Tradition trumping modernity brings me great joy. For more than 300 years, the Chichibu Yomatsuri (Night Festival) has been held annually on December 2 and 3. It doesn’t matter if those days fall on the weekend or, as they were this year, Wednesday and Thursday.
The midweek schedule didn’t stop visitors flocking from Tokyo and beyond out to the small town in the foothills of the Okuchichibu Mountains. The festival is considered one of Japan’s three great float festivals alongside those in the cultural titans of Kyoto and Nara.
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Special Chichibu Yomatsuri sake with one bottle already in the sake-dispensing machine
Various dumpling (gyoza) soups—from left to right, chicken carcass soup, red miso/hot pepper soup and clear soup made from pork broth
Grilled rice cakes (yaki onigiri) on a stick
Hot sake was abundant on the cold night
Just a few of the dozens of food vendors lined up around Seibu Chichibu Station
Omusoba, an egg omelette wrapped around yakisoba noodles and topped with an egg, ketchup and mayonaisse. Delicious!
Cheese is wrapped inside a piece of rice paper and deep fried. Yeah, it’s as good as it sounds.
The best part about night festivals is that they start around dinner time, so it’s a great excuse to pig out on festival food. There’s a lot of festival standards, but each town also has its own unique festival foods. In Chichibu, we saw a variety of dumpling soups and omusoba, which is an egg omelette wrapped around yakisoba noodles and topped with a sunny-side-up egg, ketchup and mayonaisse. It was kind of amazing.
December 3 is the main day of the festival. The parade features floats carried from Chichibu Shrine to the city hall where they’re displayed and used as stages for kabuki performances.
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At the intersection near Ohanabatake Station, the floats are rotated in the shape of the の (“no”) character in a performance called nonoji mawashi (“turned in the shape of no”).
The opening procession features lanterns painted with the names of the Chichibu neighborhoods the carrier represents.
The opening procession features lanterns painted with the names of the Chichibu neighborhoods the carrier represents.
The massive yatai (ornate float) is pushed and pulled through the Nakamachi district
The float is lifted and turned, angling the 20-ton float in ways that make it appear as if it will tumble over.
A man sitting atop the float while it’s leaning to and fro…
The float jacked up, listing waaaaay forward.
Large wooden pillars are used to raise the float while it’s rotated during the nonoji-mawashi performance.
The float parade is lively with a group of young people leading the way with chants of “Ho-ryai!” (“Hooray!”). The massive float follows behind, performers waving lanterns on the stage built into the front and others hanging from the top, at least 20-feet above the ground.
Read an interesting perspective on the building of the floats at Sonic-Yoshi
The ornate floats, called “yatai,” are built using Japanese elm wood and weigh as much as 20 tons. They move slowly through the streets until they reach the intersection near Ohanabatake Station. Here they perform a ceremonial turning of the float called nonoji-mawashi, or “Turning in the Shape of No.” In this case, “no” is the character の.
The danger is palpable; the gasps from the crowd audible. It takes a dozen people using long wooden pillars to lift the end of the float enough that someone can crawl underneath and rearrange the direction of the wheels. Dozens more push the behemoth into its の-shaped turn. All the while, the float lists, leans and wobbles like a disaster waiting to happen.
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Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Before, during and after the parade, the sky lights up with hundreds of fireworks. Hanabi (firework viewing) is usually a summertime event, so the show in Chichibu is unique in December. It also gave us an opportunity to try out the “Fireworks” setting on our camera, capturing some fun shots.
I find myself running out of superlatives for the things we’re so fortunate to experience in Japan. Chichibu is one of our favorite places in Japan (see here and here and here) and it just received another tick in the plus column.
Our latest Wednesday afternoon hike (check out our recent jaunts in Ogawa and Tokorozawa’s Totoro Forest) took us into the foothills of the Okuchichibu Mountains and nearby Hannō City. Back in May, we met a couple Japanese ladies on our way to another hike in Hannō who suggested we try the trail to Neno-Gongen Temple.
The city’s website provided a basic outline of the hike advertised as the Ancient Temples of Oku-Musashi. I mapped it out in detail to ensure we wouldn’t get ourselves lost in the woods (in literary circles, this sentence is called “foreshadowing”).
The tree-covered hills of the Okuchichibu Mountains are home to a decent-sized population of Asiatic black bears. Most hikers wear a bell like this one to keep from sneaking up on a bear in the woods.
We arrived at Agano Station, the starting point for our hike, around 2 p.m. The train station was selling bear bells, which we’d been meaning to buy for awhile. The hilly forests host a good-sized population of Asiatic black bears. The ringing of the small bells is a common sound on many of the region’s hiking trails. Knowing we’d be on our own for much of the day, it seemed like a good time to pick one up.
The bell from Tōzen-ji temple in Miyagi Prefecture is now on display at Hoko-ji temple, just outside Agano Station.
Just down the street from the station, we made our first stop at Hoko-ji, a Buddhist temple established in 1386. For a small-town temple, it had several impressive pieces, although its most impressive didn’t even belong to the temple.
Large bronze bells (ō-bonshō) are a fixture at Buddhist temples. This particular one was part of Tōzen-ji temple, located in Miyagi Prefecture on the northeast coast of Japan. The temple was destroyed in the 2011 tsunami and the bell washed into the ocean. Hoko-ji will continue to be the bell’s caretaker until the temple in Miyagi is rebuilt.
