says that ‘fresh’ landlocked sockeye salmon and rainbow trout swim in these waters.

I take a wander around the water. At the south end, a waterfall; at the north, the view is somewhat ruined by a construction team nestled at the edge of the lake. It isn’t quite clear what they are actually doing, other than making noise and ruining the otherwise peaceful scene.

My bus eventually arrives. The elderly residents use their hand on the Suica card machine instead of actually scanning their cards. Presumably, they don’t have electronic cards on the mountain, and by the looks of it, they get to travel on the route bus free of charge.

The bus swings back down the mountain, passing impressive scenery. Mountains sit quietly in the distance, the view very much different from the journey yesterday. Toward the bottom of the bus route, I see some interesting red leaves, so decide to hop off.

“Koyo” refers to the colourful autumn leaves in Japan. They spread across the country starting from the north and moving south. This process takes about two months and is known as the koyo front. Almost completely opposite to cherry blossom season, but getting equally as popular, people come to areas of nature such as Nikko to view these leaves in the autumn.

Beside the area of red leaves, I see a sign for a World Heritage Site, Toshogu Shrine. The shrine is the place where Tokugawa Shogunate founder, Tokugawa Ieyasu, is enshrined. It was built on his orders and used as his hideaway, and I can see why he chose this area. The view from the entrance to the shrine is an impressive mix of mountains and wildlife, the perfect place for a military leader to spend his free time.

Inside the temple grounds is the origin of a Buddhist proverb about not dwelling on evil thoughts. A statue of the three wise monkeys, Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru, sits over the shrine. The proverb is rather well-known and translates to, ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.’

At the entrance to the temple grounds sits the five-storey Gojunoto Pagoda. A sign beside the pagoda tells me that the structure is the same height as Tokyo Skytree. I think this is a translation issue, as this pagoda is a mere 36 metres tall, whereas Tokyo Skytree is an impressive 634 metres tall.

What I think is meant by the sign is that the elevation here is 598 metres, meaning that the roof of the pagoda is at the same elevation as Tokyo Skytree. Perhaps this is merely a coincidence, but I would guess that Tokyo Skytree was built at this specific height so that it shares the same point in the sky as this famous pagoda.

After visiting the temples, I take a wander around the Nikko area. I see a shop selling ‘Heritage Nikko Cheese Egg,’ and would be a fool to pass up on the opportunity to eat a Cheese Egg. It costs just ¥100, and completely shatters my ignorant assumption that the Cheese Egg would contain at least one of the two ingredients in its name. Instead, I find myself eating a bland, tasteless cake. The primary flavour: disappointment.

I continue my wander and spot a cigarette machine with some advertising above it that would never be allowed in England.

I make my way back toward Nikko Station. The area around the station has a selection of small shops all selling exactly the same things—souvenirs. Other shops sell more souvenirs, and more shops sell the same souvenirs as the other twenty shops. The stallholders here are cashing in on a popular Japanese custom, omiyage. In Japan, when you visit another region, you are expected to buy souvenirs for everyone else who couldn’t make the trip. So for me, I have to buy everyone I know a gift.

Wishing I had purchased Cheese Eggs for all, I instead opt for a relatively pricey box of Strawberry Pie. I chose this gift because I enjoyed the English text; it reads: ‘Plenty of choice of strawberry red, so happy tea time we can enjoy this strawberry pie.’ Whatever that means.

After shopping, I wave goodbye to Nikko from the train station platform; the view of Mount Nantai in the distance is simply stunning.

From the train, I watch the mountains disappear. A thrilling two-hour journey to Ueno awaits, then it is back to the chaos of Tokyo.

On the Other Side of the Mountain

Posted on 08/11/2014 by Luke

Today, I am exactly halfway through my trip. To celebrate, I have decided to take a break from city life and booked a night at a Japanese inn, known as a ryokan. It is situated in the middle of the mountains in a place called Nikko, in Tochigi Prefecture. My plan for the next few days is to experience a more traditional side of Japan.

