Somewhere we saw an article about a shopping complex called Ginza 6 that had a pretty wacky installation in its atrium. We arrived before the mall opened – had to pass the lineup of people waiting to get into Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry store (as one does on a Sunday morning)
Found it!’
Cats in space?
Okay then. And no, I don’t know what or why.
On the top floor is a big Tsutsya bookstore. Which also is an art gallery. They specialize (as far as I can tell) in art, architecture, design books. Very stylish. On the same floor is a very stylish Starbucks.
Another instagrammable spot!
Oh and if you need a Japanese sword you can pick one up here for CAD50,000.
Japan has lots of snowy places but did you know that there is one place less than two hours from Tokyo? I didn’t. Wilf had it in his mind to go to the town of Yuzawa, which is in Niigata Prefecture. Moisture laden wind comes from the Sea of Japan, hits the Japanese alps and drops a lot of that moisture on Yuzawa. No snow in October, of course, but the signs are there…
The town does not have a big population – about 8,000, but it is a stop on the bullet train line to Niigata city. In Hilly parts of Japan the bullet train tends to go through, not up and down the hills, and Yuzawa is no exception – the train pops out of a tunnel, stops and then heads into another tunnel. The train station and tracks are built on what looks like a viaduct to keep the whole thing level. Since the town is nestled amongst the mountains it all works out.
There are 11 ski resorts either in or directly accessible in the valley. While most international skiers got to Nagano or Hokkaido, Yuzawa is 90 minutes from Tokyo and so attracts a lot of short term visitors from the big city. The train station has ranks of luggage and ski lockers. There are shops all along the street offering ski related services. And hotels! Big ones, small ones, ones in town, ones out of town with shuttles. Things are pretty quiet in October but in another month it will be full of people and all the sleepy little bars will be hopping.
But Sharon and Wilf – why are you in this town out of season? Besides the skiing there is a huge rock music festival in July and there is also a triennial art festival. During the 2018 edition of the art show an installation was created in which a tunnel was carved into the rock to access a view of the Kiyotsu Gorge, one of Japan’s ‘Three Great Chasms’ We thought we might go see it. But in the end we didn’t – it turns out to be something best visited by car. The gals at the visitors info centre were very perky and enthusiastic, but…. One bus in the afternoon up there and they were a little unclear about the return process. From the bus stop a 30 minute walk up to the site – on the side of the road on a narrow sidewalk. No washrooms at the site. And perhaps most important of all no conbini (convenience store) up there. Given that rain was threatening we added this all up and thought – nope. On to attraction number two. Sometimes you’ve just gotta pivot.
There’s a ski resort above the town accessible by gondola right around the corner from our hotel! I lucked out and got the perfect shot while waiting for our ride down. Here’s what the townsite looks like without the gondola …
You can see the train station – it’s a long one as the bullet train is long. This area if famous for its rice and you can see little rice growing areas in the distance – the view in the other direction has even more rice growing areas.
Anyhoo – up we went and it was beautiful up there. At the base was another big facility for skiers with lockers and change rooms and everything to get them off for the day. From the top of the gondola they could ski down the backside a ways and pick up another lift that would connect them to the next peak over, from which they could ski down and catch a shuttle back to the base of the first gondola. This side was steep – looked like pretty advanced runs. Looking across the town we could see other ski hills that looked a little more beginner friendly.
A field of bassia scoparia, aka summer cypress or burning bush with one of the skills beyond. It was beautiful up there. Alpine gardens to walk in
It looks like this fellow is raking the water but he’s actually pulling up the grass on the platform he’s standing on.
The requisite instagrammable shot. The group of young women who took the picture for us were all a flutter because we held hands…..
To get to this pond we took a chairlift down into the valley.
The other way down was….
Zoom Zoom from the chairlift top
There was also a zip line up there. It was a beautiful day, the air was fresh and smelt so good with all the plants around us. It was a lovely way to spend a day.
The last thing this town is known for is the ‘wall of sake’. The train station is really big for such a small town, and it has a big market inside. And way at the back…
The outside of the sake museum, showing labels of all the 100 or so types they have inside.
Wilf – making friends?
Inside you buy five tokens for 500 Yen.
