What's Next?

Ted. Our nonstop flight from Tokyo to Atlanta on April 1 was tiring but everything went smoothly. 

For the first time in nearly 10 years, though, we did not have an Airbnb waiting for us. Judy and I decided last year that it was finally time to establish a permanent, year round base in Athens, Georgia. After doing some research, we decided that the best option for us was to rent an apartment. While we were in Asia, we worked with the leasing agent at a place we had inspected in December and signed a lease (thank you internet). 

However, we didn’t own ANYTHING. We had no bed, chairs, cutlery - nothing but a signed lease. We did have friends, though and Susan and Kay invited us to spend as much time as we needed in their guest house near Athens while we furnished our new home. 

We have now moved in but it is still pretty bare bones. With our proclivity towards minimalism and recycling, we decided to buy little or nothing new. So far, about all we have bought new is a mattress and a toaster. 

Buying used is hard work though. We spend part of every day scouring estate sales, yard sales, and thrift stores plus something I had never heard of - Facebook Marketplace. Yeah - it’s time consuming, but can also be fun when we “strike gold!” 

Again, friends are lending a hand. Gary, a Texas born artist and his wife, Sally has given us several beautiful paintings, a rug and a TV. Other friends have contributed everything from wine glasses to an inflatable air mattress. Knowing we would be establishing a home, we purchased a few decorative items in Asia. 

Judy bought this at a used kimono shop in Kyoto

We have about seven weeks til we hit the road again so we have time to whip things into shape. I have an earlier deadline, though. My sister Kathy arrives in three weeks for a visit and I want everything looking pretty good by then. 

On June 4, we head out on a two month road trip in our beloved 2004 Toyota Tundra, Raymond.

This Prius wishes he was Raymond

 We will wend our way up the East Coast to New England, continue on to Quebec and then slowly drive back down to Georgia. 

Judy and I plan to visit with lots of friends and family along the way and also just wander around. Sometimes the places we like the best are places we didn’t even know existed til we got there! 

 Meanwhile … I have to get back to figuring out how to operate our new robot vacuum cleaner ($15 at a thrift store).

Surprises and disappointments, Japanese style

Judy and Ted. We had lots of surprises on this part of our trip, and a couple of disappointments. 

The weather was as cold and cloudy as we expected, but we had hoped for warmer weather. We did get a couple of warm days, but for the most part we were in sweaters and jackets. We didn’t see a baseball game, a sumo wrestling match, or Kabuki, Noh, or Bunraki performances, and we didn’t learn anything about the minority culture, the Ainu. 

Still, our days were full of fun things we did enjoy, and we delighted in them. 

1) There are parks and gardens everywhere, and the Japanese people enjoy the heck out of them. 

A peaceful park in Hiroshima

2) Restaurants are tiny and typically seem to specialize in one thing. You don’t go to a soba restaurant and ask for sushi or ramen. The same is true of shops. Except for souvenir shops, and a couple of large department stores, they usually sell clothes or accessories or shoes. 

3) People here can’t say “no.” If you walk into a restaurant at 1:45 that closes at 2 and ask for a seat, the waiter will only look confused. Instead, you ask, “Are you closing soon?” You get a smile and a “Yes!” 

4) Cars are very respectful of pedestrians. Cyclists, less so. Sort of like everywhere except Denmark. 

5) The food is remarkably cheap! Our most expensive meal, where we really splurged, was about $65, tax and tip are always included. Typically, our big meal is about $25, and, if we ate from a konbini, it’s $2. 

6) Toilets have a mind of their own—sorta. In some bathrooms, the lid pops open as soon as you open the door. In public toilets, there’s often a button to push for “privacy”—it’s white noise, like a stream. And most have built-in “bidet” options for washing your private parts. And it’s true: some public stalls still have the the old-fashioned squat toilets. 

A simple toilet control

7) In hotels with onsen, guests are given “indoor clothing”—pajama-type top and pants, or a cotton yukata. Surprise of surprises, two of those had extra large for Ted, and medium for me. The last one had one size fits all. Bit small for Ted, but swallowed me whole! 

This yukata fit Ted perfectly!

8) In an effort, I suppose, to save money and waste, amenities and toiletry items are on a shelf in the hotel lobby. Get what you need, and leave the rest! 

Great way to offer what amenities you might need in the hotel, without waste.