From Asakusa, I pay ¥2390 for an express train taking 140 minutes. At Shimo-imaichi Station, I have to change to a dreaded local train. On the platform, I wear a short-sleeved shirt. A Japanese man says to his friend, “Look at that guy; he must be freezing!” I admit, it is a little cooler than Tokyo, but I only have to wait two minutes at the cold station platform. I eventually get on the local train. It sounds like a roller coaster as it claws its way up the mountainous tracks. The train’s only luxury is its heated seats; they make the whole train smell like the inside of a giant hairdryer. Five minutes later, I arrive at Tobu-Nikko Station.

I head out of the station and onto an old bus; the transport on this trip is getting progressively worse. The place I am staying tonight is at Yumoto Onsen; ninety minutes from Nikko Station and some 185 kilometres north of Tokyo. It’s just gone five, but the sun is no longer visible. The bus crawls through the darkness. A warning says, ‘Hold onto the handrail as the bus will sway from side to side as it makes its ascent.’

The bus eventually arrives at my stop, the last stop. I pay ¥1700. This is also the last bus. I am trapped up here now; no coming back. Outside, it is freezing cold—the coldest I have been since leaving England. Luckily, at the bus stop, I am greeted by warm smiles. A Japanese woman with a sign is waiting for me. We head to her car, and she drives me thirty seconds to the place I will spend the night

Inside the ryokan, she takes me to my room—the biggest room I have stayed in since being in Japan, spacious and warm. It has a massive double futon laid out, and a table of equal size. The woman starts by preparing me a hot cup of green tea before leaving to prepare my dinner. I get dressed into my yukata, carefully ensuring I cross it left over right; crossing it the other way is how the dead are dressed at funerals, and I am not dead. I also make sure to tie the bow behind me; a bow at the front is how prostitutes dress.

At 7 p.m., the woman comes back into my room to serve me dinner.

My food consists of buttered trout, salmon, vegetable tempura with natural salt, radish, simmered sesame tofu, lotus root, miso gratin with cabbage, yuzu pepper salad, grilled eggplant, fried tofu, boiled tofu in a soy milk pot with mushrooms, rice, a selection of vegetables, a selection of pickles, and a couple of things I can’t identify. The entire meal is pescatarian, and all the food is of the highest standard. I don’t usually like tofu, but up here, it is made from the cleanest of mountain water and tastes phenomenal.

After a while, the woman comes back into my room to clear and clean the table before bringing me dessert. In comparison to the huge dinner, my dessert is somewhat anticlimactic.

I help myself to a couple of the complimentary bottles of Autumn edition beer before deciding to take a dip in the hot springs. I book the outdoor onsen for forty-five minutes. Outside, there is not a single sound. The stars are out. Mountains loom in the distance. The contrast of boiling hot water mixing with the cold winter air is wonderful and relaxing. After my time is up, I head indoors to onsen number two.

The indoor onsen doesn’t offer a window, so there isn’t much of a view. It is a rather lonely experience. After I get out, I take a shower. It is etiquette in Japan to shower before and after getting into a hot spring bath, so this is actually my fourth shower this evening. I notice weighing scales in the changing room; I haven’t weighed myself since before I came to Japan. After a massive meal and a not-so-massive dessert, I am surprised to discover that I am 7kg lighter than when I arrived in this country.

Back in my room and with kilogrammes to gain, I decide that the perfect way to cool off is with a delicious tub of homemade cream cheese and alcohol-flavoured ice cream. Sulphur from the onsen taints the experience slightly, the smell of rotten eggs lingering in the room.

I sip quietly on complimentary beers with the window wide open, wrapped up in my traditional Japanese clothing. The clean cold air is nothing more than a fresh distraction to the silence that engulfs me. Outside, the only thing I can see is hot smoke billowing from the many hot spring baths and the dark outline of mountains in the distance.

