We travel home.
Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. Then a bus to Narita airport, which is an hour away. Our flight is 5ish p.m., we will arrive home Sunday at 10ish a.m. It’s going to be a long day.
Saturday May 24, Osaka, Japan
Our last day for touring. We were up early trying to get some sightseeing before too much rain.
We got a transit day pass so we could travel the city via train.
We visited Abeno Harukas observatory. It was amazing to be there so early, Tom was the 1st visitor off the elevator this morning. It was amazing to be there with so few people. The building is pretty slick looking. It is 300 meters tall (that sounds better than 984 Ft). It was the tallest building in Japan 2014-2023. It has a Marriott hotel, a train station and a department stores among other things.
Next we visited the Namba district, an area in Osaka. It’s an exciting, busy area filled with shopping, restaurants and people. we walked around there visited Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori and saw the sights; Gilco running man poster man, giant crab & weird clown. It’s a circus-like atmosphere. The area was mostly covered so we didn’t get very wet.
We also walked through Hozenji Yokochon, a small “alley” with small shops & restaurants. This used to be a “hidden” area but it’s not anymore.
We both had Suica cards, which really are more than transit cards, for our visit making it very easy to ride the transit all over Japan. We put money on our cards when we arrived and for the past few days we were working to get our balances down. The card can be used at attractions & in convenience stores. Our final totals: me ¥36, about 25 cents, Tom ¥29, about 20 cents. I think we did pretty well using up our money. We only had to buy a Snickers and carton of milk to finish them off.
We had a tour scheduled for tonight but it got cancelled due to heavy rain. So we stayed in and we’ll go to bed early with plans to get up early (4:30ish) in hopes of sleeping on our flight home.
Friday, May 23. Osaka, Japan
We’re starting with breakfast and we’ll go from there.
We visited Osaka Castle, our last castle. It was built 1583 with the usual multi-storied tower (5) and extra basements (3) and then wars, heirs fighting and dying and burning to the ground. The usual history of a castle. We watched a movie about the history but got lost with all the rulers, concubines and heirs/no heirs.
What endures is this castle and some of the amazingly huge stones they used to build it. You’ll see me posing with some of them. First we had to wait through a “photo shoot” (I’m not sure if Tom will delete her pictures).
This castle like Kumamoto Castle has been reconstructed on the inside with modern stairs and interior featuring displays and antiquities. Part of the area surrounding the castle was destroyed during WWII because it was used as an arsenal and targeted during bombing raids. It was later restored.
Next was Umeda Sky Building, an interesting building in that it’s two buildings connected. Take a look. They built each building and then the center section. Then raised up the center with cranes, attached the building then built the elevators. Good views up there.
We did some strolling around through a garden and let’s face it, wandering around malls, train stations and subways trying to find our way around. They have a map but Japanese is hard to read (impossible), translator can only take you so far.
There was a giant Ferris wheel we had our eye on and we finally found it. The Hep Five Ferris wheel.
We had dinner and headed to our room. Another full day.
Thursday May 22, Osaka, Japan
We were up early to get to the World’s Expo. It was about a 40-minute train ride with a transfer. Our tickets were for entry at 9 a.m., we queued up and waited. The first train was so crowded almost no one could board. Luckily the next train was empty and we all got on. Obviously we were in the commuting crowd. Again no talking, eating, drinking or smiling.
We travelled light, the weather forecast was high of 82 degrees, cloudy with some sun. Sunglasses, sunscreen but no hat, no jacket just a long sleeve shirt for me to start the cool morning. We had some issue getting our zinc oxide blended in, can you picture this? 👻
It took us about an hour to gain entry in the Expo. Poor online maps so hard to navigate. Most pavilions required reservations and we were only able to make one reservation.
The Grand Circle is an amazing wooden structure, currently the largest, which encloses most of the Expo. It’s 39 ft tall and 1 1/4 miles, take a look at the pictures. We wanted to scope out the Expo so we walked the Circle. By the time we finished reconnaissance it was really starting to get crowded. We heard all school kids get in for free. And I think they were all there.
We visited a few displays one of which was the bonsai display - amazing! Another one on earthquakes. The blue curved display is the size of the tsunami that hit the Fukushima nuclear reactor.
One of the country’s displayed was Ukraine’s, take a look. It's quite a statement.
By the time we were ready for lunch it had gotten hot and the sun intense, no more cloudy skies. Most food venues had very long lines, so we had to go to a food truck. Tom said he read that there wasn't enough food venues early on (it opened early April) so they brought in food trucks. At least they had plenty of vending machines with drinks to keep us hydrated.
Finally at 2ish, we called it quits. Too hot, too crowded, not enough food, no availability to attractions. Why continue to drag ourselves around.
