Category Archives: Japan Life/Travel

articles, resources and personal field notes from travelling and rambling around Japan, kind of a catch-all clearinghouse which you might find handy when planning a trip or just daydreaming

Field Notes, Japan Life/Travel

Nagasaki Ramble, Feb. 2020, part 1 (trains, trams, food & rumours of a…)

Unnecessary Preamble:

The trip was meant as a little adventure and to visit relatives and also get away from the house while a few construction tasks were happening (new bathtub! etc.) but…

roll on to Nagasaki

As it goes, this was the “last trip” – at the time the (now infamous) Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined – shrouded in mystery – in Yokohama, the city was a bit tense and confused, and indeed, a week later another cruise ship was quarantined in Nagasaki.

Since we were well along the pregnancy, we stayed safe and busy despite my – ugh –usual health challenges, and so very much enjoyed Nagasaki: riding trams, olden Dutch settlements, bomb memorials :(, friendly folks, quirky kissaten cafes unchanged for decades, plus hospital visits for a young relative, and an abacus tournament (really) – Some new friends, strange islands, impossible alleys, hills & plants.

Of course didn’t realize it would be years until our next time out of Okayama prefecture // 2 years feels like 2 weeks or 20 years depending on the day.

Contemporaneous notes follow (there is also a fantastic analog scrapbook somewhere):

Feb 13, 2020: Nagasaki ramble officially underway at Okayama station at best lil coffee stand called Life & Coffee / ordered up a Bizen special cup

#protip there is a piece of Bizen ceramic put in the coffee which infuses with magic powers &/or imbues with extra tastiness

Feb 14: Nagasaki miscellanea diary (not to be confused with the Ryoko’s botanical diary)

Post box (obviously) at station

With a combination of low pressure weather systems, overstimulation of fast trains, and a bit too much activity of late, had a real rough flareup with my mostly-beloved but somewhat-battered body. It’s hard to explain all the pain but when it suddenly comes on, it’s quite scary.

Anyway, sweet wife tracked down some help for me this morning with acupuncture needles connected to electricity and some ice got the immediate pain calmed down.

While my head was aching, Ryoko went on a mission for wonderful coffee (not standard Hotel issue) from our HQ at Monterey hotel, and snapped a postbox on the way for me.

This is her note:

長崎は雨〜☔️かと思ったけど、夜激しく降っていいお天気になりました(^^)
流石に明日からは雨予報かな〜デイブさんの代わりに（笑）ポストとコーヒーとクロネコ
To Dave Olson
Enjoy post and coffee :-)

Then, immediately following whilst on a little walk, we happened across a mysterious tiny café, ate some local dishes & met a new friend, the proprietor – or son of the family or something something. Regardless, he loves fishing and was cheerful and affable. Koba-san!

the famous champon noodles of the area

He knocked off the job and loaded us up in his car for a coastal drive to gaze the remnants of a coal factory mining island (noted in various films).

I am waiting for your call but somehow this phone never rings
I don’t think it works anymore but I didn’t actually try
Adding machine artifact from Gunkanjima

Plus the related museum displaying the challenges of life on an industrial enclave which was for a while a “fully functioning” city and the most densely populated place on earth.

While every day is a romantic interlude with my Darling wife, appropriately today we viewed the battleship island from “wedding“ rocks complete with a Torii gate, and much fun conversation.

Smooooching love love rocks / I wonder who put the Torri gate up there and who maintains the rope?
“Battleship island”… A man-made island former coal mining facility in the early industrial years of Japan. At one point was more densely populated in Tokyo. A lot of history on this rock (have you seen this in movies?)

Now a rest, then perhaps a walk to explore the Dutch outposts from long-ago days before the “black ships “ obliged Japan to open up.

Overall everything going well except for my crushing head / end of dispatch #valentinesday

I offer a few photos as evidence. Really the usual: postbox, trains, street cars, telephone, plus a few of the aforementioned items.

Trams

Streetcars are the underappreciated heroes of urban transportation… I’m not sure why they aren’t first choice for cities. In Nagasaki, like Okayama, the olden tracks carry vintage carriages like this as well as more modern coaches (I have dozens of these photos so maybe should make a whole separate gallery, what do you think?)

