Nakasendo trail to Tsumago

This morning we caught a train to Nakatsugawa then bus to Magome, then walked along part of the old trail that was one of the main communication lines between Kyoto and the new centre of power in Edo. We sent our bags onto Tsumago and walked with day packs. Another beautiful day, and perfect for walking.

Starting our walk in Magome, we were welcomed by groups of high school kids who were practising their English and pointing out features of the town.

They were lovely kids and a really nice start to the walk. It made up in part for the steepness, as the trail climbs out of Magome and up over the Magome Pass. Once out of the town, the trail passes through a mix of forest and little villages, quite similar to bits of the Camino in places. There are signs warning of bears, and bells at regular intervals with signs encouraging you to ring loudly, perhaps to let the bears know that dinner is coming. But we made it uneaten over the pass, and down to a lovely tea house which really felt like it was out of a time past. It had a fire pit with a big blackened kettle, and a lovely older gentleman who kept making and pouring cups of tea for walkers who struggled in to sit at the long tables inside.

The walk was very beautiful, through bamboo, or pine, or autumn forest, often with the sound of running water and a wonderful freshness in the air.  Magnificent views, shrines, quaint houses, bear bells, flowers, water wheels, enough but not too many walkers heading in the opposite direction to practice saying 'conichi-wa' to - the walk had it all. Shintaro and Tombe the Mist felt not too far away along there.

We got to Tsumago after dawdling along, some 4 hours to walk about 8 kilometres, and had some lunch and a very welcome beer before retrieving our bags and heading to our Ryokan. After a bath in the Hiroki bath 'made from the famous scented Miso valley Cypress wood' and a bit of sitting in our room contemplating the splendid view from our windows, we headed down for what we agreed was our best Japanese meal ever. The Ryokan has been in the same family for over 100 years, the inn keeper speaks fluent Italian, Spanish and English, his wife is a brilliant chef, and they went out of their way to be friendly and to make sure everyone felt welcome and special. A great place - Fujioto

Inn in Tsumago gets our five star award.

 

Today we were given two gift wrapped chestnuts by a nice American couple, two mandarins by a nice Japanese couple, and two twisty sort of things by a young Japanese boy at one of the rest stops. Whether it is some version of the custom of Omiyage - the giving of small gifts - or just people practising random acts of kindness, it is extremely nice,  and something to carry away with us. We feel very grateful to have had such a magnificent day.

 

 



Matsumoto Black Crow Castle

This morning was another beautiful day and we headed off early for the short walk to Matsumoto Castle. Matsumoto is so compact we did not need to take the "Sneaker Bus" - another one of those great, rather odd Japanese English names. It is a lovely city with lots of interesting little streets heading off and a view to the mountains whichever way you look. On arrival at the Castle, we were lucky to be offered a tour by one of the 'Goodwill Volunteer Tourist guides'. Shoji was a knowledgeable and affable guide, who patiently showed us around the castle, pointing out features we almost certainly have missed. Extraordinarily kindness, which we appreciated. Thankyou Shoji.

The castle is largely intact and as built in 1595. It was lucky that it was constructed at the end of the Sengoku Warring States period, so it never saw action, and its special room for the lord of the castle to commit ritual suicide if things went badly has never been used for its designed purpose. Nice of the designers to cover all possibilities though. The most used part of the castle proved to be a later addition, the 'Moon viewing platform' constructed with open windows overlooking the moat, and designed as a good spot for the Samurai to drink sake. And very nice it must have been too.

We wandered back along lovely Naware Street that winds along beside the river with lots of little shops and cafés. We sampled the 'taiyaki' - a local delicacy, essentially a waffle but in the shape of a carp and available with a variety of fillings. We can recommend the apple and cinnamon.

Castle visiting builds the appetite, so we stopped off for lunch in a little restaurant which had a granny sitting at one of the two tables outside, contentedly hoeing into a big bowl of noodles. We figured that was local knowledge, so we sat at the other table. Lunch was good but our castle guide made a reference to 'horse beef' during the tour. We weren't sure if this was a lost in translation thing, but we looked at the bits of beef that came with lunch with some suspicion.

On the way back to our hotel, I saw out of the corner of my eye a lady pointing her camera in our direction. I assumed she wanted to photograph the building behind us, and began to move out of the way, but no, she wanted to photograph us. Funny to have the tables turned. So we posed and smiled, and wondered what on earth she would say when she showed this one to her friends or family. "And here are these two funny gaijin ....'

