Author: melmalinowski

Japan is not a small country! It is as long from end to end as from the Canadian border north of Seattle, WA to the Mexican border, about 1800 km. In just 5 weeks for Hokkaidō, Honshū and Kyūshū Islands, I will only get to see bits of it. A start.

My beginning to explore Honshū Island, the main island of Japan, is to journey by train down from Sapporo to an onsen area north of Tazawako. This is a long day’s journey.

Japan has created an amazing network of fast trains. On my way here, I measured 168 mph. Comfortable seats, pleasant decor. Traveling around Japan by train is easy and fun. Have an 8 minute connection between trains? Not to worry. It all works.

Now I’m up in the mountains of northern Japan. Fall color is here already. I’ve already soaked in an onsen, and tomorrow I will explore some outdoor onsen.

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My favorite destinations are outdoor onsen. Here are two I visited today, Ganiba and Kuroyu Onsen.

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Ganiba outdoor onsen

The next day, I set off on a long hike, first to Nyutoonsenkyo Tsurunoyu Hot Spring, a very old traditional onsen that time forgot:

It was worth the effort. The outdoor onsen, which is ‘mixed’ (male and female together), is lovely. And the milky mineral water preserves everyone’s modesty.

Then on through the ‘bear infested forest’ that I was warned was dangerous (not) due to bears, up to Ganiba Onsen. I would have liked to see a Japanese black bear, but alas, none were to be seen.

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Next stop: Nikko, home to the shrine to the first Shogun of Japan

The Japanese rever cedar trees, believing them to hold spirits. The shrines of Nikko are like a cedar cathedral, formed of literally thousands of cedars, some of which must be hundreds of years old. While I enjoyed the buildings, I think the forest was the most impressive.

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The Edo period of Japan (commencing after the establishment of the Shogunate) was a period of amazing artistic development, far too elaborate a story to tell here.

One Japanese innovation was the most elaborate wood joinery known to the world. These complex, precise joints allowed strong post and beam connections using no metal. Such connections withstood Japan’s frequent earthquakes well, due to their flexible strength. To make these by hand requires an extraordinary level of skill.

A political image for our times?

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Next stop: Kusatsu Onsen in the ‘Japanese Alps’

Kusatsu Onsen is not exactly what I expected. The largest hot springs in Japan, with a thermal water outflow of 3900 liters per minute, it is like the Vail or St. Moritz of hot springs resorts.

This flow of hot mineral water comes out in the middle of town, and then is distributed to various onsen. There are other onsen around town that have their own source. No shortage of hot water here.

On a Sunday, lots of tourists come. Here some soak their feet in one of many free foot baths.

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A ryokan dinner can be special, and so it was here:

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On to Nagano, in the Japanese Alps.

I’ve hit a patch of nasty, rainy weather, a travel risk.

Arriving in Nagano in the pouring rain, I decided to travel on to one of Japan’s ‘national treasures’, Matsumoto Castle, a five story wooden tower built beginning in the 1500’s. So I put on all my rain gear, including rain pants, and headed out in the downpour. (I only found out later that this heavy rain was due to Typhoon Lan (#21 of the season).

The ‘Black Crow Castle’. This is quite a structure! Some of the original beams you see are perhaps 16″ square, probably hand-hewn.

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Typhoon Lan disrupted my travel today. I showed up for a 6:09am train, and was told ‘cancelled’ and that it was impossible to get to the town where I had planned to hike part of the old Nakasendo road from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo). I did not despair or give up, though. I immediately hopped on a ultrafast train to Tokyo, and then another from Tokyo to Nagoya. There, I managed to get a train to near Magome, my destination, getting there the long way around, although at 2pm rather than 9am. You sometimes have to be tough and tenacious to be a true global nomad.

The Minshuku inn where I am staying in Magome. Minshukus are small, family-run equivalents of a B&B, usually a bit more casual than Ryokan.

Magome was 69 ‘post towns’ along the Nakasendo, where the travelers would stay each night. It and Tsumago, about 8 km. away, have been preserved much as they were hundreds of years ago. Tomorrow, I will walk to Tsumago along part of the old stone path.

