Gokayama

At the end of our Shinkansen train ride, a bus was waiting to take us to Gokayama, a World Heritage Site with picturesque thatched houses. On the way, we drove through a very agricultural area in a flat valley with many rice paddies. Some of the crops had already been harvested at the end of August. The style of the house is quite unique, with a black roof and its own garden and each one protected by a line of tall trees. Flat land for agriculture is at a premium in Japan. Next were lots of persimmon orchards. Some of these persimmons are dried in the sun and preserved for the winter.

In Gokayama, the traditional houses have a thatched roof very steep like praying hands in order that the snow can fall off easily and not be too heavy for the roof. We all walked around the village for an hour, and then I had an ice cream (Matcha ice cream). In the car park, I met a couple who had hired a brand new Prius for the day and they showed me how lovely it was but these cars are not coming to Australia.

The last experience of the day was a demonstration of traditional papermaking. Pics tomorrow!

Onsen at Hakone

“Only the moon was missing” said Ruthe.

We were instructed to take off our clothes and put on a special kimono and slippers, and to take a small towel into the Onsen. We had to sit on a small stool and clean our bodies thoroughly. No bathing suits were allowed. The water was extremely hot. Everything was communal. you had to put your clothes in a wicker basket, and then into another room that had the little stools in front of the shower. At least, it was the ladies bathing area. In the water was too hot in the indoor area, so we went outside where the air temperature was quite cold. Steam was rising from the hot water. I would like to have taken a photo, but that was a no no. Ruthe has taught me how to do this blog with the microphone function! It’s much quicker!

At 6:30 pm, we went for dinner, all wearing our kimonos and a special short coat to go on top of it. 

Into the Mountains

Wet weather gear

Lunch

Today dawned very cloudy, with the suggestion of rain forecast for Hakone. The bus journey was supposed to take 2 hours, but we were soon caught in a traffic jam on the motorway which added another half hour. We stopped half way at a service station with a huge shopping area selling sweet snacks and souvenirs. Our guide showed me how to get a hot cappuccino from a machine: no English at all in the instructions!

We went up the mountain by cable car and watched more Autumn colours appearing as we gained height. At the top, it started to drizzle but I had been persuaded to buy a cheap plastic mac from another vending machine. There would have been a beautiful view of Mt Fuji from this point, but there was absolutely no visibility today. All we could see was sulphurous smoke coming out of vents in the rock face. It was very crowded on top. The main attraction seemed to be Black Eggs (just hard boiled eggs in a black shell) which were supposed to add 7 years to your life if you ate one!

Welcome Dinner in Tokyo

We enjoyed a communal dinner with multiple courses as an introduction to Japanese cuisine. I ate everything, including “free flowing” beer which just kept coming!

Firing up the wood for the BBQ

Starters

Teriyaki prawns and vegetables

Marinated cod

Plum wine

Aerial view of restaurant 

The last major dish was Waygu Beef on skewers. This was by far the best melt-in-the mouth beef I’ve ever eaten. It was superb. I had a chat with the manager about it, as we have that beef in Australia but so expensive that I couldn’t bring myself to pay that amount.

Japan: Second Day

Today has been incredibly busy, but the weather gods smiled on us absolutely.

The breakfast buffet included dishes from all over the world, but I stuck to bacon and eggs with a side of mushrooms and spinach.

At 8.30 am, we met in the lobby to see our tour leaders from Norway (Arne and Carlos who run a popular knitting blog) plus the local guide (Mayumi). Then it was onto the bus to take us to Asakusa for a visit to the  main Buddhist temple Sensoji.

Our charming guide Mayumi, pointing out the lanterns donated to the temple.

Pagoda with five storeys.

Replica sandal: memorial to those who had walked miles to get here.

This was followed by a boat trip along the river. Our guide advised us to pick up some sushi to eat as we were cruising along. This was to constitute an early lunch, but we were warned not to eat too much as we were going for a huge dinner at 4.30 at a very famous restaurant.

The next stop was at the large Hamarikyu Gardens, dating back to the Edo period when it served as a the garden of a private villa belonging to a feudal lord. At the time, these lords had to come every year to visit the  ruler of Japan and stay there with their whole family and entourage.

Getting my fortune told. You shake the tin and a stick pops out. You then find the correct drawer and extract the paper with your “fortune”. You put 100 yen in the slot.

Drawers containing the fortunes.

This was followed by a boat trip along the river. Our guide advised us to pick up some sushi to eat as we were cruising along. This was to constitute an early lunch, but we were warned not to eat too much as we were going for a huge dinner at 4.30 at a very famous restaurant.

The next stop was at the large Hamarikyu Gardens, dating back to the Edo period when it served as a the garden of a private villa belonging to a feudal lord. At the time, these lords had to come every year to visit the  ruler of Japan and stay there with their whole family and entourage.

