Foraging through the human landscape

Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy…. but can I have a ride to Tokushima?

This was the proposition we had for all the customers who approached the Mini-Stop convenience store at the southbound Tarumi highway parking area just outside of Kobe. Sitting at a small table near the entrance, we propped up a piece of cardboard with 徳島 written on it. Just in case someone was only going as far as Awaji island, we included (淡路).

It was around noon; the sun was blaring down from a sky with just wisps of white amidst the blue. The Mini-Stop had only one other table in front of it, occupied by a young-ish Japanese couple. The girl, with red-dyed long hair and tight fitting, colorful, Hawaiian patterned slacks was eating an onigiri. The man, T-shirt and shades, looked our way after we had cheerfully engaged some passerbys.

“You speak Japanese?”

“Yes,” my traveling partner answered. She gave her background: A Japanese-German born in Japan and raised in Australia. This was one of the fifty-million times she would explain her history to baffled strangers because her face didn’t match her native accent. I then introduced myself in much less perfect Japanese: an American living in Tokyo – a bit more face value.

“You’re going to Tokushima?” The man asked, “…You just climbed the fence didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” my friend admitted. Sweaty and fumbling with our heavy backpacks, we must have stood out as we struggled over a 2-meter-high padlocked gate.  It was our only entrance point to the walled-off highway stop.

Japanese highway rest areas are not always pedestrian-friendly, yet we always found a way in.

“We can take you to Tokushima.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Yesssss!

And so it was.

HITCHHIKING IN JAPAN went something like this:

1) Find a highway rest stop or service parking area along the expressway bound in the desired direction – bigger service areas get more traffic and work better.
2) Take the train, bus, and 5-25 minute sweaty walk to approach the service area.
3) Get IN – sometimes it’s as easy as just walking up, other times we had to use some “problem solving” skills.
4) Pick a place where a lot of people go and linger– near the bathrooms and smoking areas are always good – and set-up cardboard sign.
5) Make eye contact, engage as many people as possible, and when all else fails, just start asking people straight-up: “where are you going?”

THINGS THAT WERE HELPFUL TO HAVE

1) Cardboard sign and marker, of course
2) Ability to speak – and read a little – Japanese
3) SUNSCREEN
4) Small pack of belongings for travel – the smaller the better
5) Smartphone with a map application and GPS, and an internet connection to research hostels, nearby places, and highway stops
6) Battery-pack phone charger
7) Camera – asking a passerby to take a picture can start a conversation.
8) Good shoes for walking that can also be hybrids for wearing around cities
9) “Omiyage” – small souvenirs collected from places for thank-you gifts.

THINGS THAT WERE *NOT* NECESSARY

1) Sleeping bag
2) Tent
3) Bulky towels

Hitching is more difficult in the countryside. We often found ourselves hopping from one urban area to another. In cities, it’s more likely to stay in a hostel or a house; sleeping in the outdoors is difficult among high-rises. Since hostels provided towels and bedding, carrying these things was a waste. A small hand towel or compact pillow would have been lighter alternatives for emergencies. Luckily, we were never faced with “nojuku” 野宿 – sleeping outdoors in the wilderness. Maybe next time….

Trail down from Mt. Bizan in Tokushima: “Yeah…we could sleep here if it came to that….”

 

OUR ROUTE

Starting from Shibuya Station, we caught a Chuorinkan-bound train on the Den-en-toshi line. Getting off at a station called Aobadai, we caught bus #82 to Kitahassaku Kouen Tomei entrance (北八朔公園東名口). From there, it was about 3-5 minutes by foot to the Kohoku Parking area on the westbound Tomei expressway.

PICK-UP #1: THE FAMILY VAN
After about 30-40 minutes of waiting at a bench outside the convenience store (complete with all of our food, drink, and toilet needs), a man wandered over from the smoking area. He seemed to be waiting for traveling companions. They were only going a short distance to a nearby beach, he explained.  However, they could take us 15km up the highway to Ebina Service Area, a main highway stop hub in Yokohama. We quickly agreed and blindly followed him to a van containing his whole family – the driver, two women, a little girl of 5 or 6, an infant child, and a drunk uncle. In Japan, it is perfectly acceptable for a passenger to drink in the vehicle as long as the driver is sober. Therefore, the friendly man who picked us up enjoyed a beer with his sweet Bavarian nuts as he told us his dreams of shark diving. 30 minutes later, we thanked the cheerful family at Ebina service area. They wished us a friendly, “don’t get killed!”, and we went to set up our next hitching operation.

