I’ll stay clean tonight
It’s October 2019 and I’m back in Japan but I’m still writing about October 2018! October was a very busy month. Lots of things to write about.
Bike trip
My motorbike had developed some issues since I bought it and I hadn’t been able to ride it for a while. I finally got it all sorted and decided to go away for a couple of days. The weekend weather was set to be quite bad so I agreed with my work to swap around and take Tuesday-Wednesday off instead. Super excited to be taking a road trip on my bike in Japan. I’d sorted out a place to stay and had planned a route around an area called Izu. This is a small peninsula in the South of the main island not too far from where we live. So that made for an easy two day trip out and back.
Since I had enough time I decided to first go up as far as the road goes up Mt Fuji. Nice route up although I was stuck behind a very slow car for some parts. It was way colder than I was expecting at the top of the road. I guess that shouldn’t have been a surprise seeing as I was 2400 meters above sea level. I had a bike jacket on but my fingers were freezing so I got a can of hot coffee from the vending machine not so much to drink but to hold and warm up my hands! Struck up a conversation with a couple of other bikers. One of them was a bit older and knew the bike I was riding (30 year old bike) and was curious if it still ran well :).
Chit chat done, hands warmed, time to hit the road again. Off I head towards Izu. A couple of hours later a quick stop for a spot of lunch and to stretch my legs. I’d picked a route avoiding the expressway so I made my way across the mountains and some very idyllic countryside including some wasabi farms. Some lovely roads, eventually heading out towards the coast and following it down to my stop for the evening at Shimoda.
Wandering around Shimoda trying to find a place to eat, seemed like most places were closed. Shimoda is a popular destination in the summer but the season was now over. One place as open but very popular and they had no seats available. I eventually found a small izakaya (Japanese style bar) that was open. It really was a tiny place with the only seating being the 4-5 seats at the bar. The “master” was the only person in the place and he welcomed me in. I ordered a beer, started talking with him and asked for his recommendation rather than looking at the menu. He was pleasantly surprised that I spoke some Japanese and started chatting with me! This was the first time I was having a conversation with anyone that was not part of Nozomi’s family and I was equally surprised. Over another couple of drinks and some food we ended up talking about all manner of things - from space travel to politics (#humblebrag). I won’t claim to have understood every single word but I understood enough to keep the conversation going for 3 hours. I didn’t really think about it at the time but as I walked back to the hotel I was really pleased with how much my Japanese had progressed in the time that I had been here.
Next morning’s breakfast at a small local cafe brought another conversation. This time with the cafe owner (in his 60s or 70s) and a couple of his friends who had also stopped by for breakfast. Coffee in belly I headed down to the Southern tip of Izu before heading back along the West coast towards home. A quick stop for lunch brought another conversation! Seems like the people of Izu like to chat with strangers :) Not that I was complaining of course. This time it was with two guys at the table next to me who worked at a shipyard.
Some amazing views of Mt Fuji as it seemed to rise up from the sea. Would’ve been great if I could actually capture a decent picture but you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Sumo
The main Sumo tournaments in Japan take place at big arenas in Tokyo, Osaka, and other cities. However they also have some smaller events that go to other towns. As luck would have it there was one happening at our local gym and my mother-in-law got us tickets as a wedding anniversary present! Nozomi and I have both never been to a Sumo event so were really looking forward to it.
The gates open early (around 8am) and you can see the wrestlers all arriving at the venue. The younger wrestlers then start practice/warm up in the ring and are eventually joined by the higher ranked wrestlers as well. It’s cool to see the whole build up through the day.
Then we get on to the “support act” or the prelims - fights between the lower ranked fighters followed by a break for lunch.
So much to see, even the clothes of the referees are really interesting. The referee changes every fight or two and each one has a really different colour and print to their outfit.
Then some of the wrestlers come out in their ceremonial wear - colourful cloths that they’re only allowed to wear for this part of the day. They even put up a small song and dance routine!
It’s a real effort on their part to make a full eventful day. Entertainment done, the main fights start and the whole event finished around 3pm. So quite a full day from 8am until 3pm. Highly entertaining and worth a visit if you can manage to get some tickets.
