Henry Sauermann

Nagoya-Morioka-Hokkaido-Hiraizumi-Nikko-Tokyo-Kyushu-Hiroshima-Kyoto-Himeji-Takayama-Nagoya

Asia has long been a white spot on my personal travel-map. In March, however, American Airlines made an offer I couldn't refuse. Japan for 529 Dollars. Because of the upcoming world exhibition in the Aichi region, several airlines had opened a new connection to the city of Nagoya and offered this very low introductory fare. Thus, while Japan hadn't been on the top of my list and even though there was much work to do at school, I clicked "purchase" and soon I sat in the exit row seat (unlimited legroom!-) of a Boeing 777. After 13 hours, we arrived over Japan and I was stunned by the views of that island. Endless chains of snow-capped mountains and deep valleys dominated; traces of human existence are rare with smaller and bigger cities lined up at the coast or in valleys and river deltas that offer scarce space.

And this is Japan. I flew into Nagoya (center of the map), which is on the main island, Honshu. From there, I first went north to catch the famous Japanese cherry blossoms, then back south via Tokyo to the island of Kyushu, and then up again to Hiroshima, Kyoto and finally Nagoya.

My silver bird at Nagoya Airport after our arrival. The airport is brand-new and there is not much traffic - another example for investments with negative net present value?

I arrived in the evening and all I did that night was find my hostel and take a quick tour around the train station of Nagoya to find some food. I had one of the local specialties: pork cutlet (mostly fat) on cabbage, which came with Japanese rice and green tea. Japanese restaurants abroad might make us believe otherwise, but Sushi is a specialty in Japan and most of the time, people eat much simpler food such as noodles noodles and rice. Most restaurants have a visual menu outside - customers (not just foreigners who can't speak Japanese) can pick what they want from these very natural looking plastic dishes.

I spent the first night at the youth hostel in Nagoya. People usually don't sleep in Western beds, but on futons that are rolled out on the floor at night. This saves precious space. The floor of rooms is covered with Tatami mats (rice straw), which gives the room a wonderful smell - despite the fact that people are required to take their shoes off outside of the building and use plastic slippers provided by the host(el). On my first morning, I walked back to the train station to head north. On my way I saw the first site of "homes" of the homeless. I would see many more during my trip and it seems that they are an accepted aspect of Japanese life. These blue tents are set up in parking lots, city parks, and under bridges and the dwellers often spend their time in groups sitting outside.

I had bought a Japan Rail pass that gave me 14 days of unlimited travel on the Japanese Rail System. Regular train faires are outrageous, so that this pass (450 $) was a really good deal. The pass is also valid on the super highspeed train "Shinkansen" which links the major cities of Honshu and Kyushu (see map above). The train comes in three types: the very fast "Kodama" stops at most major stops, the super fast "Hikari" stops only at major stops, and the super super highspeed train "Nozomi" pretty much flies across the island, stopping only at cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima.

My first ride took me from Nagoya to Morioka in the northern part of the Island of Honshu. I had hoped for sunshine, blue skies, and a sea of cherry blossoms, but I arrived in a rainy city with almost no greenery. I was surprised how simple many houses were in Morioka. Further north, life would become even simpler - the image of Japan as the rich, consumer driven country may be correct for some big cities, but most of what I saw here reminded me of less developed countries I had seen on prior trips.

Thanks to the lonely planet guidebook I had a small map with the major "sights" of Morioka. Despite light rain I started to find the Buddhist temple Hoon-ji in the north of the city. As should become typical for my explorations of cities, I got lost. Most Japanese cities have no logical street system and even the numbers on the houses are arbitrary. I stopped at a local post office to ask for the way and experienced extreme friendliness and helpfulness. Although only one staff member spoke some English, all got involved, copying maps, explaining the shortest way to each other, and smiling at me. After a long walk, I arrived at the temple with its impressive gate and a famous hall containing statues of the 500 disciples of Buddha, each posed in different attitudes.

Almost as interesting as the old statues was the bathroom. Bathrooms in Japan are usually equipped with special bathroom shoes that you are expected to wear during your visit in that place. But don't forget to take them off when you are leaving...

Another famous sight in Morioka: the rock-splitting cherry tree. The tree still looked pretty naked, a sure sign that I had travelled too far north and the cherry blossom frontier ("Sakura") was further south. Well, at some point I would catch it.

My little excursion had left me totally wet and cold. How glad was I to be able to check into my hotel in the evening. And of course I didn't just pick any hotel - I stayed in a "capsule hotel", unique to Japan. What you get for your money (about 3000 yen or 30 $) is a small capsule measuring about 2x1x1 meter. Since there is no space for luggage, you also get a locker.

Inside the capsule is a bed, a reading light, a radio, an alarm clock and a TV. The latter even has a porn channel. There are no doors but you have a curtain that gives some privacy. Capsule hotels are usually used by business people who missed their trains home or by people who got stuck in bars. This hotel also offered access to a nearby public bath and I spent the whole evening there, watching people, baseball games on TV and inhaling more cigarette smoke in one night than usually in a whole year. Smoking is still big business in Japan.

