Miyajima & Hiroshima, a guest post by Eddie

Day: 15

Location: Shinkansen between Hiroshima and Nara

As much as I feel I should write from my head and not my stomach, I feel like I have no choice but to begin by describing the lunch we just ate: fresh sushi and sashimi prepared – as we watched – by a lovely husband and wife, and consumed as we rocket along on a bullet train from Hiroshima to Osaka. Yum.

Having spent this morning exploring Hiroshima, we are on our way to Nara for the Wakakusa Yamayaki festival tonight, during which Mount Wakakusa is set on fire. Sounds like the rest of Australia Day will be a fascinating experience. We made it out of bed early this morning in order to explore the somewhat sobering Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. We saw the AtomicBomb Dome, the restored remnants of the domed Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall – a symbol of Hiroshima which today aims to convey the horror of nuclear weapons and appeals for world peace. A lot of effort has been put into keeping it in the condition it was in directly after the bombing to remind everyone of the devastation that was caused.

We crossed the Motoyasu-gawa River to explore the Peace Memorial Park, which contained an eternal flame and cenotaph for the A-bomb victims, in addition a beautiful memorial for the children who were killed in the wake of the bomb. The cenotaph, eternal flame, and indeed the museum itself are cleverly aligned so that the A-bomb dome can be seen directly through them, and this clever design by renowned Japanese architect Kenzo Tange reminded me of the way Melbourne’s very own Shrine sits atop a hill, visible from Swanston St in the CBD.

We spent time reading and reflecting in the Peace Memorial Hall for victims of the bombing, also a cleverly designed building with a central focus on a fountain signifying 8.15am as the time of the attack. From this fountain, we were surrounded by a 360° mosaic panorama of exactly how Hiroshima looked after the explosion from its hypocentre. We moved on to the Peace Memorial Museum, where we had a lovely tour guide called Senji, who, despite his limited English, made a 150% effort to explain everything possible about the museum and its contents. He even had some of the tour instructions transliterated into Japanese to help him remember the pronunciations and he became, at times, quite distressed when his English infringed upon his clear enthusiasm and passion for Hiroshima and its story. The museum contained information about the Hiroshima bombing and its context, maps and relics from directly after the bombing and images which depicted the true devastation of the attack. Hiroshima, as a city, is clearly an advocate for nuclear disarmament and world peace – as can be evidenced by the now 602 letters of protest which Hiroshima mayors have sent to world leaders who have conducted nuclear testing in their countries.

Letters of Protest

Yesterday we ventured to Miyajima, an island about 30km southwest of Hiroshima. Although our plans in the morning went somewhat amiss, we were lucky to have fantastic weather, which provided for a beautiful afternoon. Ben’s increasing affinity for the snooze button led to us sleeping in more than an extra hour (my phone was out of battery so I couldn’t set my alarm), and in my subsequent attempts to rush for the train, we managed to catch a train on the correct line but heading in the wrong direction. Once we were on the train (we didn’t realise it was going the wrong way), Ben fell promptly asleep, and so, when after 35 minutes we hadn’t reached the station we should have reached in 27 minutes, I (finally) asked a local for help, who directed us to swap to a train heading in the opposite direction. As you’ve probably realised, what seems like a small error managed to cost us an hour and a half, by the time we had waited for a return train…

Anyway, we finally made it onto the 10-minute ferry for Miyajima by 1pm (having intended to get up at 7am and be there around 10am).

Oh deer.

We were greeted on the island by some friendly deer and some birds of prey, and after having a quick look around we decided we’d head to the top of the island’s Mt Misen to make the most of the good weather. 

In-flight entertainment

On the way, by complete coincidence, we ran into our freshly-onsened British/Welsh-West-Australian friends Jake and Christian from Kyoto, who – as seems to be the case with a number of our fellow travellers – were taking a very similar route as we are! We walked to the bottom of the cable car, which we took up the mountain, before climbing the final kilometre to the summit. The view was simply breathtaking and reminded me a lot of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.

