Heart of the Sunrise

Yes, keeping a music theme going. It is said that the sun rises in Japan first, even though I think it's Kiribati, in the South Pacific, but you get the idea. Land of the Rising Sun. The song, by Yes, is either about getting lost in the city or losing love. Jon Anderson has said both. I kept getting lost in Kyoto and thinking of the line, "I feel lost in the city" from Heart of the Sunrise. We'll get to Kyoto.

Hakone

Leaving Tokyo, I had a couple of options. My plan was to visit the Mt Fuji/Hakone area and stay overnight in Hakone. The other option was to treat it as a day trip and return to Tokyo for the night. That may have been better, but either way works. I just stored my luggage at the train station and took the daypack to the hotel. Weather had been beautiful in Tokyo until rain the previous day and today.

Hakone is a resort area known for great views of Mt. Fuji. I did join a tour group for this and this time it was for the best. The areas visited are spread out and accessible by bus, car or motorcycle only. The bus took us to Station 4 on Mt. Fuji. Usually closed this time of year due to snow still in the mountain, station 4 opened just today. But weather was grey, rainy, foggy, and turned to snow at the stop, so again the views were dampened. But we could see the famed peak from the town at the base, Fujiyoshida. 

The next spot on the tour is a short cruise on Lake Ashi, a mountain lake, created from lava flows when Fuji erupted. Did I mention Fuji is still considered an active volcano? No eruptions since 1707 though.

At least is wasn't so foggy on the lake. Next, we head to another ropeway, up one of the mountains (get name). Yep. Fog everywhere. Nothing much to see on the way or on top. So that was really the whole day. Also, Monday March 21 was a national holiday, so the roads were jammed. It was a slow ride back to Odawaya station, where I depart the tour and go to my little hotel in Hakone - Yumoto. The next day, I head West on the Shinkansen bullet train. It's too bad about the weather, it kind of soured the day trip, but still was nice to see the countryside.

Kyoto

The Shinkansen can go upwards of 300 miles per hour. I think we were slower because we made a few stops. But it's pretty fast. We get to Kyoto in about 3 hours but it seems faster. Kyoto could not be more different than Tokyo. It is obviously smaller, but the feel is different. There are no skyscrapers. I wonder if they are more concerned with earthquakes here. Kyoto is the culture center of Japan and was at one time the Capital. It is littered with shrines and temples, too many to visit. It didn't help that I was starting to get sick again. Remember 1 out of 3 in Tokyo wearing masks?  I am joining them. Not to avoid SARS, but to avoid the sneezing men. That's really why you need to wear it. They just let it all go everywhere. Japanese men, at least cover up when you sneeze.

Oh yeah, Kyoto. Smaller, blander buildings, grander temples. And many more bicycles. But I had such trouble with directions, subway lines, ticket machines, even maps. Some very nice people from Kyoto would help me with them and even they were confused with the map. I had much more success with buses than trains. English is used less here in signage and on the kiosk machines. Kyoto also gets fewer foreign visitors I think as well. Many were happy to practice their English skills with me. Finally getting the 207 bus near my hotel, and exiting at the correct stop (after 1 full loop around), I have time to see the Kiyomizudera temple.

Some of the structures are undergoing restoration. And, like in Tokyo, there are numerous shops of varying degree of quality leading to the monuments. I enjoyed seeing all of the temples and my favorite came the following day, but my energy was quickly fading, so I start back to home base. But so does everyone else, and its rush hour. No one could even get on bus 207. I decide to walk where I see subway signs. I keep walking and keep seeing signs, this way. I'm about to give up and just start walking to the general direction of downtown, when I pass a bus stop, and suddenly, a bus 207 appears, with enough room to board. I don’t know. It takes me a block from my hotel and I sleep for 10 hours or so. Being sick on vacation sucks. But it is sunny now, just colder.

Wednesday, I managed to get up and catch the train to Arashiyama. An area of temples, parks, and a bamboo forest. There are nice pedestrian only areas near and across the river to relax a bit. Some even rent boats. Here, between walks in bamboo trails, I visit three distinctly different temples, Tenryuji temple (Zen), Ryoanji (Dry rock garden), Kinkakuji (Golden Temple). My favorite was the Golden Temple and it's grounds.

The building is made of gold and when I arrived,  the sunlight was hitting at the right time and angle to be brightly lit against the lake and trees. Maybe this should be the zen temple. I could stay a while. We are also seeing more cherry blossoms bloom. Not at the fullest yet, probably a week later and it will be fantastic. But alas, I don't have that time, and energy is running low again.

To visit the latter 2 temples, it's better to take bus 59. But after Tenryuji,  I find no 59 bus and maps are useless to me here I just hop on the next one I see, bus 11.  Somehow, it took me to a bus transfer hub and 15 minutes later, here is 59. Better lucky than good? Bus 11 also takes me downtown, a block away from my hotel, just where 207 takes me. See, buses work better for me here.

Still feeling sick but needing food, I go to a nearby teppanyaki restaurant whee I am the only patron. It could be bad, but it was great and so much fun because I got personal service from the staff and they so wanted to practice English with me, asking everything from where I visited, to sports, music, food. The teppanyaki, is basically any food cooked on a flat surface in front of you. This happened to be steak, tenderloin, cut after cooking, for eating with chopsticks,  grilled veggies, Caesar salad, otoshi appetizer (grilled tomato, shrimp). Perhaps the best meal of the trip because of the food and the company.

If you go to Kyoto, don't get sick, but also visit many temples and gardens, and visit my friends at Griddle Force, and really watch out for the bicycles. If you go to Hiroshima, really, really watch out for bicycles. They are everywhere and they are bold.

How I learned to love the bomb

Yes, now we're quoting movie names. Ok, I'll never love an atomic or nuclear bomb, but this one did end the war. This close to Hiroshima, I thought it important to visit. In the spot where the bomb struck now stands a memorial park and museum, the Peace Memorial. I visited the museum inside first. It really is moving and graphic. You will see artifacts belonging to victims, graphic photos of burned people, stories of survivors, actual sections of twisted structures, and more. It hurts to see the personal side of such horror, not just of the instant deaths, but the long term suffering of survivors. But here, there is not blame, no anger, no resentment. Just ideals of peace, better relations, and hope that we (the world, not just the US) never have to resort to such action ever again.

There is a diorama showing how the bomb, which actually exploded several feet above ground, resembles a small sun, essentially, and its devastating effects on the ground. Heart of the sunrise indeed.

To bring a little lightness, I took a train to Miyajima, a small island north of town. Here in Hiroshima, I had no trouble with maps, trains, tickets.

Take the train, take the ferry, visit the shrines and enjoy the views. And the shops if you desire. Hiroshima could also be treated as a day trip from Kyoto, but it's also nice to stay here and go out and have a okonomiyaki,  a specialty of the region. Cooked teppanyaki style, it begins with a batter layer heated (like a pancake that every cuisine in the world has), then mounds of cabbage. When the cook said he was making pig guts, I was going, uh-oh, but I was willing to try. When he put bacon on it, I had to laugh.

Pork belly, pig guts, whatever. Anyway, cabbage, spices, bacon, flip it, to cook that side, flip again to add spices and sauces and it's ready. And it's huge, almost more than I can eat, but delicious. 

So try those three things on your 1 day trip to Hiroshima. And marvel at how a community can recover and prosper.

Well, friends, that's the trip. A 5 hour train ride to Tokyo and another train to the airport and I'm headed home.

I just love Japan. I will come back here too. Too much to see than the few days I allotted, but it's so enjoyable. Memories of a lifetime.

Until next time

Peace