The Grand Circle was cool. The Bonsai exhibit was great. I’m sorry to say I would not recommend the Expo to anyone who’s traveling from far away to visit.
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Wednesday May 21, Fukuoka to Osaka, Japan
Moving from the Hyatt (which had a full size shower) in Fukuoka to Osaka today. A 2 1/2 hour ride, 364 miles, on the Shinkansen.
First thing in the morning, we had McD’s for breakfast, we tried the featured 4 cheese Hokkaido teriyaki sandwich. (Hokkaido is the northern most island of Japan. It's known for its dairy products, see May 4-7). Then we jumped on a bus to visit the Fukuoka Tower. Observation deck is at 123 meters (403 '), total height is 234 meters (768'). It can withstand a 7 earthquake. It's a nice looking tower in a nice area of Fukuoka. Also there are different things to do in the tower and one is buying a lock and putting it in their "Lover's Sanctuary".
They call it the Seaside Tower because it's right on the coast. Marizon is the artificial island/shopping mall between the tower and the sea. I think it kind of looks like Hotel del Coronado in California.
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After the tower we took a bus back to our hotel, checked out & dashed off to the train station to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka.
We arrived during commute time, the station was busy but we didn’t have far to go. Our hotel was next to the train station. Convenient for us because we've got to see it all.
Tuesday May 20 Fukuoka to Kumamoto, Japan
We’re off on a tour to Mt Aso (yes, another volcano). The tour was with Klook which is a big tour operator in Asia.
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First another castle. Kumamoto Castle is one of three premier castles in Japan, Matsumoto is one too (see May 13th). Remember castles are fortresses in Japan. Unlike Matsumoto Castle we didn’t have to take off our shoes because the interior has been redone to modern standards and it now houses displays and info on the castle. There’s still plenty of work to be complete.
It is originally from 1469, restored 1960 and still under repair from the 2016 earthquake. There were a zillion people here because a cruise ship was in town. It was very crowded and uncomfortable in the castle. Tiny staircases that were two-way that snaked throughout the building getting smaller as we ascended. Doesn’t that sound like fun.
Reflecting on visiting castles, I'm really glad we got to see Matsumoto Castle. At Matsumoto we got to see the interior, the structure of it. The beauty of the wood and how they were able to build something spectacular in 1594.
Next we drove about an hour up to Mt. Aso. The caldera is one of the world's largest. This is made up of 5 mountains, Mt. Naka (Nakadake) is the most active. They did tell us if volcanic activity is high we would not be able to visit it. Luckily activity was low. But the Japanese take their emergency prep very seriously, note the little huts at the volcano. I'm not sure how much they'd help us and it depended upon how far we hiked. Also we did not see Rodan (from Godzilla movies).
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The lake at Mt. Naka is an amazing color green. It is due to the ferrous ions from the volcano. From what I read, the lake just turned green again in April for the first time in 6 years. I read that the lake turns green when the volcanic activity is low (which is good news for us). The lake is 30 meters (98 ft) deep.
Dinner was great. We found a small neighborhood restaurant that was excellent, the best pasta carbonara I’ve ever had! We did order too much food though. We found the servings are pretty small but we over compensated this time.
Monday May 19, Fukuoka to Kagoshima, Japan
We had our last tour breakfast this morning and we’re off to drop our bags at our new hotel (Hyatt). Then to the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kagoshima for the day. 174 miles in just a little over 2 hours.
Tickets for the Shinkansen are not as straightforward as you’d think. We realized we needed to get in line to get our tickets, like will call. uh oh!. Long line! (FYI the Shinkansen is always on time.) Luckily the line moved and the ticketing agent knew what she was doing. We received 9 ticket-like pieces of paper for a round trip, one was a receipt and 2 tickets per person per trip. Two tickets go into the gate at time, this is important to know. I put one in and the gates shut and the red lights flashed and siren sounded - no wonder Tom always sends me first.
We arrived in Kagoshima 4 minutes late - wha!?! Trains are not late in Japan. We decided to take a taxi to the ferry (10 mins vs 30 mins on the streetcar), we didn't have much time here.
There are things to see in Kagoshima but our desire was...the volcano (surprised?). The volcano is Mt Sakurajima, formerly on an island but it made more land and is now on a peninsula. It is the most active volcano in Japan. I think I should have done more reading on that before I decided to go...
It was overcast as we took the ferry over, so we couldn't see the volcano yet. There is a Hop on/Hop off kind of bus around the volcano, so we got tickets for that. The bus makes a loop that takes about an hour and there are 12 spots where you can get off and another bus come 30 mins later. We decide to visit the Volcanic Sabo Center. We are on the bus and I see people on the other side of the bus getting excited. I look out the window and there's a huge plume of smoke, I'm assuming it's coming out of the volcano. I start looking around to see if people are evacuating... is the bus gonna take us to safety? are people leaving...? Nope. The bus keeps driving. All the car are just in traffic as normal... Meanwhile this enormous gray cloud continues to morph and billow out of the volcano.
