Pictures of Jap girls in synthesis and I

Ain’t got no money and I ain’t got no hair

But I’m hoping to kick but the planet it’s glowing

So, it was nearly two months since the last post when I started this post. It’s now been languishing for another month. I’m going to blame the insanely hot weather for making me so lazy. I knew it was going to be hot in the summer but apparently this year is hotter than normal. I know it’s a phenomenon that’s repeating itself all over the world but god damn it’s hot!

Hakone

Early June saw us head back to Hakone, this time for Nozomi’s grandmother’s birthday. The family tend to go out for a weekend away for occasions like this. We normally all get in to the family people carrier, and another small car for trips like this. This time however I had just got my motorbike and was keen to head out for a ride. The rest of the family of course were just heading along the motorway. But that would be mighty dull and not justify me heading out on the bike. Thankfully Google obliged and found me a route across the mountains. We spent the afternoon chilling at the ryokan, enjoyed the hot spring bath, and then sat down for the customary multi-course meal. After brekkie the next morning we headed out to another spot in the mountains, had some ice cream and decided to head towards a seaside town for lunch before heading back home. I was originally planning to go for a ride along the Hakone mountains but decided to go along with everyone for a meal. We rode in convoy to the restaurant, and then I headed back home along a different route that good old Uncle Google found for me.

Ajisai

Kaisei, the town we live in, is famous for it’s hydrangea flowers (known as Ajisai in Japanese). While other places have sakura viewing, here they have Ajisai-matsuri. The first day of the festival was a Saturday and Nozomi’s sister and one of her brothers were free so we all headed out together. It’s only about a 20-25 minute walk to the start of the festival area but it was a scorching hot day and I was keen to look for some shaved ice when we got there. No surprise that the first stall we got to had a massive queue. We decided to walk around, enjoy the flowers, and find the shaved ice at some other place.

It’s a very popular festival and there are lots of food stalls around. This was my first chance to eat sweetcorn Japanese style with soy sauce instead of the chilli and lime that I’m used to. We had lunch and a nice cold beer, and eventually came across an ice cream stall selling some really good ice cream. So of course we chose that over the shaved ice.

Hanging around in Kaisei

With the weather being crazy hot Nozomi and I decided to cycle to a nearby spot upriver where you can actually get in to the water. Our plan when we set off was just to go in to the water a little bit. But after the ride in the hot weather I found myself wishing I’d brought my swim trunks and a towel. The river was at a lovely refreshing temperature and I just wanted to dive in. Unfortunately I had to make do with just wading in up to my knees.

We’ve also got a little veg patch going in Japan. I say we, but I’ve had very little involvement in this one apart from choosing some seeds when we were at the garden centre. Nozomi has been the one doing all the work. Nozomi’s parents have an existing veg patch where they’ve been growing some stuff, but we’ve added a few more things in there this year. We’ve already harvested some aubergines, tomatoes, and green beans. We even managed to get a couple of watermelons! We had some corn that seemed to be doing OK, but then got blown over during a passing typhoon.

Early July is time for the Tanabata festival - based on an old folk tale of two deities separated by the Milky Way who can only see each other once a year. We headed to a nearby town that is quite well known for it’s Tanabata festival but missed the day when they have big floats going along the streets. No floats but plenty of people, food stalls, and decorations hanging above the streets.

Oze

Time for another weekend getaway. This time Nozomi was the one to choose, and she decided on a place called Oze. It’s a national park with mountains, marshland, and a lake. They have raised wooden pathways laid across the marshland so you can walk across without sinking or damaging the ecosystem. There are a number of wild flowers that bloom at different times of the year. The time we went was supposed to be peak season for day lilies so we were hopeful as we set off.

We didn’t realise when we were planning the trip but the weekend we chose was a long weekend in Japan so our drive to Oze took way longer than it should have. The plan was to start the walk around 11:00 with the aim of reaching our mountain hut around 15:00. With all the traffic we didn’t get started until just after 13:00 so we had to walk at a slightly faster pace than we otherwise might have. Of course walking at a faster pace is made more difficult when you are on a wooden path only 2 feet wide and there are slow people in front of you. The wooden path is set up as two parallel paths, one for each direction. So we found ourselves constantly “changing lanes” to go past some slower walkers. Of course some times we were the obstacle as we stopped to take pictures. But it seemed like changing lanes was common enough as lots of people were doing it to go past.

Oze is up in the mountains so we were hoping for slightly cooler weather. No such luck of course and we walked across flat open marshland at the hottest time of the day. Fortunately the one bit of planning we had done was to get hats so we could keep the worst of the sun off our heads.

We had two reasons for rushing a bit to the mountain hut - one was to make it before sunset, and the other was that they have quite an early closing time for the bath. Even though we’re not allowed to use any soap we were still very keen to have a wash. Did I mention that it was hot? We needn’t have worried though. We made it to the mountain hut in good time, had a wash, and even had time for a nice cold beer before dinner.

Being in the middle of a national park there is not much light pollution around so we were hopeful of seeing a glorious night sky. The huts have lights out by 9pm so we had to get back to our rooms before that which meant that we didn’t get to see as many stars as we might have if we’d stayed out a bit late. An unexpected bonus was that we got to see fireflies dancing around in the marshland.

The huts get very busy in peak season so you’re not likely to get a private room. We were sharing with two other couples, one of whom are regulars to Oze. We heard from them that there were very few day lilies this year mostly from being eaten by deer. The early lights-out meant we were up bright and early. Brekkie just before 5:00am and we were out and on the trail again around 5:30. We took a different route back to the car-park and we did get to see more day lilies than we had on the first day but still nothing like the orange carpet that we’d seen in pictures. Damn deer!

At the end of another long day in the sun we headed to a hot spring bath right near the car-park. I don’t know when that onsen got built but with all the visitors to Oze who can’t have a proper wash there they do a roaring trade. I don’t think I remember having to queue for a locker, and then queue for the washing area before getting to the bath. Still, washed and fresh we headed back through more traffic to get back home.

Fireworks

For some reason Nozomi’s mum felt like we weren’t going out enough and bought us tickets to go and see fireworks at a lake in Hakone. You can just sit by the shore and see the fireworks from there, but she got us tickets for a tour where they take you by bus from a nearby station and you then board a boat, and see the fireworks from the boat. Turns out it’s the same boat as the one Nozomi and I went on earlier in the year when we visited Hakone. It is quite common for Japanese people to wear a yukata when they go out for summer festivals, so Nozomi and I were both wearing them. Turns out we were the only ones on our tour! But we weren’t the only ones once we go to the lake. As expected, plenty of people in yukatas. And of course plenty of stalls selling food and beer. The bus arrived at the lake early to give us all time to tuck in before we boarded the boat.

Fed and watered, it was time to board the boat. We ended up being on the wrong side of the boat to see the fireworks, but managed to move around a bit to get a better view. I have to say, the Japanese fireworks seem much better than the London ones at the New Year. Could just be my faded memory but it feels like they have more variety here.

That’s all for this post. There’s plenty more to write about from August but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to read about that.