A Year in Japan

December 2002

On a midweek day off in early December, I headed to Tokyo for the day. There was an electrical fault somewhere down the line and for the first time ever in Japan, my train was late; 45 minutes late on a 70 minute journey. By the time I reached Tokyo it was drizzling and I had not bothered with a coat or umbrella. I caught a train to the Komagome district to check out the Rikugien Gardens, a `Special Historical Sight`.

They are Tokyo`s best surviving example of a classical Edo period `stroll garden`, constructed in 1695 over several years. A pond was dug on a level plateau and miniature mountains were constructed with a stream flowing around them. The gardens were completely walled in and most of the traffic noise disappeared once I entered the compound to stroll around the one hour route. Then it bucketed down and the stroll became a slow jog. The major trees were pine, maple, dogwood and camphor. The last vestiges of their autumn colours were still there in reds and golds but the leaves were fluttering down to the ground. A group of elderly Japanese women sat under umbrellas, doing paintings of the gardens. It was still very picturesque and from the mini mountain, I had a fine view over the lake which had flocks of widgeon, mallard, tufted duck along with the usual gawping carp fish. It was a nice escape from downtown Tokyo.

I caught a train to Ikebukero, northwest of Central Tokyo. It is dominated by two vast department stores glaring at each other from opposite sides of the very confusing and huge station which gets 1 million passengers a day (2nd only to Shinjuko). It`s warren of connecting passages, shopping arcades and countless multilevel exits were a nightmare to negotiate.

Great Panoramic Photo of Ikebukero Area

`Tobu` is supposedly Japan`s largest department store with over 80,000 sq metres of floor space in three interconnected buildings. There are 6 floors of restaurants in the main building alone and 5 more in another building. The Japanese sure do like eating out. `Seibu` was the 3rd largest store in Japan. I checked out the basement food halls in both stores. There were endless counters of beautifully presented foodstuffs, overmanned by countless staff. Imagine Harrod`s food section in London, having turned Japanese and expanded beyond comprehension. Inevitably, both stores were geared to Xmas and that bloody Cliff Richard album of Xmas songs (see Kyushu roadtrip) was merrily playing away in the background. Someone should convince Cliff to commit hari kari.

In the pouring rain, I left the shelter of these vast stores and popped up the road to the Metropolitan Art Space which hosts regular concerts and theatre performances. It`s main claim to fame is it`s long escalator beneath the vast open glass atrium. This was 5 stories high and took 90 seconds to rise up to get a wonderful view over the reception area. No photo available on the net of the interior. Sorry.

I also checked out the equally distinctive, metallic blue Amlux showroom; Tokyo`s very own, non stop motor show. This was a four level state of the art car showroom. All the latest models were on display, including one floor dedicated to vehicles designed for handicapped people. Front passenger seats could swing outside the passenger doors and be lowered to the ground. An entire section covered the Formula 1 Toyota team with behind the scene videos you could access via laptops. There was also Tom Cruise`s car from his latest movie `Minority Report` and assorted props. Best of all were the `simulated` driving games; either gigantic screen play stations or sit down at a wheel machines and drive till you drop. On a wet, Wednesday afternoon, it was empty and I took advantage of all these freebies. If you a car nut, this place is definitely worth checking out

Back on the streets, it was bucketing down and everyone was holding umbrellas. Since they were all shorter than me, the umbrellas were at my eye level and after narrowly escaping blindness, oh about 20 times, I abandoned my plan to explore Shinjuku. Soaked to the skin I caught a train home.

On a dreary Sunday, US Jeff and I took off for a drive northwards. I had covered much of this area before. We checked out the rude statue at the pottery town. `Seeing is believing` said Jeff.

I also showed him my secret shrine in the hills (oo er). As we passed by a railway line, we saw a bunch of Japanese men with their tripods out (oo er) and large cameras perched on top. Japanese trainspotters? We went to investigate. They were waiting for the Shimodate steam train, which I had tried to see in November. Within a few minutes, we could hear the whoo-whoo sound of the steam whistle and see a bellowing plume of white smoke rising from between the hills. It came past, a fine black monster, pulling half a dozen near empty carriages of Japanese tourists. So I finally got to tick that one off my list.

Photo of Ryujin Great Suspension Bridge

The weather seems to be very freakish this year. On Monday December 2nd, I played my final game of tennis with UK James. We thrashed around the court for nearly 3 hours. It was so hot, I played without a shirt on. He got beaten like a gong. The following Monday (after the trip with Jeff), I awoke to find 6 inches of snow on the ground. It was a bit of a surprise to say the least. The snow fell all day and the whole area looked a lot better than with just the dreary old bare trees. It looked like the place had a got a new coat of white paint. The roads were cleared immediately and life continued as normal except that the public schools got a day off. The sun was back out on Tuesday melting much of the snow, but the crisp cold temperatures turned the remains to ice which lasted a week. It remained around freezing point during the day, and dropped to -5`c at night. Our rooms were really cold but I was better off than most. I had carpeted my room and had an extra space heater. Everyone else had freezing wooden floors.

My social group gradually disbanded in December. UK James took off for Taiwan. I should see him there in May. Irish Tom returned to Ireland. UK Steve left the school after 4 years for a job in Tokyo, but would still live near Tsukuba. UK Matthew and Aussie Danielle would leave at Xmas and UK. One quarter of the workforce would leave in December and January alone. When I started, I was 24th on the telephone list. By the New Year I was 6th and one of the `lifers`.

New teachers arrived, including a couple of married couples who lived away from Grimdale. UK Jamie flew in from Thailand. He was 25 and had done Russian Studies at University and spent a year teaching English in Russia. He had crossed Russia to China on the Trans Mongolian express and hung out in Thailand for a couple of months before taking the job in Japan. We hit it off immediately. I gave him the low down on survival in Japan and he told me how to survive Russia. We became the core of a sorely depleted drinking team and stayed up all hours.

On Sunday Dec 15th, US Kip (exiled but still around), UK Jamie and me went to the Tsukuba Womens` University. They were holding a Xmas party and any foreigners were welcome to attend. It was an opportunity for the students to talk to native English speakers. There were a dozen large tables full of Japanese food; fried squid, pork in batter, spring rolls and the usual buffet food. Hot spicy Thai soup made by a Thai student was also available. A number of activities had been organised. Jamie and I sat down to a traditional tea ceremony (see earlier update on tea ceremonies), the ritualistic offering of specially made tea and biscuits to guests by women in colourful kimonos.

Outside, another famous Japanese ceremony took place which I had never seen; the making of rice cakes. It is called `Mochitsuki` which seems to be the art of bashing the shit out of a large ball of rice. A football size ball of rice is placed into a polished wooden bowl on a treetrunk stand about 2 foot off the ground. Hot water is ladled onto the rice to stop it sticking to the bowl and a man heaves a large wooden mallet down to compact/knead the rice. Gradually the rice breaks down into a sticky goo. We were given the chance to have a go and Kip and I stepped up to try it out. I swung the mallet from behind my head like an executioner and hit the rice so hard, it nearly jumped out of the bowl. The Japanese oohed and arrghed at the sound of the mallet crashing into the wooden bowl and the demonstrator hastily removed the mallet before I could do anymore damage.

Photos and Info on Mochitsuki

Many female students chatted to us, along with other members of the general public who took the opportunity to practise their English. Out of the 200 odd guests, about a dozen were westerners. I met an Iranian woman who was a student in Tsukuba and told her about my trip to Iran in December 1999. It was a very friendly atmosphere. There was flamenco dancing, some folk dancing, a small classical quartet, bingo and Santa Claus even turned up to give the kids a present. Since he was a Japanese Santa he was short and half the weight of a normal Santa. He looked like he had just finished a 12 step alcoholic recovery program. We exchanged emails with some young nubile students who wanted to hang out with good looking guys like us (cough).

I was into my ninth month of teaching. At Itabashi Elementary School (which I had never visited before), I taught three classes of 80, 65 and 60 kids. The theme was Xmas. The Japanese don`t celebrate Xmas as such, and most people go to work on December 25th, but they know the commercial side of it. New Year is much more important to them. I used various numbers of `Xmas` flashcards in the classes and running around games to reinforce the new words they had learnt (Santa Claus, Christmas tree etc). In the final class, we played `Xmas Bowl`. Paired up with a flashcard, they sat around in a circle, with 4 kids standing in the middle with no chairs. I`d yell a couple of words (eg Reindeer, sleigh) and the kids with those flashcards had to get up and run to the nearest empty seats along with the kids in the middle. Every few turns I would yell `Merry Xmas. Yo Ho Ho!` and all 60 kids had to get up and run to an empty chair. It was complete bedlam but they seemed to enjoy it. Terue, a Japanese teacher who accompanied me told me that I performed `like a movie star`. Another satisfied customer.

