Blogs from Niigata, Japan, Asia

Leaving the Hakuba valley was with trepidation and a tinge of sadness. Mainly for the anticipated historical snowfall that was to curtail the activity over the next few days of Oshoogatsu, New Years celebrations Making full use of the free local shuttles in the area from Happo village, I headed out to get the gear hire from Iwatake. Iwatake translates as ‘place of hideously loud and tasteless music’, piped through the speakers attracting a mixed crowd of Japanese and foreigner boarders and skiers. On the upside, the terrin of cross country routes through trees and undulating hills fit the bill nicely. I ditched the plan of staying on familiar trails there to go on to Tsugaike’s Maeyama cross country paths, farther east up the valley and about 30 minutes along heavily snowed roads A short 5 ... read more

On 3 June the all-day tour bus organized by the lady in Ryotsu picked me up from the hotel just after 8am, so which was the earliest start ever. A big bus so no issue to throw my bag under as it was dropping me off at the end of Ryotsu where I would stay the night. It seemed to travel all the way over to Ryotsu picking up people at various hotels and then we headed to the Toki no mori koen – which is a place dedicated to the breeding of the toki, the Japanese pink crested ibis. This is virtually one of the symbols of Sado as a result. The last one died in the wild in the 1970’s I think so they rely on the captive breeding program. It is obviously unique ... read more

Giappone: per la seconda volta un viaggio sciistico, un viaggio di passione, la passione per il viaggio. Giappone: perchè? in tanti me l' hanno chiesto. Perchè il Giappone è 'estremo' oriente, perchè è il regno della powder, perchè voglio finalmente riuscire a fare il fantasma....e ora che sono qui cosa penso? Le aspettative sono alte, le due giornate passate a Tokyo sono state quasi uno scomodo interludio (probabilmente sono malato, lo so ma l'ho vissuta così, sono venuto qui per sciare), e l'arrivo qui a Nozawa Onsen è stato ricco di contraddizioni: la stanchezza del viaggio e del fuso si sono scontrate con l'inaspettata assenza del muro di neve che ci aspettavamo...solo 2 metri...ma a poco a poco l'occhio si abitua al paesaggio e si iniziano a vedere le sue reali dimensioni. Qualche foto può forse ... read more

Snowboarding. This means a lot of different things to different people. Reactions vary, from 'snow, what's that?' to 'so, you want to strap yourself to a bit of plastic and throw yourself down a mountain WHY?' or 'fully sick mate! Last year in Whistler I.....' To me it meant that I could finally throw off the mantle of depression and Japan-loathing brought on by being cold ALL THE TIME and enjoy a piece of the winter I was unable to escape. When snow is a novelty it's all 'ooh...snow...wow...pretty...little flakes...la la la...snow faries....winter wonderland.....' bla bla bla, but once the novelty is gone it's more along the lines of 'damn car window has iced up AGAIN!...slippery roads, stairs, pathways...cold hallways at school...getting sick...'etc. A firend called me up and asked me if I was interested in ... read more

So I went to the Fuji Rock Festival. 'Twas wicked. I saw a bunch of bands play... Danced with a load of random Japanese people, basically didn't sleep the whole time... Man, I didn't know there were so many Japanese hippies. And these guys party pretty damn hard. The bands I saw were (In no particular order whatsoever): Kings of Leon Muse The Cure Lily Allen Jarvis Cocker Kemuri The Beastie Boys Iggy & The Stooges Kaiser Chiefs Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group ...And some random Japanese bands whose names I cannot type. ...And that's not to mention the all-night DJs. I met the guys who were working on bringing "Afro Punk" to Japan--It's a documentary about black punk-rockers. They were pretty cool... One of them did an interview on MTV while we were there. We hung ... read more