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Japan 2023

September - November 2023
  • Alan Chapman
A 60-day adventure by Alan Read more
  • Alan Chapman

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  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Kii-Katsuura

    October 12, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I took the local bus from Nachison back to Kii-Katsuura Station and then walked to the fishing port where I ate my bento-box lunch and then an ice-cream. I walked to the Tourist Pier and took the shuttle bus to the Urashima Hotel which was on a promontory overlooking the bay.
    There were loudspeakers and notices about tsunami evacuation centres along the promenade here and in other coastal towns, and loudspeakers in case of earthquakes inland in places such as Takahara.
    Whilst waiting for my room, I went to Bokido, a 4-pool natural hot spring onsen in a grotto with waves lapping the rocks and concrete barrier at the entrance.
    The resort hotel consisted of four sections but some were closed. There were 600 bedrooms in total which could accommodate 3000 guests. Walking around, it was very quiet but 100-200 guests appeared from somewhere at the buffet dinner and breakfast.
    The hotel looked as though it had seen better days but it was in a great location with a view of the Pacific Ocean from my bedroom.
    My forwarded holdall had arrived as always.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Ise-shi

    October 13, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After the transfer from the hotel to the station, I met the Spanish-American couple from Denver who I'd met on the Kumano Kodo.
    I took the Limited Express 4-car train from Kii-Katsuura along the beautiful flooded coast with bays and islets but few sandy beaches, and many tunnels on the single-track line to Taki, and then the local 2-car train to Ise-shi.
    I stayed at a 100-year-old traditional wooden ryokan, Hoshide-Kan, with an escape ladder in my bedroom. It had a small onsen for one person.
    In the evening, I walked into the centre of town to Geku-sando, a supposedly lively street but it was very quiet even on a Friday night. The side-streets were quiet dark. I had western food for a change.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Ise-shi

    October 14, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    The ryokan served a Japanese set breakfast on both mornings.
    Around Ise-shi, there were 125 shrines in an area the size of Paris. I walked to the Geku shrine which was set in parkland, and then two miles to the larger Naiku shrine, also in a large park. It was a festival day with large crowds, some in black, being supervised by stewards at the most important shinto shrine in Japan. The festival of Kamisso-sai was followed by the festival of Kanname-sai when the first rice was harvested.
    At one building, I saw priests performing a service at a distance, but I was unable to take photos of the main shrines and their distinctive rooves due to the high fences around the shrines keeping the crowds out.
    The trunks of some of the cryptomeria trees near the shrines were protected with cloth-coverings to stop pilgrims rubbing their hands on them.
    There was a wall of sake barrels which had been offered as gifts to the shrine by various locations.
    There was a long street leading up to the entrance of the Naiku Shrine (Ise-Jingu) called Okage-yokecho which was lined with shops and stalls. For a morning coffee, I went into the Cafe Cap Juby, and returned around lunchtime when it had started to rain. The cafe had dozens of LPs of rock bands and blues singers such as the Stones, the Eagles, Woody Guthrie, Otis Redding, Dylan, and Smokey Robinson plus Texas-Mexican border music. The owner was a guitarist who had played in a group.
    For lunch, I bought a steamed bun with Matsuzaka beef inside.
    It was raining steadily so I caught a taxi back to the ryokan to read about Alastair Cook's retirement from cricket on my laptop.
    The local restaurants were either shut or full so I bought some items from a supermarket for dinner back in the ryokan.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Tsumago

