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Published: February 21st 2010
When Sir Thomas More wrote a book called
Utopia back in 1516 there maybe wasn't the global reach available to see if he'd researched it in Japan - but it is quite possible!
I sat in Shanghai, procrastinating over the cost of Japan, and, had I not had a driving need to get to Tokyo (at the very least to see my friend and then fly to Oz) I might well have still be sat there! A few up tempo messages from
Jools after reading her blogs got me off my lazy ass and I sorted the flights - well I actually managed to do that from the comfort of my seat too! What I did need to get moving on was the Japan Rail pass. I went to the wrong office on the Friday so was left with only Saturday to try and sort it. As has become the incredible luck of my journey the door to the right building was open and the office, which should have been shut, had a girl there who'd popped into do some paperwork and couldn't believe I'd made it into the building at all! In Chinas final act of kindness to me
she sorted out my pass and I was set for the off on Sunday.
I said goodbye to China via the 440km/h Maglev and my flight arrived in Osaka just in time for bed. The flight attendant had struggled twice to provide the 'local time' on our arrival so I set it by the train I took from the airport - which was of course running pefectly on time! The train conductor walked into the carriage, removed his hat and bowed deeply to the passengers, thanked us all for using their service and then checked tickets. I pinched myself! Half an hour later I was in the rough area of my hotel and stood blankly on the street trying to follow my own directions. Within the minute a couple had stopped their car, located my hotel on their sat nav and walked me too it before bidding me a pleasant stay in Japan. A few minutes later still I was checked into my immaculate white dorm room (to myself) and sat on my heated loo seat (playing with the many buttons) wondering whether or not, somewhere along the line, I had carelessly died, and if so where exactly I'd
landed!
I woke in the morning though which seemed to make me think that this was all somehow real and with only a short time frame there was much to see and every reason to get moving! Despite the wonderful write up on Jools blog I decided to give the aquarium a skip as I figured I would be diving the barrier reef in only a couple of weeks so instead I opted for walking the city. From the castle to the nightlife the place was beautiful. In the evening the gambling halls were full of business suits and young kids feeding slot machines, other drunken business suits roamed the brightly lit, vibrantly lit alleys to a girl bar or two before catching the late train home and doing it all again tomorrow - I was just wandering in slack jawed wonder at it all.
Only too soon it was time to move on and my next stop was Hiroshima. The hotel in Osaka was beautiful but had no kind of atmosphere so I was delighted to arrive in Hiroshima to find a warm welcome both from the staff and the other guests and I had great hopes
that we'd have a good couple of evenings ahead. I headed straight down to the peace garden with my lunch and tried to get myself in a mental place to think about the history of the city.
I don't know if it was the serenity and understated nature of the park that left space for my emotions or that by sitting in the park I was immediately faced with the memorials but I just sat quietly for some time in tears on the park bench. How could this ever have happened? I recovered myself a little and took a long, slow walk around the park - the memorial to the children, to the Koreans, to the hundred or so cremated there and of course the childrens exhibit for peace. I walked slowly round to the A bomb dome that stands as a haunting, skeletal contrast to the beauty all around and the new office buildings that form its back drop and at this point I happened upon two people who provide free tours of the area.
The lady had a badge on her neck describing her as a 'second generation survivor' whilst the gentlemans badge labelled him as
an 'in utero survivor'. Both were incredibly cheery in their demeanour and so incredibly warm I melted, but in no way did their humour detract from the incredible information they gave those gathered around.
During WWII there had been a push by eminent scientists and politicians to push the US on developing nuclear weaponry in a mentality of 'if
we don't
they might'. As a result 2 billion dollars and as many as 120,000 people were utilised in its development. Despite many high level protests cities were short listed for being the first target of the new weaponry. Of the four possible cities short listed for having a suitably large
urban centre Hiroshima was the only one that intelligence reports stated did not have a prisoner of war camp. Despite the war clearly nearing an end Japan rejected the Potsdam agreement, this and the PoW camp intelligence sealed the cities fate.
On the morning of Monday 6th August 1945 several planes flew over Hiroshima. The first dropped measuring devices to record accurately what happened and at 8.15am the 'Enola Gay' dropped her payload over the centre of Hiroshima. 600m above the ground the 'little boy' exploded and the
ensuing heat waves and blasts would immediately turn this thriving urban area into a charred ruin and a page of our worlds terrible history had been written. People who weren't immediately burnt to death or shattered into pieces found themselves dying torturously over the coming hours, days and months. From the epicentre of the blast there was only one known survivor who, by some stroke of fortune had been in a cellar, sheilded by both concrete and the river.