PICK-UP #2: DETERMINED ‘DAIMONJI’ FESTIVAL GOERS
Every year, Kyoto celebrates the last day of Japanese Obon holidays with the “daimonji” (大文字) festival. On five mountains surrounding the city, giant bonfires are lit up in the shape of kanji characters and images. Our next ride was a Korean woman and her friend: a man originally from China who had lived and studied in Japan for many years. They were dead-set on driving 10 hours from Tokyo to see the daimonji from their Kyoto friend’s rooftop, despite the ominous weather. When the woman picked us up, our sign had read 名古屋, Nagoya.  She said she was driving through en route to Kyoto. After several hours in the car, and numerous highway stops later, we ditched our Nagoya plan to join them on their friend’s rooftop. Two of the five mountain fire-shapes were visible amidst intermittent lighting. Afterwards, we went with the group to a nearby izakaya for beer, sausage, and edamame.

11:30PM: We left the restaurant for a nearby metro station. Festival-goers had filled almost all of Kyoto’s hostels and budget hotels, so we decided to catch the last train to Osaka. Half-running to the platform, we made it girigiri – rushing onto the train just seconds before the door closed.

OSAKA

The metro was already closed down for the night.  A taxi from Osaka station to Shinsaibashi, a central area of the city, is a short, affordable distance. Although we had already called a capsule hotel – and they had reported no vacancy –  we decided to rock up anyway. The night was still young at 1:00AM in Osaka, and takoyaki street vendors were in full action.

In line with our intuition, there were a couple capsules available for us after all. 3000 yen for one night in a pod, fresh sheets and towels, and a shower / bathhouse (complete with sauna) is not bad for Japan (Capsule Hotel Asahi Plaza Shinsaibashi). We booked two nights.

From inside the capsule

 On the third night, we caught a train back up to Kyoto and stayed another night there. I’ll let pictures describe the rest of my stay in Osaka and Kyoto:

Near Namba Station, Osaka

Waterfall in Mino, near Osaka

 

View of Osaka from Mino

 

KYOTO

The mossy gardens at Sanzen-in Shrine in Ohara, near Kyoto

Moss forest at Sanzen-in Shrine

The road from Ohara bus stop to the Shrine

KOBE

Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe are close enough – and cheap enough – by rail.  It’s more work than it’s worth to hitch between them. By the time we got on the Tokaido / Sanyo Main line bound for Sannomiya, we had learned that Kansai people stand on the right side of escalators (opposite to Tokyo, where we stand on the left). Staying only one night in Sannomiya, we had picked a service area just outside the city as our base for hitching the next morning. About 15 hours in Kobe was enough time to try some delicious beef (a cheaper variety than the famous stuff, but tasty nonetheless), and hit-up a tucked-away bar.  The bartender was so delighted to meet hitchhikers that she gave us drink after drink for free**. By the time we finally escaped, she walked us out to the street and nearly hugged us good-bye. Kobe left a good taste in my mouth.

**she kept our glasses full well over what we paid, but I have a suspicion I paid for at least one more glass than I had officially ordered – likely an honest mistake…

PICK-UP #3 – YOUNG COUPLE GOING RAFTING
Going farther down the Tokaido / Sanyo Main line towards Nishiakashi, we caught a train to little beach town called Suma.

Beach in Suma

 About a block from the station, bus #72 brought us to a middle-of-nowhere stop called Mukai (向井). This is where we trekked about 12 minutes to a wall that blockaded the expressway. We found our 2-meter-high fence and vacationing couple. En route to Shikoku Island for a day of rafting, they took us to Tokushima city.

View from the car crossing Awaji Island

TOKUSHIMA

Tokushima’s famous ramen

The unique way Tokushima does “Yaki-mochi” with rice flour and red bean paste

Tokushima City from Mt. Bizan

By lucky coincidence of a connection through work, I got in touch with a Tokushima local. Passionate about food, he met us in the evening and showed us a delicious traditional restaurant that dated back to the Edo period.

