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Japan 2023

september - november 2023
  • Alan Chapman
Een 60-daags avontuur van Alan Meer informatie
  • Alan Chapman

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  • Japan Japan
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Nieuwste eerst
  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Osaka

    5 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Awoken early by James getting ready to leave for his journey to Taipei before returning to NZ.
    I had a good breakfast whilst the laundry was being done.
    Yuka took me to the Central Station, which was nearby her home, to authorise my 7-day JR Pass which had been supplied by Inside Japan, and to reserve seats on two trains in the coming weeks when I was travelling on my own.
    I took the metro to Osaka Castle and Park. After a light lunch, I joined the queue to into the Castle's Main Tower. There was a good view of Osaka from the 8th floor but the Tower had been heavily reconstructed internally with museums on each floor. It wasn't as authentic as the other castles visited.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Osaka

    5 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    In the evening, I went with Lai, Tracey and Jason to the Botanical Gardens to see the Team Lab illumination of the Gardens with changing multi-coloured lights amongst the trees and plants plus some standalone installations, all complemented with background music. It was very beautiful.
    We took a taxi back to the hotel, and Tracey, Jason and myself went to a restaurant in a street off the covered arcade to cook meat and vegetables over a grill for dinner.
    I checked into a single room at the hotel now that James had left and the Intrepid trip ended.
    Inside Japan had provided me with an IC Pass to use on the metro. I also used this later on in Tokyo, topping it up when necessary like an Oyster Card in London.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Osaka

    6 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I walked the route from the hotel to Nauda Station so I knew where to go the following morning.
    Afterwards, I followed the route on two walks outlined in the Lonely Planet guide for Japan. The first was around Dotonbori which was full of tourists, eateries and shops except for a small shrine tucked-away in an alleyway. The second was around Amerika-Mura which had lots of clothing shops and boutiques.
    In the afternoon, I took the metro to the Harukas 300 Observation Deck which had a great 360 degree view of Osaka. I found some postcards to buy after fruitless searches elsewhere., and then met Tracey and Jason. We had a good meal at one of the many restaurants in the tower-block, and then said goodbye. They were going on an Intrepid Food Tour in South Korea before returning to the USA.
    Generally, the drinks at dinner were draft or bottled beer; lemon (or another fruit) sour which is shochu, lemon juice and soda water; whiskey soda, and whiskey highball which is whiskey with ginger ale.
    I used my Kansai 2-Day Pass, which had been supplied by Inside Japan, on the metro today.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Koyasan

    7 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I forwarded my large holdall to Ise before checking out of The Bridge Hotel and walking to Nauda Station to catch the Nankai Electric Railway Express for the one-hour ride to Hashimoto where I caught the local mountain train to Gokurakubashi. The seating was unreserved and neither were full on this Saturday morning. I used my Kansai 2-day Pass.
    At Gokurakubashi, there was a funicular railway to Koyasan Station where I waited for a local bus into town and got off at a stop near the Fudoin Lodge. The Lodge was one of 52 temples in Koyasan, out of 117 temples in total, offering traditional lodging to pilgrims. The Lodge was very smart. I had a ryokan-style bedroom plus a lounge,
    Koyasan was founded about 1200 years' ago as a monastery for Shingon Buddhism. It is the start of one of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes, going south down the Kii Peninsula.
    I walked to the main complex of pagodas and other buildings at Danjo Garan, and then Kongobuji with its beautiful screen paintings plus the largest rock garden in Japan.
    Back at the Lodge, I went to the onsen, and then changed into yukata clothes for the set vegetarian dinner plus sake in an attractive dining room, sitting on a low stool.
    The heater was on in the bedroom because it was cool, Koyasan being at 900m in the Kii Mountains. It was surrounded by forests of cedar, cypress, red pine, hemlock fir and umbrella pine, all conifers.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Takahara

