When I was in Nagasaki on Wednesday I came across a stand in a shopping arcade with a plastic model of a whale, a couple of plates with meet and the little toothpicks you usually get to pick up samples. I looked interested and the guy at the stand recognized that. “Whale, Japanese tradition” - I think this is a Japanese tradition which I’ll give a miss.

(Aug 30) From Miyajima I took (as I mentioned earlier) a night train to the most south-western point of my journey, Kagojima and with its vulcanic island Sakurajima. Kagoshima is a also called Naples of the East and Sakurajima is its Vesuvio. It’s also the most active volcano in Japan - and I was lucky it did put on a show for me :)

But first there was a fair share of drama: just before I boarded the night train the zipper of the laptop compartment of my backpack broke. The slider had detached from the one part of the zip and I frantically tried to fix it under the bemused stares of some Japanese bystanders. Well, it did not work. So I first went to sleep and had already started considering other ways to lug my luggage around Japan when just before Kagoshima I managed to fiddle the teeth back into the slider.

After a short ferry ride, I first learned that the onsen (hot spring bath) I wanted to go to (really famous, part of a shrine so have to wear a cotton robe in the water instead of our usual birthday suit and you basically sit outside in a pool made from volcanic rock) was closed for cleaning :( So I decided to rent a bike and attempt to cycle once around the island. The lady at the rental place warned me that it’s quite steep in places and on top of it this is Japan, so it’s just generally hot and humid. I started cycling through a park with big volcanic rocks from one of the more recent eruptions - which has been sufficiently long ago for lush green vegetation to take over. By the time I had come about 1/3 around the island I discovered a big dark smoke cloud from the volcano (which at first has been in clouds). So it was putting on a show for me :)

As I circled it I kept getting different views of it and could also see that its activity was changing. Passing several places where they talk about past eruptions however put me at easy - apparently there have always been plenty of pre-warning signs before an eruption.

After about 3h I had completed the circle - hot, sweaty, covered in black volcanic dust and slightly pink. I had forgotten to put on sunscreen (at first it was a bit cloudy and then I was just too sweaty to put any on). It wasn’t too bad - just when I took off my sunglasses people gave me funny looks. My big shades had protected my eyes but left me with a visible red nose.

Well to cool and clean off I headed to the local beach with nice white sand and very well kept and then dangled my feet in the local foot spa.

After a while I headed back to the station to make it to my overnight stop - Aso, a town close to an active volcano of the same name. The special thing is that you can actually have a look into the cater. After a lengthy train ride on a local train which seemed to stop at every haystack, I got there at around 8pm and the lovely owners of the hostel handed me a discounted ticket to the local onsen. Being up in the mountains meant that it was a bit cooler and there was actually some steam coming from the hot water in the outside pool which was beautifully set with natural stones. Inside there was another hot pool and also a really cold one. I kept alternating hoping that the hot mineral water and the coldness would help my sunburnt skin (it did). And I also made a short trip to the sauna where I discovered - a TV (behind a thick glass window).

So in the end I did get my onsen bath and cycling around an active volcano was definitely an experience :)

I realize that with the mixture of old posts from my time in Tokyo and posts from on the road things got a bit confusing. My itinerary for the last two weeks was as follows:

Okayama, Shiraishi, Kirashiki, Kibi plain, photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2400936&id=36918862&l=5f50cf7cea

Naoshima: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2401684&id=36918862&l=1485a2d1d0
Hiroshima and Miyajima, photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2405470&id=36918862&l=082810cd8a

Sakurajima and Mt Aso, photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2412450&id=36918862&l=97167b25c9

Nagasaki, photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2412591&id=36918862&l=1a0d2860aa

followed by visiting my friend in Omihachiman, a trip to Nara, my stay in the mountain monastery in Koyasan and a not really planned stay in Kanazawa with a visit to a festival in Etchuyatsu. There are photos for those as well but I have not had time to post them - and there will be more stories from the last couple of days of my trip but I am right now moving into my new house and just in general quite busy with catching up. But I promise I will finish this blog :)

Besides this - as much fun as I had, it’s also nice to be back home in England :)

6.30 Euros for some German Schwarzbrot, I think I can wait until I get back home ;) Oh and you can also get Dorset’s cereal, if you are willing to dish out 6.80 pounds. I was tempted by the Gabor chocolate which once marked down to 2.80 Euros costs almost the same as at home.

