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I have never seen so many pumpkins and Halloween decorations as I have this past month and a half in Japan. There was nothing even remotely Halloweenish 20 years ago in this country. Now Halloween is everywhere. Maybe 20 years from now there will be pilgrims and turkeys all over the place in November? I doubt it, but I certainly wouldn’t have predicted Halloween’s current Japanese fate back in 1989.
Last week we visited Owakudani and some other areas of Hakone for the first time in two and a half years. Mt. Fuji made an appearance or two before quickly hiding itself behind clouds.
We did our first, overnight excursion in Japan as a family last week. We took an 8 a.m. bus from Shinjuku to Hakuba in Nagano Ken. The difference four and a half hours on a bus can make in your environment is incredible. Hakuba is absolutely deserted this time of year.
The above photo is of the Hakuba Ski Jump which was built for the winter Olympics held in Nagano in 1998. We had a great view of the jump site (and the Japanese Alps) from our hotel. The plants getting in the way are called susuki (薄 or 芒 or Japanese Pampas Grass). We were supposed to walk through a field of susuki in Hakone but ran out of time and had to just see it from the bus. We got to walk through lots of susuki in Hakuba, though, so missing out on the experience in Hakone doesn’t feel so bad anymore.
On our first full day in Hakuba we did a tour which included canoeing on Lake Aoki (Aokiko or 青木湖) and mountain biking. Our guide, who has been canoeing and kayaking on this lake for years, said he had never seen the water so calm. There was no breeze, the sky was mostly blue, the temperature was a pleasant sixty something degrees Fahrenheit (about 18 degrees Celsius), and the leaves were turning colors on the trees (紅葉). We were the only people on the lake. Needless to say, you will be seeing more pictures of this incredible lake in future entries.
While on a walk, just to the northeast of our apartment along the Kanda River (神田川), we came upon an open gate with nice looking grounds inside. We went in and strolled around, only later finding out that this property is part of the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo.
The above photo is of part of the pagoda on the grounds. There are only three pagodas in Tokyo. This one survived World War II, unlike most others in Tokyo. It was moved to this location in the early part of the 20th Century. On the pagoda itself it says the age is unknown but is thought to be about 500 years old.
Closer to the Four Seasons Hotel is this picturesque bridge. I need to head back to this spot when the leaves change colors soon.
One morning, after a brief rain storm, the sky got partially blue so I went out to take some pictures. I stopped and sat at the nearby Tenso Jinja. No one was around so things were quite peaceful. I heard a bike come pedaling up. A little, old Japanese man was the rider of a bright red bike. He pulled up, parked his bike, walked in front of the shrine, bowed, rang the bell, clapped his hands, bowed again, and then jumped on his bike to head out again.
He saw me at this point and came on over. We chatted for a while about the weather, Tokyo being denied its bid to host the 2016 summer Olympics (which was announced earlier on the same morning), and Hawaii (where one of his children live). Then he hopped on his bike and away went the streak of red that had left a smile on my face.
On my way to and from Waseda University I pass the above restaurant which serves a variety of fugu (pufferfish) dishes. Fugu can kill you. Of course, if you are a fan of the Simpsons, you already know that. Hence, there aren’t many places that serve fugu. In fact, this is the only restaurant with fugu on the menu that I have ever seen. To serve fugu a chef must pass a test after learning, in a process that requires several years, how to correctly cut the fish so it won’t kill someone. Even then most fail the test.
If you can read Japanese, click on the above photo to see the menu in more detail. Fugu dishes start at just 600 yen (less than $10) for 煮こごり (fugu soup I think), but most are much more. Raw fugu (sashimi), for instance, costs 3,500 yen. I believe that is a fugu (or its skin anyway) wearing the hat in the picture.
I’ll have to try some fugu, and live to tell you about it, at this place one of these days.