1st Japanniversary: Part 2 - Highlights from the year
1 year Japanniversy - Top 10 Moments
To mark that it was our 1 year Japanniversry on 26 January 2019, I have once again roped in Wil for his thoughts too at this milestone. We are both going to share our top 5 experiences from our first year of living in Japan - we have numbered them for ease of reading but it isn’t a ranking!
Wil’s top 5
Travelling around Japan in 2018 is easily the most I have explored a single country in one year (including the UK!) So, knowing it would be challenging to boil that down to 5 experiences for this post, I have decided to highlight 5 themes and then bring each to life with a specific example.
Number 1: Beaches
In common with a lot of the globe, Tokyo had one of its hottest summers on record this year and led us to seek out the beach more often than we would have been inclined in the UK. Fortunately, Tokyo
has several coastlines and peninsulas an easy day trip from the city. While most locals appear to seek them out for their surfing potential, there are a number of more relaxed beaches down the western side of the Miura peninsula. Our favourite was the Isshiki (“monochrome”) beach a short bus ride south of Zushi, so called because of the black volcanic sand.
For us, this beach had a lot going for it. Classic sweeping bay with blue waves rolling in. Views of Mount Fuji across the bay on a clear day. The Emperor’s Imperial Villa sitting out-of-sight right behind the beach giving a sense of grandeur. A 7-Eleven nearby for supplies. And even a Modern Art Museum if the mood so took us. (It did not.)
Coupled with the gorgeous weather, we whiled away several peaceful days here, sometimes taking refuge in our beach tent when the sun became too much for my British roots. (FYI, beach tents are de-rigueur here so it is not as strange as it might sound.)
Number 2: Sunsets
“Land of the rising sun” is not just a nickname for Japan, but actually a fair translation of the Japanese name for the country (Nippon) which literally means “sun’s origin”.
Due to Japan’s odd timezone, however, the sun rises before 6am for the majority of the year and as early as 4:30am in the summer. As you can imagine, I did not catch many sunrises during my first year in Japan. The flipside is that sunsets are never later than 7pm so are easy to take in everyday, even if it is just on my commute home, and are frequently spectacular.
On holiday, in the port city of Takamatsu down on Shikoku island, we were out for an evening stroll after checking-in to the hotel. In the half an hour it took us to walk out along the harbour wall and back, we were able to take in a stunning cacophony of colours as the sun set between the islands in the Inland Sea. It is one of the only times I have been able to watch the sun fall all the way to horizon and then dip beneath with no interruption. Hopefully some of these shots will do it justice.
Number 3: Volcanoes
Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, simultaneously making it one of the most seismically active countries while also having one of the highest concentrations of volcanoes. (Even venerable Mount Fuji is a volcano, albeit long quiet.) While all of our trips have included volcanoes in some shape or form, visiting Mount Aso in the southern Kyushu island is the one which stands out for me.
Mount Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan, with the central cone mountain group sitting within an enormous caldera 75 miles in circumference (see ridgeline in top left photo below). Needless to say, driving up and over the caldera wall as you head towards the centre of the volcano really impresses upon you the geography involved.
Today the only active crater sits on the central Mount Nakadake. The volcano last erupted in 2016 and reopened to tourists in February 2018, juts 4 months before we visited in July. We had planned to use the cable car instead of driving up but the website said it was “suspended for maintenance reasons”. This should probably have been a warning sign and proved to be a remarkable optimistic reading of the situation. As we ascended the winding road to the crater, it became apparent the cable car was in fact completely destroyed. The support towers stood severely damaged and bereft of cable, while the crater station was missing half a roof and partially submerged in ash. The rest of the crater area had been equally savaged, although now largely repaired, and the hour we spent exploring the area really made me appreciate a phenomenon I had previously only known from geography textbooks.
Number 4: Tootling (our pet name for taking a drive)
Luckily enough, Japan recognizes UK driving tests so I was able to swap my UK licence for a Japanese one relatively painlessly. While a car in central Tokyo is about as useful as in central London (i.e. not at all), we have covered a few thousand kilometres on our trips across the country. While the public transport in Japan deserves its reputation, the sights outside cities tend be so spread out that driving is the only practical way to go.
We would routinely hire the cheapest option available and this was usually a mean machine called a Toyota Pixis. I’ll put a photo below but for now imagine the classic Japanese narrow, tall cuboid on wheels and you won’t be far off. They always came equipped with an (English!) satnav, USB port for music, and an engine which would scream for its life whenever you approached 60mph or were ascending a mountain. While the speed was never really an issue Japan, as you may be aware, is pretty much entirely mountains so we became well acquainted with the engine’s dulcet tones. I thoroughly enjoyed all our cross-state drives, taking in the gorgeous scenery with resident DJ Qiraat by my side.
