Japan | November 2023

Today we leave NZ for Tokyo with places to research for our 2024 Walking in Japan tour. We are looking for places least visited by Westerners that offer a more authentic Japanese experience. The theme for this trip will be Bamboo – what can we find each day, which is made from Bamboo, refers to Bamboo or is decorated with Bamboo motifs. So here we go….

The first thing a Westerner notices is that the airport is very clean, quiet and the toilets have more buttons than a car to operate them! After the formalities, it was the Express train into Tokyo centre (eat your heart out Auckland) and a transfer to a suburban train to take us to our hotel in Kawasaki.

This morning we met with a representative of JR Hotels to check out some hotels – looking for that perfect mix for kiwis; clean sheets, hot showers, nice surroundings, interesting things nearby and staff you can communicate with. We walked around the local area moving away from the shopping malls, to pedestrian streets used by locals, populated with small shops, cafes and local chains.

Then we caught the suburban train to reach Kamakura, a small town by the sea. The day was a dry, blue-sky affair and being Sunday lots of people were out and about – shopping, eating the local delicacies (battered fish on a stick, pork sausages, pigeon cookies, Kamakura Beer), visiting the local shrines and generally enjoying a great Autumn day.

Woke to another brilliant weather day. Today we walked in a huge 8, first North-East to the Hokokuji Temple and its Bamboo Grove, back to Kamakura Train Station via Main Shrine, then south to the beach and finally west to the Giant Bhudda and back to the Train Station – some 25,000 steps!

To get to the Bamboo Grove we started with finding the walking track on the ridge line above a smaller temple complex with its cemetery. Sadly, the trees had not taken on any autumn hues yet.

The ridge track was compacted clay intermingled with old tree roots – best for the sure footed. We had gone about 2 kilometers only to find the track closed so its was down to the urban roads and a much quicker walk to Hokokuji. For the electrician amongst my readers I include a picture of the overhead wires and for the H&S an image of the urban road with its non footpaths.

Success though we found Hokokuji and saw our first Europeans for a while. Our Bamboo entry for today is below.

And to give you an idea of how serene these temple areas are, here we go…

Having filled our soul with some quiet reflection, we ended out to the busy road and our walk back to Kamakura Central. A surprising number of Japanese tourists were about. I have been asked to include some images of food – I hope you enjoy them.

Time to visit the seaside and to see how the Japanese like to relax.

Giant Buddha coming up…

We finished the big loop by having Linner (Lunch/Dinner) and very nice it was too.

A travelling day for sure – we took the local train to Shinagawa, Tokyo and zoomed off on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. A brief detour as I really wanted Richard to see the astounding 1,000 vermillion torii gates at Fushimi Inari-taisha. Finally, we reached Nara and what a delightful place.

For those into facts and figures; the Shinagawa to Kyoto Shinkansen travelled 392kms in 2h 32m. It was due to depart at 10.40am and was absolutely on time, then due to arrive in Kyoto at 1.12pm and of course it was spot on.

The incredible Inari temple complex.

Richard had a plan to visit a recommended Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) restaurant which was a good plan until we got there to find it was temporarily closed tonight. What to do? I had noticed another Okonomiyaki place on our walk over so suggested we try that one. It was a tiny place down a narrow dark alley. We arrived as the owner was preparing to open up. What luck! The old lady did her best to understand us and I found even google translate couldn’t read the menu written on the wall – so with a bit of typing and body language we established what we wanted – vegetarian. The hot plate was on, the vegetables chopped and the owner/chef cooked a delicious meal in front of us. An example of one of those happy-chances of travelling which sometimes pays off. Please note the Bamboo entry for today is the panelling in the restaurant.

On our way back to the hotel we came across some more quirky shops where I can only suspect something got lost in translation.

Nara has a legend that a god travelled from Tokyo to Nara on a white deer in the 8th century. Since that time deer have been considered sacred in Nara Park and they are carefully looked after. They are so tame they roam freely and will allow you to touch them, especially if you feed them. Its rather special if a deer bows to you – guess who got the nod today?

