Rockin' at the Ryokan

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet...

With great expectations and relief at leaving the big city behind, we prepared to board the Bullet Train (Shinkansen Train) to Kanazawa.  If Tokyo makes New York City look like a rural village the Tokyo Station makes Grand Central look like a rural depot in the middle of Kansas.  This station (and the one in Kyoto) are HUGE.  Hiro, with her festive flag raised high, lead us briskly through endless corridors, escalators and shopping malls until we reached our track.  They are SO organized it is scary.  First you walk to the number painted on the floor which designates your car; then you stand on the yellow line (not in front or in back if you please) and then you wait for the train which will invariably be exactly on time.  How is this achieved?  You have exactly two minutes to get on the train or, OOPS, its doors close and you are out of luck.  You can imagine Hiro's anxiety as she tried to wrestle 16 amateurs onto the train in that time frame.  Plus, a young lady with two gigantic suitcases was having problems exiting the train delaying a smooth flow of traffic.  For a small, polite woman Hiro could really swear.  That girl will never be the same.

Waiting to board the "bullet" train --- with its immaculate cars inside & out. No graffiti on these cars.

Toodling along at 240km per hour (about 160 mph) we feasted on beers and snacks and prepared for an idyll in the countryside.  And it was quite beautiful.  But Japan suffers from a paucity of farm land.  You tend to have cities or mountains-- maybe a lake or inland sea.  This results in food being very expensive and fruit being MASSIVELY expensive.  I am not joking.  The Japanese prize very large, perfect fruit as almost an art form.  Fruit is given frequently as gifts.  OK, here goes some prices that you encounter if you go to a high end (and there isn't much else) fruit provider.  2 large, pristine Mangos:  $162.00 USD.  A square Watermelon (really):  $200.  A very large, perfect skinned apple:  $20.00.  Cantaloup:  $108.00.  A large bunch of gigantic Ruby Red Grapes (hold on):  $2,500.00.  So, when you pack make sure you throw in some raisins and dried fruit.  I warned you.

Well, skittering off the Bullet Train within our allotted two minutes we piled on a bus and headed to Kanazawa.  After a while all these names seemed to blur in my mind but try to keep up.  There, my notes tell me, we saw a Samurai house, Geisha houses and the Kenroku-en Gardens.  I had a similar problem in Vietnam when we begged to not see another shrine or temple.  It just gets so difficult to keep anything straight.  I refuse to believe that age may have anything to do with it.  Michael will include pictures of all that stuff.

The wealth of a samurai was measured in how many koku of rice he received each year. One koku is about 180 liters or 150 kilograms (330 lbs.), which was said to be enough to feed a man for one year.

The teapot for the tea ceremony is in the middle of the room. The tea ceremony is a very ritualized performance which requires much study to master.

This was the maids' room. Notice the teapot above the fire spot in the middle and the tatami mats throughout the room.

This little stone statue caught my eye & as you will see later is popular.

This device allows the water to flow gradually down from the downspout without splashing & si quite common in the old houses.

A moat surrounded this ancient village...

and the neatly laid cobblestones were slick with rain.

The next series of photos are of Kenroku-en Gardens, one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. The name translates to the six attributes --- spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, water courses and panoramas.

Maintaining the gardens requires work every day --- come rain (as in the case when we visited) or shine.

The leaves were just beginning to turn on some of the trees. The garden covers 11.4 hectares. 

The garden was the outer garden of the Kanazawa Castle.

A caption of one of the feudal lords of Kanazawa Castle.

This Karasaki pine tree was planted in the 1800's and requires supports for its limbs.

This tree looks like it was planted when the garden was first started in the 1620's.

According to our guide this means keep out. (I assume the Japanese know this because we certainly did not until I asked.)

The water was not only falling in the background, but also from the sky by the time we reached this spot in the garden.

Reveling in the Ryokan

A Ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn.  It features tatami matted floors, futons as beds, short tables that cripple you when you try to rise and, in our case, a futuristic bathroom.  I've gone as far as I can without elaborating on the toilets.  I know.  You've heard all about the intricacies and advanced features of Japanese toilets.  I beg to differ.  Yes, they have heated seats and many options.  But so MANY options.  If you are self-conscious about bodily functions you can press the music key to have distracting tunes emanating from your stall.  You can wash parts, dry parts, scent parts.  The strangest button I found was a button imprinted with Stand By.  Stand By for WHAT? Lift off?  Now, many Japanese think that gaijin are unclean, piggish, fetid.  OK, that's on us but I tend to think the Japanese are a tad obsessive about the personal hygiene facet of life.

I mean the toilet thing makes the point somewhat but the Onsen Hot spring bathing really brings home the point.  And the Ryokan was all about Onsen.  To "enjoy" the Onsen we were handed a list of instructions so that we would not appear to be barbarians.  Here we go:

1)  Men and women bathe separately.  Men go into the blue curtain, women the red.  But everyday they switch the location of the flags so you have to be alert.