Back at the hotel we embarked on the adventure of using the hotel washing machines. Detailed instructions for using the drier, but for the washing machine the only assistance was a picture of the character on the ON button. Anne punched a few other buttons, hoping that we would get cold wash. What we didnget was long wash, as tone machine was still going hours later. But eventually it released our wash and we now have nice clean everything.

For dinner we hit a very trendy yakatori bar over the road. The food was very nice though some of the items we got bore little if any resemblance to what we thought we'd ordered. But it was all good, and pretty reasonable price wise. To round out the day we walked back up to the castle, which a nice man in one of the shops we visited today told us would be lit up tonight. And so it was, a grand sight and a nice end to a very pleasant say in Matsumoto, a city I'd recommend everyone should put on their must visit list.

Nikko to Matsumoto

Today was mostly a travel day, with four different trains to get us here to Matsumoto. We had another super breakfast at the hotel before heading off through the drizzle across to the station. The weather gods were certainly kind to us for our stay in Nikko.

Japanese trains continue to amaze me. They are super clean, run perfectly on time, and the whole infrastructure is well organized that you can plan a trip across 4 separate train lines, with connections 10 minutes apart, and be confident that it will all work smoothly. There is the excitement when the sleek shinkansen slides in, and stops precisely so the door is aligned perfectly with the lines on the platform.  Plus there is often good human entertainment. On our first leg, three teenage girls with large wheeley cases got on and sat opposite us. A Japanese granny got on shortly after and sat next to them. As the train began to move, all three promptly fell asleep. With the movement of the train, the wheeley cases started rolling off down the carriage, and would have continued, had not granny firmly stopped them with her walking stick. She let the  girls sleep on, and sat calmly with her stick stopping the cases from rolling away. A bit later another teenage girl gave us an origami stork and an inedible sweet each, which was a very kind gesture which we appreciated. At our next stop, a young mum with a tiny baby in a sling stood next to us as we queued for our Shinkansen. With the universal language of mothers, she was soon showing off the baby's teeth to Anne, and all was going well till the baby locked gaze with me and started to cry. I do have that effect on people.

At Nagano, there was a splendid train opposite ours. Everything extra shiny, an attractive restaurant car and staff in extra snappy uniforms with extra white gloves. Enviously we watched that one sail away as we sat eating our "Iki Bens" - the bento boxes you can get on railway platforms.

Not that our lunch wasn't nice or that our train when we got onto it wasn't pleasant. And the views of the mountains on the last leg were almost too scenic to be true.  So, tired but happy we arrived at Matsumoto, and a short walk to our hotel.

I needed to get some cash from a post office ATM, and on the way back I passed a sight which seems to me quintessentially Japanese. An elderly Japanese lady was carefully taking a photo of an autumn leaf on a tree near the post office with a mobile phone camera. I know I am generalizing wildly, but I suspect that most seniors of her vintage in Australia would not know how to take a photo on their mobile, if indeed they had a mobile with a camera, and they would not have that sort of fascinated interest in a leaf turning its autumn colours. It was a lovely sight though. Good for her. I hope she wouldn't mind that I furtively took her photo as I walked past.

For dinner we went to a little restaurant that felt like it came straight out of a Shintaro  the Samurai episode. It was run by an older Japanese couple.  They were so hard working - a real struggle for Mrs to get up the stairs, and Mr literally ran serving the tables. I saw him out the window flying off down the street on his bicycle, and returning a few minutes later with a plastic bag of something. A lovely meal and very reasonably priced. Matsumoto looks like a nice city, not too big but lively - we are looking forward to exploring both its famous 'Black Crow' castle and some of its streets tomorrow.

Lake Chuzenji

After a fantastic breakfast in the hotel we sauntered across the road to join the queue for the bus to Lake Chuzenji, about an hour away up higher in the mountains. We've learned to arrive well before scheduled departure times as long queues form for scarce resources like buses. Lucky we did as the bus was packed. Luckily lots of people got off before the bus started its climb up via an impressive series of switch backs. There is one road for going up and another for going down, a good arrangement which allows for slow vehicle overtaking and removes anxiety about head-one.

The mountains are beginning to get their autumn colours and the higher you go the more colour. The town of Chuzenji Onsen is a popular resort and holiday destination, with lots of daggy attractions. I tried to get Anne to go out on the lake in one of the swan paddle boats but she declined.