“D” is the Nakasendo, one of the five roads connecting Kyoto with Edo (Tokyo) during the Edo period. The Gokaido highways were established by the Tokugawa shogunate as official routes for daimyo (feudal lords) and their families and retainers to travel to the capital (Edo) to perform sankin-kotai – the system of alternate residence in Edo, which allowed the central authorities to keep watch on and control the feudal lords.

This system of well-maintained roads also facilitated the spread of central power to the outlying provinces. Information, troops and dispatches from central government could be speedily sent out along these highways and the passage of people and goods along these roads were checked at various barrier stations or seki along the routes.

The Tokaido, along the Pacific Coast, was the busiest route as it was the most direct and was mainly flat. The present-day Tokaido Shinkansen and National Highway Route 1, between Tokyo and Osaka via Kyoto follows this ancient route.

However, due to the number of river crossings involved on the Tokaido, it was considered dangerous, and many daimyo sent their wives and families on the longer, but safer inland highway, the Nakasendo. This is the road I will walk upon tomorrow.

Tonight, a Japanese feast, fully the equal of the one I described earlier at a Ryokan:

Oishīdesu, as I’ve learned to say: “Delicious!” Not so hard: “Oh-ee-she-dess”

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The Nakasendo Road

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On to Himeji, home of the White Egret Castle.

Another ‘National Treasure’ began in the 1600s. The White Egret Castle towers over Himeji. It seems much bigger and more defensible than the ‘Black Crow Castle’. It’s quite a hike just to get to the entrance.

The countless weapons racks inside make it clear this a serious castle. As with all of these Japanese castles, the structure is wood. In this case, the exterior is plastered.

This is a model of the wooden structure. Wow! They did this to help them do some restorations in the 1800s.

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Next stop: Hiroshima

The ‘Atomic Bomb Dome’ ruins, one of the few buildings not flattened by the explosion. Everyone inside was killed.

America was the first country to develop nuclear weapons. Our government chose to use them to compel Japan to surrender in World War II. The first bomb was used to destroy the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It killed approximately 20,000 Japanese soldiers, and also more than 130,000 civilian non-combatants, mostly women, children and senior citizens.

Judy was very well-read about the history of this subject, and strongly felt that using the atomic bomb this way was barbaric and unnecessary. Opinion continues to be divided about this. The argument for it was primarily that it would save American lives that might be lost in further fighting. The argument against it was that Japan was close to surrender already, and would have surrendered anyway given a little more time.

As I stood in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome, I was surprised to be moved to tears, watching the young Japanese students who had come to visit this memorial site. Some of their grandparents and great-grandparents may have been killed in the attack, as well as other relatives who were children at the time. How cruel we can be to each other!

I have come to agree with Judy. Part of the internal military discussions centered on a strong desire to see how well this new weapon worked. Two billion dollars had been spend developing it. But, as French philosopher Albert Camus wrote “No cause justifies the death of innocent people.”

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Next stop: Kyoto

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years. You could spend a month visiting all the cultural sites here! The general in charge of the WWII A-bomb project wanted to bomb it, but the Secretary of State at the time had honeymooned there, and persuaded the president to take it off the target list. Good move. Instead of forever incinerating an irreplaceable treasure, and the residents of this cultural icon, we just killed 140,000 civilians in Hiroshima, and more in Nagasaki. My uncle Archie, who fought the Japanese in the Pacific, approved. I think the reality is more complex than that, and should give us pause about what we authorize our generals to do on our behalf. They don’t always know best.

Kyoto is such a vast subject, I won’t even try to explain it. Here are a few pictures.

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The girl in the last picture would not be allowed to use the onsen in our hotel (or most onsen) because she has a tatoo on her arm. Tatoos are a ritual among the Japanese gangster group “Yakuza”, so it is presumed here you are suspect if you have one. Unfortunately, this excludes most native Hawaiians, who are NOT yakuza. Unintended consequences.
The dog-like figure is a mythical fox, holding a key to the rice grainery in its mouth.

Now, it is time to head south to the island of Kyūshū.

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After departing Seoul, I flew up north to the northerly Japanese island of Hokkaidō. My goal is to sample numerous onsen (hot springs) and do some hiking, traveling by train and bus. Many of our family have visited Japan, or at least have heard much about it, so it seems a bit unnecessary to go into detail. Yet the experience of going to rural Japan made a big impression on me the last time we came, so I’ll try to bring the experience to life for those who have not been there.

