It has come to an end now, my two weeks of travel in Japan
are over and I find myself again, sitting on my bed in Taiwan, reflecting on
another week gone by. I enjoyed every
day of my vacation, and I easily could have spent several more months on the
road, but I would by lying if I said it isn’t nice to be home as well. The warmth of my own cushy bed, the knowledge
of where exactly where I will be staying tonight, the ability to maneuver the
roads without worrying I am lost, and most importantly, the close circle of
friends I have made, make coming back to Taiwan a pleasant follow-up to an
amazing trip.
Perhaps it was time, long distances, and my backpack that
weighed down on me more in my second week of travels, because I feel like I
accomplished less that I would have liked.
Regardless, I have enough stories to keep me satisfied for a short while
as I plan my next journey (which will be in Taiwan but is only two weeks away).
Let’s look back through this week:
Monday, February 10th
This was a first, for I don’t believe I have ever woken up
in a plastic box before, but that is the nature of the capsule hotel. I am glad I had this experience, but it
wouldn’t be my number one choice of sleeping arrangements, it was less social
than a hostel, more expensive than a hostel, and not weather resistant (the
plastic walls kept the air a bit too cold).
Adding to the strange experience, when I woke up and was ready for a
shower, I made my way to the public bathhouse.
I don’t know how many of you have used communal showers, but if you have
used one you are probably picturing a college dorm, with little stalls and
privacy curtains. You are almost
certainly not picturing a Japanese bathhouse, with low-mounted shower heads,
plastic stools to sit on, and a large nude bath (onsen) to warm yourself
in. Well, I believe “When in Rome, do as
the Romans”, so it follows that “When in Japan, do as the Japanese”, so I
followed suit, stripped down, rinsed off, and climbed into the tub. I’m not highly comfortable with nudity, I
tend to reserve it for my own bedroom/bathroom, but there is something freeing
about realizing that no one else cares, no one is judging, no one is even
looking at you. Clean and ready for an
exciting day I, did nothing. Seriously,
I accomplished very little with my day, because I spent 10 hours of it on a
train. My travel plans included a trip
to the northern city of Sapporo on the Hokkaido island of Japan, and because my
JR pass covered free train travel, this was the financially responsible option
(rather than flying, which is what most of the locals do between islands). I got onto the train around noon, and arrived
in Sapporo just after 10, feeling tired and a little bored. Did you know there is very little happening
in the northern Honshu of Japan, at least as far as tourists are
concerned. The only noteworthy aspect of
the train ride is the use of an underground (and underwater) tunnel, which runs
between the islands.
When I finally left the train I almost immediately regretted
my decision to travel so far north. The
ground was covered in feet of snow, and I slipped with almost every step I took
along the icy sidewalks. Teeth
chattering, body shivering, I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck and rushed
to get indoors again. I used to be so good
with cold weather, but Taiwan has spoiled me (I dread to think what it will be
like for me the next time I spend winter in the Midwest). Thankfully, a comfy bed, a microfleece
blanket, and a powerful heater made that go away for the night.
Tuesday, February 11th
This is the day I have been waiting for, the only real
aspect of my vacation that I planned prior to my arrival in Japan, the day I
got to see the Sapporo Snow Festival. I
will admit, I did just complain about how cold the previous night had been, and
I don’t know if it was my excitement, or just a warmer day, but I didn’t feel
so miserable outside. I jumped right on
the subway and I went to main home of the festival: Odori Park. (other portions
were at the Tsudome (I didn’t visit that) and the Susukino streets (which I
walked later at night). I am surprised
to say that the venue of the festival was smaller than I expected, but maybe
that was because it was across a very long, thin rectangular park rather than a
square. The first sculpture I saw was
easily my favorite, carved in the ice, there was a recreation of the National
Palace Museum and Taipei 101 (two landmarks of Taiwan), reminding the world of
one of my favorite countries. Among the
other displays (either sculpted in ice or snow) were clock towers and castles,
people and animals, even a pretty accurate car advertisement. I am so impressed with this form of art, to
be this creative, effectively execute your ideas, and be ok with the limited
lifespan of the work is definitely beyond my abilities. Another aspect of the festival was in live
showcasing of winter sports skills, which was done in Odora Park on an air jump
slope. Here skiers and snowboarders could
show off trick jumps in what appeared to be too small of a venue to me (but
there weren’t any problems with this as far as I saw).
