 Japan is expensive. The language is impossible to learn. The people are inscrutable and regard foreigners with suspicion. They cannot innovate, but are excellent at copying and exploiting other people’s inventions. They work themselves into an early grave and are hopelessly crammed into tiny houses and trains. The food is inedible and eaten with knitting needles. Is this your view of Japan and the Japanese? If so, read on. In April 1997, Vicky and I set ourselves the task of finding out how many of these myths are true. Or rather, given the amount of planning and the need to learn something of the language, I started out about 6 months before we left for Japan. Learning the language? You don't have to, but it makes life a lot easier and can avoid misunderstanding. Knowing some Japanese enhances the experience, and can be enjoyable. It is not as hard as it sounds, although you will probably be restricted to speaking and your reading capability is likely to be limited to decoding the names of places (which is handy for signs). Try the BBC book, videotapes and audio cassettes "The Japanese Language and People". This is the course I followed, and includes a lot on the culture of Japan, as well as the language itself. Now back to the trip. |
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Let’s
start with what we can agree on at the outset. The trains
are marvellous. They run to time and there is usually
plenty of space. The only exceptions are rush hour metro
trains, but sensible tourists are unlikely to be around
to witness the famous “pushers”, and some peak
business trains. You should also avoid public holidays
such as “Golden Week” in May, when travelling
and staying in Japan is not a good idea. There are very few tours of Japan designed for foreigners, or gaijin. You come across few other tourists, except the ubiquitous school parties and groups of women at more popular destinations. We booked through Nippon Travel in Oxford Street, London who were amazingly knowledgeable and helpful (ask for Renato), and consulted JNTO on the Internet and in person for brochures and places to visit. We bought JR railpasses, which save a lot of money and work well. You buy a voucher before leaving home, and exchange it for your railpass on arrival at Narita. We also decided to stay in traditional inns (ryokans) and ate Japanese foods almost exclusively. |
| Nakamura-San was helpful in offering advice and some tuition by Iphone. We travelled by JAL from London Heathrow, and unlike on a previous trip when it was impossible to overfly Russian airspace, the outward leg took only 9hr 40mins, and you can now return direct instead of refuelling at Anchorage. On our return, we had reached Hakata in the far south, and so the total journey time via Tokyo was 22 hours. The Tokyo-London leg was about 12 hours. Nakamura collected us from the Shiba Park Hotel on our first morning, and took us to various parts of Tokyo. This included the Takashimaya department store, some fine gardens at the peak of the cherry blossoms, and to his house in the suburbs for dinner with his delightful wife. As both the Nakamuras had lived in the US, language was not a problem, nor was the day tiring. |  |
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After a wonderful day’s weather, which meant we could picnic off bentos (lunch boxes) in the park, the following morning heralded 3 days of heavy rain. Not the best time to see Fuji. In fact, we didn’t because all we saw was rain, but Vicky and I had separately seen Mt Fuji on a previous business trip. The Hakone tour would have been lovely, taking in a cable car ride (closed due to the weather) and a pirate ship across Lake Ashi (moored due to the weather, but a modern vessel was substituted luckily), rounded off by an overnight stay at the Palace Hotel with it’s hot spring onsen. |
| Before telling you about Japanese public bathing, let me go over the rules of conduct for Japanese hotels or inns. Firstly, shoes. You take them off at the entrance and change into plastic slippers, which for the Western man are far too small and the Western woman a bit too big. If you have a Japanese room, the floor will be made of tatami mats, and you walk on these only in stocking feet. Leave your slippers in the entrance hall. Sitting on the floor to eat I find uncomfortable, but back rests can be provided to help those who cannot kneel for any length of time. |  |
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Secondly, everything is provided, including toothbrush and paste, a yukata or cotton kimono style gown used for sleeping and worn in and around the room and hotel, and anything else you might need. You will already have been asked what time you want to dine. A huge variety of food is served in the room by your own maid, and breakfast is usually in a diming room next morning. The Japanese bathe communally at least once a day, often twice. Here’s how it’s done. You don your yukata and head for the onsen, which is single sex. Take off all your clothes in the outer area and place in the basket provided. Take into the onsen a tiny towel to use as a flannel ( and hide your midriff if you are male). Vicky tells me the ladies don’t bother about modesty, and the towel would be hopelessly inadequate anyway. Wash before you get in the large hot bath. This is done sitting down on a low, plastic stool using a shower head set on the wall. When you are clean, climb in the bath and soak your aches away. Placing the wrung out towel on your head seems “de rigueur” even if you end up looking like Mother Theresa. Then use the wet towel to dry yourself and return to your room in the yukata. Simple |