Two weeks before Xmas, we had parents` week. This is where the parents can come and sit in on the lesson which their little treasures attend. They get to see if the teacher actually does anything and how much English their children can speak. I only had about 15 parents show up over the week and 5 of those were for the Kindergarten class. I`d get the kids to ask their mothers questions (what is your name, what is your favourite, when did you last see your husband etc) and put them on the spot. But all the lessons went well and I had excellent reviews from the parents. I made robot heads with my kindergarten kids. They all stuck coloured cardboard boxes on their heads with slots to see out of. Then I`d yell `Touch a ....` and they`d run around the room. Unfortunately since their vision was impaired, they would crash into each other like drunks.

The final teaching week of the year saw me dressing in a bright red Santa Claus suit for the kids classes (`yo ho bloody ho`), which brought screams of laughter from my students, especially when they tried on the extra large (It`s called `free size`in Japan. It`s called `fat bastard size` in the UK) costume. The lessons were Xmas orientated and very relaxed. We were given Xmas songs to play on CD and fortunately, Cliff Richard was not singing them. I gave out small parcels of chocolates and biscuits to the kids. For the final staff meeting, Luke cooked an excellent cooked Canadian breakfast for everyone (bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, French toast etc) and Yuko Bernard, the Director handed out bottles of wine to everyone as a Xmas present which was a nice gesture. I managed to avoid drinking it with the breakfast.

Two days before we finished, Jill flew into Narita Airport on the morning of Friday December 20th and I drove down to pick her up. Jill had been my girlfriend in my hometown of Lowestoft, in the summer of, wait for it, 1980. I was on holiday from University, though I spent much of it bumming around the western United States. I hadn`t seen her since 1983. Earlier this year, she had contacted me via the friendsreunited webpage where you can post your current details, linked to your final year of high school/University etc and old mates can get back in touch. I have been getting a lot of long lost friends getting in contact this year via this webpage. We had been exchanging regular emails throughout my stay in Japan and she decided to take the opportunity of my residency to come and see the country.

(Ed note; During her visit, I took Jill to many places that I had previously seen and have written about before, so to avoid duplication, I will only cover the new places in detail and just have a photo link to the previous sights. You can find all the info on those places in earlier updates... as if you want to be bored twice!)

Jill was now an attractive and unattached 40 year old and looked very fit. She had to be to carry her luggage! Admittedly, it contained my usual requests of English cheese and chocolate and some Xmas presents. As with all my guests, I took her straight to the Naritasan Temple up the road from the airport, where we were lucky to see a Shinto ceremony with the priests all decked out in colourful costumes and tottering around on those silly wooden platform sandals. The surrounding gardens had lost much of their colour but were still a pleasant stroll in the crisp morning sunshine.

Photos of Narita San Temple Complex

On the way home, we went to see the Big Buddha. `He`s a big boy isn`t he` Jill remarked after her jaw dropped at the sight of the bloody great 120m tall Buddha statue in the middle of nowhere. However, I have just discovered on the internet that his reign as the tallest statue in the world may be coming to an end. The Indians are currently building a 152m tall Buddha statue at Bodh Gaya, Buddhism`s holiest sight in the north Indian state of Bihar . This $140m statue is supposed to be ready by 2005 but don`t hold your breath.

Photo of Ushiku Big Buddha
Another Photo of Ushiku Big Buddha

I had to teach that afternoon and evening at Ami and the following Saturday afternoon at Shimodate for the final session of the year. Jill came along and chatted to my adult students and helped the kiddies and kindergarten kids make Christmas cards while I ponced around in my red Santa suit and beard. It was a relief to finally finish and look forward to the longest break I would have in Japan; two weeks!

That night, it was Aussie Danielle and UK Matthew`s farewell. Both were finishing their contracts early and flying home. A gang of us congregated around at my room for some pre warm up drinkies and then we retired to the truckers` noodle bar up the road for some delicious cheap noodle dishes and cold beer from the vending machine. I had taken Paul, my last guest there on his final night in October. Back at Grimdale, the party went on until dawn before most teachers flew home for Xmas, but Jill and I had an early start on Sunday.

To Nikko. It was my third visit to this World Heritage Shrine. As we approached the hills, we found them covered in snow and the temperature was much colder than Tsukuba, three hours south. Smatterings of snow lay on the countless stone lanterns and around the complex which was empty when we arrived but filled up with tour groups during the morning. I had seen it with snow on my first visit last March. We were fortunate enough to watch a small traditional Shito wedding in a chapel. The bride was dressed in the usual huge white bonnet over her intricately piled hairpeices and a flowing white kimono. A small band of musicians sat outside the chapel on a balcony and played traditional music which heightened the atmosphere. The sacred horse which I had seen on the last visit had been moved to a warmer stable which probably had a heated toilet seat (just like my flat!).

Photo of Nikko Temple Complex
Photo of Shito Wedding

We drove up into the hills to Chuzenji ko Lake through forests covered in snow. It was over a foot deep on the ground and the scenery sparkled in the sunshine. The lake was frozen and snow and ice gradually accumulated on the road further up, until it became impossible for Mr Whippy to deal with the ice.

Photo of Chuzenji Ko Lake

Large brown fluffy wild monkeys were down on the roadside looking for food. When we stopped they jumped onto the car bonnet to warm themselves and peered through the windscreen with pinched faces that said `It`s bloody cold out here mate, throw me a biscuit`. The few Japanese motorists that passed, stopped and threw food to them. En route home, we popped into Mashiko pottery town so that Jill could see the rude statue (as you do) and check out the pottery.

The following day, it was another early start to Tokyo by train, to take in a variety of old and new sights. It was Emperor Akihito`s Birthday (Dec 23rd) and a public holiday. As we walked towards the Imperial Gardens, we saw a large convoy of pro Emperor, Nazi party black buses and imperial flags and also discovered thousands of Japanese and quite a few westerners lining up at security checks to leave their bags. Following them, we were given paper Japanese flags to wave and entered the actual Imperial Palace compound which is only open twice a year. It was a new experience to walk across the famous bridges over the moat which you can usually only photograph from a distance. There were dozens of plain clothed security guards eyeing all the visitors , but it was low key and there was a pleasant relaxed atmosphere. It`s not everyday you get to see the Japanese Emperor at his Palace.

We approached the modern Imperial Palace, a vast squat grey concrete building and stood in the crowd in front of the bullet proof glass protected balcony. A huddle of TV cameras and press photographers stood at the back on a wooden platform. Immaculately dressed Palace guards stood to attention on boxes beneath the balcony. 20 mins later, the sliding paper doors behind the balcony were pulled open and the Emperor and immediate Royal Family ambled into view and waved at the crowds. Under Japan's postwar constitution, the royal family has no official political powers and its role is largely symbolic. The cheering and flag waving was led by a bunch of Nazi supporters in black fascist uniforms in the centre. (They believe the Emperor should be returned to his pre World War Two status as a god and once all the foreigners are kicked out of Japan, all would be well with Japan PLC). The Emperor (69 today), looking very chirpy in a smart grey suit, made a short speech, followed by more cheering and flag waving and suddenly it was all over. "Now bugger off! And get off my land" the Emperor probably yelled before returning to slump in his den and watch bad Japanese TV. It had been a typical Japanese experience; subdued, polite and immaculately done. Two days later, the press announced that the Emperor had prostrate cancer.

Just for your information, Emperor Akihito is the 125th descendant in a direct line from the first emperor, Jimmu, who ascended to the throne in 660 BC. Emperor Showa, the present emperor's father renounced his divinity in 1946; until then, Japanese custom held that the Emperor was a direct descendant of the sun goddess, Amaterasu-o-mikami. Emperor Akihito's son, the Crown Prince Naruhito, married Masako Owada in 1993.

The Imperial Gardens themselves were closed today because of the security measures, so we walked out of the compound, picked up our daypacks and walked by the moat around the whole complex which dominates central Tokyo. Entering the Kitanomaru gardens, we walked past the famous Buddokan concert hall. A Japanese pop band was playing there today and even at midday, there were lines of Japanese girls all playing with their mobile phones, waiting hours ahead of the concert. Across the road, we popped into Yasukuni Jinja military cemetery (the controversial shrine containing the `war criminals`). The Nazis maintained their usual presence.

Photos and Info on Yasukuni Jinja Cemetery

At Ikebukuru, we visited Tobu, the largest department store in the world. The food halls were heaving with Xmas shoppers and the usual immaculately presented foodstuffs.

I had seen all these sights before and wanted to explore some of Shinjuku so we walked through underpasses beneath the collection of towering buildings on the western side of the vast train station to the Mitsui Building which had a free observation deck on the 51st floor. Unfortunately, it faced west, away from Tokyo and it all looked like an ugly sprawl of conurbations. Mt Fuji was hidden by the smog and clouds. We walked past the imposing twin towered Notre Dame shaped TMGB building which I had visited before which has excellent free views of the city but was closed today.