LEAVING TOKUSHIMA BY BOAT
At dinner, our friend-of-a-friend tipped us off that a ferry + train package could get us from Tokushima’s port to Osaka for only 2000 yen. Favoring a new form of transportation to add to our list, we decided to embark on our return route across the bay and through Wakayama.

Wakayama Port

Bypassing Osaka in train stations only, we took the train all the way to Otsu near Lake Biwa.  

HOMEWARD HITCHING: PICK-UP #4 and 5

At Otsu Service Area, we had a time limit now – and less energy – for hitching. The Thursday afternoon was less fruitful than our lucky catches before. Nonetheless, we were picked up after a few hours. A couple took us as far as Nagashima Spa-land, just outside Nagoya. From a highway rest stop there, our situation began to look bleak.  Only bus-fuls of tourists poured past us. Where were the people with cars? After 6pm, we began to assess our options. The nearest train station was 7 kilometers away…. We needed to hitch. Without luck, an uncomfortable night at the rest stop might have been our fate.

MORE bus-fuls of tourists….

Finally, a man in a work van pulled up. We stopped him as he crossed our path and asked if he was bound in Tokyo’s direction. Hesitant at first, he said he wasn’t going that far. However, we were able to negotiate a lift to Toyohashi station in Aichi, so we took it. The man may not have been the type to initially pick up hitchhikers.  After an hour or more chatting on the highway, we left him with some Kyoto yatsuhashi sweets.  I hope we made a lasting impression.

TOYOHASHI to TOKYO

Ideally, we could have caught an overnight bus, the “moonlight nagara” midnight train, or rigged another cheap way to make it home. However, with Obon holiday season and full reservations, we had to bite the bullet. Literally, an 8200 yen bullet-train back to Tokyo was our only option. Unsurprisingly though, it was extremely comfortable to be delivered back to the metropolis in just over an hour. Situation makes some expenses worth it.

ON HITCHHIKING

Would I do it the same way in a different country? Probably not. I’ve come to trust Japan as a generally safe place. There is risk in everything. There is risk in climbing rocks, driving, eating… even in breathing.

My goal in hitching was more than just to catch a free ride. I truly hope that both parties walk away with a positive sense of humanity. Someday, if the opportunity provides, I might pick up a hitchhiker myself.

In the city, there are a million moments a day when I walk past strangers – other minds making their way through this world, same as me – and I never stop.  I never know them. The world is full of a human landscape much more slippery and unpredictable than the mountains or the sea. Mottainai. It’s a waste not to explore it.

Would you pick me up?

(Link to my travel companion’s blog: http://lightscameratravel.com/)

Following the ‘dragon’ to the sea

The untouched forest and steep mountainside that meets the Tenryu river was my first home in Japan.  Even now, father north, I pass by the river almost daily.  From southern Nagano, she flows south in the curvy, dragon-like fashion she was named for, becoming more and more green as the forest closes in.  Disappearing into some of the most remote mountain areas of north Aichi and Shizuoka, the Tenryu eventually meets the sea in Hamamastu.

Starting from Ina, driving through Komagane and almost all of Shimoina county, we took the route just east of the river (The 18 to the 1).  It hugs some steep mountainside and becomes only one lane at times.

monkeys!

Our end point for the day was Wachinogawa campground in Tenryu village.  The next day, we were up early and riverside, with the goal to make it to Hamamastu by early afternoon.

After a whole lot of nothing but river, steep forested mountainside, and one-lane curves we crossed the Aichi border and spanned the expanse of Toyone village, where we found more natural beauty….and not much else.  Lake Midori was a nice little find.

Lake Midori

As we eventually got into northern Hamamatsu, we veered a little off course from the Tenryu to check out the Ryugashi Cavern.  It was a refreshing break in the cool underground as the sun had been beating down on us all morning.

Finally, we made it to the sea.  Although the Nakatajima sand “dunes” weren’t really dunes as we expected, the beach here was beautiful and a local kite-flying festival was a nice surprise.