We get off at the volcanic center and we're the only ones. The bus driver didn't say "it's not safe" or look scared or anything. So we hesitantly got off the bus. (I'm still waiting to be evacuated.) We go into the volcanic center, no one's there either. Remember paragraph 4, the most active volcano in Japan.
One of the exhibits in this center was the early warning system they have in place to alert to an eruption. If you live here you live with a live volcano! One of the bus stops is a hike to a former elementary school that was too close.
Next to the center is a "river" only it's not a river it's an outlet for a lahar, (volcanic flow of water, mud, rocks, ash, etc.) so it's empty right now. It was a really interesting place. I got to bring some ash home with me, I'll add it to my collection with Mt. St. Helen's ash.
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We had Shinkansen tickets so we had to get back to the train station. We left the volcano in plenty of time... or did we. It would have been okay had we not gotten on the wrong street car. A fast walk/run to the train station got us there in time.
Sunday May 18, Hiroshima to Fukuoka, Japan
We woke up in Hiroshima, at least that’s what our agenda says…. Our last full day of our tour, then we’re on our own. Before that we have a full tour day!
We started with a walk to the Shinkansen (bullet train) where once again all 37 of us had to get on the train, in the same car in 1 1/2 minutes. This time was a bit unorganized but we did it. The conductor was having a field day with his whistle because people (in our group) were on the wrong side of the yellow line prior to the train's arrival. You’ve got to leave room for the people to get off the train.
We had a 45 min bus ride to the Kyushu National Museum (blue building). There we saw lots of Asian artifacts. I took a picture of the deity Vajrapani, the “ah” figure who guides the gates to the temple. (see Vajrapani on May 16th, guardian of Buddha's Temple) Don’t mess with him.
We left the museum, the large blue building, and visited another shrine, Dazaifu Tenmangu Honden (shrine). The main shrine is being renovated, for the 1st time in 124 yrs, so they built a smaller modern shrine in front of it with a garden on the roof. There was a long line to pray at this shrine so it seems the young people like the modern look.
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The large trees are camphor trees.
We should go on vacation with friends more often, Tom actually took pictures of us.
Don't be fooled by those people running around in Japanese garb, they're usually just tourist like us. You can rent the clothing. It's the tennis shoes that are the give-away 😉
We had a farewell tour dinner. It was pretty fun but not enough food.
Saturday May 17, Hiroshima, Japan
We started our day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I think it is amazing that the Peace Memorial opened September 1949, 4 years after the bomb was dropped on the city.
A short bit on the pronunciation. Say all the vowels, hir o shim a, not here o shima. I think Harry Truman said "here o shima". Because we cannot read Japanese script it is written phonetically.
The museum had many artifacts from the bomb. If you question it's destructive power, take a look. The model of government building, which still stands, is a stark contrast. That is the "bomb dome" and therefore received the biggest hit.
We walked through Peace Park. The Peace Park is located at the "bomb dome". Along with the building there are statues, flower gardens, ponds and origami peace cranes. Our Japanese guide instructed us on folding a crane and explained our ineptitude. When they are very young they are taught origami, so their fingers know how to do that from a very young age. I still enjoy origami even if my corners aren't exact.
After the bombing the city was rebuilt on a grid which makes it easier to navigate but the transportation is not that good. The buses are okay but trains are not that good.
Back to the bus to catch a ferry to Miyajima Island, a divine island. Limited auto traffic on the island, notice the car that came on our ferry with us.
The island is known for its floating torii gate, Itsukushima Jinja, built in 1875 from huge camphor trees. Because the gate is built out in the water at high tide it looks like it is floating on the water. The Istukushima Shrine, from 1168, is also built over water.
There was a wedding taking place while we were there.
There were also some of the national treasured deer here too. Again they try to eat any food (or tickets, or newspaper) you may have.
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Local train back to our hotel. Dinner. Packing.
Friday May 16, Kyoto to Hiroshima, Japan
We started the day with a bus ride to Nara, south of Kyoto. Nara is famous for several temples and deer. The Sitka deer are a national treasure. There are lots of deer, people can buy food to feed them. The deer can be aggressive cuz they want food. We saw a man in the park trying to read the newspaper but the deer was trying to eat it.
Todai-ji Temple from the 13th century, the first 2 temple burned down. Then they built this one and it bankrupted the country. Used up their natural resources and cost lots of money.
The deities (Nio) at the gate are the beginning (Ungyo, closed mouth) and the end (Agyo, open mouth), protecting Buddha. They symbolize the birth & death of man. The lantern is from the original temple, from the 8th century.