Birds Thrown Around, Bullets For Hail

Posted on 11/07/2014 by Luke

The largest storm on the planet passed through Beppu last night. The storm had drifted a little south of its predicted trajectory, but we still got hit by the strong winds; they sounded like a bullet train as they rattled the windows and the walls. I read somewhere that three months of rainfall will fall over Japan in just two days. This morning I take a walk to the beach to see how high the sea level is. I am surprised to see so many boats on the fierce waters.

Further down the beach I see houses with their windows boarded up. Thankfully, I see very little damage to anything. Beppu has survived the Super Typhoon and everyone is safe. Life goes on as normal here. Across the road the 24-hour pachinko parlour is packed full of people and cigarette smoke. The light rain all but stops so I wander back to the hostel to grab a bicycle.

I cycle the ten minutes to the Rakutenchi Cable Railway Station. The train here only goes up the mountain to Rakutenchi Amusement Park. The park is closed today because of the typhoon. Oddly, the rest of the trains and buses in Beppu carry on as normal, except at Rakutenchi Cable Railway Station. With the park closed, I decide to go back to Kanawa Hells to finish what I started last week.

On my way to the Hells, I see a road sign for ‘Beppu Univercity’. I find it unbelievable that major road signs can contain such errors. At the Hells of Beppu the sun is shining; not the weather you would expect the day of a Super Typoon. The Foreign Tourist Information Office is closed today; I am not sure if this place offers information to foreign tourists, or information about foreign tourists.

Shiraike Jigoku, White Pond Hell, is the first Hell I visit. I am pleased to find that it is open. I pay my ¥400 entry fee and admire the white pond. The water apparently is, “Transparent but as time passes it turns a blue-white colour.” I have no idea why the sign says this, the pond water is clearly green. Also at White Pond Hell, there is a really old aquarium with just three fish.

Opposite Shiraike Jigoku is a closed red door. The sign next to the door says Hinryu Jigoku, Golden Dragon Hell. Inside this Hell is a, “Dragon statue with steam coming through its mouth that seems to be flying when water spouts out at sunrise.” This is actually the 9th Hell of Beppu; I’m not sure if it’s still open to the public as it’s not on any map. Anyway, I mention it only because I really enjoy the impressibs description on the sign:

The next two Hells I plan to visit today are half way down the mountain and about ten minutes away. I get back on my bicycle and take a very fun bike ride down the winding mountain path, through the many forests and tunnels carved into the mountainside.

Chinoike Jigoku translates to the amusing, ‘Bloody Hell’. Here there is a massive pool of red hot mud estimated to have been here for over 1,300 years. This is Japan’s oldest natural hot spring. It takes its name from the image of hell found in Buddhism. There is also a nice waterfall here. Some colourful Koi Carp fish swim in the pool below.

Carnival Cutouts are found everywhere in Japan. Wooden life-size cutouts where you can put your face through are commonly found at every tourist attraction and randomly placed on the streets for no apparent reason. I can cycle around Beppu for ten minutes with my camera and will easily find ten Carnival Cutouts. Everywhere. After Bloody Hell, I head next door to Tatsumaki Jigoku. It is closed today. I see a sign saying Beppu Station 7.5 kilometres and decide to head back to the hostel for my new favourite food, natto.

Back at the hostel enjoying my natto, a member of staff finds it hilarious that I wrap my fermented soy beans around potato chips. Whatever. After food I head to Beppu Tower. It is one minute from my hostel and I still haven’t been. Beppu Tower was probably once a marvel, but now it is used as an advertising billboard for the brewery Asahi. There are eight neon Asahi signs on the Tower; four in Japanese and four in English. The Tower stands at a Herculean 100 metres tall.

