Miyagi, Masamune, Matsushima, Mausuleums and Mameshiba!

School is out for summer! But already I miss it kinda. I love teaching and the students, it’s not at all like when I was a student, I wasn’t ready for a vacation of anything. I could have happily kept working! I wonder if I’m being lulled into enjoying teaching so much because of my circumstance or if they could really be the career choice that would be the right fit! I hope so, because I can do nothing but smile when I think about teaching.

Anyways, so since I have to take a vacation I might as well keep busy. So first up on the itinerary was a trip to Sendai and Matsushima in Tohoku. For those of you who are geography savvy you’ll know that Sendai was the closest major city that was affected by the earthquake. Part of me wanted to go there because of Matsushima (one of Japan’s three great sights) but also the journalist part of me wanted to go and see for myself how the city is coping. In reality, the worst of the damage is further north up the coast where the main issue was the tsunami, but I’m happy to report that Sendai is well on its way to recovery!

So as I reassured everyone before I left, Sendai is millions of miles away, so before even getting there we had to spend eight hours on a train. Japan has these fancy passes that can only be used during major holidays like summer and winter break that allow unlimited travel by local trains to almost anywhere in Japan for five days! They are called Seisshun 18 kippu and as long as one doesn’t mind taking a day to get somewhere a shinkansen can get in three hours, Japan is there’s for the taking! So onboard with that! So it was at nine in the morning that we boarded a train destined for the furthest north I’ve been yet in Japan. Of course every time I asked for directions (while they pointed to the shinkansen gates) or anyone asked where we were going everyone assumed we were taking the shinkansen and looked physically taken back when we said the local trains.

So four hours in, we stopped in Utsunomiya, famous for their gyoza! We had four types of gyoza for lunch: boiled, fried, deep fried, and baked! Oishikatta! Delicious! Then it was back on the train to where we kinda dazed out and nearly missed out next stop, so that’s how we ended up in a little town which we dubiously named Kuro – shoot for as I read the hiragana I realized halfway through that was where we needed to be. So scrambling for our stuff and dove off the train only to discover eventually that our little rest had caused us to miss the next train that we’d had only a minute to get to… -_-; it was bound to happen sooner or later. We went and found a little shrine in Kuro-shoot and a hyaku en shop to pass the time and eventually got back to just catch the next train north. With only one more stop remaining we got to Sendai by eight.

Once there the person we were couch surfing with took us to a little Irish pub where we met a lot of English speakers in the area and they all of course asked ‘so you took the shinkansen?’ No, we didn’t want the shinkansen! But regardless, it was nice to talk to them and hear about the earthquake and the repair that is taking place.

 

The next morning we set out early for a day on the town. Took this special bus to the mausoleum of Date Masumune, the daimyo founder of feudal Sendai (he’s like their town mascot XD) and then to his former castle site where there was this famous statue of him riding his horse. Wandered around their for a bit and took in the view of all of Sendai spread out before us (much smaller than Tokyo) and then headed on our way to the Hachimangu shrine which is a national treasure because it’s painted in blacks and golds. It was really quite beautiful. Also, because Northern Japan celebrated Tanabata a month later than my part, we had more Tanabata decorations to admire although we’ve missed their festival by a few weeks. This really nice old Japanese man gave us a tour even though I understood every tenth word we nodded politely as he limped along behind us pointing something or other out in impossible old man Japanese. Still I love how lovely and willing people are to help out a pair of poor gaijin!

  After a lunch break, of the most amazing spread of salad, ice coffee, doriya and a roll cream cake, we were back on the train to Northern Sendai where I spotted the Rinnoji Temple on the map which kept telling me to go there. It turned out I remembered it because it was Masamune’s  family temple and has a beautiful quiet garden tucked up on the hill behind it. We spent almost an hour wandering around in the shadow of a pagoda as I played with the koi fish and fed them bits of sweet potato and admired the lilies. It was quite lovely and not even the bleak white sky could take away from the beauty. We began heading back after that along a lane of temples and shrines and saw a sight that made both Rhee and I stop. For some reason it was a fallen stone torii gate that really hit home of the idea of the earthquake. They have so much meaning for me, seeing one always marks a shrine and it is this glimpse that has lead me to some wonderful places, to see one made of fine stone tumbled among the steps was really sad and our endless giggles stopped as we stared a little in awe…

As the sunset we returned to Sendai station and searched for our hostel which was some really nice accommodations. It was so clean and even though we were staying in a dorm, there were curtains to block off each little section so it was like Rhee and I had our own room.