The temple is stated to be the largest wooden structure in the world. The blimp hanger in Oregon, now Tillamook Air Museum, is also on that list. The rebuilt Todai-ji is smaller than the original two temples that stood here.
Buddha (Daibutsu) is the world’s largest bronze statue, 15 meters tall (50'). Now can you see why it bankrupted the country…
Legend has it if you can fit through the hole in the pillar next to Buddha your hope (wish?) will come true. I got funny looks from the grade school kids in line with me (who else would crawl through a hole). I was surprised when I finished my pillar crawl and our tour group was at the end with their cameras. Who knows what else they expect from me, tea ceremony and now the pillar crawl.
Next visited Daibutsuden Temple. Nice views over Nara, which means we walked up a bunch of stairs.
Next we walked to Kohfukuji National Treasure Hall which included the Three-story Pagoda. Ha! The pagoda was under restoration so hidden under scaffolding.
We toured around the city and had lunch. Then back to the bus.
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Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. It’s always exciting to board the train when there’s 37 of us to get on the same car with 1 1/2 mins to do it in. But we’ve done it several times.
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Okonomiyaki is a specialty of Hiroshima, born of necessity after the war and shortage of food. Cabbage and noodles are long-lasting staples, so put them together. Okonomiyaki is made on a grill with a crepe-like pancake, noodles and egg, then you add stuff or not with sauce. It tastes similar to yakisoba. Very good. Lots of grilled cabbage, which we love. In many of the restaurants you sit right at the grill and eat your "pancake" with a small spatula.
Thursday May 15, Kyoto, Japan
We started at the Kyoto Railroad Museum. It was very interesting. The very 1st Shinkansen (bullet train) from 1964, is there. Isn't it great they let me drive it. 😁 Tom loves trains but really it was very interesting. I think we could have spent the whole day here.
Next a bus ride north to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. It was very crowded.
Next we visited the Golden Pavilion or Kinkakuji, a Zen temple in Kyoto. Originally the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikago Yoshimitsu. It became a temple after his death in 1408. The grounds are beautiful.
On to the tea ceremony. It was hosted at Ryozen Kannon which is a war memorial. The tour guides didn't tell us about this temple but I saw the sign and was intrigued. I looked it up and statue is of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvar (Kannon), "the lord who looks down". The names of 2 million Japanese who died in WWII reside here, and they hold memorial services.
The tea ceremony is a friendly thing. You could sit on the floor or on a chair. It's green tea of which I'm not a big fan (give me black tea any day). You eat a sweet rice cracker then you drink the tea. After the original tea ceremony they wanted a volunteer to make tea. So I volunteered. Then I had to serve it to somebody. My friend Connie was right in front of me. Lucky Connie got a second cup of weed water.
We visited Gion, the area of Kyoto where the geisha (aka Maiko & Geiko) study. Tom & I did get to see a geisha but there are not many of them. No, they are not prostitutes, it's an involved history.
The bus took everybody back to the hotel but Tom and I stayed downtown. We found a Hard Rock and wanted to get a pin. Then we had dinner; ramen, gyoza and a giant beer then walked back to our hotel. It was our wedding anniversary.
Along the way we visited the Nidec Kyoto Tower. In 1964 the Tokaido Shinkansen opened, the Tokyo Olympics were held and the Kyoto Tower was complete! The tower is the tallest structure in Kyoto. It is 131 meters (430') tall, the observation deck is at 100 meters (328').
Wed, May 14, Takayama to Kyoto, Japan
I don’t know what happened but I cannot get the 12th & 13th in the correct order.
We started with a walk through Takayama. We visited Takayama Jinya, a government building (from 1692 to 1868). It is now a National Historic Site, the only building of its kind in Japan. Notice the construction of the building, it's pretty amazing. And really only one fireplace with an area that the smoke would rise.
We visited the Miyagawa morning market and walked around the town.
On our own we visited the Kusakabe Heritage House, it was confusing but I did like the old time wedding gown.
For lunch I had some beef sushi, it was tender with a yummy wasabi sauce, otherwise I wouldn't have eaten
We boarded the bus and went to train station. It was then 2 trains to Kyoto.
For dinner the 5 of us went to an Italian restaurant. My dinner warranted a picture because I ordered risotto, which was finished at the table by mixing it in a quarter wedge of Parmesan Reggiano cheese! It was very good.
Mon, May 12 Hakone to Matsumoto, Japan
Rainy day and very foggy. We had a circuitous mountain journey on a bus.
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We arrived at the Mt. Fuji Heritage Center. What do you know, no Fuji. Good thing we saw it yesterday. They tell us she is a shy mountain.
We did see an informative movie about it and some volcanic information in the center. People hike up it but only in July & August.