Exact figures for those who lost their lives are not available as, whilst it was possible to know the number of residents killed the number of visitors to the area and other workers could never be established. Number range between 65,000 and 200,000 though, not just from the initial blast but from the ensuing illnesses.
It would have been easy to get depressed by the large museum, but for me I was incredibly moved by the clear messages that rang through. Firstly, in stark contrast to my experience of history in China, this exhibit was incredibly frank and honest about Japanese involvement in the war. The displays felt factual without being crawlingly apologetic or in any way defensive. Secondly,
a huge feeling about how completely wrong Hiroshima and Japan believe nuclear weapons to be. When any nuclear test is conducted by any nation in the world the Mayor of Hiroshima lodges an official protest - this is now a nation for peace. My friend would later tell me that in a recent survey of the nation 70% of respondants said that if war arose they would flee the country!
In September 1945 a cyclone hit Hiroshima. The city certainly didn't need any more problems, but although about 3000 people lost their lives, the winds swept away the residue of the nuclear fallout, and without there being evidence that the effects of the bomb have been genetically inherited the effects of the bomb, at least physically, have been relatively short lived - the city is now one of peace, beauty and forward vision.
The following day was a 5am start to try to see the sunrise at Mirijima which should, on the right day be one of the most scenic spots in Japan. Sadly the weather was not in my favour so it was another day for arty black and white pictures!
In no time I was
off to Kyoto, well, Nara was the destination but I had to dump my bags at my hostel in Kyoto first. Fortunately everything went smoothly in that respect and by lunchtime I'd caught the train from Osaka to Kyoto, found my hostel, booked in and got straight off to Nara where, that evening, there was to be a festival with fireworks.
In my haste I'd forgotten to pick up an umbrella, which was, by all accounts, pretty stupid! The skies opened while I was on the train and I cursed myself a good few times. Lost in my own stupidity and my music I didn't initially realise that a man had sat down opposite to me until he tapped my shoulder. Within a couple of minutes I'd learnt that he was a 76 year old local guy that wanted to show me around and practice his English in the process! Unable to refuse the offer I sheltered under his generous umbrella and took to the streets of Nara.
I quickly got an impression of quite how beautiful the city would be, especially in more favourable weather. The Japanese certainly know how to preserve their historical buildings in a
beautiful but historically sensitive way. Although, up to that point, I was completely and utterly 'templed out' the Grand Buddha was one of the most beautiful I've seen in Asia.
Sadly the fireworks were a complete washout with the weather. I had sheltered as best as I could and was cold beyond sense so hit the train back to Kyoto and to K's place where I was staying. This place, if you use any of the hostel sites will need no recommendation from me, it's one of the best rated in Asia and was worthy of that title for all its facilities. What I couldn't have possibly predicted was the wonderful friends that I would make there. Just rarely you find people who remind you that your heart isn't something just to guard from harm but that you are able to give too.
The following day, in my explorations of Kyoto I was lucky enough to see several Miko photoshoots and, over the shoulder of the professional photographer, got some good shots. I saw, but didn't try to shoot, the few geisha that I saw scurrying along in the shadows of the streets trying to avoid attention.
Early on in my stay in Japan I'd read about the monkey onsen in Judicano. When, in Hiroshima I'd met a guy that'd been there and taken some great pictures I knew I had to do it too. With only one day left on my JR pass I had to make an early start to get from Kyoto to Judicano and then back to Tokyo before my pass expired that night.
Now there are times when you feel grateful for travelling alone and this was certainly one of those. Sometimes you just don't want to have to try and justify to someone why you're willing to spend a good six hours travelling, a whole days budget and to be flipping freezing for only 45mins of photos - but that's what I did! The train ride in itself was worth it. Just when you think that Japan can't get any more perfect you just dust it with snow and add a dramatic sun! Then, after a bus ride near to the sanctuary add to your experience a 2km walk through beautiful white snow forest with evergreen branches weighed heavy with snow and you're in shiny happy heaven.
I hope
that the pictures speak for themselves regarding this unusual spot for some very human acting monkeys and I was unbelievably happy to have spent my day doing this but before too long my fingers were numb and it was time to hit the train to Tokyo!
The trains in Japan are fantastic, that has to be said, but typically when you need to get somewhere by a certain time that's when that, and the next three trains are all booked up!! My friend currently works nights so when I rang her and said that I wasn't going to get to Tokyo until about 11pm there were problems! However, a few Japanese words later she came back on the line and told me that her flatmate would meet me and she'd see me when she got in!