    October 15, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I left my holdall at the ryokan for forwarding to Matsumoto.
    It was still raining so I ordered a taxi to take me to Ise-shi Station where the rain stopped. I took the JR Rapid Mie to Nagoya, a journey which was not covered by the JR Pass so I had to pay the inspector. Different Prefectures have different rules about the validity of the Pass. From Nagoya, I took the Chuo Line to Nakatsugawa and then a bus to Magone.
    The countryside was fairly flat and dotted with green and yellow rice paddies.
    Magone was one of the main villages on the Nakasendo Way, the name of the Postal Route between Kyoto and Edo, now Tokyo. On this Sunday afternoon, it was very touristy. so I walked through the village to start the hike along the Way. After a short while, there was thunder and lightening so I sheltered, even contemplating returning to Magone to catch a bus. However, a German lady came along the trail at about the same time as the rain stopped and the sun came out so I continued with her until she veered off the trail to look for something.
    The trail went uphill for the first 2km reaching the "lucky" height of 777m, and then it descended for 4km to Tsumago in the Kiso Valley. Tsumago was much quieter than Magone, perhaps because all the tourists ahd left by 16.30. The trail itself had been quiet despite this section of the Way being one of the most popular.
    The walking was easier underfoot than the Kumano Kodo. The trail could have done with a few more signposts. The trail was mainly along forest trails except for the final kilometres into Tsumago and around the earlier landslide.
    I stayed at Daikichi, a family-run minshuku.
    There were German and Dutch couples at dinner where we sat on the ground with our legs stretched under the table to eat the Japanese set meal. which included grasshopper, rainbow trout, and horse sashimi.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Naira

    October 16, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After a Japanese set breakfast, I began my hike along the Yogawa-Michi section of the Nakasendo Way at 08.30 on another sunny and warm day. This section followed the Kiso River in the Kiso Valley after crossing the Nenoue Pass. I hiked the 5km to Nagiso Station in an hour and bought some lunch. before continuing the hike to Nojiri Station. which I reached at 13.30. I saw no other hikers until some time after I reached Nojiri, one of them being the German lady from the previous day. I saw some people in the rice paddies and fields of horticulture.
    The trail was a mixture of forest paths, open trails past some lovely houses, iron and wooden steps, and tarmac, especially on the last 5km on a downhill forest road into Nojiri. The first part of the hike up to Nenoue Pass was steep. There were warning signs about bears so I rang the bear-bells and blew my whistle. There was a dead snake on one of the roads.
    Many older properties were closed and maybe abandoned.
    The scenery was lovely with the leaves on some trees starting to change colour.
    After an hour's wait at Nojiri, I took a train on the Chuo Line for an hour's journey to Naira, stopping at all stations including Kiso-Fukushima. Naira was a National Monument and another Post Town as were Magone and Tsumago, with a high street lined with old houses. and shops although it was quiet in late afternoon once any tourists had left.
    I stayed at Katou Minshuku where there was one Japanese guest ,who spoke very little English, at dinner and breakfast which were Japanese set meals.
    I turned the heater on in the bedroom for a while sonce the evenings were getting chillier, especially given the altitude in the mountains.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Matsumoto

    October 17, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    I left Narai on the 09.17 Chuo Line train to Shiojiri where I caught a Shinonoi Line train for the short journey to Matsumoto.
    I stayed for two nights at the Marunouchi Hotel, a modern hotel and part of the conversion of a Meiji-era bank with a large dining room where the buffet breakfasts were served. It was the first hotel to have BBC World on the TV plus a laundry service.
    I walked the short distance to the well-preserved castle and the parkland around it. Inside the main tower were narrow, steep stairs between the floors, one of which had a firearms museum.
    Lunch was a buckwheat soba soup with pork.
    I walked down Nawate and Nakamachi Streets with their white and black storehouses converted into handicraft shops.
    I visited one of the cafes run by an American which had a number of musical instruments plus a baby-grand piano. I returned in the evening for a recital by a Suzuki-method teacher which included Chopin and anime themes. I drank two flasks of soba and potato shochu which made me very tipsy when I got out into the evening air. However, I managed to walk to the Castle to see it floodlit.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Matsumoto

    October 18, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    After breakfast, I visited the new City Museum which had an exhibition about the first exposition in Matsumoto in 1873 plus a permanent exhibition about the city and the surrounding mountains.
    Then I went to the relatively new Museum of Art which had wonderful illusionary light installations and a golden pumpkin, similar to the one on Naoshima, by Yoyoi Kusama.
    I went to a costume-hire shop, Hanakomichi, where two ladies were very pleased to see me because most of their business was hiring kimonos rather than samurai warrior costumes. They dressed me together with a sword and with a picture of Matsumoto Castle as a background. They wanted me to walk outside around the Castle but I drew the line at that. They were going to put some of the photos they took on Instagram.
    I went to a Nepalese restaurant for dinner. The town was very quiet by 19.00.
    Matsumoto was a very attractive small city in a valley surrounded by mountains. where there would be winter sports.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Return to Tokyo