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On our way to Matsumoto we visited the Chihiro Arts Center. Tom was disappointed he thought it was churros. All joking aside Iwasaki Chihiro's art museum and park is dedicated to peace, specifically anti-war. There were some pictures that definitely invoked emotions in me. The descriptions were mostly in Japanese so we couldn’t understand much.
Then we arrived in Matsumoto. Our hotel was a small traditional Japanese hotel.
Matsumoto is a lovely city of about 30,000 people. A nice break from Tokyo. We walked to the shopping center for a bite to eat and snacks. And just to see a grocery store. It was really fun to watch the queue grow while we figured out how to work the self-serve checkout. It helps to press the “English” button.
Our tour guide told us to look at the castle at night if we could and we did. Take a look. It is also known as the Black Crow.
FYI they eat horse meat here.
Tueday May 13, Matsumoto to Takayama, Japan
Never say never to an onsen. Do you remember me saying “I didn’t get”. Well I get it now. I visited the onsen in our hotel, it was lovely. Not to mention the cute robe I wore to the onsen. Very relaxing and a lovely view. (onsen=warm water bathing with a bunch of strangers, and maybe some friends) That’s partly why I’m so behind on my blogging. And it’s a very busy tour.
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We started our day in Matsumoto which is a lovely city. My research identified it as the gateway to the Japanese Alps. Surrounded by mountains, really beautiful! Just before checkout I ran up to the rooftop terrace for some photos. (We’ll see if they make the blog)
We started out the day at a miso factory. The president of the company is the 6th generation of miso makers. Our host (company president) said miso is good for you and you should have at least 3 cups a day. Tangent: I did find out that marmite is good for gravy (and shepherd's pie) from the British ladies I was sitting with, they never had miso soup. They also said you should not put milk in your Earl Grey tea :o
Next a visit to Matsumoto Castle. Really castles in Japan are fortresses. I don’t remember if I said this already. They are built to defend. Windows used to shoot guns. Windows to drop rocks. Windows to shoot arrows. Matsumoto Castle has 6 stories. The stairwells are more like ladders. I really can’t believe they allow so many people in a national treasure that have to hang on to handrails and haul themselves up. The stairs (ladders) cause many people jams. And most of stairways are up & down! And no shoes allowed. I took my socks off to come down, I didn’t want to be the tourist that slipped.
We ended our day at Hida No Sato (folk village). There are several Houses of importance to a folk village, farmhouse, traders house, silk home, head of the village. There are also hands-on game and items to partake.
Lunch at 7 Eleven and a stroll along the river. The 7 Elevens are a bit different from ours. They have quality food at decent prices. They have smoothie machines; you buy a cup of fruit or veg, unwrap it and put it in the smoothie machine. Of course they have the usual stuff too.
Sun, May 11, Tokyo to Hakone, Japan
This morning we had a late start to the tour so we went to the Metropolitan Government Building which was right next to our hotel. Enjoy the aerial pictures of Tokyo.
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Our trip to Odawara was eventful in that our direct train, with assigned seating, was cancelled (due to a fatality accident!). Our tour leaders really earned their stripes today. We did a lot of walking from here to there as a group and regrouping and walking.
We arrived in Odawara only an hour later than scheduled. We met a bus (which I want to call a coach because that’s what our British tour guides calls it) which took us up the mountain to the Sounzan Ropeway (cable car). The ropeway took us up 1,044 meters in 8 mins. Our ride was mostly through trees which was nice. But then as we crested the hill, where I thought we would see the top, instead we had this breathtaking view of Mt. Fuji on the right and geothermal activity below us! A collective gasp was emitted from our car. The pictures don't do it justice but enjoy as best you can.
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Note: elevation is 12,389 ft. We’ve heard there is a 30% chance of seeing Fuji.
Mt Rainier is 14,410 ft. I’m pretty sure we see it more than 30%.
Mt Rainier is 14,410 ft. I’m pretty sure we see it more than 30%.
They cook eggs in the geothermal pools and they turn black. They are call 100 year old eggs and they sell they them at the park. Our guide said they don’t taste any different.
The Japanese are very serious about their emergency preparedness. Hard hats for everyone!
Transportation to our hotel was via pirate ship, Martha and I at the helm. (not really, but i think you know that)
Our hotel was on Lk Ashi, which is a crater lake. Average depth is 49 ft. And a constant temperature of 39 degrees. No swimming.
Sat May 10, Tokyo, Japan
Rain 😕
We started the day with a bus ride to the Imperial Garden. The bad part, you can’t go in. Just look from the outside and see the guards protecting the castle. The castle is the middle of Tokyo. The grounds of the Imperial Palace was 5000 acres and included samurai houses. Now it’s 300 acres. The current emperor, wife & daughter live here. Currently only men can be emperor. The current emperor only has one daughter, so the emperor’s younger brother is next in line.