Each selection costs between 1-3 tokens and you have a little cup to collect your choice. It’s kind of intimidating – so many to choose from. We tried three locals ones and they were all really good. Next to this section you can buy bottles of most of the samples.
Besides snow, rice and skiing the other thing this town has is lots of hot water. There are many hot springs and the town has several public footpaths around the town – always welcome by footsore tourists!
Somewhere along the way Wilf and I saw a video about taking an overnight ferry in Japan. We thought that might be a thing to do, and made a note of the company. On this trip we discovered that it was possible to take a ferry from Hokkaido to a port north of Tokyo. We looked into it and thought – well, why not?
The Sunflower ferry line runs twice a day in each direction. There is a sailing from Tomakomai, Hokkaido that leaves at 6:30pm, arriving at Oarai, Ibaraki at 2:00 the next day as well as a night ferry that leaves just after midnight and arrives 7:30pm the same day. We decided on the evening ferry and reserved a cabin as soon as the bookings opened.
The main job of the ship is moving cargo. The parking lot was full of container trucks, most of which were taken on board by a cab, which then departed to pick up another trailer. The process is reversed at the other end. Lots of trailers on board, not that many drivers. The passenger cars go on with only the drivers – the passengers walk on. Everyone comes up top – no one on the 4 vehicle decks.
Loading the cargo onto the ferry.
Accommodation ranges from suites and cabins to a capsule type room or even recliners. Among the onboard services – which include cafeteria, laundry, a children’s play area, and a pet area, there is a public bath.
We had booked a cabin, which turned out to be about the size of a small cruise ship cabin.
We had our own bathroom with toilet, sink and shower/tub. And on the shelf – a robe to wear for sleeping or going to the public bath. While at sea!
There were also public lounges to enjoy,
Good spot for me to catch up on my blog posts.
So – life on board? Cafeteria style food was good and plentiful. Everything was labelled and there was a mix of Western and Asian choices for both dinner and breakfast. Other than the cafeteria everything was in Japanese, so my google translate got a good workout. No wi-fi on board, so our internet access was through cellular, which was sometimes a challenge due to the all metal ship. The beds were comfortable and we slept pretty well. Well, except for the motion of the ship which was a bit rambunctious at times! We did use the public baths, which was nice – a hot bath before bed is a good thing. It was all very relaxing.
It falls into the category of ‘things we’re glad to have done but don’t need to do again’, mostly because it takes a long time. For reference – check in for the ferry begins at 3:30, all aboard about 5:30, sail at 6:30. The port is not near the train station – we took a cab rather than sort out the bus schedule. Limited facilities at the port terminal in Tomakomai. In Oarai the situation was similiar – port long way from the train station. We had decided to stay in Oarai overnight once we landed – that was not necessary and we probably should have gotten ourselves to Mito, at least, before continuing onward the next day. But we had not stayed in Oarai we would have missed one fun little adventure.
While waiting on the platform for the train in Oarai a young woman struck up a conversation with us. She works at the local aquarium and wanted to practice her English. So many young people are afraid to make mistakes but she was brave and dove right in. We had a fun train ride together, which concluded with selfies, of course!
I’ve told you about Toya Onsen Town, but I wanted to tell you about the beautiful hotel we stayed at. Its full name is The Lake View Toya Nonokaze Resort. Cab drivers only reacted to the ‘Nonokaze’ part. It is on the Main Street of the town – there’s a 7-11 across the street. But it is a world unto itself. It has an enormous lobby and two connected 10 story towers, so it holds a lot of people.
Two story atrium with huge windows. Reflecting pool. View straight out onto the lake.
It took until Lake Toya on this trip to see signs autumn.
We had a lovely room with a western style bed – yay! One thing about Japanese hotels – they all provide a sleeping garment. Usually they are a white waffle textured nightshirt that buttons up the front and is about mid-calf length. They are really sized for Japanese people, not people with curves, so sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Some hotels provide a cotton yukata, others provide two piece pjs. This is more common when there is a public bath on site and it is common for people to wear these outfits throughout the hotel. (Wilf wants me to clarify for you that public bath does not mean open to all the public. It means there is a communal bath for women, and a communal bath for men. Some hotels have private baths that you can book and couples can go together, or families can share. Bathing culture is a whole thing here. It’s one of the best things about Japan…..)