The NS Building next door was equally rewarding in a different way. It was a strange place. The whole centre of the building was an empty space so that the atrium was 30 stories tall. It contained the largest pendulum clock in the world on one wall. It was 29m tall and run entirely by water. On the 29th floor a sealed walkway straddled the centre from where you could look down to the clock which looked tiny. It was like being suspended above the atrium. Seriously strange architecture. I am getting a real taste for modern Japanese building designs.

Photo of World`s Largest Pendulum Clock

On the eastern side of Shinjuku, we strolled around the packed streets full of Xmas shoppers. I had read that this was supposedly the place where the cityscape designs of the `Bladerunner` movie were based on in the early 1980s but it seemed nothing special and even the largest video screen in Tokyo on the side of a building (Alta Vista) was not as big as the one I had seen at Beijing Central station in China back in 1996. Maybe I have just been to Tokyo so many times that I just take the place for granted now.

Twilight Photo of Shinjuku Shopping Area

But if we thought Shinjuku was busy, the next stop at Shiboya blew Jill away. I described the area as a human anthill. Hundreds of thousands of people crossing the roads at intersections, cramming into multilevel shops, restaurants and the subway station. Above it all were wall to wall huge video screens on every building, a colourful flickering barrage of neon lights that really did look like the `Bladerunner` movie. Just crossing the road was an experience as hundreds of people charged at you from the other side. Jill just stood there gawping. I had spent an afternoon and evening here with Bryan and Matthew at an Izakaya bar and the infamous karaoke night. Shinjuku may have the reputation in the guidebooks but Shiboya is definitely the happening place in Tokyo these days.

We had been been walking and dashing around Tokyo for about 9 hours and were exhausted. There was one more sight on the other side of town which seemed too weird to miss; David Beckham was pushing chocolate over here and a large 3m chocolate statue of him had just been unveiled in a shopping mall. No, really! But it was a pain to reach and Jill concluded `I think I can live without seeing a chocolate Beckham`. (I think the statue was removed in the New Year, so I never got to see it). The day had been a hectic collection of what Tokyo had to offer and Jill came away with a million images and very sore feet. We would be back in Tokyo a few hours later but driving over it.

For our roadtrip we had a companion; Kingsley the Pig. I had discovered a webpage called www.travelpig.co.uk which are the tales of small cuddly pigs that are being taken around the world (`Have pig will travel`) by different people. There were various photos of the piggies in famous places. There is even an MIA (Missing in Action) section for piggies not heard from in over a month. Jill had applied for a pig and brought Kingsley over who had just been to California. The cute porker would sit on the dashboard or get dragged around to pose in front of various locations. Yeah, I know. I`m 42 years old and I`m a tour guide to a cuddly pig. Tell me about it.

The roadtrip had two purposes; to show Jill some of the most famous sights that I had already seen, yet also allow me to explore the areas of Japan which I hadn`t seen; that is, the third island of Shikoku and southern Honshu down to Hiroshima. Jill was very easy going on what she saw. I tried to plan an itinery that captured as much culture as possible (`a bit more culture than a hotdog`) but had a variety of sights and experiences. I had also discovered an excellent Japanese accommodation agency on the internet at http://www.itcj.or.jp which allowed me (and any visiting western tourist) to reserve hotel rooms at a discounted price. So, unusually for me, we had actual destinations to reach each day and had a room waiting for us. All part of the service on Bob Jack Tours PLC.

Japan`s Christmas and New Year`s Eve celebrations differ somewhat from the western tradition. Xmas is not a holiday, while the New Year is virtually a season. The all too familiar Yuletide commercialism prevails with department stores putting up Xmas decorations; ornamental trees, wreaths, Santa and his reindeer and the stereotyped music. Christmas in a Buddhist Shinto nation is nothing more than a lever to force spending the semi annual bonus companies dole out to their workers in December. Japan has a custom called `o seibo`, or year end gift`s to one`s benefactors; the hands that feed them. Although a custom, it amounts to a dictate, since not giving them might jeopardise one`s income. December also puts Japan into its annual `bonenkai` or year end season. While westerners hold one New Year`s Eve party on December 31st, the Japanese have two, one to mark the end of the old year and the other to fete the new, with no fixed date for either. Many of my adult students told me about their year end parties which was usually drinking at a hotel/onsen complex.

By setting off at 3.30am on Xmas Eve, it allowed me to show Jill the wonderful `Bladerunner` views over Tokyo at night and to also get across the city before the gridlocked rush hours. Around 4.15am, we joined the Shuto Expressway which is like a vast ring road elevated above the city; lots of sharp bends, bridges and tunnels. In the middle of the night, you can really put your foot down on the mostly empty roads and it`s a bit like driving on a rollercoaster in the dark. Very recommended and it only costs about £6 to cross Tokyo at top speed.

It was amazing to find ourselves west of the largest city in the world in less than a hour on an empty Chuo Expressway. As mentioned before, the expressways in Japan are all toll roads. To get anywhere fast and away from the incessant traffic lights and cramped local roads, you have to pay for the privelege. We would spent over £150 on expressways and bridges as we zipped around the country.

Our destination today was Kyoto, just to break the long journey down to the island of Shikoku. Originally, I had intended to head to Mt Fuji en route for a viewing, but both Jill (promoted to `navigator` status) and Kingsley were asleep and I never saw any signs. It was dark until nearly 7am (no daylight saving in Japan) and by the time a misty dawn appeared, I was on the edge of the Japanese Alps and had completely missed Mt Fuji. How can you miss Mt Fuji? Its only the tallest mountain in Japan. But it was dark and there were no roadsigns. Honest! The early start and empty roads meant that our progress was very good. The mountain ranges that I had seen as lush green mounds of forests in the summer, were now all covered in snow, as if someone had sifted the world`s supply of icing sugar over them. Adapting the schedule, we rolled into Nara around midday.

I had visited Nara with my parents in August (see previous update). It was Japan`s first Imperial capital in the 8th Century for less than a 100 years, but it has retained some of the oldest historical sights in Japan. Many are based around Nara Park (Nara Koen) with its copious amounts of sacred and protected deer that walk around looking for handouts. Someone must go around clearing up the deer crap because considering there are about 1400 of the buggers, the place is always spotless. It is a beautiful area, which I still rate as one of the nicest places in Japan.

Todai Ji is the largest wooden building in the world. Inside, stood the largest bronze statue of Buddha in Japan. Jill failed miserably to crawl through the hole in one of the massive pillars to `reserve a corner of in paradise`. So she must be going straight to hell. Outside, a large menacing wooden statue dressed in a red poncho, supposedly had healing properties. You just rubbed the part of the statue where you had the pain. Jill had been suffering from back problems and rubbed the statue`s back. Weird karma. She never had another backache in Japan.

A magical mystery tour around the outskirts of Nara finally led us to Yakushi Ji, a new sight for me and on the World Heritage List. Constructed around 680AD, it had been burnt down and rebuilt over the centuries. It was very similar to the Horyu Ji complex I had seen in Nara on the previous trip (with the World`s oldest wooden building) with a 3 storey pagoda dominating the compound. Yakushi Ji is most famous for it`s 8th century statues housed in a 1285 wooden building. The major one was a bronze image of Sho Kannon, Goddess of Mercy. This was a graceful erect statue with distinctively Indian influences, its diaphanous (look it up) robes, double necklace and strands of hair falling over its shoulders. The Golden Hall (Kon do) contained the temple`s original 7th century Yakushi triad. Previous fires had removed most of the gold and given the statues a rich, black sheen. We had parked the car near the complex in the most rundown housing estate I had seen in Japan. It was like a Japanese redneck trailer park with old cars out on blocks outside the front door. There was no sign of anyone playing a banjo on the doorstep and yelling `squleal rike a pig` but this was definitely Japanese `Deriverance` country.

Photo of Yakushi Ji
More Photos of Yakushi Ji

Xmas Eve was spent in Kyoto at the familiar Kyoto Garden Hotel which I found again at first try in a city of 1.2 million. Kyoto was just a layover and after opening our Xmas presents, we were back on the road on Xmas Day which was a normal working day in Japan. The roads out of Kyoto were busy, the expressway to Osaka was packed, and the road into Osaka was gridlocked. We abandoned our idea of seeing Osaka castle and postponed it for the return leg.

