|
INSTRUCTIONS:
Click the thumbnails to bring up a separate window with the picture full-sized
Click the day you want to read in the menu on the far right to read that day
Japan Diary Day 1 and 2: Getting There 10-17-2000
OMG I can not believe I overslept! I know I stayed up way too late the night before, finishing things up and saying my goodbyes to my sweeties here on the homefront and my online pals, but I was way too keyed up to sleep anyway. But still, can’t imagine why I didn’t hear the alarm at all and was totally disoriented when shaken awake twenty minutes before I was supposed to be out of the house! Thank God I’m a wash and wear girl and that I was all packed and just about ready to go anyway.
The flight into New York was packed, as usual, but pleasant enough and it was so cool to finally meet Rachel. She was just as bubbly and talkative as she has been online and in phone conversations, and the chemistry was really good. I think we’ll do well as traveling companions. We spent a really nice afternoon, lunching with her mom, wrapping up last minute details on her end and just basically getting to know each other. Got to see her house, which is very cool and comfortable, meet her kitties and her very sweet husband. They’re really cute together, perfect foils for each other.
A nice bonus - I got to get online a bit and send a few emails, chat with some of the sweeties and read my clubs. I didn’t really expect to, but it felt good to have access to those touchstones the night before a journey like this one.
New York style pizza for dinner! I really loved that. Slept amazingly well considering the day ahead and we got off to the airport without a hitch.
Once there everything went like clockwork. Sadly we were unable to upgrade to business class like we’d hoped, but we had an empty seat between us and the flight so far (we’re about half way into the flight at the moment) has been really decent. They’ve kept the food and beverages coming and my meal, a Japanese combination of beef teriyaki, cold soba noodles, cold chicken rolls with pickled plums and rice had to have been the best thing I’d ever eaten on a plane.
My 11th hour decision to bring along a discman and cds has been one of the best thoughts I’ve had. Listened to 3 Doors Down, Joan Osborne then Enya which soothed me into a little nap - something I’d need since we’ll be landing in Tokyo around 1 am Detroit time - 2 pm the (following day) Tokyo time, and we plan to do some shopping, then go out for dinner once we clear customs and check in at the ryokan. The reality of Japan is only now sinking in and I’m so excited to be finally realizing this dream, held close since I was 10 years old.
********
They’ve fed us again, a snack this time, they say. Cheese and crackers, an incredibly good, crisp apple and a small bowl of instant ramen noodles. This small meal is just what the doctor ordered. The smoothness of the cheese, the tart bite of the apple and the soothing warmth of the soup all work together. Perfect.
I got up to stretch my legs and had a look out the window towards the rear of the plane. Below, through a thin blanket of clouds is a vast, barren stretch of land, patched here and there with only a dusting of snow or a patch of ice. We’re about four hours out from Tokyo and the flight attendant tells me it is either Alaska or the Eleutian Islands. Empty as it is, the view of it is beautiful to me. Again, as I have in the past, I marvel at how much totally untouched land is left in the world. It somehow makes me feel very good.
Once on the ground the real fun started. We got through customs and immigration with no problems at all. In a way, I think our poor Japanese skills combined with the incredible politeness of the people here helped us with this. We were briskly shuttled through the two stations that we passed through without even a casual check of our baggage. We made our way, dragging our baggage (note to self - next trip to Japan confine baggage to one SMALL suitcase and a backpack.) behind us through a labyrinth of ramps, walkways and staircases, most of which had no escalator. The place was roughly as crowded as a mall on Christmas Eve, everyone moving quickly, with a real sense of purpose.
We picked up our rail passes and got on the Narita Express - a train bound for downtown Tokyo. This was the cleanest and most comfortable train I’d ever seen. We even had assigned seats. I watched the scenery whiz by, first lush green farmland, then becoming slowly more developed and urban as we hit Chiba, then Tokyo. We transferred to the Yamanote Line, a train that circles Tokyo, that you can use to get just about anywhere in Tokyo you want to go.
A random thought on the train was that everyone looked very tired, more tired than I felt, even after being awake over 24 hours.
Coming out of the tunnel into downtown Tokyo felt like entering another world. One where I was taller than most men, there was no English being spoken and everything looked different. I scoped out a few little businesses to check out; a coffee house, a newstand and a couple of noodle joints. Like in the station, the area is teeming with very busy looking people.
