Japan Alps, Nagoya, Gifu: Part II

(Trip to Japan, September 2008; continuation of Part I)

Kamikochi, Gateway to the Japan Alps

 Japan Alps National Park

Saturday, September 6
The bus route to Kamikochi went up into the mountains from Takayama, winding its way along a river valley, stopping at a ski resort where people were walking among the fields of cosmos. From the parking lot at Kamikochi we pulled our suitcases along the rocky path to the bashi (bridge),  where hundreds of tourists milled around the concession stands eating and taking photos. The weather was slightly misty and the peaks on either side came in and out of the clouds. We crossed the bridge and went another .3 km to the Alpen Hotel and checked into our ten tatami mat room.
    We then walked along the river to a picnic area called the Weston Relief marked by a plaque explaining that Weston was a European who promoted the Alps as a national park. The air was fresh and slightly cool, a nice change from the sticky weather in Takayama and Nagoya. The forest on either side of the river was lush and open with ferns and other plants on the forest floor. Quite a few people were walking on the river path, although by the end of the day, most day trippers had left. We returned to our room to wait for dinner. We decided not to use the public baths until after dinner, when we hoped they would be less crowded.

Colorful Meals

We arrived at dinner to find our table--marked by our room number on a stand--already set with a variety of dishes and two little burners each--one to fry our Hida beef steak, and the other with a salmon soup. Hida beef is lesser known but supposedly just as good as Kobe beef. It was definitely tender and heavily marbled with fat. Upon arrival at the dining room we realized that we made the mistake of wearing our shoes to dinner. Everyone else had on slippers. Some of the men wore yukatas (cotton robes). We were the only gaijin (foreigners), and, in the whole weekend, we only saw four other westerners in the park. The waiter brought additional dishes, ending with rice and miso soup.

When we returned to our room, we found that our futons had been prepared for the night.

A Hot Bath
Since there was no shower in the room, we decided to try out the baths. Trudging down the hall in only our yukatas (supplied in the closet) and slippers, we went to the second floor where the red curtain signified the door to the women's bath and blue curtains marked the men's bath. For some reason, they switch sides every day, so you have to remember which color is which. In the dressing room we put our clothes in a basket and then went naked into the bath area. Following the example of another woman, I chose a plastic stool and basin and went to the washing area to lather up. Only after being thoroughly clean and rinsed does one go into the hot bath. The semi-circular tub, big enough for about six people, was heated to 40 degrees Celsius. I lowered myself to the first bench and then into the tub which was about two feet deep. It felt good, but after a few minutes, it was too hot and I got out. Meanwhile, the other woman, who had been washing herself when I came in, was still washing. Art had no one else in his bath. Back in the room we turned on the TV where they were showing the classic Kurosawa movie, The Seven Samurai, but even though we knew the story, the movie wasn't enough to keep us awake.

A Walk Along the River 

Bashi (bridge)

Sunday, September 7
We slept well on our futons with the cool fresh air coming through the screen and the total quiet except for the sound of rushing water from a small stream in the back of the hotel. At breakfast (wearing our slippers this time) we found our table set with an array of dishes including salad, soup, salmon and boiled eggs. We took the eggs for lunch, but found them barely cooked.
   After breakfast we set out to walk up the right side of the river along the mostly level path for a supposedly four hour walk. (By the time we stopped for pictures it took us much longer.) It was a perfect day, sunny, blue sky, not too warm. Most of the path went through forest--primeval tall trees--moist forest floor covered with mushrooms, ferns, asters, various plants, but offered occasional stunning views of the river and distant mountains. Although we could hear birds, we had a hard time seeing any. We had brief glimpses of what looked like a nuthatch and a chickadee but were something else.