The large city of Kobe (1.5 million pop) appears to be just a sprawling extension of Osaka. In 1995, it was devastated by the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Buildings and highways were toppled, whole neighbourhoods went up in flames. 5500 people died and ten of thousands were left homeless. It was quickly rebuilt and you`d never guess the earthquake had ever happened. We drove over Kobe on the elevated expressway which had vast concrete walls on either side and plexiglass to peer down over the city. It was one of the ugliest sprawls I had seen in Japan. Its tourist blurb bragged of the "exotic atmosphere of an international port city" and "an unique atmosphere". Exotic? I do not think so. Unless you want to call Coventry in the UK `exotic`. Unique atmosphere? Well I suppose a ton of concrete on your head is different.

Earthquakes and tremors are a major part of living in Japan. They occur so frequently that you just get used to them. At 4am on Jill`s first night, we had had a small (in comparison to some I have felt) earth tremor in Tsukuba. She woke me up to ask what was happening. `Its just an earth tremor, don`t sweat it` I yawned. She looked concerned. `But the entire building is shaking`. `Did the earth move for you too darling?` I replied and went back to sleep. Japan has another big earthquake coming within the next three years. Regular as clockwork, they have it pinned down to the Nagoya area between Tokyo and Kyoto and it is predicted to be as big as Kobe`s.

Shikoku

The Rough Guide describes the island of Shikoku as having "beautiful scenery, a laid back atmosphere, friendly people and several notable sights. Yet Shikoku, Japan’s fourth main island is usually at the bottom of most visitors` itineraries, if it appears at all. This is a shame, since this tranquil island, which nestles in the crook between Honshu and Kyushu, offers elements of traditional Japan that are often hard to find elsewhere". Shikoku has had a relatively peaceful history, due in part to its isolation from the rest of Japan. The island is split by a vast mountain range that runs east to west and the four million population are mostly based in four major cities.

After leaving Kobe, we crossed over to Skikoku on the vast Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi bridge; the longest single span suspension bridge in the world connecting Shikoku to Honshu via the modest island of Awaji Shima. The 1998 bridge is 3.9km long including the 1,990m long main span and 283m tall main towers.

Photos of the Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi Bridge

The first impression, reaching this island, was the complete lack of traffic. It was as if we had left the rest of Japan behind. We spotted a towering white Buddha statue on a hillside. There was nothing about it in my guidebooks but it gave our local Big Buddha statue a run for it`s money.

Takamatsu; Ritsurin Gardens

Following lovely coastal scenery and a choppy sea, we took the coastal road in drizzly weather to breezily cosmopolitan Takamatsu (350,000 pop) on the northern coast. A gale was blowing, but we had time to explore the star attraction before it closed. The Ritsurin Koen is one of Japan`s most classical, spacious and beautifully designed gardens. Laying at the foot of Mt Shuin and covering 750,000 square metres, it is also the largest garden in Japan.

Three feudal lords had a hand in constructing these splendid gardens over a period of 100 years, starting in the early 17th century. Late in the afternoon, we were the only visitors to this impressive expanse with 29,000 trees which was split into the Nantei (South Garden) and the Hokutei (North Garden). The more stylized Nantei gardens had paths around three lakes dotted with islands sprouting carefully pruned pine trees and included a 1640 wooden teahouse (Kikugetsu Tei or `Scooping The Moon`) overlooking the South Lake. Hokutei had a more natural appearance and was based around two ponds. On a cold winter`s day, the garden may have lacked bright colours but it was still a delight to stroll around the immaculately pruned vegetation and cross the various humpbacked stone or wooden bridges. It must look wonderful in the sunshine.

Photos of Ritsuen Gardens, Takamatsu

The City Hotel was tucked into the backstreets, but we lucked into finding it at the first attempt; a standard comfortable business hotel near the covered shopping arcades. One minute away was a Yakitori cafe packed with locals. We entered the warm intimate wooden cafe and were welcomed like VIPs. The menu was in Japanese but they translated and we chose excellent local draft beer and a variety of delicious skewers of grilled chicken beef and vegetables which were cooked in front of us on a small coal BBQ. The two businessmen sitting next to us at the counter complimented us on our choices `Sogoi` (excellent). Just before we left, the cook presented us with two small bottles of red wine as gifts to take away. `Happy Xmas` he said. It was Xmas Day after all and it was a lovely introduction to Shikoku. There is an article on Yakitori cooking at Yakitori Cooking and a recipe at Yakatori Recipe

The next day was bright and sunny and on the way out of the city, I saw two new items. I had seen double decker parking racks for cars (that is, you drive onto a metal ramp, which is raised and allows another car to park underneath), but today I saw the same idea for bicycles. A frame allowed to you to park two bicycles vertically. There was also a `revolving` carpark. You drive your car onto a ramp on the ground floor which revolves up and around three stories like a ferris wheel and you stop it to park. It saved on building concrete ramps up to each floor. Interesting ideas. I wonder how long they will take to reach the UK.

Kompira San

Filling up at a gas station, an attendent was kind enough to draw a map for us to find our first major sight today. Kotohira, 30km southwest of Takamatsu, has an ancient shrine (Kotohira Gu) which is better known as Kompira San. This is one of the major places of pilgrimage for the Shinto religion, attracting 4 million visitors a year. The small but very pleasant town lay at the foot of the Zozu San mountain which supposedly resembles an elephant`s head (I missed that one).

`Kompira San` comes from the nickname for Omono Nushi No Mikoto (try saying that after a night on the sake), the spiritual guardian of seafarers. Kompira was originally an Indian Hindu crocodile god imported as a deity to Japan before the 9th Century and the shrine served as both a Buddhist and Shinto holy place for a thousand years, becoming a very popular pilgrimage site. Apparently, poor Japanese people who could not afford to make the pilgrimage dispatched their pet dogs, with pouches of coins as a gift to the gods, or tossed barrels of rice and money into the sea, in the hope that they would be picked up by sailors who would take their offerings to Kompira San on their behalf. Not that I saw any dogs in town. I haven`t worked the dog idea out yet. How did the dog know where to go? Did someone set themselves up in business to walk the dogs to the shrine? How far are we talking? I think we should be told.

What I do know is that to reach the main shrine buildings, we had to climb 785 steps which had Jill huffing and puffing and crying `This had better be worth the climb`. We followed a group of Japanese men, all dressed in bright green jackets, obviously on a company pilgrimage. A photographer recorded their progress up the steps. En route, walking past various wooden buildings, we passed a giant gold ship`s propeller, a gift from a local shipbuilder (eh? This place is inland!) and some bored looking sacred horses in stables. On either side of the stone staircase were narrow granite columns covered in Shinto blessings (either that or instructions on what to do when your lungs collapsed).

When we finally reached the grand Asahi No Yashiro (Sunshine Shrine), it was a small wooden temple decorated with intricate woodcarvings of flora and fauna and topped with a green copper roof. The company men pushed money into the hands of local priests dressed in white who rushed around preparing to give them a personal blessing. From here, we had magnificent views of the surrounding countryside, all the way to the Inland Sea. I didn`t have the heart to tell Jill that there were an additional 583 steps to the highest shrine. Instead, we checked out the open air Ema Do gallery, which displays votive plaques, paintings and models of ships. These were from sailors who hoped to be granted good favour on the seas and there was even a large painting of Japan`s first cosmonaut, a TV journalist who was a paying passenger on a Russian Rocket in 1990. There was also a strange altar of large white plaster dogs with open backs containing fortune telling packets.

Photos of Kompira San

We descended. Or rather Jill did. I realised that I had left my camera in the gallery (as you do) and had to sprint back up the steps to retrieve it (which was nice). Near the bottom were endless lines of souvenir and tat shops. Jill was in her element. She had turned up her nose at the 100 Yen shops in Tsukuba as being `full of rubbish` and moved up to the 1000 Yen (£5) shops, `a much better class of purchase` (apparently). There was also the Kinryo Sake Museum where a sake brewery has existed since 1616 (A sign above the entrance said `Pissed Since 1616` in Japanese. Well, ok, perhaps not) which inevitably needed a visit.

Oboke Gorge

Suitably exhausted, a drive southwest took us into the spectacular Oboke gorge, one of Japan`s top three `hidden regions` and a highlight of Shikoku. The vertiginous (look it up) mountains here were covered in snow and endless forests of pine trees had carpets of white over them; hardly surprising since it was snowing today. Negotiating the twisting narrow roads past the Yoshino River, which wound around the river valleys, we ended up at Nishi Iya. Home of the Kazuri Bashi, it is one of the several ancient bridges in the area, constructed from mountain vines and bamboo, so that they could be easily cut down to block an enemy. The 45m long bridge is rebuilt every three years, and though it is not that high, the swaying motion as you walk onto it, is a little disorientating. We parked up and staggered across the bridge. A loudspeaker boomed out in Japanese which we couldn`t understand and then a little man came bounding out of an office on the other side and raised his arms in a cross (you get used to this Japanese symbol meaning `No`). Unintentionally, we had missed the official entry of £2.50 and entered the bridge from the other (free) side. But we had the photos and the strange sensation so we backtracked and well, took off sharpish (as you do).

