Rail Pass Through Japan
– Japan trip of Sharon and Bob May 2004
Dear Family and Friends,
This was our third trip to Japan. Sharon got Rail Passes, and arraigned for us to visit famous
potters up in the mountains and to relax in the tiny village of Takayama. With the rail pass, we were
free to run into Kyoto many times and to see so much of the gorgeous
countryside. It was particularly good to
see Kevin and our friends from Terai who are beginning to feel like extended
family. We saw many kilns of several
potter’s and two cultural centers and were so honored by two famous potters who
invited us to their homes. The food, as
always, is the best there is, with us eating like pigs but losing weight from
the miles and miles we walked!
Friday, May 13 & Saturday, May 14: Arrived at Narita Airport and hopped on the train to Tokyo. We reached
that amazing city at rush hour. It was a
river of people, and once we found the signs to the Shinkansen (bullet train),
we were like two leaves floating downstream right to our platform! The ride to Maibara, where Kevin met us, was
smooth and relaxing. We rode together
from there to the train station at Obi Nagaoka next to his village of Santouchou. Kevin’s apartment has three
rooms of 8 tatami mat size and a nice kitchen.
The view is over rice paddies with hundreds of singing frogs that lull
you to sleep each night. Total travel
time was 24 hours door to door. We
enjoyed a meal cooked on a little Japanese portable stove (Konron)… then we
slept like in a coma.
Saturday, May 15: Woke at 5 AM,
and caught the train to Kyoto by
9. We met up with Eli (a long-time
friend of Kevin’s from college) and climbed up Monkey mountain. This is a very steep climb straight up,
overlooking Kyoto and home to a tribe of hundreds of large, very social
monkey. In the photograph below, we
walked from that river you see down there all the way to the top. We trained back to Omi-nagaoka tired and
happy. Since last year we rode our bikes
from Terai to Kamatzu and back (15 miles each way) on our first day, and this
year we walked up a mountain, Kevin thinks next year we should swim to Korea on our first day to round out the triathlon! We enjoyed dinner at a little Izakaya near
Kevin’s home in Santouchou where we met Kiyoshi Ohashi, Kevin’s landlord. He offered to show us some of the sights of
Santouchou the next day.
Overview of Kyoto From Monkey Mountain
Sunday, May 16: Kiyoshi took us to his lovely home and we met his wife,
Shegami. We enjoyed tea and cakes, and
he demonstrated the ancient art of calligraphy.
He then took us to see the Lake Bewa Castle and to see a Buddhist shrine on an island in the
lake. It was a warm, rainy day of
ancient sights and delightful company.
Returning to Kevin’s home, we all drove to Nagahama to visit the 100 yen
(about 90 cents) store. Amazing what
they sell there for 100 yen, including a wonderful carry-all bag and calculator
which we used many times! We enjoyed
dinner at a Kenazawa (“round & round”) Sushi restaurant where the little
plates of every imaginable sort of sushi moves on a conveyer belt around the
counters - and you just pick up that which you want. The plates stack up and are color coded for
price. The three of us cleared 27
plates.
Monday, May 17: We (Sharon and Bob) trained to Terai
. Our dear friends Shokawa and Miho met us at
the train station… it was so good to see them again. They drove us to Terai which felt like going
home. They drove to a Soba/Oden noodle
shop up in the mountains. This shop was
an old farm house with an owner who’s main profession is a pottery glaze
maker. The room was an ancient horse
stable into which he had built a wooden floor.
In the floor was a large open pit filled with sand with a constantly
burning wood fire, which we sat around.
His noodles were wonderful - then he returned with four sweet-water
trout he had just caught in the stream behind the house. They were rolled in salt and roasted over the
open coals until crispy and absolutely delicious.
Next to the little farm house
was a 1500 year old tree next to a Buddhist shrine. This tree was just sprouting when Rome fell! The
tree’s branches were held up with many large poles. We then visited the pottery store which we
had been to last year and found many unique pottery tools and were given some
important details regarding the firing of Japanese over-glazes. We also enjoyed
tea and conversation with the proprietor and his family. Visiting Takow at his donut shop was a treat. His smile is wonderful and was good to see him
again. That evening, we took Miho and Shokawa to the Izakaya restaurant in
Terai we have eaten at each year. They
have endless delicious choices and their family is fun to watch as they all
pitch in to run the family business.
Tuesday, May 18: Dear
Shoda came to get us. It was so good to
see her. She was Kevin’s landlord for
three years and watched over him so dearly.
