I re-uploaded the video I made of my trip to Japan in November without the music so that I could enter it into the Digital Harinezumi competition. I don’t know if this is the sort of thing they are looking for but I thought I may as well submit it.
Visiting Japan from Quaint Living on Vimeo.
That trip was so much fun. We went Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Naoshima -> Okayama -> Kagoshima -> Yakushima -> Fukuoka -> Tokyo. Next time we want to go up to Hokkaidō and I also have a wish to visit Okinawa.
Well I have had fun remembering the trip! I hope that it has been entertaining. A few final things to mention. The guidebooks I used on the trip were The Rough Guide to Japan
Lastly, on our journey back my sister, Simon, and I attempted to make a list of the good and bad things we came across on our trip around Japan that are different from back home in Britain. It was pretty hard to come up with the bad things, there were small differences that did not seem to make sense, like why do the maps not point North, wouldn’t that be easier like in other countries? Why is the toilet paper thin even in posh places? One that really made me chuckle was that the elderly could be a little hasty in queues, Simon got annoyed about an old lady who persisted in pushing her head into the small of his back as everyone was shuffling forward on a busy platform to get on an escalator. I guess if you have less time left you are in more of a hurry? :) I was surprised too by the lack of wifi in cities? Maybe everyone is using the mobile signal more? Anyway I hope any Japan residents will forgive us saying these things! It is a pretty thin list. Especially when you compare this with our list of the good things of the Japan trip…
depachika, combini, lines on the subway platform so you know where to queue, melon pan, sake, interesting chocolate e.g. weird Kit Kats, mochi are cheap and v.good, little coat hooks on trains, hot vending machines, plants in the underground, general cleanliness, FREE toilets everywhere including in the underground, bowing to cover many situations, faces and cartoons on everything, grape Fanta, drink vending machines everywhere that are a reasonable price, transport on time, bento boxes on trains, Japan Rail Pass, shinkansen, high quality and widespread availability of cakes, matcha latte frappachino, Freshness Burger, hot food to takeaway is cheap and v.good, kaki furai, persimmons, aloe products e.g. aloe yoghurts, traditional Japanese meals, Naoshima, general lack of vandalism, Suntory Malt, drinking establishments with great food, A-Z cafe in Tokyo, Kiddy Land, variety of going out choices e.g. not just pubs, Tokyu Hands, it is a camera friendly culture so no one stares if you take pictures outside, Almond and Macademia chocolates, sumo, gyoza, adzuki bean products, onsen, cute vehicles e.g. snub nosed vans, Chichu Art Museum, cute folding bicycles, no tipping, politeness in shops, excellent stationary, heated toilet seats, regional speciality, specialisation in restaurants and shops, free water everywhere, wet towels everywhere, green tea everywhere, quality of prepared food in supermarket, the grapes, availability of taxis, Ghibli, you feel safer at night than in most other big cities, clean air in underground, Fruits Garden Yakushima, wide range of magazines, craft books, Aoyama Book Centre, sashimi, Japanese potato salad, burdock, nashi
we didn’t finish making the list and honestly we could go on and on but I will shut up now and I will end this with some pictures that I took with my Digital Harinezumi camera.
Breakfast on Yakushima.
Soup dumplings in a Chinese place.
This is an attempt at a tribute to ai! :) breakfast: green tea, dried persimmon, mikan & pastry from johan
Plain iced tea.
Food picked up from a depachika.
Neyn Tokyo donuts.
Depachika cakes.
Aloe drink. I like aloe yoghurt a lot.
Warabi mochi covered with kinako.
Mountain vegetables cold soba.
Matcha latte.
Simon’s lunch. Probably oyako donburi as that is one of his favourites :)
My dad trying out a crazy chocolate filled korokke in Kyoto.
Bento on the train.
Sweet potato ice cream in Fukuoka.
Macaron.
Fish on the train.
Ahh the food…. I decided to separate out my food shots into a post of its own. I wasn’t at all thorough about recording what we ate but these are some pictures that I took along the way. The food is one of the main things that I have missed since being back.