Photo of Kazuri Bashi Bridge
Another Photo of Kazuri Bashi Bridge

The snow and twisty roads back along the Oboke gorge made for slow driving, but we eventually emerged at sun kissed Kochi. Leaving the snow and gorge behind, it was strange to see palm trees lining the roads. Time was pressing on. I had hoped to visit Uwajima on the west coast to visit the fertility shrine of Taga Jinga. The shrine featured a 12 foot long carved log in the shape of a, well, I`ll let you imagine it. (I couldn`t find a photo of it on the internet).But sadly, with two hours of daylight left, we decided to head across the mountain range direct to the city of Matsuyama. Fortunately, this drive was through some of the best river valley scenery I have seen in Japan; towering mountains, river gorges, long bridges and forests covered in snow. I spotted Ishizuchi San off to the right. At 1982m, it is the highest mountain in Shikoku but it was swamped in snow and unclimbable, so I failed to bag the 4th and final highest island mountain.

Matsuyama; Dogo Onsen, Ishite Ji

Arriving at Matsuyama in darkness, we were glad we had taken the shortcut. It would have been dark by the time we reached Urajima anyway. In December, as soon as the light faded, the temperatures plunged and it was freezing every night. Matsuyama (450,000) is the island`s largest city. The city centre, largely destroyed during World War Two is now a modern sprawl, but it still had a tram network. We checked into the large but nearly empty youth hostel, and got a comfortable private room with Satellite TV. We were based in the suburb of Dogo which had the main attractions. Searching around for food, near the small red light district of strip shows and large seedy men hanging outside clubs, we found a one room cafe, where an old woman (it looked like her front room) took our order (based on the plastic models of available dishes that you see outside many eateries in Japan) and cooked up a cheap but very tasty selection of Chinese soup and noodle dishes. Jill tried to ignore the large beetle that scuttled across the table. `Who said you couldn`t show a girl a good time. What a charming place, with it`s own wildlife too." She should be so lucky. I had rats running around my feet in India. Jill was actually very tolerant of my well tested habit of surviving on tuna fish and mayonnaise sandwiches (and other supermarket goodies) at least once a day and my eternal search for the cheapest most traditional eating places when we stopped.

Around 7am, the next morning, it was a short walk down to the grand Dogo Onsen Honkan. This is the oldest hot spring in Japan and was mentioned in a 1300 year old book. According to legend, a white heron dipped it`s injured leg into the hot water gushing out of the rocks and found that it had healing properties. By the 6th century, royal patronage created the first tourist town in Japan. The present wooden architectural extravaganza was built in 1894 and the heron, which has become the symbol of the baths is commemorated in a statue astride the three storey building`s ornate roof. Inside, there were various baths but we opted for the cheapest (£1.50) called `kami no ya` or `Hot water of the Gods`, a section with two identical baths, decorated with mosaics of the heron. The baths were segregated, so I left Jill to deal with the womens` section. I undressed in the company of a few old men in their long johns and thermal vests in the dry area covered in tatami mats and entered a tiled room full of steam. Sitting on a plastic bucket, I soaped and washed myself down before stepping into the two foot bath of boiling water where half a dozen men lay. It was about 10m long and 4m wide with a tiled faucet in the centre from where the steaming water naturally spilled out. It was so hot that every 5 minutes, I had to sit on the edge. No wonder lots of old people die in onsens every year. The heat must pop their blood pressure. Thirty minutes was enough to feel relaxed and rather boiled before redressing. Outside, I met Jill who had survived 10 minutes, rather put off by all the little old Japanese women staring at her western body. There are numerous onsens to try in this spa town if you love wallowing around hot water.

Photo of Dogo Onsen

Near the Youth Hostel, we checked out a colourful shrine on top of a steep flight of stairs. As we drove out of Dogo, we popped into the Ishite Ji temple complex. There are 88 temples on Shikoku`s sacred circuit, but this one (the 51st) is the most famous. The story goes that long ago there lived in this neighborhood a man called Emon Saburo. He was very rich, but all he wanted was to be richer still. One winter day a wandering monk came to his gate, prayed and held out his begging bowl to appeal for food. Saburo coldly refused him. The next day the same priest came again, but Saburo angrily drove him away. But the priest kept returning. On the 8th day Saburo went at him with a stick, struck him, dashing his bowl to the ground. The priest came no more. But on the next day the eldest of Saburo's sons died, and the next day another. Eight days passed, and every one of his eight children was gone, to his grief and horror. Saburo then realized how wrong-headed and evil he had been. What he had to do, he determined, was to go and find that holy man and beg absolution.

Soon he was following the monk's trail, asking for alms, begging for food himself every day. He went around and around Shikoku Island for four years, but in vain. Having already made 20 rounds, he decided to make one more round in the reverse direction, instead of trying to catch up with the monk. His health was failing, but he had to keep searching. On his way to Shozan-ji deep in the mountains, Saburo fell down, ready to die. At that moment, Kobo Daishi, the priest he had been searching for, appeared before him. The saint, knowing everything, forgave Saburo, saying his sincere repentance had washed away his sins. Greatly relieved, the man was about to close his eyes. Then Daishi asked if he had a last wish. He answered that he would like to be reborn as the lord of Iyo, his home province, to have the power to do great good for his people. Daishi picked up a small stone, wrote something on it, and pressed the stone into the dying man's left hand. Some time later the wife of the Lord of Iyo gave birth to a baby boy whose left hand would not open. They tried everything but they could not open it. At last they called in the head priest of their family temple Anyo-ji. He chanted powerful prayers and finally the baby's hand opened. Inside was a stone and on it was written "Emon Saburo Reborn." To memorialize this mysterious event, the name of the temple was changed to Ishite-ji or Stone-Hand Temple. Believers can see that stone in the temple's Treasure House. Emon Saburo, who went around and around Shikoku searching for Daishi, is considered to be the first to have made the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

It was a shabby place by Japanese standards, with old run down wooden shrines squatting around a dirt compound and three storey pagoda. There were surreal forms of religious expression and some of the worst sculptures I have seen anywhere. It was as if Steptoe and Son (British TV sitcom) had turned religious and set up their scrapyard here and dumped the stuff straight off the horse and cart. This included two giant straw sandals which hung from the doors of the 1318 `Nio man` main gate. We never found the secret tunnels lined with Buddhas and other icons. Climbing up a hillside, we could see Matsuyama castle on another hill on the other side of town. Ishite Ji is apparently a `National Treasure`. I`d called it a gypsy camp.

It was time to leave Shikoku. I`d enjoyed the laid back pace, the variety of sights, scenery, experiences and the friendly people and would recommend a short visit if you had the time. But you will need a car to do it properly. Keen to push onto Hiroshima, we headed north to the Nishi Seto Expressway which started with a twisty climb up to a higher level and then ran along ten huge bridges spanning nine islands and took us back to the major island of Honshu. Each suspension bridge had a different design and on a beautiful sunny day, high above the water, we had lovely vistas of countless islands spread out around the Inland Sea. When we stopped (illegally) on an empty bridge to take some photos, a loudspeaker boomed out in Japanese telling us to get back in the car and keep driving. Ironically, considering this is some of the best scenery you will ever see in Japan, noone had thought to create some stopping places to admire the view. That drive was also memorable for my first direct roadkill in Japan. A small bird flew out of a hedge straight into the car. Oops.

Photo of bridge and scenery

Hiroshima; Peace Memorial Park and Museum

An excellent fast local road took us all the way to Hiroshima, the most westerly place, we would visit on this trip. Because of the events of August 6th, 1945, western Honshu`s largest city needs little introduction, but you`ll get one anyway. Hiroshima has become the byword for the devastating events of the atom bomb, and for this reason alone, millions visit the city every year to pay their respects at the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb museum.

As a garrison town, Hiroshima was an obvious target during World War Two, but until August 6th, 1945, it had been spared Allied bombing. It is speculated that this was an intentional strategy by the US military, so that the effects of an atomic bomb when exploded could be fully understood. Even so, when the B29 bomber `Enola Gay` set off on its mission, Hiroshima was one of three possible targets whose fate was sealed by reconnassance reporting clear skies below. When `Little Boy` exploded 580m above the city at 8.15am, it unleased the equivalent of the destructive power of 15,000 tonnes of TNT. Within a second, a kilometre wide radioactive fireball consumed a city of 350,000 people. The heat was so intense that all that remained of some victims were their shadows seared onto the rubble. 70,000 buildings and 80,000 people were destroyed immediately. But by the end of the year, another 60,000 had died from burns, wounds and radiation sickness. Fifty Eight years after the event, the reconstructed city of Hiroshima is an "eloquent testimony to the power of life over destruction. Where once there was nothing but ashes as far as the eye could see, now stands a modern city" (Rough Guide); bigger, better and more vibrant than ever. The reborn Hiroshima with its one million plus population, is now a self proclaimed `city of international peace and culture`.

