Japan!

Asia
July 30th 2009

Published: July 30th 2009

There are always bumps along the road while your travelling and my first bump happened as soon as I got off the plane at the Narita airport. Tomo was nowhere to be found and after paging him and waiting for two hours I was ready to make a move. I met a great guy on the airplane named Paul who gave me a name of a hostel in downtown Tokyo named Kimi Ryokan. On Paul's way out of the airport he said "You said that your adventure begins here and so it has. It wouldn't be an adventure if everything went smoothly." That sure sounded like something I said before I left. The next step was getting on a train and taking it to downtown Tokyo. It sounds simple but when you can't read, the transit system is extremely complex, the machines that give you tickets have 50 buttons and you've been awake for over 36 hours it is enough to give you a headache. I made it to the hostel without too many problems. The hostel was great and like everywhere in Tokyo I was able to get WiFi. Tomo replied to my email and told me that he marked

Narita Airport Customs

Got in trouble for this one.

my arrival on the wrong day. He picked me up from the hostel the next day. Once I was under Tomo's wing I realized how lucky I was to have him. I think my trip from the airport made me appreciate Tomo's guidance more than I would have.

For the next two weeks I enjoyed a tour around Japan that I will never forget. It started out quickly because Tomo likes to pack as much in to a day as he can. We started by visiting Asakusa which is a traditional Tokyo setting with tourist shops around every corner. Next I tried Kaisen don and did some exploring around Tokyo. The next day we woke up early and went straight to the fish market or "Tsukiji" which I believe is the biggest fish market in the world. I have never seen and smelt so many different fish in my life. On the corner of every aisle there was a tuna fish being beheaded or a tank with live eels inside. I could see how such a place could make someone sick but I loved it. After the fish market we ate Takoyaki and went home to get some rest

Ticket machine

before we would hike Mount Fuji.

I'll pick those noodles up, just watch me!!
Initially I was worried that I would eat too fast but to my surprise I'm the slowest one. My skills with chopsticks range anywhere from a Japanese teenager to a small child. I have been complimented a few times but it totally depends on what I'm eating. It amazes me how people pay attention to me while I eat. I watched a family while they ate dinner and the adults were watching the children the same way Tomo watched me. I'm sure that I'll look like a pro in North America but I definitely don't meet Japanese standards for people my age. Can I just lick my plate?!

We've been to three different hotsprings; hotsprings in Gotemba, Isesaski and Kusatsu. The Kusatsu hotsprings are very famous in Japan and there is a reason for it. The hotsprings are outside and you are surrounded by a beautiful deciduous forest away from the busy highways and cities. Nearby, there are several hiking trails and creeks running with blistering hot water. So far my experience is that Japan is a busy place with people and vehicles

Ticket Machines

going everywhere all of the time. This type of place is definitely nice to go to and it reminded me of home. After each hotspring some of my toenails felt closer to falling off. I've now lost one more toenail and I believe that there are more to come.

Tomo's family lives in Isesaki city and I had a chance to visit with them for two nights. I was treated like a king and taken out for amazing Japanese food both nights. The first night we went to the best sushi restaurant in Isesaki and I was told to eat as much sushi as I could. It was almost too good to be true. I ate every kind of fish available and got to drink some fine Japanese beer. My mouth still waters when I think of that night. I'm going to miss the sushi in Japan very much. One day Tomo's father gave me the grand tour of the amazing land and forests that surround their city. We visited Mount Asama and Shirane which are two of the many active volcanoes of Japan. I couldn't ask for a better way to experience Japan.

If I were to

Waiting for the subway

measure my experience in Japan based on the food that I ate then I would rate it a 10/10. I made a list of all the traditional Japanese foods that I ate but can't find it right now. Off the top of my head, here is a list of food I tried:

• Sushi (my favourite)
• Takoyaki (another favourite, like sushi but the rice is in a bowl and many kinds of fish are ontop of it)
• Osen-bei
• Natto
• Okonomiaki
• Kaisen don
• Gyu don
• Ramen
• Soba
• Udon
• Cow tongue (hahaha, as chewy as you can imagine but if you cook it extra long it isn't, very tastey)
• Various parts of the cow that I've never eaten (not the oysters!)
• Japanese tofu (tofu at home will never be the same)
• Much much more

Eating new foods will continue to be my favourite part about travelling. So far I haven't tasted anything that I've disliked and I like the food in Japan so much that I would move here just for it. Some other sites I visited are Kamakura and the Tokyo Government building. There is no

Mount Fuji

way I can capture it all, so to finish this entry I wrote a small story about our Mount Fuji adventure (below) and included as many pictures of Japan as possible.

Please note: Many of the photos are out of order and not labelled but they will be fixed soon!