An American of average height, I’m constantly ducking under things in this country!
After ringing the bell a couple times, we passed through the low-ceiling tunnel under the train tracks and followed the path to Togo Park. The park is named for Heihachirō Tōgō, an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1800s who grew up in the area. The steep-hilled park is popular for viewing the changing autumn leaves.
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Straw sandals are one of Hannō’s traditional crafts. Large metal versions of the sandals are found in parks and shrines throughout the area.
A piece of the deck from the battleship Mikasa is on display in Togo Park. The desk took heavy artillery fire during the Russo-Japanese War in the early 1900s.
A statue of Heihachirō Tōgō looks down over the park named for him. Tōgō is one of Japan’s greatest naval heroes.
A Russian-made cannon is one of the relics from the Russo-Japanese War on display in Togo Park
At the top, reached by climbing nearly 400 steps, we were rewarded by an outdoor “museum” to the Russo-Japanese War. A piece of artillery-shelled deck from the battleship Mikasa and a Russian-made cannon with artillery shells are among the items on public display. Higher up, a small bamboo grove surrounds Chichibu Mitake Shrine. The shrine is the only one in Hannō that has a Shinto priest living on site.
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Two cargo planes flying by, likely on their way to Iruma Airbase. Omiya, Tokyo and Yokohama can be seen in the distance, more than 40 miles away.
The winding road to Neno-Gongen temple shows a burst of autumn color
A bridge leading into the forest near Neno-Gongen temple
An amazing view from the road near the entrance to Neno-Gongen temple. We could see all the way to Tokyo and Yokohama.
Scarecrows are usually to keep the birds out, but the .38 Special it’s holding seems to be directed more at the hikers.
Asamichaya is a teahouse and udon noodle shop located in the mountains. The shop was originally established in 1855, serving warm noodles and tea to travelers needing a short rest.
A tanuki statue hides in the bushes along the road.
We climbed back down the steps to the park’s entrance and started up the road to Neno-Gongen Temple. Along the way, we passed Asamichaya, a teahouse and udon noodle shop that has been tucked away in the mountains since 1855. It was already closed for the day, but it’s still operating as a resthouse for weary travelers looking to fuel up or just grab a quick snack on the trail.
As we approached the gates of Neno-Gongen Temple, the road opened up into an amazing view. Thanks to the clear weather, we could see all the way to Tokyo Skytree and the Yokohama Landmark Tower, more than 40 miles to the east.
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The Kongorikishi guard the entrance to Neno-gongen Temple
The large straw sandals are one of the big draws at Neno-gongen Temple
Even the charms (omamori) at Neno-gongen Temple are small straw sandals
Simply entitled “Hands,” this art installation at Neno-gongen was created in 2009 by an art professor at Kyoto Seika University
Neno-Gongen is all about extremes. A pair of giant Kongōrikishi statues wait at the gate in their permanent intimidating poses. Inside, an oversized pair of straw sandals hang near the main temple with two more metal versions sitting nearby. Opposite the giant sandals, miniature sandals serve as ema (prayer offerings) left by worshippers. Down the hill, a pair of giant hands rest in a traditional Buddhist mudra position.
The sunset at Neno-Gongen Temple
Neno-Gongen was roughly the halfway point of our hike. It was exactly 5 p.m. when the sun started to disappear. We were literally in the middle of the mountains; too far to turn back, so we powered forward.
Note to our mothers: You should probably stop reading now and just assume that everything continued according to plan! 🙂
We had about two miles remaining to reach the town where we’d catch the bus. In hindsight, we might have chosen to follow the road from the temple in hopes to find a passing car, but—to paraphrase Jung—wholly unprepared, we embarked down the path into the forest.
The last photo of the day, tree trunks illuminated by the camera flash as only darkness awaited us.
The trees quickly blocked out what remained of the sunlight. Soon, the narrowing trail was pitch-black. To the left, the slope of the forest. To the right, a drop-off into the trees. All we had for light was the display screen from the camera.
Things quickly turned into an amateur remake of the Blair Witch Project. Weird screeching sounds echoed through the forest. Rustling sounds—real or imagined—stopped us in our tracks. The journey slowed to a crawl as the path devolved into a steep slope entangled in a snarl of exposed tree roots.
We arrived at Takedera Temple as the camera battery drained toward end of life. We used what was left of our light to find the nearest road. While it headed away from our bus stop, it would at least get us out of the forest. As we walked through the temple’s front gates, a motion-sensing security flood light flashed on, sending a rush of adrenaline surging through us that would last well into the night.
Once we found the paved road, we followed it down in a half-run until civilization finally re-emerged. We saw a bus stop, but we’d missed the final bus of the day by 30 minutes. Certain that we were still some distance from a train station, we flagged down the first car that passed. A young woman named Yū stopped.
Me: Do you know where the nearest station is?
Yū: Hannō.
Me: Is it far?
She gave me that look of pity that has become all too familiar over the last year and a half and invited us into her car. We were immediately comforted, both by the ride and the Of Monsters and Men song “From Finner” playing on her radio. The lyrics fit the moment perfectly:
And we are far from home, but we’re so happy Far from home, all alone, but we’re so happy
We drove… and drove… and drove. She told us she was going to Hannō to visit friends, so it wasn’t out of her way. But with the Japanese penchant for friendliness, she could have been a minute from home when she picked us up. We’ll never know.