The next morning, as I prayed for, we woke to a blueish sky! Ideal, as today we were off to Matsushima; one of Japan’s ancient three great views as declared in 1643 by a traveling scholar. Coincidentally, all three views can be found on the ocean, which with the sea air and the soft sound of lapping waves really just emphasizes the beauty. We had had such a nice day in Matsushima, which is an adorable little town on the coast of a bay famous for over 260 little islands that rise from the waves  and are topped by pine trees. It was so gorgeous. We went to a little shrine on  an island so close you just needed to cross a little bridge, and then took a short boat cruise out to see some of the more unique islands. It seems that it’s a Japanese tradition to by shrimp crackers not with intention of snacking but to feed them to seagulls and before long we had a whole flock following us. Once beyond the safety of the bay the waves were huge and pitched us about and flung themselves up on the island, sometimes reaching the poor pine trees towering above, so they brought us inside until we were in calm waters again.  I always enjoy a good boat trip and the beauty was a major bonus!

Once on dry land we went searching for fish and chips (I think of the ocean and want fish and chips like in White Rock) but we settled for hot dogs and freshly cut fried potatoes. We found a little stone wall to sit on facing the ocean and scared off seagulls as we enjoyed our lunch. We also went to a little tea house overlooking the bay and had matcha tea served to us on a tatami mat the sight of the ocean and the sound of soft wind chimes lining the veranda.  A mango sundae and another peaceful stroll about took us to the Zuigan-ji temple which is famous for its lane of tall pine trees and caves which hold Buddhist statues and were used for meditation and housed the ashes of the dead in the Kamakura period. Now, they are mossy and glow when the sun shines through the trees and dapples them in warm light.

Our last plan of the day was to cross a long quart of a kilometer bridge to one of the bigger islands close to shore. The bridge sustained minor damage during the earthquake but was reopened at the beginning of the month. It was a quiet place of beauty and by means of carefully placed feet and a rope we lowered ourselves to this fantastic beach where we stayed for over an hour. It was magnificent to just play in the surf and stare at the islands and the sky and the ocean and feel so small and insignificant: sublimity. The sand was so white and speckled with shiny crystals. We couldn’t ignore the debris that had washed up on the beach presumably from the tsunami but we could be grateful that such an amazing place exists. There really is a little bit of everything in Japan! Words are never enough to explain these pockets of beauty that I keep finding. Just when I think I can’t be even more awestruck I find something new that leaves me speechless. That moment on that beach in 

the waves under that sky surrounded by all that was… awesome!

Then it was back around the island, over the bridge under the setting sun back to the train and returning to Sendai for our last night.

That night I was woken up at midnight by a little tremor and then most of Sendai was woken up at 4 am when a bigger earthquake rumbled the city. It was probably nothing to the people who live there but it was my first big one. Usually I catch the tail end of them just as I wake up and have to ask myself, was that an earthquake? There was no question this time. I had time to wake up, rub my eyes and even city up as the room trembled around me and I could literally hear the city shaking. It was a strange feeling but it passed after a minute or so and then I fell back asleep thinking of all those I’ve talk to that still get palpitations when they remember the big one.

It was six when we woke up for real, for we had an early train to catch. We got to the station and realized with wonderment that our train of 7:01 wasn’t on the board but a 7:04 was. Now it’s not like Japan to be inaccurate even by three minutes so I went seeking help. I nice old train man started babbling on about the shinkansen. “Shinkansen nai,” I replied as patiently as one could having been asked a million time in one weekend if I was taking the shinkansen. No! We can’t afford it! I wanted to shout instead I smiled and followed his lead to a nice lady who kinda spoke English. “Shinkansen 7:00,” she told us. “We aren’t taking the shinkansen though,” I replied, why do you people want me on that darn train so bad. She shook her head and said our train was a no go. Oh no! So we can’t get home! I realized as she handed us a piece of paper opened the gate and told us platform 13. Wait! She’d just let us through the gates! Were we getting a free pass for the shinkansen? After all that insisting that we wouldn’t be taking it, we got to take it all the way back to Utsunomiya. We still don’t know quite what happened but we figured that the little earthquake postponed the local trains but the shinkansen was the first thing to be approved to go so we got two free tickets for a train that would usually cost more than our five day seishunn 18 pass! It was awesome! And what was supposed to be a six hour trip turned into a tidy hour and a half and that gave us time to go to Nikko! What incredible luck!

