Posted in Travel on Apr 23rd, 2008
Last weekend i went down to Nagoya with some Friends. The plan for the weekend was pretty basic, down Saturday morning and back Sunday afternoon via the Shinkansen, with plenty of food and drink in the middle.
Saturday was just that, we got in at lunchtime so it was straight down to a local restaurant for a few of Nagoya’s recommended dishes, i had the Miso Tonkatsu set … i think that’s what it was called.
Saturday night there was plenty of eating and drinking at a Friends place followed by a trip up to Karaoke around 10pm for the second party ….. bound to be a little more rowdy, so best done away from those trying to get some sleep.
Sunday after a slow start we were able to fit in a little sight seeing and Tokugawaen was the place suggested. It was a cracker of a day getting into the mid 20’s and there were no shortage of people out soaking up the great weather.
Unfortunately i forgot my camera so i had to make do with my phone which actually took some pretty good shots all things considered. Needless to say upon arrival back in Tokyo Sunday night it was off for a Sasebo Burger around the corner from home at Zatts, followed by a pretty quiet night on the couch … Monday still came round too quick.
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Posted in Japan, Travel on Mar 23rd, 2008
This weekend i headed up to Gala Yuzawa, about 1.5hrs North West of Tokyo on the Shinkansen. I must say, it certainly is the easiest way to get to the snow and the same as last week, pretty cheap too. This weeks trip was an up and back affair for 8700 yen, which includes the day on the mountain.
Gala Yuzawa is in Niigata Prefecture, check it out on this Map Of Japan, and the station is only operational during ski season where the lifts operate directly from it’s own station, how easy is that?! The station is actually on a side track which diverges from the main Joetsu Shinkansen track just after Echigo Yuzawa Station, being only 3 minutes further on. The main Joetsu Shinkansen line runs between Tokyo and Niigata City on the Sea of Japan, Northwestern coast of Japan.
Although you can go to Gala Yuzawa as a destination, there is very little parking, as it is really regarded as a day trippers mountain. The number of people at Gala Yuzawa is limited to some extent by how many people the Shinkansen can carry there. Even so, it does get crowded, but not as much as you might expect.
The Joetsu Shinkansen, you can just tell it goes fast by the look of it.
It was another great day and we were treated with perfect conditions - being blue skies, great snow and 12 degrees C.
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Posted in Japan, Travel on Mar 18th, 2008
The longer i live in Japan the more i want to see of it and the more i find myself looking for a map of Japan so i can see what’s out there. I’ve been to a few of the prefectures and will mark up one of these maps sometime soon so i can keep track of my travels. There’s a heap of prefectures i know nothing about so having a good map of Japan handy will inspire me to do some more research and plan some more trips internally.
Japan consists of the following, 47 prefectures, which can be broken up in too 1 metropolis - Tokyo, 1 circuit - Hokkaido, 2 urban prefectures - Osaka and Kyoto, and 43 other prefectures. This current system of prefectures was established by the Meiji government in 1871 after the abolition of the han system.
A little geography lesson courtesy of wikipedia -
Japan is an island nation in East Asia comprising a large stratovolcanic archipelago extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. Measured from the geographic coordinate system, Japan is 36° north of the equator and 138° east of the Prime Meridian. The country is north-northeast of China and Taiwan (separated by the East China Sea) and slightly east of Korea (separated by the Sea of Japan). The country is south of Siberia in Russia.
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Posted in Japan, Travel on Mar 16th, 2008
After 16 months i’ve finally been able to get to the snow for a days Snowboarding. I’ve been to the snow a heap of times but it’s always been on the back of an Onsen Trip, which is considerably different to a day of excercise hurtling down the mountain.
The destination was Kawaba Ski Resort, about 3 hrs on a bus door to door from Tokyo and a grand cost of 5100 yen, including the days lift pass. Having Snowboarded in Australia and New Zealand it’s a pleasant surprise not to be slugged a veritable fortune for a days boarding.
Kawaba - Situated in northern Gunma prefecture, the village is in a rather mountainous area. 83% of it is covered by forests, and five rivers, the Tashiro River, the Sakura River, the Tazawa River, the Usune River, and the Mizomata River flow through. Kawaba, meaning “the place of the rivers” is thought to be named after its many streams.
I’d checked the website during the week and was told to expect fine conditions on the mountain, low teens, good visibility and 3 metres of snow. I wasn’t dissapointed. Turns out it was a beautiful spring day with the temperature reaching 12 degrees C, the snow was 2.9 metres deep and visibility was 100%.
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Posted in Japan, Travel on Mar 4th, 2008
Over the weekend i was lucky enough to attend a Traditional Japanese Wedding in Matsue, Izumo Province, in the Chugoku Region of the Shimane Prefecture …. now that’s a mouthful. It was a short and sharp visit, flying down Saturday morning and back again Sunday.
With pretty much the whole weekend being consumed by the wedding, there was little of no time to get out and about and take photos. Rest assured, next weekend i will resume my travels on the JR Yamanote Line, i certainly wasn’t in good enough shape to head down to Ebisu when i landed Sunday afternoon.
As for the wedding, it was an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable affair and one i can say not too many Gaijin are fortunate enough to experience. The actual ceremony was held at Izumo Taisha, which i believe is the oldest and most important Shinto Shrines in Japan.
Izumo Taisha (出雲大社, Izumo Taisha, also called as Izumo Ōyashiro) is one of the most ancient and important of the Shinto shrines in Japan. Its name means “The Grand Shrine of Izumo.” No record gives the date of establishment. It is dedicated to the god Ōkuninushi-no-mikoto, famous as the shinto deity of marriage.
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