March 30, 2004

• The Sakura 5-Cities 1-Week Tour

  Well, I have to say this was one of the best Spring Vacations I’ve had yet. I got the chance to hit up five places around Japan from Tokyo to Hiroshima (ok, that’s not so big a distance, but still). As I’m too damn wordy on this blog as it is, I’ll be heavier on the photos this time around. Here we go–but first:

  This Update Is Thanks To:
  	Suntory BOSS brand coffee. Suntory BOSS is the Boss of them all since 1992. Whether you’re On Business, Intermission, Neo Seven, or Demitasse, it always calls for a Boss.
  	Ambitious Japan! JR Shinkansen Nozomi trains will get you there so damn fast you won’t even have time to finish that overpriced sandwich and iced coffee we just sold you.

  1) Tochigi – Soba Never Tasted So Good

  First stop was Imaichi, a small town two prefectures north of Tokyo (Tochigi-ken); my old senpai (senior student) from college lives there now, and so I stayed with him. As you can see, it’s an absolutely gorgeous city, known for its long line of cedar trees, a temple whose name I forget (argh), and home-made soba.

  
  I know, you’re probably thinking soba couldn’t possibly be that good… Well, every restaurant around (most family-owned) makes their soba in-house… and the place we hit up the first night, let me tell you, those noodles were nigh-orgasmic–and there’re only a handful of foods I describe that way. After the restaurant, we took a trip to an onsen (hot springs). This particular one, well… it was outside at the foot of a steep hill, cedar trees lining the hillside, a spotlight shining upwards, and a low fog so you couldn’t see the top… Quite, quite nice.
  
  

  The next day, senpai showed me around that temple I forget the name of, among a few other sites. Check the photo to the right, especially; though my little digi-cam can’t do it justice.

  2) Tokyo – It’s Still Too Damn Big

  Tokyo bores me now… Yeah, I said it. I think that huge megalopolis has turned me back into a country / suburban boy now. In any case, I stayed with my uncle again from Monday-Wednesday. The highlight, however, was that now in Ueno Park the sakura trees are blooming something incredible now. Take a look (click for a better view):

  
  

  Otherwise, I did the usual bit of hanging around Shibuya, and going back to the dreaded Akihabara, of course. I returned to Nagoya on Wednesday for a brief stay with my host family again.

  3) Hiroshima – Something Depressing, Something Uplifting

  With IES, my program provider, we embarked on an all-expenses-paid trip through three stops. First was Hiroshima–that building to the right there is the Genbaku Dome (bomb dome) about 300m north of the epicenter of the atomic bomb site. It was also two seconds from our hotel. Yeah, lovely depressing view.

  As for the uplifting part, well, besides all food being included… we found a large Book-Off where I recovered the last of the nine volumes of the Lunar novels I’ve been looking for. I was so excited, I left my digital camera there by mistake. The next morning, though, I returned, asked at the front desk, and they handed it back to me… You know, in most other countries I wouldn’t even have a reason to bother returning. Well, that kept me in higher spirits for our next stop:

  4) Miyajima – The Best View in Japan

  That headline is no exaggeration. On Miyajima–an island just off the coast of Hiroshima–I believe I found my favourite one spot in the entire country. You all know Miyajima, I’m sure; it’s where you can find the famous Torii gate (to the left – click it for a bigger view). But, this isn’t the spot I’m talking about…

  
  

  On the 1-2 hour climb up a mountain trail with half-a-dozen of the other IES students (who’re all good company, by the way), that’s where it was: this one rock close to the observation building, you can look to your left and see the ocean, straight ahead and see this:

  
  

  And to your right, you see this sort of view (click for another, better view)… Miyajima, this way, looks quite unspoiled by Japan’s fast-growing population. And, despite being a tourist town, it still retains its classical Japanese feel. I don’t know how else to describe it…

  
  

  On top of that, since the sakura were well under bloom by this time, we could see little views like this on the way up… I didn’t think it’d look this nice, since I’m used to the sakura in Washington DC already, but it still manages to surprise you…

  X) Guest Stars!

  Yet just when I thought Miyajima had surprised me enough, a few unexpected guest stars made an appearance on the way up the mountain. Among them, we found:
  
  

  Anpanman, hanging out with the Buddha statues; has he become a monk?	Ultraman (is there a kids’ show theme going on here?)
  Ganesha, at a temple (holding a tusk in his hand, so I’m 90% sure it’s him…)	Hanami-sensei! baking up Hiroshima / Miyajima oysters fresh from the tank

  If anyone can tell me the reasoning behind these guest appearances, I’d like to know–I’m especially curious as to what Hanami-sensei is doing way out here; doesn’t he have a class to teach? (And if you can find that particular restaurant, though I forget the name, I highly recommend it–inexpensive yet quite good).

  5) Himeji – Too Crowded to Enjoy

  Himeji was all right. The castle is quite spectacular, really. It’s the largest, most undamaged one in all of Japan. But, as it was a Saturday, the weather was lovely, and sakura had mostly bloomed, it was mad crowded. That was the only drawback.

  That concludes this Spring Break. Thank you for having read this far, or at least for browsing the pictures. Please support the above sponsors. ‘Til next time. KF

  • 3:10 am
  • 7 Comments