Weekend in Hakone

Hakone is affectionately known as "Tokyo's Playground".  It is about an hour outside the big city, and Tokyoites flock here to relax in the onsen (hot springs) and enjoy breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji.

This is one of the busiest travel periods of the year, and Tarynn and I waited a little too long (like the night before) to book our train to Hakone, so the only seats left were in the Green Car (first class). 

Here we are riding in style!

KG has arrived in Hakone and is ready to see the sights!

River in Hakone

Exhibit #...  well, I've lost count, but Japan still needs swimming pools so people aren't forced to cool off in rivers and streams.

We have arrived at Lake Ashi for a sightseeing cruise, but this port is closed because of low-lying clouds and rough water.

The water is a little high, too!

Ancient Cedar Avenue, which was planted in 1618, along the Tokaido highway in order to provide comfort for the foot travelers from the hot sun of summer and the snow of winter.

KG certainly enjoys the shade on this hot summer day :)

Path less traveled... Tarynn and Kerri found a small portion of the Avenue without cars passing constantly.

Hakone Sekisho

Checkpoint for all travelers in Japan back in the Tokugawa era (since 1618).  The Tokaido highway was the main passage and it was nearly impossible for someone to get from Tokyo to Kyoto with passing through this area.  It was known as the biggest and most important checkpoint in Japan.

The main purpose was to control weapons entering Edo area and women attempting to leave Edo!!  LOL.  Hakone Sekisho was notorious for its strictness and primary responsibility of keeping women from escaping!  Can you imagine?!

Special Arms Room:

Filled with guns and bows with the main purpose of intimidating travelers!

Arresting Implements:

Tools used to catch criminals!

Hakone area is also known for its special "black eggs".  They are regular chicken eggs, but cooked in one of the numerous volcano geysers (which also produce the hot springs) in order to turn them black.

You can bet I wasn't eating one of those black eggs, but I did buy a souvenirs plastic black egg from a kid's toy machine!

We moved on to the next port of Lake Ashi, but by the time we got there that tour was also cancelled due to the low clouds and poor visibility. 

I was upset because I wanted to ride this sweet boat!

See the rolling clouds... this pic was taken right after I walked off the dock. 

The visibility was unbelievably poor.

Since the boats were shut down, everyone had to leave by bus!!

After a couple of buses and trains, we finally made it to our hotel.  Since we were a little late planning this trip, we booked the only hotel room (2 days before we left) that we could find available.  As it turned out it was a "Single" with a twin bed...

That's all part of the adventure, right?!  Since the town (including restaurants, bars, and gift shops) closed at 7pm, I read a novel and then went bathing in the hotel onsen before trying to get snug and cozy in our tiny bed ;)

Hopefully tomorrow brings clear skies and calm weather!

Exploring the countryside of Shizuoka

On Saturday I took a road trip with Ema from work and 3 of her friends.  I really had no idea where we were going except I would get to see the "countryside". 

I found out it means: super boring terrain for hours at a time (also known as "Ohio" to Americans).  But for the last 50 kilometers of the trip, we drove through the twisty, turny mountains.  (It reminded me immediately of a "shortcut" we took years ago through the Alleghany Mountains when I was on vacation with the Schweigers...)  This time Ema's friend navigating our drive kept blaming the "foolish GPS" in his Toyota for taking us on this nauseating ride. 

We have finally stopped, and we get out to explore a suspension bridge. 

I don't know too much about the bridge, but we are in a historical train town and the view of the river was pretty.

Train lines run through the mountains.

Kerri, Kishi, Kazui, and Ema ready to head back to the other side.

Some of the mountains we had to drive through to get here!

Train depot down below, and that's our next stop.

This is the Oigawa steam engine from 1927.  It is a huge tourist draw and is often used for shooting films set in the pre-war period.  The train rides were all booked up, so we did not get to see it up close and personal.

I know this must be a disappointing blog for the Scholl's... first I dog on their home state and then I skip the whole old train adventure :(

What's next to experience in the countryside of Shizuoka prefecture? 

Onsen, of course.  Who doesn't love naked public bathing in hot springs on a 90+ degree day?! 

Here is Mori no Izumi (which means Spring in the Forest).

Surprisingly enough, I actually really enjoyed the onsen experience this time!  It wasn't scalding hot like last time, just very relaxing.  Maybe this is one Japanese tradition I can truly get into!  This onsen was much larger than the one in Gero, with an option of several different baths. 

I snuck a picture even though it's against the rules!  The round bath in the center is a deep tub (~53 inches) with jets so you could stand in it and walk around.  The bath on the left is for sitting and is still (no jets or bubbles) hot springs.  There is one on the right (you can't see) that you lay on a bed of bamboo sticks and it bubbles all round you.  It was awesome (closest thing to a hot tub I've seen), but not good if you're shy because not all of your naked body is under water!!  Also on the right is an area with 3 mirrors and showers, where you sit on a stool and wash before getting in the water.  Lastly, they even had a cold bath (as known as the temperature of any lake in Michigan).  I took a soak in there, too, in order to cool off at the end!