At Nonokaze when I opened the dresser drawer there was the white nightshirts with a note ‘Please only wear in the room.’ And then two more outfits. Yukatas and sashes – one blue and one red. And two piece pyjama sets – baggy pants and a loose fitting wrap type top, one blue, one red. The note with them said please wear freely throughout the hotel. In the cupboard there were proper heeled slippers and blue and red short lined jackets. A full wardrobe! Replenished daily. The public baths are open most of the day so people will go before or after meals, sometimes twice a day. Lots of people in the hotel clothing all through the hotel and the restaurant. I’m always a little anxious about the yukata – will I get it tied correctly. Will all the goods be covered up and will they stay that way? (Trying to walk at a measured pace so the robe doesn’t fly open takes practice. Especially in slippers)
Our accommodation included breakfast and dinner. This time it was not the formal dining as we had at Aizuwakamatsu. This restaurant was a buffet. A buffet that would put a cruise ship to shame. Western and Asian food, lots of local specialties. It was amazing. We met the chef in charge of the Western menu – he’s from France so there were touches of French cuisine evident.
There was a little mini-Airstream trailer in there, one side of which was coffee and drinks station and the other was the pasta chef. Everything was delicious and we got to sample a whole range of Hokkaido specialties – they are known for their dairy products, as well as beef and seafood.
Being right on the lake meant we had front row seats to a gorgeous view and the boating activity.
The floating castle tour boat moored right across from our room. It would take people out to the cone shaped islands to the right of the picture. The stratovolcano in the far distance is Mt Yotei which sort of looks like Mt Fuji
Swan boats for rent. Some are the usual paddle boats, but some have outboard motors, so zoom, zoom!
Not only was it a beautiful hotel with gorgeous views, a luxurious onsen, great food and lovely rooms, but…..
Every night at 8:45 there was a fireworks display on the lake. This is the view from our window. The tour boat is out, on the water, and there’s another boat firing off the fireworks. It starts to the west of us and moves along the coast, stopping in front of the big hotels. On the second night another boat joined in.
The second boat was dropping the fireworks onto the water and then racing off so we wound up with displays like the above – some in the sky, some on the water.
All the places we’ve stayed at have been wonderful and different, but this was really wonderful.
From here we begin out journey back to Tokyo and that includes an entirely new form of accommodation for us – an overnight ferry!
From Hakodate we have taken the train a few hours further to the east, heading for Lake Toya. Perhaps you are asking yourself – what is it this time, you two? Food and drink? A festival? Geology? If you guessed geology you are right! Lake Toya is a water filled volcanic crater, surrounded by more volcanos.
We were headed for Toya onsen town. Most descriptions of onsen towns begin with something like ‘1300 years ago a monk found this location with its hot spring and people have been coming here ever since….” Not so at Lake Toya. The area around the lake, within the caldera has lots of excellent agriculture land. In 1910 the mountain erupted and after it was all over there was a gift from the volcano – hot water! By 1916 the resort was established and 1928 there was train service. Getting from the train station to the resort was a bit of deal, I expect, as the roadway would have went up and over the caldera rim – now there is a tunnel and it is a 15 minute drive.
In the later part of 1943 the postmaster nearby the lake noticed that the agricultural fields were beginning to bulge upwards. He took detailed observations over the next two year as a new mountain was born. Mt Showashinzan is now 300 m tall. Much is covered with trees but the top is rock and it still is smoking
Another eruption occurred in 1977-78, producing significant ash fall. Rain on top of that caused mudslides. Knowing that the hills behind the town were composed of volcanic ash a series of dikes and diversions were built to try and protect the town.
In 2000 the mountain awoke and began erupting. On the seaward flank new craters were formed, and above the town the mud came down. Signs of the eruption had been evident, and 15,000 people were evacuated. There was no loss of life, but tremendous property damage. Hundreds of building were destroyed and many more damaged. The resort along the water had ash fall, but were okay. One area of the town was destroyed. Rather than razing it the damaged buildings have been left. The diversion structures from the previous eruption helped, but did not prevent all damage
Not what you want to see looking out your window.