So instead I wistfully watched them gliding like mini mutant viking boats across the lake while we enjoyed our morning coffee and cake set, on a real terrace this time.

There is a lovely path that runs for a few kilometres beside the lake, up to what is left of a boat house and fishing lodge which was a resort for wealthy 19th century chaps. The combination of cool air, bright sunshine, sparkling water and autumn coloured trees made it one of the bet walks ever. The few people we met looked really happy.

 

 

On the way back we visited the Futarasan Shrine, a lovely peaceful place, then had a very Japanese lunch in a restaurant overlooking the lake. Continuing on to the bus stop we passed what must be a special rock, as it has its own fenced off plot.

 

 



There was a lengthy queue when we got to the bus station, but two buses came in quick succession, and we got good seats on the second. After a spectacular descent around 48 switchback corners, we were deposited back in Nikko.  A quiet evening and another pleasant dinner, and another very satisfactory day. We will be sorry to leave Nikko tomorrow, but we know that there are many wonderful places ahead.

Nikko

I discovered this morning that I am not as clever as I thought - funny how I keep discovering that. When I went to look for our reserve tickets from Ueno to Utsonomiya, they were nowhere to be found. I realised that I had torn off one more page than I should have when getting tickets yesterday. Not a big deal, after breakfast we went to the JR ticket office in Nippori station and got them, but a good reminder to check things well in advance. We spent rather too long at Ueno station and seriously underestimated the time needed to get from the local JR station down to the Shinkansen platforms. A bot of a dash and we got jumped onto the train with only seconds to spare. Luckily it turned out to be our train as we didn't have time to check. 

It is a lovely train ride up to Nikko, with splendid mountains getting ever closer, as the train glides through rice fields and woods. And JR Nikko station is a splendid destination. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright according to my guide book, it has a fine symmetrical old world charm. There was yet another group of Japanese seniors out sketching and painting the building. This seems to be a popular senior's pastime in Japan.

After dropping off our bags we headed off up to explore the Nikko Sannai area, stopping for a delicious lunch of 'omurice with white sauce'  - sort of like an omelette over a mound of rice with a tasty sauce and some green vegetables - in a nice little bar along the way.

We visited the Toshogu shrine, which has marvellous carved and painted figures. Our favourite was the elephants on one of the sacred store houses before the main shrine. It is said that the artist had not actually seen an elephant, but that did not prevent him from doing an absolutely brilliant job.

There was at least one cultural event happening or about to happen at the Shrine. The place was packed with school children, workmen erecting stands, people with dogs, elaborate bonsai plants, and numbers of Japanese tour groups. The shrine itself is at the top of a fair old climb, and then there are some 206 steep stone steps up to Ieyasu's tomb, which Anne, not being overly fond of stairs, had specifically indicated we should skip. But by some appalling mismanagement  and poor navigation on my part, we found ourselves on those very stairs. What else to do but push on to the top?

All in all, we were glad to escape the Toshogu shrine without collapsing or being trampled by a group of energetic school children. We headed on over to the Rinnoji temple nearby, which is less celebrated and much more peaceful. But also with lots of stairs. It was definitely time to call it a day, and by good fortune a bus appeared, which dropped us back at Nikko Station close to our hotel.

Feeling a bit weary we dined at a restaurant in the hotel named, somewhat ambitiously, 'The Terrace'. As the venue is a room totally enclosed within the hotel, totally lacking any sight of the outside world, and equally devoid of ambience, the name is a bit of a stretch, but the service was nice, the food good, so we were pleased with our choice. After dinner we went for a stroll up to the convenience store up the hill. We felt cold for he first time since we arrived in Japan. On the way back, there was what looked like a ballet class on in the upstairs room of the JR Station building, a lovely sight through the brightly lit windows, and a nice end to the day.

Nippori

A good night's sleep in the luxury of an actual bed. The joy of being able to stretch and lie flat! We thought we'd give the restaurant downstairs a try for breakfast, which proved to be a little more challenging than we anticipated. The staff asked if we were staying in the hotel. As hotel guests we were entitled to a special offer, saving about 100 yen each, but we had to pay upstairs in the hotel and bring the coupons back. Which was a bit hard to communicate without a shared language. (we will make sure to always bring our phone along when we go out - Google translate is a wonderful thing for resolving issues like this one). But Anne figured out what they were telling us, and got the coupons, we got a lovely breakfast, saved 200yen, and everyone was happy in the end.