Today’s Bamboo finalist is the fence in the picture above.

On our way to Nara Park (1,240 acres) this morning I wanted to stop by the site of the first tea ceremony – ironically today there’s a coffee shop there. Onwards to the park and our first official stop the world’s biggest bronze Buddha.

Inside Nara Park is Kasugayama Primeval Forest, no hunting or logging since 841AD. This beautiful expanse of forest has a loop path which just needed to be explored. The track was a gravel road winding up and over the ridge. Either side of the track are the protected woods, streams, you can hear birds and just occasionally a plane.

I estimate the loop is about 15,000 steps (I walked extra as I was exploring some of the side trails to see their quality and interest) – on a good surface with space to walk beside a companion. Lots of beautiful scenes. Once you were over the ridge it was a nice downhill stroll to the waterfall and a rise again to a second ridge and after that it was all downhill. I loved it and particularly enjoyed the ancient knarled trees and bird song. Walking at a regular but not rapid pace with stops it’s about three hours. I was surprised at the number of little old Japanese ladies trotting along going the other way – where had they started and where were they going to?

Today was Labour-Thanksgiving Day (Public Holiday) in Japan, which seems an odd fusion of English/American cultures. For us it was a long travel day which started with local trains packed with people probably traveling to Osaka to visit family. Once we had transited to our train to Wakayama most of the crowd had disappeared and was replaced by elderly, smiling catholic nuns. These happy ladies insisted we have seats while they stood; however, they soon had seats too. Just a rather bizarre travel experience in the land of Buddhism and Shinto. In Wakayama there was an internal panic as I realised that buses might not be as frequent as it was a Holiday Day rather than a Week Day and we had to be at the Ferry Port by 12.40pm. Never fear, the bus arrived on time and we joined the few on board and got to the Ferry Port with time to spare.

Once on the island of Shikoku, it was another local bus to the main train station and our hotel. Dare I say we were the only Westeners on board. Tokushima was a delightful surprise; clean, spacious and welcoming – one of those places you can relax in. Although it had been a long day we trotted out to find dinner (not much was open as it was a Public Holiday) and as our first choice was closed we opted for a small Soda Noodle restaurant. This time it was an elderly male owner/chef and he had been watching the Sumo tournament on the TV so we joined him.

Well that was about it for the day; however, I thought you might like to see a bathroom in a Japanese hotel – they have a complete wet room within the bathroom.

The day was once again clear – we have been so fortunate with the weather. Today’s plan was to walk between Temple 20 and Temple 21 which required careful planning as the buses are infrequent (2 hours apart) and we did need time to see if it was doable with a group.

So, we started the official part of the walk at 9.30am; the distance is 8kms and took about 12,000 steps and 3 hours. You might wonder why it took us so long? Well, we took it slow climbing down to the river valley, had a few breaks and just enjoyed our walk. It did take us a while to climb up to Temple 21.

To amuse ourselves Richard and I composed Haikus of our experience of the walk.

Richard’s: Tall, thin filtered light stream | Bamboo green stand | Present moment stayed valley path

Mandy’s: Freckled sunlight skimming through | Tread step tread step stop | Breathe deep fresh life peace

Once again, we came across a variety of signs.

At the end of our enjoyable walk there was a ropeway (gondola) to take you down the hill – hope you enjoy the video.

As you know we came to Shikoku to discover some walks which are not swamped with Westerners and allow a traveler to see a different side of Japan to the fast, crowded cities or the towns organised with tourism in mind. The island of Shikoku was of particular interest as it is possible to circumnavigate the whole island by linked walks – this is called the Henro or the 88 shrine pilgrimage. The route is not so much about reaching the goal but the journey itself; the warm hearts of the people you meet and the beautiful nature of Shikoku. The route is based on the journey of Kobo Daishi (774 – 835 AD), a Buddhist holy man – however the route is open to all people regardless of nationality, age, gender, social status, religious affiliation or cultural background. You can do as much or as little as you want. To walk the whole 88 shrines would take 2 to 3 months walking 25km per day. Without going into too much of the traditions and practices let’s see what we have discovered.