(repost because tumblr ate the original one)

Nose parade - the nice thing about the ceramic art replica museum is that you are allowed to touch the pictures and get really close to them. This inspired me to get a bit nosy ;)

(repost cause tumblr ate my original one :( )

wear and tear - if you don’t believe that I have been really running around like crazy, this might convince you. These shoes were in great condition when I left, now they are no more ….

Thanks to my rail pass I get to check out many Japanese trains. The bullet trains (Shinkansen) are indeed lightening fast. The Nozomi Shinkansen (which is the fastest and the only on you can’t use with a railpass - I think it’s mainly because they are heavily used by commuters) runs every ten minutes or so from Tokyo down the entire Honshu island.

(this is NOT a shinkansen)

The other day I used the Tsubame Shinkansen on Kyushu and while some of the trains on Honshu look like they have been in service for a while, this one is all new, with lots of wood - very stylish. Unfortunately it does not connect all the way to Hakate where the Shinkansen from Tokyo terminate. But they are working on it.

Japanese trains are completely living up to their reputation of punctuality, you can set your watch after it. What I also like is the leg room and the fact that you are always sitting facing the front of the train - seats can be turned around and usually you can also recline them.

(just push the lever straight underneath the arm rest with your foot and the seats swing around)

Depending on the time of day, if you travel on local trains you also see lots a girls and guys in school uniforms - the girls often in the typical sailor outfits which remind me of the Japanese manga cartoons of my childhood.

Oh and the confuctor stands in the front of the carriage and bows to everyone before he starts checking tickets :)

(Sept 2) Yesterday afternoon I travelled from Nagasaki to Omihachiman to meet up with a friend from Germany who had lived and worked in Japan for the last three years. I had expected Omihachiman to be a tiny village but it was actually a sizeable town - with two McDonalds. We went for dinner and then just sat in front of Starbucks till after 1am chatting about life, plans, what brought us to Japan and what’s next. When we checked the time it was a bit of a shock to us as my friend had to leave for a business trip the next morning at 6am and hadn’t packed yet. In the end we went to bed at around 2am - and my alarm went off at 5.30am. Almost like in the good old rowing times. But some things justify sacrificing sleep - certainly among them are good discussions with friends.

Seen on the McDonald’s menu (I think in the dessert section) - and while excellent service is standard in Japan, when you ask for it (as a friend of mine did) you get indeed an extra smile ^-^

(Aug 31) Today I visited my Mt Aso, my 3rd volcano - after Fuji last  month and Sakurajima yesterday. And I found it very interesting how  different they are. Fuji, which is dormant volcano, is mainly fine  volcanic rubble with some bigger rocks. Sakurajima is overgrown with  lush, green vegetation while Aso is surrounded by grassy green hills.  

Sakurajima and Aso are both active. Sakurajima more so which is why  one can’t get closer than 2k. Aso on the other hand has a cable car  (although one can easily walk it - even most Japanese people do) which  gets you to a spot where you can look into the crater (if the wind is  blowing the right way, you don’t want toxic smoke blown into your  face). There is lots of smoke and in between you can see the green  liquid of the crater lake. 

I had taken the first bus from Aso village  which takes about 45 minutes to the cable car. After having had a look  at the crater I climbed halfway up a nearby peak to get a better look  of the scenery. In parts I was reminded of the vacation I spent on  Lanzarote with my grandma years ago. 

Back in Aso village I had a look  at the farmers’ market next to the station and then checked out some of the spots recommended by my hostel (Aso Base Backpackers - the best hostel I ever stayed at, decorated with lots of attention to detail, very clean, great kitchen (free coffee, tea and all the staple spices etc for cooking), nice English-speaking owners and if 4 bed dorms aren’t your thing they also have doubles). One of the recommendations was a local restaurant where I had rice cooked in an iron pot with what tasted like local grass or herb seeds, small bits of vegetables and meat - absolutely amazing. It came with miso soup and beef sashimi (raw beef). I sat at a low table on tatami mat with view into the garden and just enjoyed. And the (financial) damage? Just 1100 yen, less than 10 pounds. 