| The
streets are so safe and the people honest that children
of 5 are seen in the trains alone, and you need never
fear violence or robbery. Except from gaijin, they say (or
nerve gas on the metro?). With a railpass you can book
seats in the trains free of charge, but the shinkansen
are so frequent that you need never feel rushed to catch
any particular train. For those used to British Rail, the
sheer predictability of JR takes some of the guesswork
out of your journey, and signs in both script and Romaji
(English letters) help a lot. The best of Japan is undoubtedly it’s gardens and it’s design, which infuse everything from food to interiors. Any guide book, for example Lonely Planet will describe what you must see. Gardens seem to be numbered in order of beauty, but to my eyes they were all very different. Some were large landscaped gardens with lakes and characteristically shaped evergreen trees. Others had cherry blossoms in abundance. Some consisted only of large rocks arranged in finely raked marble chippings, with the intention if inducing a state of peaceful meditation in the visitor. I loved them all. Luckily in Holland Park we have a small, beautifully kept Japanese gardens designed and built by people from Kyoto. It’s worth visiting. |
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Then there are the shrines and temples. The Buddhist ones were the most attractive. Some had wonderful gardens of their own. The prize for the worst went to one shaped like a turtle with a huge Buddha towering over it into the Nagasaki sky. Many were rebuilt after wartime destruction, but all were fascinating. |
| You might have thought the shopping was good, but apart from the mind boggling food halls, 14 floor department stores, and the markets I would not have classed retail as one of my most memorable experiences. What else is there to see, then? Our route took us from Tokyo right down to Nagasaki. After Hakone, we went down the coast then up into the Japanese alps at Takayama. We stayed in a ryokan called Kinki-Kan, and looked around this small town with old wooden buildings and some superb floats used each year for one of the best known carnivals in Japan. Then on to Kanazawa on the north coast where the Kenroku-en gardens are situated. |  |
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Kyoto was our
favourite. You can easily spend several days there. The
Imperial Palace is now very crowded, but there are some
fine temples and shrines around the Path of the
Philosophers. The Kinkaku-ji temple and Golden Pavilion
are superb, and there’s good shopping and food
aplenty. The number 5 bus seems to go everywhere and was
the best means of getting around. It was jammed with
people all day, which made travel something of a friendly
experience and rather hot. Prices in Japan are quite
reasonable, especially at current rates of exchange, and
so you need not worry about the cost of eating out. Best
buys? Cameras and accessories. Kurashiki was nothing to
write home about, but the Ohara Museum make it well worth
a night’s stay. Our best hotel and location was the island of Miyajima. It is quite close to Hiroshima where the A-bomb dome, park and museum are a must. After the city, Miyajima is quiet especially after the daytrippers have gone home. Ascend Mount Misen by cable car and descend on foot. Fantastic. At Nagasaki, the city seemed to want to play down the ravages of the A bomb but they still have an interesting museum, and are building a peace park on the site of the epicentre, adding to the gardens that are already there. There are several other sites which recommend Nagasaki for a 2 night stay, and the Hotel Seifu is not only superb but has a wonderful view over the bay from every room. |
| What about those myths, the ones I listed at the start? Well, Japanese is not hard to learn and you only need a smattering to cause utter amazement in anyone you meet. Prices are reasonable, once you have paid for flights and accommodation. The people are friendly and helpful, as well as being unswervingly polite. That is not to say that the society is equal, though, because men very firmly come first. I got to quite like my food being served first and doors opened for me, but Vicky was just bemused. |  |
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Travel is
easy and relaxing. Buses and trains run like clockwork,
and there is even a splendid service which for $10 or so
will take your bags from hotel to hotel, saving you the
bother of carrying them yourself. The work ethic is
dangerous, certainly. Suicides are on the increase and
pressures to succeed are frightening, particularly for
the kids. But they seem happy nonetheless, and there are
signs that things are changing. The economy is bad right
now, and one will have to wait and see how Japan competes
with the newly industrialised countries, or goes into
post industrial decline as have so many countries in the
west. Would I recommend Japan as a holiday destination? Sure, and I can’t wait to go back. This time, we’ll head north, I think and sample Hokkaido. |
Last updated: 16/04/99