At long last we arrived at our ryokan. This is a traditional Japanese Inn. There are boxes at the door for shoes, and we were politely asked to leave ours there. We quickly checked in and headed to our room. This room bears no resemblance at all to any hotel or motel I’ve ever stayed in. We opened the sliding doors and entered. There are two small futons placed side by side on the tatami mat covered floor a small low table and a cupboard for our gear. The shower is across the hall and the toilets are around the corner. The place is spartan, but immaculate and the futons are incredibly comfortable. We dropped our gear and headed out.
I guess if you are an anime fan the Ikebukuro section of Tokyo, where we are staying, is the place to go. We found a block about a 5 minute walk away that was crammed with anime shops. Two of them were two story affairs, one was basically all manga and the third was an eight story anime lover’s dream come true. They were getting ready to close so we’ll be back, determined to explore every nook and cranny. From there we went to -- where else -- Toys R Us. It was like a mini version of the TRU stores in the US and it was amazing to see so many Jenny things in “the Pink Aisle.” Found a few items, scoped out the Gundam stuff in the Action Figure aisle, grabbed a CC Lemon, a vitamin C drink sorta like a tart 7 7Up and made my first purchase in Japan. We had dinner in a great Italian place that had an interesting array of gelatos to try. Gotta get back there at some point. I really want to try the black sesame seed and squash flavors.
Strange sight of the day - guys on the street passing out little packets of tissue with advertisements printed on the back - which turned out to be ads for porno places. We’ve dubbed them porno kleenex and think they’ll make great souveniers!
Across the street is a giant record store so we headed there to shop and use the Net Cafe to check emails and send some to our loved ones. You can get 30 minutes online for 450 yen (about $4.25). It was a decent way to spend some time and a very reasonable price. The only weird thing was that the keyboard was set up a little differently and one false move and suddenly you were typing in Japanese. Once I figured out how to get back to English I was fine. We will definitely go back there while in Tokyo, since I do not think we even have a plug in our room, let alone a net connection.
Tired and happy we headed back to our room, looked through our booty and crashed. Having been up for about 36 hours with only an unrestful hour of sleep caught here and there on the plane, I was so ready for sleep. The futon is amazingly comfy and I was asleep very quickly.
*******
Japan Diary Day 3: Kamakura
Had a heavy, ambitious day planned today. We planned to be out and running by 8:30, but we were just too tired so we got to the train station at 9. First stop, Tokyo Station. We headed for a major bank there to change money. The young woman who helped me at the bank seemed less than impressed with me, but was pleasant enough, if a little condescending. Now I had a wad of yen and was ready for anything. Next stop, Post Office to buy stamps for the postcards. The guy there was incredibly helpful and amused by my struggles to ask - in Japanese - for 30 postcard stamps for America. I think he had a little fun trying out his English on me too. The Postal system in Japan seems markedly better organized than the ones in the US that I’ve used, and the workers there much pleasanter.
Those errands out of the way, we headed for our train to Kamakura, making a quick stop in the Nescafe Coffee Shop in the station, where I had one of the hottest, most delicious cups of coffee of my life. It fueled me up nicely for the train ride.
In Kamakura we met Lenore. She and I have been very close and tight in our online conversations so meeting her in person finally was an event I looked forward to with excitement and trepidation. My fears were allayed on contact. She and I were two peas in a pod, both sporting a sense of the absurd and an acerbic wit. She was a great guide for the day.
Kamakura is like a little oasis in a very urban world, reminding me a lot of Ann Arbor or Plymouth with its collection of shops, cute houses and tons of greenery all around the area. I loved it there.
Our first stop was the shrine with the giant Buddha statue. There were lovely gardens all around and the statue itself was impressive, made of brass and surrounded by smaller statues of lotus blossoms that looked like they were sculpted during some drug-induced haze - twisted, freaky and beautiful. Back to the Buddha - for 10 yen (about a dime) which you were on your honor to deposit in a box outside, you could go inside. Of course I did. Who wouldn’t want to go inside a brass Buddha? It was cool and dark, lit only by the light coming in through the Buddha’s eyes. Bought a few souveniers here, most of them little charms promising good luck, long life and good health. Mostly I just thought they were lovely.
