Japan part 1:Tokyo, Nikko & Hakone

Kon’nichiwa Nihon kara (that’s hello from Japan)

Thought I’d send a small update on how I’m getting on on my travels so far as I know many of you are curious of what I’ve been up to. So here’s a brief overview of the highlights so far with some pictures….

Tokyo

After a long, long flight (more than 24 hours door to door), I arrived in a grizzly Tokyo smack bang in the center of everything at Shinjuku station which is apparently the world’s busiest transport hub with an average of 3.45 million people passing through per day (in 2007). There are 51 platforms and well over 200 exits, so you can imagine how easy it was to find my way out of there when I was so tired! After shimmying down platform 8 to find a new maze of burrows and the right exit, I finally stumbled out into the bright lights of the city and managed to find my hotel. The trouble then was to find Gillian (my friend who is travelling with me to Japan and Hong Kong) at the station when she arrived a few hours later – I thought it had disaster written all over it, but we managed it fairly easily. The hotel was fairly compact (standard in Japan) with very little room to keep anything anywhere, but this is something we had to quickly get used to.

On the first day, we visited Shibuya to see the famous scramble crossing which was definitely something great to see, but as it was a Saturday it wasn’t as busy as it can be during rush hour.

Then on to Harajuku, which is an area known for the Harajuku girls made famous for being Gwen Stefani’s backing dancers. The area is a bit of a mixed pot – the main street as we got off the subway was selling cutesy/out there Japanese teenage fashion, then a bit further along were quite trendy designer boutiques and a lot of outdoor/ski wear stores. Feeling hungry at this point we stumbled across an amazing small restaurant just off Cat Street. We had no idea what it was (the sign was only in Japanese, but I later learned it was called ‘Harajuku Gyoza Roh’), but there was a queue outside and there wasn’t so much else around, so we decided to trust the locals and try it. The menu was very simple – they sold gyoza’s – fried or steamed and they were soooo good.

Later that evening, we visited the Park Hyatt Tokyo, where the film ‘Lost in Translation’ was filmed. They offered an attractive ‘twilight package’ which was unlimited drinks and snacks (cocktails, beer, wine, sparkling wine) for 3,500 Yen. With views over Tokyo, we would have been stupid not to try it, and we were not disappointed.

The lights of Shinjuku, Tokyo at night

Harajuku Gyoza Roh – amazing gyoza, Harajuku, Tokyo

Harajuku Gyoza Roh – amazing gyoza, Harajuku, Tokyo

Harajuku Gyoza Roh – amazing gyoza, Harajuku, Tokyo

Japanese wedding taking place at the Meiji shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo

The view from the Park Hyatt Tokyo – where the film lost in translation was filmed

The narrow yakitori bars in Shinjuku, Tokyo

 

Nikko

The next day, we decided to go for a day trip outside of Tokyo to a place called Nikko. After taking the Shinkansen/bullet train, we visited Nikko national park and the Toshogu shrine with some lovely soba noodles for lunch. It was a lovely day out, lots of nature and some autumnal colours, but we were perhaps a couple of weeks early to get the full wow of autumnal colours.

When we returned back to Tokyo later that evening, we walked around Shinjuku to find somewhere to eat. We came across some side streets that were full of narrow back street bars that sold simply beer and yakitori (skewered meat). We squeezed into the corner of one of the bars, and the bar man simply showed us a big bowl of skewered meat and we chose what we thought looked edible. It turned out to actually be quite nice.

The view in Nikko

How to queue for a train in Japan

Hanging out in Nikko

 

Hakone

The day after, we were due to leave Tokyo and head for a nights stay in the more rural town of Hakone which is around 2 hours from Tokyo. We thought we had booked into a typical Japanese Ryokan, where we would sleep on tatami mats on the floor, but were disappointed when we got to our room to discover that we actually had beds – heartbroken doesn’t cut it. The room was actually pretty nice, and very spacious compared to our previous hotel – we had 3 rooms, traditional sliding doors and views overlooking the river. Another advantage of the hotel, was they had a traditional Onsen, which is basically a Japanese public hot springs – more about that later. That afternoon, we perused the town of Hakone before purchasing the Hakone free pass which entitled us to two days unlimited travel around Hakone. We took a switch-back railway up the mountain and visited the ‘Hakone Open-Air Museum’ for the afternoon. The museum had lots of great sculptures and things to see with one particular highlight being the hot springs foot bath where you could take of your shoes and soak your feet surrounded by natural landscapes. Dinner that evening was not quite so amazing. We had traditional tonkatsu which is basically a breaded, deep fried pork loin served with rice (and a whole load of other side bits). It was ok, but it came with some ridiculously sweet onions which didn’t quite balance right for me.

At dawn the next morning, I was up bright and early to try out the Onsen in our hotel. I really wanted to try it as so many people talk about it, but the one thing holding me back was the fact that you have to be in your birthday suit to go in and to sit and wash yourself on a small stool in front of everyone. After reading and re-reading the correct etiquette instructions several times (and driving Gillian slightly crazy) I decided to suck it up and embrace the nakedness. Once I got over the initial part of taking off my robe, it was actually fine, and nothing that was even worth worrying about – the only person worrying about what I looked like was me 🙂

Onsen done, we headed off on a looped journey to lake us to lake Ashi and back with the hope of seeing Mount Fuji. On the same switch back train up the mountain, Gillian commented how one of the pictures looked like we could be in Switzerland – only to later discover that it was a picture of the Swiss railways and that the Hakone Tozan Railway is actually twinned with a Swiss mountain railway. The next step was to take a ‘cable car’ that was actually a funicular and felt exactly like taking the funi up from Sierre to Bluche – very bizarre. The ropeway that was actually a cable car was closed due to volcanic activity (slightly disturbing), so there was a replacement bus service instead to take us to the lake. We got a quick glimpse of Fuji on the bus journey, but it disappeared very quickly in the changing landscape. Once we got to the lake, we had a quick boat cruise down the lake where we got to see Fuji a couple more times. The weather was slightly cloudy, so Fuji was difficult to make out at times – but I was happy to see it.

After a busy day in Hakone and at lake Ashi, we boarded the bullet train again to Kyoto where Fuji teased us a bit more by popping out here and there as we travelled by at great speeds.

So, we’ve just arrived in Kyoto, to a hotel room that’s even smaller that our first hotel – when we arrived at the check in desk, a couple were complaining to the staff and asking where they were meant to store their luggage as there was simply no space so you can imagine the size. A fun 5-night stay in a box room, before we head to Takayama and a final couple of nights in Tokyo.

So far, I love this well organized, polite, calm, hospitable, country that has amazing toilets. I don’t know where else in the world you would find such a big city where people queue in order to board the train. I can’t wait to experience more.

The shinkansen bullet train

Lake Ashi with a feint view of Mount Fuji in the background

Gillian at the Outdoor Art Gallery, Hakone

Trying out my yukata robe on Hakone

Trying out my Yukata robe in Hakone

View in Hakone