Toyama, Mt. Tateyama

Thursday, July 9, I caught the train to Tomaya, on the Japan Sea coast and at the edge of the northern Japan Alps. The train mostly followed river valleys through the mountains. I had often seen people fishing in the rivers, and finally got a picture of it.

I arrived in the afternoon, left my luggage at the hotel, and walked around. There's a nice little park and a castle in the middle of town.

At the tourist information center near the castle, they recommended the observation tower at the city hall nearby. I walked over and took the elevator up to the 70m high tower. Not extremely high, but enough to give good views of the city and the mountains.

While not really on the tourist map, Toyama struck me as a very nice, livable city. There's proximity to the mountains and ocean, and there seems to be a lot of park space and several art museums.

I went back to the hotel after getting something to eat, went to a nearby department store to pick a few things, and then just read in the hotel bar before calling it a night.

One of the things that a lot of tourists come to Toyama for is the start of the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route. This is a series of trains, cable cars, and busses that take you up into the mountains, particularly Mt Tateyama, over the Kurobe dam, and ending near Nagano. I think many people do the whole thing just for the views from the transportation, and have their luggage forwarded to their destination at the other end.

I was more interested in just getting up to the mountains and doing a bit of hiking. This meant getting the local train from Toyama to Tateyama station, the cable car to Bijodaira station, and the bus to Murodo near Mt Tateyama. I had read that you needed a reservation for the cable car, but I misread when you could make them. So when I reserved most spots were full and I could only get one for 12:40pm. After the hour long bus ride to the top, this didn't really leave any time for hiking, before the last bus going down left at 4pm. 

I had read it might be possible to change the time of the reservation on the same day, so on Friday I got up early and was at the ticket window before it opened at 7:30am. I was able to get a cable car reservation for 9:40am, and I caught the next train for Tateyama station.

However, about 2 stops before Tateyama the train stopped, and the driver announced that there was rockfall on the track ahead and the train couldn't go, and that they were sending busses. The train was full but everyone took it stride as we waited about one and a half hours for the busses. We reached Tateyama and formed a long line for the cable car. By the time I got on it was about 11:40am, just an hour before my original reservation. Makes you wonder...

The cable car went up about a 25 degree slope.

The bus ride from Bijodaira station to Murodo went through spectacular scenery. There was an old cedar forest, and a view of the longest falls in Japan, Shomyo falls.

It then reaches the incredible Alpine plateau of Murodo, surrounded by mountains.

I got off at Murodo station with the view of Mt. Tateyama.

I had a couple of hours, so I started hiking quickly to see how far I could get. I made to Ichinokochi pass at 2700m, just before the final climb to the top. 

Next I walked the trail to end of the plateau with a view of  volcanic gas.

I did all that and made it back in time to catch the 3pm bus. I didn't want to count on catching the last bus at 4pm because they were often full.

I took the bus and cable car back, and by then the rockfall must have been cleared since there was no problem with the train back to Toyama. I went to the hotel and crashed.

Saturday I was up early since I'd been to bed so early. I caught the tram to another place the tourist information centre recommended: Iwasehama beach. I walked along the beach for a while, where many people were fishing.

There is also an old town at Iwase, but it was early and everything was closed. I took the tram back into town, and to a museum about Japanese Ink Painting. Its in a beautiful building on spacious grounds.

Unfortunately there were no current exhibitions, and only the two small rooms with permanent exhibitions were open. They were mostly about modern style ink painting. There was also a tea room in the back where you were served matcha.

I walked across the river to the centre of town and found a little craft beer place called A Corner Shop. It is owned and run by one young woman who was very friendly, and there as a good selection of beers, so I stayed and chatted for a while. She recommended a bar for sake that was called Uzumaki.

Toyoma is known for its seafood, so next I went to a restaurant and bar area near the castle and found a sushi place. Indeed the sushi was very fresh.

I then went to Uzumaki. It was indeed a very specialized bar for sake, and there must have been a hundred different kinds. I sat at the bar and talked with the people next to me, who were also very knowledgeable about sake. For example, the sake is specified not just by the brewery but also where the rice comes from. And, even for a given brand, the flavour of the sake depends on the particular rice harvest.

It was pretty fun chatting with the people there. I had a couple of glasses of sake, staggered back to the hotel and did laundry.

Takayama, Kamikochi

 On Saturday, July 4, I took the bus from Magome-juku to Nakatsugawa, train to Nagoya, and train to Takayama. I arrived in the afternoon, checked in, and went to the onsen that was part of the hotel. 

After freshening up it was still before 5 pm and things were open, so I went to the bus terminal next to the station, and bought a 3-day pass for the bus line. It gave unlimited access to the line between Takayama and Shinhotaka Ropeway, and included tickets for the bus to Kamikochi and for the cablecar at Shinhotaka. The weather forecast was not great, mostly cloudy with more rain on Monday. I decided to go to Kamikochi the next day on Sunday, spend the rainy Monday in onsens, go to the cablecar on Tuesday, and spend Wednesday exploring Takayama city.