Japan has over 3,000 natural hot springs (onsen), and I plan to visit a number of the best outdoor versions. Judy and I traveled two times in Japan, and I came to love the Japanese tradition of communal bathing in very hot (up to 108°F) natural thermal water (no chlorine). It can be a shock at first to get into water this hot, but when you get out, you are limp and relaxed. Ah!

Daisetsuzan National Park (“Big Snow Mountain”) has the highest mountain in Hokkaidō, and when I get there on October 1st, there may already be the first snow of the season.

I began my trip at New Chitose Airport (CTS), about 45 km south of Sapporo. Coming in late evening, I opted to stay at the Airport Terminal Hotel.
Having your phone able to use the internet is essential! It allows you to look up transit on Google Map, and to use your phone as a ‘personal hotspot’ for your laptop. It saves you time and money. I have an ‘unlocked’ phone, and get a local SIM for data only wherever I go.

My first onsen is Noboribetsu. Ah, it is so good to arrive in rural Japan in the cooling weather of early autumn, and soak in an outdoor hot springs!

 
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The onsen tradition is almost ceremonial. You leave your shoes on a rack, put your valuables in a little locker and your clothes in an open basket. You take a little hand towel with you into a pre-wash area. You sit on a little stool along a row of hand showers with shampoo and body soap, and thoroughly wash yourself (you must be sparkling clean before entering the common bath).

You then walk through the many bath areas, with your little hand towel draped in front of your crotch (or not, it seems optional) and get in the pool of your choice. Some are hotter than others, and my favorites are outdoors. Even the ceremony of the onsen is soothing.

You can stand under a 4 cm stream of pleasantly hot water dropping from 4 meters up, which gives the effect of a hydraulic massage as it pounds down on you. It’s like standing under a hot waterfall!

Each room has a robe like this. You are free to wander around town in them in an Onsen area. Most relaxing.

The water has so many minerals dissolved in it that it is grey, like the streams running off glaciers.

Sitting in the outdoor pool at Onsen Tengoku (“Onsen Heaven”), you look out at the hillside, beginning to turn bright fall colors. A cool breeze refreshes you, as many crows circle overhead above the hillside. You can see steam rising up the valley. There is a low murmur of Japanese talk around you. A gust of wind sweeps through, and little leaves swirl around and drift into the pool. You sometimes catch a whiff of sulphur in the air. At night, you see many stars. It is easy to calm the mind and just soak in the natural beauty.

Buddha was sitting in a natural hot springs in Japan, meditating, and it came to him: “THIS is nirvana!”

Just kidding. I made that up, but there is a grain of truth in it. Limp rags sleep well. This is going to be a fun trip!
(One fly in the ointment: Asian beds. The common preference in Asia is for very firm beds, as in ‘like sleeping on a carpeted floor’. This addresses Buddha’s warning about sleeping in ‘high, comfortable beds’)

Hell Valley, Noboribetsu Onsen, Hokkaidō, Japan from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

On a 4 km hike up the valley, there is a ‘Natural Foodbath’ where a small stream of about 40°C water runs, and you can sit and soak your feet. Ah!
40°C = 104°F. 37C is body temperature. 30°C = 86°F. 20°C = 68°F. 0°C = 32°F. 1°C = 1.8°F. I’m going to spend this year in metric.

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Noboribetsu Onsen was fun, and a great start to my Japanese journey. Today I moved on, taking a bus to Sapporo, 1 ¾ hours, then train 1 ½ hours to Asahikawa, then bus 1 ½ hours to Asahidake Onsen.

I’m staying at Daisetsuzan Shirakabasou there, a JYH (Japan Youth Hostels) with dorms and some private rooms with a small indoor and outdoor hot spring. I am in a traditional Japanese tatami mat room, sleeping on a futon. There is a soft scent of tatami mat in the room, from the rice straw they are woven from. Dinner was ample and delicious. The indoor onsen is about 39°C, and the outdoor one only 37°C, about body temperature. I prefer warmer.

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Tomorrow, I will hike to the top of Mount Asahi, the highest mountain in Hokkaidō. It’s not so high, but it snowed there two days ago, qnd there is snow on top. Does the name ‘Asahi’ ring a bell? After studying how to brew lager beer in Germany, an enterprising local fellow brewed the first beer in Japan in Sapporo in 1876.