2)  You must be totally naked.  They will give you a small towel (VERY small) to provide privacy.  Never get it wet.  Put it on your head while in the bath.

3) Take a shower and rinse off before you get in the tub.  Other bathers will use your bath water (yuck)

4)  Get out of the soaking tub and scrub with soap-- I'm unclear where you rinse off but it's out of the soaking tub

5)  Back in the tub which may or may not be outside.  Don't eat, drink or drink alcohol before this event.  If you are confused just watch and mimic others.

6) Use the towel which has been rakishly perched on your head to dry every inch of you so that you don't mess up the locker room.  Sigh, there goes privacy.

It goes without saying that I passed up this cultural experience.  Several others, including Michael, indulged.  There was a group of Chinese tourists there who defied (and defiled) every rule in the book.  And they think we American gaijin are slovenly.

So, our room contained Kimono for me and a Yukata for Michael.  We were supposed to wear them to dinner to really have the Ryokan experience but we thought they were after dinner loungewear and went in street clothes.  We were the only tour members who failed the Kimono/Yukata test but they forgave us.  Dinner was a full Kaiseki Dinner featuring regional specialties and was vast and delicious.  We fell over bloated onto our futons and prepared to face our next day.

The entrance to our room in the ryokan --- the tiled area is the only area where shoes can be worn. You can only step onto the wood in your socks.

The next two photos show our cozy but spacious room at the ryokan.

It did have a closet and a TV (far left) and while we were at dinner the futons were place on the floor for sleeping. During the day these are never left out.

Japan Meets the English Countryside

Who knew that Japan had thatched cottages?  They are called Prayer Houses because (see photo) if you have a vivid imagination it looks like two hands praying.  The village (Shirakawa-go) which is part of Takayama is filled with flowers and little brooks and seems fairytale like amidst the bustling modernity of Japan.  Our itinerary got changed in the end because we just happened to be arriving in Takayama on the cusp of their Autumn festival which disrupts traffic and involves massive crowds but is very cool.  So a couple of dates switched around and we found ourselves in the midst of the festivities.

A view of two of the thatched roofs from a perch above the village. We had to walk down from here to the village below.

These four little characters were on the lookout above the village.

Thatched roofs are conducive to growing plants, moss and other assorted things.

This person used hanging baskets to expand the space available for planting flowers. 

This photo gives you an idea of the thickness of the thatched roofs. The bundles underneath are material drying to replace the thatching on the roof.

This egret decided to take a stroll through the village.

This was a very old house in the village whose second and third floors were devoted to sericulture (silk production). Notice how this fire is in the middle of the room with a lot of wood around it.

A colorful kimono from a former owner of the house.

A shrine within the house.

These next two photos show some of the items used in the sericulture.

Everywhere we went in Japan there was an abundance of koi.

An example of Japanese scare crows and a Japanese child posing for her picture with the scare crows.

This ornately cast bell was outside the temple in the village.

Total sun protection!

The Autumn Festival

We spent the afternoon wandering the Old Town where we ducked into shops and sampled sake at the various distilleries.  Sake is good.  The big event was due to get underway that evening.  The town has gigantic floats that were created in the 16th Century and lovingly tended to and repaired over the centuries.  On the first night of the festival they hold a parade around the town with the floats alight with torches.  It is really something.  And it is REALLY slow.  I mean these things are almost as wide as the streets and there are people jumping in front of them taking pictures and drums beating and dragons dancing and widespread mayhem.  Our group made it through two floats and then bailed.

The dragon taking a break waiting for the floats to catch up during the Takayama Autumn Festival (Hachiman Matsuri) which dates back to the late 16th century.

The first float finally appears.

The next day dawned beautiful and clear and it was time to indulge in the Festival once more.  Now every float had been parked on a main street for all to see.  The photos will show you how intricate and interesting they were.  Clearly the villagers are very invested in maintaining their traditions and were friendly and forthcoming although we had no idea what they were saying.  The festival was a huge street fair of all forms of food and beverage and games for kids.  In Japan, which is an incredibly safe society, the young kids can just roam around with their friends unsupervised.  As young as six I would say.  Very heartening to see.

It was much easier to see the floats all lined up the next day.

These elaborate floats have been meticulously maintained over the centuries.

Dressing up in old fashioned Japanese outfits is part of the festival.

This boy had a wonderful perch from which to observe everything.

These boys were also perched on top of one of the floats.

Just like a festival in the US, candied apples...

and even chocolate covered bananas are part of the treats available during the festival.

This young boy was dressed as a Shinto priest for the festival.

There were many stalls selling all sorts of food & confections for the festival.

And another statue exactly like the one I photographed at another location in another city. (See Photo above.)

Heading into the Home Stretch

Kyoto was the next and last stop on the trip.  We would be with the group for several days and then spend several more days on our own before heading back to Mexico.  More on Kyoto soon.