    8 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    At 7.00, I went to the Buddhist religious service at Fudoin Lodge. There were about 24 worshippers plus two priests. The service was conducted in Japanese and English with some information being projected on to a screen. I joined the other worshippers in burning incense. One of the priests outlined the stages of meditation which we practised for 10 minutes; posture, breathing, and the acceptance of the Buddhist image into your heart.
    At 07.50, those of the worshippers who were residents went into breakfast which was Japanese-style and vegetarian.
    At 09.00, a taxi collected me for the drive south through the Kii Mountains which reached 1000m and were densely forested with deep gorges. We arrived on the coast at Tanabe by midday, and I went into the Tourist Information Centre at the train station to be given a comprehensive account of the Kumano Kodo with maps, bus timetables, etc. This was part of my Kumano Kodo package arranged by Inside Japan.
    I bought a snack lunch from 7-11, one of the 24 hour supermarkets which were very common in Japan, the others being Family Mart and Lawsons. 7-11 had ATMs which accepted foreign credit cards when you neede local currency.
    I took a local bus to Takijiri, which was the starting-point of this branch of the Kumano Kodo, and was met by a guide who took me to the Pilgrimage Centre which had a small exhibition about the Kumano Kodo, and also showed by the first shrine on the pilgrimage route.
    I was given a shite umbrella at the Centre which I retained for the rest of the holiday although it was used rarely.
    Unfortunately, steady rain had begun in mid-morning and I didn't fancy walking for a couple of hours in the rain. Fortunately, the owner of the night's accommodation came and collected us by car to take us to Takahara. The guide showed me the shrine and camphor tree there.
    The minshuku (family-run guesthouse) was called Hatago MasaRa. The husband was Japanese and his wife was French. A Japanese couple, who I saw again the following day hiking, were the the other guests. I had a bedroom and lounge.
    It was misty and foggy in the mountains.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Nonaka

    9 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    I left Takahara at 08.30 and walked 13km along the next section of the Kumano Kodo to Nonaka., the Nakahechi section. There was drizzle or mist occasionally in the morning, and rain in the late-afternoon. The route included steep ups and downs, mainly inside the forest. I passed many oijis (shrines) and walked from Post 8 to Post 34, the posts being 500m apart. The route was well-signposted with toilets and cafes in the villages. The path was mainly a forest track with stones and roots although there sections of tarmac, usually roads, such as the last couple of kilometres this afternoon.
    Each overnight stop provided a bento-box lunch for the following day.
    There were no bears or leeches but I saw monkeys high in the trees and heard some birds although they were mainly unseen.
    I passed or was passed by about a dozen others on the trail so this section wasn't busy. The views would have been great if it wasn't so misty.
    At Nonaka, I walked up some steps past massive cedar trees, which were common at the entrance to shrines, to see Tsugizakura-oiji.
    I walked back a couple of kilometres, using my umbrella in the rain, to the overnight accommodation which was a minshuku called 3rd Place Kumano Kodo. I had a 5-room annex to myself.
    Dinner consisted of 20 items Japanese-style. The other guests were five ladies from Perth who stayed in an adjacent annex.
    On the way back to my annex, I slipped down a badly-lit slope and lost one of the slippers provided in the annex.
    There was nothing of interest to watch on TV which was the case generally although BBC World was available at a few hotels in the cities.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Hongu

    10 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    On a sunny and warm day, I walked 3 km downhill to the Nonaka bus-stop where there was a Dutchman doing the same journey. The bus took us to Hongu, and then another bus to Hoshinman which was on the Kumano Kodo.
    I walked 6km downhill from Post 63 to 75, buying a herb-juice and plums on the way. This was a popular section, maybe because it was mainly downhill on good paths with good views, passing fields of horticulture and fruit tress, and because Kumano Hongu Taisha, one of the three most important shrines on the Kumano Kodo, was at the end.
    After walking around the shrine-complex, I continued down the long stone path marked with cedar trees to the shrine's entrance, and then towards the river where, in a field, was the largest Torri gate in the world which had been repositioned there. I ate my bento-box lunch on a nearby bench.    Meer informatie