We walked over to Ueno park via the Yanaka cemetery, visiting the Tennoji temple, which was extraordinarily peaceful and beautiful in the autumn morning sunlight. We were the only people there.  After absorbing some of the place's magic stillness, we headed back on our way.

The roadway through the cemetery has little houses and shops, and is a major pedestrian and cyclist thoroughfare. All manner of people ride bikes here - and so far not a single person in Lycra. I particularly like the two child bikes. They have a bike seat for junior in the front between the handlebars, and a seat behind for big brother or sister. Many have electric assist, and you see dainty Japanese mums with two children on board sailing along in a stately fashion.

As we entered Ueno park there was a group of about 20 seniors out sitting on stools, all earnestly drawing one of the fine 19th century buildings that have survived in this area.  At the other end of the age spectrum, the fine weather had brought out groups from local kindergartens, and there were lots of tiny little kids out enjoying the sun.

After a couple of happy hours exploring some of the shrines and temples in he park, we headed onto Ueno station. We visited the JR ticket office there, armed with a printout from Hyperdia of all our planned train trips for the next 20 days that require reservations. The young lady who served us was super fast, super careful, and totally patient.  To celebrate getting our reservations, we had lunch in a nice japanese restaurant. Luckily the menus mostly have pretty clear photos, so pointing and saying "two of this please" in Japanese seems to work ok. Gets more complicated if we want different things - we are still working on that. After lunch we visited the National Museum of Western Art. A number of its galleries were closed for some reason, which was probably no bad thing as we were beginning to flag a little. Well worth a visit though.

We caught the train back and had afternoon tea watching the people streaming home or heading into Nippori station. Then a nap, and some dinner in a nearby restaurant, then another walk through Yanaka shopping district. Very different vibe a few hours later than yesterday. Much quieter, and the cats are less standoffish as their audience has moved on.

This fellow was almost friendly and accepted a pat when the door was opened.

Tomorrow bright and early we are off to Nikko. It is higher there so it should be cooler.

Monday 12 October. Travel to Tokyo

 Monday 12 October ... to Nippori Tokyo

A midnight flight and an uncomfortable night had us touching down at Narita at 7.50 am Japan time. After collecting bags clearing immigration and customs, walking the kilometre from terminal 3 to 2, getting money from an ATM, trading in our JR pass vouchers for the real thing and getting tickets for the NEX - the JR express train that connects to Tokyo - we were sitting on the train watching some rural Japan whiz by under an hour later. After a line change and a bit of jet lag induced blundering around we got to Nippori by 10.30. The Japanese systems are impressively efficient.

We spent a bit of time at the station trying to get our phones to show us where the hotel was. Luckily Anne looked up and there was a huge sign for the hotel directly opposite. A lovely Autumn day here, with lots of people enjoying the sun. Last time I was here was in the middle od a blizzard. Lovely to see it green and bright with colour. We had lunch then caught up on some sleep. The room though was incredibly hot and turning on the aircon made no difference. We raised this with the nice lady at reception. With the aid of Google translate she told us that the aircon is not turned on at this time of year so open the window, which we have done, and it is much cooler but noisier.
After a hot afternoon nap we headed off to explore some of Nippori. We wandered down the Nishiguchi shopping street to the North west of the station. A very nice, relaxed vibe, with lots of families out enjoying the early evening. The street is celebrated for its cats, and there are both lots of representations of cats, shops selling cat kitsch, and even a few actual cats, who were like celebrities. Each cat had its own gaggle of people with cameras, paparazzi, which the cats seemed to accept as their due. Lots of clothes shops as Nippori is a fabric district, and Anne had a great time in the little stalls.

We had dinner in a restaurant on the second floor of an anonymous looking building near the station. It was sort of western Italian Japanese fusion food, and despite its out of the way location it was packed and jumping. We got a table, selected what we wanted then waited, smiling hopefully at the young waiting staff bustling by, but to no avail. Was it us? Had we committed some awful unknown cultural faux pas and were doomed to be ignored? At last the nice older Japanese couple at an adjacent table pointed out a green button located in a green plastic holder on the table. One press and a waiter appeared as if by magic to take our order. A great system and easy when you know how. Dinner was delicious and cheap too by Melbourne standards. 

So tired but happy we are looking forward to a good night's sleep in a real bed.