After another few moments of extreme stranger kindness (randomly given a couple of apples by one lady and a very kindly gentleman insisted on buying me a coffee - I honestly don't think I look that much like a hobo!!) I was off the train and stood in Tokyo. Moments later I was wrapped in the wonderful hugging arms of my friends
flatmate Mamiy, who was, and is, one of the kindest and most generous people I've ever met. Over the next couple of days we took in some of the classic sights of this modern city and wandered round many shopping centres absorbing the fashion and music scenes. I had wanted to eat sushi at its home which we did on a visit to a restaurant in the Tsukiji market area. For a girl that doesn't like seafood I wolfed down eel, octopus, scallop and a host of other fish - and loved it! We followed that with a trip to an onsen in Tokyo which was luxurious, civilised heaven. I love the whole, sauna, spring massage scene and to do it in such style was wonderful. Never did I think I'd be sat outside naked in Tokyo in February feeling too hot!! My favourite part of that afternoon though was that it gave my friend and I undistracted time just to talk, which was time to be treasured.
Despite all of these wonderful things my memory of Tokyo will always be my last night there. Amongst the list of things I'd told my friend I wanted to see was
sumo. Unfortunately this was out of season and she had lamented this problem to a friend of hers. This friend is an incredibly successful surgeon who happens to hang around with one of the top sumo wrestlers in Japan - so he suggested we all go to dinner - his treat. I had no idea how to act or react! After so long on the travelling circuit the idea of a fancy meal was almost intimidating. I borrowed a little black dress and had my make up done. I even did a reasonable job of disguising the fact that my last haircut cost me 2 dollars in Vietnam - about 3 months ago!
With that we were all set for the night. The Seryna restaurant is one of the best in Tokyo and here we met our host, the sumo wrestler - Tokitenku Yoshiaki, two members of Japanese parliament and a celebrated magician! The meal was spectacular, the kobe beef served there has be tasted to be believed and my first experience of lobster was also heavenly. In between courses the magician entertained us. I retreated regularly to the toilets to pinch myself! I have never seen a good
magician up close and the slight of hand really is amazing. During the night he repeated many of the same tricks again and again and no matter where I looked I was never going to catch him out. I was just struck by wonder - and no more so than when the Japanese Prime Minister came into the restaurant and his group formed the table next to us!
After the meal we moved on to a bar and I experienced the bizarre world of 'hostessing'. In Japan there are literally thousands of bars where rich men go just to sit with female company and buy her drinks. The girls will generally receive as a wage a percentage of the value of the tab. I was extremely sceptical that such a system wasn't a cover for prostitution but my friend told me that this was a very typical thing there and would certainly do no harm to a mans reputation or marriage to spend whole nights drinking and singing terrible karaoke in such clubs as nothing more was expected of the girls. To actually see it in action was strange to be sure but I felt comfortable that it was
just that. Rich men wanting to enjoy, or be seen enjoying some female company.
At the end of the night I sat like Cinderella in the back of a taxi watching the bright lights of Tokyo whizz by and the meter of the taxi whirl round (it was being paid for - of course). I had just had far and away the best meal of my life at a cost that at least equalled the cost of my JR pass and the following day I would be saying goodbye to Japan - and to Asia. Emotions stirred right through me and despite the fact that the following day I am flying to the fantastic arms of my good friends I couldn't help but cry to be leaving Asia. At the start of my journey I imagined how grateful I would be to land in Oz and to find all the media in English and, whilst I have no doubts it'll be a relief at times, I can't help thinking how much I'm going to miss being the odd looking one; who by looking different has experienced such kindness, had conversations with so many wonderful strangers, been cared for and
stared at in equal measure and loved learning all that the countries have had to teach me. Japan, the land where I have felt safer than anywhere else on earth, will always serve as the perfect bridge between Asia and the West. A land where the youth live the American dream yet there still remains and exceptional culture quite distinct from anywhere else.
So goodbye Asia, it's been emotional - it's now time to turn my head to the vast new road ahead.
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Dad C
non-member comment
The best yet
Quite the most beautiful and stirring blog yet! I am thrilled by your comments for had you not been on the emotional roller coaster that Asia seems to have been then what would have been the point of ever travelling and leaving your comfort zone? Well done gal. I'm proud of you and hope there are many wonderful surprises left on your tour of this beautiful, awesome world...