Another typical activity is reading magazines in the store. It is fun to see long lines of people reading all sorts of printed products, often "mangas", the Japanese cartoons. Unlike in Germany, where sales staff "nicely" remind you that the store is no library if you look at a magazine for more than 5 seconds, reading in the store is very common in Japan and it has happened that I saw the same people standing in the same spot when I passed by a store a second time an hour later.

The Shinkansen ends in the north of the island of Honshu. To get to Sapporo on the northern Island of Hokkaido, I had to take a regular train. What a time-consuming endeavor! But at least I had enough time to stare at the snow that slowly appeared outside - I was getting close to the North Pole!-) But eventually I arrived in Sapporo, a large and growing city. Most cities have some sort of TV tower in their city center, and these towers usually look like bad copies of the famous Eiffel Tower. The one in Sapporo even has the digital clock that the Eiffel tower had to count down to the year 2000.

Sapporo has a vibrant entertainment district called Susukino. On my nightly walk through that area I discovered a contrast that I should find repeatedly: an old Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine in the midst of Western buildings and life.

I had traveled all the way to Sapporo not for the city but for the national parks on Hokkaido. On the next morning, I took a train to lake Toya, famous for its beautiful island and the surrounding volcanoes. The place was still sleeping, the tourist season had not begun yet. Some workers painted the hotels, which didn't make the ugly concrete cubes any nicer.

Luckily, the cable car was operating and took me up to mount Usuzan, a volcano that last erupted in 1977. I wouldn't have minded some warmth, but the view was beautiful despite the cold winds up there.

A look back at the lake and its hotels.

For the trip back to the main island, I had booked a night train to save time (and money for the hotel). I had about an hour before the train left, so I enjoyed a tea with milk in the local Starbucks. The chain is really big in Japan (just like McDonalds), but it seems that Starbucks has really brought a nice piece of culture to Japan. At least I enjoyed the atmosphere.

The gates leading to the train platforms. In Japan, train tickets typically have a magnetic back side and entry and exit to train platform are electronically controlled. Except in trains that require certain surcharges, there are no conductors checking tickets. I was really grateful that JR (Japan Rail) cared about its international customers and provided basic directions and train information in Japanese as well as English.

After many hours on different trains, I arrived in Hiraizumi, a small city in northern Honshu. Finally I had escaped the rain and I discovered the first signs of cherry blossoms. The houses here looked much nicer than up in the north, some being rather luxurious.

Hiraizumi is famous for two temple sites. The larger one is Chuson-ji and was originally established in 850. I spent some hours exploring the wonderful area with countless smaller temples and shrines, all in a beautiful forest setting.

Temples usually have small fountains where visitors wash their hands and drink from the water.

Chuson-ji also houses a "National Treasure" (nationally important cultural sites or objects): a golden tempel. Of course, it was forbidden to take pictures inside the protective larger building, so I had to take a picture from outside using my mega-zoom.

On my way back from the temple area, I discovered this sporting event. Note the interesting outfit of the woman.

I stayed in a youth hostel that was part of another tempel, Motsu-ji.

Motsu-ji has lost most of its buildings, but still offers a beautiful garden and lakes.

After visiting the temples at Chuson-ji, I still had time left. So I decided to take a train to Ichinoseki, a larger town nearby. For the first 20 minutes of my walk there, the town seemed rather uninteresting. But then I climbed up a small hill and saw THIS!

I had finally caught the cherry blossom frontier :). Many people enjoyed the trees along the river, some having picnics, others just walking up and down the promenade.

Reason to smile :). Here in a Yukata, a less formal version of the kimono. Every hotel and some youth hostels provide a yukata for their guests, often with a design specific to the hotel.

On the next day I took the train to Nikko, a famous temple site near Tokyo. The weather was wonderful and I saw things that I hadn't seen when I first took this train in the other direction on my way to Hokkaido. A large part of Honshu is covered by the "Japanese Alps", the mountains I had seen from the plane and that form a constant backdrop to the cities and fields that are located along the coast lines.

The red Shinkyo bridge leads to the temple area of Nikko.

The famous pagoda of Nikko. Each story represents an element: earth, water, fire, wind, and heaven.

People listening to tour guides. Most tourists in Japan seem to be Japanese...

The buildings are wonderfully painted.

Nikko offers fascinating views. Somehow, it reminds me of the old temple sites in Mexico and Guatemala which also mix ancient culture with wonderful nature (Travelogue).

The statue of an imperial minister in a niche of the Yomeimon Gate.

People are supposed to make offerings when they visit a temple or shrine. Usually they just drop money in large boxes, but offerings can also be more "concrete". Large barrels of Sake (rice wine) are very popular, in Nikko even Whisky.

Another look at this stunning temple complex.

Looks like a Blue Devil, doesn't he? (For outsiders: the blue devil is the Mascot of Duke University, my school).

In the evening, when I walked under the beautiful street lights of a close-by spa town, I heard beautiful classical music in the otherwise empty streets. What had happened? Little speakers that were attached to the lamp posts announced that it was 6 pm, time to go home for little children. Somehow, the atmosphere reminded me of socialism, both the cheap look of these lamps and the fact that some central agency tried to take control of people's lives...