She took us to Plant three (the BEST Japanese discount store you can
imagine), Paper store (brushes, paper, ink sticks, etc.). We then visited with the Butsudan maker
(Toshi and Yoko). These are magnificent
Buddhist shrines intended for the home made of fine carved wood which is
liquored and then gold-leafed. The
layers of liquor and gold are often repeated with chips of shell, pearl and
powdered gold added for beautiful effects.
It takes six months to make one.
For lunch, we enjoyed
okonomi-yaki with Shoda at the shop she and Miho introduced us to last
year. Miho joined us to visit Kevin’s
pottery Kowabata sen-sa. Last year Sharon threw some pots and he bisque fired them. Now they were ready for glazing, so Bob
painted on them Chinese style and Sharon glazed them.
Now they will be fired and we will see them in 2005. We also glazed Kevin’s fine Sake set from
last year. Miho suggested we watch the
sun set over the Sea of Japan which we enjoyed very much. So beautiful… we watched until it totally disappeared on its
way over Europe and then to America…
Wednesday, May 19: We had a wonderful lunch and visit at
Sachiko’s home with Sachiko, Shoda, Miho and met their
friend, Kiako. We enjoyed many fine
dishes and Sachi baked a delicious chocolate cake. Sachi gave us the firing profile for Kutani
paintings after we showed her pictures of our failed attempts. She gave us a wonderful gift of a painting
and we gave her a platter from our studio.
Then Miho took us to visit the Kutani community pottery school to see
their renboshiki
noborigama (many-chambered), side stoked
wood kiln. This is the type of wood kiln
favored by European and North Carolina production potters as it holds very many pots and produces warm,
predictable effects. We visited their
studios too then the many shops in Kutani village. So many pottery ideas… We returned to Miho and Shokawa’s for a party
and stayed there after some fine beer, wine and sake. It was a wonderful evening and so good to see
Yasko, her husband and Akeko again.
Thursday, May 20: Miho presented us with her cute cloud
teapot and beautiful placemats made from antique kimono cloth. We made time for one more shopping trip for
aprons and a great new paper store with ink sticks, brushes and backing paper
for paintings. Sushi
for lunch and a tender good-by with dear Shoda. Miho took us to the train station where we
enjoyed a snack and many hugs. Kevin is
truly loved in Terai - and so are we.
The feeling is mutual and our friends there are for life. We trained back without getting lost although
that time of day required a transfer in a town we were unfamiliar with. We are intrepid Hobbits! Dinner was mixed vegetables and thin sliced
Kobe beef cooked in a large pot filled with water in the middle of the table
(called Naba Yaki style) with Kevin and Carrie (Kevin’s neighbor) over his
little table-top stove. Delicious and
fun! We talked and laughed well into the
night.
Friday, May
21: The
next morning we (again) rose early and trained to Kyoto for the antique and flea market! Fantastic clothing, furniture, ink sticks,
artworks and foods galore. We looked
much more than bought, as it was almost overwhelming. Sharon found some wonderful clothes. There must have been thousands of antique ink
sticks and hundreds of paintings that were centuries old… if one knew what they
were looking for, some real treasures were there. Then we went to downtown Kyoto to a glasses store where Sharon got three pair of very stylish glasses for less than
one pair would have cost in the US. We slowly
wandered the pedestrian streets in Kyoto, popping into dozens of fascinating shops. Must have walked nearly ten
miles that day. We found the
Izakaya next to the river from last year and enjoyed a wonderful traditional
meal there.
Saturday, May 22: Kevin joined us as we trained up to
Shigaraki and was met at the train station by the famous potter Kanzaki Sense
(http://www.the-anagama.com/En/index.html).
Shigaraki is the heart of Japanese pottery - where it all began,
actually. The oldest pottery in the
world has been found here - outdating the next oldest in Mesopotamia by 1500 years! The clay here is
very special and usable with only grinding and without further additions of
chemicals. Kanzaki took us to his
home/studio/shrine. He fires for ten
days in one of several Anagama wood kilns on his
property, using his own clay from 
his own land.
We talked for hours and were given a tour of his land, home and
kilns. We gave him one of our wood fired
vases with carvings in it and some pottery tools we made, and he gave is a
signed book of his work. To the right,
our pot is the vase with a dragonfly (with our pottery tools next to it) while
the other two are among his hundreds in his home. We were so honored. We stayed at the traditional Ryokan (traditional
Japanese inn).