I pay my ¥200 and ride the silent lift to the seventeenth floor. It’s one of those lifts that doesn’t display the current floor number and doesn’t really feel like it’s moving. After about thirty seconds, the doors open, and a Japanese lady at a desk greets me as I hand her my ticket. I begin to wander around.

Inside the Tower there are black and white photographs of crowds of people standing not too far from where I am standing right now. There are photographs of Japanese celebrities. There are pictures of the Tower through the ages. It used to look quite nice when it was first constructed in 1957. Today though, far from the bustling crowds, I am the only person here.

The view from the Tower is good. A full 360 degree panoramic view. The only problems here are that the glass in some of the windows is cracked and broken. Other windows are filthy on the outside and are in desperate need of a clean. Some of the photographs I take just don’t turn out at all; my camera unable to penetrate the thick layers of dirt.

Back at the hostel I book a ¥2100 bus ticket for Sunday to my next stop, Fukuoka. Just when Beppu was starting to grow on me too. I speak to a Korean guy (and fellow avid bicycle enthusiast), he tells me about something amazing that he saw today. It’s only 6 p.m. so I decide to check it out before the sunset. As I cycle down the ocean, I quite like the look of the sky.

My destination is beyond the Monkey Park, some 5.7 kilometres each way. As I cycle, I realise that I haven’t seen any stars yet in the six weeks I have been in Japan. Very odd. Anyway, I finally reach my destination; an old landlocked boat converted into a play park. There are slides, tunnels, ladders, and a climbing frame. There is also a weird rope ladder that leads into the hull below. I am very tempted to go on the slide, but there is a couple on the ship too, seemingly on a romantic date.

After I exploring the abandoned ship, I abandon ship and cycle back to the hostel for the last time tonight. At the hostel, the excitement in Beppu never ends; Justin, a staff member here, has found a crab in the male onsen. Everyone is going crazy about the crab. They finally catch it and take it back to the ocean, where it most likely belongs.

Mostly Calmness

Posted on 04/07/2014 by Luke

I am woken at 4:47 a.m. to an alarm coming from the direction of the ocean. I look out of the window, it is raining hard. I dart out of bed to check a computer. No active tsunami warnings. I have a look outside, the alarm is constant, the rain is heavy, but everywhere else is quiet. No one rushing around. No lights on in houses. No one else in the hostel awake.

I calm down from my initial panic and decide to take advantage of the onsen (hot spring) in the hostel; open 24 hours a day except during cleaning time. Thanks to the volcanic activity in Japan, there are lots of onsens all across the county. Onsen water is believed to have healing powers derived from its mineral content. I get out of the onsen and the alarms finally stop. I go for a nap.

In the hostel lobby I ask a few people what the sirens were all about this morning. Only one other person heard them. “If it was a tsunami warning you would know about it. Those things go on for ages,” he says. I tell him this morning’s sirens went on for at least an hour. He repeats, “Nah, if it was a tsunami warning you would know about it.” Not very helpful at all.

My original plan for today was a two hour bus trip to the top of Mount Aso; Japan’s most active volcano. It turns out though that due to heavy fog, the gate is closed and I wouldn’t have been able to ascend the crater. I decide to skip the volcano and head to Beppu Station. Outside the station there is even an onsen for hands. Beppu is part of Oita Prefecture. Today I take a train to Oita, the capital of the prefecture.

¥280 later and I get off the train and go inside an indoor shopping arcade to shelter from the rain. This huge arcade is packed full of people. There are so many restaurants, so much choice. Usually I spend a long time wandering around trying to find a decent looking restaurant, but here there are plenty I would eat at. I wander down Smile Smile Street, with its restaurants sandwiched between wedding boutiques and pachinko parlours. There is also a random boat in the middle of Smile Smile Street.

As I wander back through the arcade in search of breakfast, I am drawn to a restaurant called ‘Vegetbar’. It is not that the restaurant is vegetarian that draws me to it, but the incredible menu. I have developed something of a sweet tooth since arriving in Japan, yesterday I discovered that supermarkets sell strawberry and cream sandwiches. I notice a big sign in the window of Vegetbar that says, “Pancakes Meet Vegetables.” I go inside and order them not really knowing what to expect.

