Haiku - our reflections on Japan

How do you sum up our time in a country so full of contrasts 

- a people so enamoured with technology and modernity, yet so committed to preserving its past

- a land of cities full of people, and of gloriously empty forests and mountains

- a history of such isolation, exclusion and destruction, and a people so hospitable to foreigners?

Millions of words have been written trying to describe and explain all this, so we decided we would limit ourselves to just 17 syllables each. Inspired by James May ('Our man in Japan'), we would each compose a haiku - a traditional form of Japanese poetry with three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables, which says just enough to evoke meaning. 

As Hamish walked up volcanic Mt Yotei and reflected on the Japanese commitment to preserve their past and  advance into their future, he composed his haiku:

Reconstructed bones

Wrapped in neon kimono 

While nature exhales

Brilliant!

Totally intimidated, I decided to admit defeat (and suggest that these 17 blog posts could be my haiku about Japan instead). 

Instead I decided to write a haiku about the other aspect of this trip which has been just as wonderful - experiencing this people and their land with my wonderful son. How would I sum up what I've appreciated about this journey together? An impossible task (and poetry was never my thing) but here it is

Explore and discuss

Psalms, shrines, matcha and mountains 

Thankful beyond words 

Thankful to Danielle for first suggesting this family tradition of a special trip when our children finish school.

Thankful to the thousands of Japanese people who welcomed us so warmly and patiently. 

Thankful to Hamish for being willing to come away with his old man and listen to continual historical tangents. 

And most of all, thankful to God for his extraordinary generosity to me in all these ways.

Our final day in Japan

Our biggest breakfast buffet yet - I lost count of the number of courses we went back for. I didn't try the soup machine but the coffee machine produced a reasonable latte (coffee is not a Japanese strength). 

Having repacked and weighed our bags ready for check in we headed for our final destination - Jozenkei - an onsen town with a gorge which is stunning in autumn and is lush in the summer.

 The red suspension bridge is particularly photogenic. 

A quick look at the local damn before driving on to return our car, with an impromptu quick stop at a waterfall along the way. 

Caught up in the efficiency of the car rental worker, I was about to hop in his van to be dropped at the airport when I remembered the waist bag I had hidden under the front seat of our car - which was a good thing because weren't going anywhere without our passports!

On the way he told us about the local fisherman who disappeared last month in the north east. When his companion spotted a bear with a boot hanging out of its mouth, a search was begun, a bear was shot, and a human head was found nearby. No, we weren't hiking anywhere near that area, and we took bear bells, but I told him I was glad he was telling me to story at the end of our trip rather than at the beginning!

The restaurants and shops at the airport were amazing- including shops just for milk (a Hokkaido speciality), Pokemon and Ainu goods. And the lady at the information booth helped us find what our eyes had been scouring every vending machine since our first day in Hokkaido - limited edition Hokkaido coke bottles.

A short and smooth flight and we were back at Narita airport in Tokyo - with the terminal and food court now  looking familiar. What a contrast of feelings - excitement (and post-motion sickness) then, thankfulness and sadness now. 

We explored the bookshop and discovered how books are packaged in Japan - every paperback volumes the same height, depth and width.

 Here's the entire 7 book Harry Potter series as 20 paperback volumes. 

High tech security, but somehow we managed to evade it:

Yet more culinary exoploration for dinner, including our final vending machine purchase with our last coins - ice cream for adults (or anyone) packaged as for toddlers. 

Japan - such a fabulous country to visit, and such a joy to do it together. Sad to be leaving, but looking forward to seeing everyone again. 

Down Mt Yotei, on to Otaru

How is sleeping in a Japanese refuge hut? Surprising comfortable and warm. 

Waking up to fine weather we decided to see the crater and reach the summit with better visibility and less anxiety. The grandeur of the surrounding mountains, towns and coast was majestic, and we loved getting a better sense of the crater. 

Delighted and satisfied we enjoyed the challenge of boulder-climbing back to the hut, packed up and headed down the hill. 

I had heard that the steepness of the descent was perhaps harder on the legs than the ascent, at it certainly felt like it. By the bottom we were tired but satisfied. What an incredible 24 hours. 

Ramen at the base thanks to 7/11 and our gas burner, then we headed for Otaru, including better view of Mt yotei, a 2 km tunnel and the construction site for the extension of the Shinkansen from Hakodate to Sapporo. 

Otaru is an old port to the north which saw great expansion in the second half of the 18th century during the Meiji period's rapid modernisation of Japan. As a result there are many impressive stone buildings and a canal constructed for loading goods into barges in order to then be loaded on to ships in the harbour. 