Nikko is one of Japan’s greatest world heritage sights. It is the mausoleum for Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543 – 1616), the first shogun of Japan who moved the capital from Kyoto to Edo, now called Tokyo, and a beautiful shrine decorated in gold and wood with the ever lingering smell of incense in the air. It was a lovely place but a little overcrowded. And while it was worth the visit, I have been to more beautiful places that are less visited by tourist and thus have a more peaceful air to them. (Just last week Rhee and I commented the Fuji Sengon shrine is a favourite because it’s so peaceful and secluded in a forest.) I enjoyed in none-the-less and was happy for the borrowed time to go visit. The last thing we did was visit the Shinkyo bridge, that along with Saruhashi (only five minutes from me) and Iwakuni (a place we are going to in a couple of weeks) is one of three eccentric bridges in Japan! Another cross off for my list of Japan’s threes!

By the time we returned to the station to head home for real this time we had just hit the time when we might have arrived if we hadn’t have taken the shinkansen only to have to rush and see the sights. So lucky! Then it was a four hour trip back to Otsuki that was mostly uneventful but we returned home much earlier than anticipated which was nice! 

What an amazing first weekend of summer!  Up next, Ise Peninsula! Ja ne!

The night Fuji was conquered

This past weekend I have been blessed by being given the gift of pin-pointing exactly the hardest thing I have ever physically done in my whole life: climbing Mt. Fuji (3776 meters). Ten hours up in the dead of night for the sunrise and then four hours down slipping lava rocks that threaten to roll you all the way off the mountain (a fate that didn’t seem too bad after sixteen hours on the blasted volcano!) It sucked, it hurt, I got altitude sickness and didn’t sleep at all for over a full twenty-four hours. I wanted to cry I wanted to yell I wanted to laugh and I wanted to blow up the mountain. But… it was so so sooooo worth it! Will I ever do it again? NO!

But first, it all began on Friday and as most weekends do! Went to see the new and last Harry Potter! It was awesome! All must see it! And at the Aeon mall in Kofu I managed to finally find the prettiest yukata ever and it was half price! So lucky! And… I had pizza and ice cream cake! Mmmmm melted cheese... So the movie was great and we headed back to Otsuki around midnight with plans of staying up all night and did we ever! Kevin, Tony, Rhee and I all stayed up to just see the sun slipping around the edge of the planet when we slipped off to bed. We entertained ourselves with an all night café until 2:30ish and then went to Saruhashi to hand on the bridge and talk and watch the stars, do some yoga and wait until we felt it was okay to go to bed. We eventually slept around 4:30 and I awoke at noon when Otsuki rang there usually lunch time bells… (I wanted sleep…) Whether this was better or worse than sleeping normally a night before hiking I’m still not sure considering I almost fell asleep on my hiking stick while scrambling up lava rocks but more on that in a bit.)

So at five, we were reading for some carbs at the ramen shop and then it was off to Fujiyoshida while the sun set and the mountain loomed before us like a warning. We were on the mountain by 8:30 and began at nine just as the day old full moon peaked over the mountain and a lit the trail bright enough to cast shadows. We didn’t even need the head lights we’d brought. The first part of the trail was the easiest bit as it went downhill! After a bit we began to panic fearing we had taken the wrong trail until we passed some Japanese people who confirmed we were in the right direction with encouraging words of “up, up up, and up!” Oh yeah, don’t remind me!
I won’t bore with details of all ten hours it took to get to the top but I will say there were hundreds of others climbing the mountain with us and it was amazing to feel a part of such an intense group all aspiring for the same dream. Everyone was so friendly and it was easy to make friends! The trail never grew boring as it changed up with short steep switchbacks to literally climbing big lava boulders and scrambling four-legged between the mountain huts. The trail never stayed the same, but one thing remained always: the baseball sized lava rocks that slid under my feet causing me to lose six inches for every three feet I took…

 About two in the morning we figured we’d made it just over half way up when we began comparing the trek to a video game. Every time we met some new hikes we’d say “the Finnish folk have joined the party,” or “the Brit has left the party,” and then Kevin just about killed me by saying: “You know what would suck? If we got to the top and the stupid toadstool said ‘I’m sorry but the sunrise is on another mountain’.” Oh I’m tearing up just remembering that! What would have also sucked was if the stupid volcano finally blew just as we were ten minutes from the top. It wouldn’t have the decency to put us out of our misery early on in the hike, nor would it even let us conquer it!