As you know yesterday we walked between Temple 20 and 21; during that walk we encountered only 2 people, both Japanese (and one of them asked me for directions). In a country of 100 million I find that extra-ordinary.

Today we thought we ought to check out Temple 1, 2 and 3. True Pilgrims start at 1 and when they have completed visiting all 88 they return here. We caught the train to Temple 1, walked between 1, 2 and 3 and returned by train. It was about 5.6kms on the flat, approx 10,000 steps on through urban/rural areas on country roads.

The road to Temple 2 : Gokurakuji was beside a busy road; however it was only 1.5km. Let’s have a look at Temple 2.

The next part was a walk along country roads between houses, paddy fields and orchards.

Temple 3 : Konsenji coming up

We had to head back to Tokushima at this stage to catch the afternoon train to Takamatsu.

There was a bit of time before the train so we had a nice walk around especially by the river near the train station. Tokushima is a lovely place.

Near the Port of Takamatsu are several islands and Naoshima was the first to use Art as a way to revitalise the local economy. In the late 1980s the architect Tadao Ando came to the island and was part of incorporating architecture with the beautiful landscape. This inspiring project has encouraged artists, architects and art enthusiasts to cover the island with installations, museums and galleries. Even if you don’t ‘get art’ Naoshima is a great place to circumnavigate on foot, bike or local bus. We started exploring the island by catching the local bus across the island to village of the village of Honmura (100 Yen bus fare, about $1.50).

In Honmura the village had found 6 empty houses/spaces and given them over to artists for installations. Known as the Art House Project I wasn’t too certain what we would come across – the Japanese aesthetic can be very different from Westen concepts. For example, white space is as important as painted space in a picture.

So back to the Art House Project; some of the houses were comical, some very restrained but I’ll just mention two. The first was the old dentist residence which had been repaired with only recycled material. Inside was very eccentric and the best thing was a huge white plastic Statue of Liberty with its own neon halo.

Sorry can’t show you a pic of the next one as it used the experience of the absence of light. Fifteen minutes of near total darkness and no sound – magical.

Next we chose to walk around to the Benesse Museum (30 minutes) with views of the sea and past another small fishing village.

Benesse Museum is one of the most beautiful museum buildings I have ever been in. Made of cement it has curved, rectangular and huge spaces.

Last stop was the Chi Chu Art Museum, another amazing building; however no photos allowed. This one was designed so only natural light could illuminate the few chosen pieces of art; Claude Monet’s water lilies was my highlight.

We circled back to the port for a walk around that village and some afternoon tea.

So far, we have enjoyed an average temperature of 17c; today it started out at 12c and then warmed up until 3pm when it suddenly got cold again. Each day its been blue skies and hardily any wind – perfect walking weather.

Well today the plan got disrupted as we navigated the infrequent trains going where we wanted to go and the occasional geographical embarrassment – thank you google maps.

First though let’s share the beauty which is Ritsurin Garden. Carefully tended for over 200 years by 11 generations of the same family.

Next stop was Shikoku Mura Outdoor Museum. To be honest I thought we were going to be visiting one of those dusty, confusing ethnographic museums where ancient buildings full of interesting but unexplained objects are placed in a barren field. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The museum had a downloadable app which functioned perfectly in the museum complex; as soon as we got near an interesting building the narrator would come to life and in a clear English voice tell us exactly where we were visiting and what made it interesting. The buildings were arranged in curated grounds with a view to how they would have originally been placed and each interior was lovingly cared for. Highly recommend.

Even better the colonial house had been converted into the cafe and there was Earl Grey Tea and cake at the end of the visit.

This is the stage of the day where things went off plan – we had intended walking up to Temple 84 and then cross the valley and up to Temple 85. Firstly, the start of track to Temple 84 wasn’t clear so we followed the road up the hill. This turned out to be safe as there was little traffic – however half way up the hill I found the sign for the pilgrim walk between 84 & 85. It seemed like a good idea at the time so we followed the track heading to 84. This track was fit for a slender goat with suicidal thoughts. Narrow, crumbling and very steep, I won’t be doing this on the tour.

