2004-08-20-summer-2004-in-japan.md (12038B)
1 +++ 2 title = "Summer 2004 in Japan" 3 date = "2004-08-20T00:00:00Z" 4 slug = "summer-2004-in-japan" 5 tags = ["Japan", "Travel"] 6 +++ 7 8 I had originally planned my summer vacations for May, then July, and finally, 9 in an effort to match my summer vacations with those of friends in Japan, ended 10 up shuffling them back to August. Aside from the scorching heat, August is a 11 fantastic time of year to visit. The heat this summer was more than a little 12 bit scorching though, it was the hottest summer in ten years. 13 14 It turned out, however, that I would have something more pressing than the 15 weather to keep my mind busy though. In the middle of the night, somewhere over 16 the Pacific ocean I woke up from my sleep in a cold sweat. My heart was 17 pounding. The airplane cabin was surprisingly silent; everyone around me had 18 dozed off to sleep and all that was left was the low drone of the jet engines 19 and the gentle hiss of the air vents. Slowly, I reached for the back pocket of 20 my backpack. My hands trembling, I unzipped it and slowly pulled it open. With 21 a huge sigh of relief, I pulled out my wallet. I hadn’t forgotten it at home 22 after all. Dropping it back in, I turned back toward the window and fell back 23 asleep. It wasn't until the next day in Osaka, as I opened my wallet to pay for 24 my hotel that I realised I’d forgotten my bank card at home. 25 26 This would not have been a problem, except that in a flash of brilliance, I had 27 decided to forgo the usual traveller’s cheques and use post office bank 28 machines to withdraw from my accounts back home. This had worked fantastically 29 last year and would save the hassle of cashing traveller’s cheques at a bank. 30 Fortunately I had a credit card on me. Unfortunately, Canadian credit cards 31 can’t be used to withdraw more than 20,000 yen a day, and then only at special 32 Visa bank machines which tend to be incredibly hard to find. Or, as I would 33 find out, impossible to find outside of Osaka or Tokyo. Fortunately I was able 34 to get hold of Mum on the phone relatively quickly, and she FedEx’ed the card 35 to Yasuko in Tokyo. By my math, I had just enough cash to buy Shinkansen 36 tickets to Shizuoka, then Tokyo. All I had to do was ensure that I reserved a 37 hotel in Shizuoka that accepted Canadian credit cards. No problem. 38 39 I spent the first night in the Umeda ward of Osaka, mostly because it’s so 40 close to Osaka station, and I was planning to catch the train first thing next 41 morning out through Kyoto, then Otsu, to Imazu-cho to meet Annie. Aside from 42 spending most of the next day in Osaka desperately seeking out Visa ATMs, I 43 can’t say I had that bad a time. Well, the weather was alright anyway. 44 45 46 Annie put me up for a few days in Imazu-cho, where I had the chance to meet up 47 with some friends from last year, and do a little exploring of nearby bits of 48 Shiga-ken. Caught the ferry out to Chikubushima, an island just 30 minutes out 49 from shore into Lake Biwa. The amazing thing about Chikubushima is the temples 50 and shrines you find in this remote location. The wood for the buildings did 51 not come from the island itself, but was ferried out by hand hundreds of years 52 ago. Chikubushima is one of several locations in Japan where the godess of 53 artistic inclinations, Benzaiten, is worshipped. Benzaiten, or Benten as she is 54 more often called, is the only female among the Shichifukujin¹ and is often 55 depicted as a woman carrying a lute. As she is a river godess, temples and 56 shrines dedicated to her often appear on lakes or near water. 57 58 After a few days in Imazu, I decided to head to Shizuoka. The best way to get 59 there was to catch local trains to Maibara station, on the other side of the 60 lake, then take the Shinkansen from there to Shizuoka. As I was running a 61 little late, I ended up sprinting through Imazu, suitcase in tow, to the train 62 station. With 100m to go, I saw the train pull into the station, so I threw it 63 into high gear. I quickly bought the 900 yen ticket from the ticket agent, who 64 told me to run for track 3, and remember to change trains at Nagahama station. 