Category: travel

Konnichiwa everyone! Man versus Kit Kat round 2 is officially underway! So how do I begin? Well, you know me. No rest for the wicked. So let’s start about 24 hours ago…

About 24 hours ago I was sitting on a plane heading from Melbourne to Sydney to jet my way over to Tokyo. After an uneventful flight to Sydney, and a routine pass through immigration I was Japan-bound. That too was uneventful… just how I like my flights. I watched a movie, had some food, and got about 4 hours sleep… probably the best you can hope for really.

So pretty much smack bang on time I touched down in Tokyo. All continued to go smoothly, with an easy move through immigration and customs. Even when the customs official was trying to grill me on what I was doing and where I was going, he was just so darned polite. A warm welcome as expected.

That was when I got my first cold reception. No, not a surly airport person or a rude tourist, but the smack in the face of 1 degree. Yep… it was 1 degree at Narita. Chilly, brrrrr. Luckily I had prepared and had my thermals packed on top of my backpack and my beanie in my carry on. So on they went and off to the train to head into Tokyo proper.

The N’Ex got me to Shinagawa with the expected punctuality. Only problem with that was that meant I was in Shinagawa at about 9am, to early to check in to my hostel. Problem? Did I say problem? Nah, not at all! I did what I do… just dumped my bag and got out there to explore!

Given I have seen a lot of Tokyo already, I decided to head somewhere new, so I jumped on a train south to the small town of Kamakura. It is a small town near the coast about 40 min by train south of Tokyo, and known for its shrines, temples, and a rather large Buddha. We’ll get to him though.

It was on the train that I had another taste of what makes Japan awesome. The train seats were heated. My butt was nice and toasty. Now I wasn’t in any fancy train, rather a run of the mill suburban train. Metro, I will be writing an email when I get back. Nothing is as comforting as a warm butt.

Anyway, so after arriving in Kamakura I got walking. It was an absolutely glorious day. Chilly, but beautiful blue sky. First stop was Engaku-Ji, a nice temple just near Kita-Kamakura station. Unfortunately Kyoto has probably clouded my view of other temples, but it was still a nice way to settle back into Japan.

I then did the wander down the more impressive Kencho-Ji, the main temple complex in the town. This was a bit more like it! There was something nice about wandering around in the chilly air all rugged up… last time I was here it was hot and humid as buggery.

From there it was to the main shrine in the town, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-Gu. This was very much like Kyoto, where from the top of the complex you could see across the town, feeling as though you are not in the woods, rather smack bang in the middle of day to day life.

Given it was a nice day for wandering, and the legs needed a workout after 10 hours of plane travel, I decided to leg it to visit Daibutsu. This took me down the main shopping strip which was mainly just souveniry type stores, but was a pleasant wander down the lantern lined path.

And it turned out the Buddha was a bit further away than I thought. But no harm. Soon enough he greeted me.

This Daibutsu is apparently the second biggest in Japan, the number one being in Nara (who got a visit from me last time). This one was cool though, all out in the open. I would easily rank him up there with the big pineapple and the big banana 🙂

From there I still had plenty of time up my sleeve so thought I would take the hiking path back to the train station. I knew it was about 4km, but thought “that’s easy!”. Hhhmmm. It wasn’t hard, but holy cow my calves got a work out. There was some good trekking through the forest hills there. But again, a nice way to spend the arvo.

So back on a train to Shinagawa and that gets me to here… typing away in my hostel. Staying at Guesthouse Shinagawa again like last time… easy to find, good location, and a known quantity. Only a couple of days here though before I leg it to Nagoya.

So I thought I might crash, but a shower and typing has got me awake. Maybe a couple of hours visit to Akihabara might be in order. Hhhmmm. All will be revealed tomorrow 🙂

Thanks for reading! More to come although Internet may be more sporadic this time. But I will keep you all posted!

… Matt

All going to plan, regular transmissions start in about 24-36 hours. Giddy up!

Oh yeah, I’m going back to Japan!  I have my flights booked to head back to the amazing land of the rising sun. So yeah, I am pretty excited.

I am heading away for just under 4 weeks at the end of the year…. the middle of winter! The timing fits in with work holidays, but also because my friends Glen and Ayako (and Masato!) should be there at the start of my trip. The opportunity to spend some time with them in Ayako’s hometown is too good an opportunity to pass up. Plus it is a great chance to see a different season, quite the opposite from last time’s hot, humid, and rainy visit.

