Return to Tokyo 2006
Several days that live long in my memory as some of the happiest that I spent in Japan in 2006. In Nagasaki I met with Noe and Hugo and we three travelled and hiked the Aso Caldera. Trips to the local supermarket for Waribiki hour (discount hour – 11pm in Most Japanese supermarkets) and a bizarre drunk man on top of the caldera. As I look back I see the day as scenes from a Miyazaki film, a rolling Landscape with a gentle wind and a warm summer’s glow as we undertake our hike. Hugo and Noe went south into Kyushu and I returned North to Nagasaki to fly back to Tokyo (almost not making it as I mistakenly tried to pack my main bag onto the flight complete with a full set of chef knives and was hauled up by Japanese Airport staff for interrogation).
Seb
London 02/09/2015
By this stage in Japan I was beginning to feel the pinch on the pocket book. The 10,000 Notes seemed to be falling through my fingers in an uncontrollable fashion -with travel, food and boarding mounting to approximately £50 a day! I eventually made it to Nagasaki and stole out to the supermarket to get some food – I chose a box of fried tofu as a means o staving off of hunger at a supposedly sensible price only to discover that the tofu fry was an empty shell of nutrition-less husk! I made it to the youth hostel were I met with Noe and Hugo, a travelling duo (then couple) who I was to spend the next few days with. I was very jealous to discover that they were spending a full 5 months in the country travelling around.
We went out to Yoshinoya together and another restaurant on a later night where I hungrily devoured the husks of Edamame beans. A growing lad in Japan with not much money is hard pressed to adapt to the small Japanese portion sizes!
My time in Nagasaki was not very eventful. I wandered the city and took a few shots – getting lost for a time in Chuigomachi – a small zone of the city near the river with a large graveyard complex overlooking the river. I missed out on both the peace museum and the dutch island “Dejima” – famously the only place in Japan to accept foreign nationals throughout the entirely of the “Shut down” that occurred early into the Tokugawa Shogunate period.
The two photos here demonstrate another curious thing of how dirty my sensor was during this time. There is one particularly onerous hair that can be seen in the right of the picture. Compare the two versions. This has made my subsequent edits something of a repetitive challenge to clean!
I did manage to find my way to the monument for the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan – a group who were burned alive in the 1600s for refusing to recant their christian protestations, having been converted by Jesuit missionaries looking to subvert Japan under the sway of Western Powers. The serial subterfuges of these ages where what eventually lead to the expulsion of foreigners from the islands – – – apart from the aforementioned dutch who distanced themselves on religious and political grounds from the catholic camp and were thus able to maintain a unique and lucrative trade foothold in the country for over 200 years.
I was a pleasure meeting Noe and Hugo – a welcome relief from the loneliness of the previous week’s travel through the center of Honshu. We would go on to travel together to Aso-san, climbing the mountain before our paths diverged with the pair moving on south and the call for me to return to Tokyo before I boosted from Japan.
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Seb 28-02-2014 London
Hiroshima, correctly pronounced Hee-ro-shi-ma (not “Hi” as in “him”), is most famous for its fateful part in the termination of the Pacific conflict of WWII. For Japanese children it is an important trip that almost every class makes to visit the city and the museum. There were certainly of young people running around in the museum when i visited – a curious counter point to the horrors contained in the exhibits. The bomb dome stands in the center of town as a permanent monument and reminder.
The city today is a sleepy place – a far throw from the megacities of Osaka and Tokyo and even the touristic bustle of the temple-come-university town of the old capital Kyoto. As a stone step towards the southern reaches it’s well worth a visit to walk around in the cleaner and more open climbs.
Another major attraction of Hiroshima is it’s proximity as a base to explore Miyajima – a beautiful little island a short train ride away. The famous Torii which stands guard is at various times according to the tides accessible on foot and then partially submerged.
Most of my time in Hiroshima was spent getting lost trying to find a Manga library in one of the southern parks – when I found it it was closed – the majority of the photos are therefore from Miyajima.
Have a look at my photo of the “Tanuki” which is spotted whilst climbing to the top of the ropeway on Miyajima. The animal appears frequently in Japanese folklore in various guises as a trickster and shapeshifter.
Another curious thought was that at the same time a future medical school friend of mine was at this very time working in one of the municipal hospitals in the city as a porter. A great way to sharpen one’s Japanese!
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Seb 28/02/2014 London
Seb Roberts: Life as It happens 