Tokyo, on the way home

 Tuesday, June 3, was a long travel day. I got up quite early and drove to Kumamoto in time to return the car by about 9am. I was a couple hours early, but I was able to change my train tickets to earlier times. First was the 40 minute ride from Kumamoto to Fukuoka, then the 5 hour ride to Tokyo. I spent the time reading and dozing, so it went by pretty fast. I checked into the hotel near Haneda Airport before 6pm. I had eaten sandwiches on the train, but there was a little bar beside the lobby so I had a beer and read some more before going to bed.

Wednesday I woke up early, about 6am, and went down to the hotel restaurant where a great buffet breakfast was included. After breakfast I took a nap and a bit of a walk. Then I took the train to Shibuya, the very popular shopping area. I was there when I was in Tokyo before but was pouring rain and I got totally lost.

This day was sunny and I spent time walking around to familiarize myself the area. The density and hustle and bustle of the area was still overwhelming  but I saw some interesting shops and an art gallery. There are lots and lots of restaurants.

I found another one of those capsule toy stores I first saw in Fukuoka. They are all the rage with young people in Japan right now. There are rows of machines, each with a certain theme like a TV show. You put in a few 100 yen (a few dollars), and you randomly get one of the clear plastic spheres with the little toy inside.

Overlooking the famous Shibuya scramble are skyscrapers where part of the side has been turned into a giant TV screen.

There is a famous story in Japan from the early 1900s about a dog named Hachiko. He met his owner, a professor, at the train station every day after work. One day the professor died in an accident, but Hachiko kept going to the station every day for the rest of his life. The story captured the hearts of everyone, and there is a statue of Hachiko beside Shibuya station. However every time I've been in Tokyo, for over 10 years, there has been a construction fence around the square so I assumed I couldn't see the statue. But this time I discovered a nook in the fence where the statue was. There a long line of people waiting to get their picture taken with it. Between people I managed to get a picture of the statue itself.

Next I decided to go back to the T.Y. Harbour area. Again I was there the last time I was in Tokyo but it was pouring rain. It is a nice area with canals and parks and walkways, and it is a quiet break from the bustle of Shibuya. I stopped for a beer again at the brewery there.

From there I took the monorail back to the area of my hotel. It passes through a kind of desolate area of office and apartment buildings. Kind of like a 1960's vision of the future that didn't quite work out.

At the hotel I ended up talking  with people at the bar until quite late.

On Thursday my flight was not until 10pm, so I arranged for a late check-out and tried to nap as much as I could. Still got to the airport quite early. Lots of time to read.

At the airport, in the large hallway along the departure lounges, there was this automated chair that went along for anyone to use.

Around Aso

 On Saturday, May 31, I checked out of the hotel and took the train to Kumamoto, a medium sized city less than an hour by high speed train south of Fukuoka. 

At Kumamoto I picked up the rental car. I was very nervous, this being my first time driving in Japan, and on the other side of the road. Also, I am not used to the new cars so when I got in, I didn't know how anything worked. They guy from the rental agency was very patient, and hooked up the Google Maps on my phone to the car's navigation system.

Actually driving on the other side of the road was easy to get used to. The hard part was the fact that the driver's seat is on the right side of the car instead of the left. At first I kept driving way to far in the left of my lane. Then I realized that I was trying to keep my point of view of the lane the same as what I was used to, instead of what it is when seated on the right. Once I realized what I was doing, it got better.

Navigating through the city was very difficult. The roads often take slight bends so I would turn when I wasn't supposed to, or not turn when I should have. The navigation kept saying "re-routing". Even a city like Kumamoto seemed to go forever, but eventually I was on country roads and it got easier.

I reached my hotel about 1pm, too soon to check in, so I drove straight up to Mt. Aso. There is one parking lot with restaurants and the Mt. Aso museum, in front of the green dome of  the highest peak of Mt. Aso, called Takadake. Here is a picture of Takadake. from my hotel.

From the first parking lot there are hiking trails and walks along the base of the mountain. From there you get views of the next highest peak, Nakadake, which has the active volcanic crater in front of it.

Driving a few more minutes takes you to the road that goes up to the crater. Because the gas from the crater is quite toxic and acidic, the entrance is carefully controlled depending on the gaseous activity and the wind. I drove up to the parking lot next to the crater area. At first the walkway to the crater itself was closed, but it opened soon after I arrived. The walkway looks kind of surreal with these concrete shelters that I guess are used when the wind changes.

I went along with everyone to the carter's edge, but I found the gas to still be quite strong. My eyes and throat got a bit sore and a lot of people were coughing, so I only stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures.

A few minutes walk from the crater area is a large flat area of black volcanic sand. There are hiking trails here that go up to the peaks.

I went back to the hotel and checked in, and walked around. It is an interesting area, inside one of the world's largest calderas - basically the remains of a huge, ancient volcano that collapsed in on itself. The result is a flat, agricultural basin full of fields and rice paddings surrounded by a ring of hills, with Mt. Aso to one side.

It was already near dusk when I was walking, and by a field I saw a Japanese racoon-dog, or Tanuki.

 The town of Aso is very small and there are few restaurants, even fewer that are open late.  The hotel has a nice common area with a microwave and coffee and tea. There is a grocery store beside the hotel and several people were preparing food. By then the store was closed, so I drove for a while to find a restaurant.

On Sunday, June 1, I drove to Takachiho Gorge, in Miyazaki Prefecture about 2 hours south of Aso. The drive was beautiful, going over the mountainous side of the caldera, over to the next valley. Winding through the green hills with views of fields and mountains.

Takashi Gorge is a popular tourist attraction, and it is about a 15 minute walk along the gorge one way from the parking lot. It was a sunny day so the views of the blue water of the gorge were amazing. 

Afterwards I drove back to Aso, and then to a to a public bath in a little onsen town about 6 km north of Aso called Uchinomaki.

On Monday, June 2, I got up early and drove to the famous Kurokawa Onsen town about an hour north of Aso. It was cloudy and the forecast was for a lot of rain later in the day.

Again the drive was very interesting, winding up the hills of the caldera, with views of the fields in the basin below.

Once on top of the edge of the caldera the landscape was rolling green hills. It is all part of Aso-Kuju National Park.

Kurokawa Onsen has about 30 ryokan, or Japanese inns, that have onsen, or hotsprings, inside them. At the information center you can buy a pass that gets you into any 3 onsen. In the town there are a couple of cafes and restaurants and shops selling local specialties. The town is on a steep slope beside the river, and the onsen are kind of spread out, so there is a fair amount of walking.

I spent the morning there. After a coffee I went to a couple of onsen. Then had lunch and went to the third. At first, when it was still quite early, things were just opening up. At the first onsen I was the only one there so I took a picture.

Then I drove back to the hotel. It started raining so I stayed inside to read, and pack for the travel day the next day.