She dropped us at Higashi-Hanno Station. We offered gas money, but of course she declined. I removed the Totoro Fund button that we bought on our last hike from my backpack and gave it to her as a token of appreciation.
If this is our last hike of the season, it certainly will be a memorable one!
Thanks to the university choosing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding by canceling Friday classes, we were gifted an extra-long weekend and made a trip to Nikkō. Located in Tochigi Prefecture, about three hours north of Kawagoe via local trains, Nikkō is a popular destination for viewing koyo, or “fall colors” thanks to its high elevations around picturesque Lake Chūzenji.
Day 1: Kanmangafuchi Abyss
We arrived Thursday afternoon amidst a light but steady drizzle. We caught a local bus to our ryokan, the Turtle Inn, alongside the Daiya River. After dropping our bags, we took a short walk to Kanmangafuchi Abyss, an ancient gorge formed by the eruption of Mount Nantai.
Along the way, we saw the beginnings of fall in Stone Park before arriving to a line of 70 stone Jizo statues. Known as “Bake Jizo” or “Ghost Jizo”, the Buddhist statue is believed to be the protector of children, especially those who pass away before their parents. The statues are a common sight in Japan, usually clad in knitted hats and bibs that are often provided by the grieving parents.
After our short hike, we went to Bell, a small, family-run cafe that features yuba—Nikkō’s local speciality—in a large set meal. Yuba is the skin that forms on the top of boiled soy milk and takes on the flavors of the surrounding ingredients much like tofu. Their delicious “Monk’s Diet” set featured six different vegetarian preparations of yuba.
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Lanterns hanging in Nikko Station advertise the local World Heritage Site
The outlined turtle on the sign of our ryokan reminded me of the Social Distortion smoking skeleton logo (Google it!)
Our Japanese-style room at the Turtle Inn
The path through Stone Park leads in Kanmangafuchi Abyss
The fall colors in Stone Park
The fall colors in Stone Park
Ready for the rain
Kanmangafuchi Abyss
A few of the 70 stone buddhist statues known as Bake Jizo, or Ghost Jizo
The changing fall colors in Kanmangafuchi Abyss
An old covered well in Kanmangafuchi Abyss
The Yuba Fest at Bell Cafe in Nikko. Yuba is the skin created when soy milk is boiled.
The shared bath at Turtle Inn. This was the smaller of two baths available for use.
Day 2: Senjogahara Hike
We were met with a misty rain on the morning of our second day as well. We boarded the bus for the hour-plus ride out past the north end of Lake Chūzenji. As we wound through the curvy mountain roads, the sky began to clear up, turning into a cool but pleasant day.
English-language maps are located all over town featuring useful guides to get the most out of a Nikkō visit. We chose the 6.3km hiking course from Yutaki Falls through the Senjogahara Marshlands ending at Ryuzu Falls. The course begins at the massive Yutaki Falls where those traveling by car stop before continuing on to the Yumoto Hot Springs.
After snapping a few pictures, we ventured out onto the trail, which mostly consists of newly-built boardwalks that keep your feet out of the muck while protecting the natural habitat from the thousands of daily visitors. The crowds thinned considerably as we moved away from the falls. The scenery is beautiful as it evolves from dense forest to the open plains of Senjogahara Marshlands. The scenery is framed by the nearby mountain range, anchored by Mt. Nantai, Nikkō’s answer to Mt. Fuji. We ended at Shobugahama Beach on the north shore of Lake Chūzenji before catching a bus back to the city.
That night, we headed toward the city center to find dinner. Although it was a Friday night, many of the restaurants were closed despite the streets crawling with tourists. While looking at cheap Ukiyo-e prints, we bumped into a couple from San Francisco who were looking for a nearby vegetarian restaurant (among those already closed for the night). We chatted for awhile and gave them directions to the place we ate the night before.
As we popped in and out of the other restaurants trying to find a vegetarian-friendly meal, we ran into them again. They’d been doing the same, showing their vegetarian travel card to every shop owner before being turned away due to the fish broth, or fish chunks or fish fish. This time they stuck with us and together we tried to find a place to eat. Thanks to TripAdvisor, we finally arrived at Maruhide Shokudo.
The hostess invited us into the small restaurant and started going through the menu with us in Japanese with a little bit of English. With a few modifications, we came up with a pretty good selection of food, including a teriyaki yuba burger—sort of like shredded roast beef—and yuba-filled potato and soy croquettes. We shared travel stories (they’d lived in Hong Kong and Sydney for short periods) and enjoyed the great meal with new friends.
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The torii for Futarasan Shrine Chugu-Shi, the shrine atop Mt. Nantai—known as Nikko’s Mt. Fuji
The changing colors on Lake Chuzenji
The bus stop for Yutaki Falls and the beginning of our hike
Amazing fall colors on the road to Yutaki Falls
The very-impressive Yutaki Falls
The wooden boardwalk on the Senjogahara Hiking Trail
The wooden boardwalk on the Senjogahara Hiking Trail
The wooden boardwalk on the Senjogahara Hiking Trail
Double-checking the map
A rest area along the Senjogahara Hiking Trail
The Senjogahara Marshlands, a wide-open plains area framed by Mt. Nantai, Mt. Taro and Mt. San’s-boshi from right to left
A bare stretch of the Senjogahara Hiking Trail
Seems a bad place for bears to hang out
The top of Ryuzu Falls, formed by the lava flow from the eruption of Mt. Nantai more than 7,000 years ago
Ryuzu-no-Taki, or Dragon’s Head Waterfall, is one of Nikko’s most iconic landmarks. We saw the same photo we took in restaurants and our ryokan.
