Journey to Japan

Up and off to Kyoto for four days. Talk about intrepid travellers – all I need is a Baedeker! It was a two hour journey by shinkansen, speeding along at 150 miles an hour through towns and villages I had never heard of, nor probably ever will again. This is what I was so looking forward to in this holiday; the completely alien nature of it all, the places, the language, the people. In Kyoto station we headed to the subway and were about to get our tickets when a man and his wife gave us two all-day travel passes. They had finished using them but the tickets were still good until midnight. This augured well for Kyoto.

We reached the hotel, which is right in the city centre and my heart leaped to see a bed and chairs in the room. After a bit of a reccy of the area, a great weariness came over me. Too tired even to go out to dinner, I’m having an early night and starting afresh tomorrow. I hope Mac can entertain you a bit better than I can. Night-night.

(GrumpyGub adds: I’m tired too. Not much from me either apart from this – I saw a bottle of local whiskey this evening which was described on the label as being “Ideal for the casual whiskey drinker” I bought it, of course. Well, come on, how could you not? It cost 798 Yen. That’s about £5.30. At those prices I can be as casual as you like. It actually tastes quite good.)

There are seven types of transportation in Hakone and today, we used 6 of them. Travelling through the mountains involved the train, cablecar and funucular railway each taking us higher and higher, until there she was in all her snow-capped glory – Fuji-san. At nearly 4000 metres this dormant volcano, with its perfectly symmetrical shape, holds a fascination for the Japanese people, inexorably tied to Shintoism and basic spiritualism. It’s easy to see why it is a source of national pride; its breath-taking beauty rendered even me speechless.

We continued through the countryside by train and bus admiring forests, waterfalls, and villages built into the side of the mountains and so remote from everything that you wondered why they were there at all. There was a pervading smell of sulphur coming from the hot springs and you could see the steam rising from openings in the land where the boiling warer had burst through.

Gorgeous as it all was, I’m ready to hit the noise, smoke and bustle of Kyoto tomorrow. I guess you can take the girl out of the city…

We had another ‘traditional’ dinner tonight, consisting of about 12 courses, most of which I hadn’t a clue as to what they were. In normal circumstances, I hate people who take photographs of their food. They are ignorant, gauche and very uncool. Here are some snaps of our dinner!

私はトト、もはや我々はカンザスにいるとは思わない

Click for a bigger version:

Headed off into the mountains today for a couple of days in a traditional 300 year old ryokan in Hakone. The journey there was interesting, to say the least. It was public transport all the way – metro, shinkansen then the local bus and we were the smug little buggers managing not to get lost in translation and making the various reservations on time. The local bus was the best of the lot, even better than the shinkansen. For over an hour, it wound its way up the mountains, snaking round hair pin bends and missing oncoming traffic by inches. It was very Jeremy Clarkson – scary and not very funny. The scenery however was amazing and was such an enormous contrast to Tokyo. We passed through villages built into the side of the mountains, terraced paddy fields, forests of fifty shades of green and scattered with the pink and white of the cherry blossoms.

We got to the ryokan and it was like entering an alien world. There are only 12 rooms in it and they are traditional (weird), all sliding doors, tatami flooring and paper windows. There is a low table with cushions in the middle of the room and below the table is a fire-pit called a kotatsu. When you sit at the table, you put the table cloth over your lap and everything below your waist gets all warm and cozy. the 2 futons were already made up on the floor and are a lot more comfortable than they actually look. The beamed ceiling and small-paned windows make it look very oriental but needless to say, after about 10 minutes it was looking like our Judy’s bedroom. Even though we took very little with us for these couple of days ( the rest of our luggage being forwarded to Koyoto) the place is now like a kip and dive.