We walked up to the volcano museum, then went up and over the dike behind it to see what remained.
This small apartment building merely looks abandoned from this view point.
Public housing apartment from the lee sideApartment building from the uphill side
That is not the ground floor suite we are looking at – it is the second floor, full of mud. The damage to corner occurred when the highway bridge swept by.
This was the roadway and the bridge was pulled off and swept away. This building was the school/library/public bath. It is also full of solidified mud. The wall made of steel girders is part of the diversion system.
Besides visiting the site of the 2000 eruption one of the other things to do is take a cable car up to visit Mt Usu itself. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and off we went.
From the top of the cable car we took a walk to the observation area. From there the could look down the most recently formed crater, complete with gaseous emissions.
New crater, the bay in the background.
Previously from this point the lake was visible, but the mountain added to itself and now there is this huge outcrop to admire.
Back down at the cable car station there was- of course – a cafe. And there is the most beautiful seating area with comfy chairs spread out across terraces. Perfect spot to admire the view and enjoy the sunshine.
That’s Showashinzan the mountain that grew from a wheat field in the 1940s behind us. Up the cable car (which is called a ropeway but these are big gondola cars)Looking back down toward the parking lot and Mt Showashinzan beyond. To give you an idea of the lay of the land.
Hakodate seems like a fun place. After our exciting breakfast in the morning market we decided to visit Goryoukaku, the historic fort in the city. Even though it is late September it is hot here – mid to high twenties and oof, that took a lot out of us.
Tram system:
Tram got to around, but it was still a long walk to the fort. Across the street is a tower that overlooks the site. We decided to start there.
You know how I confidently announced earlier that the rebellion against the Meiji restoration was settled in 1868 in Aizu? Wrong. Turns out things carried on onto Hokkaido. Hakodate was the second Japanese port opened to the west, after Yokohama. Once the Japanese began to go out into the world they brought back many ideas. One was the concept of a star shaped fort to defend a city. We’ve seen them in the Netherlands, and I’m sure many of you are familiar with the citadel in Halifax.
So – Goryoukaku is built. The shogunate is subdued. But there are defectors from the shogun’s navy who are mad at both the shogunate and the restored Emperor. They make their way to Hakodate, seize the star shaped fort and declare The Republic of Ezra. They try to convince that samurai family who were in charge of Hakodate to join them – the clan declines. Fighting ensues and the Imperial forces arrive to put an end to it all. (And yes every time I read or write that I’m thinking of empire in Star Wars terms…)
Here’s a view of the fort and the city.
And after all the fighting and carrying you know what the fort became known for?
Our tickets to the tower provide a clue:
They get lots of snow here in the winter, and eventually the moat freezes. A business evolved where they would cut out the ice, pack it in straw and send it south.
Back on the tram and off to the brick warehouse district. When trade with the west opened up big brick warehouses were built to store the goods, and many of them still exist. They’ve been transformed into all manner of trendy and tourist friendly businesses.
Including?…
I’m sure you were wondering why it has been so long since there were any beer pictures.
Beer, fish and chips and fried squid.
They have machines here that flay the squid and cut into strips, which are then battered and fried, so not like calamari. Why do they do that to the squid, you say?
Because they are huge! This is a dried specimen casually hanging in the 7-11 near our hotel.
One thing that caught my attention was the tourist directions signs in multiple languages:
Japanese, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and…. Russian!
So – Hakodate was interesting. Next up Lake Toya onsen town.
We are on the Northern Island of Hokkaido. We took the bullet train from Sendai, which included a ride under the ocean. There is a train tunnel that is 100m below the seabed – the underwater portion is just over 23 km long.
We are staying in Hakodate and are only a few blocks away from the morning market. Wilf had a plan – he had heard that somewhere in the market you could catch a squid and they would turn it into squid sashimi for your breakfast. We set off this morning to see if this was true. It a busy space, with a central building and then spilling into the streets for several blocks. Lots of merchants standing in front of their shops offering ‘asa gohan’ – breakfast. And wow! The selection on offer! The northern waters produce squid and crabs and salmon, all of which was on display.
Everyone’s looking for something to eat!All sorts of preserved ….things
And the produce! It’s melon season, so there were lots of $60 melons, but also lots of less expensive ones – also by the slice. And chestnuts and apples and mushrooms.