The fall colors along Shobugahama Beach on the north end of Lake Chuzenji
Looking out from the boat dock at Shobugahama Beach on the north end of Lake Chuzenji
A kuzuryū (nine-headed dragon) fountain at Jokoji Temple near our ryokan in Nikko
Stone Cups Street features water pipes built in the early 1900s to bring water from a nearby spring. It’s said the water runs cold in the summer, but warm in the winter.
A house on Daiku-cho used by the carpenters who built Tōshō-gū Shrine in the 1600s
Shinkyo Bridge (Sacred Bridge) was built in 1636 and is technically part of Futarasan Shrine, about 1km away
An old cable car has been turned into a public phone booth in Nikko’s city center
Day 3: World Heritage Shrines and Temples
For our last day, we stayed in town to visit the UNESCO World Heritage-designated Shrines and Temples of Nikkō. Two Shinto shrines (Futarasan Shrine and Tōshō-gū) and one Buddhist temple (Rinnō-ji) make up the complex along with the large cedar forest surrounding the area.
Not unlike the shrines and temples in Kyoto, the Nikkō complex requires a ticket to get in. For 1,300 yen, you get a ticket to Tōshō-gū and entrance to the tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu was the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate which ruled Japan for more than 200 years while laying the groundwork for the Japanese imperialism era of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Unfortunately, both Tōshō-gū and Futarasan are undergoing major restoration work. Coupled with the large Saturday crowd, the shrines were a little disappointing, but it was still easy to see why they’re an important part of Japan’s history.
The most complete artifact of the complex had to be the Five-Storied Pagoda, originally built in 1650, destroyed by fire and then rebuilt in 1818. It uses a unique center pillar called a shinbashira for support which has long been thought to be the reason pagodas perform well in earthquakes. Over the past 1,400 years, only two pagodas have collapsed in earthquakes.
After a self-guided tour and a short coffee stop, we set out for another walking tour. The Takino’o Path heads up into the cedar forest, visiting some unique shrines and natural sights. It was a great way to escape the crowds at the shrines and enjoy one last bit of peace and quiet before heading back into the city.
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Outside the gates of Tōshō-gū Shrine
The fall colors pair well with the lacquered paint of Tōshō-gū Shrine
The torii leading into Tōshō-gū
Several wonderful examples of bonsai trees were on display inside Tōshō-gū Shrine
The three wise monkeys (sanzaru) at Tōshō-gū Shrine remind us to “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”
Several wonderful examples of bonsai trees were on display inside Tōshō-gū Shrine
The temizuya pavilion (ceremonial hand washing) at Tōshō-gū Shrine
Several wonderful examples of bonsai trees were on display inside Tōshō-gū Shrine
The architecture and decoration of Tōshō-gū Shrine is one of the reasons UNESCO added it to the World Heritage list in 1999
The architecture and decoration of Tōshō-gū Shrine is one of the reasons UNESCO added it to the World Heritage list in 1999
Close-up of some of the ornate decorations that cover the structures throughout Tōshō-gū Shrine. Each are being restored by hand, including paint and gold leafing.
The Sleeping Cat (Nemuri-neko) of Tōshō-gū Shrine rests above the gate leading to the tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu
The tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the Shogun of Japan in the early 1600s. The Tokugawa Shogunate ruled Japan for more than 200 years, laying the foundation of the country’s imperial era.
The five-storied pagoda at Tōshō-gū Shrine. Each layer represents a different natural element—earth, water, fire, wind and void from bottom to top. A pillar in the center, common in pagoda architecture, is credited for the reason pagodas rarely collapse in earthquakes.
The torii leading to Futarasan Shrine. Founded in 767, the shrine is home to the kami/god of Mt. Nantai and stands as an example of the influence of Japan’s mountain culture from the 3rd-1st centuries B.C.
This little girl has likely just turned 3-years-old and is celebrating Shichi-Go-San (Seven-Five-Three). At age 3 and 7 (3 and 5 for boys), girls visit the shrine dressed in traditional kimono to wish for a long and healthy life.
The chinowa at Futarasan Shrine. The loop is made from intertwined reeds and visitors walk through the loop in a figure-eight (infinity) to purify and reinvigorate the spirit. It’s one of Japan’s oldest religious traditions.
The five-storied pagoda peeks through the trees
The sacred hall of Kaizan-do was our first stop on the Takino’o Path. The hall was built to cremate Priest Shodo, the founder of Futarasan. His remains are housed in a tomb behind the hall.
Next to Kaizan-do, a smaller shrine called San-no-miya is dedicated to safe delivery in childbirth. The tablets represent a Japanese chess piece called kyosha, which can only move forward in a straight line—not unlike the desired path of giving birth!
Stone Buddha statues, called Hotoke Iwa in Japanese, are located behind Kaizan-do under a cliff. It was said the image of Buddha was visible on the cliff, but after the cliff face collapsed in an earthquake, these statues were placed in the rubble.