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| One of the many advertisements posted around the city for the snow festival. |
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| The Japanese know it is"Time for Taiwan" as well, here I am at the National Palace Museum (in ice form). |
Feeling like I had thoroughly experienced the park’s
attractions, and knowing there was much more to do in the city, I wandered the
surrounding area to find the Tokei-dai Clocktower, one of the city’s most
iconic structures. To be honest,
entering the clocktower is overrated.
The majority of the displays are unrelated to your currently location,
there is no view from the upper level, the signposting is uninteresting, and
there are very few artifacts.
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| The Sapporo Clocktower. |
Sapporo is home to a couple of famous beer breweries, the
main ones being Sapporo and Asahi, so I jumped on the bus and made my way to
the Sapporo Beer Garden and Museum. I
know, a lot of people don’t picture me as a beer drinker, that is because you
knew me prior to my introduction to Asian beers, which seem to go over much
better for me. Drinking Sapporo beer in
Sapporo seemed like a unique experience, and it certainly was, but not as
unique as the museum displays explaining how beer is made. I made friends with other travelers courtesy
of these displays which started by depicting a Willy-Wonka-like factory in
which mouse like workers collect the grain while a human figure supervises
their work from a beanstalk in a cloud and progressed to showing that same
human figure drunk in an oversized mug of beer, floating on a pool of beer
(yes, it was really that weird). We
drank a few Sapporo beers, found some dinner in the nearby mall, then saved a
bit of money by walking back to the city center instead of catching a taxi.
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| The only beer museum in Japan, located in Sapporo.. |
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| Beer, the best ingredient for making friends. |
Wednesday, February 12th
Ahh! What an annoying morning. It is the hazard of being in a hostel that
other people can wake you up, but this morning got me out of bed an hour before
plan. One of the other backpackers slept
through her alarm clock for about ten minutes which cleared everyone else out
of the room. Today is the day I leave
Sapporo, but I have an important decision to make: should I catch an early
train and spend my evening in Tokyo, or catch a late train and spend my day in
Sapporo. Sapporo won in my mind, because
I had heard good things about the Historical Village of Hokkaido and was
excited about going to see some of the transplanted traditional houses from
different periods of history in this area.
The interesting thing about Hokkaido is that it hasn’t been inhabited
for very long, so the history only really stretches across the 19th
and 20th centuries. In this
park they have preserved or recreated shops and houses from these centuries to
display how life has changed through the years, with most structures allowing
visitors to walk through their interiors (provided they remove their
shoes). Also, because of the boots and
cross country skis were provided for visitors who wished to explore in this
manner. The thing that made this
day-trip for me was the people I wandered with.
I met a couple of other foreigners (one who had been in the area for
most of a year, had taken a guided tour of the attraction before, and was able
to provide commentary on many of the artifacts.
I have a feeling I would have skipped through this attraction in under
an hour and missed out on the amazing displays without their company.
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| The Old Sapporo Railway Station, now in the Historical Village of Hokkaido. |
It started to get late, and at a certain point I know I
wasn’t going to make it to Tokyo that evening, so the choices began again. Was it a better idea to take an overnight
train and try to sleep in transit, or stay in my hostel for an additional
night? I made the traveler’s choice, not
necessarily the smart choice, and decided not to sacrifice anymore precious
daylight hours, so I took a train starting at 10pm, bound for a 9am arrival in
Tokyo, and slept, slumped-over like a rag doll (thank goodness for my age,
because I know there is a time when I won’t be able to do this anymore).