We enjoyed a few hours at the top – climbing rocks, taking photos, exploring the temples, and making new friends both of the deer and human (French, Japanese and Brazilian!) varieties.

Having not eaten since our late breakfast, we were, at 4pm, faced with the difficult decision whether to eat or see as much as we could before it closed and became dark. We decided to skip lunch and explored the Treasure Halls (a gallery of various artefacts and artwork), the Daishō-in temple and the Itsukushima temple, a vermillion temple built over an inlet, with walkways connecting it to the land and looking directly on to the famous Torii gate.

After the temple closed at 5.30, we, on our stomachs’ advice, decided to find something to eat. Ben tried some barbequed oysters from a street vendor who was kind enough to give him four for the price of two as he was keen to sell his last four oysters so he could close for the day. We decided on dinner at a decent-but-empty-looking restaurant and although it was not cheap, we had a lovely dinner and a nice chat to the owner, who said we were her only customers for the day! Ben and I spent much of the journey home trying to work out how or why it was sustainable for her to keep the restaurant open in low season. Once we were back in Hiroshima, we had a quick dip in the local onsen, where we thought we might encounter some yakuza but managed to escape unscathed, and headed home for some GTD before bed.

Day: 13

Location: Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Hiroshima

Kyoto

As predicted Ed and I did reunite in Kyoto after a few hours and nervous train journey from Matsumoto and through Nagoya. I was not sure whether to wait at Nagoya or stick to the original plan and get to our hostel with the speed of an Amazing Race contestant. I opted for the former though it was unsuccessful. It was very difficult to find out when the train from Matsumoto came in after the one I’d been on and I left a frustrated and confused platform attendant in my wake. After making it to Kyoto I took a wrong turn out of the station, ending up half an hour away from where I needed to be. It was raining, I was lost and alone in a foreign country but I didn’t mind at all. I sang some Aloe Blacc and eventually arrived at the hostel where Eddie had been for 15 minutes having been an hour ahead.

Let me tell you, our city of churches has nothing on this town of temples. They are everywhere and we certainly didn’t see all of them in the three days we had there.

Having been the country’s capital city until 1869, Kyoto remains a cultural and religious capital of Japan to some extent. We did manage to visit the Imperial Palace (home to many emperors including Hirohito before another was built in Tokyo), both the Gold and Silver (may or may not contain actual silver) Pavilions, Ryoanji Temple, Sanjusangendo Temple, Fushimiinari-taish Shrine, Nijojo Castle and Hosomi Museum.

                              



In the ‘Artsy East End’ of town (as dubbed by Time) happened upon the Weissraum Gallery. From the street it was as the name would suggest – a white room. This room had floorboards, white of course, and some signs in Japanese as well as caution tape across the front of it. We peered in. The floorboards groaned and creaked and began to lift from the far end of the rectangular room to the front as if being pushed up and apart by invisible under-floor people. Went in through a door a little further down the street and saw the rest of the gallery.

                                           

Can you guess what it consisted of?

                                           

Indeed, another white room. This time we could go inside it though. One wall was made of material and paint rollers pressed against it, rolling own the ‘wall’ from the other side. This time it was invisible inside-the-wall people.

Attached to the gallery was a warmly lit bar with tins lining shelves towards the back and oil drums for tables. It was great to indulge in some of Kyoto’s alternative culture and without intending to, much. Indie Japanese times indeed.

On Wednesday night we met Emma and Josh from Canberra in our dorm which turned quite quickly into a great night of dinner and karaoke. I do try to refrain from public displays of song as a general rule due to a distinct lack of tone, despite my best efforts. It seemed rude not join in though, especially given the locale.