Enjoy,

Mike

Mount Fuji

Sorry to all that are worrying about me if this story causes anymore grief. Since Mount Fuji was a highlight of Japan and it turned out to be such an adventure I couldn't leave this one out.

The goal was to hike Mount Fuji at night so that we could see the sunrise over Japan. We started our ascent around 8 or 9 PM to summit this 3900m volcano. This trek wasn't going to help me adjust to the time change but didn't care. Fortunately the trailhead is about half-way up the mountain so it isn't as hard as it sounds.

The bus dropped us off at the trailhead just in enough time to catch a stunning sunset. We stretched, ate and then started hiking within an hour of leaving the bus. A group

Sunrise from the Trailhead

of students were on the bus with us; Tomo and I worried about them from the beginning. Most of them were dressed in jeans and didn't look properly equipped for what was to come. The temperature at the top is hard to imagine because it is so hot at the bottom.

During the first half of the hike we had no problems but that wasn't the case for the group of students. We met the students at a rest area and one of them was starting to get cold. He had a long way to go and knowing that he would probably force himself to keep going with the crowd I lent him my fleese. Although I would be colder without it I knew that I would be okay. I tried to tell him (through Tomo) to take off his wet underlayers and put the fleese on but I don't think the message got across the way I wanted. The response was "he is just cold not sweating" but he was probably soaked from sweat and didn't know it. Anyway, I didn't see my fleese back for over a week until we finally got in touch with them. I'm

Shelters on top of Fujisan

lucky to get it back.

As we got further to the top the winds increased along with a mist that made my headlamp useless. My photography mission became impossible and all my attention went to staying warm. We couldn't see any further than 1m infront of us. It was just enough to see when the trail changed directions or what rock to step on during a steep scramble. It was so wet that if you didn't have the proper rainwear you were doomed. Conditions got worse and we trudged through it all while we tried to minimize our prespiration. The closer we got to the top the more I knew I didn't want to wait for the sunrise for very long. We were told that the staff won't open up the shelters until after sunrise and with conditions as bad as these it was unwise to stand out in the elements for too long unless you had a change of clothes (my fleese). With about 350m to go I left Tomo with a fellow hiker and hiked ahead of everyone. I rushed to the top to find a good spot to stay warm. There was only one open building

At a rest area near the beginning of our ascent

that had a generator running in it. The room was filled with diesel fumes so I stayed in it long enough to take off my jacket and clothes, wrap myself in a thermal blanket and put it all back on. Afterwards I was feeling much better. There was nowhere good to rest so the only choice we had was to tough it out.

Tomo made it up a little later than I expected and he wasn't looking so good. I immediately knew that something was wrong. Soon after he showed up the staff opened up the rest areas so that we could get out of the rain and wind. They opened up early because there were so many people and the weather was so bad. These rest areas made me feel like I went back in time. They were built with stones, the doors were made of thin pieces of wood and they were pressed up against the mountain like little hobbit homes. I wrapped Tomo in a thermal blanket and covered him with my sleeping bag. The staff boiled cans of green tea so I hooked him up with tea. More hikers started piling into the room so

Mt Fuji Summit Map

the room temperature got much warmer. Eventually the Mount Fuji staff gave us a hard time for laying down which kind of ticked me off. Even after Tomo explained to them how he was feeling no one was any more helpful. I understand that the services up there are extremely limited but there had to of been a place to warm up and dry clothing. I suppose that they didn't think he was bad enough and if they help one they have to help all. He seemed to be making progress and eventually he felt good enough for us to start our descent. By this time the sun had risen but there was no way we could see it through the thick clouds and mist. After walking for about 20 minutes Tomo started to look very sloppy. We descended about 1000ft and arrived at another rest area. Tomo immediately passed out on a bench, then got up and vomitted beside the rest area building. The building was filled with sleeping people and it had a fire pit in the centre. He didn't want help but I knew better. I spoke with the staff who luckily spoke some English and they

Heading home!

quickly made a spot for Tomo and I beside the fire pit. We stayed there for over an hour before we continued our trek. Tomo felt much better after vomitting and warming up. I felt much better after eating some curry and rice that they were selling at the rest area. I imagine the rest of the trip was painful for Tomo but for me it was the best part. We were out of the thick clouds and could see clearly over another thick layer that appeared to cover all of Japan. It was nice to be out of the rain and also to know that Tomo was going to be okay.

We made it down safely and headed straight to the hotsprings. Tomo looked so healthy and energetic that it was like Mount Fuji never even happened. He was busy figuring out what to do next but I knew what I wanted to do... SLEEP!

To my surprise, all of the students we met on the bus made it to the top. Next time I might try to convince people in their situation to go home because I think my adventure would've been a lot better if