I then walked back to the village and checked out the highly  recommended patisserie. Upon entering I was offered some tea and a  complimentary sample - both very nicely presented and so tasty. The  smell in the shop was amazing and everything looked really delicious.  I chose a chou (a cream puff - similar to a giant profiterole but with  a vanilla filling) and something small for a friend of mine whom I  will visit Wednesday evening (not sure what it is but it looked  pretty). Both items were carefully packaged in a lovely little bag and  I left the shop with a huge smile (I ate the chou later on the train  and it was absolutely delicious). I then wandered past another shop  recommended by the hostel where a grandma is selling bean jam filled  steam buns. The shop was tiny and the lady lovely. She did not speak  English and I as we all know don’t speak Japanese (this is as you  might have realized a recurring theme - for my next trip to Japan I  really want to learn the language - at least well enough to have simple  conversations) so I will never find out what the different colors of the buns meant. I tried my new pointit (big pictures with all kinds of things including fruit and veg) but also this did not solve the  mystery, so I just picked a yellow one (which I had with a cup of tea back at the hostel and it was indeed delicious). Despite the language  barrier we had a little conversation in which I told her that I was German and she asked if I was travelling alone - most people seem to find it rather peculiar that I travel by myself.

I went back to the hostel for a last cup of tea and my bean jam bun and had a chat with a guy who is helping out at the hostel over the summer. And then it was time to catch my train to Nagasaki. I would have liked to stay longer.

I heard about cat cafes back in Tokyo and actually came across one on Naoshima. It had two rooms, one was a regular cafe (where I had a nice Darjeeling), the other one had scratch trees with beds, sofas and toys as well as three cats who were lazing around. Apparently the deal is that for 5 Euros you can pet and play with them for half an hour. But I didn’t want to wake them up and actually I will see my very own Carlo in just 3 weeks. And I rather pet my own than some random cat.

(Sept 1) I really like Nagasaki. It wasn’t on my list when I first planned my trip - I thought one a bomb site (Hiroshima) is enough. But then I met a couple of people who all told be that Nagasaki has just a very nice and relaxed vibe.

So I made the 2h detour (there is no shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagasaki and it’s about 2h from the main shinkansen line) and it was definitely worth it. I left Aso (which is also a bit off the beaten track) in early afternoon and got to Nagasaki at around 7.30pm. Nagasaki is in a valley which opens up to the ocean. So to get a bit of an overview I took a cable car up one of the surrounding mountains and admired the carpet of lights underneath me.

The reception at my hostel had already closed when I got there at around 9 but they left me a key. The hostel was clean, had nice rooms with bunk beds on tatami mats, a common room with free coffee, tea and internet and the staff had prepared a very useful map of the surrounding area. After a quick shower I decided to do a bit of night time exploring. And I got a first idea why people recommended coming to Nagasaki. The a bomb was dropped further north and the main part of the city was shielded by one of the mountains, so that many of the old temples and also old houses were preserved (while in Hiroshima basically the whole center of town was wiped out). There are lots of small alleys, a street with about 13 temples and of course also some covered shopping arcades. The main mean of transport are - often retro - street carts. 

I also wandered to Deijima, the reconstructed mini island (although the surrounding sea has sinced been filled in) which as a Dutch trading post was Japan’s only contact to the outside world during its period of isolation. Nagasaki has a long history and was an important place for contact with the Western World. Missionaries and traders came to Japan and Christianity became quite popular in Nagasaki (I think there are still quite a lot of Christians here). Japanese rulers feared the spread of Christianity and that was one of the main reasons for Japan to cut all ties and isolate itself from 1639 till 1853. Christianity was already outlawed earlier and in 1597 twenty-six Christians (twenty Japanese and six missionaries) were crucified in Nagasaki. There is a big monument for them and they have been recognized as martyr saints by the Pope in 1862. Christianity is actually also linked to the atomic bombing - the hypocentre of the explosion was the Urakami Cathedral where they just were holding confessions.

After a long bit of walking (and getting a tiny bit lost - so glad I had my iphone with me to guide me back on track), I finally fell into bed at around midnight. I had opted for a mixed dorm - and not sure if I would again. Not because the guys weren’t nice (they were) but because the saying is true: boys smell.

I tried to get to a fairly early start as I wanted to see as much of Nagasaki as possible before heading back towards Kyoto and Nara at 2.45pm (it’s a long trip). After a cup of tea and a chat to a Swiss traveller (lucky guy, he has 6 weeks to explore Japan) I signed up for a (free) tour with a local guy at 10.30 organized by the hostel. However I wanted to have at least a quick look at the atomic bomb museum first. So I hopped on a tram. Fortunately everything, the museum, the memorial hall for the victims and the Peace Park, is smaller in Nagasaki than in Hiroshima. I spent an hour having a look around.