The canal soon fell into disuse when container loading was introduced, but in recent years it has been beautified to entice tourists. It worked! 

Canning factory - if only my dad had heard of this place and so had an opportunity to write a story for his food processing magazine and get a free trip to Hokkaido. 

We strolled around the shops

 and the Minister found us a ramen place down an alleyway - 2 delicious bowls if ramen and 2 beers for $25. 

Then out to the edge of town for our final night - a hotel which boasts an impressive foyer, large rooms, an onsen, a swimming pool, a squash court and an indoor tennis court. Even its own convenience store!

A lovely way to spend our last night in Japan. 

Volcanic destruction & beauty

Once again we woke to new morning mercies - our Japanese tiny house was rain proof and the rain had stopped. 

The Minister brought variety to our breakfast routine - a different convenience store - Seico Tokako. Choosing yet more variety we walked along the promenade, enjoying the lake and the statues more than we did from inside the sweet shop through the rain yesterday.

 

Fun fact - Toyako has been here for over a hundred years since the 1910 earthquake revealed the potential of the thermal waters for an onsen. Bizarrely in 2008 the G8 meeting of the leaders of the world biggest economies was held here, thought I doubt they spent their money on the breakfast buffet at Seico convenience store. 

Enough about breakfast. 

The 2000 eruption produced a mud slide which destroyed apartment blocks, roads and bridges. Much of this has been preserved for the volcanic remnants walk. 

We were struck by the destructive power of the earth and found looking into the destroyed but preserved homes decidedly eerie. 

(side of apartment block damage by the torn away bridge which came to a stop in the distance)

Leaving Lake Toya behind, we drove on to Makkari for the high point of our time in Hokkaido - our ascent up Mt Yotei to stay the night at the refuge hut. 

Mt Yotei is known as Ezo-Fuji, because of its striking resemblance to Japan's favourite mountain - Mt Fuji (Ezo is the old name for Hokkaido). 

Remembering our view of Mt Fuji from the ropeway at Hakone and from the Shinkansen:

We immediately saw the resemblance:

The forecast was for no rain and a relatively mild night, so we were surprised and disappointed to arrive at the base in steady rain. Was a 4 hour ascent even worth doing?

Refusing to be deterred, we set off in our rain coats 

and thankfully the rain did stop after 20 minutes. It was slow going for 3 hours as we ascended over 1200 metres, though we admired the ever changing vegetation. 

But when we emerged above the clouds to glorious sunshine, it was worth it!

 Even more so when we went past the small glaciers on the way to the refuge hut. 

The hut keeper was expecting us and greeted us warmly, showing us around the new but basic hut and giving us directions to the crater and the summit - another 2 hour round trip - there was just enough time before wanted to be back to see the sunrise. 

Up at the crater's edge we came across the ruins of the forner refuge hut 

and several glaciers in the crater, as well as a pool of water at the bottom.

 Apparently some people ski down the crater in the winter. 

Conscious of the limited time, we followed the signs to the summit, and it wasn't  long before we found it.

But due to the growing fog and our limited Japanese, it soon became evident that we had peaked too early, for we found a new summit   

and another

Until finally we reached the real summit

 Visibility was just enough to take this photo and we had about 20 minutes left to scramble back through the fog over boulders before sunset. By now we had given up being able to see the sunset, but we at least wanted to arrive back before dark. I was beginning to wonder whether the whole adventure was rather dangerous and tried to reassure myself by running through all the warm clothes and water we had with us, in case have to spend the night on top of the mountain.

What a wonderful surprise greeted us  when we reached the other side of the crater and headed down towards the refuge hut. Not only was the sun visible but the sunset above the clouds was insanely beautiful. 

We stood together, praising out Creator, for we could not help but confess that the heavens declare his glory.

What a joy to experience this together. And to think that he puts on this light show every night!

Back into the refuge hut for dinner, a Psalm and the final episode of 'James May - our man in Japan' on Hamish's phone.

What a day!

lake Toya

Another fun trip to 7-11 for breakfast and camping supplies before we headed off on a scenic drive over the mountains to Lake Toya. 

With rain forecast for the afternoon we headed straight to the Mt uzu ropeway (gondola) to see the view of the lake and of the crater. Mt Uzu erupted 5 times in the 20th century (1910, 1944, 1977, 2000) and each time has changed the landscape. 

Mt Showa-Shinzan (above) rose up from nothing over 6 months in 1944. The local post master recorded it and earned himself a statue.

In 1977 the fumes reached 12000m, higher than we've flown on this trip. 

Thankfully each time there's been plenty of volcanic warning signs and the local population was evacuated. 

Once up the top, we of course opted for the full outer rim crater walk which was well worth the effort, even with the rain.