Trains

I really want one of these uniforms for Cosplay good times
In the meanwhile, doing my best to capture the style
I have more to say about this but really imo, the shinkansen / bullet trains aren’t the best way to travel in Japan, it’s units like this limited express / Tokyū class – sure they’re quick, but also the seats are wider and comfortable, and most importantly, they travel “at grade“ rather than the elevated tracks which often whisk through tunnels and with noise blockers which thwart the view and mess with my inner ear pressure head or whatever… Note to self: explain this further
Nagasaki was kind of specialty train bonanza as well… For example: these two beauties.

The “sea side liner” is a normal commuter line which takes an incredibly scenic course, so while the odds and ends of tourists and train geeks gaze out the window, most people have their nose tucked in a manga or phone.

The Orange train goes to a Dutch theme village Huis Ten Bosch (not to be confused with Dejima which is the former Dutch trading island)

Trams & Trains video

A montage of trams and trains featuring music by Dan Mangan and Ryoko Olson… It turns out there are literally hundreds of similar videos on YouTube but I’m pretty sure this one is the very best of all of them :-)

Pyjamas

Pajamas provided by the hotel, in this case, button-up long night shirt style. Really fantastic. I’m really trying not to steal these and further ruin my reputation in Japan (and for all other foreigners too). But if no one knows it was me…

Canals & Vibes

Canals, old customs houses, small alleys, mix of Western and Japanese style houses… All in the little area around our hotel. Dreamy // and keep in mind, none of this existed after August 1945

Food, for starters

Why yes i will, very much #maguro #salmon

Harbour Stroll

Due to the (at that time) recent announcement of a mysterious illness entering Japan aboard a cruise ship, the general populous immediately hunkered down – so, when we went on a harborfront stroll seeking splendid sashimi, we had the promenade and the restaurant basically to ourselves.

wave so I can notice you #covac
don’t fret, If you happen to fall in, I’ll toss this your way
handy if heading on international adventure, just grab a few bank notes off the wall to get started
which are better… Oysters or the decorations?
Argh, we come for ye by mighty vessel
Lanterns of welcome

Ryoko’s Botanical Diary

For upcoming botanical diary i suspect [update, yes Kinome FB page]

Chinatown Stroll

While Nagasaki’s interest in history deserves several essays and a miniseries, in brief: as you likely know, for hundreds of years, Japan was basically closed off to international trade with a few exceptions, one being controlled trade with China (who often acted as a middle broker for Japanese wars with other countries) as well as first the Portuguese who were expelled by bringing their religion Against the wishes of the Daimyo (insert story about peasant quasi religious uprising here… Oh actually Melvyn Bragg on the intellectually stimulating “In Our Time” podcast covers The Shimabara Rebelion) so then the trading franchise was transferred to the Dutch who were sequestered on an island // which we will get to later…

Mighty gate of Japan’s oldest Chinatown. Wonder where is China’s oldest Japantown?
Hot wine, take away, ¥500, also things I don’t completely understand
This is where you put pRon you are no longer using, seriously, but I don’t totally understand, but thats the gist
This phone booth is big enough to set up an office or perhaps a small shop of some kind

So in the meantime, here are a few snapshots of Chinatown – which is Japan’s oldest Chinatown and somehow lent to the feeling of Nagasaki as a miniature San Francisco: a harbor, lots of hills, various cobbled, international vibe, great café culture, trams clattering along – but, as far as I could tell, a lack of Beat poetry and self-aggrandizing tech companies.

More to come

Considering this diary only catches the first barely 2 days of the trip and there’s so much more to share, I invite you back for:

  • Visit to Dejima
  • Abacus tournament
  • Grilled meats
  • Old public bath
  • Quirky coffee shops
  • Atomic bomb museum
  • Experiencing four seasons of weather in three days
  • Of course more trains, post boxes, payphones and so on, probably anyway

Way Home (more trains)

And just so I don’t forget: here are two snaps from the way home on the now decommissioned Kamome train – briefly addressed above at the time but now replaced with a super high speed “new trunk line” a.k.a. Shinkansen a.k.a. bullet train.

I love these “at – grade” class trains as they are wider, have beautiful touches like parquet floors, lounge cars and viewing areas // which you can see in the photo along with the usual photo of my boots, yes these cheap and cheerful chukkas which took me into the Himalayas, along with my stolen suitcase of treasures which earned its stickers.

So we go on.