                                       

I should mention something about our accommodation in the various places we’ve been so far in that we have been most unadventurous. There is a chain called K’s Guesthouse that are conveniently located in Tokyo (x2), Hakuba, Kyoto and our next destination – Hiroshima. So consistent has our patronage of K’s been that we now have a members’ card that comes with discounts the more of their hostels we stay in. Each one that we’ve stayed in has been unique in some way although consistently clean, quiet, well located and with genuinely lovely and helpful staff. Definitely worth a look-in if you’re on your way over any time soon. http://goo.gl/PyiAA

ITINERARY UPDATE
The next two nights we will spend in Hiroshima with a day trip to Miyajima. After a tip-off from Jake and Christian, our Welsh/English-West-Australian room mates in Kyoto we will now go to Nara for a festival on Saturday night that involves setting a hill on fire. As you can imagine it was hard to convince me to go. Our rail passes will expire on Sunday so we have to be in Osaka then in order to fly out on the 30^th.



... and on the imminent university timetable: my darling Monash and its ugly cousin Allocate+ has left me with an inconvenient arrangement whereby my grand total of nine contact hours per week must be spread over four days of the week and not only that, those days are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday meaning that travel on the weekends and into the week will be restricted. Hopefully two of my lectures will be recorded and I will be able to listen to them at a convenient time thus bringing the number of days with classes to two!

Day: 10

Location: Train to Kyoto

Yesterday was our last day of snowboarding in Hakuba. We ventured from Goryu & 47 resort, where we spent our first four days, to Iwatake which was recommended to us by Ed’s ski instructors. On new runs our enjoyment was restrained a little by bad weather in the morning but once the sun was out and clouds cleared it was a stunning day and the view as we skated down the mountain was awe inspiring.
In summary, Hakuba has been excellent. One evening it was possible to board right to the doorstep of the hostel from the entrance to the resort. Our accommodation, more therapeutic onsen time, of course the thrilling runs of Goryu, 47 and Iwatake and it’s perfect snow have made for such a good time. Perhaps I'll go back sometime soon.

Today we head to a new Japanese metropolis for exploration. I say we, however a small lapse in communication at Matsumoto where we changed trains has meant that I am technically travelling solo right at the moment. We didn’t realise that a trip to the bin on the platform before boarding wouldn’t be tolerated by the seamlessly efficient public transport system and as a result Ed and I have been separated, soon to be reunited in Kyoto I imagine. Ah the joys of travel!

Day: 7

Location: Hakuba Alps, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

For some reason I manage to hurt myself before lunch each day and then the afternoon is adventurous, exhilarating and painless. In particular the last run I had before calling it a morning today has left me with a bruised leg to add to the general muscular pain. Generally though, the fun continues and after three days of experience have progressed to 'intermediate' tracks as well as the manageable 'beginner' ones.

Along the main beginner run of Hakuba Goryu (left side of the map from the last post) are a couple of cafes and restaurants that you can slide in and out of.

Day: 6

Location: Hakuba Alps, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

The bus from Nagano had, as far as I could tell, only Australians on it. Apparently we're a part of the furniture around here during ski season. I've met people from Adelaide, Gold Coast and Cairns apart from locals of course.

This is my first attempt at snowboarding and I imagine it was obvious for at least part of the first day. The number of times I fell decreased exponentially from 15 or so to three on my first and second runs. There was a particularly graceful 'dismount' of the chair lift the first or second time I used it too, which left me flat on the ground face-first. The polite lift attendants were either too nice to laugh or very discrete about doing so. By the end of the day though I was able to do a whole run without falling once and also grab a modest amount of air off a couple of humps set up on the slope. Some of you will be pleased to know that all of this was, and will continue to be done with a helmet and wrist-guards on given previous arguments I've had with gravity and the ground.

This morning after such a successful - even though often supine or prostrate - day yesterday, I expected and was looking forward to getting out and carving up the freshly-groomed run. Unfortunately things weren't the same as they were the previous evening and I felt much less steady than I had expected to.  So of course it took more falling over, more snow in the face etc. before things were feeling good again. We decided to head up to the other side of the resort that our lift passes include Hakuba 47 (as opposed to Goryu where we spent the first day and this morning). We were forced to take it slow as it was snowing and visibility wasn't fantastic but what we discovered was awesome. It was the long 'snakey' part of 47 that you'll see on the far right of the map.