Kitano Shrine was built in 1661 to enshrine a Heian Era scholar named Sugawara Michizane, now recognized as the God of Study. A large rock nearby called the Tegake Stone is believed to contain powers to improve scholarship and penmanship.
The gorgeous autumn leaves of Nikko!
The gorgeous autumn leaves of Nikko!
The gorgeous autumn leaves of Nikko!
The gorgeous autumn leaves of Nikko!
Visiting Nikkō
Nikkō is a popular day trip for tourists as it’s less than two hours from Tokyo by Shinkansen. The All-Nikkō Pass can be reserved online and provide a great discount on train and bus fare.
We stayed near the shrine area and while we enjoyed our ryokan, we probably would choose something in the Lake Chūzenji area next time. If the natural sights and hiking are your thing, I’d recommend the same. If you’re more into shopping, eating and the shrines, staying closer to the station is a better option. The bus between the areas takes about an hour and costs anywhere from 1,000-1,500 yen each way.
After a long day on the Great Wall, we returned to Beijing with a few hours to spare before the train to Xi’an. Our original plans were disrupted by the busy Saturday afternoon subway delays and we instead found ourselves at Wangfujing Snack Street, famous for its skewers of live insects.
A portion of the Ming City Wall in Beijing. Part of the city’s defenses, the wall was 15 miles long, however all but 1.2 miles were destroyed to build new highways and subway lines. Construction also diverted us after a few steps and we found ourselves in a decidedly non-tourist maze of local alleyways, where we followed a group of locals past shops and restaurants back to the main road.
Looking in the window of our overnight train from Beijing to Xi’an. It was surprisingly comfortable and we were gently awakened around 7 a.m. by the piped-in traditional Chinese music. A rider accompanying his elderly mother woke us about an hour before that with three hours of nonstop conversation in the aisle.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
Back home, heading to the coast for the day didn’t require much thought. Hop in the car, swing by the grocery store for some snacks and make the hour-or-so drive to the beach.
Last Friday, we decided to spend the weekend at the Jogasaki Coast on the Izu Peninsula southwest of Tokyo. I get the sense that a “trip to the coast” isn’t something that’s just done from central Japan. It requires some planning: finding a place to stay, mapping out the three-hour train ride… however, the swinging by the grocery store for some snacks part is the same.
The snack cart on the Limited Express train, complete with beer-on-tap
But, we made it happen! Things came together nicely as we found a low-cost ryokan (Japanese inn) near the main train station in Ito city. The limited express train from Tokyo follows the coastline and, similar to the shinkansen (bullet train), offers reserved seating, a snack bar and a snack cart, complete with beer-on-tap. I’ll write more about train culture in the future—the way people behave on the different types of trains is fascinating.
Mikan (Japanese mandarin orange) ice cream at Jogasaki Orange Village
Two of Ito’s meibutsu (famous regional products): wasabi and yamamomo.
The six-glass sampler at Izu Kogen Brewery included a yamamomo champagne beer, an orange beer and a stout made in honor of the 1998 summit between Russian president Boris Yeltsen and Japan’s prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto
Our grocery-store buffet at the ryokan included yakisoba, inari sushi and dango among other things
Tofu steak and deep-fried daizu “meat” at Cafe Sora in Ito
Locally-made Shizuoka Cola is made with green tea, of course!
Eating is a big part of traveling and this trip didn’t disappoint. We had an amazing vegetarian lunch at Cafe Sora and a fun and filling dinner at the ryokan made up of random things picked up at the nearby grocery store.
Sampling meibutsu—the Japanese word for famous products of a region—is a fun way to get to know an area. In Ito, that’s wasabi, mikan (mandarine oranges) and yamamomo (bayberry). We had wasabi ginger ale, yamamomo soda (and beer), and mikan ice cream (and beer).
The area around the coast is a national park
The Jogasaki Coast is popular with fishermen providing fresh seafood to local restaurants
A view of the Sagami-Nada Sea through the trees of the coastal hiking path
A view of the Sagami-Nada Sea through the trees of the coastal hiking path
The rocky Jogasaki coastline
This couple brought their cat hiking with them and posed for several pictures on the Hashidate Suspension Bridge.
After our lunch at Cafe Sora, we hiked along the coastal trail. From Renchakuji Temple, the path south takes about three hours to get to the Hashidate Suspension Bridge. The trail winds through forest and along the rocky coast, offering breathtaking glimpses of the sea.
Our room at Hinodeya Ryokan
The complete ryokan experience includes yukata!
Staying at a ryokan was on our short list of things to do while in Japan. We stayed at the charming Hinodeya Ryokan a short walk from Izu Kogen Station. The small guesthouse has just a few rooms and the service was excellent. We were given the quick tour and shown to our room, which was nearly as large as our apartment! A small carpeted entry area was separated by traditional sliding shōji doors leading to two tatami-floored rooms.
A chabudai (low dining table) was arranged in the middle of the first room where we were served iced green tea. The second bedroom was made up with traditional futons. We were given yukata—light cotton robes—to wear around the ryokan or even out on the town!
The shared baths were separated by gender, but they set us up in the smaller women’s bath so we could relax together. All of our previous onsen/sento experiences have been in the gender-separated baths, so this was a pleasant change to be able to share the experience.