Ok so let’s get this straight right away, Japan has a fantastic level of quality of food. It is not hard to find a delicious meal in any budget range, in fact I would say it was very difficult to find a bad meal! There is no question that if I lived in Japan I would cook far less (even though I love cooking) because of the availability of high quality affordable interesting food. It is also the specialisation that is so different, travelling around the country there are so many regional specialities. You can actually be a food tourist and try something that is only made there. Also generally there seem to be much more specialisations in restaurants, for example specific gyoza restaurants, specific omelette restaurants, this is pretty mind blowing if you come from a city where ‘Italian’ or ‘Chinese’ is as specialised as it gets. The other (sorry to re-use this phrase but it is so true) mind blowing thing is the general level of food and choice that is available outside of restaurants, the snacks from combinis (corner shops), cakes from bakeries, bentos on the train (nice food on a train!!! hear me British Rail), and the depachikas, wonderful.
I could go on and on about drinks too. The vending machines that vend hot cans, the screw cap cans, sake, beer, the iced tea, the matcha lattes, the green teas.. I brought so much tea back in my suitcase that customs might have thought I was an importer-exporter if they had looked!
I avoid eating meat but I do eat fish, I think if you were a pure vegetarian you might find things a little tricky sometimes in restaurants that are not specialist vegetarian/vegan. Even if you are not chomping down on big pieces of meat I think there is quite a bit of hidden meat as lots of the stocks used will have some element of fish, chicken, or pork. We found too in a couple of places where if it said something like ‘vegetables and noodles’ it would mean chicken with lots of vegetables and noodles, the chicken was a given. If you eat fish then you should mostly be fine, in fact if you like fish you will be in heaven!
It is hard to get a proper impression of a city when you are only passing through for one night but Fukuoka seems like a lively fun place with lots going on. One of the main reasons for us to stop off in Fukuoka was for the sumo! I can’t say I knew that much about sumo beforehand but we were there with my father and my aunt who are long time fans so we were able to get a bit of explanation. It was really entertaining, there is lots of build up between each round and then crash! they charge at each other. We had a box which is four cushions in a square with a metal rail around, beforehand I was wondering how my legs would cope as I am not used to sitting on the floor for many hours, but in fact it was fine as you could lean back or alternatively sit forward and have your legs over the side. You can also get seats which are actual chairs up on the higher tiers.
We also visited the 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale which was great! My favourite was seeing the films of the firework art of Cai Guo-Qiang. The Triennale was in the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and also had another outlying installation space.
Recommended
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
Great exhibition and also a good shop.
Moomin Bakery
The Moomin Bakery is in the huge Canal City which is a central shopping centre. The Moomin Bakery is partly a cafe, partly a bakery, and partly a Moomin merchandise shop. My sister and I freaked out when we saw how many wonderful Moomin housewares they had, I got myself a very nice mug and some gifts for others.
Sumo
Check the site for when the tournaments are on.
Cafe Xando
Afterwards the Sumo we went out and found a nice drinking & food type place called Cafe Xando. Good cocktails and food.
Yakushima is a small sub-tropical island off the end of Japan, it is a World Heritage Site because of the ancient forest. It is said to have inspired the forest in Princess Mononoke (you can see a section of the film here on YouTube).
We got there by hydrofoil passing the most southern point of mainland Japan on our way. On the island we hired a car which was a good idea as there is not a great deal of public transportation. There is one main road going round the edge of the island, this road on the west of the island is so narrow and bendy that buses can’t get through.
It is officially the wettest place in Japan and it was rainy while we were there, this was mainly while we were up high in the forest. Really this was part of the experience of Yakushima, the mist and the green dripping forest. Down by the shore where we were staying it was actually quite hot, and it was nice to get a breeze blowing in at night while the crickets were making a racket out in the darkness.
We saw lots of interesting wildlife including a snake, and the deer and monkeys of the forest were remarkably unafraid of us. The whole trip I used my 50mm Prime lens – so no zoom – so from the pictures I think you can see how close we could get. The monkeys were not a hassle grabbing things like they can be in other countries, they had funny red faces and bums.
Recommended
Generally I would recommend you go to look at the waterfalls, the forest and the sea and relax. Go for a drive on the narrow road to the west of the island if you can as the views are beautiful and you will see a great many monkeys and deer. Stop off at the long white beaches where the turtles lay their eggs. This website has a lot of information on Yakushima and was very useful. The main souvenirs of the island seem to be things carved out of cedar wood, if you would like to bring gifts back we found that the shop in the Ferry Terminal actually had the greatest variety and the best prices.
Apart for the general advice to go to look at everything these are a few particular places we liked:
Yakusugi land
Various different treks of different difficulty and length.
Fruits Garden
A guided tour (in Japanese) around the fruits that can grow in this sub-tropical environment, so many varieties.