Next we visited Hama-rikyu (seaside villa) garden, originally a fortress from the 17-18th century. You may have noticed, we’ve been here already. We visited on our own too - oops.
Next we went north to Asakasu to visit the Senso-ji Buddhist & Shinto temples. Shopping street ped friendly & lunch, free time.
Bus ride to Shinbuya area, known for the Shinbuya scramble. It is a very busy train station and large populated area. The crosswalk is an all-ways walk because there’s so many people to get across. Then there are crazy people (Tom) who cross multiple times to get pictures. It’s stated 3,000 people cross at a time, every 2 minutes.
At the station we Viewed the Hachi statue, he was a Akita dog who always met his master at the station. No we don’t know the people in the picture. You have to wait in a queue to get a solo picture. Hachi is a symbol of loyalty.
We went to church (English mass) where the priest & servers were in their socking feet. Thai dinner. We were going to go up to the observation deck at the Government Building but it's closed for maintenance. Went to 7-11 instead (for food).
Fri, May 9 Hakodate to Tokyo, Japan
Our hotel, La Vista Hakodate Bay, is a fairly traditional Japanese hotel, it included an onsen. An onsen is a traditional Japanese soaking bath. I don’t really get it, it’s kind of like a hot tub, but they’re not my thing either. BTW you are naked in an onsen. Many (most of the) times they are by gender and do not allow tattoos to be visible.
Our bed was a platform and kind of low to the ground but very comfortable. I did bash my shin on the platform a couple times. We were told the hotel was popular with Japanese people (makes sense, it’s kind of a resort area in Japan), they come for the onsen and the breakfast. It’s acceptable to wear your pajamas (hotel provided) everywhere in the hotel except the lobby.
The breakfast buffet was quite extensive and fish heavy. I was a little overwhelmed with the fish smell. We were told the Japanese do not differentiate what they eat for meals. I am not a fan of fish for breakfast so it was kind of a tough start to my day. The funny thing is how we thought there were so many people working at breakfast. Turns out it was guests in their black pajamas. We had a good laugh.
This morning we did a tour of the fish market/old town. There is a fishing tank where people can fish for their own fish, they’ll also cook it right there for you too.
The biggest crab legs, ~$93. Various forms of squid was also popular.
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We had a look around and bought lunch for the Shinkansen (bullet) train ride to Tokyo. The train trip was about 4 hours. It’s similar to a plane trip, comfortable (but roomier seats) reserved seats. The 1st Shinkansen tunnel, Seikan, opened in 1983.
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We arrived in Tokyo and had a bus ride to our hotel. Tom & I had dinner at a beer hall where before they seated us told us we could only stay for 2 hours.
Pictures continue in Tokyo. Busy street with lots of visual stimulation. The cat is a giant screen above the street with a lifelike cat. You can see we did encounter Godzilla!
Thu May 8, Sapporo to Hakodate, Japan
We had our last breakfast at our hotel, they had a nice breakfast buffet.
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I was kind of sad to leave Sapporo. We’ve been here for 4 days and we know our way around, we have our fav hangouts, it’s so familiar. Time to start our journey south (refer to the map for our route).
We took the train to Hakokate. We started at the Goryokaku History Corridor which consisted of a star-shaped fortress and the Goryokaku Tower, which had some dioramas of history. It started with the arrival of the American fleet in 1854, fighting/war within Japan, new government, more fighting and finally end of the Hakodate War in 1869.
The fortress has its root in 16th century Europe, star-shaped forts do not have blind spots. Construction of the fort began in 1857, complete in 1864. It seems the fort construction was brought about by Commodore Perry of the USA demanding(?!) Japan open their ports.
Next a bus ride to the old part of town, Motomachi district, where we took a walking tour. It was a nice day and an interesting tour. There were interesting buildings and churches along the way, with Western influence (see above about Perry). The blue & yellow building is the Old Public hall, formerly British Consulate. The church is Roman Catholic with the red roof.
Next we took the Hokkaido Usuzan Ropeway (cable car). The Japanese love their little mascots, even if I think that ropeway guy (sitting on top) is scary. Some great views of the city. We got an orange drink from the vending machines at the top.
Then we took a bus to the hotel and had a group dinner at a local beer hall. The beer hall was a bit different than an American beer hall. The evening was a bit stiff because our tour group was new and not yet acquainted with each other.
Wed, May 7 Sapporo visiting Otaru, Japan
We moved to a different room tied to our tour reservation, it’s tiny. So we’re looking at it like we’re on a cruise.
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Note on the pics: start just past the green clock tower
Our tour group met at 9 am to board the bus to Otaru. Otaru is a harbor town near Sapporo, known for herring fishing. There are canals and warehouses from the colonization of 1880s. We had a stroll along the canal and then downtown.