The next morning, we were served a traditional Japanese breakfast in the main dining room downstairs. We wore our yukata to breakfast and laughed when a Japanese family entered the room dressed in their normal clothes. Oh, foreigners! The breakfast included rice, miso soup, tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and a hotplate to make a small omelette. They also had a pickled shrimp dish and a whole fish—head and all—split down the middle. We just moved the fish dishes around a bit, not wanting to be rude.
After breakfast, we were served coffee in the “family room” where the lady who made our breakfast showed us pictures of her garden. At checkout, the man who seemed to run the place asked where we were going. I told him we were headed to Mt. Omuro and he said he’d give us a ride, turning an hour-long bus trip into a 10-minute drive. Plus, riding in a car is a rare experience, so that was an added bonus!
Mt. Omuro, a dormant volcano with an archery range in its crater
Thanks to the lift, we arrived at Mt. Omuro just after the cable car opened, beating the crowds. From the top of the grass-covered dormant volcano, you can see the surrounding mountains and farmland, the village below and all the way out to the sea and the Izu island chain. An archery range has been set up inside the crater. A man and his daughter fired arrows while tourists watched from above (see the video below).
Every February, the sleeping giant burns brightly, but the scheduled fire and smoke don’t come from within. The Yamayaki of Mt. Omuro is one of the area’s most popular events as the grass is burned to promote healthy growth for the coming year.
Video: Jogasaki Coast and Mt. Omuro
Ito was the perfect weekend getaway; a soul-refreshing trip to the sea.
During late spring in Japan, the weather is in the sweet spot for bringing a bounty of blossoms out for viewing. It’s hard not to have a little extra joy in your heart. A couple weeks ago, we visited Chichibu for the phlox blossoms and last weekend we headed back for the “heavenly poppies” at Sainokuni Friendship Farm.
Enjoy the photos (click any of them to view at a larger size) and watch the video at full size for a couple of special treats.
The street leading to Chichibu shrine is full of quaint shops, feeling like a throwback to another timeOne of those quaint shops, “Cocktail Bar Snob.” Finally a cocktail bar that’s keeping it real!100 of these statues, called kaiun annai ban (開運案内板) or “Good Luck Guide Plates” are located around the area of Chichibu Shrine.Two cats ruling the roost in a small neighborhood park near Chichibu Shrine.The haiden (prayer hall) of Chichibu Shrine. The shrine dates back more than 900 years and was a sacred site during the Edo period.Some of the colorful carvings around the top of Chichibu Shrine. The work is attributed to Jingoro Hidari, an artist from the early 1600s famous for a similar—and much more famous—monkey carving at Nikko Shrine.The monkeys get another treatment on an ema, wooden planks on which worshippers at Shinto shrines write their prayers.A ceremony took place in the shrine while we were there and they gathered for a photo after. The Shinto priest (kannushi) is seated in the middle. It appeared to be a business group, perhaps receiving a blessing for an upcoming project, a common occurrence in Japan.We had lunch at a great macrobiotic place near Chichibu Shrine called Tsuki no Usagi (Moon Rabbit). It was a little hard to find as it was tucked back off the main road, but well worth the effort!The train to the poppy fields with Mt. Buko in the backgroundThe bus from Minano Station is decorated with characters from a Japanese cartoon (anime) called Anohana that was set in Chichibu. Many visitors to Chichibu come to see the sights from the show.Rikyu Shrine, a small shrine in the woods along the road to the poppy fields. Shuttle services to the fields ended the weekend before our visit, so we got a nice 2.5 KM walk up the hill to see them.The poppy fields of Sainokuni Friendship Farm. Click the photo for a larger image.The poppy fields of Sainokuni Friendship Farm.
I’m self-diagnosing a case of selective attention deficit disorder. It’s brought on my projects that aren’t particularly interesting to me. Treatments include watching baseball, going for a run or doing just about anything else.
I have a couple of those projects on my plate this week, so I decided to remove the distractions. I loaded up my computer and headed to Starbucks to work for a bit. There’s plenty of good workspaces around town, but the coffee giant is the only one that offers free WiFi.
The closest Starbucks in Kawagoe Station is usually crowded with commuters and since the station is our transportation hub, I wanted some new scenery. I pulled up Google Maps and plotted out some of the other shops in the area. That landed me in nearby Fujimino City.
Fujimino is the first stop on the express line toward Tokyo from Kawagoe Station, but we’ve never had reason to go there, so this was a good chance to explore the area a bit. I arrived around lunchtime and had plotted out a couple potential lunch spots.
The curry lunch set at Arcturus Cafe in Fujimino. The small shop has a couple tables in a solarium surrounded by flowers in bloom
I chose Arcturus Cafe, which I’m told by Wikipedia may be named for the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere. Macrobiotic cafes like this are one of the few safe bets for a vegetarian meal in Japan.
I chose one of the two tables in the solarium at the back of the restaurant. Outside, rose bushes and other greenery pushed against the glass. I ordered the curry set. Japanese curry is available nearly everywhere, but it’s made with chicken, so it’s usually on the no-fly list. Potatoes and mushrooms took the place of the chicken. It was fantastic!
Arcturus also bakes its own bread using a naturally fermented yeast. The soup and salad set is served with fresh bread and coffee. I can’t wait to go back to try it.
The quiet surroundings of Starbucks in Fujimino offered a nice work environment
After lunch, I headed to Starbucks to actually get some work done. The Starbucks is about 10 minutes from the station, so the crowd was pretty thin in the early afternoon with most of the customers coming through the drive-through.
