I do really enjoy…
I do really enjoy everything about Japan but this woman who runs the ryokan where I`m staying was able to smile at me I think because we were previously acquainted. This is it for smiling faces so far!
ASIA
.
Another greee-at dinner. …
Another greee-at dinner. Kyoko has wonderful taste in jobs!
I’m home now, up after sleeping for 16 consecutive hours(!).
Where I’ve been in Japan so far:
Odowara-castle, Yugawara-Kamihagi, Takayama, Matsumoto, Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Narita, Nagasaki, Negoya, Nara, Nikko, Yokahama, Hakone, Kyoto, (Hokkaido,) Sapporo, Shiretoko-National Park, Nemuro, Noboribetsu, Sendai, Yudanaka Onsen, Jigokudani Rotemburo, Nagano, grrThat Post Town, (Shikoku,) Tokushima, Kochi, Matsuyama-Dogo Onsen,
4) in China personal…
4) in China personal space (and in this my experience is very shallow) seems a little wild with stuff just left where it lies and is more for noisy socializing than anything else.
Here personal space is treasured and protected. Every bit is tended and these pot-gardens are promonent in front of many houses.
These are messages for…
These are messages for World Peace. There are dozens of these fences with giant hooks and all these placques hung from them.
One time when I…
One time when I was just standing in a door having a look at a brewery this guy gathered me up and took me on a 30 minute tour of the facility. We went through the whole process – in Japanese !. I missed plenty but understood plenty too so that was a real kick.
Notice, I took 5 tries and could not catch a nice picture even though it seemed to me we were having a really good time and he was quite cheerful throughout.
Large collections of these…
Large collections of these monuments are scattered all throughout the parklands associated with the temple.
2) in China every…
2) in China every Every EVERY one is either already cheery and lively and laughing or about to be. They walk with their chins up and their eyes always looking around for something to find amusing.
Here it is very sedate. People walk with their heads held straight, looking straight ahead, rather in a quiet personal world of their own design.
This is my second…
This is my second visit to Narita. It is so convenient, you`re in your room 30 minutes after landing at the airport, and it is so interesting I don`t know why it isn`t a more popular stop.
Narita City couldn`t be more apart from the airport complex, and Tokyo for that matter. It`s a sweet small town and home to a fantastic temple complex.
3) in China the…
3) in China the shops and restaurants and sightseeing spots are presented first with commerce in mind. The shopkeepers call out to you, the goods are stacked high, there is a cost for everything, the signs are loud.
Here, well, you know what I`m going to say. Notice the bit of garden at the side of this shop. Almost every establishment has such a place of refuge and commerce is conducted in the most civilized way you can imagine.
Jigokudani Rotemburo. Here’s…
Jigokudani Rotemburo. Here’s the bit about that monkeys that I got off the internet somewhere:
Groups of wild Japanese monkeys are living in Jigokudani Yaen-koen, which is located in the mountains in Nagano. You can see these famous monkeys all over in the park. They are used to being around people and living as if they are humans.
There is an outside hot springs that was made just for the monkeys. In winter, you will see them soaking themselves in the hot water while the snow falls on their heads. Somedays they stay up in the mountains, but hopefully you will be able to see them bathe or swim in the hot springs.
The waters of the…
The waters of the onsen are about 50 degrees celsius. It is not possible to bathe with the monkeys, though about 300-400 meters downstream from the onsen for monkeys there is a rotemburo for humans (there are quite a few rotemburo in the Yamanouchi-machi area).
This rotemburo is part of the Korakukan Ryokan (tel: 0269-33-4376) which is an old but excellent wooden ryokan with steep narrow staircases and creaking floorboards.
Getting to Jigokudani is…
Getting to Jigokudani is relatively difficult, as the environment is harsh with heavy snowfalls (snow covers the ground for 4 months a year), the elevation is around 850 meters (about 2790 feet), and the only way in along the narrow 2 kilometer long footpath through the forest. Public transport in these parts is a bit sporadic, your only real option being the bus company servicing the snow resorts of Shiga Kogen and Yudanaka Onsen. The bus timetable is pretty sparse, so if you are going to visit you would need to allocate the better part of a day, and ensure that you have the times of the descending buses written down so that you do not need to wait for too long at the bus stop (the weather up in these parts can change quickly for the worse).
The monkeys in this valley are Japanese macaques (one of the 22 species of monkeys in the genus Macaca), part of a group of primates whose habitat stretches from Japan through to northern Africa (only humans – genus Homo – are more widespread). This species is found on Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu having crossed from Asia via land bridges.
The Golden Road because…
The Golden Road because it costs so much to maintain (as revealed to me by the bus driver.)