Yukata (kimonos) are supplied and you are encouraged to wear them to relax in your room and anywhere else in the ryokan or for strolling about in the grounds. There are outdoor hot sulphur springs and indoor baths. These are not private facilites, if you get my drift, and they give you guidance for their use including the removal of the yukata before entering the baths and the instruction not to wear bathing costumes in the water and not to approach it wrapped in a towel. I’m not sure if the people of Japan are ready for me wobbling and flapping around in the pelt or indeed, Mac’s double zipper down his chest but hey-ho, when in Rome and all that…

Tonight’s dinner was also very different. There were 3 appetizers, fishy affairs, and steamed tofu. Then along came a whole roasted, spiced squid on a magnolia leaf. A tempura dish followed that. All the while, our main dish of pork and vegetables was cooking on a burner on our table. All this was going on at the same time and the table was also covered in miso pickles, ponzu sauce, soya, salad and rice. After five minutes, the table looked like a trough and our kimonos needed laundered. It was quite an experience – for the staff as well as us.

It’s now 11.00pm and a thunder storm has just started – very dramatic indeed. We’re about to hit the outdoor hot spring and howl at the moon and listen to the thunder and lightning. Maybe this is the Japanese gods’ way of telling us to keep our clothes on.

私はカイロプラクターが必要

Many Americans still think the Irish sit around turf fires under a thatched roof and disport themselves like extras from “The Quiet Man” This is a myth that the Irish Tourist people have made very little effort to dispel. After all, it’s good business. But nobody in their right minds, apart from a few lunatics, actually wants to live like that nowadays.

The same sort of thing appears to happen in Japan. When we were with our guide in Tokyo, we were looking at an exhibition depicting a traditional Japanese house. I said that I rather liked it’s minimalist lines. She gave me a look and the penny dropped. “I suppose this seems very old-fashioned to you”, I said. “Yes”, she replied, “my grandfather’s house was like that – I hated it. Nobody wants to live like that anymore”

When you get right down to it, a ryokan is just a shed with a very small table and a couple of sleeping bags on the floor. Yes, it’s fun for about 15 minutes but then reality sets in. There is nowhere to sit! Now if you happen to be a young Russian gymnast that’s probably fine but the likes of me very quickly discovers aches and pains where I didn’t know I had something to hurt. It doesn’t help that Mrsmcanespie-san finds my rolling-about-the-floor antics hererius. I had to ask for a chair to be brought in.

So, no – we won’t be building a ryokan in the back garden any time soon.

これらには、奇跡と驚異の日です

So here’s a thing – We’re sitting comfortably on the fantastically streamlined Shinkansen “Bullet” train. The GPS on my phone tells me that we are ambling along at 150mph. I’m talking to a web server somewhere in North America, preparing a post for our blog by means of a rock solid, high speed WiFi internet connection courtesy of a little box of tricks in my jacket pocket. Why am I doing this? Well, frankly, because I can. I am Otaku, it’s what we do. We’ve come a long way from two tin cans and a bit of string.

On our way out this morning, we noticed that the Denbo-in garden was opened. That’s where the monks of the Senso-ji temple live and it opens to the public only for a limited time each April. So in we went and were blown away by the beauty of this zen garden. It has features to appeal to all the senses and everything in it, the plants, fish, flowers, waterfalls, all reflect the ephemeral nature of life. Blissed out, we passed the Shinto tori gate and ran into a wedding – all very traditional and lovely.

As it was another beautiful day weather-wise, we planned to spend most of it in Hama-rikyu Gardens so took a short-cut to the metro by nipping through Mitsuya, an enormous department store. A small crowd of people were gathered in the foyer, waiting for it to open. On the stroke of 10.00, a klaxton sounded and the doors were opened in a flourish by the uniformed commissionaires. In we went and each assistant was standing to attention at their counters, each bowing deeply to us as we passed, wishing us ‘ohayo goziamasu’. I felt like royalty – there must have been about 100 of them lining our route. By the time we had made our way through the store, my back was broken with bowing – that’s what I get for using their shop as a shortcut.

Needless to say, the gardens were gorgeous – a green oasis nestling amidst the imposing tower blocks of the business area of Shimbashi. There were perfectly manicured sensory gardens, lakes, tea houses, Shogun riding and hunting lodges, forests, glades and bridges. They gave us these audio guides which use modern satellite technology to detect your location within the gardens and automatically narrate interesting facts and stories about it. Falls Park it wasn’t.