A taste of home… beers from Newport, Oregon’s Rogue Ales & Spirits
After I finished my work, I popped into the Aeon department store down the street. I remembered from a trip to the Aeon near Costco that they have a large liquor section with a decent selection of craft beers. Sure enough, they had three different choices from Oregon’s Rogue Ales & Spirits. I took one of each: Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Dead Guy and Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout.
I tried to make a joke with the cashier that both the beer and I were from the same place. She laughed and said a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn’t really catch. Can’t win ’em all…
My projects will keep me busy for a few more weeks and I plan to use my new method of navigating the area by Starbucks locations to find a few more new gems.
There’s only one thing anybody wants to know right now…
Did you do anything for Golden Week?
I’ll concede there’s a small chance this topic is only relevant among people living in Japan and, if it’s coming up in English, it’s only a hot topic among 0.01 percent of the population. But hey, that’s my demographic!
UN Farmers Market and Cinco de Mayo
We started our Golden Week with a weekend trip into Tokyo to visit one of our favorite farmers markets and hit up the Cinco de Mayo Festival at Yoyogi Park.
The latest edition of “True Portland”—a high-quality Portland, Ore. guidebook written by Japanese authors in Japanese—was released recently. The authors had a pop-up tent at the UN Farmers Market featuring Portland products like Jacobsen Salt and Fuller Foods Serious Cheesy Puffs.Oregon Beer Geeks is a company in Japan that imports beer from Oregon and sells it online. At the UN Market, they had two beers from Burnside Brewing and one from The Commons Brewery, both based in Portland.Lunch at the UN Farmers Market—a vegetarian take on Hawaiian plate lunch, a hummus and veggie bagel pizza and Burnside Brewing’s “Too Sticky To Roll India Red Ale” and “Sweet Heat,” an apricot and Scotch bonnet pepper wheat beer.Tokyo’s take on Cinco de Mayo is a lot like America’s take—lots of drinking and sad Mexican-ish food. The best find was probably this Day of the Dead Porter from Mexico’s Cerveceria Mexicana brewery.
Chichibu’s Hitsujiyama Park
Chichibu is our favorite place for outdoor adventures in Japan. It’s about an hour away by train and is usually pretty quiet. However, during Golden Week, thousands of people descend on the otherwise sleepy town to see the shibazakura or mountain phlox at Hitsujiyama Park.
Video: Mountain Phlox in Chichibu
Phans of the phlox phlocking to Chichibu (see what I did there?)The phlox fields at Hitsujiyama Park in Chichibu (click to zoom)The heart of the phlox gardenMt. Buko sits in the distancePeople sitting around the edge of the garden having a picnic and, in many cases, a napTourists getting in the way of the view of the phlox 🙂Local Chichibu honey for sale at Hitsujiyama Park. A large queen bee is inside each jar.“Hitsuji” means “sheep” in Japanese and “yama” means “mountain,” so the aptly-named Sheep Mountain Park should have a few sheep wandering the grounds. The local paparazzi went crazy for this one.A window in a home near the park proudly displaying its winnings from the UFO Catcher gamesMt. Buko and a bright red neighborhood shrine. The scarring at the top of Mt. Buko is a result of heavy mining of limestone used for the ever-present construction in the larger cities.After a day of walking, we went to an onsen (hot springs) in the nearby Yokoze neighborhood. This is proof that I can use chopsticks like a champ!
Koburi Pass
We milked every last second out of Golden Week, heading out on the last day of the holidays to nearby Hanno for some hiking. We found a very non-touristy spot called Koburi Pass. We befriended a couple of older Japanese ladies at the train station, one of whom nearly missed the train when she went upstairs to get us some local sightseeing pamphlets.
Lots to see along the way, like this statue of Buddha playing a mandolinThese happy farm animals were painted outside a local butcher shopWalking up the road to the hiking trails leading to Koburi PassSeveral small shrines appear along the path, like this one of the Seven Gods of Fortune (七福神). Hikers leave coins at each shrine for good fortune.A view of the Okuchichibu Mountains as we approached the top of Koburi Pass. Mt. Fuji was barely visible due to the cloud cover, but it’s not at all visible in this photoLunch under the pagoda of Marishiten Temple. From the very top of the pass, we could look over the entirety of Saitama Prefecture. On a clear day, Tokyo Skytree is visible, nearly 50 miles away.Springtime in Japan in all of its glory. The wisteria trees in bloom.Viburnum plicatum is better known as the Japanese snowball.Mountain laurel is native to the eastern United States, but it found its way to JapanKoi swimming free in a stream near the train station
How did you spend Golden Week? Leave a comment below!
Over the course of a month of traveling, you’ll end up using a lot of different types of transportation. Obviously, there’s a bunch of taxis and buses, but southern Asians use a variety of different transportation methods as part of their daily lives. Here’s a sampling of how we got around India, Nepal and Thailand.