On Sunday I got up very early to catch an early bus to Kamikochi. This is a river valley in a mountainous area about an hour and a half from Takayama. It's a popular area, and the bus was full. There was a bus transfer at Hirayu onsen town, to get on the bus dedicated to Kamikochi. The mountainous area is part of a park and vehicle access is restricted.

When I got off the bus I felt like I'd been transported to Banff, the scenery was so spectacular.

Even the park buildings reminded me of Banff.

I walked along the river in both directions  which is what most visitors do. There is also access trails for climbing the surrounding mountains, and I saw many people with overnight backpacks.

After about an hour in one direction I reached Myojin pond. This is a perfectly reflecting pond, and the location of the rocks and small trees make it look like a zen garden. Very beautiful and peaceful. The whole pond is actually part of a shrine.

I then walked back to the center area and continued to Tashiro pond. This is mostly filled in now but it makes a very interesting appearance.

Like the Nakasendo trail, there are bells placed at regular intervals. The idea is that people would ring them as they walked by, to ward off bears. Actually I thought it looked and sounded like a dinner bell ...

I got back to the bus stop in the early afternoon, just as it was starting to rain.

Back in the city I walked around a little, and had a dinner of Takayama ramen. This ramen is different in that the broth is clear and dark coloured, with a vegetable and soy sauce base.

The next day, as forecast, it was pouring rain. I caught the same bus and got off at Hirayu onsen, and went to biggest onsen called Hirayu-mori. It had a beautiful outdoor baths surrounded by rocks and trees, and the water was milky blue coloured with a slight smell of sulphur.

I went to another onsen in a nearby hotel before catching the bus back to town.

On Tuesday I got up early again to catch the bus all the way to the Shinhotaka ropeway. There were two successive cablecars to take you to the top at about 2200 m altitude. The clouds covered the tops of the mountains but otherwise the views were great.

At the top there was a little walkway with viewpoints, and access to the mountaineering trails for which you needed a permit.

I went to another onsen at the base of the ropeway, then caught the bus back to town.

I arrived mid-afternoon, and the weather was ok, so I walked around Takayama. It is famous for an 'old town' district, which is very touristy.  I managed to get a picture without people.

The district is also known for its sake breweries. I found one that was still open, and I bought a ticket for sake tasting. You get a small cup and can try one of each kind of sake in the fridge.

I got through half of them.

During the tasting I met a nice Japanese couple and spent some time chatting with them, and we exchanged contact information on LINE. They have a 17 year old son who is learning English.

They next morning I met up with the couple and their son, Yuta, at the morning market. We walked along the market and then they took me to the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine. 

We then walked back to the center of town, and they had to leave to have breakfast and catch their train. A very nice family, and I was glad to have met them.

I spent the rest of the day exploring Takayama. I went the Jinya, or government administration building during the Tokugawa Shogunate. 

I then did the Higashiyama walk to several temples and shrines.

Koryuzan Sogen-ji temple

Tensho-ji temple

Zenno-ji temple

By then it was about 5 pm so I went to the old town for something to eat. 

Takayama is in an area called Hida, which used to be its own domain during the Tokugawa shogunate. I got the feeling there is still a strong sense of Hida identity. 

Something you see everywhere is Hida beef. It is a highly quality beef like Kobe beef, but is more fatty. Hida beef is not as well known as Kobe beef, which has successfully marketed itself as 'wagyu', but it is still very expensive.

Another thing you see everywhere is a good luck charm that originated here called Sarubobo, which roughly has the shape of a monkey.

On the way back to the hotel I passed Hida Kokubun-ji temple with an 1200 year old ginko tree.

After freshening up in the onsen at the hotel, I went to a nearby bar called Yu, where the owner makes all his own original cocktails. He's very friendly and the cocktail was amazing.

Nakasendo trail

 Wednesday, July 1, I took the shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya, the express train to the small city of Nakatsugawa, and then a bus further up into the mountains to the small town of Magome-juku. 

Magome-juku, along with Tsumago-juku, are two preserved post-towns along the Nakasendo trail. The original Nakasendo from the 1600's was a 400 km trail from Tokyo through the mountains to Kyoto. Now, most of the original trail is covered with roads, but there are sections, like the one between Magome-juku and Tsumago-juku, that make for a beautiful hike.

My guesthouse was right on the trail that ran through the center of the village.

The Nakasendo is a popular hike, and you can actually hike mostly on trails for a day before and a day after the part between the two post-towns. However for the couple of days I planned to stay here, I decided to hike just the popular 8 km section from Magome-juku to Tsumago-juku.