There was plenty of public art and food displays. We visited the music box museum (& shop). There was a display of a large music box that seemed like a player piano. Then we sat in a music box whilst it played. There were (creepy) dolls and clowns also on display. Kind of a Victorian-era display.
Across the street was a steam-powered clock. It chimes on the quarter hour with steam blasts and music. It is a sister to the one in Vancouver Gastown, which we have seen & heard many times.
We also had some fabulous ice cream. Hokkaido, the northernmost island we’ve been visiting, is known for their dairy. The milk and yogurt for breakfast was outstanding.
We walked out to a park on the ocean front and along the way we spotted these green barrels with bags of gravel inside on each end of an arched bridge. We’re guessing it is used for traction in the snow. We did see them again later on other roads near a hill.
Lastly we visited a mansion, Aoyama Villa. Built by a wealth fisherman. (I called it what the Japanese called it, herring mansion, but Tom changed it.) No pictures allowed inside only the tourist lobby, flowers on the ceiling.
We wanted to have dinner last night at an udon (noodles) place our tour guide suggested but it was closed, we’re guessing because of Golden Week. We were all happy when we got back in time today so we could go there. It was a great night for soup and it was yummy!
Tomorrow we take a train to Hakodate, south of Hokkaido.
Tues, May 6 Sapporo, Japan
Today was a slower day. We had breakfast at 8 am. I have to say the breakfast at our hotel is quite large. The yogurt is really good. We’ve tried a few unique things but I’m not eating octopus or eel for breakfast.
We started at the Botanic Garden Hokkaido University which was just a few blocks from our hotel. We walked past the former Hokkaido Government Office building (red brick bldg).
We had lunch at a bakery and had to sample a donut to compare to Mister Donut. We made our way to the Sapporo TV Tower where we had a great view of the city including Oduri Park. The TV Tower was built in 1958 and is 483 ft. Look for the Tower in Godzilla movies.
We passed the Clock Tower, a western style building. It is the oldest clock tower in Japan, built in 1878.
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Our tour starts tonight with a meeting & dinner.
Trivia
I hear that people can tell we’re Americans because we wear tennis shoes. But i believe this is false. The Japanese are wearing tennis shoes.
I also see a lot of Onitsuka Tiger shoes, these were popular when I was in high school. Maybe that was just in the runner’s circles.
Mon, May 5 Sapporo, Japan
We booked a tour to Shikotsu Toya National Park. Our driver Kenny (Kawahara) and guide Sam (a young woman from California living in Sapporo) were awesome. Sapporo (perhaps you’re familiar with their beer) is on the north island of Hokkaido.
Sapporo hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, they can get lots of snow. Their latitude is the same as Eugene, OR. We did see some snow on our tour.
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Our agenda:
Pick up at 8 am. A 2-hour drive to panoramic overlook. The stop is also known for fried foods, hence the donut picture. There are several mountains including active volcanos Mt. Usu & Mt Showa-shinzan.
The red arrows on the streets are to show the snow plow driver the location of the side of the road. They can get up to 16 feet of snow!
Lake Toya is the 3rd largest caldera lake in Japan. I think it looks similar to Crater Lake, Oregon. It is surrounded by active volcanos. There is some recreation on the lake including a tour boat and giant swan boats.
Next was Mt Usu (active volcano) with a trip on the Mt Uzu Ropeway (cable car) and hike to the observation deck. Views of Lk Toya and a mini volcano that came out of a corn field about 50 years ago.
Cape Chikyu was south on the ocean. On a clear day the curvature of the earth can be viewed. It was very windy. It was a quick stop.
Norboribetsu Jigokudani was next. There was a line of traffic waiting to get in, remember it’s Golden Week. Jigokudani is also known as Hell Valley due to all the fumaroles and boiling water, steaming rocks and sulfur smell. It’s a popular get-away for hot spring baths (onsen). It was like a mini Yellowstone.
Returned to our hotel 6 pm, a full day. For dinner we had a traditional Japanese meal, omurice. Omurice is an omelet made with fried rice surrounded by a thin scrambled egg shell and special sauce 😉 ketchup.
Notes on the pictures: our friends Martha, Connie & Alan at our favorite hang out, Mister Donut.
Sun, May 4 travel to Sapporo, Japan
Star Wars Day
The train station was filled with travelers. We are so glad we have transit cards. The lines to buy tickets were crazy.
The train station was close to our hotel so we had breakfast there then back to our hotel. We had time so we visited the Japanese Garden on the 2nd floor of the hotel. It was a nice stroll. We packed up and back to the train station for a trip to the other airport, Haneda.
We checked in then we looked so smart other travelers asked us how to check in and check their baggage. Kind of funny but glad we could help.