Daiyuzan and Tokyo
Some of my friends and cousins kept saying they would like to visit Japan but never came over when we were there. Something something, couldn’t make it, whatever. My sister did manage to come over for her first solo trip in ages. The first weekend she was here we decided to drive to Daiyuzan - a mountain near us in the hopes of seeing some early Autumn colours. We were far too early for that but got a surprise treat. Regional fire departments were putting on a show of old techniques from back in the Edo period for signalling across the city. We were treated to some very acrobatic displays from them all perched high up a bamboo ladder.
We also decided to take a trip in to Tokyo with Neha. Besides the obvious Sensoji at Asakusa we also visited Kappabashi. This is the kitchenware street with loads of shops selling crockery, wooden bowls, etc. We’d also booked a session at a place to make our own tempura model. If you’ve visited Japan (or even if you haven’t) you would have seen these amazing wax models of food that a lot of restaurants have outside to show customers what the food looks like. There’s a place in Kappabashi that lets you make your own max model tempura. It was quite a different things to do and great fun.
Nikko
With Neha here as well we’d planned out an itinerary that had us together for a few days and her going off by herself for a few days. We started by heading to Nikko which is home to the shrine and mausoleum to the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. It’s an absolutely stunning place and deservedly very busy. It’s quite close to Tokyo and on the “must do” list for a lot of people. Our visit also happened to coincide with school trips from quite a few different schools. We had hopes of going to see a bit of the countryside around Nikko which includes a really nice waterfall. However we’d only planned a day trip, and Neha also had to get an early train to head across to Osaka so we only got to see the shrine. I say only but the shrine complex by itself is quite huge and we took our time looking around.
Motegi
Nikko done, Neha headed to Osaka and we set off to Mito for the night. That’s one of the towns near the racing circuit at Motegi. I’ve sort of made a decision, for no particular reason other than that I like bikes, to go and watch one MotoGP race every year. It also serves as an excuse to go and visit a few new places. Nozomi is happy enough to go along to the races since we then have a few days to travel around whichever city we’re visiting. We’ve been to a few European rounds and since we were in Japan for a year it made sense to head to the Japanese GP.
A note to anyone who might be going to watch the MotoGP at Motegi - the most likely places to stay are either Utsunomiya or Mito. The bus connections to get to the circuit are much better from Utsunomiya which might also be why it is way more expensive and sells out early. If you’re going to stay at Mito make sure to find the site to book a ticket on the bus. There is only one bus that makes one run from Mito station to the circuit. We just about managed to get seats on the bus but others were not so lucky.
Having made it to the circuit slightly later than we hoped because of the bus situation we had to hunt around to find a good spot but we managed to find a place with fairly good views. One downside of the general viewing tickets in Japan is that they only have the big screens in front of the grandstands. So with the general admission tickets you have to just listen and try to figure out what’s going on around the circuit.
Kyoto
Busy busy! After the race we headed straight to the station and got on a train to Kyoto where Neha was waiting for us. We reached Kyoto with just enough time to check in to the hotel, have a quick wash and head out for a spot of dinner. The next day was the obligatory visit to Kinkakuji (the Golden temple). I’ve been there once before and Nozomi has been a couple of times but got to be done :) We also went to the bamboo grove at Arashiyama. It’s a nice enough place but far too many people for it to be enjoyable. I’ve heard some people say that if you head up the hill it gets a bit quieter but we didn’t head up this time.
The next day we headed off to a little known temple called Shoren-in on the recommendation of Nozomi’s friend. It’s slightly on the outskirts of the main part of Kyoto but is worth the trip. It has beautifully painted sliding doors and a really nice atmosphere around the grounds.
From there we headed on to the more popular locations of Kiyomizudera and Ninenzaka because of course has to be done :) They are popular for a reason of course. Both really nice places but again very busy.
Nozomi and I finally headed home while Neha carried on to visit Hiroshima before returning to our place. A few more days Neha returned home. I took advantage of the good weather and went off for a short ride around Mt Fuji again because why not! That finally brings a very busy October to an end.