Thursday, February 13th
Good morning, Tokyo!
I should have been more exhausted, but I felt ready for a day of
exploration as soon as I dropped my luggage off at the night’s hostel. The nearest site is also one of Asakusa’s
(the district I was staying in) best known temples, called Senso-ji. Those typical pictures of tourists under
giant lanterns in the gateway to a temple are probably taken here, and I’ll
admit, took those pictures as well.
Everyday, thousands of locals and tourists make their way to the temple
to cleanse themselves with smoke from the incense burners, pay their respects
to Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), and have their fortunes predicted
with the fortune sticks (Kau Cim). To
find your fortune you pick up a wooden cylinder filled with small sticks (each
labeled with a number), turn it upside-down, and shake it until a single stick
falls out of the small opening on the top. I’m sad to state, I received a bad
fortune, shaming me for not having studied, and predicting negative experiences
in my life, especially travel (oh no!).
It is a nice thing to not be superstitious about things like this.
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| "Holding up" one of the oversized lanterns of the Senso-ji temple. |
I stayed around the temple area for quite a while, and did
my first bit of souvenir shopping on the nearby streets of Nakamise-dori. I found souvenir shopping in Japan to be
difficult because so many of the trinkets I could buy were too similar to the
items I have bought in Taiwan over the past year and a half (especially the
fans, lanterns, and snacks). That
probably helped me save a lot of money.
Shopped-out, I went and did some people watching
instead. Did you know that Tokyo is home
to the busiest intersection in the world? That doesn’t seem like much of a
surprise if you have ever seen videos of the Tokyo subway station, but
surprisingly it isn’t at the main station that the intersection can be
found. Instead, I need to go to Shibuya,
and there, in front of the station, hundreds of people cross the streets each
time the pedestrian crossings light up.
The area is so busy that all directions of traffic stop at the same time
to allow walkers to pass through. I
walked and waited for a few minutes, then went to observe from the upper level
of the nearby Starbucks (which is said to be the best place to people-watch
from).
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| I don't think all roads lead to Rome, they all lead here, to the intersections near Shibuya Station. |
Wanting to see even more of the
locals, I went to the fashion center of Tokyo: Harajuku. I am not known for my fashion sense, you will
never catch me leading trends, but I was pretty unimpressed with the clothes I
saw on display. Still, it was fun to see
a few scattered people, dolled up in their Harajuku fashions (I have since
learned that Thursdays are a bad night to stroll these streets because the
people leading the fashion trends all have school the next day).
Friday, February 14th
Happy Valentine’s Day from Japan. What I got as a present was the worst weather
of my trip. The amount of snow outside
was astounding, and because the temperature was fairly close to 30 degrees
(Fahrenheit), the snow was very wet. The
moment I stepped outside I was soaked.
My goal of the day was simple, I was desperate to see Mt. Fuji. I did my research and knew that the Fuji Five
Lakes area would present me with some beautiful pictures of the volcano, so I
went to the bus station only to discover all of the buses had been canceled for
the day. This depressing news wasn’t
going to stop me, I jumped on a Shinkansen and watched out the window for it,
but the snow prevented any view. I
wasted several hours of my day on this fruitless quest, and finally had to
give-up. Most of my day was spent with
similarly fruitless wanderings, finding small restaurants for meals, or street
vendors for souvenirs, but that was about it.
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| The Shinkansen, preparing to take my back after my unsuccessful trip to see Mt. Fuji. |
Then came the evening, which made up for the day because it
allowed me to accomplish one of my goals in Japan, which was to eat Fugu. Fugu is puffer fish, a dish which, when
prepared incorrectly (if the sack of poison is not removed carefully) could
kill you. One of the girls I met from a
hostel in Kyoto and I went out to get dinner together and decided on this
deadly delicacy (and, based on the fact that I am writing this, we
survived). We split a seven-course meal,
and most dishes were made-up of this fish meat, including raw fugu-skin, fugu
sashimi, fugu BBQ, and fugu hot pot. The
novelty of this experience really made it interesting, there is nothing
particularly unique about the taste of the fish itself.