So this blog entry is just me starting to bounce around ideas of what to do. I will work out a rough plan before I go, just in case I need to book any places in the snow, but I also don’t mind leaving a bit up in the air. Keeping in mind last time I spent quite a bit of time in Kyoto and Tokyo, and saw all the big sights there, and visited Hiroshima and Takayama, here is my first pass at what I might do…

1. Starting in Nagoya

Ayako’s family is from that area, so my plan is to start there. I don’t really know anything about Nagoya, except that is a fairly decent sized city, and not that far (relatively) from Osaka. This time is really just about hanging out with friends and soaking up local hospitality. Whatever I get up to will be fun no doubt.

2. Ise

Ise was one place I considered going to last time but just didn’t have a spare day. This time I won’t make the same mistake. Ise is a small city on the Shima Peninsula, and is apparently home to some pretty amazing shines and temples. Not far from Nagoya so this will be a no brainer… either as a day trip when I am staying there, or on my way to Kyoto. The only problem might be heading there so close to New Year… supposedly the shrine there is absolutely packed as millions of people visit Ise-jingu to start their year. That could be amazing in itself.

3. Back to Kyoto

I just adored Kyoto (and its surrounds) when I visited last year. I spent hours and hours wandering gorgeous temples, parks, forests, and the city itself. There were some key places I didn’t get to, so I have to go back and fill those gaps. Plus what is not to love about hanging out in Kyoto, jumping on a bike, and soaking it all up again.

Must visits that I didn’t catch last time are probably the temples in Northern Higashiyama (including Nanzen-ji, Gingkaku-Ji, and the Philosophers Path), the Imperial Palace, Daitoku-ji, and Fushimi-inari (the temple with the thousands of torii).

4. Kanazawa

One city that I will consider is Kanazawa. I don’t really know that much except it apparently has some pretty crazy gardens and is surrounded by some quaint fishing villages. A little out of the way up on the coast, due north of Nagoya it could be something nice and different. Maybe I will head there first, on my way from Tokyo to Nagoya?

5. Up into the Mountains around Nagano

This time I plan to get off the beaten track a bit more and the area surrounding Nagano is high up there, for a few reasons… onsen, snow, monkeys, and snow monkeys.

Top of my visit to Japan this time is to meet the fine residents of the Jigokudani Monkey Park. Snow Monkeys! This would be cool beyond belief.

Just near the monkey park is a small onsen town called Shibu Onsen. Apparently they have 9 bath houses that brings good fortune if you visit all of them. A made up tradition to get tourists? Maybe. But who cares? A couple of days doing nothing but visit snow monkeys and soak in onsen sounds perfect to me.

I really need to do some snowboarding while I am there too. I need to have a think about how much. One issue is that my back is a bit dodgy these days, but two, I will head to…

6. Hokkaido

I will definitely have a rail pass again, and this time I want to really exploit it to get some out of the way places. Hokkaido, the northern most island of Japan is pretty  out of the way.

Hakodate is apparently a nice stop on the way, just on the southern tip of Hokkaido. “Enjoy fresh seafood for breakfast” at the morning markets says Japan Guide. Sounds OK to me.

Hokkaido is home to the main city of Sapporo (yes, the beer!), huge national parks, and shed-loads of snow, this could be my main snow activity destination. Again, not sure how much boarding I will be able to do, but if I visit the massive snow fields of Niskeo, how can I resist snow fields that get 15 metres of powder snow a year?

7. Nikko

It must be about time to start heading back to Tokyo to fly home. Kikko was somewhere I intended to visit last time, but again time was my enemy. Nikko seems a lot like Nara, in that it is a small town full of temples and shrines. Conveniently it is on the path heading back south to Tokyo so might be nice to have a couple of days there to chill out.

8. Finish in Tokyo

Like last time I imagine I will finish in Tokyo. It is convenient in that it gets me close to the airport, but that also means if I get my timing right I can have my rail pass finish as I arrive in Tokyo and then it is just local trains to finish my travels.

No real plans for Tokyo, since I spent quite a bit of time there last visit. But three things on the agenda…

First things first… THERE IS A SUMO TOURNAMENT ON WHEN I AM THERE! Yep. Sumo. How freakin’ amazing would that be? I know what I have to do to get tickets, so let’s see if I can.

Secondly, there is a new exhibition on at the Ghibli Museum WHERE ADULTS GET TO GO ON CAT BUS! Yep. Riding on cat bus. How freakin’ amazing would that be? Fingers crossed that is still on when I am there.

Thirdly, and with less caps-lock, might be a visit to Kamakura, a costal town an hour south of Tokyo. Looks just like a cool place to visit to soak up some more traditional Japan before I head home.

Obviously there will also be some Akihabara shenanigans, record shopping, and maybe chasing some more weirdos in Harajuku. Maybe I might even head to Hakone to get a closer look at Fuji if I have time. Then, quite sadly, it will be back home.