Sunday, May
23: We wandered town after a
wonderful traditional breakfast of a dozen tiny portions. We met another famous potter at his shop and
struck up a conversation with hi
m. He
served us tea and then he took us to his home and showed us his several kilns
and museum which included pots over 4000 years old! Next, we visited the cultural ceramics center
where we met interesting and generous potters who gave us a private tour of the
facility including classrooms, their many gas kilns and control room. We also saw their wood kilns - both Anagama
and Noborigama. By this time we came to
understand that a key aspect of Anagama wood kilns (the type we fire at the
Hambidge center in North
Georgia) is to keep the fire on
the pots rather than rushing past and up the chimney. To that end, there is a partial blocking wall
near the back of the kiln, an air bleed hole (usually in the shape of a
raccoon’s head) after that to kill the draft, and a long, nearly horizontal run
of the chimney before it rises upward into an open grillwork masonry chimney
design. Some kilns needed a gas burner
in the chimney just to maintain any draft at all. Surrounding and among the pots for ten days,
depositing ash flux to the surface and growing the gorgeous glazes in situ on
the surface (as at right). This trip was
very informative. We trained home and
enjoyed “Round & round” sushi in Nagahama once more. We must have polished off 30 plates this time
since we were very hungry.
Monday, 24: Monday morning saw Kevin back to work and
we trained to Takayama on Hida View-train.
It took several transfers to get to this tiny, picturesque village that
time has nearly forgotten. Sharon heard about it from a friend on the travel board who
was coming up the day we were leaving.
Thanks, Steve, for the wonderful suggestion. As we got off our train in Takayama, Bob recognized a
woman (the only other non-Japanese we saw).
He walked up to her and started talking with her - and soon realized she
is the mother of one of Erin’s dearest Middle-School friends in Madison! Fred and Cheryl
were there for a conference and taking some time to wander the
countryside. We rekindled the old
friendship and they joined us at the traditional Kuwataniya Minshuku. We enjoyed visiting with them very much. We spent the day wandering the old village,
in and out of dozens of amazing little shops featuring fine wood carvings,
paper and clothing. Tiny Yak Tory stands
kept hunger at bay as we once again walked off more calories than we consumed.
Tuesday, May 25:
After breakfast and goodbyes with Sheryl
and Fred, we rode our bikes all around Takayama, visiting museums and more
little shops. A morning street market
was full of aromas and noisy venders selling their wares (mostly foods). After a day of exploring the town, we
searched for dinner walking the narrowest streets and inhaling the savory
aromas. We found a tiny, noisy, smoky
and wonderful Izakaya named Kanai Tatuyoshi, 0577 36-0045 right in the heart of
the old village. There was one worker
who spoke some English, but only a little, so mostly we pointed to things going
past and asked for one ourselves. Once
we almost ordered a spectacularly expensive fish - after that we asked “Yen?”
first! Dinner at one of these
restaurant-bars takes hours, and is an experience in itself like performance
art as the expert cooks prepare every imaginable food right in front of
you. We like to sit at the bar for this
reason, since at a table, you miss half the show!
Wednesday,
May 26 : The next
morning, we rode the bus to “Hida Village” where we saw traditional chimneyless
thatched roofs, wool dying, lumber sawing, beautiful countryside as we hiked
around in that beautiful folk village.
We had no idea that the reason that the chimney took so long for
humanity to invent was because until tile roofs appeared, the smoke simply
passes through the thatching and helps preserves it. In the picture at the right, the house was
called the “Michikamas’ House” which is close enough to the “Michiganions House”!
Returning to Takayama, we enjoyed lunch at an
Okonomi-yaki where we surprised the owner by cooking our own. He had never seen a Westerner who knew
how. We explained that we learned how in
Terai, and make them at home in the US. Walking back
to our Minshuku,
we saw a country hearse that was literally a rolling Butsudan shrine! We spent that afternoon just reading and
resting, and taking short walks. All our
activity finally had caught up with us!
By dinner, we felt like exploring again, so sought another restaurant
with our noses. We found the spectacular
Sukana (www.gix.or.jp/~sakana 0577-36-1288) which had just opened. They had spent six months in New Zealand, so spoke some English. Being a new restaurant with no clientele yet,
they tried out recipes on us. We learned
an important principal: don’t ask what
it is until AFTER you have tasted it.
Who would guess that roasted pickled eel livers would be so delicious or
sake marinated octopus Sashimi could be delightful. We enjoyed a feast of their favorite
recipes. We highly recommend this
Izakaya to any traveler finding themselves in Takayama. After dinner, we walked the dark, deserted
streets along the babbling river and listened to the night noises of singing,
laughter and talking coming from the many small restaurants and tea
houses.
Thursday, May 27: Rising early (as usual), we wandered the
lovely streets of Takayama once more, visiting shops
and watching the clear water roll by.