65 I sprinted up the stairs, and threw myself headlong through the train doors 66 seconds before they closed. 20 minutes later, the train driver called Nagahama 67 station over the crackly radio, and I hopped off. I was the only one. The train 68 pulled away, and I was left standing on the train platform with nothing but the 69 scorching heat and humidity, and the chirping of cicadas. It was then that I 70 read the station name: Nagahara. I’d misheard the name. There would surely be 71 another train in ten minutes though, so I staggered down the stairs and noticed 72 the utter lack of automatic ticket gates. 73 74 An old woman sat in the station-master’s booth. She looked up at me with a 75 half-surprised, half-worried expression and asked me for my ticket. I handed it 76 over. Noticing the apparent discrepancy in train fare she asked, “where are you 77 headed?” I answered “Maibara.” She said, “that’s on the other side of the lake. 78 You’re at Nagahara.” I said “I know. I’d meant to change at Nagahama…” at which 79 point she started laughing. ”The next train’s in three hours.” Three hours. I 80 asked when the next train to Oumi-Shiotsu station was. It was one station to 81 the north, at the junction of two train lines, so there’d be a much better 82 chance of catching an earlier train. She said ”That's the one. The next train 83 anywhere is three hours from now. There’s a bus in two though. Or I could call 84 a taxi, if that would help.” Maibara had to be at least 80km from here. No way 85 I could afford a taxi. But I could probably get a taxi to Oumi-Shiotsu, which I 86 did. And was laughed at some more over my mistake. 87 88 89 Turned out I wasn’t the only one. When I arrived at Oumi-Shiotsu, I was greeted 90 by three Japanese backpackers from Kyushu who’d apparently gotten off at 91 Nagahara the day before, and decided to stay the night at a nearby hotspring 92 and continue on to Maibara the next day. We sat for an hour, jumped on the 93 train, and eventually arrived at Nagahama, changed trains, and completed the 94 journey to Maibara. From there, it was the Kodama Shinkansen to Shizuoka. 95 96 I crashed the night in Shizuoka, then spent the next day exploring town. I 97 visited Sumpu-jou, a small castle in central Shizuoka, and Sumpu-jou Kouen, a 98 nearby park where I was invited in to try a whole series of green teas. 99 Shizuoka is famous for green tea, and as I had been the only foreigner that 100 week, I was treated to a detailed history of tea cultivation in the area, an 101 explanation of the many varieties and styles of green tea, and a pile of free 102 desserts! They asked if I had some spare time, as they’d love to take me on a 103 guided tour of the rest of the teahouse, and show me the private gardens in the 104 back. It was pretty spectacular. 105 106 After Sumpu-jou Kouen, I tried to find a bank machine that would allow me to do 107 a cash advance on my credit card, but finally gave up while I still had my 108 sanity. I bought a Shinkansen ticket for Tokyo with the plan to meet Setsuko at 109 Tennodai station at 9pm. 110 111 On the train, I met a professor with the Shimizu Univeristy Naval Engineering 112 school, and we ended up chatting the entire way to Tokyo. He was originally 113 from Kyoto, but had lived in Holland for years, and half-way through the 114 conversation, I discovered that he also spoke flawless English. He was 115 incredibly polite and put up with my fairly dodgy Japanese the entire way. It 116 was pretty good practice for me, though we did switch to English as the 117 conversation got into ship-building and a few other topics I knew nothing about 118 in Japanese. 119 120 121 In the end, I got to Ueno station a little bit early, stuffed my suitcase in a 122 locker, and ended up exploring the park for a few hours. I ended up doing a 123 huge survey on what I thought of Ueno Park, which was also great Japanese 124 practice, and I got a free pen out of the deal, to boot. I also discovered a 125 big festival going on at the far end of the park, near a temple that Yasuko and 126 I had visited last year. I wandered past the booths selling onigiri² and 127 kaki-kori³, listened to the music, took some pictures, and stopped by the 128 temple for a bit. It sits in the middle of a large pond full of blossoming 129 lotus flowers, and combined with the smell of incense wafting over the pond, it 130 makes for a very peaceful experience. 