The museum is newer than Hiroshima (it was only opened in 1996) but some of the displays are even more graphical than there. Like a helmet with pieces of bone melted into it or the remains of some glass where which are fused to the bones of the hand that held them. But in a way the same applies as in Hiroshima, it’s something you can’t describe, you just have to see for yourself. I arrived before 9am and so I had a rare moment being myself in the room which gives you an idea of how the site looked just after the explosion - everything is dark, metal got twisted like candy, the façade of the cathedral is broken and blackened and the crucified Jesus is missing his head.

I then went back to meet my guide who was lovely and took me up a mountain so I could see the city from above in day light. We had an interesting chat and he was truly astonished to hear that I am German (I had to reassure him 3 times and was close to showing him my passport) - he thought I was American, just like the American guy in the hostel in Aso who would have placed me somewhere on the West Coast ;) He told me a lot about Nagasaki history and we also discussed what how, with recent German history in mind, I see the prospects of Korean reunification.

Back at the hostel I went for a short wander around the shopping streets by then I had definitely fallen for Nagasaki. All the streets and shops which I had seen during the night came alive and had become small fruit, antiques or sweets shops. Interspersed with small cafes, restaurants, hairdressers and pharmacies. At 1pm I had returned to the hostel to collect my bag before the reception closed for lunch. I was torn between the local ramen speciality champon or Japanese rice porridge. The girl at the reception recommended the porridge and so I went to the restaurant. The owners were lovely and I ordered the set lunch (with a lot of gesturing and pointing as they spoke no English and I spoke no Japaneses). What I got was very nice - eggplants in a cold broth with pork flakes, a lotus-carrot salad, pickles and rice - but no rice porridge :( However I saw the husband preparing something behind the counter so apparently I had come to the right place. I took my iphone, punched “porridge” into the dictionary and showed it to the lady adding chiyoto (a little), one of the few Japanese words I know. She gestured me to wait and a couple of minutes later I had a complementary bowl of rice porridge topped with spring onions and sesame in front of me. Japanese rice porridge is basically rice which has been overcooked with some egg and flavourings and I must say rather tasty.

Well fed I started to make my way to the station - or rather first the memorial to the already mentioned 26 martyrs. I had a tiny bit of time left and so I also decided to check out the Oka Masaharu Memorial Peace Museum. It’s not on the official sight seeing map but my travel guide mentioned that it shows the other side of the war - the atrocities committed by the Japanese in Korea and China. It were mainly photos and while only a couple of have English labels most of them spoke for themselves. Very worthwhile.

And well, then I was back on the train which was rattling along to Hakone for 2h, change there to the Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka for 3h, change to another Shinkansen to Kyoto (15 minutes). By then I was so lulled that I almost went looking for the wrong train but I only needed to change to the local line to Omihachiman (where my friend lives) in Kyoto. I realized and in a desperate sprint still managed to catch my Shinkansen. And so after about 6h of travelling (and some beautiful scenery and sunsets) I arrived at a “village” (well 60,000 people) somewhere between Kyoto and Nara.

because some of you asked me about my room here in Tokyo - some pictures. It’s 8.4 square meters (or 5.2 tatami) and sets me back 61,000 yen (560 Euro or 460 Pounds) per month - converting that makes it actually much more scary. But still, it is one of the cheaper places. Bathrooms and kitchen are shared but they are a bit grubby so I save you those pictures. Btw yes, I actually brought the posters from the UK.

(Aug 19) Today I decided to give the Flying Dolphin a second chance - but not until a quick trip to Akihabara. I was looking for some iPhone accessories and found what I wanted for an acceptable price plus a new iPhone case for just 2 pounds =) But once the shops closed I went to see the dolphin.

The Flying Dolphin is actually a big roller coaster close to the Tokyo Dome. It is part of a shopping and amusement complex with lots of different rides, restaurants etc. The Dolphin wraps around the building and at one point even goes through it (they made a whole for it). Last time I wanted to go, it was closed for maintenance but this time it was open.

Before sending us off the employees at the platform did a little dolphin dance and off we went. The first rise and drop gives you that nice squeamy feeling in our stomach and it’s just pretty cool wizzing around a roller coaster ride with nightly Tokyo at your feet :)

a quick tour of the University of Tokyo (Hongo campus)

(repost because tumblr ate the original one)