Well, the weather was NOT favorable! But I hiked anyway. Wind so strong it nearly knocked me over a couple of times up on the ridge, with wind chill of about -5°C. I had to go to max face coverup before heading back down into the blast of the wind. It was good exercise, though, and the onsen warmed me back up.

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What I might have seen, if the skies had cleared. Mount Asahi.

I talked at dinner with a couple living in Seattle, who are veteran long-distance hikers, getting ready for the Annapurna Circuit later in October. We shared helpful apps. They like maps.me, which gives you offline-usable maps internationally. I like it. Two other useful apps, each with pluses and minuses, are AllTrails, and Wikiloc. For just tracking, MotionXGPS is useful, too. Google Maps is helpful in cities, but not much for trails, nor some countries abroad. I have come to regard carrying a GPS device on the trail as essential, and some smart phones are nearly as good as the Garmin dedicated devices, and lighter.

Next morning, it was colder, and I could see that the cloud level was down at around 500 feet above ground level. The forecast was for snow, so I decided to not go up high. Good decision—those who did tried hiking to the summit of Mount Asahi, got blasted by sleet, and turned back.

Instead, I hiked cross-country to an interesting outdoor onsen one canyon over. Such a pretty hike! It wound up a 17 km. plus 1400 meters of up/down, a full day of hiking. I took time in the middle for udon noodles for lunch and a soak in the 40°C outdoor onsen at Tenninkyo Onsen. Ah!

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I awoke on my last day to see snow falling outside. Very pretty! Asahidake Onsen is at the same latitude as Eugene, Oregon, where it is certainly not snowing on October 4th.

Indoor Onsen at my hotel in Asahikawa. Onsen are typically called ‘public baths’. Blue seems to be the color code for the men’s bath, red for women.It would be most awkward to walk into the wrong entrance!

Time to head down to Asahikawa for a day, then on to Sapporo.

Rice, part of the heart and soul of Japan.

Sapporo receives 6 meters of snow a winter (over 19 feet). Skiing is a school subject studied by almost all children. One elementary school even has its own ski jump on campus. Each winter, there is a Sapporo Snow Festival with ice and snow sculptures.

I had the good fortune of being here during a Van Gogh exhibition. I had not realized how much Japanese use of color & line influenced Van Gogh. Seeing his canvases again up close reminds me of how well he used thick texture of the paint with bold brush strokes. This doesn’t really come across in 2D reproductions.

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A lovely chilly fall morning in Sapporo. I can tell already that 6 weeks will only be enough to see a fraction of Japan.
Speaking of fractions: there is a HUGE underground network of passages in Sapporo that keep things moving in the long, snowy winters. Underground shops, food, everything! I wish I could be here for the Sapporo Snow Festival.

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Time to head south to Honshū Island.

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Korea is much in the news recently. I have stopped over in Seoul a few times, and came to like it (see Seoul October 2016). I scheduled in two weeks here in order to go beyond Seoul and get to know the area beyond a bit better.

It is easy to forget how close South Korea is to Japan. It is not a large country: about half the size of the State of Washington. Its population is, however, 8 times as great, larger than that of California. (in perspective, it is nearly 3x as big in area as Taiwan)

The second largest city is Busan, about 250 miles south of Seoul. I decided to start out by spending a week traveling around with a rail pass on the excellent high speed rail system. At top speeds as high as 193 mph, it takes just over two hours to go the length of the country. There are not yet any trains close to this fast in America. My first trip was from Seoul to Busan.

In my brief stay in Busan, I chose to visit Beomeosa Buddhist Temple, established nearly 1400 years ago, and climb on up from there about 2000 feet in altitude to the top of Godangbong Mountain.[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

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Along the way, I met this friendly group of local employees of a medical products company, and walked up to the mountain with them.

This morning, I visited the “Korean Modern History Museum”. I learned a lot. I had not been aware that the Koreans suffered greatly under the rather brutal occupation of Korea by Japan from 1876 till 1944. Nor was I aware that there were popular protests about American influences and military in the early 80’s. It’s really pretty amazing how well they rebuilt themselves after WW|| and the Korean War. There’s a lot more to the ancient Korean culture and its modern expression than Kim Chi, Samsung and LG. The Koreans are very family-oriented, work hard, are competitive, and tend to exercise a lot and be fit.