Booking into a new International Youth House at Astor Plaza, we found it 8 floors above a new theatre complex. It was two floors of very plush rooms, where Japanese students and western tourists could stay at discounted prices. At £31 for a double ensuite room, it was the cheapest room we had on the trip. Better still, it was only a ten minute walk to the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.

On the edge of the park is the twisted shell of the Industrial Promotion Hall, built in 1914 and now better know as the A Bomb Dome. Almost at the hypocentre of the blast, the hall was one of the few structures in the surrounding 3 kilometres that remained standing and the shell has been maintained ever since. It was covered in scaffolding as they attempted to keep this World Heritage Site standing.

Across the narrow river lay the Peace Memorial Park dotted throughout with dozens of statues and monuments to the A bomb victims. The most touching was the Children`s Peace Monument, a statue of a young girl standing atop an elogated dome and holding aloft a giant origami crane; the symbol of health and longevity. The monument`s base was festooned with multicoloured garlands of origami cranes, folded by children from all over Japan and parts of the world; a tradition that started with radiation victim Sasaki Sadako, who fell sick with leukaemia in 1955. The 12 year old girl started to fold cranes on her sick bed in the hope that if she reached a 1000 she`d be cured. She died before her goal, but her classmates kept going and eventually had the monument built. (The Museum has an entire section which tells her story). The main monument in the park, the Memorial cenotaph, was a smooth concrete and granite arch aligned with the A Bomb Dome and the Museum. Beside it, burned the Flame of Peace. There were quite a few western tourists in Hiroshima so it is obviously becoming very popular as a destination in Japan.

Photos and Info on Memorial Peace Park, Hiroshima
Virtual Tour of Memorial Peace Park, Hiroshima

The Peace Memorial Museum, in it`s context, was one of the best museums I have seen anywhere. I thought the Nagasaki Atomic Museum was excellent, but this one left it, er, standing. An expansive complex of two annexes, it presented a balanced picture of why the atrocity took place, as well as it`s harrowing effects. It started with the images of daily life in 1940s Hiroshima and a large scale model of the city`s buildings. There was non stop footage of the air mission to drop the bomb, and the explosion. A second large scale model revealed only half a dozen buildings still standing and recorded footage recorded an entire city in rubble and dead bodies lying around everywhere.

You moved across to the other annex where it really got gruesome. There were plenty of artifacts which had survived; watches and clocks stopped at 8.15am, a bag of golf clubs that had fused together, human bones melted into glass and rubble, the shadow of a person on some stone steps. There was an awful model of three lifesize children walking out of flames with their skin and clothes hanging off them. Particularly touching were the stories of the survivors. Both adults and children had staggered to where their houses had once existed with bodies almost covered in third degree burns. They survived for a few hours or days before dying from the injuries. One mother had cut the fingertips and hanging skin off her son when he died to prove to relatives that he had died since his face was unrecognisable. The 58 year old fingers and skin lay in a glass case. I couldn`t imagine the pain these people went through. It was strong stuff that did not shirked any of the horror of the bomb`s aftermath. You left wondering how anyone could ever let it happen again. It was also interesting to see the immediate rebuilding of the city. Within 3 days of the bomb, some trams were running on the outskirts. Within a year, despite no water or electricity, tents and wooden shacks had provided the nucleus for a new city.

Virtual Tour of Memorial Peace Museum
Photos of some of the museum exhibits

After that experience, we needed some light relief in the evening. US Jeff had visited Hiroshima in November, and had spent an evening at Uncle Kazu’s bar. "You`ve gotta check this guy out, he`s a riot" he told me. So we did. we walked downtown to the frenetic Friday night crowds of local revellers and managed to find the bar on the second floor of a building tucked up an alleyway. At 8pm, the bar was empty. It was a small wooden affair lined with shelves housing bottles of seemingly every type of alcohol under the sun. Uncle Kazu, a short but smartly dressed Japanese man, welcomed us. He had spent a few years in California as a restaurateur and his English was excellent. He could even curse like a westerner. We sat and drank beers and heard some of his stories (none of which I can now remember so it must have been a good night). He had been setting up a table next to us for a group of software engineers who were expected. Six men and one woman arrived and started on one, then a second bottle of Jack Daniels. "Typical Japanese" said Uncle Kazu "They work all day and then they spend their evenings discussing their work, and they are doing it on their own unpaid time. Anyone else would do it at work and leave it in the office. But not the Japanese".

Once I learnt that they worked for a computer company, I asked Kazu to introduce us. With all my years in IT we had something in common. Only one man felt confident enough to try his English and he stuttered and constantly blinked as he fought to get the words out. But I kept the questions simple; what is your name, age, job etc and fuelled by alcohol, they opened up and a few of them used some English. We were immediately invited to join them and started on a 3rd and 4th bottle of JD. One of the problems in Japan is that most people are just too shy to try their English. Bryan, `my 17 years in Japan and still here friend`, had told me that if you let them drink enough, they will lose their inhibitions and open up. It was also a novelty for them to actually talk to westerners. Consequently I spent one of most enjoyable evenings I had ever spent in Japan; hospitable treatment from total strangers. We felt like regulars. They refused any money and even picked up our previous beer tab. We were finally poured out of the bar at 11pm for the long walk back to meet the midnight curfew with me ranting at Jill how great Hiroshima was. The streets were heaving.

Tomo No Ura

Slightly the worse for wear, we left Hiroshma on December 28th on a sunny morning and headed east. Originally, I had intended to visit the island of Ikuchi Jima to visit Kosan Ji, a technicolour temple complex. But it involved finding return ferry rides and rather than subject Jill to yet another temple, I decided to concentrate on a completely different kind of place. The Rough Guide said `There are few more pleasant ways to spend half a day in Japan than exploring the enchanting fishing port of Tomo No Ura at the tip of the Numakuma Peninsula`. So we did. And it was right. Here, we found a quiet and poor (for Japan) town with one of the most beautiful locations on the Inland Sea, 14km south of Fukuyama.

The predominantly low level wooden town of only 3000 people, was full of narrow twisty streets and surrounding hills, liberally sprinkled with picturesque temples and shrines. We pulled in beside the horseshoe shaped harbour, which had hardly changed since the town`s late 17th Century heyday, when trading vessels waited here for the tides to change direction, or rested en route to mainland Asia. A handful of stalls were assembled, with rows of drying squid and sea bream on washing lines. There also appeared to be large dead black birds hanging from the lines, but on closer inspection, they were inflatable models to scare real birds away. The stalls had baskets of prawns and squirming crabs. Small wooden fishing boats motored in and unloaded very small catches. It was strange to visit a town in Japan without a supermarket, McDonalds or many restaurants. `Where`s the pachinko parlour?` asked Jill. She had seen the tasteless neon lit parlours everywhere else, and dragging her into one, she had lasted about a minute of the crescending noise and barrage of cigarette smoke. The quiet sunny streets were full of poorly dressed locals pottering or cycling around. It was the only place I never saw someone talking into a mobile phone.

Peering through a window, I discovered a packed local izakaya and we entered for lunch. You know the food is good when the locals eat there. We looked around and choose a set tray of dishes that many people were eating. The Japanese seem to love a variety of small dishes and our tray contained around six along with small bowls of rice and miso soup. You look at it and think, thats no enough to fill me, but because you pick at the food and each has a different taste, your stomach starts to tell your brain that it is full. No wonder they stay so trim. We sat at the counter with a woman who asked where we were from and then proclaimed that her daughter was at Manchester University for four years. I joked that she`d return saying the word `fookin` in every sentence but she missed the translation. It was another lovely experience to behave like locals.

After lunch, we drove up into the hills to try and find an engaging snack food factory (Uonosato) to try our hand at making prawn paste `sembai` crackers (as you do), but we never found it. Instead, we ended up at the top of a commanding hillside position overlooking the town and surrounding islands. It was one of the nicest seascapes I had seen in Japan, with a light but rich blue sea and the peaks of small islands poking out of it off the mainland.

Kurashiki; Bikan Historical District

Returning back to the main route along southern Honshu, the suburb of Kurashiki lay on the outskirts of Okayama. Here we found a delightful enclave of 17th Century black and white walled merchants` homes and granary storehouses from when the town was an important centre for trade in rice and rush reeds. The compact Bikan historical area was cut through by a narrow, weeping willow fringed canal, in which swans drifted and koi (carp) fish gawped and it was lined by endless souvenir/tat shops and restaurants. While Jill did some `quick shopping` (is that an oxymoron or what?), I wandered into the food gift shops to try all the `freebies` on display. These places usally have small bowls of everything on sale so that you can try it before you buy it. So I nibbled my way around various pickles, bean curd cakes and peanut brittle.