131 132 Eventually, I grabbed some onigiri and headed back to the train station to 133 catch the next train for Tennodai, in Chiba. Got there just in time, sat down 134 and waited on the platform for Setsuko, who arrived 5 minutes later. It was 135 crazy to see her again on the other side of the world. We headed off to the 136 supermarket, grabbed some food for dinner, and headed back to her apartment to 137 eat. 138 139 The next day, we did some shopping around Kashiwa station in Chiba, and I ended 140 up ordering a hand-made traditional futon. They measured me, we selected 141 fabrics and they said to come back in ten days to pick it up. Grabbed some 142 chinese food for lunch and some snacks, and did a bit more shopping. Eventually 143 we headed back, and I went to sleep. I remember being woken by an earthquake at 144 about 2am, but falling back asleep before it was even over. I can’t stay awake 145 for long on futons; they’re incredibly comfortable. 146 147 148 Yasuko and I arranged to meet at Shinagawa station early the next morning under 149 the big clock by the central ticket gates. It was great to see her again, and 150 we immediately bolted off to drop my gear at the apartment in Shinagawa she’d 151 rented and head out for lunch at an Italian place nearby. The rest of the week 152 was spent eating some of the most amazing sushi, soba, French, and Italian food 153 you can imagine, and checking out two huge fireworks festivals. Aside from all 154 the eating, we also visited art galleries in Ueno park, and did a bit of 155 shopping in Jiyuugaoka and Ginza. I got to visit Apple’s flagship Ginza store 156 which is a noble goal for any true Mac fanatic. Well, technically I also needed 157 a new AC adapter, since I’d accidentally destroyed mine earlier in the day. 158 159 After a week in Tokyo, it was off on a business trip to Oita, on Kyushu. I’d 160 never been to southern Japan before, and I was looking forward to meeting some 161 of my Japanese counterparts for work after many email conversations. Not only 162 did I get to visit a Japanese shipyard and see firsthand the incredible 163 precision with which they manufacture their vessels, but I also got to visit a 164 rural Japanese town, and meet Matsumoto-san and Kato-san, who treated me to 165 some of the most memorable karaoke of my life. After the business trip to 166 Nagasaki, we headed out for one last night together, with an amazing 167 traditional Kyushu-style sashimi and sushi dinner, and karaoke until two in the 168 morning. 169 170 For my final day in Japan, I was scheduled to fly out of Oita airport, arriving 171 at Tokyo Haneda airport at 12:15. At 5pm, my return flight to Canada departed 172 Tokyo Narita airport. In the intervening 3 hours, the brilliant plan was to 173 jump from train to train at breakneck pace and make it to Togoshi-ginza station 174 to meet Yasuko for lunch, then jump straight back on the train and make it out 175 to Narita just in time for my flight. I made every single train as the doors 176 were closing. Literally, with under two seconds to spare every time... but we 177 did have a fantastic Italian lunch, and make it to the airport with such 178 impeccable timing that by the time I arrived at the gate, everyone had boarded 179 but ten people. You can’t cut it much closer than that. 180 181 Once again, one of the most memorable trips of my life. The best part is that 182 I’ll be permanently moving back to Japan within a couple of months, so I’ll be 183 even closer to all the places I’ve been looking forward to visiting. Thanks to 184 everyone who put me up again this year: Annie, Setsuko, and Yasuko! I can’t 185 wait to be back. 186 187 ### Glossary 188 189 1. *Shichifukujin:* The seven gods of good luck. 190 1. *Onigiri:* Rice balls, often stuffed with pickled plum or fish. 191 1. *kaki-kori:* Shaved ice covered in flavoured syrup such as strawberry, 192 blueberry, or green tea.