From there we went to another shrine, famous for its multitude of jizu statues. These are little stone statues that grieving parents buy with a donation to the shrine to commemorate a lost child. It was sad and lovely to see them all. The general setting was green and gorgeous, small buildings nestled among hills and trees. I walked the prayer wheel, thus gaining the wisdom contained in that shrine supposedly, then lit a candle and said a quick prayer for all of my loved ones. Somehow it felt right to be praying in this Shinto temple, very centering. There was a ceremony going on in one of the shrines here, a rite of passage for three year old girls, so we watched a while as the kimono clad cutie and her proud family celebrated this event.
Hungry and ready for less spiritual pursuits we headed to Burger King for a bite. The place was packed with High Schoolers, all dressed in their uniforms. The place was cleaner than any BK I’d ever been in and the food tasted just the same as in the US. It was nice to sit a while too.
From there we hit the shopping street and bought some more goodies, including some cheap emergency umbrellas, since it had begun to rain. The rain didn’t slow us down a bit. We shopped the afternoon away, then drove with Lenore to the Navy base where she teaches school, for dinner. I’d never eaten in an officer’s dining hall before so it was an experience. The food was very American style, I had a burger, decent but unremarkable. We weren’t ready to end the evening so we headed to her place for some conversation and a quick crack at her computer. Her house is cluttered and cozy, I loved it and felt so comfortable in it. She kept apologizing about it, but that house made me love her even more since it was so like my own. Sadly, we had to make a train and the evening ended with a laughter-filled ride back to the station as we talked about all the “mental patients” (Lenore’s endearment for the wingnuts we all know and love) in our lives.
Sweet experience of the day - being asked in broken English by the young guy working in the Totoro store if we knew the lyrics to “You are My Sunshine.” I wrote them down for him and was thanked elaborately for it.
The train ride back was something of a nightmare, it was so crowded. It was rush hour, so the trains were packed. I’d never stood so close to so many strangers in my life. We were literally pressed together in there. One interesting note is that there are actually signs in the trains telling you not to grope other passengers. I guess some of that does go on. It certainly did this day - to me. The young man standing next to me continually let his hand wander where it shouldn’t. At one stop as the car loaded and reloaded I moved to the other side of the train. The guy followed me. Finally I ground my foot down on his and said a sarcastic “sumimasen” (excuse me). He got the message and thankfully both stopped and exited two stops later. Once back in Ikebukuro we dropped our goodies and headed back out, shopping a bit more, using the Net Cafe and generally having fun on the town. It was two tired gaijin (foreigners) who returned to the ryokan to crash.
Japan Diary Day 4: Yokohama
After a quick and delicious breakfast of cafe latte and croissant at the coffee house around the corner we took the train to Yokohama to meet Lenore for more shopping and site seeing. Somehow we attracted the attention of a gang of skateboarding teens who followed us around a bit, saying “Ojosan, what you name?” in a flirting manner. It seemed to bother Rachel and Lenore, who seem not to like teens too much, but I was vastly amused by it. This city is a shopper’s paradise and is also crammed with American food chains. The set up is all of these establishments centered around and radiating from a central square. I loved the look and feel of the place. We literally pillaged. I had the most fun at Volks, buying doll bodies, eye decals, shoes, a nun costume I could not resist and dollie tattoos. I’ve loved the Volks stuff as long as I’ve been collecting and this store had me in rapture. We lunched at TGIFridays - decent, but unexciting. Unbelievably, though there were two Starbucks in Yokohama, we did not hit either one. More unbelievable still, I did not miss it.
Lenore left us, taking a huge portion of my purchases to ship home as my gift for visiting her. No gift was more gratefully received. I was sad to see her go and look forward to meeting her again some day. She’s terrific. Rachel and I went into the monolithic department store, Sogo, to use the restroom and get a gelato before heading back to our ryokan. I have to say that my sweet potato gelato was one of the best things I’d ever eaten. The trip back was uneventful and somewhat less crowded than the night before. We got to sit nearly the entire trip (about an hour) and I found myself sleeping between stops, like the Japanese do. Once back we did the Net Cafe thing again, got a drink and went home to pack and crash. We had a big day tomorrow.
Wonderful site of the day - the “square” in downtown Yokohama. It had a definite Times Square look and feel, complete with giant TV screen, only cleaner and much less seedy than the real Times Square.
