Blogs from Takayama, Gifu, Japan, Asia - page 5

Retyped from hand written text Right now I am writing this on paper, Drinking the usual Green tea whilst cooling down from a heat I thought was not possible for a human being to endure. Yes I have just had a bath at the Inn. In the traditional manner there is a shared bath but here one bath is all you get. But as with the other it is set to the usual superheated temperatur which in my opinion is only possible with a kettle element. But I have to admit it feels great even if this time it is ordinary water! Right on todats happenings. Got up at the usual 6am I had arranged for breakfast at 7am so I had time to pop to the morning market just across the bridge (for the veg ... read more

Notre trajet en train s'annoncait penible... 3 trains et un autobus a prendre, pas beaucoup de temps pour les transferts... Et si on manque un train, le prochain est dans plus de 4 heures... Mais finalement ca s'est bien passe! Si le trajet demande autant de transfert, c'est a cause d'un chemin de fer endommage qui oblige a prendre un autobus a un certain moment. Tous est organise pour les transferts, on ne peut pas manquer le prochain train. De toute facon, ils se font dans des gares si petites que l'on ne peut pas se perdre! On est en pleine campagne, au beau milieu de nulle part! Autre surprise pendant le trajet, les paysages sont vraiment magnifiques! C'est incroyable! De la foret, avec des rivieres eau milieu. L'eau est verte foncee, c'est assez particulier. Bref, ... read more

I’ve read Alex Kerr’s “Lost Japan” cover to cover today (Jeeva’s recommendation), and his cynical take on the concreting over of Japan’s cultural heritage has inevitably colored my response, especially to the artifical environs of Shirakawa-go, an assembly line of reconstituted thatched dwellings for the satiation of snapping salarymen, who wander around in a daze of incomprehension before returning to their fluorescent cubicles. Some comments on Mr Kerr’s diatribe about the Pachinko-isation of Japan. Yes the damned (intentional misspelling) rivers do run in pitiful concrete channels, the cities are assemblies of anonymous cubby-hole architecture populated by faceless business folk, and Hitachi tastelessly sponsors signage at every zen garden and buddhist temple, but the homogenisation of pop culture isn't unique to Japan. Every city in the world is acquiring it's own barcode, an imp... read more

After a nice restful night, we were up early for our breakfast ・Japanese style. We have been asked what the Japanese eat fro breakfast, well here is what was on our table and unfortunately we didn't eat all of this, because if we had we would have been there half the morning! One skewered fish - cooked at least, but still with head, eye and tail on! We each had a burner, on which was an up-turned leaf with pieces of raw meat, peppers and onions. When the burner was lit, the leaf secreted oil to become a natural frying pan! Also, there was a large pot of rice, in which to place the fried meat & vegetables as well into which to whisk the raw egg on our plate. Finally, there was also a ... read more

Another long travel day involving a number of train changes to get to Gero, which is about a 45 minute train ride south of Takayama. We are staying here due to the festival in Takayama. We are in a very traditional ryokan - no heated toilet seat in sight...in fact, no toilet seat in sight:). After finally arriving we all hopped in the onsen and then dressed up in traditional Japanese yukata for a very traditional Japanese meal - did you not hear my knees creaking from there? The dinner was served at low tables while we sat on cushions, and consisted of lots of raw tuna and fish eggs, the local mountain veggies and some Hida beef cooked in miso right at your tray. I just may come back as a Hida cow in my ... read more