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| Getting ready for the hot pot portion of our fugu dinner. |
Friday night in my hostel was the only time I disliked my
decision on where to sleep during this trip.
I was blessed with some great hostels, but this was not one of
them. For starters, my bed was pressed
against the window, and the cold of the outdoors chilled my entire sleeping
space. That would have been more
bearable if the room’s heater ever aimed at my corner of the room. The big problem, however, was that the snow
was coming through a crack along the side of the window and landed all over my
bed. I tried to cover the crack with
sheets and curtains (that were too small), curled up into a tiny ball, and
miserably shivered all night long (I don’t know that I got much sleep).
Saturday, February 15th,
It is sad to think that this was my last full day on this
beautiful island. The snow had stopped,
but for some reason the rains started and worked to make the ground awful with
each step. I wrapped my feet in plastic
bags, wore two layers of socks, and still ended up soaked and pruney at the end
of the day. I wanted to start my morning
at the Tsukiji fish market, but the weather slowed my travel and the majority
of the vendors had packed up and moved on by the time I arrived. Tsukiji fish market is a popular place for
tourists to visit in the mornings, and a lucky 120 tourists each day are chosen
to watch the tuna auctions in the morning, but arriving at 4:30am (long before
the trains start running) meant that the travel costs wouldn’t be worth the
lack of sleep I would have gotten. I may
not have gotten to enjoy the fresh fish sales, but I did enjoy the fresh fish
purchases, in the form of sushi at one of the local restaurants. It was the freshest fish I have ever had!
Before I knew it, the rain had cleared, the day was warming
(and the streets were becoming slushier as the ice melted), and I renewed my
goal of seeing Mt. Fuji. This time I
decided to pick a high point in the city center, so I went to Tokyo Tower, a
symbol of the city which looks like a red version of the Eiffel Tower (but it
is taller). Atop the tower I could see a
long ways in a full circle of directions, and I squealed when I saw the sign
for “Fujisan”, but alas, the clouds obstructed the view of all but the
mountain’s base. And that is how the
volcano alluded me.
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| At the base of Tokyo Tower |
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| This is the closest I got to seeing Mt. Fuji...What a disappointment. |
The last big site of the day was the imperial palace, the
place where the emperor still lives with his family. I thought this would be a cool sight to have
seen, especially after having visited Osaka Castle, but there is nothing to see
on about 363 days of the year (visitors are allowed further than the gardens
for the New Year and the emperor’s birthday).
There were a few visible guard houses, large stone walls, and a large
variety of trees (all in their winter state, so many weren’t in bloom).
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| The moat surrounding the Imperial Palace. |
As it was starting to reach early afternoon, I went back to
Tokyo station and took the bullet train to Osaka where I went straight to the
airport and spent the night on a row of chairs.
I never thought that I would be the type to sleep in an airport, but it
was such a logical choice that I would gladly do it again. This allowed me to arrive at the airport via
train (all public transportation would have been closed at the needed hour, but
my train pass let me travel for free), saved me money on a hostel, and ensured
that I didn’t miss my 7am flight (it is no secret, I am not a morning person). I was surprised to see quite a large number
of people doing the same thing, and I was thankful for my arrival time because
it gave me a prime location next to an outlet as I watched all of the other
rows of chairs being converted into temporary beds. I waited, and napped, and eventually boarded
my plane and flew away.
And now, here I am again, back in Taiwan, happy to have had
all of these experiences. There is so
much more that I could say about Japan, so many points I could make about
cultural differences, but I am no real expert, and have my own continued
research to do. My last, and most
important thought on the trip is this:
*The Japanese know what they are doing when it comes to
toilets. There is nothing better than
realizing the seat is heated, not the cold ceramic you have come to
expect. Also, the water features of the
high-tech toilets are appreciated once you understand how to use them.
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