Eventually we got to the top and found Temple 84. What a relief. This was a wealthy temple and had an incredible view across the valley out to the Seto Sea.

A change of plan; we decided the track to Temple 85 was not an option, so we sorted out the track which was the official pilgrim route to 84. Would you believe it? Four persons wide with paved surface and sensible curves – suitable for fat goats loaded with treasure with a desire for a long life. However, I will say in my defense that at the end of the nice track the pilgrim way got lost in the suburban houses and roads; you really needed to know where it started.

Final highlight of the day was finding a Uniqlo store, a Japanese clothing chain with well-designed UV clothes at very reasonable prices – I was one happy shopper.

Almost forgot, the Bamboo for today…

A slower start to the day as we prepared to leave Takamatsu for Matsuyama by a midday train. Time to organise the bags, have a late breakfast, visit the nearby Japanese bookshop and grab a good coffee. A three hour train trip was by the northern coast and then we were there in Matsuyama. Tomorrow, castles, hot bath and old district.

Across the road from our hotel is Matsuyama Castle on its high hill – of course there’s another hill and probably steps; we have had a few on this trip. We started at the bottom around the moat area as I had read there were some interesting archeological finds there – just a few bits and pieces. Then up the hill through the numerous castle defense walls to the huge castle complex itself.

All in all an impressive area and the largest castle I have visited in Japan with some good explanations in English.

Within Matsuyama is the Dogo district famed for its Onsen (hot water baths); the oldest bath dates back to 1300. A quick tram ride along the road and we found ourselves in a delightful area full of small shops, onsens, gardens and shrines. Matsuyama is known for its citrus and I can recommend the orange gelato.

Matsuyama has a relaxed vibe and we saw a few Westerners but mostly Japanese tourists. The tram system makes it super easy to get around and a nice rest for tired feet. I know a group would have a fabulous time here.

Today was quite the adventure as we used local buses to get us far into the countryside. Such bus services have infrequent service, so we had to be in the right place at the right time or mess up our plans. Thankfully we managed to navigate ourselves around despite all English disappearing from signs, information and local people. Oh yes it was certainly off the usual tourist paths!

The plan was get ourselves to Temple 45 Iwayaji and walk back to Temple 44 Daihoji – this was decided upon for better walking profile and only needing one bus from Temple 44’s nearest town Kumakogen to get back to Matsuyama. The bus dropped us off in the back of beyond, we trotted up to Temple 45 and then hit the trail back to Temple 44.

The track was amazing; everything I had hoped to find. There are two routes to Temple 44 and we took the flatter one. Like most of the Henro it followed a water course, in this case, Route B started beside a swift river. Walking on the fallen leaves made the path gentle on the feet and for most of the 11 kilometres it stayed at the same level (only a few rises and falls of 50m or so). The best part of the trail was through young forest, pine trees and beside streams. Occasionally the path crossed behind farms, or a small village and I think we saw only 5 other walkers – all going the other way.

All was going well until we were about 1.7km from Temple 44 when the trail suddenly diverted on to the road and we were faced with walking through a tunnel with no footpath – absolutely not; or climbing up and over the hill – preferred option. I was very grateful to the pilgrims who had passed this way before us and helpfully tied coloured ribbon on small trees to let a walker know which way to go.

And then just like that after 4 hours we had reached Temple 44 and finished our last nature walk for this trip.

Today was a big travelling day as we left Shikoku by hydrofoil for Hiroshima and then Shinkansen to Tokyo (671.4km); in total we used five forms of transport (tram, hydrofoil, streetcar, train and Shinkansen).

Our last day in Japan and I was going to let it slide; however the day was so bright and crisp I thought you might like to see some images of Tokyo.

I must admit arriving into Tokyo Station was a shock to the senses – so many people crisscrossing in front of us, all rushing to trains and unaware of two lost souls trying to get to the exit. Take me back to quiet Shikoku and the peaceful forest!