We traveled to Sapporo about 1 1/2 hour flight. We were met by our friends and a driver for an hour trip to Sapporo. We checked into the hotel and went to dinner.
No new pictures today. Sapporo is definitely colder and we did see some cherry blossoms, whereas the blossoms are finished elsewhere in Japan.
Trivia on the Ferris Wheel
Because we’re going to the Osaka World Expo we watched a few documentaries on past World Expo/Fairs. In 1893 the World’s Fair was hosted in Chicago.
George Washington Gale Ferris created the……Ferris Wheel.
*George was born in Galesburg, IL. My good friend Mary is also from Galesburg. Do you know anybody from Galesburg, a city of 32,000? (Carl Sandburg, Charles Walgreen)
*George is named in honor of the city’s founder, George Washington Gale.
*George created the giant wheel to outshine Paris. The Eiffel Tower was part of the 1889 Paris World Expo.
The Ferris wheel could hold over 2,000 people at a time, 60 people per car. It was a success but organizers were unsure what to do with it after the fair. It was huge. It was made up of more than 100,000 pieces, the axle weighted 71 tons. A wrecking company (?!) bought it then sold it to the 1904 St. Louis World Expo. Two years later, after the Fair the Ferris wheel was dynamited.
Sat, May 3 Tokyo, Japan
Hurray, a nice day.
We had tickets to go up in the SkyTree Tower at 9:30 a.m. so we were up & at it. It was an Amazing Race task just to get to the ticket counter. Lots of people. As Tom keeps reminding me there are 37 million people in the greater Tokyo area. That’s a lot of people!
This weekend is part of Golden Week, it seems it is similar to our Memorial Day weekend but their's is 4 holidays. We heard that transportation will be busy. It is busy but what says it’s busier than normal, what do we know.
The SkyTree Tower is 634 meters tall and silver. (The orange tower is Tokyo Tower) We visited the Tembo Deck first at 350 meters (1,148 ft) with floor to ceiling windows. The view was great we could see Mt Fuji but it was hidden by clouds later. Then up to the highest we could go, without climbing a ladder, 450 m (1,476 ft). The glass floor was on floor 340.
The elevator was fast, 600 meters/min but the day before, in Yokohama, SkyGarden was 750 m/min which is ~30 mph.
Next we walked to Tsujiki Fish Market which is where fish auctions took place. Auctions have since been relocated but some seller still exist and now restaurants. We walked around then had lunch. We did more walking, past Tokyo Tower (orange tower) with fish pendants flying.
We visited Hama-rikyu Gardens on Tokyo Bay. It was part of the Imperial complex but now a city park. And we visited a tiny park at the base of the Tokyo Tower.
We hung out in the Roppongi neighborhood then took a bus back to our hotel. It was fun to be above ground instead of the subway.
A few comments about random pics: The toilet was in a separate room with a tiny sink, I tried to capture that in the pictures. Do you know how awesome Japanese toilets are? Heated seats, washing and drying various parts and courtesy sound (to mask any unpleasant sounds).
Fri, May 2 Yokohama, Japan
Before we left we shifted our time by 4 hours over a week. Our flight was 10 hours. So we’re all messed up, but not too bad. We slept pretty good last night waking up about 3:30 am but mostly back to sleep until 5ish. We had a busy day and I’m tired and would love a nap. But I’m staying awake until 8 or 9 tonight!
It was cool and rainy. There were no available time slots for the museum in Tokyo we wanted to visit so we went to Yokohama, a 55-minute train ride away.
- It’s the 2nd largest Japanese city.
- Most of the city was destroyed in the 1923 Kento earthquake
- It was also heavily damaged in WWII
The morning's commute was interesting. Most everyone wears black or navy suits or clothing. The station was very quiet for a busy train station and riding the trains are quiet and no public eating or drinking.
In Yokohama we picked up a Hard Rock pin, went up to the SkyGarden in the Landmark Tower, about 69 stores tall, 2nd tallest building in Japan. This is earthquake area so that’s about as tall as it gets. The last big quake was 7.9 in 1923.
We walked around the Minato Mira area near the waterfront. Visited the Red Brick Warehouse, Cosmo Clock 21, a giant Ferris wheel then took the Sky Cabin gondola back to the train station.
It was raining harder & we were done. It was just our first day. We had a little break to relax & dry off in our room. Japanese food for dinner. The restaurant was close which was nice because it was still raining. Unfortunately it turned out to be a greasy spoon. Chopstick.
Describing some of the pictures: the sailing ship, Maru, is now retired but trained many students.
We only went to the gift shop at the Cup of Noodles Museum, too many people.
They repurposed an old dry-dock, it’s at the base of a cool building.
Some cool building in Yokohama. That’s what happens when your city gets destroyed.
Enjoy the pictures and the two short videos.
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