When I was planning this trip, I understood the rainy season to be in June. However I didn't do enough research and it turns out that in this part of Japan the rainy season starts later and lasts longer, so my hiking plans were right in the middle of it.

I woke up Thursday and it was pouring rain. However I had two days, and the forecast for Friday was better, so I decided to do the hike then. The owner of the guesthouse recommended an onsen that was a short bus ride away  so I went there in the morning.

The rain let up a little in the afternoon, so after returning from the onsen I walked down the Nakasendo in the other direction toward a town called Ochiai. At Ochiai there is about a kilometer long section of the trail in the original cobblestone, and it was a nice walk through the woods.

On the way there was a little side-trail to an old shrine.

The scenery below Magome-juku was also beautiful with the rice patties. 

The next day was perfect hiking weather: not raining but cloudy so it was cooler, with a few breaks of sun. The hike itself was a beautiful trail. About half way there was an old tea house with a friendly elderly man who served tea to visitors.

There were also a couple of cool waterfalls.

In Japan recently there has been a marked increase in bear sightings, with a few fatalities. Apparently the bears only come out very early in the morning and in the evening, so hiking on the trail with other people around felt pretty safe. Nevertheless, periodically along trail there were these bells to ring.

I arrived in Tsumago-juku about 11:30am. The main street still seemed like the 1600's. There were some restaurants and a lot of shops selling tourist souvenirs.

I went into a building that was a preserved house where feudal lords stayed.

I walked a little further up the Nakasendo to what was called the ruins of Tsumago castle, but was really just a hill with a nice view of the valley.

I caught the bus back to Magome-juku, where I met an American couple and a woman from Australia.

I spent the evening doing laundry and working on a sketch of the town.

Shimokitazawa, concert, and ink painting

The next stop was the Shimokitazawa area in western Tokyo. This is where the ink painting artist had his studio, where I was taking lessons, and also happened to be the location of a concert I wanted to see.

When I was looking for a place to stay there on booking.com, there wasn't much available, or it was really expensive, so I found an apartment-hotel near Sasazuka station, about a 20 minute walk away.

Saturday, June 27, I took the train from Osaka to Tokyo and made my way to the accommdation. It turned out to be a private apartment, like a Japanese version of AirBnB. It was in the middle of a residential area so I kind of felt like a local.

The first evening I walked around the trendy, artsy Shimokitazawa area, with its cool cafes and vintage shops.

Sunday, June 28, from 10am to 2pm, I had the first ink painting lesson. The artist is Shukou. He exhibits his work and seems well known.  I had studied with him last year as well, which I had found using VAWAA (Vacation With An Artist), and he remembered me. I think I was the first VAWAA student to come a second time.

We quickly reviewed the basics, and he said that I seemed to remember a lot, which I was relieved to hear. We went on to do some more difficult versions of what I had done last year.

That evening was the concert. Its a bit of a story: last year when I was in Fukuoka I saw a street performer and thought she was really good, so I followed her on Instagram. I posted about it in the blog last year. She goes by the name JUN and is based in Sapporo.

Anyway, through Instagram I found out she was having a concert in Shimokitazawa around this time. I tried to buy a ticket online but it wouldn't ship overseas, so I sent her an email. She responded saying she could reserve a ticket for me, but in the meantime I bought a ticket and had it set to my friend Kanako in Tokyo.

The concert was in a very small venue. I showed up a bit before the doors opened, and saw some people waiting. I asked if the line was for the concert and they said "Oh you must be the guy from Canada". JUN has a very solid fan base and many of them know each other, so I guess the word got around. 

We entered the venue, and JUN greeted me at the door. She's very friendly, and I think it was the first time someone from as far as Canada had come to a concert.

The concert was amazing, in such an intimate venue full of devoted fans. She had a couple of back-up guitarists who were also very good.

After the concert JUN approached me to thank me for coming, and she took a picture.

Monday and Tuesday I had the painting lessons. We continued working on paintings that used different kinds of brush strokes, and more complicated scenes.

After the lessons I just explored Shimokitazawa some more.

Osaka JaLS last week

 Amazing how fast the time has flown. This was the last week at the school. At the end of the week on Saturday was the train back to Tokyo.

Tuesday afternoon was free so I went Fujita Museum, which was recommended by one of the teachers. It was about a 30 minute walk along the river from the apartment, and the weather was cloudy but not raining and not too hot. The museum is small, containing artifacts that were collected by a Meiji era businessman named Fujita. There were bowls, incense containers imported from China in the 1300s, and vases and small cabinets imported from Holland in the 1700s. There was also a beautiful scroll from the 1200s describing interaction between Buddhism and Taosim in early China.

Before the entrance to the exhibition there was a nice Japanese style room where you could order tea.

There was also a large garden but it closed before the museum and I got there too late to see it.

