Japan - Scenic Wonderland

We were privileged to have visited all during our recent visit to Japan. We decided to take up the challenge to travel across the Nippon Islands, using the Shinkansen (high-speed bullet trains) out of Tokyo. Obviously we were faced with the language barrier, especially in the countryside, but found the challenge quite interesting and the experience worth the while.

We left Tokyo central station on the Tohoku Shinkansen  on a two hour’s journey northwards to Sendai. The Japan Rail Pass enabled us at Sendai to convert to the Senseki JR line to Hon-Shiogama, where we boarded a boat on a 50 minute scenic cruise and passed some 260 pine-covered islets on route to Matsu-shima Bay. This bay-area is cherished for both its stunning island archipelago and its wealth of cultural and historical sights.

A surreal fantasy unfolds as green searchlights illuminate the water’s surface at dusk, silhouetting the islands in the distance. Enjoy sunset cruising in the Matsushima Bay with a refreshing ocean breeze while sipping sake in typical Japanese style.

At the end of the 17^th century, the master of Haiku poetic literature, Matsuo Basho, visited the Bay and gave it the highest possible praise for its beautiful scenery in his book of journey, Okuno Hosomichi.
 
 

The stay at the Matsushima Century Hotel  was hospitable and the true experience of traditional Japanese cuisine divine: sasa-kamaboko (a white fish baked in bamboo), tempura (batter-deep-fried seafood or vegetables), tamago-yaki (local style omelette) and teppanyaki (beef and vegetables grilled at table); needless to say, most of the traditional seafood is served raw (sashimi-style, like scallops, clams, eel and sea urchins), but with the different sauces accompanying the dishes, although very different , it tastes great!

At sunrise the next morning, on a leisure walk, we crossed the beautiful 250 meters pedestrian red bridge to the islet of Fukura-jima with a Zen temple, dating back to the 8^th century.

It often happens that, on an excursion, you come across a gem, no-where documented in travel books: the Kyohei Fujita Museum of Glass nearby is such an architectural jewel of light and reflection.

Our return journey to Tokyo, en route Hiroshima, started at the Matsushima Kaigan station, on the edge of the town. Trains depart every 20 minutes back to Sendai, but the fact that there is no vertical lift, leaves only the one option of carrying your suitcases up to the first floor platform yourself: some 49 steps! 

An express train journey on both the  Akita and Tokaido Shinkansen  took us less than 5 hours to cover the 1200 kilometers, where our friendly voluntary guide, Tateshi, met us on platform 12 of Hiroshima station. In Japan a guild of voluntary guides exists to assist foreign visitors in various centres; they can speak English and assist with the sites and attractions of their region. We made contact through e-mail with both Yuki in Tokyo and Tateshi in Hiroshima before we left South Africa. He was born only some two months after the horrifying A-bomb attack on Hiroshima during August 1945, and his mother was the soul survivor of their family. The visit to the Peace Memorial Park was one of the most moving experiences of our lives. (We will tell of this visit in another edition).

This is the best way to approach the island and have a most striking view of the brightly red-coloured torii welcoming visitors to the sacred Itsukushima-jinja shrine.

We stayed at the Iwaso Ryokan, secluded in the park in full bloom with cherry blossoms, at the foot of Mount Mise-san, and known for the quality of its food and the hospitality of its kimono-dressed staff. The Ryokan is a traditional Japanese style of accommodation, serving only Japanese food in your tatami-room (straw-matting).  Slippers were offered at the genken (entrance) and your shoes have to be left outside the tatami. After sharing a local Asahi biru (beer) with us in our room (traditional way of hospitality) and explaining the comprehensive menu of food to be served in our room later, Tateshi left for home. When entering the room, the two kimono-dressed ladies who served our food, greeted us by saying ojama-shi-mass  which literally means “I am disturbing you / I am impolite”; in return we had to respond by saying itadaki-mass (“I receive”) and when we finished we expressed our appreciation with gochisõ-sama deshta (“it was a feast!”). It was very interesting to note their immediate and positive response, if you as a foreigner, show respect to their Japanese etiquette and customs.

The main reason to visit Miya-jima is the ancient shrine, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although a sea god cult likely practiced here since the emergence of Japanese civilization in the 6^th century AD, it was not until Taira-no-Kiyomori commissioned the construction of the grand shrine here that Itsukushima-jinja took on its present incarnation.

Since the object of worship is the island itself, the shrine is set on a series of raised piers by the seaside, the reason why it is called the “floating shrine”. Also, the shrine is famous for its bugaku dances, exceedingly rare in modern Japan, with elaborate and colourful costumes; the movements of the dancers are slow and set to traditional atonal Japanese music. Deer are protected as divine messengers of the shrine and roam all over the island and in the town.

On a bluff, among cherry blossoms, and overlooking the shrine, is the five storey pagoda, Goju-no-to. This is one the best preserved pagodas in Japan. A cable car in Momijidani Park goes to the summit of Mount Misen, with its superb views of the Inland Sea and many islands.

Seven wonders are found on Mt Misen: of which the sacred fire, Kiezu-no-hi, has been burning for over a thousand years. An enormous pot named Keizu-no-Reikado is said to have been simmering ever since the fire was lit; drinking tea made from its boiling water is said to cure all kinds of illnesses… 

Later the afternoon we returned to Hiroshima on the fast ferry, and connect from the pier to the Shinkansen station, where we boarded the Sanyo Shinkansen for Osaka. About two hours north by Discovery Express, on the Miyatsu Bay  is Amanohashidate, “the bridge of heaven”, a 4 kilometer sand bar studded by pine trees and separating the bay from Asoumi lagoon.

According to ancient Japanese mythology, Amanohashidate is the spot where the gods conceived the Japanese islands. On arrival at the station, we walked down to the pier and took a boat across the lagoon to the base of Kasamatsu Park from where we took a cable car to the hilltop summit: a splendid view of the whole bay awaited us.

Again we realised that, if you take a little extra trouble and visit those special sites, often off the beaten tourist track, you will be rewarded: you have experienced another face of an otherwise very clinical Japan.

 - Johann & Monique