Rivers (and even “drainage ditches”) in Japan are amazingly clear with abundant seaweed, fish and
birdlife. There is no litter - not so
much as a cigarette butt - in the streets nor countryside. The Japanese take such pride in their living
space. Mid day, we trained back through Gifu, Maibara then to Obi-Nagahama where Kevin picked us
up and took us to his village of Santouchou. We found that
due to the time of day, we had to transfer at Gifu, and we managed just fine without any Japanese! We are good Hobbits!
That evening, we all drove to Nagahama and enjoyed a
great meal at a tiny Izakaya where the three cooks were like watching a dinner
theatre as they prepared a multitude of fabulous foods for the diners. The picture at left was without flash,
showing the movement as they performed.. The evening was lovely, so the three of us went
for a long, peaceful walk down tiny deserted streets of Nagahama. A crimeless society sure is a relaxing place
to be!
Friday, May 28: The
next day, Bob drove back to the famous glass-blowing town of Nagahama where we visited the Glass Center. En route to
town, Bob took a wonderful side-trip (he got lost!) through endless rice
paddies and almost impassably narrow village streets. Following the sun and reckoning, we eventually
found our way to the train station where we parked and explored on foot. We were only a block from our
destination! Although we were lost, we
were just on another adventure.
We wandered the long pedestrian streets of Nagahama
and visited many fine art and glass shops.
We drove back to Kevin’s (not getting lost this time). That afternoon, we all trained to Kyoto one more time.
Kevin told us we have not really experienced Japan unless we do Karaoke and have our picture taken in a
little photo-booth. So after visiting an
antique instrument shop in the heart of Kyoto, we sang until we were hoarse! Kevin showed us a fantastic Japanese-Italian
restaurant a few blocks off the main drag of Kyoto (at right).
The meal was indescribably delicious.
We got home very late, totally exhausted and completely happy. We called Erin
to wish her a “Happy Birthday”! She was
surprised to hear us all the way from Japan.
Saturday, May 29: We mailed off two huge boxes so we would
have no checked luggage on the return trip.
Drove back to Nagahama with Kevin to show him some of the sights we saw
the day before. Since we were in a
famous glass-blowing town, we did buy two small vodka glasses that look like
they are gracefully swimming on the table top.
We trained to the Hakone Castle (oldest surviving castle in Japan) where we climbed hundreds of steps to the very
top. Wandering through that picturesque
town, we saw
Japanese Cranes migrating with a flock of Blue Herons! It is very rare to actually see these
cranes.
We trained back and enjoyed
“Round n Round” Sushi once again. We
only stacked up 21 plates this time.
Sunday, May 30: Woke
early and visited the serene park in Kevin’s village of Santouchou. A large pond there is full of
huge Koi and ducks and swans. Flowers
and bridges add to the Japanese serenity.
Kevin then showed us a thousand year old shrine with 500 year old cedars
lining the nearly endless stairway. We
said a sad good-bye to Kevin and climbed onto the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo. De-boarded at
the Tokyo Station where we stayed one night in the attached hotel. This is directly across from the Emperor’s
palace and park. The station and
adjacent Department Store have a basement food court like nothing any American
has ever seen. It is great honor for a
vendor to be invited to be there, so only the very best pastries, pasta,
dumplings, sushi, yak Tory, Sushi, Tempura and endless other unpronounceable
delicacies are sold. We ate free samples
of so many offerings, we were almost to full to actually buy anything. But we managed, and took the feast back up to
our room where we enjoyed a Japanese picnic overlooking the bustling streets
below. Among the best foods in Japan are the bakeries, so we also packed breakfast and
train snacks for the next day.
Monday, May 31 (Sunday, May
30th in Atlanta): After a
relaxing morning, we trained to the Narita Airport and ran their well-organized security gauntlet. As we have said, the Japanese takes pride in
their occupations. So when a plane
leaves an airport, the workers line up to wave good-bye… such a perfect
send-off from a magical land.
We flew home into the East
while “time” was running to the west. We
arrived in Atlanta an hour before we left Japan, but sat on the plane for 12 hours. Arriving on a major holiday (Memorial day) is a very good idea.
The airport was deserted and arrival smooth.
We remained on Japanese time
(Jet lagged) for about a week, with so much work
getting done in the middle of the night!
Kevin is becoming ever more a
part of the culture of Japan. He is now
writing essays and Tanka poems into his web site
(http://homepage.mac.com/kevchan_wow/Menu2.html). They are amazing to read…
We hope you all enjoyed this
travel-log of our Japanese experience.
It has been a growth adventure for us and is always such an inspiring
time. Pass this along to anyone you feel
would be interested.
Safe Travels to all,
Love,
Bob and Sharon