So that is what I reckon I might get up to. Oh, and of course I will be chasing kit kats. Of course. Anway, if anyone happens to chance across my blog and read this post, please feel free to let me know what I might have missed! I will keep you posted in the lead up to my trip.

Since a few people have asked what my favourite thing was, what I didn’t like, what I would have done differently, here is the inevitable wrap up posting. Also it will end the Japan trip nicely before I go on to blog about all my Kit Kats (yes, you will get detailed posts about each flavour), and also before I sporadically blog about other things.

I will try not to create definitive lists or anything like that… just my thoughts now a few days home have passed.

Highlights?

My list of highlights will probably be easy to guess from my postings and those of you that I have spoken to. So, in sort of an order but not really…

Mt Fuji Climb – This is obvious. Most of you know it was my big goal for the trip, and to have such a smooth climb with a good bunch and great weather was almost too good to be true. The climb was tough but manageable, and the fact that I avoided altitude sickness I was very chuffed. But to see the sunrise on top of a mountain? That is truly something I may never do again. Magic.

Himeji Castle – This is a combo of being something I dreamed about seeing, and also that the renovation work I knew was happening was not as far along as expected, meaning I saw the castle in its glory. Add my own guide leading me through the twists and turns and it was an amazing historical visit.

Ghibli Museum – As mentioned I am a fan of Ghibli, but not a full on devotee, but this museum was gorgeous. I wandered for hours soaking up the magical detail provided by Miyazaki and was awestruck, even though I couldn’t jump in the big Neko-Bus. It has made me want to go back and revisit those films I only thought were OK.

Nara / Southern Higashiyama walk in Kyoto – It is impossible to split these two, since they both consisted of long walks through beautiful temples. Nara would have the edge with Todaiji, however the long walk through temples in Kyoto was breathtaking.

Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima – It is just such an amazing and haunting place to visit. You know the enormity of what happened, but until you see the actual consequences of it in your face, I am not sure it can ever be appreciated.

Baseball in Tokyo – I am not the biggest baseball fan in the world, but I am a sports nut, so to go to see a sport where the folks are so crazy was fantastic. Yes, many of you have commented I was hypnotised by the beer girls, and yes I was, but it was the atmosphere overall that was great fun.

What Will I Miss?

There are the little things I will miss…

The People – I know I didn’t understand what people were saying 99.9% of the time, but everyone was just so freakin’ nice!

Coffee in a can – Yep. I got hooked on it. I already miss my morning cold coffee hit. I need to get it happening here in Oz.

A Train System and Travel Card that works – It astounds me that our train system can be so crappy, and Myki does not work, when I have just used a system in Tokyo that handles millions of people a day without a hitch. Oh, I know problems probably happen, but I never noticed.

Getting good cheap food anywhere – That means good noodles from small stores, wildly different okonomyaki, fresh sushi, all pretty cheap. I now have to try and perfect an awesome ramen. Oh, and of course… Kit Kats.

Wandering parks – I think a default thing to do everywhere I went was to just to wander a park, even in a megalopolis like Tokyo. Usually a temple would poke its head up, or a deer would stick its nose in your pocket.

What didn’t I like?

Someone said to me “You couldn’t have liked everything!”. Well, almost everything sorry, yeah. I won’t say I was disappointed by anything, but some things were not as I expected maybe.

The main thing is probably Tokyo itself. Now let me clarify, I really dug Tokyo. Ghibli! Record Stores! Akihabara! But Tokyo probably didn’t “wow” me as much as I thought it might. It was probably the place I just expected to be picking my jaw up off the ground from either the craziness, the awesomeness, the confusion, or just the sheer scale of it all. But I didn’t really get it.

Sure the train network was overwhelming for a couple days, but then you work it out. Yep, the trains and stations are packed, but you get used to it. There are strange folk, but not the volume of them as I expected. Maybe I was expecting Blade Runner, but I just got another cool city. But would I go back and hang out there? Of course!

I did get Blade Runner’s relentless rain though. But I knew that was coming. Given with work these were the only weeks I could visit this time of year, it was always going to happen. As you can no doubt tell, it didn’t stop me doing anything though. Plus it just makes me want to go back in winter.

What would I have done differently?

I gotta say, for a first trip to Japan, I wouldn’t have done much differently at all. I checked all the big things off my list, and did heaps of things I dreamed about doing. I would maybe have taken a day or two off Tokyo, and popped them on to Kyoto so that I could catch some things I missed and also visit Osaka. But next time hey?

Time to start learning Japanese.