Japan Diary Day 5: Doll Show 5 and Shinkansen
We got up early and checked out of the ryokan. Today we were on the road. We took a train to Tokyo station, stowed our luggage in a locker there and got a quick coffee and roll before taking another train to Doll Show 5, a major show. We got there very early and waited in the cool morning air, people watching and talking excitedly about what we hoped to find. They passed out maps of the showroom floor and we were able to make our battle plan. Once inside I rushed to the tables I most wanted to see. This doll show was unlike most American shows. There were very few boxed dolls, except at the Takara and Totoco tables and there were a lot of artist outfits, most of them quite reasonable. I got to meet Kaori and Kyon, who I adored. They were thrilled with my small gift of Peace Bears and I was lucky enough to snag two Kaori outfits. This table sold out almost immediately. Kyon and I discussed the doll she would be making for me and just got to know each other. It was great. I ran into another friend there, Miyako Iijima and we made plans for dinner in Tokyo later in the trip. Both Rachel and I made some thrilling purchases. Happy and tired, we went back to Tokyo station, grabbed our luggage and boarded the Shinkansen for Hiroshima. A five hour trip on a very fast (285 km/hr), very smooth train.
I made a decision on that train to dump a good portion of my stuff. I was just so tired of hauling it around. I’d ship it home from Hiroshima. I’ve learned a lot on this trip, one thing being that you have to travel VERY light in Japan. There are few escalators and everything is crowded and narrow. Hauling a large and heavy bag is a nightmare and I got so many nasty looks from Japanese at the “baka gaijin” (stupid foreigner) on top of the hassle of hauling the stuff.
A little side note here - I think I’ve slept more on this trip then I ever do at home and my face is showing it. I look rested and am feeling very good. I had no jet lag to speak of, or difficulty with the time change. Some of this has to be my late nights at home, staying up til dawn the last week or so and adjusting my inner clock. Whatever it is, I’m grateful. I’ve also noticed that my clothes are fitting a little baggier. The huge amounts of walking and light meals, I suppose. I’ll take it!
Most appreciated item of the day - the lockers at Tokyo Station - it was great not to have to haul stuff around all day and they are clean, safe and inexpensive.
Japan Diary Day 6: Hiroshima
Arrived in late evening and took a cab - a big splurge for us, but we were tired and sick of hauling baggage. It only amounted to about $8 so it wasn’t an outrageous thing. We arrived at the very luxurious ANA Hotel in about 10 minutes. A note on Japanese cabs - they are immaculate, with white seat covers and the drivers wear white gloves and uniforms. The passenger door opens and closes automatically. Anyway, back to the hotel. It was about as far removed as possible from the ryokan, very western and very deluxe. Funny though, I liked the futon at the ryokan much more. However the bathroom with its fancy toilet, heated unfogging mirror and many amenities was lovely. We were both exhausted and crashed quite quickly.
Most unpleasantly/weirdly funny experience of the day - at the train station enroute to Hiroshima on an escalator, realizing that I was about to lose either of my bags on the escalator or fall down myself. I let the smallest of them go, and yelled for Rachel to look out as it fell. She yelled out “Sumimasen” to the man ahead of her. The man was not hit, but when the bag hit the bottom, near where he was getting off the escalator, he gave us the nastiest look then KICKED MY BAG! Not to get it out of the way, but rather out of annoyance. There was nothing to do but laugh. And thinking back, it is much funnier now than it was at the time.
Met Yuka for a day of fun touring Hiroshima. It was a happy and teary thing for both of us and Rachel insisted on taking a picture of us, tearful and hugging. After that sweet indignity we took a cab to the train station and caught a train for Miyajima Island. We picked up sandwiches and pastries at a bakery Yuka recommended, because the food would be crummy and expensive on the island, she said. Waiting for the ferry to the island we ran into a group of school children who were heading to the island for a field trip. They were quite taken with us, apparently, and began a little game of tapping us on the back. Little by little they worked up the nerve to actually talk to us, asking questions in mixed Japanese and English. We answered them the same way. They found us quite funny and followed us around with calls of “gaijin-san” for a good while.
This island is beautiful and at first reminded me a lot of Mackinac Island, only Japanese style and with cars. It definitely has its share of touristy shops. The main item that seems everywhere is a freshly made filled pastry, shaped like a maple leaf and filled with things like red beans, chocolate, custard or cheese. The surrounding area smells lovely, perfumed by these baking pastries. We bought some and they are delicious.