If I had to pick one drive in particular, I would probably plump for our exploration of north-eastern Hokkaido in August. This is about as far north in Japan as you can get and is entirely covered in snow for half the year. During the summer, however, we were able to hop from lake to lake and volcano to volcano with barely another car in sight, and felt a million miles away from the metropolis that we call home.
Number 5: Fireworks
Seasonal festivals are a big deal in Japan, and I am sure you could do something different every weekend if you tried hard enough. Summer nights means fireworks season and towns across the country try to out-do each other with displays worthy of the grandest UK celebrations.
Researching which ones to to visit, our attention was grabbed by the shows in Atami, an a coastal resort town on a peninsula to the south of Tokyo. It is a nestled on a steep hillside in a large natural bay, effectively creating a large, semi-circular wall. While impressive enough in the day, this geography takes on a particular significance for the fireworks.
We headed out on an August evening and took our places on the beach, looking out to sea where the fireworks would be launched from jettys. As the fireworks commenced, the natural acoustics of the curved bay behind us caused each explosion to echo multiple times as the sound reverberated around. Given the organisers appeared to have chosen fireworks based on the loudness of their bang, this led to an auditory assault for next half hour. Coupled with a particular impressive choreography, this was easily the best fireworks display I have ever attended. (Even if I was a bit shellshocked most of the journey home…)
Qiraat’s top 5
I found it quite difficult to single out five moments but I have chosen some travel highlights and some from my everyday life in Tokyo.
Number 1: Naoshima art island for two days
Naoshima is an island in Japan that is renowned for art. For me, art is like cheese. I don’t know much about cheese and I won’t be the cheese snob naming all the different types of cheese on a cheeseboard but I bloody love eating cheese. The same goes for art - I love it and enjoy it but thankfully don’t know enough to lecture you about it over dinner. So please do invite me over for dinner and provide cheese in some form - I will bore you to death with stories from Japan but I promise not to talk about cheese or art.
So hopefully from that strange cheese analogy you’ll understand why Naoshima had been on my to-visit list for a few years and why I was so giddy when we were fortunate enough to spend two days there in May. I immensely enjoyed seeing the variety of incredible art and what I would describe as art experiences - there is far more to Naoshima than admiring a painting hanging on a wall in a gallery. To me, the display of art on Naoshima seemed unconventional and incredibly clever. The galleries had ingenious architecture which illuminated the art in natural light changing its appearance through the day, buildings blended in seamlessly with the typography of the island, museums offered panoramic views of the island, and who knew being in subterranean spaces could be so beautiful. There were pieces of art and sculptures dotted outside encouraging you to explore all over island, which also just happened to be very picturesque.
In terms of specific spots, highlights included the Chichu Art Museum, Benesse Art Museum and the Art House Project. I am hoping to go back this year if I can manage it.
This is an aerial view of the Chichu Art Museum and this photo is from the museum’s website.
Number 2: 3 markets within 6 days
For a large part of the year I made a strategic decision to avoid Tokyo’s several flea and antiques markets. This was not because I dislike them but because I am severely partial to knick knacks and I could not start accumulating so early on in our time in Japan. I finally caved and went to my first market in August - six months after we arrived - so this was quite a feat and since then I’ve treated myself to an occasional visit.
But my market moment of the year was three market trips within six days at the start of January 2019. I had just got back from a month back in the UK and an alarm must have gone off in my head that I only had a year left in Japan and that I must start purchasing Japanese knick knacks to take home. I found some absolute gems and real bargains, and even the Japanese friends I was with were impressed with the things I was finding so I did feel a little smug. Each day, I only left the market when my little arms could carry no more. Perhaps next time I’ll take a suitcase with me. Anyway, here’s my haul from one of the three trips.
Here’s what I bought on one of the three market days.
Number 3: Kurobe Gorge Railway journey
If you wanted any proof that I had married Wil, then me picking a train based experience as one of my highlights of the year should be it.
Kurobe Gorge was a place I had read about, thought it looked fantastic, and put in the category of “some time next year” but we ended up there a bit unexpectedly in November 2018. We had booked a trip to a tropical island in southern Japan for a few days on the beach but there was a typhoon looming and we had to change our plans due to the trouble in paradise. We ended up at Kurobe Gorge (some 1,150 miles away from our original destination) instead. The main attraction is the Kurobe Gorge Railway, a sightseeing train through the valley known for postcard-worthy landscapes.
The scenery at the gorge is worth a visit at all times of the year but one of the most popular times of the year is autumn (when we were there) due to the autumn foliage. The gorge takes a bit of time to get to from Tokyo (but after a bullet train and a local train) we (and a bunch of pensioners) finally boarded the adorable little orange train that was the Kurobe Gorge Railway.