We wandered about having trouble finding the restaurant Wilf was aiming for and decided on one that said they had live squid sashimi. So in we went.
The waitress spoke about as much English as I do Japanese but we managed. Every so often I can produce a whole sentence rather than just disjointed words, which causes much surprise. We spent a lot of time last year in my Japanese class working on restaurant ordering, including the phrase ‘お勧めはなんですか‘、which means ‘what would you suggest?’ That has turned out to be a useful sentence!
After Wilf ordered his live squid sashimi the waitress said ‘Ika (squid)…. Fishing?. Wilf was out the door right behind her. He’d been reading up on how to do this. The trick is to catch the squid in a way that doesn’t cause it to get mad and squirt ink.
Step 1:
Approach the tank with a stick, string and hook.
Step 2
Approach the squid
Step 3
Got it!
Ta Da!
Happy fisherman!
All the people in the shops along the street were watching to see if the old gaijin could catch a squid and he did very quickly! Big round of applause from the folks on the street.
A few minutes later:
Squid, disassembled.
Since we are in the land of crab and salmon I had a rice bowl with salmon sashimi and sweet crab
Wilf also had a grilled scallop.
And I’m not sure if they were testing us (him) because a dish of, well there’s no easy way to say this, fish guts appeared. (Which included some pantomime on my part to assure the waitress we knew what it was. And we did because it was on the breakfast menu in Aizu – it was one of the few things we didn’t take a liking to.)
There were other people in the restaurant having their breakfast, and once we got our food ordered we started to pay attention to the table beside us. Big table – eight or nine guys sitting there. The waitress was on to her third chit tracking their order as they pounded through a mountain or seafood, including the giant king crab legs at $48 a pop. At 09:00 one of the got up and came back with a tray of mugs filled with highballs – looked like whiskey sours. They looked like something out of the Sopranos – flashy clothes, expensive food, guys coming and going. They seemed somewhat amused by us, when they deigned to notice us. Seems we stumbled into the local hangout of ‘The Boys”
Back out tin the market – some more of the seafood on display
We’ve had splendid fish and seafood all over Japan, but this was next level!
When we were in Tokyo in February we discovered that the haiku poet Basho lived in our neighbourhood (okay, the next neighbour hood over, but in the context of Tokyo – neighbours). We went and saw a reconstruction of the hut where he lived, and walked a long the river reading some of his poems.
On this trip we left Aizuwakamatsu and made our way to the city of Sendai. I must admit that as soon as we were checked in to our hotel and had had a nap we went out for pizza and beer – after 4 days of delicious fancy Japanese food it sure hit the spot!
We took the tourist bus around the city – it looks like a nice spot. On the second day we took a train further up the coast to the town of Shiogama, which sits in the large bay called Matsushima. And look who we found there:
Our friend Basho-san, hanging out at the ferry terminal. As well as living in Edo (Tokyo) Basho was itinerant and roamed over large parts of Japan. And he visited Matsushima, declaring it the most beautiful view in Japan.
We had the luxury of a ferry ride, which took us from Shiogama to Matsushima town, threading through the many many islands that dot the bay. Shiogama is a busy port, with a facility for ship repair (the Japanese Coast Guard was in for a check up), a power plant, and all the stuff that goes with boats. Further out in the bay were small boat fishermen, and aquaculture – looked like they were growing oysters.
We were there to see the islands..
This one is iconic for the bay.
My personal geologist was happy to point out the different layers of rock – some sandstone that weathers easily in the surf, alternating with layers of more resistant conglomerate.
Mastu means pine, so Matsushima = pine island. No the point Christmas tree type pines that we are used to – much more dramatic shapes!
There were only five of us on our boat – I think there were more crew than passengers that day! It was a surprise when we wound our way to Matsushima town to find a big pier with 4 huge boats loading sightseeing passengers on board, lines of people waiting on the dock, and tour groups following their leads waving umbrellas. This is the place where most people who come to see the islands jump off from. It was a happening place. There were tour buses stashed in every spare parking lot, and many of them held the scores of high school students being shepherded through town. Totally different energy than Shiogama. I’m glad we had our lovely quiet ride up the bay.