9) When you sit at your restaurant table, you are given a "wet wipe" in a plastic sleeve. More often than not, this will be your napkin. However, the tradition goes back centuries, to the Edo period. When travelers arrived at an inn or tea house, they were given wet cloths to wipe their faces and hands before eating. Some restaurants do give you warm washcloths, but the wet wipe is what you'll usually get, which is really quite nice!

Here, we got our wet wipes AND napkins

10) Trains are awesome. Typically we didn't see conductors on the platforms, but on the day the cherry blossoms were blooming, they were out in force, shuttling folks off the platforms.

Ready to help keep things moving, as soon as the doors open.

11.) Boy Scouts. As the parents of an Eagle Scout, we are always pleased when we see Scouts in other countries. These guys didn't speak English but liked my "thumbs up," and chased me down to give me a pin from their last Roundup.

Proud Scouts. Liked them better than the Big Buddha we came to see!

And much more. We really liked Japan!

Japan - Expectation vs Reality

Judy. It took us years to get the courage to come to Japan. The culture is so radically different from ours, and, as I pointed out in my last post, the language borderline indecipherable. That was true in Turkey, too, and we managed just fine. Maybe it’s the mystique. Maybe the fact that everyone we knew who’d been there was either on a tour or a cruise, both of which we’d prefer not to do for this trip. Then it was the high price of the yen. Then the yen dropped and we were worried there’d be too many tourists. Oh, we can always talk ourselves out of anything. 

Finally, we talked to two women who’ve been here and loved it. One of them, Sonya, outlined a trip for us, and Melora, the other, gave us more suggestions. Shoutout to both of them! We had a fabulous time. And many of our myths were, if not shattered, at least cracked. 

Expectation: No one speaks English and people are distant. 

Reality: There’s not a great deal of English spoken (it’s their country, after all!), but Google Translate and my bad Japanese plus their bad English usually worked. People are respectful and polite, but kind and helpful. Wakaba and her mom have been so open and giving, as have been our tour guide at Matsumoto Castle, the gentleman we met in the street who wanted to talk baseball, and others. We’ve learned to bow, say good morning and thank you, and that opens doors and smiles. 

Expectation: Robots will be everywhere. 

Reality: In our first hotel in the Haneda Airport, a robot checked us in and out. I think we’ve seen some floor cleaning robots, and certainly many restaurants require you to order from a vending-type machine, but real people bring the food. And there is a plethora of toy capsule vending machines.

Not really robots, but no salespeople in sight at this toy store. 

Expectation: We’ll miss the cherry blossoms by not going during tourist season. 

Reality: I’m not happy about climate change, but in the parts of Japan we visited, they were blooming, and in Kamakura, at several temples, they were absolutely glorious! 

So glad we got to see this!

Expectation: If we want to go to an onsen, we’ll have mixed nude bathing. 

Reality: Both hotels we stayed in had separate onsen for men and women, and in Hakone, we had a private outdoor one. And we are hooked! 

Our own private onsen

Expectation: The “food police” will watch to make sure we don’t eat on the street. 

Reality: Most people don’t eat on the street, but we have seen Japanese young people, especially in Kamakura, munching on street food as they walk the touristy areas. On local trains, no one eats, and very few drink anything, but on Shinkansen (bulletin trains), it’s quite common for people to bring bento boxes they buy at the stations and eat in their seats. We did that several times. And typically, the bento boxes were good! 

Expectation is clear

But some don't care

Expectation: The police will arrest you for crossing at any place except a marked crossing. 

Reality: Certainly in the rural areas, we’ve crossed when there are no cars. In the cities it just seemed safer to use a marked crossing, especially with lights. One couple told us they had a whistle blown at them for trying to cross illegally, so it’s just easy to use the crossings. 

No marked crossing on this rural road

Expectation: We’ll eat tons of sushi and Wagyu beef. 

Reality: I think we had sushi three times, and one time it wasn’t even good. At least where we were, there weren’t that many sushi restaurants. I believe we had Wagyu a couple of times. We did eat a ton of soba noodle dishes and some tempura, which were delicious, and for snacks often had konbini (convenience store) egg salad sandwiches or onigiri (rice balls), both yummy. We also ate Italian, French and Spanish food. One soba dish I ate had kudzu thickener. By the way, Japanese food has very subtle flavors. And we enjoyed their breakfasts. Restaurants tend to serve one thing--tempura OR soba OR Wagyu, etc.

Onigiri at the 7-11

And egg salad and other sandwiches.  Delicious, and cheap

Expectation: We’ll see Mt. Fuji several times. 