Japan Life/Travel, Kinfolk + Pals, Personal Musings

Diary: New Year Dragons with foods, gardens, bevvies, and themes #calm

what follows is a post-dated diary of various activities in and around New Years day copied from various notebooks, memos, and small dispatches covering foods, outings to parks and graves, bevvies, postcards, dreams, schemes, and themes of calm and endeavours

Dec. 31: We ate soba (buckwheat noodles) as per tradition with parents on new years eve. Most folks watch TeeVee (many famous “wide ” variety shows, singing contests). They leave it off for my sensory overload benefit so i retired early – as i my way – so they could watch if desired.

So tired, heading to bath and bed. {all the tabs will not be closed, many emails unreplied, various messages and conversations left dangling, flip the page, carry-on}

So we go on… gn & gy

i made a video: Good night & good year / Reiwa 6 Ahoy

Jan. 1: GM, HNY – We ate mochi (glutinous rice paste) with other tasty items with parents in the morn as is tradition.

Then, off to Korakuen (one of the “three great traditional garden” of Japan, frequently visited by us).

Early start by my standards – we packed several thermoses and flasks of coffee and tea for the journey…

Off onto the Road: Of course, all manner of beverages are readily available from ubiquitous vending machines yet I prefer our house-made treats. Also, provided opportunity to break out a teabag which was included in the card sent by some friends from Canada.

So off we went, waiting at Tsuchida stop for our first bus ride of the new year…

As is our usual routine, we sit in the very back row (like the *bad kids*) because there are big windows and a little bit more room to stash our gear. Ichi-Stan, of course being a frequent traveler, utilizes the hooks for hanging up his rucksack and travelling cap {usually here I would note that the bus features complimentary high-quality wi-fi and power outlets but you know that by now}.

Note: the *usual* tradition is a shrine visit on New Year Day (bet ya there is a posted in this archive (or maybe still.in draft but… anyhow) this year though we took the with a chance to meet up with Ichi’s best pal and roll around the stellar garden – importantly including the first time in years in which the public could be present for the “flying of the cranes” so… off we went. Plus its a “free admission day!”

Flying of Cranes: The garden was packed but crowd well managed by diligently dudes wrangling pedestrians and keeping on the pathways with optimized view points for the flying of the cranes (a symbol of longevity).

The whole crane flying thing was quite amusing (the wranglers entice them to fly) and yeah cool but i couldn’t help but laugh at the crew of ojisans with their massive telephoto lens, standing on top of camera boxes (no fun for you kids!) and rapid firing like artillery weapon kinda killing the buzz but so it goes, hobbies and all that. {Of course, this is coming from the guy who’s over documenting everything including everything but a picture of the cranes.}

Continue reading Diary: New Year Dragons with foods, gardens, bevvies, and themes #calm →
Japan Life/Travel, Kinfolk + Pals

Ramen magic – spontaneous outing for resto’s anniversary

We picked up Ichiro from preschool and came to our favorite Ramen place. {Darling wife is working so hard & im a bit wiped out from trying to stay up with housework}

Somehow the ramen was calling us

&& This magnificent place is celebrating 8th anniversary today with a “one day only” special dish! Yes plz :)

Anyhow, #Peace

We had to kill a bit of time before opening so we hung out on shopping street and visited store selling all Okayama made goods including local sake, Doppo beer, Betty Smith denim accessories, Bizen ceramics & postcards etc Taisho-era painter Yumeji.

Yes, we purchased items. Did not purchase the hat made of renowned Kojima denim as it was “not cheap” but we did get some salad dressing, art postcards, Hot Springs powders, Doppo craft beer for a friend visiting, & a few pieces of special brocade fabric for arts and crafts.

Yes im smitten

This angel is still in her grubby work clothes. She even hauling her wood chipper to the back lot to do some well… wood chipping. She’s so cute when she’s dirty. Oh wait, that sounds wrong ????

Hail Mudhoney, always delivering “this gift”

Yes, I look exhausted, bleary-eyed, spun out, not at my best but hey, look at that Superfuzz Bigmuff T-shirt and that glorious bowl of noodles.

Yes, i am invigorated and overjoyed when with my darling duo!

He’s found to be the all-time champion ever have this ramen restaurant (noticed I haven’t told you the name)

Oh there he is, the smile comes out once he gets his grub. He’s been coming here since before he was born & has a chance to be the all-time record holder. He’s graduated to his own small bowl with special fork and spoon set.