Perhaps the coolest feature... an outdoor bath where the natural scenery includes Mt. Nanatsumine and the Shirasawa River.  It feels kind of naughty to be naked walking around outside, and you can hear the men in the bath next door just beyond the bamboo wall. 

I was really digging the view of nature until I realized it was a little too close for me.  I saw a leaf floating around the bath, and when I tried to pick it out, it turned out to be a GIANT beetle!!  That totally freaked me out, and I started seeing bugs everywhere.  Spiders on the rocks, ants climbing on my arms, bumble bees buzzing around the bamboo wall, etc.  So it was time for me to go back inside away from creepy crawlies. 

When I was outside flipping out about bugs, I could hear children playing in the indoor bath.  I wasn't too surprised about this because last time I went to the onsen it was with my friend and her 2 daughters, but imagine my surprise when I discovered the children were actually little boys, ages about 3 and 5!  No big deal, I suppose.  If you're married to a hard-working man in Japan, you have to take your kids with you everywhere, even to relax in an onsen.

After we were all wrinkled from the tubs of hot water, we ate lunch at the onsen lobby. 

Here's is the vending machine you order food from.  You select your desired menu item (all in Japanese), feed it the appropriate money, and take your meal ticket to the nice ladies at the counter, who make your food. 

My fellow ex-pat friends think these are the best machines ever because they can get a meal without ever having to speak Japanese, but it's too much work for me.  There are no pictures or words!!  Reading Japanese characters is much more difficult for me. 

I'd probably get impatient, just press a random button, and end up with cold noodles floating in raw egg.  Yuck!!  I would rather point to a picture menu and say "please".

Oh yeah, guess who I saw in the onsen lobby having lunch as well?

The 2 little boys with their mom and their DAD... what the heck?!  So now I'm thinking either:

1) the boys got to choose which onsen to go in, and they like their mom better, or

2) the dad is a deadbeat and refuses to watch his children for 30 minutes in the tub.

After lunch we took a drive to Foret Nakakawana Chameikan for some tea tasting. 

 These bushes display the kanji character cha, which means "tea".

View of the mountains and tea fields.

Never in my life have I seen 3 men so excited about a "tea time" that didn't include clubs, balls, birdies, and bogeys.  It was rather bizarre.

Ema and Kerri ready for tea time.

I've been to what seems like a bazillion tea ceremonies in Japan now, but this one was actually different.  We were learning how to make our own tea from tea leaves.

I had no idea that the flavor of tea can vary greatly just by the temperature of water used, the amount of water used, amount of time you let it steep, or based on how "open" the tea leaves were.  It was kind of cool to taste all of the versions in rapid succession (all with the same tea leaves in your pot)!

Here's all of my tools:

Ema pours her concoction of tea.

Is Kerri on her way to becoming a Tea Master?!

Ema and Kerri enjoy the tea garden with their borrowed geisha umbrellas and wooden sandals.

This random pile of rocks and things could quite possibly be the coolest discovery in Japan:

It's a water harp!!

There is a small fountain of water at the top (near the metal scooper), and you put one end of the bamboo shoot to the tiny round screens in the rock bed.  Then, you put your ear to the other end of the bamboo shoot and listen...

The flowing and dripping water truly does make noise like a harp!!  It was awesome.  I was totally skeptical, and thought it was going to be lame.  Here we are listening to the first one.

There were many more around the garden, and it was great to go around and listen to each one! 

KG in the Japanese garden.

After a long drive back to Aichi prefecture, we ended the day with dinner at Ema's parents house.  They lived in Lexington, Kentucky for 6 years back in the 1990's, so they were eager to talk to the girl from Kentucky.  It was a nice meal, and it was nice to be invited to a Japanese home, rather than a tiny apartment in the city. 

I enjoyed my day, but I can't help but get frustrated about all of the driving.  It blows my mind that people in Japan are willing to spend so much time in a car for a short trip to the countryside.

That place was 190 kilometers away (114 miles), and it took an unbelievable 3.5 hours each way!  This is due to traffic congestion and a top speed of 80 kph (50mph).  I suppose it comes down to cost.  The drive was $10 in tolls (weekend special) plus fuel, whereas a train would have been 1.5 hours and $66 each person each way.

Hiroshima

It's another long weekend in Japan, so it's time for Kerri to hop on the shinkansen (bullet train) and take a sightseeing trip with her friend Tarynn!!

We have arrived in the town of Hiroshima, famous because it was the target of the world's first atomic bomb during WWII on August 6, 1945.

Hiroshima is known as the "City of Water" in Japan because it has 6 rivers flowing through it.  Therefore, it does not have a subway system, like many other Japanese cities.  Instead, they have an above-ground electric tram system.

The tram cars are HUGE, often the length of 4 buses put together!

The tram tracks run through the middle of the streets.

KG gets to drive the tram!!

At one point, the tram was filled with old men.  They all got off at the same stop.  Guess where?! 

A kyotei stadium, which is a gambling venue for boat racing!!  LOL.  (It has a grandstand just like at a horse track, but the field is a giant pond!)

First stop is the A-Bomb Dome.  This is the only structure that remains in its original condition from the atomic bomb.

It gives a pretty good idea of the magnitude of destruction.