The island is populated with many tiny deer, which roam freely about, harassing the tourists aggressively and begging for food. One grabbed Yuka’s map and would not let go, determined to eat it. Yuka and I somehow wrestled it away. It had to be a hilarious sight. Those deer are like pigeons would be in any city. We even saw one trying to get something out of a school girl’s coat pocket.
Anyway the island is stunningly lovely, green and mountainous . It was raining that day and the scent of the wet earth and greenery was wonderful. We visited the shrine there and then took the tram up the mountain to see the monkeys. Sadly, they’d gone off to the forest to eat, so said the sign. It didn’t much matter to us since the tram ride was stunningly beautiful, the trees just beginning to change color and the mist cloaking the mountain. Had my first run in with a squat toilet - ew, really unpleasant set-up. It was a wonderful day, hiking around the island, maybe the best one I’ve spent in Japan.
On the ferry ride back we ate our sandwiches, laughed and talked, then we rushed for our train back to Hiroshima. Once there we headed to Yuka’s very cute apartment, visited with her, her mom and the kids before going out to Toys R Us to shop a bit. Rachel found a bunch of things and I found a few too. We hurried back to make our dinner reservations and meet Nick. I had said I’d like to eat Japanese, but nothing prepared me for what awaited us. The restaurant was at the top of a giant, gorgeous department store. After removing our shoes we were lead to a private room with a low Japanese style table and chairs. The table was set with some tiny appetizers at each place, crab and asparagus tofu-wrapped sushi and a tiny molded soft tofu cube topped with sweet white miso paste. They were amazing. We were served sweet plum wine in tiny glasses and green tea and told there were more appetizers in the little cabinets in front of us. Each cabinet held three ceramic drawers. Each drawer held an assortment of beautiful appetizers. It appeared that this restaurant specialized in tofu dishes and they make it in-house. This tofu is unlike any I’ve ever eaten, silky and delicate. I had no idea what most of the things I was eating were, but every bite was better than the last. In all there were ten small courses, clear miso soup, a delicate fried puff made of tofu and ground fish, sweet glazed rice scallops with spring onion, seasoned tofu skin with a special sauce and lime that we made ourselves at the table, a second custardy soup with bits of crab and vegetables in it, rice and Japanese pickles, a cold sweet/sour seaweed dish, too many to remember and all of them delicious. I loved them all. The final course was a sweet red bean pudding and roasted rice tea. I was totally blissed out from the meal and the wonderful company, Nick being his usual laughing, charming self, the kids adorable and affectionate, Yuka sweet and funny and her mom patiently explaining the origin and preparation of each dish. After dinner we said our goodbyes to Nick, Mom and the kids, who took a cab home and Yuka drove us back to the hotel on a scenic circuitous route through Hiroshima, past Hiroshima Castle and the Peace Park, pointing out points of interest, including some Yakuza hanging out in suits and shades (yes it was night time) with their cell phones. Back at the hotel we shared tearful goodbyes and promised to write soon, send pictures and visit again.
Stomachs full and very happy we chilled out watching Japanese TV then crashed, knowing we had a big day tomorrow.
Happiest experience of the trip so far, seeing the Nakamuras, spending time with them.
Japan Diary Day 7: Hiroshima, Part 2
Slept later than we had all trip, till around 9:20. We were up and running in no time, taking things to the post office to ship home was top of the agenda. The lady at the post office was incredibly patient and helpful, even giving me a free box. It was nice to get things out and I can only hope and pray that the two boxes I shipped out surface will arrive safely and quickly. The lady said about a month.
From there we walked over to a pastry shop Yuka recommended for breakfast. I had some sort of breakfast bread with hardboiled egg, ham, cheese and pickle on it (sounds weird, but it was great) and a most excellent latte and picked up a few other things to snack on on the train to Kyoto later. It was a pleasant interlude and they had a western toilet there so I was a happy camper.
