Feeling Japanese

The first part of our journey was spending 10 days in Japan.

We arrived at Narita airport on Monday 9 July 2007, and spent over an hour getting from Narita to Shinagawa (Tokyo) where we were to stay for 2 days. After a good nights sleep we explored the area and went to JR Shinagawa to pick up our Rail Pass that was to be our mode of transport while we were in Japan. There are people everywhere - but in saying that it wasn't hurried like Toni & David expected.

On Wednesday morning (11/7/2007), we checked out of our hotel to catch our first Bullet Train (Shinkansen) to Takayama which is one of Japans ski regions on the island of Honshu. Wow was that train fast - nearly 200kph. The scenery was breath taking. So rugged - so green - the Japanese certainly know how to use every bit of land that is available to them. Unfortunately didn't see Mt Fuji as it was overcast. We had to change trains at Nagoya. The scenery between Nagoya and Takayama was spectacular. This was the Japan that we wanted to see. Rugged mountains, beautiful villages, fast flowing rivers, spruce forests.

Takayama is a a mixture of old and new. Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from the rail station and 5 minutes from the old city. We explored the old town, and David practised some of his Japanese phrases on unsuspecting locals. Their faces beamed as David tried to communicate with them. It was here that I first felt the ground move. Both Toni & David thought I was mad, but I am sure that is what I felt.

Our next stop was Kanazawa. What a great adventure this part of the journey turned out to be. Quite a few years ago either a typhoon or earthquake had closed the tracks between Takayama and Kanazwa, and the way to travel is now is a 3-car train to Tsunogawa, then a 20-seat bus along mountain goat tracks to Inotana, then a 1-car train to Kanazawa. The scenery was absolutely fantastic.

The next day we took the JR Thunderbird to Kyoto. There was a very long tunnel on this leg, and once again the scenery was just superb. There are little shrines and temples all over the place. We arranged a day tour while we were in Kyoto, which took us to Nijo Castle which was built in 1603, fantastic gardens and well preserved paintings and carvings. Then we went to Kinkakuji Temple, the home of perhaps the world's most authentic and exquisite Japanese garden, as well as the celebrated Golden Pavilion. That afternoon we went to Nara and visited the Todaiji Temple which housies a great image of Buddha, and the Deer Park, where tame deer freely roam and can be hand-fed. While we were there the heavens opened and we were told on our way back to Kyoto that Typhoon Man-yi was threatenening the Japanese south coast.

Our next destination was Hiroshima. It was the first time we had seen blue sky, and what a difference that made to seeing places like the A-Bomb Memorial in full sunlight, because the next day it was overcast and the mood was completely different. The Atomic Bomb Dome is one of the few buildings around the explosion's epicenter that partially survived the blast, and the city's only remaining bomb damaged building. We also visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park which was built to commemorate the dropping of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and to promote a peaceful world. The Peace Memorial Museum graphically displays the atomic bomb's horrible effects on the city and its inhabitants.

That evening back at the hotel, we learned that there had been an earthquake in the Nigata region of Honshu Island. That explained all the little tremors that I had been experiencing over the last couple of days. The earthquake was 6.8 on the richter scale.

Our time is nearly over in Japan, but we had one more adventure, in Osaka. Toni & David couldn't book an English speaking tour, so they took me on a Japanese speaking tour. What a hoot!! There was 14 of us in the group, and Toni , David & I the only Australians. Our guide made sure that we knew what time to get back on the bus etc. The highlight of the trip was lunch in the Dotombou district where we ate at the "Cui-doare" the home of the world famous Kuidaore Taro, a mechanical drum-playing clown We also visited Osaka Castle, noted for its magnificence and the immense stones used in its construction. The castle towers over the city on a stone rampart, and was built in 1583 as the intended capital of Japan.

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