Waiting for my food, if the anticipation doesn’t kill me then the food just might. A plate comes out and I like what I see. Vegetables have been blended up and added to the pancake mix. The green one was my favourite. Served with the pancakes is raspberry sorbet, whipped cream, and a pile of fresh fruit. After I while I forget that I am eating vegetable pancakes. Meal and a drink, ¥1280.

As I head out of the arcade, I watch a Japanese woman running to give another woman her change. In Japan it is customary not to leave a tip. The service is almost always exceptional; the service cost included in the price. Boarding the train, I realise that today is the first time since Sunday that I have really seen lots of people in one place. I also notice how good my skin feels; the healing power of onsen having the promised effect.

Back at Beppu the rain has stopped. I decide to see what the indoor shopping arcade here looks like during the peak lunch time rush. As you can see in the photograph above, the arcade is full of closed shutter doors and an absence of people. The most interesting thing about Beppu indoor shopping arcade is probably the Boss Coffee vending machine at the entrance. “The boss of them all since 1992.”

I head back to Beppu Station and hop on a bus bound for Kintetsu Beppu Ropeway. The Ropeway starts at 503 metres above sea level and is a cable car that takes you to the top of Mount Tsurumi, 1,300 metres high with excellent views. On a clear day you can see the islands of Shikoku. The bus twists and turns as it climbs up the mountain and eventually arrives at the Ropeway some twenty minutes later.

Closed. The driver of the bus apologises and tells me where to stand for the return bus. I try to pay him the ¥420 for the fare but he refuses to take any money. Even the bus drivers are nice in Japan. I have to wait 25 minutes for a bus back to Beppu. The vending machine outside the closed Ropeway sells ‘Boss Ice Creamy Latte’ in a big can for ¥130. Every cloud. Speaking of clouds, it starts to rain again.

While I sit in the rain waiting for my bus, the cafe across the road is blaring out Japanese pop music. A few cars drive up to the entrance of the Ropeway, the passengers peek at the ‘closed’ sign before turning around and leaving. A wasted journey if not for the view. I take a bus back down the mountain and take in the beautiful scenery.

At the hostel I am surprised to see that working on the reception desk is my old friend Yojiro; the Japanese guy I met a few times in Tokyo. He arrived back here late yesterday evening and is having a party tonight at the Hot Bepper bar. I still haven’t been to this bar yet; it only opens on Friday and Saturday nights. He gives me a token for one free drink. I think about boiled eggs and wonder how real this ‘free’ drink will actually be.

I eat supermarket bought prawn tempura for dinner. Prawn on the Fourth of July. Brilliant. It gets to 6 p.m. and feeling that I’ve already done enough on what has been a very long day, I now have to get ready for a party.

Into the Belly of a Whale

Posted on 25/06/2014 by Luke

I am filming the rain as it slowly sweeps toward me. The rain is just a bit further away on the other side of the road. It’s heavy, two weeks worth of rain all in one go. As it passes through me my umbrella goes up with the flick of a button. Flick. Swoosh. Patter patter. At Tawaramachi Station, I see a member of the hostel staff. He doesn’t have an umbrella. I walk him the five minutes to the hostel holding my umbrella above us both, much to his delight.

On the way back to Tawaramachi Station, the path is already flooded. The thunder sounds like a drum, a big booming drum. It starts from behind me and roars across the sky travelling above me and away into the distance. One fell swoop. I stand for a while watching the lightning over the Sumida River, it dances around Tokyo Skytree, a giant lightning rod on a day like today. I wait with my camera, poised for the shot that never comes. Ten minutes pass and I decide ten minutes is long enough to wait.