It turned out to be a lovely day in Hiroshima which was kind of surprising since it had rained so much the day before. It was a perfect day for visiting the Peace Park. This was one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking experiences in my life. The park is a glittering green gem in the middle of a very urban setting. There is a flame burning in a monument that will remain burning as long as there are nuclear weapons on earth. We saw a shaggy young man playing a beat up guitar and singing war protest songs by the water side. I think the most wrenching thing to see was the A-bomb dome. It is a building left standing after the blast, it is mostly rubble, the framework of it’s metal dome is twisted and misshapen from the heat of the blast. Standing there looking overwhelmed me and I shed a few tears, both for the devastation and the victims of the blast and also because for the first time in Japan I felt a little homesick. Rachel was a doll, not making fun, just comforting me. We had some green tea ice cream and left the park, checking out the Sogo department store on the way back to the hotel.
We had a train for Kyoto to catch. We rode the Shinkansen again to Kyoto and arrived there in time to get in a little sight seeing and shopping once we were checked in to the hotel. Since it was really too late for temples, we took a leisurely walk through the downtown area, stopping when we saw a shop we fancied, including one really good record store. Funny thing though - in Japan the records aren’t organized in any coherent fashion, making finding a particular one on the difficult side. Artists are filed by first name, not last, meaning Elton John would be with the Es. Rachel’s theory is that they are filed by the Japanese pronunciation, which sorta makes sense. Anyway, I did manage to find and buy one that I was looking for. We ended the evening at a Net cafe called Aspirin and I needed one after we left. The place was smoky, funky, punky and cool, but very loud. Still it was nice to get online and find out what was going on at home. We made our way home after that and watched a silly Japanese game show on TV then slept, me fitfully since the bed was too soft and I had strange dreams all night.
Most delicious taste of the day - most excellent jack-o-lantern pumpkin filled cookies from a famous Japanese pastry shop. Worst experience, being called ugly in Japanese by some very snotty and overly made up high school girls in an elevator. They had no idea I could understand, obviously, but it was the rudest treatment I’d had in Japan. Most astonishing sight of the day - a businessman in a suit, riding a bike down a busy thoroughfare and talking on a cell phone.
Japan Diary Day 8: Kyoto
Spent a day of total whimsy visiting the Toei Studio where they film many samurai dramas and some anime. It was a lot like a downscaled version of the Universal Studios tour. We walked around on Edo style village sets, saw a cheesy funny Ninja show, where one of the stars stopped the action to talk to the two gaijin in the front row, shake their hands and let them take his picture, before resuming the show. Everyone laughed at us and made remarks to the effect of that we were cute. It was fun. We toured the studio for the better part of the day. At one point while waiting for Rachel as she took pictures of her favorite samurai drama, I was stopped and interviewed but a high school girl there on a field trip. She asked me questions about where I lived, what I thought about Japan and what sights I’d seen there. I signed her book and we had our pictures taken together with my camera and hers. It was one of the sweetest experiences of my trip. We rode a motion simulator ride called A Night in Dracula’s Castle which was creepy and fun and one of the better motion simulators I’d been in.
Then we headed to Kyoto Station for lunch in the food court and a bit of fun at the Sega Joyopolis. I’d never seen anything like it. All the games were very new and high-tech, noisy and bright. I didn’t really play anything, it was just a blast to look at them all.
We stopped for a quick drink and suddenly I felt very, very tired; more tired than I’d been on the trip so far. We headed back to the hotel to pick up our baggage then took a cab back to the station for the long trip up to Fukui and Helene’s place.
On the train I was determined to catch a few z’s which was no small feat since our car was filled with noisy, elderly Japanese who were part of an N-Tour group. Aside from one business man using a laptop we were the only people not part of the group. This was one rude group of people, blocking the aisles as we were trying to get to our seats and smelling up the car - a horrible combination of beer, urine, cow manure, sushi and soy sauce. I hope never to have such an experience again. Thankfully, I had my trusty discman and I put on headphones and cranked it loud, zoned and finally crashed for the better part of the hour and a half trip.
We were met at the station by Helene and her very sweet, very handsome husband, Masahiro, in a tiny car. We managed to squeeze in with all our baggage and once again I was thrilled to have jettisoned some. The trip to their house was brief and pleasant. I’d been online friends with Helene for a good while and meeting her in person finally was wonderful. She was even sweeter than I imagined. However she was just getting sick and that made me feel sad for her.
