Japan

You can probably guess from our silence that we’ve been a bit busy! It’s a struggle to fit our sojourn to Japan into just one post, but there was so much to do and experience that we ran out of time to write!

Tokyo

Our time in Tokyo was a whirlwind, from navigating public transit (with torrential rain that shut down the trains), tourist-crowded Buddhist temples, sprawling Ueno park with its many museums, and Akihabara. Also known as Electric City, Akihabara was bursting with narrow stalls selling electrical wire and radios, multi-storied arcades whose glittering white floor contrasted the aesthetic grittiness of the rest of Tokyo, and popular ‘maid cafes.’

With something like 37 million people in the metropolitan area, Tokyo’s density is incredible. Buildings with tiny footprints shooting into the sky, mere feet from their neighbours. Restaurants floating on the 3^rd story or the 5^th and still receiving steady traffic. Tiny roads with skinny, flat-nosed cars, and an intricately woven metro system rushing beneath the pavement.

Being whisked out of Tokyo the next day, we were amazed by how dense it remained even an hour towards the outskirts. It more merged with the forest and mountains than ended, the buildings tucked away within the lush vegetation. 

And so we melted out of Tokyo and into Hakone, a mountainous region filled with volcanic activity, onsen (hot springs), and gorgeous forests. 

Hakone

Highlights of Hakone!

1. Hakone Open Air Museum: a stunning outdoor sculpture museum where art and environment meld.

2. Ropeway over the Ōwakudani valley. This area is very volcanically active, and is where much of the local onsen water is extracted from. Extremely sulphurous! (Depending on the wind, nauseatingly so.)

3. Lake Ashi in a replica pirate boat (yes it’s a bit tacky, we didn’t choose the vessel).

4. Hike from Hakone Yasuragi-no-mori to Motohakone. Also, with crazy wind and rain, this was the wettest we got in Japan. Even wearing good rain gear, we were pretty soaked.

5. Heiwa-no-Torii, associated with the very old and storied Hakone shrine.

6. Staying in a traditional ryokan! With onsen soaks and an open air bath! Because of price hikes on the weekend, we ended up moving to another so called ryokan that was about half the price of the first. See pictures for authentic ryokan versus the budget version; we were entertained.

7. Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands! Sphagnum moss! Fens!

Kyoto and area

After the anonymity of a huge city like Tokyo and the peaceful beauty of Hakone, we were unprepared for the level of international tourism in Kyoto which flooded all the ‘must see sites’ and jacked up the prices.

Our highlight ended up being a day trip to Kumara, thirty minutes by train out of Kyoto. There we hiked Mt. Kumara, ascending through an ancient temple which stretches up from the base, folds itself over the mountaintop, and descends to the village of Kibune on the other side. Walking up endless stone steps beneath towering evergreens in such an ancient and spiritual place is unspeakably tranquil. Every now and then we would reach a sacred shrine or temple building, painted vermilion and deeply set in the living ecology of the natural world. In fact, we even saw a snake crawl into one of the bright red lanterns which lined the path and playfully poke its head out!

A few more highlights from Japan as a whole:

1. The wildlife! Snow monkeys (Japanese macaques), blue-tailed skinks, elegant grey herons, and splendid dragonflies.

2. The plants! Japanese beautyberry (it’s purple!), ancient cedars, and rustling crape myrtle.
3. A shrine whose lotus pond had a turtle living in it! 
4. Learning to make Japanese wagashi (traditional sweets), matcha, and sushi!
5. Food. Hot pot, sushi, yuba (tofu skin), sashimi, dango (rice dumplings with sweet soy sauce), onigiri (from 7-Eleven), ramen, gyoza, and mochi!
6. The interactive, light-up art installation in Nagai Botanical Gardens, Osaka.

Overall, wow Japan, WOW!