We were knackered by the time we got back to the hotel and decided to have a wee kip. Four hours later, we woke up and only went out to dinner at 10.30pm. Then it was back to do some serious packing. We’re off to Hakone tomorrow, staying two nights in a ryokan up in the mountains so the idea was to take just what we needed and to forward the rest of the luggage on to Kyoto. God knows what I’m taking – I literally bunged a couple of things into the wee case – so it will have to do.

My prize today for misplaced apostrophes goes to this sign in Denbo-in. It is a sign forbidding photography of the monks’ dwellings which I duly took a photograph of.

ジフを冠しオタクの用心

The Japanese have a word for people like me. (Stop sniggering at the back there, Barclay!)

What English speakers call “Geeks” the Japanese call “Otaku”. I like things that go Beep, I like making, fixing and fiddling with things that involve the flow of electrons. So yes, I’m a Geek. Doesn’t do anybody any harm. But these Otaku add into the mix a rather alarming addiction to Anime and Manga as well. The spiritual home of Otaku in Tokyo is the “Electric Town” district, more properly known as Akihabara.

Always willing to commune with a kindred mind, it was off to Akihabara for an electronic fix. The place was swarming with Otaku, most of whom were aproximately one third my age but sharing a liking for all things electronic. Now this Anime thing – I’m afraid I don’t get it, neotenous women with big eyes and high pitched voices dressed as cartoon characters – I’d rather leave that can of worms unopened.

Leaving that aside, the best thing about Akihabara is the sheer number and variety of businesses. I’m not talking about the Sony, Sega, Mitsubishi and Toshiba megastores. They’re all there, but leave that to the tourists wanting to buy duty-free Blu-Ray players. The true Otaku builds his own, and you get the bits to do that from the multitude of back-street small traders. It’s the niche marketing that I find interesting. Who would have thought that there was a living to be made selling connecting wire (and nothing else) to home enthusiasts? Another stall sells every kind of switch you could possibly think of. You want one of those old-fashioned double-pole open jobs that Frankenstein used to use to control the lightning to wake up the monster? you’ll get one here. How about a thermionic triode valve to fix your grandad’s wireless set? You want a Mullard CV4024? Certainly sir! What power rating would you like? And the guys running the stalls are not pushy. They are quite happy to let you browse and futer about without hassling you. I could have stayed there all day but it was time to move on.
Oh yea, and what Maire said about the park thing…

Woke up this morning with the sun splitting the stones. Filled with the milk of human kindness, I did my good deed of the holiday and accompanied mac to Akihabara – home of all things electrical, electronic, manga and anime. While the Apple, Sony and Sega were no doubt riveting, (even I had to agree) that the best part was the streets and alley-ways jam packed with huckster stalls of electronic ephemera. It was reminiscent of the old Smithfield – bunged with crap – not a clue what it was, but strangely compelling. A bit like the breakfast in our hotel. There was also an inordinate number of sex shops, doll cafes and maid cafes ( talk to you about those later!) It’s been a long time since I’ve seen grumpygub so happy – definitely up there with the birth our children and his realization that the stroke didn’t do away with ALL of his marbles.

Then it was off to Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens. A beautiful escape into Tokyo’s largest public park. Absolutely gorgeous! Zen gardens, tea room and more cherry blossom than you could shake a stick at – yes people, I got my petals dancing on a balmy zephyr! Such a chill-out place.

Back to the hotel via the depachika. This is tucked in the basement of Tokyo’s biggest department store and is an endless array of stalls selling every type of food imaginable – cakes, pastries, sashimi, fugu, souzai, bento, teas, drinks and everything else consumable. Think Jemaa el-Fnaa but with class and erudition.

Alas, good taste cannot last, and tonight we did street food. Suffice to say, we ended up half pissed with a group of Scandanavian sailors and I enclose the menu for your delectation!

私は雨が去った今でははっきりと見ることができます

The rain has stopped (for now) and it’s possible to see stuff again. This is the night-time view fom our hotel window. Those are Buddhist temples.

Regarding the pop quiz, that was a picture of the control panel (!) for the toilet in our en-suite bathroom.
It’s like sitting in a fighter jet cockpit. You get a heated seat and a variety of other “services” to chose from. Can’t quite make up my mind whether it’s decadent or brilliant.