One day only for this very special sophisticated unique bowl of noodles

Ramen is not fashion, Ramen is art, pleasure, satisfaction, international, tradition, culture (it says so on the chalkboard) and yes, this tiny back alley joint is Michelin guide listed so if you’re into car tyres, this place was properly evaluated / a very special bowl today.

Congratulations on eight years of awesomeness. We wished him at least 50 more

Us and the super grateful ramen boss. He’s a delightful, hard-working, soft-spoken and very very serious and passionate about his Ramen. What a pleasure it is to go here!

A single bulb lantern, a single A board (for Ichiro to read carefully) is all that is required for “advertising” – no hype needed

You can see the location is critically important. As in: Important to have absolutely nothing else around and be hiding in plain sight / not a swinging hotspot.

And you don’t need some big neon sign and giant LED screen screaming at the people, and understated chalkboard with sincere message wins the day

These are important runes

Lest ye forget: Ramen is pleasure, love, smile / such as is written on the wall – so it must be true, the chalk never lies after all, after all

Japan Life/Travel, Tactical Wandering

Okayama’s “moment” + a few checkpoints and sustainable enjoyable life

Unfamous Okayama is having a bit of a moment: lots of new houses going up, Iris Oyama making a factory here, Amahz0n building a distribution center + folks moving from the “big city” for a more enjoyable pace/price of life & ‘relative’ lack of significant natural disasters.

[Watch: Okayama Opens Up + JJ Walsh Okayama show]

Anyhow, when I was passing through the Station (Strangely, very rarely ride trains, but the bus loop is right there) took a few snaps to pass along to visiting friends for some important orientation points.

the fountain in front of station is a meetup point
the momotaro (peach boy) with monkey, pheasant, dog sidekicks statue is a landmark
drink your own water bottle (and hankerchief)
most important Japanese characters to learn are the ones to wash ya after ya go

About Japan Life:

Okayama is kind of famous as ‘a place you pass through going to somewhere else’ / cheesy tour books/sites translate into “a transportation hub” / I really like it’s just super normal – right sized, not too hectic, but all conveniences & usual castle, gardens, shrines, shops

Also, while I’m here, talking about my unfamous home, adding a few annotations, which applied to some blowhard’s article that was making waves of sorts… [ain’t gonna link it cause its so offside and baity] The same crap that comes up from time to time that “Japan’s GDP is so low, the debt is so high, the population is so aging, they don’t know what they’re doing, Japan is doomed” and then all the uninformed chime in about life in the UK/US/Canada/Australia as though it’s any better because the relative currency value is currently higher and then folks who keep one foot in various countries blabbity blab. I’m here forever so i got feelings. Also, i’ve been around.

Of course, the data points are always centred around Tokyo, and overlook so many of the benefits of living here in Japan {yeah no kidding, a few things i’d love to change so i work towards mitigation like drrr}, and rather than me writing an essay, here’s a few notes about “sustainable and enjoyable living” i added to the conversation – pointing towards my own experience natch – which were summarily ignored, which is fine:

Funny how it goes, Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka suck oxygen out of all the Japan news and are far more expensive/difficult to live in then “everywhere else” / here in unfamous Okayama, lots of new families moving in from around Japan, things are undramatic, somehow growing and pleasant.

We’ve also got a good garden, acquired some additional land, my wife runs a small business (arborist and landscape design), we have a wild boar trapper, solar panels & back up fresh water well. Plus stashes of savings in multiple currencies & tax free investments. Life is ok.

Importantly, real estate/housing isn’t a blood sport. You can acquire house(s) and if you have some moderate DIY skills, can be set up for long-term with no mortgage and a little hassle. + I’m chronic/complex ill & getting way better medical care here than I did in USA or Canada.

I’ve sampled living in *a lot* of different countries – from Jamaica to Indonesia to Nepal and have several passports and while Japan’s got problems, haven’t found a place that doesn’t… And the ones with the least problems have the biggest price tag to go with them.

Went back to Canada recently with family, & was expecting but still shocked by how expensive “everything” is – as well as how hard double income, no kids working “great jobs” we’re having to hustle for housing. Sure it’s beautiful but can hardly enjoy it without serious $$ flow.