Clockwise from left: Waiting for the metro train in Kawagoe; The Delhi Metro; Bangkok Metro (MRT)We had five flights on our trip: Tokyo to Delhi, Kathmandu to Bangkok, Bangkok to Koh Samui, Nakhon Si Thammarat to Bangkok and Bangkok to TokyoWe took a pink taxi in Bangkok similar to this one (Photo by Ilya Plekhanov, Wikipedia Commons)Tuk-Tuks or auto-rickshaws are a common way to get around in southern Asia. We used them frequently in India and Thailand.Business class seating in a passenger train from Agra to Jhansi in India. Pretty comfy and clean.Only electric vehicles are allowed near Taj Mahal as the pollution was beginning to turn Taj’s marble yellow. We rode a cart similar to this one to the gates (Photo from jotarofootsteps.blogspot.com)In India and Nepal, our tour group used private buses and vans to move shorter distances. Usually our luggage was tied to the top and usually someone climbed on top of the van to get it down.Inside the horror show that was the sleeper train from Orchha to Allahabad in India. A group of men argued loudly all night in the bunk across from us. (Hey Farren!)On the Ganges River in Allahabad, we drifted in sailboats to a remote beach where we camped and played cricket.In Varanasi, India, we used motor boats to watch the sunrise opposite the city’s famous ghats.Riding a bicycle rickshaw in the streets of Varanasi, India. We felt bad having another human being peddle us around, but it was better than having to walk back to our hotel.We rode a bus to the India/Nepal border, then crossed the border on foot before boarding another bus to our hotel in Lumbini, NepalIn the Narayani Zone in Nepal, we toured the local village on bicycles. We both got a “Hero Queen” bike.Our group loaded into two canoes and paddled our way to Chitwan National Park in NepalIn Chitwan National Park in Nepal, we saw one-horned rhinoceros and crocodiles from our safari jeepIn Koh Samui, we rented a scooter for the day and poked around the east side of the island. Later, in Nakhon Si Thammarat, we rode on the back of scooter-taxis to our songthaew to Kiriwong Village.To reach Thailand’s Angthong National Marine Park, you have to catch a ride with a tour boat. We camped on Angthong’s main island for a couple nights and returned with another boat.Both days we were on Angthong, we rented a kayak and paddled out into the Gulf of ThailandLong-tail boats are widely used in Thailand by fishermen and tour companiesWe finally pried ourselves off of Koh Samui and took a large ferry boat to the mainland. Dozens of cars sat below deck. Above deck, comfy seats, televisions, massage services and a convenience store were available for passengers.Songthaew‘s are one of Thailand’s primary public transportation methods. The modified pickup trucks stop along fixed routes and have padded benches in the covered truck bed. People hop on and off along the route. Twice we rode in the back of a pickup truck. In Kiriwong Village, Thailand, a Thai from Krabi helped us set up our homestay lodging and gave us a ride to the house.In Nakhon Si Thammarat, a woman named Joon helped us make change for our songthaew fare, then went out of her way to give us a ride to our hotel in the back of her pickup truck. Her mother was driving and stopped for a snack along the way while her two daughters enjoyed their 7-11 Slurpees.In Kiriwong Village, we hired a local guide to take us hiking to the waterfalls in Khao Luang National Park. He picked us up on his motorcycle. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see my wife again when I snapped this picture! 🙂In the old part of Bangkok, water taxis run up and down the Chao Phraya River, dropping passengers at the big tourist spots. They’re crowded and the boat attendants do a lot of yelling and pushing.
What’s the craziest method of transportation you’ve ever taken in your travels? Leave a comment below!
The world is a big place. We’ve tried our best to take advantage of our current locale to visit parts of the world that previously seemed unreachable. In August 2014, we spent two weeks traversing Australia. Japan on its own could fill years of travels, but we’ve started chipping away with trips to Kyoto and Osaka, Fukuoka and Mt. Fuji among others. However, our latest adventure has been the most epic yet. Spanning 33 days, three countries and every transportation method imaginable, we’ve had a taste of southern Asia that’s left us hungry for more.
From Tokyo to Delhi, Kathmandu to Bangkok… our 2015 tour de Southeast Asia. Click on the image for a closer view.
Beginning in Delhi, India, we toured the northern part of the world’s seventh largest country before crossing into Nepal. From Kathmandu, we flew to Thailand, where we lounged on amazing white sand beaches, explored national parks, lived with the locals and wandered through one of the world’s greatest cities.
A couple on vacation from Krabi helped us get settled in Kiriwong
Along the way, we met amazing people with both heartbreaking and heartwarming stories. We experienced the “real” India, Nepal and Thailand, but could also see the impact that tourism is having on the identity of these cultures. We ate what the locals ate and what the tourists ate—spoiler alert: they’re not the same.
The streets of Delhi
This trip was not only a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but also a perspective-altering one. The reality of seeing developing countries in different states of progress trumped anything I’ve ever read in Time or Newsweek. Our eyes and minds opened as we struggled to understand a way of life that flew in the face of what we know to be “right”—arranged marriages, extreme poverty, access to education and gender inequality.
Our made-from-mud duplex in Nepal
It also brought new opportunities. I can now say that I’ve played cricket (on the banks of the Ganges River, no less) and I generally understand this sport that mostly remains a mystery to Americans (despite being the second-most popular sport in the world). We slept in overnight trains, mud huts and bungalows—the latter included a 5 a.m. wake-up call from both a crowing rooster and a flying chicken landing on our roof with a thud. We gained a better understanding of Hinduism as well as the role it played in shaping Indian society and many of the world’s religions. And we learned a thing or two about toilets around the world (“squatty potty” anybody?).
Enough with the teasers. Let’s dive right in with a look at some of the best food we’ve ever eaten… anywhere! Meet northern Indian cuisine!