    October 19, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    I walked to Matsumoto Station with my holdall which had been forwarded from Ise-shi. I'd reserved a seat on the Azusa 18 Limited Express to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. The journey took 150 minutes, and I may have glimpsed Mt Fuji although I wasn't sure if it was snow or cloud-covered.
    The JR Blossom Hotel was a short walk from the station which, it was claimed, was the busiest in the world with two million passengers each day. There were lots of platforms, corridors and exits plus multiple over-ground and metro lines.
    The crowds on the streets were a contrast to what I'd seen in the twelve days since leaving Osaka.
    The room at the hotel wasn't available until 14.00 so I meant across the road to a cafe for lunch.
    In London, I'd booked a seat for a concert at the Suntory Hall in the evening. The Hall was part of a modern development in the Roppongi Hills and had a reputation for having excellent acoustics. The Hall was large and cavernous.
    Before the concert. I had dinner at a brasserie, one of the many eateries in the development. I couldn't understand why the plaza was called Herbert von Karajan Platz.
    The concert was given by the Tokyo Philharmonic as part of their subscription series. The conductor was French, Chloe Dufresne, and the soloist was a young Japanese violinist, Lina Nakano. The programme comprised "D'un Matin de Printemps" by Lili Boulanger; the 3rd Violin Concerto of Saint-Saens, and the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.
    The Hall was 90% full, and the audience remained seated at the end to provide enthusiastic applause rather than rushing to the exits. The section leaders stood and prompted their colleagues to take the applause. The final bow was given by the Leader, and then the applause stopped. It was very orderly and Japanese.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Tokyo

    October 20, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    After a good buffet breakfast at the Blossom Hotel, I booked online a ticket for the one-act matinee at the Kabukiza theatre in Ginza, and then took a taxi to ensure that I arrive there in time. There were a lot of school-chlildren in the audience. Those who had booked only one act sat in the gallery at the back of the theatre. I bought an earpiece which explained the plot of the Kabuki play first performed in the early 1800s and set in the medieval period. It was very colourful. An audience-member in the gallery shouted support for one of the actors.
    I took the metro to the Meiji Shrine and Garden where I had a snack lunch in a cafe.
    In the afternoon, I took the metro to the Shibuya Crossing and took the lift to the lounge at the top pf the Magnet by Shibuya 109 Building to look down on the Crossing and also across the city. I also took some photos of all the people using the crossing from a Starbucks,
    Returning by metro to Shinjuku, I thought the crossings there were just as busy as the one at Shibuya.
    I used the IC Card on the metro. Y2500 had been preloaded by Inside Japan, and I topped it up when necessary. Each journey on the metro was costing the equivalent of a few Pounds.
    Returning to Shinjuku Station in the afternoon, I'd taken the east rather than south exit by mistake, and discovered another posh shopping streets.
    In the evening, I walked up a main street beside the station, past buildings with neon lights, towards the Kabukicho district but couldn't find an appropriate restaurant with an English menu so returned towards Shinjuku and had dinner at a Nepalese restaurant. There were lots of restaurants in small booths or larger ones with alfresco dining, frequented by a young clientele.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanTravelerJapan 2023

    Tokyo

    October 21, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After another good buffet breakfast at the Blossom Hotel, I walked to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and took the lift up to the Observatory on the 45th Floor of the South Tower. There were great views over the city but no sign of Mt. Fuji. The Observatory was quite large with a souvenir shop, a grand-piano which someone played, and windows on three sides.
    I walked along a long underpass, maybe 1km long, back to Shinjuku and then on to the Gyoen National Garden which had a variety of different gardens, including a traditional Japanese garden, a rose garden, and a row of English poplars. There was a good view of NTT's DoCoMo Tower.
    I took the metro to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace, formerly Edo Castle, which had a few original guards' houses, walls, and a tower remaining. The Garden would probably be more spectacular in the Spring and Summer when the trees and plants would be in flower.
    Another metro ride took me to the Tokyo Tower which was very busy on a Saturday afternoon. There was a 90 minute wait to go to the top so I settled for a lift up to the first level, which was 150m above the ground., for views over the city.
    I returned to the hotel on the metro, and had dinner in the hotel.    Read more

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