Okayama; Korakuen Gardens

It was a short drive to Okayama to our accommodation. I had reserved a room in a traditional Japanese guesthouse, the Matsunoki Ryokan. Our room was in standard Japanese style; tatami mats and futon beds to be made up on the floor, no chairs, just cushions and a low table, and dressing gowns to wear. It was freezing and unable to understand the heater instructions, I had to run down to the reception desk three times for advice. In the end I learnt the Japanese for "Bugger it. I`ll come and do it myself". There was an onsen in the building, but packed with Japanese businessmen, we opted for our own private soaking bath.

Okayama is 730km west of Tokyo. It`s major attraction is it`s famous `Korakuen` garden, considered one of Japan`s top three. The spacious gardens were overlooked by the towering reconstructed castle Okayami Ji which looked very impressive. Founded in 1686, this landscaped garden is notable for it`s lush green lawns which are highly unusual in Japanese garden design. Admittedly in December, the lawns were a dry light yellow colour but still pleasing to the eye. The garden had all the traditional elements, including teahouses, artificial lakes, islands, hills and borrowed scenery. It was very different from the gardens in Takamatsu, especially the flock of caged bleating red crested cranes. I don`t know if I`d classify it under the top three, but I had now completed the best five gardens in Japan.

Photos of Korakuen Gardens

Himeji; Castle

Today was `castle day`. We had seen Okayama Ji and took off for Himeji. By far the most impressive of Japan`s twelve surviving feudal era fortresses is the one at Himeji, 55 km west of Kobe, the memorable backdrop to the James Bond adventure `You Only Live Twice`. Himeji means `white egret castle` because the complex is supposed to resemble the shape of the bird in flight. High up on a formidable steep stone base of carved boulders, the splendid five storied gabled `donjons` of Himeji miraculously survived World War Two bombing that laid waste to much of the rest of the city.

The present complex of moats, thick defensive walls and keep dates from the early 17th Century. This imposing structure was never conquered. Not even by us. The New Year holiday had started today and it was closed. Doh! So we never got to take the zigzag path through the gates, turrets and walls from which defending soldiers could fire arrows, shoot muskets or drop stones and boiling liquids, up to the inner citadel within which there are six levels supported by a framework of huge wooden pillars. No matter. walking around the defensive walls, the ediface still looked awesome. It is afterall, the largest castle in Japan.

More Photos of Himeji Castle

Osaka; Castle

Driving back over ugly and `exotic` as ever` Kobe, we entered Osaka in light Sunday afternoon traffic. We negotiated the efficient inner ring road system (the `Loop`) and got off at the right exit. `The urban equivalent of the Elephant Man` (Rough Guide), Osaka (2.5 million pop), Japan`s third largest city after Tokyo and Yokohama (which are really just one city) was an unrelenting concrete cityscape, with nothing to offer us but the handsomely renovated castle, Osaka Ji, the single most visited attraction in Japan (arguably because in this huge city, there is nothing else to see!). Entering the large complex through the Sakura Mon gate, we passed the gigantic 130 tonne Tako Ishi (Octopus Stone) which, with a surface area of 60 sq metres, is the largest rock used in the original construction of the castle walls. The main tower was closed, but no matter, with its gilded paint on the layered donjons it still looked very impressive.

The car was parked near a gang of Japanese youths dressed as 1950`s Greasers or `rockabillies`; greased black hair quiffed into DA`s, black leather jackets, levi jeans, winkle picker shoes and their girlfriends in billowing fifties type gingum dresses. They jived around a ghettoblaster that pumped out American and Japan rockabilly (`we`re growing to lock alound the crock tonight`and `don`t you step on my brue swede shroes` etc). It was the first time I had seen them in Japan, now that Harajuku has banned them in Tokyo (scene of the Sunday punks/goths fashion show).

Negotiating the late Sunday afternoon traffic, we escaped Osaka and made for Kyoto. It was like coming home again. We would spend three nights here at our familiar hotel. It was also nice to empty the car after a week on the road. That evening, Jill cracked. "Give me western food. I want pizza and I want it now". Fortunately, an excellent take away was a 5 minute drive away.

Kyoto is, overall, Japan`s most popular tourist destination. The capital of Japan for more than a thousand years, Kyoto is endowed with an almost overwhelming legacy of ancient Buddhist temples (1600 of them), hundreds of Shinto shrines, majestic palaces, a clutch of imperial villas and 200 gardens of every size and description. During World War Two it had been high on the list of potential Atom bomb targets but had been spared by the Americans because of it`s supreme architectural and historical importance. I had explored Kyoto extensively with my parents in August, but there were still plenty of sights that I wanted to see. Kyoto is one of those places with hidden treasures that you just stumble across. So our stay was a cross between a Greatest Hits for Jill and a Hidden Treasures for me. As before, I will only cover the new places in depth. A photo will suffice for anything else that I had seen before.

Eastern Kyoto

We kicked off with a walking tour of eastern Kyoto and caught the clean and efficient subway station to Keage. Like Moscow, the platforms were sealed. A train would pull up at an exact point and doors would open along with the train doors. I guess suicide rates by jumping in front of trains must be 0% here. Kyoto has plenty of street maps everywhere, so you can usually find what you are looking for.

An arched gate at Konchi Ji led to one of Kyoto`s apparently `most beautiful dry gardens`(RG) surrounded by secluded paths, trees, and a small pond. Its centrepiece was a large rectangle of raked gravel with two groups of rocks set against a bank of clipped shrubs. The right hand, vertical rock group represented a crane, in balance with the horizontal `tortoise` topped by a twisted pine on the left; both of these animals symbolise longevity. It`s not the best garden in Kyoto but lovely all the same.

More Photos of Konchi In Temple

Kochi Ji is a sub temple of Nanzen Ji, a large, active temple which belongs to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism and is one of the most important in Kyoto. The looming bulk of San Mon (1628), the main wooden gate to Nanzenji was very monumental; a tall, dark brooding chunk of wood supported by vast pillars. There were plenty of morning tour groups strolling around the vast complex where towering cedar trees covered the brown wooden buildings with their green canopies. At another quiet sub temple, we watched a solitary local woman stand before a shrine, clap her hands twice to awaken the spirits, throw some change into the money box and say a silent prayer.

The Philosopher`s Path was our next destination, but thanks to me, we took a long detour past a hidden waterfall where locals believe the water in a small cave is sacred, up along an empty forest trail to the top of a hill and down again to another smaller temple. Fortunately, this turned out to be the start of the Path. The name of this two kilometre long path refers to a respected philosopher (well it wouldn`t be a plummer) who took, his daily constitutional along the wooded hillside in the early 20th Century. It was a lovely walk by the side of a narrow, shallow stream, that had been walled in, with occasional bridges built over it to link the quiet residential areas on either side.

Photos of Philosopher`s Path

The path led to Ginkaku Ji, which numbers among Kyoto`s most celebrated sights. It was my mother`s favourite place in Japan with it`s strange dry gardens, surrounding hillside gardens and the Silver Pavilion which is, er, wooden as the centrepeice. The silver was never added. As in August, the gardens were packed.

Returning south through the backstreets to Heian Jingu, we found the huge and garishly bright orange painted shrine, built in 1895 to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the founding of the city. By then Tokyo was the capital. Jill concluded "It looks like they found a job lot of cheap Dulux paint and thought, well, it`s a little bright, but it`s cheap so we might as well use it". Personally, I liked the Japanese habit of using retina wretching bright orange paint to bring some colour to the usually plain, brown, `naturalistic` looking wooden shrines. A few local women and small girls strolled around in kimonos.

Chion In was a busy complex, where everything is built on a monumental scale. It is the HQ of the Jodo (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism, whatever that is. It contained the colossal Daisho Ro bell, the largest in Japan, hanging in it`s belfry; a popular place to be on New Year`s Eve when it takes 17 priests to ring the 67 tonne monster. The cavernous main hall, all dark wood and sumptuous gold had squeaking floorboards on the surrounding balcony, supposedly a defence mechanism to alert the priests of intruders. They are said to sound like nightingales. As we padded around, the incessant squeaking reminded me of those awful shoes that small kids wear that squeak with every step. They may look cute, but eventually you just want to slap them around the head and say `stop walking!`.

Photos of Chion In Temple`s Main Hall
Photos of Chion In Temple`s Gian Bell

Kodai Ji Temple had a massive but simply designed female form of Buddha on a pedestal with the forested hills as a backdrop. It must be new. There was nothing in the guidebooks.

