It’s the last weekend of August but summer isn’t over yet! And more importantly, there is still a handful of festivals left on Tokyo’s summer events calendar, like the Harajuku Omotesando Genki Festival Super Yosakoi. This lively two-day festival takes place on August 25-26 (2018) and showcases a Japanese dance called the yosakoi. Continue reading “The Super Fun Harajuku Yosakoi”
Lanterns lanterns lanterns! This means only one thing: we are officially on Obon holidays. For one short week in the middle of August, the country takes a breather and lets its hair down. People make the most of this holiday by going back to their hometowns to visit family or even by going on a trip overseas. Continue reading “Bon Dancing in Shimokitazawa”
It’s festival season! For enduring the hot summer months in Japan, we are rewarded with dozens and dozens of exciting festivals… traditional street festivals, lantern festivals, obon dance festivals, fireworks festivals, awa dance festivals, you name it! Continue reading “The Mighty Gion Matsuri”
There are loads of well-known tourist places in Tokyo… Meiji Jingu Shrine, Tokyo Tower, Shibuya Crossing, to name a few. Whenever friends from home or other international visitors come to Japan, I often get asked for recommendations on things to do and see in Tokyo. Continue reading “Touristing at Sensoji”
When you think of the Japanese way of life, words that typically come to mind are orderly, calm or disciplined.
Then there are matsuri, or Japanese festivals…
My first taste of a ‘chaotic’ festival was the Sanja Matsuri, famous for the yakuza who walk around freely showing off their tattoos. Continue reading “WPC – Chaos”
Living in Tokyo, the public transportation system is so extensive and reliable that there really is no need to own a car. So these days when I travel around the country, I actually try my best to plan trips to places where you need a car! That’s how much I miss driving. Besides, who doesn’t love a road trip!? Not only does it let you do things at your own pace, but it gives you the chance to go where no trains or buses go. In other words, it gives you the chance to step off the beaten path. And that’s exactly what I did on a recent trip to Fukushima.
We left Shinjuku Station on the 9am bus bound for Fukushima Prefecture. We made our way out of the metropolis, past farmlands, through mountains (literally), and deep into the countryside, before arriving at Aizu-Wakamatsu Station just after 1pm. The most well-known attraction in Aizu-Wakamatsu is Tsuruga Castle, and it seemed like the entire town was an extension of it. The streets were dotted with preserved warehouse-style buildings that you can see in many ancient castle towns in Japan. Even the train station and underpass entrances replicated the castle’s roof design. I felt like we’d stepped into an open-air museum or a movie set.
We decided to use the town’s hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus for the afternoon. The first stop was the castle for a history lesson. Many castles in Japan look similar, but one thing that makes Tsuruga-jo different to all the others is its red tile roof – which I imagine looks exceptionally beautiful when the 1,000 pink cherry blossoms trees surrounding it are in bloom. Aizu’s bloody history is also well known in Japan. During a 17-month civil war in the late 1800s called the Boshin War, there was a large group of teenage samurai in Aizu called the Byakkotai. After one battle in particular, 20 boys were separated from the rest of the clan and retreated to a nearby hill. From afar, they thought they saw the castle on fire and decided to commit seppuku (suicide for samurai) thinking the war had been lost. Sadly, the smoke they had seen was actually from a fire outside of the castle walls. 19 of the boys died, and one survived to tell their story. The tragedy has been adapted into novels, TV dramas and movies and their tombstones are visited by many people each year.
Our second stop for the afternoon was Higashiyama Onsen, a hot springs town located in the mountains just outside of Aizu. A river runs straight down the middle of the town, with ryokans lining each side. I’d read that this area was in need of some TLC and unfortunately those reviews weren’t wrong. It felt like an abandoned town for the most part, with ugly cables running along the water’s edge and the buildings looking old and worn. Further up the river, however, things were a little different. Wild flowers were everywhere, and the river felt more natural without the invasive concrete structures. The streets were clean and atmospheric and whole place felt peaceful. We chose a ryokan and soaked in a hot spring by the river. Bliss!
To end the day, we tracked down a Kitakata ramen restaurant. This is one of the most famous regional ramens in Japan, and is originally from Kitakata, the town next to Aizu. The noodles are thick, wavy and soft; and the soup is made using soy sauce. Delicious!
On day two, we were up early to have some breakfast before going to pick up our rental car. We’d reserved the car from 9am to 6pm and weren’t going to waste a minute! From Aizu, we headed south to a place in the middle of nowhere called Ouchijuku. In the old days, Aizu was connected to Nikko via a trade route through the mountains. Along the route were a number of post towns like Ouchijuku where samurai, travellers and farmers could put their feet up and grab a bite to eat. Ouchijuku is especially picturesque because all of the houses feature thick thatched roofs, similar to those in the World Heritage Shirakawago, to protect the buildings from snow during winter.
Ouchijuku is fairly small and there is just one main street lined with houses, but I found it fascinating. I loved the traditional houses. I loved eating the local dishes – DELICIOUS tempura manju and very interesting Ouchijuku-style soba eaten with a long leek instead of chopsticks!! I loved all the colourful flowers blooming everywhere you looked – cherry blossoms, rapeseeds, tulips, snowbells. I loved talking to the local people who were so cheerful and friendly. Needless to say, I’d 100% recommend a visit if you ever get the chance!
From Ouchijuku, we headed further south to an even more remote place called To-no-hetsuri. We had happened to see this place on a local map earlier that day, and then were recommended to go there by some people we met at Ouchijuku, so we made a detour to go check it out. Over thousands of years, the river and wind have eroded the soft, white walls of the cliff to create some very unusual formations. Some gaps are so large that they have created caves that you can walk into. As usual in Japan, they have even built a shrine inside one of the caves. I loved the deep green-blue colour of the water, too. And with the bright green foliage up top, it made for an impressive sight.
On the road again, we travelled a couple hours north, around the huge Lake Inawashiro, into the forest between Mt Bandai and Mt Adatara, and down a lonely dirt track. We were very, very far from the beaten track, that’s for sure. From the car park, we walked through a few natural wooden torii gates and followed a shallow stream full of moss-covered rocks. Everywhere we looked, everything was green. Bright green. I could feel the negative ions swirling around us, purifying our pores and taking away any stress and worries.
We passed under one final torii before the gorgeous and graceful Tatsusawa-Fudo Falls came into view. I hear the autumn colours are stunning here, and in the winter, the waterfall freezes over. In summer, the weather is nice enough that you can walk behind/under the waterfall! During spring though, the water and air temperatures were still very cold, and we made do with admiring the waterfall from afar.
The sun was starting to set and eventually we pulled ourselves away and hit the road back to Aizu, making it back to the rental shop at 6pm on the dot. The following morning we caught the bus back to Tokyo, wrapping up our adventurous trip to Fukushima.
Celia in Tokyo 