Regardless, we survived and saw the most beautiful sunrise for which there are no words and made it all the way to the top. Of course the coldest part of the night is right before dawn so we shivered and huddled as the sky lightened and then finally the bright red disc pulled itself from its blankets of cloud and sprang into the sky in a fury of dazzling rays. Nothing quite like it. And the colours! More than my camera could ever pick up! I have no idea how to describe the purples and orange that came with the sun so I’ll leave it to the imagination, just know my photos don’t quite do it justice.

On the ascent, we were each granted one complaint. For me: it was these intense hiccups that took all my energy and made it so I couldn’t breathe for the last third of the climb, Kevin was cold and tired, and Tony’s feet and legs were in pain, for Rhee (who was the genkiest person on the mountain that night with her steady pace and endless cheer) it was merely that the sunscreen was too cold! She pouted almost as much as all of us did over sunscreen! We all cheered to finally get a whine from her but it was all good because at that moment we needed a laugh more than anything.

The very last bit was the hardest but we made it there and Rhee, Kevin and I crossed under the final torii gate and on to the top together feeling very proud! After Rhee and traversed the crater (which took about another hour) dropped some post cards off at the post office (the highest in Japan) and branded our hiking sticks with bragging rights of making it to the top, while the boys slept (you wouldn’t believe how many people just fell asleep where they sat on the lava rocks. By now the sun was all the way up and by 10 am (way behind schedule!) we began the descent.

Many will say that the descent is far harder than the ascent but I would disagree in this case. The worst part of climbing up was that I couldn’t breathe not the pain so while going down, when I could breathe again, I almost enjoyed the deep rocks that kicked up dust as I slid down. The clouds began to roll in which was beautiful to see because they were so close to us and we could see them moving so fast and playing in the sky and they fell over the path cooling it and misted our faces (which was nice except it turned the dust to mud and coated our faces) it was actually almost pleasant going down. Kevin and I kept an even pace and talked for most of the way (yay for being able to breathe) so that made time just fly. It wasn’t until the very end when a sign read 60 more mins and then after over 45 mins we saw another sign that said only 60 more mins that I wanted to give up! And remember that spot where we had to walk downhill first? Well after sixteen hours on the mountain, now we had to walk up hill to cross the finish line.

Exhaustion. Half the mountain in my shoe. A long line for the bus. A lovely sleep on the bus. Back to the car. The expressway back to Otsuki. Lawson for a coffee. Home. Shower (the best of my life) and then the tiniest lie down. All I remember up until the next activity.

Who celebrates Fuji conquering by going to bed? Not I! No, far from it! Rhee and I put on our pretty yukata and took Kevin with us to a festival in Saruhashi!

It was so cool! The portable shrine that hangs out in our friends house in Saruhashi was brought out and lit with lanterns to match at least five others and men paraded them around as the sun set and the taiko drummers pounded the beat and then the dancing began. I love watching group dances, but there might be one little thing I love more! Dancing in a festival in my yukata with clackers at twilight. It was one of those moments, that you wish you could put into a little bubble to swim in later just to relive it. The beat was lively and Kevin and Rhee were on either side of us, the sun had just set and filled the street with cool blue light and the music filled the air as my yukata swished around me and we danced like baka not knowing the routine. But was it ever amazing! One minute we had just been standing sitting there admiring and the next we were dragged into the street! Our friend, Kei san from the Saruhashi shop was so incredibly kind and offer us drinks and festival food for free and then when all was over he invited us in for dinner of cold summertime noodles, yakitori and takoyaki followed by strawberry shaved ice. It was the most perfect day!

I slept eleven straight hours that night.

On Monday (it was a long weekend) Rhee and I returned to the scene of the crime and stopped in at the Fuji Sengon shrine to thank the mountain for the strength and the experience. We wandered a bit under the massive trees and enjoyed the peaceful air of this one shrine and then went and found an onsen to soak our somewhat aching bodies. We finished the weekend with dinner and parfaits!

Now, it is Tuesday. I don’t ache as much as I thought I would which is awesome but it all feels like a dream. I could have possible hiked all night to the top of a volcano to see the sunrise from the top of Japan. The very first sunrise of July 17th, as the first major land mass the sun hits is Japan, hence the land of the rising sun. I couldn’t have possibly nearly fallen asleep on my hiking stick, circled a crater, scrambled over lava and then danced in a festival in the same day. It all feels too sublime to be real!