As I am traveling fast on this survey trip, I will mostly do collages to give you an impression of the people and places, without going into detail about when/where/what. One thing I have noticed: there is not a lot of English spoken, so it’s up to you to communicate in Korean as much as you can, with the help of Google Translate and such. Get a high speed, unlimited data SIM for your phone, and use Google Translate with the camera feature to live translate written Korean. While not perfect, it helps when you face a sign or menu with no clue as to what it means.

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South Korea has a fine high speed rail system. On my quick one week survey tour, I rode on most of these lines, mostly on the highest speed KTX trqins (I measured 193 mph, though 189mph is supposed to be the top speed). At these rates, you can go from Seoul in the far north to Busan in the far south in just over 2 hours. Very comfortably, too.

Unlike airports, no security lines, and you can walk in 10 minutes before departure, and walk on. Making reservations is very easy online, especially since South Korea has an enviably fast internet system. As the KTX trains have fast internet on board, I’m managing to get a lot of work done in transit.

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Sushi Korean style from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

For $1.20USD, this shop will give you one of these rolls sliced up, along with a bowl of broth and pickled vegetables. The best value I found in Korea. Generally, Korea is not inexpensive–food costs are similar to California. Train travel, however, is a bargain.

Fried sweet bread from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

I’m now in Mokpo, near the SW tip of South Korea. Mokpo is the largest port. I decided to stay three days here so I can leave my ‘big’ backpack and do day trips with a daypack. I stumbled on a great inn. I’m not always including my accomodations here, just if they are exceptional. My last stay was not: a clean, tiny room no wider than the length of the bed and 3x as long. OK for one night, but it would be a bit claustrophobic for longer.

I’m staying at the White Windmill Guest House, a fine example of artful modern design. I picked it because it’s within walking distance of Mokpo train station, and right next to a lovely mountain park.

An attractive coffee shop is part of the Guest House, as well as an excellent restaurant where you have the included breakfast, and other meals if you wish. The quality of design and construction are first-rate.

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Garden Eels from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

Big Belly seahorses from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

Jellyfish from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo

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My last day in Seoul I decided to check out Samsung D’light, a showroom of the latest and greatest technology from the Korean electronics giant. It is quite a show indeed. They are promoting virtual reality goggles, and one of the displays has you sit in a special effects chair while wearing a set of 3D goggles. It takes you on a simulated rollercoaster ride, which is so convincing I found myself grabbing on to the armrests for bracing, and getting just a bit motion sick! The resolution of the display could be better. When it is, this will be compelling.

Here is a bit of digital visual effects I filmed there:

Digital effects on display at Samsung D'light showroom in Seoul from Mel Malinowski on Vimeo.

It’s about time to move on. Next stop: Sapporo, Japan.

One last note: I have discovered a Korean restaurant that I like so much I go there every time I pass through Seoul. I admit to sometimes getting tired of the strong acidic and spicy elements characteristic of Kimchi and the spicy sour vegetables that accompany it. However, there is much more variety in Korean cuisine if you seek it out. Part of the reason I like this restaurant so much is that it is a high quality buffet, so you can sample a wide range of dishes. For $12.98 in USD including tip, it’s a bargain, too. It’s also a great place to watch upscale Korean people out on the town.

A nice part about eating at a buffet in Korea: you get to sample small amounts of many dishes. Koreans prefer to dine out in groups, so individual dishes you order often come sized for two people. In fact, more than once I was quizzically asked why I was dining alone!

Part of the fun of laying over in Seoul on a world flight is that you can zip into town on the Airport Express train for $7USD in 43 minutes to Seoul Station, and stay in one of many quality apartments in a few minutes walk from there.

It’s hard to find this restaurant, however. To get to this restaurant, come out of Seoul Station exit 2, keep walking past Lotte Outlets toward Lotte Market. At the corner nearest you, there is an escalator to the second floor:

The restaurant opens at 11am, and you should make a reservation if you want to be seated much later than that, as it is extremely popular.

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The next adventure begins September 19th. Details as it progresses.

[Great news on a project dear to our hearts: the Hawaiian Supreme Court has ruled that the collection of wild reef fish for sale to the international aquarium market (nearly a million a year) was not properly reviewed for its environmental impact, and must stop immediately pending such a review. We hope that it will never resume]

Aloha!