Category: Country

One of my main reasons for coming to Hiroshima was to visit Miyajima, as my previous visit here a few years ago was too short to do that. Miyajima is on every package tour to Hiroshima, and the wooden structure (called O-torii) shown above is one of the distinctive Japanese sights. The Itsukushima Shinto Shrine was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. Several hundred years ago, in 1643, Miyajima was recognised as one of the “three most scenic spots in Japan” … so how could I resist?

It’s a short train ride and then an even shorter ferry ride to the island, and the island is close enough to the mainland that the O-torii can be seen before boarding the boat (although not in this snapshot of the boat). The island has several attractions, but this post is only about the shrine.  (More posts to come later).

On arriving at the island, I was surprised to find that there is a very large deer population, wandering amongst the tourists. While not aggressive at all, they are of course looking for food, and are fond of paper, it seems. I didn’t see anyone molesting or molested by a deer. There were also some helpful signs in English (always appreciated), but some seemed a little unnecessary. Also lots of stone lanterns, and I imagine that a festival here (at night time) would look spectacular.

The shrine itself is painted a brilliant vermillion, as is the O-torii, apparently to ward off evil spirits. (The colour reminded me of the spectacular Fushima-Inari shrine just out of Kyoto that I visited years ago.) I spotted a couple of priests (not sure that’s the word) and lots of tourists enjoying walking the extensive shrine corridors – as did I. I was a little surprised to see the large collection of used sake bottles and sake casks, giving me the impression that the priests like a tipple (as for English monasteries). Maybe not; I’m not sure how to interpret such largesse.

The tides vary quite a bit here, and the best time to be here is high tide. (I had planned to do that, and tide tables are easy to find online, but I arrived early and then went exploring elsewhere on the island before the tide came in!). So there is no water lapping the shrine in these pictures, but you can see the mountainous island behind as well as the special wishes written on paper.

Tourists are interesting to observe too. They went out by the boatload, bedecked in conical hats, to get closer to the shrine (which must have irritated other tourists trying to photograph it!). Actually, it seemed to me that other tourists were mostly photographing themselves and their friends! The selfie-generation! I am always impressed with the capacity of Japanese people to queue politely and patiently, in this case, waiting to be photographed in front of the O-torii from a good vantage point.

As the tide was drifting in, it was good pickings for the local birds, herons I guess. And there were lovely photo opportunities of stone lanterns everywhere.

It’s a lovely spot and well worth a visit. I spent several hours on the island – longer than I expected – as you can see from my parting photo of the O-torii. Shinto shrines in Japan are easily found by their O-torii, but this is the only one located in water, I think. (Mathematics teachers like me cannot help but think of them as large Pi signs!) Sunset through the structure is especially lovely, and it is popular for people to actually stay at hotels on the island, no doubt partly to enjoy that experience.

Although it might sound like a place, or even a person, okonomiyaki is a food, regarded as the special food of Hiroshima. Apparently it became popular in the 1950s in postwar Hiroshima at a downtown food stall, although it was also a children’s snack just before the war. But now it is very popular and so I decided I could not leave Hiroshima without trying it.

That wasn’t too hard, with almost a thousand places serving okonomiyaki in the city. They generally look like this, with people seated around a teppanyaki-like counter (hotplate) on which it is cooked (and eaten). All kinds of people: younger people, older people, business people after work, groups of people, single people and even tourists …

Making it is half the fun, and a good chance for banter between chef and clients. It starts of course with a beer, but also a pancake mixture. Followed by a handful of cabbage. In some places, you cook your own, but in my case, the chef did it for us. the beer was very welcome after my day trip.

Next comes the next ingredients, placed on top, comprising firstly some tempura chips and then some bacon.

After a while the mixture is flipped over (which looked pretty tricky and I was pleased that I was not doing the cooking). Some soba noodles (thin spaghetti-like noodles) are lightly boiled and then fried, and while that is happening there is even time to capture a photo of my skilful chef:

Then comes the egg – which I missed photographing, too interested in my beer. But here is a photo of an adjacent chef, cooking three okonomiyaki at once at the egg stage. (As well as doing that he was able to engage in conversation with his three clients and with me about the forthcoming football match between Japan and Australia … multi-tasking!) The soba noodles are put on top, and the pile flipped again, ready for the egg to be added after it is cooked a bit.

The last steps involve adding a distinctive rich brown sauce and a sprinkling of seaweed or other stuff on top, to get the finished product shown in the picture at the top of this blog.