Nearby were a couple of inviting cobbled lanes known as Sannen Zaka (Three Year Slope) and Ninen Zaka (Two Year Slope) which preserve the last vestiges of the old Kyoto townscape. The two storey wooden townhouses date from the late 1800s. They were now shops peddling Kiyomizu pottery, bamboo ware, pickles and refreshments and were very crowded with both Japanese and western tourists.

Photo of Sannen Zaka
Photo of Ninen Zaka

It was here that we spotted two Geisha girls; a rare sight nowadays in Japan. I`m not sure if they were just dressed up by the local tourist board but they looked beautiful. Their faces and necks were powdered in white, which they shaded with their hands as they walked in the sunshine to stop it running. Their long piled up black hair was ornately dressed in bunches of tiny flowers weaved into it. They wore expensive and multicoloured tight silk kimonos and traditional platform wooden sandels (to originally keep the kimonos out of the mud) with white socks. As they shuffled along the cobbled streets, both Japanese and Western tourists snapped photos of them

You have all heard of Geisha girls and if not, I recommend the book `Memoirs of A Geisha Girl` by Arthur S Golden. It is part of bygone Japanese history (although they still exist apparently) where girls were raised to serve as hostesses/call girls to wealthy men, who would often take them as mistresses and provide for their every need. It must have cost the sugar daddies a fortune to keep them in face powder. Usually, they are only seen at night in fleeting glimpses as they shuffle to their next appointment. They certainly impressed Jill who couldn`t believe that they could go to so much trouble to look immaculate in both appearance and behaviour.

Photo of Geisha Girls and article on western Hostessing in Japan

Kiyomizu Dera was close by with it`s trademark wooden balcony overhanging the valley. The buildings dated from 1633, with further examples of garish orange paint. We took in the views of Kyoto and descended to the train station back in the centre.

On my travels, I seem to check out a lot of train stations, especially the old ones which hark back to the romantic days of travel; puffing your way out to a new destination with a chug chugging sound as opposed to a whining `please fasten your safety belts etc` mantra aboard every sterile flight nowadays. Kyoto`s station, however is the most modern in Japan; a shiny new monumental steel gray affair that was completed in the late 1990s and is simply awesome. It`s design was very controversial. For starters, the central atrium has a towering roof that kind of curls across like a wave of steel and glass! A series of escalators take you up twelve floors to the Sky Garden, a concrete patio with a few trees, from where you can look out over low level Kyoto. There is also a suspended walkway across the whole thing. The station boasts a department store, restaurants and underground shopping malls as well as a hotel and theatre. I had never seen a train station like this one.

Photo of Kyoto Station Looking Down

Our last sights on this exhausting 9 hour stroll were Higashi Hongan Ji and the Nishi Hongan Ji. Both were large temple complexes ("Just what I need. Another temple" Jill). The former had to be completely rebuilt after a fire in 1864. The huge Founder`s Hall was among Japan`s largest wooden buildings. Nishi Hongan Ji` also contained two huge wooden halls; Founders Hall (1636) and the Amida Hall (1760) which were on the World Heritage List. The complex was busy setting up for New Year`s Eve tomorrow night. I think you can guess what Jill had for dinner as she soaked her aching feet.

Western Kyoto

For our second day`s touring of Kyoto, we used the car to cover an anticlockwise half circle of sights on the western side of the city. Most of these I had covered in August. We started at the Daitoku Ji (Temple of Great Virtue) in the Northwest of the city; one of Kyoto`s largest Zen foundations with over 20 subtemples in it`s large compound. The Daisen-in temple is the most famous. This sub temple contains two gardens built around 1509. For the first one "the miniaturised, allegorical landscape is squeezed into a narrow strip, then cut in two by a corridor with a bell shaped window. Replicating a Chinese landscape painting, the garden only uses carefully selected rocks, pebbles and a few scaled down plants to conjure up jagged mountains, from which a stream tumbles down to the plain, then broadens into a gently flowing river. Just in front of the bell shaped window, a boat shaped rock `floats` (on the sand) seawards, enhancing the garden`s allusion to the passage of life".(Rough Guide). Following the `river` south and it opened into the second larger garden. Here an expanse of raked, white gravel represents the `Sea of Nothingness`, into which two cones of purity are sinking; the idea is that a soul must be pure, or empty to face it`s destiny. Both gardens were designed in the Sixteenth Century. As in August, we were lucky. Visiting it, first thing in the morning, we had the temple and gardens to ourselves before the tour groups. Removing our shoes, we padded over the polished wooden decks around the paper thin walls. It was very tranquil and silent, until a monk got out his portable mobile leaf blower (oo er) and destroyed the ambience big time. We were also amazed to see a monk squatted down on the gravel garden shaping it all by hand. So that`s how they do it. I thought they used a rake! Koto In, a few minutes walk away still had the fine mossy gardens I had seen before.

Info and Photos of Daisen-in Gardens

Outside Kinkaku Ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavillion, we discovered that the beautiful building was completely covered in a giant tarpaulin while they did repairs. This was a shame for Jill because it is one of Kyoto`s best sights, but there seemed no point in entering to just see an unfeasibly large tent.

Photos of Kinkaku Ji Temple

Moving onto Ryoan Ji`s (Temple of the Peaceful Dragon) supreme example of an austere, enigimatic Zen Garden, we found it packed with tourists. Originally designed in the 15th Century, it is probably Japan`s most famous garden. The garden consists of a long, walled rectangle of off white gravel in which fifteen stones of various sizes are arranged in five groups, some rising up from the raked sand and others almost completely lost. In fact, the stones are placed so that whenever you stand one of them is always hidden from view. The only colour is provided by electric green patches of moss around some stones, making this the simplest and most abstract of all Japan`s Zen gardens. I still couldn`t work out the symbolism of it all. I bet you can`t either.

Photos of Ryoan Ji`s Garden

Nearby, Koryu Ji was another vast complex with a towering pagoda and an array of wooden temples. It is apparently Kyoto`s oldest temple but it has been rebuilt numerous times. Very few people seem to visit this one. Todi Ji, also contained a five story pagoda, Japan`s tallest (which was erected in 826 and last rebuilt in the mid 17th Century) and the red lacquered Kodo (Lecture Hall).

Photos of Koryu Ji

The final sight was Sanjusangen Do. I had deliberately left this until last. It is like nothing else in Japan. Here, we found a 120m long temple hall (the longest wooden building in Japan) with the ranks of 1001 lifesize gilded statues inside. It was a truly awe inspiring sight. At first, the impassive, haloed figures (made from Japanese cypress trees) appear as identical images of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, portrayed with eleven heads and a thousand arms. But they all have subtle differences in their faces, clothes and jewellery or the symbols held in their tiny, outstretched hands. In the middle was a large, seated Kannon to make up the 1001. They had survived from 1266. In August, it had been relatively quiet. Today it was crammed full of tourists but as impressive as ever. I had described it as the Japanese version of the Terracotta Warriors in China. It is unmissable as a sight in Kyoto. Unfortunately, you cannot take photos of the statues and there is nothing on the internet.

New Years Eve Ceremony

New Year`s Eve is called `ohmisoka`, the last day of the year when tradition calls for the settling of all debts. Whereas in the west, New Year`s Eve brings wild celebration, in Japan it passes quietly, with families at home slurping noodles and watching variety shows on TV while the countdown to midnight progresses. Why noodles? Belief has it that they slide down easily without chewing, therefore the New Year`s luck will slide in easily.

Kyoto does have a Shinto tradition on New Year`s Eve; `Joya no kane` is the name of the Japanese bell-ringing ritual which brings the old year to an end and ushers in the new. Giant temple bells, called bonsho, one for each temple, usually made of copper, are struck with a large, swinging beam at a spot encircled by a design of lotus petals. Bonsho are struck 108 times on New Year's Eve to purge humankind of the 108 Buddhist sins. I had discovered numerous temples where we could go, but we chose tiny Mibu Dera about 20 minutes walk from the hotel. Arriving around 11.30pm, we joined the queue of people lining up to ring the bell. Japanese bells are rung by pulling ropes to wield a large trunk of wood. Ten people at a time would be ushered to grab two ropes (5 on each). A man standing in the bell tower would co-ordinate the timing; one, two, three. PULL! (in Japanese). It didn`t take long for us to reach the front. We followed the yell and pulled on the ropes with 8 other people. The 6ft long tree trunk was pulled towards the bell and clanged against it. Nearby was a stall where they doled out free cups of hot Amazake. This is a hot rice drink with sake and ginger spice added; rather like drinking sweet soup. As we left the temple, we walked past half a kilometre`s worth of Japanese families all lining up to pull the bell. The maths were that 10 people pulling each dong, multiplied by 108 times = 1080 people, just for this temple. The bell ringing was going on all over Kyoto. Happy New Year.

Roadtrip continues on January 2003 page...