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| Rindou no ie |
Unwittingly, I had positioned myself in the perfect spot to head to my
first destination: Nikko. In Asakusa, I was situated near the Tobu Asakusa
train station, for a cheap, easy, yet extremely long ride due north. As I
arrived in one of Japan’s pretty spots, it soon became apparent that little
happens in Nikko. As I walked to the guesthouse (Rindou no ie), where I was
staying with an ever-helpful Japanese couple, a wild monkey scurried across the
road in a time too quick for me to capture photographic evidence that this
actually happened. Perfectly normal.
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| Stone Park |
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| Taiyuinbyo |
After some confusion, I checked in and wandered to Shinkyo and
neighbouring Nikko Koen: THE things to see in Nikko. But like Kawaguchiko,
everything seems to be perennially closed or shut very early. This leaves little
to do during evenings in the small town. Luckily, the guesthouse came with a
Japanese-style bath which I used to my heart’s content.
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| Shinkyo |
Again unwittingly, I had arrived in Nikko at the time of the annual festival
of Shunki Reitaisa. I
was getting quite lucky with Nikko. Due to inclement weather, the start was
delayed and so the atmosphere a little subdued and it was all over pretty
quickly: a little underwhelming for a famous annual event, though things may
have been better with some sunshine. After the festival, we were hit with a
small earthquake while in the guesthouse, that wasn’t much beyond a little
rocking side-to-side. This did, however, allow the opportunity for my hosts to introduce
me to an English couple that now live in France who were also staying there.
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| Shunki Reitaisa |
Now, this provided a nice opportunity to watch the English. For the two
mornings they were there, at breakfast the couple would be very quiet and
inactive while the Dutch, and later Korean, couple were also in the room. Once
the other couple would have left, the English would immediately perk up and start
making themselves at home, asking questions like ‘what the Hell is this I’m
eating?’ In the company of other nationalities, not wanting to embarrass or
make cultural idiots of themselves they would quietly sit and observe. Once all
foreign-types were out of sight, making an international spectacle of oneself
was no longer important. I even once heard mention of: ‘well, no one else is
here,’ as I sat next to them. Aren’t we
just the best nation on Earth?!
Nikko is as picturesque as described, though once done with the main
tourist attractions, there is little else to maintain the attention span and
can probably be done in a day trip. My second full day there was spent largely
wandering idly in hunt of any spots of interest, though this did allow the
opportunity to witness a ‘booming granny’ happily rolling her mobility scooter
against the traffic of lorries and vans that came towards her. As she came into
view, the Beastie Boys’ ‘Cooky Puss’ came through my headphones: The perfect
moment.
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| Booming Granny |
From Nikko, I made the journey to Sendai, changing trains at Utsunomiya,
where a drunk happily shouted to himself and pointed at random moments, as well
as ensuring he correctly recycled each of his beer cans.
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| Sendai |
Sendai is another of the larger Japanese cities that lack a little in
terms of tourist attraction, but as places could be quite liveable, featuring
everything you need to get by. I visited the castle site, which didn’t have a
castle and ticked off my fourth Japanese World Cup stadium at the Miyagi Stadium:
a stadium that looks like it is more under construction than regularly used.
But largely, the city served as a place to go for runs and provide a base for
visiting Matsushima: One of the three ‘most scenic sites in Japan’, as well as
have me wonder if the shakes I felt while in my room were another earthquake or
the cleaner banging her trolley against the wall.
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| Matsushima |
Now, Matsushima may be described as one of the most scenic spots in
Japan (and has luckily escaped too much permanent damage from last year’s
events), but for me it is one of the most fun. With the numerous little islands
just off the coast, a bridge allows walking to Fukuurajima: an island that
allows for running around, climbing up things and discovering small beaches
with few others around. It’s like being six and full of custard!
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| Fukuurajima |
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| Fukuurajima |
After Sendai, I made the long bus ride far north to Hirosaki in Aomori
Prefecture. The city of Hirosaki is a random place: An old castle remains sit
next to a mishmash of ugly buildings and randomly located boutiques aimed at a
young, student population. It is not very large, but has an impressive castle
grounds and good views of the ever-present Mt. Iwaki. Tired on arriving, I
settled to watch Japan beat Azerbaijan before a much larger earthquake hit
around midnight. It was both stronger and in a closer proximity, and with my
room being on the 8th floor, felt it.
Being longer, it left me a little more shaken, and receiving immediate
news coverage left me wondering if it was right to continue north, not wanting
to be stranded in remote Hokkaido if a large earthquake were to hit. However,
Aomori Prefecture for some reason doesn’t have any 7Elevens: for some reason the
one place that accepts foreign cards in Japan. I was left with two more days in
Hirosaki and enough money to buy one ticket out of there: North or south? I
decided to sleep on it and wait to see if there were any further disasters in
the morning and see how trains were running.
Turns out, everything was fine; a stabber in Shibuya taking the
headlines. Trains were also running fine and there was no sign that anything
had happened only eight hours previous. Also, turns out there is a 7Eleven in
Hirosaki, but a supermarket rather than a combini, with a cash point located in
the bus terminal for some reason, my basic reading of Japanese discovered. Disaster, what disaster?! Hokkaido it would
be.
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| Hirosaki |
But the problem with just having an earthquake, I’ve discovered, is
that you become fully aware that the Earth is a constantly moving object. If touching
a surface, every single movement it makes seems to be magnified and any shakes
or knocks prompt an immediate thought in the mind. It goes after a week or so
and some beers.
With everything back to normal, I headed for the tourist spots of
Hirosaki; the castle grounds, where I was accosted by a group of elderly
Japanese women who quickly established that I was 28 and not married, much to
their disappointment, though one did seem to offer her services in that
department. Smile and nod politely. I then went on to the temple district which
seemed to be under construction and so I was not there too long.
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| Hirosaki Castle |
I then went to the city of Aomori, but I think by this spot I’d become
a little too comfortable with the continual travelling and so was in little mood
or had little enthusiasm for seeing sights or travelling further to find some
quaint little spot in the country. I was in a bit of a non-event of a mood, and
as the clouds started to release water, I made this an excuse to head for home.
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| Aomori |
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