The Myojin Shrine

Islet at the Myojin Shrine

After about 3 km we came to a bridge leading across the river to the Myojin Shrine. We paid 300 yen (about $3) to get in to see two mirror-like pools, which were, indeed, beautiful. From what we could read in English, they are considered to be home of the gods. We could see fish swimming in the clear water and a heron flew across. In October, a festival is held at the pond and two boats with a dragon and a chicken head on the front are rowed across the water.
    Beyond the Myojin Shrine, far fewer people were on the path. Those we passed were dressed as serious hikers and appeared to have camped overnight. Almost everyone we passed nodded and said o-hi-o gozi mas (good day) or konichiwa. This section of path passed a natural hot spring where we could see bubbles coming up from the bottom. (On our way back, when it was raining, steam formed in the cooler air over the hot pond.) Three kilometers from Myojin we arrived at our destination, a campground called Tasagawa. We ate our picnic lunch by the river and just as we were finishing, it began to rain.

Afternoon Rain

Approaching Storm

On our entire walk back it rained on and off, although never hard enough to soak us. Just after we got back to the hotel, it began to come down harder, but by then it didn't matter. We had some tea (green) with the hot water and tea set provided in our room. Then we ate another huge meal and bathed before bed. The Sunday dinner featured Shabu Shabu, cooked at the table in little paper pots, and beef sashimi. We also were served a whole fish on a stick and numerous little dishes. After dinner the only entertainment on tv was a golf tournament, so again we went to bed early.

Back to Takayama and On to Gifu

Monday, September 8
The morning was misty, but not actually raining.  We went downstairs for breakfast and found scrambled eggs and ham at our table–some others had Japanese style breakfast.  We checked out and pulled our suitcases to the bus stop.  We were the only passengers on the shuttle bus to Hirayu Onsen. Cars are not permitted in Kamikochi so everyone must go in and out either by bus or taxi.  We got right on our next bus and a few minutes after it arrived in Takayama, we caught a train for Gifu, where, for the remainder of the week, Art was attending a conference and I would be doing a school visit.
(To be continued.)

Part III will cover our stay in Gifu and Nagoya.

The Japan Alps, Nagoya, Gifu: Part I

Nagoya and Takayama (Trip to Japan, September, 2008) 

Welcome Cats (Hello Kitties)

Thursday, September 4 (Notes from my trip diary)
    Arrived in Nagoya, Japan, and, with the help of an attendant at the ticket machine in the airport, we got train tickets to the Nagoya JR station.  Then we got a taxi, complete with white lace seat covers, a white-gloved driver, video screen, and automated recorded instructions in English admonishing us to wear seat belts, for a short ride to the Hilton Hotel.  There, on advice from the super helpful, somewhat English speaking desk clerk, we went to a travel agent to buy our train tickets for the next morning to Takayama.  There, another super helpful, impeccably uniformed young woman helped us, and spent an extra ten minutes just to find out what track we needed to go to for our train.  For dinner we went to a small sushi restaurant nearby, pointing to pictures on the menu for our meal.

Takayama, the Little Kyoto of the North 

Lunch of Soba (buckwheat) noodles

Friday, September 5
    Checked out of hotel and went to train station.  Rode backwards to Gifu and then the train reversed direction to go toward Takayama.  Nagoya and Gifu are both on a flat coastal plain, but after leaving Gifu, the train climbed into the mountains, mainly following river valleys.  Saw ospreys and white and gray herons fishing in the shallow, swift flowing rocky rivers.  Also, human fishermen. 
    After two hours we arrived at Takayama, known as the little Kyoto of the north.  We walked one block to the Best Western hotel, left our bags, and went to a nearby restaurant for soba (buckwheat) noodles, a local specialty.  They came cold, on a bamboo tray, with a soy dipping sauce.  A side dish, something like runny farina with a raw egg yolk in the middle, was impossible to eat with chopsticks.  Art’s meal also included an excellent roasted fish and rice mixed with vegetables.  Then we caught a local bus to Hida Village.

Hida Village

Hida Village.  Farmhouse roof made of thatch is steep to withstand winters with up to 6 feet of snow.  Thatch is lashed onto roof supports with rope.  An opening in the roof lets in light.