Wilf had noted that there was a fish market and we headed there for lunch. I was a bit surprised that it was several blocks inland – usually fish markets are right on the water. Turns out this wasn’t a place where people bought fresh fish and seafood right off the boat. But it did provide a great lunch!
First step –
Read the menu board, choose what we wanted and remembered the price shown.
Nest step:
Go inside and approach the ticket machine. Discover that it has an English language option – yay! Slight problem in that none of the names match the menu outside, but by looking a the prices and pictures we order our lunch and take our tickets.
About 5 minutes later our order comes up…
To be collected from the queen of the market.
Found a table outside
And lunch is served. I had the tuna sashimi bowl. Three kinds of tuna sashimi on a bed of rice with a dab of miso, some ginger and wasabi. Wilf had a seafood mixture over rice.
A prawn, sushi style!
After our lunch we walked along the harbour to visit a little island. It is attached to the mainland by a pretty red bridge, and people have been worshipping here for millennia.
As the day wore on the rain began and the bay began to look more and more like a painting, all in tones of grey.
The island has many sculptures, both ones like this sitting out under the trees and others cut into the stone of the island.
Basho wrote many poems, and there is a poem about Matsushima that is sometimes attributed to him, but apparently he did not write it….
松島やああ松島や松島や matsushima ya aa matsushima ya matsushima ya
matsushima aaah! matsushima matsushima..
I’ll leave you instead with a poem that he did write, and that is considered one of the greatest haiku
Our last day in Aizuwakamatsu had us pay a visit to Iimoriyama, a hill that overlooks the city.
Our little excursion up the mountain took place after two days of rain, with an accumulation of over 80mm. The day dawned sunny and bright and we were enjoying the city in the sunshine. And then came a little blast of rain just as we arrived at Iimoriyama. We wound up in a deluge up there.
The Sazaedo Temple is a wooden structure built in 1796. As is so often the case one approaches it via an enormous staircase. Just as our hearts sank we looked to the right and there was a covered conveyor belt that would whisk us to the top!
You bet we paid the 250yen each!Way way up.
The building itself is quite unique. It is hexagonal in shape, and the interior staircase winds up in a double staircase. We walked up one spiral staircase and at the top crossed over a small bridge and then went back down another spiral staircase.
The temple in the pouring rain.Always with the stairs
The other site on the mountain is tied to the battle that raged in 1868. In the pouring rain I didn’t wind up taking pictures, which I now regret as I’ve been thinking about the site a lot. But the story goes…
As the defenders of the shogunate prepared for their showdown with the imperial forces various battle groups were formed. In Aizu young samurai class men formed a group called the Byakkotai. They were 16 or 17 years old. A small group of them got separated from their unit on Iimoriyama, and when they looked out in the morning they could see flames in the town and assumed that the castle was burning, that the city had fallen. The unit of twenty boys committed suicide – 1 young man survived.
Unfortunately, they were wrong – the castle had not fallen. The town below the castle was on fire, but the defenders in the castle held out for a month before eventually succumbing. Many of the samurai and their families did commit suicide rather than surrender.
The Imperial government punished the town and the people of Aizu. The clan members were banished to the north. The castle was destroyed. The town’s name was changed from Aizu to Wakamatsu. More recently it was renamed Aizuwakamatsu. The remains of the Byakkotai lay unburied for a long time. Eventually they were buried up on the mountain.
As time passed they young men were lauded as true Samurais, following the code of the warriors. Movies and television programs have been made about them and the local museum has a big display about them.
As we stood up there in the pouring rain, looking at the gravesite, where the graves are still tended and the incense still burns I got to thinking about the fact that Aizuwakamatsu, the samurai city, has built its brand, so to speak, on the glorification of the losing side of the battle.
Given the fascination that the samurais and samurai culture has in the modern world I suppose that should not be a surprise.
Part of the gravesite.
Walking along I came to a large pillar with a huge iron eagle on the top and as I was thinking that it looked like a very militaristic eagle I read the sign beside it. This is the Roman monument, donated by the people of Rome ‘in the year of the Lord, 1928., year of the fascist era, 6’’
Wait – what? A monument donated by Italian Fascists on a hill way in the back of beyond of Japan? Turns out a Japanese diplomat in Italy met Mussolini, and told Il Duce about the Byakkotai. He admired their fighting spirit and sent along the monument, inscribed in Italian with various bronze symbols, of which only the eagle remains.