Then comes the adventure of eating the okonomiyaki. The implements provided are a hera and chopsticks. I had read that the hera is used both for cutting off bits (like a pizza knife) but also for eating them (like a spoon), although some people cut off bits and placed them on their plate and then used the chopsticks. There did not seem to be strict rules of etiquette fortunately, and people are very tolerant of the incompetence of beginners and visitors.

Here is my meal, part-way through. It was absolutely delicious, or, as they say here in Japan, oishi! I won’t show you my plate, however, which was a bit messy!

Mine was just a basic okonomiyaki … but more than enough to fill me up and a nice complement to my beer. More elaborate versions have other things added on top it to them, such as oysters (very popular here), more eggs, cheese, etc. The chef next door was making one with egg and two with cheese for a group of three young men sitting next to me. The cheese needed melting (with  a blow torch):

Haute cuisine? Certainly not, but great fun and pretty nutritious, as well as being very delicious. Close to what some would call ‘peasant food’, but an excellent meal for me!  I guess you could ‘try this at home’ but it’s much more fun in a group and I was pleased that I managed to experience it here before I left Hiroshima. Thoroughly recommended if you are ever in these parts. The last snap is of my chef and a couple of other customers, all reflecting the generally friendly and bubbly atmosphere.

Although I’m not long into my travels in Japan, I have already become fond of the Izakaya as a place to eat and drink. Not really a restaurant, but more like a pub, Izakaya are lovely places for solo travellers, although they are also very popular with groups of local people to spend time together, sharing a meal and a few drinks. Often identified by the lantern outside, Izakaya are everywhere in Japan and very popular.

On arrival, you can be seated at a table or at the counter; travelling solo, the counter is the best choice, as it’s a good place to find people to chat with, watch the cooking process and even chat with the staff.

In this place in Kurashiki, the counter was nearly full, but I managed to be seated next to a lovely couple from Yokohama on one side and a lady from Kyushu on the other side, but conversations could include other people too, as people are very friendly here.

I have also visited a couple of places in Hiroshima, which were more clearly local Izakaya rather than catering mainly to a travelling clientele of tourists (I think …). In one of them, the baseball was the main attraction at the time, and everyone was a supporter of Hiroshima Carp, the local team. I had a lovely chat with two of them and also enjoyed the game, which Hiroshima lost (but it was exciting and close at the end!).

Sitting at the counter allows you to see what’s happening with the chefs, and (if they’re not too busy) chat with them too.

Beer is a popular beverage of course, and always available in draught form, which suits me just fine. Much nicer than bottles (which is the only alternative in most Australian restaurants, unfortunately). Comes in different sizes, and is generally served with a noble of some sort. The green beans are delicious, but I have had alternatives too, even pumpkin.

Later in the evening, a drop of sake is a good night-cap, but moderation is advisable. Sake is served cold or warm, according to preference (both are nice) and is often shared. In one Izakaya, there were sake bowls on the counter for customers to use as they wished, for example.

As far as food is concerned, having an English menu is helpful, but not really essential (you can always point to what someone else is having!). Skewers are very popular, and come in all kinds and comprise all sorts of things. I have not yet had any that were not delicious, so it’s hard to make a mistake, I think.

Skewers are always beautifully served in ceramic trays, which I have often seen in Japan,  but not really appreciated their purpose.

There are other dishes of course. Being an island nation, fish is very popular, but I have even managed to find potatoes here already … I thoroughly enjoyed the potato dumpling, served in a lovely sauce with radish on the side, for example.

Of course, groups of people can have a good time in Izakayas (indeed, that’s what they’re for!) and I have often enjoyed doing so in the post with friends and colleagues.

But, travelling alone, they represent a good (and affordable) place to eat, drink and chat with local people.

Kurashiki is a small city near Okayama, but distinguished as it has an old quarter with traditional houses. I spent a night here and had hoped to visit the old quarter, but it was too late to do so, so I enjoyed a wander around in the morning (before it was choked with (mostly Japanese) tourists.

But first, a mathematical note: I have heard of tatami mats before, used as floor coverings in many houses (most houses, I suspect). They are made of a straw-like substance and lined down the longer side. The mathematical interest is that they are always in the ratio of 2:1, being twice as long as they are wide. Rooms are measured in tatami, in fact! The room I stayed in (with my AirBnB family) was huge, being an 8-mat room. Japan often has small rooms, as small as 4-mats, I think; I have certainly stayed before in many small rooms.