  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Yunomine Onsen

    10 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    In the afternoon, I walked a very steep section of the Kumano Kodo entitled Daimchi-goe over the top of a mountain from Hongu to Yunomine Onsen. It was only 2km but took a couple of hours. An American lady avoided a very poisonous snake on the path. I had blood on my trousers so may have been bitten by a leech on my lower right leg.
    I could smell the sulphur when descending into Yunomine Onsen. I went to the Public Bath which had an 1800 -year history. The entry cost Y400 plus Y700 for a small towel which I kept. There was only one other person in the onsen.
    There was a stream of hot water flowing alongside the road in the village where a few people were using the foot-bath, and where you could boil eggs.
    My overnight accommodation was Ryokan Yunomineso which was slightly out of town so it was the final walk of a day when I'd probably walked 13km in total. The ryokan was more like a medium-sized hotel.
    Dinner was in a large dining room with individual tables all facing in one direction, a bit like a classroom. There were eleven dishes in the Japanese set meal, and this was the first and only place where a waiter indicated in which order the dishes should be eaten.
    Having dressed in the yakata, after dinner, I went to the onsen which had two indoor and one outdoor pools.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Koguchi

    11 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    The Japanese set breakfast included a small glass of orange juice which typified the miniaturisation of the food and drink on the set menus.
    The ryokan at Yunomine provided a transfer to the bus-stop in the village where I caught a bus to Ukegawa from where I walked 13 km from Post 54 to 29 at Koguchi.
    I met again the American from Washington DC and a lady from Singapore plus a couple from Walthamstow which included a lady who worked at St Thomas's Hospital; a small world. An Aussie lady took my photo at the viewpoint and summit called Hyakken-gura about halfway along today's hike.
    I stayed at a converted schoolhouse called Shizen-no-le, a ryokan with about 20 guests including an Intrepid group on an activity holiday. There was an onsen.
    The Japanese set dinner and breakfast were in a large dining-hall with your seat indicated by your room number.    Meer informatie

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  • Alan ChapmanReizigerJapan 2023

    Kii-Katsuura

    12 oktober 2023, Japan ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Today would have been a long and tiring hike (1260m up and 960m down) with the possibility of arriving too late to see all the sights at Nachi. Instead, I was up early to catch the 07.00 bus from Koguchi to Kanmaru and then a bus to Shingu Station which followed the Kumano-gawa which as boat trips and forms part of the Kumano Kodo. The bus passengers included smartly-dressed children on their way to school in Shingu.
    From Shingu Station, I took another bus to Nachi Station and, from there, a bus to Daiman-zaka which was the name of the approach to Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine, one of the three most important shrines on the Kumano Kodo. The 600m walk to the shrine was up 267 steps lined with ancient cedar trees.
    I visited the shrine plus Nachisan Seiganto-ji, a Buddhist temple, and bought a small black cat, a sign of welcome which was at the entrance to many shops in Japan.
    I went in the lift up 25m to the top of the 3-storied Pagoda from where I saw the Pacific Ocean in the distance as well as the Nachi Falls, the highest in Japan at 133m, across the valley.
    This was my last day on the Kumano Kodo. My conclusions are as follows.
    Over the four days from the afternoon of the 8th until the afternoon of the 12th, I hiked about 65km across the hills and mountains with many steep ups and downs. Much of it was under cover along cedar and pine forest trails and staircases which were uneven at times with roots and rocks. Parts of the trail were tarmac. There was a range of accommodation including camping. The trail was well-signposted with markers every 500m. There was a lot of information in booklets, maps and timetables. There were also toilets on the trail and at the large sights such as shrines. There were some beautiful shrines and scenery. At this time of year, the trail wasn't busy. The locals were very helpful as were the staff at the accommodations. The meals, bento-boxes and facilities at the accommodations were good, and the luggage forwarding was perfect. The weather was kind except on the first afternoon.    Meer informatie

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