   In the old part of Takayama and at Hida Village, one feels plopped into a Kurosawa movie, half-expecting a samurai to appear around the next corner.  (In fact, one can rent costumes in Takayama to wear for the day.)  The Hida Village, about a mile uphill from the center of town, is a collection of farmhouses and other buildings from the Edo period, moved there as a “living history” park. (You can see buildings of the same era in the movie “Silk” which was filmed at a similarly preserved mountain village.)  Signs admonished us to “stay on the course”, presumably for traffic control, and follow the prescribed route through the village.  The huge parking lots outside the gate, almost empty, suggested that at peak times the place is packed, but we found it almost empty. 
      The village of about six large houses/barns and various outbuildings  is organized around a pond–with carp you can feed, a swan, and a water wheel.  Except for one house, not from the local area, all the houses had roofs designed to withstand heavy snow, up to two meters, with shingles held down by rocks or thick thatch lashed onto logs.  A small fire burned in each house, filling it with smoke and making it almost impossible to breathe.  In all buildings we had to take off our shoes to go inside (slippers were provided).  At the charcoal burning shed a sign warned us to “Bee careful.”  Few signs in the village were in English.  We did have a brochure with brief English explanations.  Some people were demonstrating local crafts–woodcarving, lacquerware, doll making and textile stitchery.  We bought a set of six cloth coasters.

River Walk

Tori Gate, Takayama

Instead of waiting for the bus, we walked downhill to the art museum.  On the way, we bought three little brooms, another local craft, at a shop.  The art museum is a huge modern building with a shallow reflecting pool on one side and an English tea garden overlooking the city on the other.  It specializes in glass art.  We didn’t pay to go in and instead, caught the free bus (a red double decker) back to town. 
      For about an hour we wandered the streets near the river where the old buildings have been preserved, many converted into shops.  We went to the red bridge (bashi) for a picture and then walked along the river.  For dinner we went to a restaurant we found in the guidebook, Suzuya, where the menu was in English.  We saw more non-Japanese (gaijin) there than we had all day.  I had sukiyaki and Art had beef cooked on a large leaf, a local specialty, both cooked over small burners at the table.

Woman selling mushrooms at farmer's market

Farmers' Market and A Walk in the Park 
Saturday, September 6
    After an American breakfast at the hotel–the buffet offered both American and Japanese foods– we walked to the morning market by the Civic Center where farm women sold apples, peaches, grapes, pears, all kinds of vegetables, leaves like we had seen at the restaurant, pickles, and handcrafts.  We bought two girl’s cloth purses shaped like fish.  We then climbed the hill to walk in the wooded park above the town.  Each time we passed someone, they would bow and greet us with O-hi-o Go-zi-mas (good morning) or ko-neechi-wa and we would reply.  On top of the hill were the ruins of the shogun’s castle and a lot of mosquitoes.  The day had started out with comfortable weather, but became steadily hotter and more humid. 

Festival Carts, Shrines, and Lion Masks

Festival carts and manikins wearing traditional clothing

We returned to town to see festival carts on display at the museum next to the Shinto shrine and Tori arch.  There a polite young woman apologized that no one could take us on an English language tour; instead, she handed us a tape recorder with English explanations.  The elaborately carved and painted carts (two stories high) are similar to those used at the Gion festival in Kyoto except that they have wheels.  The carts are used for festivals in the spring and fall; the one held in the fall is a harvest festival, similar to American Thanksgiving. Our ticket also got us in to the museum next door in which the shrine complex at Nikko had been recreated in miniature–it felt a little like going to see the tiny Taj Mahal in Florida.
     Next to shrine museum was the Lion Mask museum where we went in to see lion masks and the “puppet show.”  The puppets, which were similar to those on some of the festival carts, were more like robots or automatons and did acrobatics, served tea, or wrote.  Art was selected from the audience and given a scroll written by the puppet scribe.

On to Kamikochi
    We walked back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, stopping on the way at an ATM and the convenience store for some boxed lunches (a sandwich and "bento"). We ate them at the bus station while waiting for the bus to Hirayu Onsen where we caught a shuttle to Kamikochi. 

For more detailed information about Takayama from other travelers, click here and here.

Part II will be about our visit to Japan Alps National Park.