The old quarter of Kurashiki is located close to a canal, which looked really beautiful, with willow trees and lovely clean water. The black and white motifs of many of the buildings, as well as the traditional woodwork and ceramic tiled roofs helped the ambience as well, as these few snaps suggest.

When I was wandering around, preparations were underway for another day of tourist influxes: many Japanese people come here to remind them of days gone by, it seems. I was pleased to be able to escape before it was all overrun with tourists.

I was intrigued to read the guide sheet from the JNTO (Japanese National Tourism Organisation), which publishes an extensive range of really helpful material free online. They had a wonderful sentence regarding a walk along Honmashi-Higashimachi Street, which previously contained many tradesperson’s houses, but these have now been converted to other things: “A walk along these streets will bring you into close contact with the people living there, and inspires a curious feeling of nostalgia for a time you never experienced”. I love it! I didn’t see many people (too early), but understood the JNTO meaning.

Kurashiki is a beautiful place and well worth visiting. Apart from lovely old buildings in a serene environment (before the tourists invaded), I encountered some unexpected things too, such as these water lilies in Ivy Square. (The square was previously a textile factory, but has changed function now and even has a hotel.) The water lilies were planted directly from some lilies in Monet’s garden at Giverny in France, and were donated by the local O’Hara Museum! [The museum is a world-class museum modelled after the Greek Pantheon, with a very good collection of paintings from famous painters, both Western and otherwise, and probably the main attraction here.]

There are new things in Kurashiki as well, of course. I enjoyed a stroll through a typical Japanese shopping street, with very many small shops in a long (hundreds of metres) undercover walkway. I’ve seen lots of plastic food in the windows in Japan (very helpful for tourists ignorant of Japanese), but the plastic ice creams caught my eye!. I also loved the display of boots in a shoe shop just getting ready for the day. I could have posted many more photos from lots of small, distinctive, often quirky, shops, but restraint is a virtue.

I was also intrigued to see the manhole covers (not sure if that’s what they are …) in Kurashiki, including their own distinctive pattern and the comic book character also. Japanese people seem to really like small cute things – as do many others of course – and the manhole cover is a nice example of this. I’ve never really noticed manhole covers in Australia; maybe I’ve just neglected them or maybe they are just not so interesting?

Wandering around town can sometimes be problematic, but Kurashiki is as good as I’ve seen anywhere as far as information is concerned. There seemed to be many signs (with both English and Japanese), and one of these information boards with a map on almost every corner. That’s really helpful to visitors, and stands out as some places are much less diligent in that respect, especially to foreigners (Thank you, City of Kurashiki!) It reminds me of course at how poorly we in Australia signpost things for Japanese tourists.

I was also pleased to see an escalator to get up to the road crossing to go to the station; maybe I’m getting tired more easily, but I notice myself choosing escalators (and elevators with my luggage) instead of stairs these days! Still, I had walked a fair way and it has been quite hot …

Finally, I loved the greenery and the trees here; I’m beginning to wonder if Japan doesn’t deserve the phrase, The Emerald Isle, as much as Ireland does, as it’s been spectacularly green so far …

En route to Kurashiki, I chose to stop for a couple of hours in the city of Okayama, mostly to see the famous garden, but also to stretch my legs and to see Okayama Castle.

Japanese folks are fond of ranking things, and the Korakuen Garden in Okayama is ranked as one of the three most beautiful in Japan (I am not sure by whom). Since it’s only about a 30-minute walk from the train station, I decided to stop and see why it was rated so highly. Of course summer is not the best time to see Japanese gardens – probably the worst of the four possible seasonal choices in fact, but one has to take the chances offered.

The garden has lots of lawn (which very green at present), and of course lots of rocks and lots of water, typical of many traditional Japanese gardens. (The photo at the top reinforces this suggestion.) It was first opened in the year 1700, when it was used by the local nobility, but has been open to the public since the  1880s. It seems that it hasn’t changed much down the ages, and was a lovely place to wander around (despite the heat). There were some surprising features of the garden, as well as the traditional green, rocks and water, as shown in the images below.

The garden has a few small orchards (a cherry orchard for the cherry blossom season, e.g.), but I was surprised to find a tea plantation. I was also a little puzzled by the bamboo decorations on some lawns – possibly for a night time display? I was pleased to see the bird sitting serenely on a perch … always a god sign that a garden has fitted into the local environment.