I grab the train to Shinagawa, via Nihonbashi for a ¥300 orange and ginger smoothie. Outside Shinagawa Station a thick grey blanket of cloud covers every inch of the sky, casting rain and darkness across the city. Street lights have come on and it’s only 10 a.m. I go to the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. There is a museum here about fishing methods. There is also a big round pond for the turtles to swim around in.

The highlight for me is something you won’t find in a guidebook. A full size skeleton of a western gray whale. There is a sign saying ‘open’ but there is not a sole in sight. I enter the room housing the giant whale skeleton. It is incredible. The way the exhibit has been put together allows you to walk inside its rib cage, into where its stomach would have been. I contemplate spending three days and three nights in the belly, like Jonah, but the smell of the bones is quite potent. Like a rotten seaside smell. I take a few photographs, but the whale is so big, I can’t fit it into a single shot.

I wander around the rest of the university campus. I find it interesting to get a perspective of what it’s like here at a university in Japan. They have tennis courts, surfboards, labs, classrooms, a whale skeleton, boats, dormitories, and an outdoor swimming pool brimming with rainwater. I leave impressed. In Tokyo, every train station has its own theme tune for each train line, and the Tokyu Toyoko Line does not disappoint.

Back at the hostel I think about moving on. A hostel in Beppu claims that: “If you are tired while you are traveling, Beppu is the best place to relex! [sic] Beppu is blessed with abundant nature for trekking, soaking in natural hot springs, or playing in the ocean. You can choose what you want depending on your mood. There are eight different kinds of hot springs, depending on the area you go to.” The hostel having its own hot spring bath making the decision very easy for me, and I book a two week stay.

Outside the rain has just about stopped, so I go to hire a bicycle. Bright green, my favourite. Yesterday I wanted to buy my own bike, I even went to the bike shop. The guy told me I can’t buy a bike unless I have a permanent address. Apparently, to prevent theft, all bicycles in Japan have to be registered to an address and all bicycles are stamped with approval. Each cyclist has a card with their name and address and a number matching the number stamped to the bike. If stopped by the police you can prove the bicycle is yours. If a bike is abandoned the police know who it belongs to and will charge you to have it sent back.

On my bright green hired bicycle I cycle to Ueno. There is an expedition on today at the Tokyo National Museum. It is art work from Taipei and has been big news in Japan for all the wrong reasons. The Japanese billboard advertising the Treasured Masterpieces from the National Palace Museum in Taipei had omitted the word ‘national,’ an act that was perceived by the Taiwanese government as undermining the nation’s dignity. The exhibition was almost cancelled until a last minute correction was made and an apology from Japan was given. Unfortunately, the famous ‘Jadeite Cabbage’ was left back in Taiwan amidst the controversy. I came here solely to see The Cabbage, so perhaps it was a wasted journey. Outside the museum, I eat green tea ice cream while gazing in, saving my ¥1600.

The time is 19:11, so I head to Seven Eleven. I buy Inarizushi (sushi rice wrapped in deep fried tofu). I also buy an egg sandwich, a box of natto, and some hot chilli flavoured Potato Chips, for the natto. At the counter, chopsticks and a mint tipped toothpick are given to me in a handy little bag, complimentary of course. I head to my hiding place on the 4th floor of the hostel and read. The packaging for my sandwich thanks me for eating its contents. I eat natto until I run out of Potato Chips.

I decide to cycle around Asakusa looking for something to do. Outside Senso-ji Temple, I spot a television crew and TV presenter Kazuo Tokumitsu. He is with a female singer who’s name I haven’t yet discovered. She sings a few songs, her voice sweet, her smile sweeter. She thanks a few members of the crowd and then everybody leaves.

Back at the hostel, I plan on an early night. My early night doesn’t quite happen though and somehow I’m in a bar with three guys from the hostel. For some reason, I can still recall the stench of the whales bones. I stay to watch the first half of the Uruguay game, before giving in to slumber at around 2 a.m.

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