I was astounded that the eagle – and the column – remain. Is this a part of history that people want to remember and claim? As I thought about it further I got to thinking about the American south – not a dissimilar path. The glorification of the dead on the losing side, the persistence of the symbols of that time.
History is complicated and never very far away from the present.
I am reminded again and again about how geology shapes culture. In North America our landscape is shaped by time and water. But also by ice. In the mountains we may not even think about how the valleys are wide and u-shaped, with rivers meandering along the bottom of the the valley. Japan, too, is shaped by time and water, but not by ice. More by fire, actually. The valleys here are deep and dark through which rage rivers.
We are staying in a ryokan on the outskirts of Aizuwakamatsu. While the city is fairly flat it nestles up against low mountains . We took the city bus to get here and after rambling along for a bit there was a turn and suddenly we were in a cleft, with the hillside like a cliff on one side and the backs of buildings on the other. The bus had to drive under the last building on the row to turn around and come back up the road to drop us at our hotel.
Wilf waiting for a bus – that’s a two way street.Looking the other way, with a fence holding back the hill (and the vegetation)
The inn is right on the edge of the Yu River. In fact its name is Takinoyu, which I believe means hot water waterfall. Looking out onto the river side…
You can see what they mean by waterfall. The hotel is long and thin. The lowest level is the public baths, though there are private baths that can be reserved on the roof and in other nooks and crannies. The rooms are traditional Japanese rooms with tatami mats. And yes that means we sleep on the floor. The bed set up here is very comfortable so that is not a problem. The getting up and down from the floor is more of the problem. They reset the room every morning, which means they put the beds away and put the big table back in the middle of the room. Which is nice, but….. there’s nowhere to lay down for a nap in the afternoon…
Here I am talking to my Mom before the room has been dealt with in the morning. Looking out the window it may look like there is a tree right there, but it’s actually on the other side of the river.
We’re not closes to town, but never fear, meals are included – dinner and breakfast. And they are serious meals – this is fine dining.
Dinner set up first night. So far each night the food has been different, but the layout the same. Between us you can see little gas heaters. One has a lid. This night there are fall vegetables and pork slices cooking in there. Other nights have been chicken or fish. The bowl to the left contains the liquid for a hot pot, and the dish in front are the ingredients. Once the liquid is boiling we put the meat and veg in to cook. There is also a plate of sashimi, three small appetizers. A bowl of chilled soba noodles arrived later and eventually miso soup, white rice and pickles arrived. Dessert was a pudding of some sort. All very fresh, very local, very delicious.
Breakfast has a similar routine:
Fish, little omelette, various vegetables, some sautéed, some pickled. Fish roe. Little fishy things in the lower right corner. And a dish of pickles, including an infamous ume – a pickled plum that is delicious and oh so sour! There is rice and two kinds of soup to be had as well.
And there’s a little lady a the back of the room with mochi. If you take sweet gelatinous rice, cook it and pound it for a very long time it turns into a sweet, stretchy mass and appears in all sorts of forms. For breakfast she would reach into her rice cooker which was keeping the mochi warm and eventually extract a ping pong ball size piece.
There was a selection of toppings – the above picture shows a bowl of roasted soybean flour, which the mochi is rolled in.
I chose a scoop of chestnut purée
And it was very good!
At first it is a little intimidating to be faced with so many dishes. But there is only a few bites of everything, so it is not overwhelming. It all goes together to make a satisfying meal.
Because this is a hot spring resort with lots of places to enjoy the hot water everyone is issued a cotton yukata and it is totally normal to wear it around the hotel and to meals. And even though the food is formal people come straight from the bath to eat so everyone is dressed in matching robes. Here we are after breakfast this morning
At the beginning of this entry I mentioned the connection between geology and culture. Seeing these narrow valleys with the forest pressing urgently down, where days are often dark and the forest grows fast makes me realize why there are so many Japanese folk tales about ‘things that live in the forest’.
Where I'm At 