As well as tea and fruit, the garden had a rice plantation. Rice is very important in Japan, and Japanese people are pretty fussy about their rice. (Some Australian rice is sold in japan, I think, but mostly it isn’t, as it doesn’t satisfy the Japanese expectations. I’ve not checked this claim recently … hope it’s not Fake News!) The crop is getting ready to harvest soon, I think, as the blown-up images suggests:

The garden had some nice walks, some of them through small forests and up and down small hills. It got me thinking that it would be very difficult for someone to navigate the paths with a wheelchair, despite their attractiveness:

Next to the garden was Osaka Castle, which looked splendid – at least from a distance:

Japanese castles were built by feudal lords in the old days, but few of them remain in their original condition unfortunately. Okayama Castle was completed in the sixteenth century, and is adjacent to the Karakuen Garden. It was destroyed in an air raid just before the end of the second world war, however, so that today’s version is a concrete facsimile built in the 1960s. Nonetheless, it looked splendid from a distance. I took a closer look, climbing to the top, which gave a good view of the golden roof objects.

These were gleaming in the sunshine and looked even more impressive up close than they did from a distance.
I had not realised from below hat they were fish-like creatures, and they certainly made a good contrast with the dark tiles.

The castle is sometimes known as the ‘Black Castle’ because of its external colouring (although it looked more like grey than black to me).

Most, but not all, the people I saw today appeared to be Japanese, some fairly clearly so, such as this couple below heading up the hill to the castle.

Walking back to the train station to resume my journey was interesting too. I was impressed with the street markings, effectively giving a separate lane to pedestrians and to cyclists going in each of the two directions. Pedestrians get their own zebra crossing, too. We often have problems with cyclists and pedestrians sharing footpaths in Perth, although this solution requires a rather wide footpath! Speaking of cyclists, I was intrigued by the sign (which I may be misreading), suggesting that bicycles cannot be parked here.

These signs might be good ideas, but I saw many examples of people not adhering to the commands, with the bicycles parked above a spectacular example, and the bicycles riding the wrong direction a less spectacular one. Japanese folks are very law-abiding (e.g., wait for a pedestrian light to turn green before crossing, unlike, say, residents of Manhattan), so these breaches were a surprise to me.

I also liked the little manhole covers (if that’s what they are):

All in all, a pleasant break of my journey, before heading to Kurashiki, just a few kilometres down the road (or down the rails in my case).

Capsule hotels began around 30 years ago in Japan, mostly as a way of providing salarymen (businessmen in offices) who had been out having a few drinks after work a way of spending the night in the city and going back to work in the morning. The trains stop fairly early (around midnight) and taxis are very expensive – even more so in the wee small hours – and in addition, men might be either too embarrassed or too drunk to go home. [Since then, there are also capsule hotels that include women and there are other categories of people who stay in them, including the homeless and even (in my case) tourists]

They are called ‘capsule’ hotels, as the ‘bedroom’ is well described as a self-contained capsule, usually stacked in twos in a dormitory arrangement, as the picture above shows. I stayed in an upmarket version, right next to Shinjuku Station, very conveniently. It was my first time in a capsule hotel – but I suspect won’t be my last!

On arrival, before entering the hotel, I had to remove my shoes and replace them with slippers. I was reassured to find some English:

Inside, I had also to remove my clothes and replace them with brown ‘pyjamas’ (which were all one ample size!) Everything was securely stored in lockers, and I was given my (‘deluxe’) capsule key. Staff spoke enough English to deal with a newcomer like me, and even had a sheet of instructions for first-timers, which was helpful.

After a day’s travel, I was looking forward to a bath, and chose this hotel in part because it offered good facilities. In case you are unfamiliar with them, Japanese baths are communal, and you need to thoroughly (very thoroughly, it seemed to me, as some of my

companions spent a long time doing that!) wash yourself before getting in the bath. (The bath is for soaking in after you are clean … it’s unthinkable and very bad manners to use a bath to wash in.) Of course, I didn’t take photos (for obvious reasons!), but the two photos here are from the hotel website, showing the cleaning bays and the hot spa bath. The cleaning bays I used didn’t have chairs, but had tiny stools, which were tricky to get down to, but I managed! Everything was provided in abundance: soaps, shampoo, conditioner, razors, etc.