As the beach-side festivities wrapped up, they slowly moved to downtown.  Hamamatsu, a medium-sized city we figured not to be typically busy, was flooded with parades of locals. It seemed nearly all of them could play the trumpet, and the noise permeating the streets sounded like an American high school football band.  At times, the parade broke into a fast run and people gathered together ‘dancing’ in a lantern-donning mosh pits; it was certainly one of the most high energy festivals I’ve seen in Japan.

Although we were lucky to stumble upon the city during such a cool event, our impression of Hamamatsu was a good one.  I have a feeling we’ll visit again.

HokkAIdo YO!

Being so slope spoiled here in Nagano, it has taken more than three years before finally seeing about all this fuss in Japan’s northern island.  Although there is entirely too much transport involved to manage it in a weekend (or even a week) trip, I’m glad I was finally able to ride the tundra at Niseko.

Although it doesn’t compare to the ornate beauty of snow-dusted branches in parts of Nagano, the runs at Hirafu are much wider and less restricted.  Despite the same level of crowding (which we dealt with on the lifts), I discovered an eerie solitude on the mountain.  I was surrounded by drifts of white and nothing but my board, the powdered terrain, and stillness.  The lack of visibility and blizzard winds might have had a bit to do with it, but it was beautifully panic-inducing and enjoyable all the same.

Niseko has several mountain areas:  Annupuri, Niseko Village, Grand Hirafu, and Hanazono.  All of the areas can be accessed from the very top lifts of the mountain, making an all day all-mountain pass the way to go on a clear day.  However, powder often comes along with high winds, so we were stuck traversing the areas by shuttle bus as the highest lifts were closed.  Although the shuttle is free with an all-mountain pass, the slightly cheaper 5-hour Hirafu pass served us much better in the conditions.

The line for the gondola on the day high winds closed the top lifts

Although we only got to sample the Village and Hirafu during our stay, Hirafu seems to be the biggest of all the areas, as well as the one I enjoyed the most.  On the second day, we lucked out to find the top king triple and ace pair #3 open in the afternoon.  These top runs of Hirafu are wide, open, and scattered with just enough trees to feel like your exploring the mountains’ natural creases on your own.

Although we stayed in Higashiyama pension village area (near the Green Leaf Hotel and the Village’s Bonzai lift), we soon learned that all of the board shops, places to eat, and night life is at the base of the Hirafu area.  It was only a short shuttle bus ride away.  The first shuttle of the morning got us there around 9, with just enough time to enjoy the “big breakfast” at the Green Farm Cafe before hitting the slopes on our 5-hour pass.

The last bus, however, leaves the Hirafu Welcome Center around 8:30pm.  It was enough time for a little board shop browsing, dinner and drinks, but we were stuck to searching the Higashiyama area for our amusements after that point.

Hirafu area at night

steak and cheese pie!

About the only thing in that area (aside from the Green Leaf, a hotel with far too much swank for me) was The Black Diamond Lodge.  It worked out well enough as they had Coronas, taco salad, and a variety of unique soy dishes like the tofu donuts that our group rather questionably enjoyed….

The lodge’s shuttle vehicle was also impressive.

Back at our hotel, The Pension Brook, we could enjoy a small ofuro-style bath to soak our mountain-and-blizzard beaten bodies.  There are two “public” baths on the bottom level.  Public, as they can be used by any guests, but with the ability to occupy and lock each room separately if you’re not keen on sharing bath-time with strangers. Altogether, the pension was pretty affordable and the lack of in-room bathroom wasn’t a big deal – well worth saving some cash.

Our last night in Hokkaido we spent on a bus back to Sapporo, followed by a late dinner and some Sapporo-drinking at a local izakaya.  “AI YO!” was the common exclamation ringing through the place, as servers shouted to each other and answered with the coined phrase, later learned as the name of the restaurant.  It was hard not to answer back with an enthusiastic “AIII YOO!” now and then.

Finally, we made our way – slipping and sliding – through the hard-packed snow of Sapporo’s “sidewalks” to check out the near-finished snow sculptures for the yuki matsuri (snow festival).  Though it was cold and the blocks of sculptures were numerous, the massive size and detail on some of them were definitely worth it!

And that’s that.  Until next time, Hokkaido.  AIII YO!!!