Something about the corners and banks of this run was incredible. Much more variety than a long, wide hill to cruise down. Bliss.
The visibility this first time was average because of, funnily enough, snow. I had to go again. By this time the snow had cleared and I saw the view from the top of 47 and realised the greatness of the previous run would get even better. All the way up on the lift you could see the huge valley below and the other mountains that surrond it. Tomorrow I'll take photos.
So a day that started off shaky, finished spectacularly. We're in for a toasty top of -5 tomorrow and can't wait to be out there again!

The view from our window before the first day of snow adventure

Day: 5

Location: Shinkansen – Tokyo to Nagano (Hakuba)

Saturday. Visited Shinjuku Gardens in the morning, these were looking barren and would probably be spectacular in spring or summer with cherry blossoms and roses.
We found a café for lunch that would be equally at home in Degraves Street as it was in Tokyo.
Before dark we made it to Meiji Jingu – a shrine to Emperor Meiji who was responsible for westernisation and technological development in Japan in the 19^th century as well as renaming Edo City - Tokyo - the new capital of the country. Although the shrine is for the past Emperor it seemed there was some religious element to it as there appeared to be monks and people paid their respects; throwing coins and notes onto steps and into large collection chests.

Sunday. It came in threes: Tokyo fish market was closed after a 6.30 get-up to catch it (haha) at its most chaotic, while being warned about long queues at SkyTree (world's second tallest building) we didn't anticipate being given a ticket in order to come back five hours later and then arriving 10 minutes too late to pre-purchase Sumo tickets for the following day.

We had however, stumbled upon preparations for an ice-carving tournament at Meiji Jingu Shrine the night before and went back to see them after second breakfast at the closed fish market.

The morning light was caught beautifully in the ice as they melted. This one we think was voted second however achieved number one in the people's (Eddie and my) choice award.

We discovered the local onsen in Asakusa that evening before going back to the SkyTree which was very relaxing and soothing after all the walking we had done that day. The main bath temperature was just above 40°C with a cold bath at 18°C outside. The ‘electric bath’ that was a feature of the main bath was a little disconcerting. I suppose it has some kind of sensational therapeutic benefit but I couldn't work out what it was exactly after giving it a go. We left, warm to the core in the cool Tokyo night.

SkyTree
Viewing Tokyo from 350m above the street gave us perspective on the scale of the city. It is based around the Imperial Palace and nearby business and financial district with a few high-rises. From there it sprawls outward in every direction. At night there is no end to the streets lined with apartment blocks, convenience stores and subway entrances. Lights twinkle, flash and beam in sections separated by Tokyo bay and two rivers, the Sumida and the Arakawa that slice through the city.
Getting lost on the way home lead to a juice box of saké from 7/11 - as you do.

Monday. It snowed on Monday. Serious, in-your-face, ground-covering snow all day which made it an easy decision to stay at the sumos all day rather than go to Disney Land as well.

Lunch fit for a large man in a nappy:

As we race between Tokyo and Nagano at 260km/h today I'm looking forward to my first time snowboarding and hoping for powder - to cushion my fall more than anything as well as my skills being transferrable from other types of boards!

Finally, having left Tokyo there is one last thing that must be noted. No need to read any further if you're not interested in a small rant.

You've been warned - how could the set up of the MYKI ticketing system have been done so catastrophically? Even when you disregard the cost blowout and significant delays the Pasmo/Suica system used in Tokyo puts MYKI to complete shame. Where MYKI causes huge bottle-necks at turnstiles due to the precision that it takes to touch them on and off, Pasmo effectively has you gliding through through the gates. On the gates, these operate within the legal framework of a presumption of innocence i.e. the gate remains open until you try to do something wrong such as walk through without a ticket or you don't have enough money on your card for the fare. The benefit of this is the time it doesn't take to open the gates and close them again before the next person can scan their card.
In summary I am astounded at how the technology used for the system could be so inept considering that one that functions so incredibly well had been brought in here in Japan one year before.