Reality: Just like our experience with Denali in Alaska, clouds obscured the famous landmark. The one day we did catch a glimpse while riding in a cable car, was worth the wait. Everyone in that car, Japanese and Americans alike, shouted, “Fuji-san!” 

Through the clouds, but still...

Expectation: Trains are the best way to get around and, whatever the cost, the rail pass is worth it. 

Reality: ABSOLUTELY! And for most bus and local train and convenience stores, Suica, a prepaid card on your phone, is a must. 

Just add money with your credit card. You can use it on trains or in shops.

Expectation: Streets are spotless. 

Reality: There truly is very little trash. I’ve seen citizens out picking up what was there. But take your trash with you. There aren’t many trash cans. 

Expectation: Public transport will be quiet. It’s considered a private space. 

Reality: For the most part, yes. But there are giggly teens who shatter that myth. Sometimes certain tourists are louder than they should be. 

Public transport is considered personal space.

Expectation: I’ll never figure out where to get off the train, because it will all be in Japanese. 

Reality: In stations on platform signs, and in the trains, announcements are in Japanese and English, and signs are, as well. 

You can not only read what station you're in, but also the one before, and the next.

Expectation: We’ll be mobbed by tourists everywhere. Last year there was a record 43 MILLION international tourists. 

Reality: Maybe it’s the time we came, but we’ve NOT been overwhelmed. Certainly in a couple of famous places, we have seen huge crowds, often where there’s food. Mostly, though, it’s been pretty quiet.

We weren't sure we'd ever say this, but we're already talking about coming back. There's so much we didn't see. We thought three weeks was enough. Not even close.

Kamakura

Ted. Our final destination in Japan was the coastal city of Kamakura. This interesting town was the de facto capital of Japan in the 12th century. It’s most famous monument is the 48 foot tall bronze known as the Great Buddha. There are lots of other shrines and temples, since capital cities around the world are known for the glorious places of worship built by powerful men. 

While the history is fascinating, we arrived in Kamakura just in time for one of the most important annual events in Japan - cherry blossom time! We had always thought that April was the best time to visit Japan if you want to see the cherry trees in bloom. In recent years, the peak is now reached in late March so we were in luck.

One day, we took a hike recommended by Lonely Planet, visiting several shrines and seeing lots of cherry trees. 

Our walk passed through a forest

View from a ridge

Hokokuji ("ji" means shrine)

A spring emerges from the rock at Zeniarai Benzaiten

If you wash your money in the spring, it increases 5 fold

A traditional pilgrim lunch is Spanish paella

Jochiji

Wakamiya-oji (main street)

A Shinto Wedding at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

Good to know where to run in a tsunami!

Our new friend Wakeba and her Mom Jitsuko travelled down from Tokyo to have a farewell lunch with us. We had really hit it off in our earlier meetups and we all hoped to see each other again one day. I began singing a little song that Judy taught the girls in her Girl Scout troop decades ago; “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.” To our amazement, they both joined in singing in Japanese. Yep, Jitsuko had started a troop of Girl Scouts over 50 years ago and they sang the same song. 

Two leaders

Riding the train to Tokyo Haneda Airport on our final day in Asia, we asked ourselves a question - would we come back? Right now, the answer is … maybe!

Kenchoji

Hakone

Ted. From Matsumoto, we traveled to the community of Hakone, a area surrounded by the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Beautiful, and near Tokyo, this is the most visited park in Japan. 

Following the advice of several folks, we booked a ryokan for three nights. These traditional inns are known for their onsens (public baths) which are often fed by hot springs. As a rule, they provide breakfast and dinner. Ours included liquor in the price and our room had a private outdoor onsen. 

Shinanoki Ichinoyu (our inn)

We purchased three day passes to take advantage of the dizzying array of transportation options - getting around via buses, boats, trains, funiculars and cable cars.

Lake Ashi cruise boat

Another Torii

We visited the Takaido Road which, like the Nakasendo, connected Kyoto and Edo. 

All 16th cent. travelers stopped at this check point before entering Edo 

We had great views from a cable car. 

Volcanic steam vents

We finally saw Mt Fuji (know here as Fuji-San)

We also spent time at an exquisite open-air museum.

A work by a Swedish sculptor we like

Inside the "Symphonic Sculpture"

The best part, for me, was hanging out at our ryokan. I will never forget eating too much food, drinking sake, beer and Japanese whisky and nearly falling asleep in our steaming onsen. 

Breakfast!

Ahhh - heaven!