Lock gates to control water level.

Ancient pine tree, carefully pruned and propped up.

Lovely pathway through the gardens.

A beautiful shade loving flower.

Ruthe, my room -mate, with a young girl in a traditional kimono. Unmarried girls wear long hanging sleeves. Married women wear shorter sleeves.

This garden shows “Japan in miniature” with all the major climatic regions depicted. The famous maple trees here have not yet turned red, but will do so in 3 weeks.

Evening in Tokyo

In this hotel is an interesting event happening: the internationaluyghurforum. Google it! People from all over the world have come to Tokyo to raise awareness of the plight of the Uyghurs in China. I had a long conversation with a young woman on the desk, a Human Rights Lawyer from Germany (E please note!) She said there are VIPs and politicians from many countries: no-one from Australia, but Jordan Steele John has sent a message of support.

It’s Halloween and the hotel has not forgotten:

Dinner in the hotel is fabulous: a beautifully presented buffet. I’m trying everything! Tiny portions, though.

Crème brulee

Japan: First Day

I arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun feeling quite sleep deprived. The sun rose too bright and too early over the wing on my side of the aeroplane at about 4.00 am. I was sitting next to a woman even older than me, who was travelling with her daughter. They were about to go on a cruise. They ordered tea and biscuits at that unearthly hour, so I asked for an orange juice and there was no going back to sleep after that. Breakfast came two hours later. The strange thing about the flight from Singapore, which departed about midnight, was that nothing was served immediately. The lights were dimmed and everyone was supposed to go to sleep. No trays of assorted drinks came round as per usual on Singapore Airlines. I must have been rather dehydrated by that time. Both flights were packed: not a single spare seat. In fact, my elderly companion described an incident on their flight from Perth, whereby a man who was seated next to a grossly overweight passenger and demanded to be moved!

Narita Airport is a long way from the city. It took me almost an hour on the Narita Express Train. I alighted at Tokyo Station and then took a taxi to my hotel, the Metropolitan Edmont. It was early in the morning, too early to check-in, so I did a few things in the airport first. The best thing was a delicious cappuccino at Starbucks, followed by the purchase of a Japanese charging adapter for my iPhone.

My hotel is pretty large, but it has everything I need including a heated toilet seat and various flushing possibilities that I haven’t investigated yet. My room mate, Ruthe, arrived yesterday and has gone out for the day sightseeing. So I was able to have a couple of hours in bed and take a shower in peace. Then, I was longing for a beer; there is a small convenience store in the lobby which provided me with one:

A Walk in the Forest

This morning I drove to Jarrahdale. I was on a mission to find a Bay Tree. The Bushwalking Group always used to do the Kitty’s Gorge Walk and, led by AN, we picked plenty of bay leaves and dried these for winter stews. This is the second time I’ve looked for this elusive tree, which must have been planted in someone’s garden. I didn’t find it!

Start of the walk trail.

There were plenty of wildflowers out:

Creeping Fringe Lilies 

The Garden Centre has now provided me with a small Bay Tree of my own, which is growing in a pot on my balcony.

Knit one...

I've just finished another top. The pattern is Stylecraft 9929, really easy to make and very "stylish". The pattern calls for Grace Aran wool, but I actually used Grange Ten 10 ply, which is abailable locally. It is 40% wool, 40% acrylic and 20% alpaca. This is a photo of the work in progress:

There are some knitting vlogs I've been following on YouTube. The first is a knitwear designer from Finland: she seems to knit day in, day out (but I suppose they need a lot of sweaters up there!). She writes under Kutovakika. 

 The second lives in rural South Wales on the edge of a National Park. She vlogs on many kinds of craft as well as knitting. She writes under Katie Green Bean. 

 It's been unseasonably hot in Perth for the last few days. The only thing to do in the afternoon is to pull down the blinds, turn on the aircon and knit.

Japan!!

Today I received a lovely email from R, the American lady who will be sharing a room with me on the Japanese trip. It reminded me that I should get on with some serious planning. I’ve borrowed the Lonely Planet guide from the library, but I don’t find it easy to use. I keep getting lost in the index. My plan was to photocopy pages giving info about the main places on our itinerary: easier said than done! 

 This is a list I want to focus on: 

 Tokyo Asakusa Kannon Temple

 Hakone 

 Kanazawa

 Gokayama 

 Hikone 

 Kyoto 

 Takamatsu on Shikoku Island 

 Tokushima 

 Osaka. 

 The guided tour ends in Osaka, so I will take the bullet train back to Tokyo and spend the final night there before flying home next day. I’m travelling with Singapore Airlines via Changi. There were many alternative ways of getting to and from Japan, but I finally decided on this one. 

 The first photo shows Senso-ji, the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo. The second is a souvenir bought years ago by JL on a trip to Japan with his son. It’s an example of Chokin ware.