Day: 1
Location: Tokyo, Japan (more specifically)


"I wonder if you can see Mt. Fuji out that side of the plane?"

*Turn to look out the left side of the plane:

"Oh look, there it is."

We arrived around 7.15am this morning and took the train to our accommodation. Walking and trains seem the best way to see the city. The public transport system is a marvel of efficiency. Some trains even take you back to memories of Super Mario with their various sound effects.

First culinary misadventure: 7/11 where I ordered miscellaneous-meat-product-on-stick in soup. It was offal. Not exactly my cup of breakfast, but that's ok.


Electric City: We thought we'd found it when we came across the multi-level technology store that was the love child of JB HiFi and Dick Smith Electronics on steroids - the absence of English signs will do that to you of course. In fact after lunch we found the real Electric City (Akihabara), which was more of a spectacle from the street than inside its stores.

Train trips on our Japan Rail (JR) Rail Passes are booked:

Hakuba - Nagoya 21/01

Nagoya - Kyoto 23/01

Kyoto - Hiroshima 26/01

Hiroshima - Osaka 27/01

Having organised this we skirted the grounds of the Imperial Palace.

After dinner: Sensoji Temple. I paid my 100Yen to select a random fortune after making a wish and received a foreboding and unhelpful message.

"No. 97 Bad Fortune.
Like a high building hidden in fog, your desire is always hidden in clouds.
Like a beautiful lady goes on the water, your behaviour always seems to be dangerous.
A cloud is drifting with its direction uncertain and the date can't be decided.
In the rough waves, we can't see the moon reflected on the surface of the water.
There are a lot of troubles.

*Your wish is hard to be realised. *The sick person is in danger. *Lost articles will not be found. *The person you are waiting for will not come. *It is bad to build a new house or moving. *It is bad to make a trip. *It is bad to marry and employ.”

Pretty positive really. . . perhaps it serves me right for being a stupid, white tourist trying to buy a religious experience though.

There is a noticeable divide between Tokyo's affluent business people and the impoverished, and disadvantaged as you'd expect from any big city.

Day: 0

Location: Singapore Airlines Flight SQ228

It is a relief to be on a flight and as prepared as I will ever be for the coming months. There were moments of feeling very nervous today. I’m not exactly sure what about. There’s just excitement now though.

All airport procedures went as smoothly as possible – apparently flying international in the afternoon is the way to go for no queues!

Two hours at Singapore before a connection to Tokyo (Narita).

Beginning

Day: -4
Location: Home

I had the idea to study overseas over a year ago. It was flippant at the time with little consideration to what would be involved and now here I am, four days from a large international adventure. I have the usual pre-travel surreality, excitement and nerves in manageable doses.

Preparations are going well. Tonight I cut up medicine boxes leaving pills and the vital information about which pill to take when, where, why and with whom in one of two first aid kits (while listening to First Aid Kit). It's certainly a 'process' of preparation that I am going through and for the most part, enjoying.

The itinerary at this stage looks like this:

Melbourne - Tokyo 10/01 with Eddie

Tokyo for four days, then to Hakuba for a week snowboarding/skiing (special thanks to Melbourne weather for helping with acclimatisation for this). Following that we will visit Nagoya, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka.

Osaka - Singapore 30/01

In Singapore to seeing friends and sights. I will be solo (sort of) once Eddie flies home on 03/02.

Singapore - Clark (Manila) 12/02 with Steph and Eden.

Around Philippines, probably in the direction of Legazpi and then Borocay where we will meet up with Tom and Courtney on 16/02. Cebu after that and then to KL on 24/02 to start the semester.

THIS is where I will be based while I'm studying (25/02 - 28/06) no doubt with various side trips, Future Music Festival Asia style and the Malaysian Grand Prix when the books prove, somehow, less interesting than the surrounds.


I will keep this page updated, at least with updates that I am still alive and well but hopefully much, much more.

Please stay in touch on here, Facebook, Skype - benjaminmcnally, a postal address yet to be received and for emergencies on a phone number that I'll update when it's active.

Goodnight and stay tuned . . .