The bath itself was wonderful … just what I needed after a day travelling! I was surprised to see some of my fellow bathers with a small towel on their head, until I realised that there was nowhere else to store it … for getting partly dry when you get out, and before using a real towel. there was also a sauna available.

Top capsule with bedding

View from my capsule

Then I headed off to my capsule. I chose a top bunk (with advice from a friend), which involved scaling the steps. My locker key allowed me to enter the dormitory, but the shutter in front cannot be locked (by law).

I had ample room and a comfortable bed in an air-conditioned space. I could reach the ceiling (but only just), and had a TV set (with Japanese stations), a choice of videos to watch (I didn’t) and even a little tablet for getting help and advice if needed. And of course wifi everywhere. I very rarely try to reach the ceiling at home, so it didn’t bother me that it was close!

There were lots of signs and advice in English (perhaps because I chose an upmarket version?), but I think the sign in the (communal) toilet telling me about the hook was a little excessive.

I had been warned that the hotel would be very noisy with people snoring, full of drunks, etc … none of which was the case. [Earplugs were supplied, but I didn’t use them. Maybe I was lucky or was already asleep before the noisy people arrived?] There were strict prohibitions about talking on phones, playing music, listening to TV (there were headphones instead), so the experience was very quiet and I had no trouble sleeping at all.

In the morning, thoroughly rested, I washed and shaved in the very nice facilities available, and then had another bath, which was just as pleasant as the first one, and availed myself of free ‘breakfast’, which consisted of some nice buns and lots of free drinks (teas, coffees, soft drinks, water, etc.) I could also have bought other things from several coin in the slot machines, but chose to not do so. [There was a beer slot machine I could have used the previous night too in our communal area.] Several of my fellow travellers were at breakfast at the same time, all dressed like monks, and nobody talking (maybe Trappist monks?). Everyone was using their device, of course … it is 2017, after all, and the wifi was very good. Several of them were reading the manga (Japanese comics), which were provided in abundance.

One of several slot machines; I chose to not have beer for breakfast

Lots of manga were available!

My fellow travellers (all in our pyjamas) at breakfast. It was very quiet!

The verdict? A terrific experience. The hotel was spotless throughout. The staff were very helpful. I had everything I needed for a comfortable night’s sleep. I was safe. It was much less expensive than a hotel. My belongings were safe, once I mastered the succession of keys and lockers etc. The hotel had lots of other nice features (e.g. a laundry) and is part of a chain. You can find out more here if you are interested.

Would I do it again? Certainly!

Kawagoe is a small city a short distance north of Tokyo, but far enough away to feel a little bit in the country; you even pass some rice fields on the way. I visited here recently in an afternoon, having not heard of it previously. [The most common day trips out of Tokyo are to Nikko, Kamikura and Hakone, but it seems that this is the fourth in that group, according to Tourist Information I saw.]

So many prayer boards!

Main street

Kawagoe festival

Writing wishes on paper

Girls day out

The main attraction of Kawagoe is that there is a street and some surrounding area that is locked in a time warp, and apparently resembles Tokyo around 100 years ago. (Sometimes called Ko-Edo … literally ‘little Tokyo’). So it’s a popular spot for Japanese folks to escape the city, remembering the days of old, browsing small shops and eating traditional delicacies of various kinds. Most of the visitors appeared to be Japanese, rather than foreign tourists, perhaps because Kawagoe hasn’t yet become prominent in guide books?

Many young women enjoy hiring traditional Japanese clothing such as yukata (or even the more lavish and expensive kimono), so there were lots of them wandering around when I visited, so that a generally pleasant atmosphere prevailed.

I also visited a large Shinto shrine – which was very popular – in which many young women (especially) were apparently making wishes for a successful marriage, by writing their wishes on small wooden boards (called Ema) or on small paper messages and hanging them on display. (There were also men doing such things, dressed in traditional costume, but many fewer.) There were several other shrines in the city, but time allowed me to sample only one.

Kawagoe is especially famous for an annual festival that is held on a weekend in October, these days attended by around a million people. It’s been going some 400 years now. I was disappointed that my schedule didn’t permit seeing this, but I did go to an interesting museum dedicated to the festival, showing pictures of some of the extraordinary three-tired floats, as well as some actual examples. The photo shows a couple of these turning corners – tricky as they don’t have steering wheels, and so need to be levered around gradually!

Certainly worth the 45-minute trip out of the metropolis!