For many years, this building was quite controversial because it's a constant reminder to residents of Hiroshima of the horrible devastation caused by the bomb. All other buildings were rebuilt, yet this one still has rubble lying around.

This is the Children's Peace Monument.  This was inspired by a girl named Sadako, who was 2 when the bomb struck.  When she was 12, Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia due to years of radiation exposure. 

Based on Japanese lore, she thought if she could fold 1,000 origami cranes, she would be granted good health.  Unfortunately, she died before she finished her 1,000th crane.

Now the monument is lined with cases of origami cranes sent every year from schools and other children of Japan.

A chain of origami cranes.  Apparently there is a good English children's book by Eleanor Coerr called "Sadako and One Thousand Paper Cranes" about this story that is worth checking out.

Memorial Monument in Peace Memorial Park. 

View of the Peace Memorial Park. 

The Memorial Monument, the Eternal Flame (which will be extinguish once the last atomic bomb on earth has been destroyed), and the A-Bomb Dome are all in a straight line. 

I must admit the memorial park really reminded me of Washington, D.C. with the reflection pond and green space.

Now onto the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. 

(Have you noticed a trend?  Hiroshima is now known as the "City of Peace".)

Here is an aerial replica of Hiroshima in 1945 before the bomb.  You can see the domed building with the green roof near the center.  Records show that the target of the bomb was actually the T-shaped bridge on the right.

The city of Hiroshima immediately after the world's first atomic bomb.  Notice the domed building in ruins (but one of the few buildings still standing), and the red mark at the bottom left where the atomic bomb would have hit had it not exploded in air.  It never made it to ground level.  It didn't completely destroy the T-shaped bridge, but it did destroy other bridges, including the one that used to be on the top left.

The first floor of the museum was very factual and interesting.  It described the history of the city of Hiroshima, World War II, The Manhattan Project, and why U.S. was building the atomic bomb. 

It even explained that Hiroshima was chosen as the first targeted city because the Japan army had a military base in Hiroshima, but they did not have a P.O.W. camp with U.S. soldiers in custody. 

The second floor of the museum had a distinctly different atmosphere.  It was mostly personal stories of the victims of the a-bomb, and it's subsequent black rain & radiation.  Many were gruesome and disturbing!  (Like recreated figures of people with grotesque full-body burns or with their skin hanging off in strings.)  I'll hit the highlights for you...

Here's a watch stopped at 8:15AM, which is when the bomb hit.  There are many broken watches and clocks all over the museum.  It's hard to forget the bomb dropped on August 6, 1954 at 8:15AM because they most repeat it over 100 times in the museum.

Here's the remains of one little boy's tricycle and helmet who was outside playing when the bomb hit.  Like so many others, the remains of the 3-year-old were never found.

There were many tales of the terrible affects of the a-bomb radiation, but for some reason this one really sticks with me.  A man had his middle and ring fingertips blow off in the bombing, but he lived.  From then on, those 2 fingers grew long black brittle curving nails, and whenever one would break or be cut it would bleed profusely. 

It's worth noting that the Japanese weren't the only people affected from the atomic bomb or it's radiation.  There were many Chinese and Korean people also living in Japan forced to help with the war.  One report says that 1 in every 7 victims was Korean.  But for decades, the Chinese and Koreans had a hard time being recognized as victims and receiving a-bomb treatment.

Interestingly enough, the term "Ground Zero" was coined in Hiroshima for the area directly under the a-bomb explosion.  Since then, the word has been used to describe the exact point of many disasters, including 9/11 and the World Trade Center collapse.

Lastly, there are a few truly unlucky people who lived through the bombing of Hiroshima, and then somehow were also in Nagasaki when the world's second a-bomb was dropped 3 days later!  The Japanese government only "officially" recognizes one man like this based on his proximity to the both bomb sites, and he passed away in January 2010.  However, in 2006 there was a documentary film called "Twice Survived: The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima and Nagasaki", and the producers found 165 people who were victims of both bombings.

After that tragic tale, who's hungry?!

Hiroshima area is known for okonomiyaki, and Tarynn made us hunt down this "Okonomiyaki Village" with 30 restaurants in it exclusively serving this food.  It took at least an hour to find, and that included asking locals for directions 3 times!!  I was very hungry, and you can imagine how cranky I was on our hunt for the special food.

Okonomiyaki is some times referred to as a Japanese pancake.  Some versions are all mixed together, but in the Hiroshima area they like to layer the ingredients.  So on the bottom is a crepe then cabbage, sprouts, green spring onions, corn, pork, and it's topped with a fried egg, thick soy sauce, and special seasoning.

(P.S. I love the hairstyle of this woman cooking our food.  LOL.  Maybe I should ask where she gets her hair done?!)

The finished product!  It looks kind of gross in this pic, but it was actually quite tasty... although I was starving so that may have been a factor as well.  I will say that I have had the kind of okonomiyaki where it is all mixed together, and that looks really gross!  The layering is a much better idea.

By this time it's 5PM in Hiroshima, and everything in town is closing down!!  What do you think 2 lovely single ladies decided to do with their free evening? 

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out...