There's a story "doing the rounds" that a Japanese / Korean / Chinese (delete as appropriate) bloke was opening a new shop and he wanted to print its name in English as well as Japanese / Korean / Chinese on the sign above the door. He thought he could save a bit of money by putting his shop name into a translation website. He did this, then had the full size sign made and mounted. On the opening day, someone pointed out that "Translator Server Error" probably wasn't the correct translation. The English in Japan are better than in China - but not by much, and you can't help but wonder where they get their translations...
Matsumoto is a small town in the Japanese Alps. It's a much nicer place than Morioka: more cosmopolitan, with more going on and fantastic mountain views from almost all street corners - a sort of Windermere to Morioka's Croydon. We got a very expensive bus up into the mountains, but any idea that we might be one of a few souls striding around the isolated hills Heidi-style was soon dispelled. There were literally hundreds of people there, all being herded, military-style onto and off the buses. The routes were all marked out and took advantage of the only flat bit of land for miles. Despite the easy access and remarkably unchallenging terrain, the Japanese were taking their days out very seriously. Most had all the gear on, heavy boots, waterproofs, walking sticks, etc. The walking sticks were mostly of the ski pole design and were handled almost like offensive weapons - on numerous occasions i came that close to having my feet skewered by some granny looking at her own feet (instead of where she was going) and charging along like someone who felt the countryside was something to endure rather than enjoy. And just to destroy any hope of getting back to nature, there were the ubiquitous convenience stores and vending machines every mile along the route. That said, the mountains themselves still managed to retain some majesty and there were even stretches (at the furthest distance from the bus station) where you could walk a few minutes without running into a tour group.
Next day we had a look around the town and the very impressive castle. It was a reconstruction as most of the big old buildings in Japan were knocked down the the late 1800s as Japan industrialised. There were a lot of steep steps. Many buildings here have wooden floors and they make you take your shoes off before entering. This is fine, but some places, as here, make you carry them around with you. It's very difficult to navigate the stepladders through the building with a pair of shoes dangling from your arm, and twice as hard for the army of pensioners that descend on these tourist attractions every day. Bottlenecks form and tempers fray. Mine mainly.
Nagasaki was next. As well as the obvious draw of the atomic bomb related sights, the place has an interesting history as Japan's "Gateway to the West". For several hundred years it was a foreign trading post for the European powers, so it has some interesting colonial-style architecture (which didn't get destroyed in the war) and gardens.
The food is still a on-going source of experimentation and amusement. Dan seems to be living on a constant stream of curry donuts and Iain eats anything and everything non-stop throughout the day - and is still losing weight. We've diagnosed a tapeworm.
Had a bit of horse last night. Tasted like beef jerky.
Now in a place called Kumomoto which has (another) castle - this time not as impressive as Matsumoto. I almost caused a diplomatic incident by taking my shoes off the wrong side of the line which (rather arbitrarily) divides the inside from the outside of the building. The Japanese can be rather anal when it comes to these things. It was an honest mistake but judging by the fuss, you'd think i'd burnt the place down or something.
The weather here is really oppressive - very hot and very humid.
Today we took a train, then bus, then cable-car up a volcano and oww'ed and ahh'ed at the steam and gas coming out of the top. That was as far as many of the other tourists got - they promptly took the cable car back down again after 10 minutes gawping. We decided to have a hike around the rim and climbed up one of the neighbouring peaks, naka-dake, for a better view. We had a picnic at the top which was all very civilised. Dan appears to be worn out by the beauty of the countryside cos it's only five in the after noon and he's asleep already...
To sum up Japan - fantastic countryside, really ugly cities.
Rich.
*** For maps, pics and stuff, see www.energiser.net ***
Matsumoto is a small town in the Japanese Alps. It's a much nicer place than Morioka: more cosmopolitan, with more going on and fantastic mountain views from almost all street corners - a sort of Windermere to Morioka's Croydon. We got a very expensive bus up into the mountains, but any idea that we might be one of a few souls striding around the isolated hills Heidi-style was soon dispelled. There were literally hundreds of people there, all being herded, military-style onto and off the buses. The routes were all marked out and took advantage of the only flat bit of land for miles. Despite the easy access and remarkably unchallenging terrain, the Japanese were taking their days out very seriously. Most had all the gear on, heavy boots, waterproofs, walking sticks, etc. The walking sticks were mostly of the ski pole design and were handled almost like offensive weapons - on numerous occasions i came that close to having my feet skewered by some granny looking at her own feet (instead of where she was going) and charging along like someone who felt the countryside was something to endure rather than enjoy. And just to destroy any hope of getting back to nature, there were the ubiquitous convenience stores and vending machines every mile along the route. That said, the mountains themselves still managed to retain some majesty and there were even stretches (at the furthest distance from the bus station) where you could walk a few minutes without running into a tour group.
Next day we had a look around the town and the very impressive castle. It was a reconstruction as most of the big old buildings in Japan were knocked down the the late 1800s as Japan industrialised. There were a lot of steep steps. Many buildings here have wooden floors and they make you take your shoes off before entering. This is fine, but some places, as here, make you carry them around with you. It's very difficult to navigate the stepladders through the building with a pair of shoes dangling from your arm, and twice as hard for the army of pensioners that descend on these tourist attractions every day. Bottlenecks form and tempers fray. Mine mainly.Nagasaki was next. As well as the obvious draw of the atomic bomb related sights, the place has an interesting history as Japan's "Gateway to the West". For several hundred years it was a foreign trading post for the European powers, so it has some interesting colonial-style architecture (which didn't get destroyed in the war) and gardens.
The food is still a on-going source of experimentation and amusement. Dan seems to be living on a constant stream of curry donuts and Iain eats anything and everything non-stop throughout the day - and is still losing weight. We've diagnosed a tapeworm.
Had a bit of horse last night. Tasted like beef jerky.
Now in a place called Kumomoto which has (another) castle - this time not as impressive as Matsumoto. I almost caused a diplomatic incident by taking my shoes off the wrong side of the line which (rather arbitrarily) divides the inside from the outside of the building. The Japanese can be rather anal when it comes to these things. It was an honest mistake but judging by the fuss, you'd think i'd burnt the place down or something.
The weather here is really oppressive - very hot and very humid.
Today we took a train, then bus, then cable-car up a volcano and oww'ed and ahh'ed at the steam and gas coming out of the top. That was as far as many of the other tourists got - they promptly took the cable car back down again after 10 minutes gawping. We decided to have a hike around the rim and climbed up one of the neighbouring peaks, naka-dake, for a better view. We had a picnic at the top which was all very civilised. Dan appears to be worn out by the beauty of the countryside cos it's only five in the after noon and he's asleep already...
To sum up Japan - fantastic countryside, really ugly cities.Rich.
*** For maps, pics and stuff, see www.energiser.net ***
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