Their house was newer and quite large by Japanese standards. A two story affair, with a bedroom and computer room upstairs, toilet, bathroom, kitchen/sitting room and tatami sunroom down. We had futons to set up in the tatami room for sleeping, but when we came in there was a small table and seats set up there. This table was a remarkable invention called a kotetsu. There is a quilt spread on the floor topped by a low table in two pieces, the bottom piece is heated, then topped by another comforter that drapes over the sides. There is a table top on top of that. You sit at the table, under the quilt on low, backrest type seats. It is cozy and warm and I imagine that it would be quite lovely in winter since there really is not central heating as we know it in Japan. We had a lovely dinner of Japanese curry prepared by Masahiro at the kotetsu, a tour of the house and a look at Helene’s doll collection. We went to bed on very comfortable futons and looked forward to the day ahead.
Japan Diary Day 9: Fukui
The next day Helene was feeling worse and Rachel and I were in no great need of a heavy touring day so we decided to stay close to the house and deroot dolls, and just talk. Helene went to the doctor then we went out to a few toy stores and picked up some bentos for lunch. We took turns on the computer, derooted doll heads and generally relaxed. Later that day we went to an odd fabric store that looked like the majority of their stock was from the 60s and 70s, complete with some filthy and frighteningly beat up mannequins. We did a little shopping around Fukui, which is a very nice city, more low key than the others I’d been in in Japan. We had dinner in a very nice little restaurant that specialized in ton katsu, a dish of breaded pork cutlets on rice, most often served with a cabbage salad. This version was exquisite, very thin, crisp and tender and faintly perfumed with cinnamon. It came with a delicious bowl of miso soup and green tea. I relished every bite. We stopped at a bookstore on the way home and I picked up a Figure Ou magazine to pour over. I had a great time talking with Masahiro about anime. It turned out he was a huge fan like I am and loved some of my favorites. He played some music by Yoko Kanno, who did the music in Escaflowne and directed me to a website to hear more. I loved finding this common ground and getting to know him. We did a little laundry, an unexpected luxury, and got our things together a bit. All too soon it was time to say goodnight. We hit the futons, knowing we had a big train trip the next day.
Amazing sight of the day - one of the workers at the restaurant running ahead of our car for a block and a half, leading us to a parking garage. That is above and beyond service!
Japan Diary Day 10: The Road to Ishige-san's
I was up early, so I got online a bit, reading and responding to emails, sending out a bit of my diary and some pictures to Rachel’s hubby. It was nice. I even got to chat with a couple of online friends. That felt great since I was feeling a little homesick.
Once we were all together we went on a few errands with Helene, finishing with a quick trip to a department store to check out the toy section and pick up stuff to eat on the train. We’d be traveling over seven hours on three different trains. I got a tuna sandwich, some sort of raising bread and a curry donut. I had to. I will never see such a thing in the US. It was just like a jelly donut, only filled with Japanese curry. When I took that first curious and slightly nervous bite on the train I was pleasantly surprised. It was delicious, though a visual exploration of the filling was daunting and unappetizing . The first leg of the trip was not great. We did not have reserved seating and the car was packed. I never made it past the entrance - connecting the two cars. There was simply no way I could get in any further. I leaned, my luggage balanced between my body and the outer wall of the car, and slept on my feet, between a handsome young Japanese student and a cheery old man, sipping happily on a beer and breaking wind about every five minutes. I actually felt in that hour and a half that I was becoming Japanese a little bit. I’d dozed on trains between stops before, but never on my feet. It was great.
The next leg of the trip was on the Shinkansen in comfortable reserved seats with plenty of legroom. Much better. I looked out the window for the bulk of the time, enjoying the look at the Japanese countryside. The cities in Japan are dirty from polution and the architecture is functional but unattractive. However the countryside is gorgeous, mountainous and green with both conifers and deciduous trees. The leaves are just now starting to turn colors and I enjoyed the sites immensely.
The last leg of the trip was on a crowded smaller train and I was happy to finally arrive in Iioka. Ishige-san met us there in a very comfortable van and took us to his home. Once there we had a relaxing cup of green tea and some snacks with his wife and daughter-in-law, Mayumi. The conversation was filled with laughter. It was very obvious that this was a happy home, filled with people who smile often and love to laugh. Rachel took some ribbing about an article of clothing (purple panties) she left behind (found in the kotetsu of all places!) on her last visit with cheerful grace and a grand time was had by all before we retired. We’d be leaving for Licca’s Castle in the morning.
to be continued