On Thursday afternoon there was a school trip to Nakanoshima Art Museum. I'd been there before but we were going to the other exhibition. This exhibition was contemporary, featuring three artists: Yanobe Kenji, Morimura Yasumasa, and Yanagi Miwa. There was a room devoted to each one.

Yanobe Kenji did the sculptures of the Ships Cat, and several other sculptures that seemed to evoke a kind of post-apocalyptic feeling.

Morimura Yasumasa did large paintings in  the style of mid-1900s posters and were a kind of political commentary. Yanagi Miwa did paintings and sculptures that seemed to come from Japanese mythology.

After the museum we all went to a cafe.

Friday was 'graduation'. Every week some students finish their time at the school, and this week there were 14 of us. Here is a picture of Yushan and Jack from my class, with a couple of the teachers.

There were lots of good-byes. Some people went out for a bit. I had my last private lesson in the afternoon.

When it was all done I went for something to eat near the apartment, and the took the subway downtown to the craft beer place for a last visit.

During the last couple of days of the week  a couple of typhoons hit Japan and headed toward Osaka and Tokyo. For a while there was the possibility that my train to Tokyo on Saturday would be disrupted. Fortunately by Saturday the weather had calmed and I caught the train with no problem.

Osaka JaLS 3rd week

 Monday, June 15, my 4 weeks at JaLS were half over already. The time was going by very fast. This week I was tired a lot. I'd sleep well, but then wake up too early to get enough sleep, but too late to fall asleep again. No particular reason. Or maybe my brain was getting full already. 

Tuesday after class I walked around the area around the train stations, venturing a bit further out. I found the Hankyu bus station and bought tickets for the  Saturday trip to Arima Onsen. 

I also went to the Tsuyu-no-Tenjinja shrine. It is now in the middle of the city but is very old and dates back when Osaka was still marsh-land. There is a story from a few hundred years ago about lovers that committed suicide on the temple grounds, so it seems to have a kind of romantic theme.

Wednesday was a long day, with the class and the private lesson. Wednesday evening the fire alarm went off in the apartment where I'm staying. Very loud and right inside every unit. About 20 or so people gathered outside and waited. It was taking a long time so I went to one of the quiet bars nearby. About an hour later I went back to the apartment and everything was back to normal.

Thursday after class I went to the Karahori shopping street I heard about. It's supposed to be popular but when I was there it was quite quiet. There was a calligraphy supply store, a tea place, several stores selling fresh seafood or vegetables.

Afterward I went to an art supply store near the school that a teacher recommended. I bought a small notebook. Across the way was a bookstore, where I bought a small book in Japanese, called This is How You Think, which contains quotes from a famous Japanese philosopher.

Friday evening there was an activity with the school. Apparently there is a  neighbourhood of Osaka that has a lot of people of Okinawa descent, and we went to an Okinawan restaurant there. We tried all kinds of Okinawan specialties, and there was entertainment. Customers, including students from the school, were invited to go on stage and sing or play the drum. Here is a photo with my classmate Yushan playing the drum.

On Saturday, June 20, I did a day trip to Arima Onsen, near Kobe, about an hour by bus from Osaka. Its a small, touristy, onsen town on the slope of a hill. It was raining but there were still quite a lot of tourists. When I arrived I first walked around the shopping streets.

At several places around the town there are sources of hotspring water. They are covered but have steam coming out. A couple have small shrines beside them. 

There are several temples as well, and a park that goes up the hill from the top of the town.

Many of the onsen are inside ryokan, but there are 2 public ones: Kin no yu (gold water) and Gin no yu ( silver water). The gold water is actually kind of muddy in colour, and there is a foot bath outside with the same water.

I went to both of them and then walked around the town some more before getting the bus back to Osaka. There are shops selling local treats, like a thin wafer, and a toasted mochi with red bean filling.

Sunday was variably sunny and cloudy, but not raining. I went to a park on the northern edge of Osaka called Minoh, where there is about a 3km hike to a waterfall. 

I can't help but compare to Canada. Canadian cities are small compared to most big cities in the world, and are surrounded by nature. But the infrastruture is so inadequate and so badly designed that if you want to go for a hike you have to drive 2 to 3 hours in traffic just to get there. In contrast, Japanese cities are many times larger, but hop on a train and in 30 to 45 minutes you're on a hiking trail.

The trail followed the river to the falls, and was quite straight forward. There were some restaurants along the way, and a temple. Before the falls, there was one spot with a detour around a part that was damaged by a landslide a few years ago, and that had some steep steps.

There was a nice view of the falls at the top.

 Also, about half way down, across from Ryuanji temple, there was a fairly steep, 300 step climb to a look-out with a great view of the city.

On the way down I bought the local specialty: tempura maple leaf.

At the train station there was a craft beer place run by the same brewery as the one I like downtown, so I stopped for a beer before heading back.