The journey was spectacular - phenomenally vibrant colours and sensational views galore. But because we are not living in utter fantasy, the journey was at times pretty cold and pretty loud. But then again we were in an outdoor carriage in mid-November hurtling through tunnels in the mountains at pretty high altitude. In total we were on the train for about 2 hours 45 mins (for the two way journey) and here are some of the photos we took whilst on the train which will hopefully explain why even I was willing to overlook the cold and noise.
We also spent a few hours exploring the areas at each end of the train journey so here are a few bonus photos we took whilst there.
Number 4: Tea and treats at the Toraya teashop
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in October, Wil and I were strolling through some areas of Tokyo we didn’t know too well. Our walk had got off to a strong start: the trees were starting to turn autumnal, we chanced upon a stellar shop showcasing handicrafts from across Japan (the prices indicated we should treat it like a museum and hold our bags close to our bodies), and then we took advantage of a photo opportunity in a building with intriguing interior. As we continued our stroll, we spotted a striking building further down the street and I started to walk a little faster to get a closer look, and there’s not much that will get me to hustle.
After taking several photos from across the street, we walked up and were pretty pleased to discover that this intriguing building was a traditional Japanese confectionery and tea shop - it would have been very disappointing to discover that it was a corporate office. I always stop in my tracks when I chance upon a teashop, as should any sane person. After a brief deliberation, we headed in and saw that it was full of well-heeled Japanese locals. Feeling a little like frauds, but not fraudulent enough to stop us, we aksed for a table. We luckily managed to get a table on the terrace with views along the edge of an Imperial park and it was just about warm enough to sit outside. We both got some traditional Japanese tea with some treats - I opted for an anmitsu which is a Japanese dessert made of jelly, sweet beans, fruit, mochi and there’s some red bean paste in there too. The dessert made up for the fact that I don’t actually like matcha that much! The time we spent sitting, sipping and slurping on the terrace was idyllic and serene but I am pretty sure I dropped my tiny dessert spoon at some point and Wil had no idea what was going on with the various tea bowls and pots that were on his tray - but, hey, we’ve all got to own our uncouthness.
Through some Googling we discovered that the teashop had recently been refurbished and had just reopened a fortnight ago so after we had finished our tea we wandered around to admire the new interior which was made of Japanese cypress wood. Beside the cafe there was also a window into the kitchen so we spent a while gawping at the chefs making the delicate Japanese sweets that are traditionally served with tea. Our next stop was the shop for a mandatory mooch. But what sealed the deal for me was the gallery downstairs exhibiting the designs of traditional Japanese confectionery. I think most people would have been done with a quick lap of the room but I was in there for ages as I love miniature art and this was essentially a gallery devoted to miniature art. Here are just some of the several photos I took in the gallery.
I think one of the reasons I enjoyed the visit to Toraya teashop was because it was unplanned and unexpected. Plus, there was a cafe, shop and gallery all in one small building - the holy trinity of a grand day out.
Number 5: Unchartered territory: Tomigaya
Exploring areas of Tokyo is a big part of my life here and the few hours I spent in Tomigaya were probably my favourite. I had done my research and marked lots of spots to visit in Tomigaya on Google Maps. When I arrived I headed straight to a cafe for lunch and got a pretentious, overpriced, but totally delicious and Instagram-worthy sandwich which I ate in a nearby park. I was thern fuelled and ready for an afternoon of exploring. Key spots included a chocolate shop with plenty of free samples, the Monocle shop, two cheese shops including one which was selling mozzarella burgers (the “bun” was mozzarella with tomato and basil inside!) and some bookshops including one from which I purchased zany magazine covers, an assortment of old matchboxes with cool designs (I a bit obsessed with them and love miniature art!) and some postcards from previous Olympic Games (I also love Olympics memorabilia for some reason). But I saved the best spot til last: a Portuguese egg custard tart shop. I even bought one to take home for Wil instead of the usual Guilt Baguette (if you are wondering what a Guilt Baguette is, you can find out in one of my previous posts here). A few hours exploring a new neighbourhood may not sound that exciting but for me it was just what I had pictured life in Tokyo would be like (with the bonus of a mozzarella burger) so this afternoon has snuck into my top five moments.
Setting the scene for as I wrote this blog:
Location: Wil wrote his at home whilst I went out for dinner with some friends - what a hero. I wrote mine in two local cafes in Shimokitazawa called RBL and Viet Acro, on a train and at home.
Weather: 12°C, and it feels like spring is on the way.
Soundtrack: The two songs I have been listening to on repeat are Gucci Rock N Rolla (feat. Rivers Cuomo & KYLE) by Snakehips and Just like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Bonus fact: In the interests of transparency, Wil has asked me to disclose that the autumnal display in the Kurobe Gorge probably would have probably made his top five too if I hadn’t grabbed it first!