Regardless, when got married, I promised my wife would never pack her up and move away from parents and she promised me I’d never have to be an English teacher so we’re here for the long-haul + have a great kid, a quirky house and my best friend’s goat farm nearby…

Bonus: And folks love enjoying/buying my paintings and poems here instead of just “oh yeah, I meant to buy one of those but…” in other places

Finally: at the bus loop, I noticed my favourite local bus company (there are several sort of public private operations) are doing a promotion to take folks on a hot spring excursion. Pay one price, get picked up, go to some Hot Springs, get ride back home. {Now that we’ve lost a few weeks with the scourge, not sure it will work out for us. We’re just really glad that this sorta campaign exists.

let’s go to hotsprings with Uno bus

Addendum: “there’s nothing to do in Okayama so why would any tourist go there” Twitter Convo

Japan Life/Travel, Personal Musings

Diary: fetching Mochi stone (& VW Beetle bento)

Today, we drove out to beautiful countryside location to the home of a lovely lady who recently lost her husband. Our mission was to load up a approx 200 kg mochi making stone. Massively dense and unbudgeible at first. Took some levers, hoists and dumptruck power moves.

But don’t worry, I had the assistance of my wife, the widow, her mother-in-law and her 12-year-old daughter. There’s no more invincible force than Japanese women but in this case, was not the ideal crew!

The giant stone was joined by menagerie of different ceramic plant pots, some bizen fired drain pipe and all sorts of other odds and ends.

those are wheels/rims, not hubcaps!
vaguely-related: this well, I am quite convinced is a portal to Antipodes

We then went around the corner to a café (keep in mind, we were in a small hamlet and the drive was littered with Sakura, plum and peach trees in splendid bloom along was lazy river with elderly farmers doing their works and even Russian looking dacha cabins with garden plots for hobby gardeners to visit from the city) and ate a ridiculous ¥600 bento lunch.

Turns out the boss (who runs the sorta Bento café in a little hamlet which i am trying to recall the name) was born in 1974… He bought this one when he got his drivers license, the car is also 1974 and currently has 74,000 km.

Of course we talked for an extended period about my 1974 bus and the history of Volkswagen (including the Brasilian and Mexican versions) and, sat inside, checked the engine etc. and how this thing could run and until100 years old with proper maintenance.

The wife (or daughter?) drives a new-school Beetle, he had a couple of canoe/kayak-y boats, mountain bikes and a kura – which of course i inquired about and he hasn’t done anything special with but thinking about a karaoke lounge.

Anyhow, was cool to see this kind of tiny lifestyle business as our area could really use something like this. Also, noting, despite his house.biz being a traditional farmhouse with the tatami rooms, had a wheelchair ramp. Hooray for accessibility!

Update: the mochi rock is installed! Heavy. And no, its not a birdbath.

it ain’t going anyhwere!
Japan Life/Travel

Four views of a coffee shop (and thoughts about small places and tipping)

2 Comments

Four views of a cute / shabby coffeehouse noticed while waiting for the pharmacy to finish up (with what will be a suitcase load of medication for Canada trip)

The coffee shops name written in katakana characters above is “liberal“ as per the literal meaning rather something “lost in translation” and they liked the sound of it… But who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to make it in there and ask.

Semi-related: our “car guy“ company name is “Claudia“ and I asked him the reason, “My grandfather just liked the sound”

Vaguely related: In preparation for our “BC invasion” trip to Vancouver and Victoria, yesterday enjoyed an animated conversation with darling wife about the two topics of: zoning; and, tipping (and how group/chain companies swallow the restaurant/bar industry)

Still many tiny proprietor/owned and operated places in Japan. i.e. Less than 20 seats, short menus, odd hours sometimes a bit shabby & always quirky, scattered in mixed used neighborhoods… Just doing their thing generationally.

Wee businesses from bakeries to handicrafts to vegetable stands to coffee shops keep residential neighborhoods lively, convenient and enjoyable (& car, less)

What you see is what you pay (including taxes and the owner/employee living wages) / so such…

Semi-rant: I think in general going to very much avoid restaurants aside from Finches for a sandwich and then a secret deli in the West End that has pierogies and cabbage rolls, and another with tamales & I want to dim sum experience at a place where the Chinese ladies wheel carts around and get angry if you don’t choose their chicken feet or whatever.

Most of the time we’re staying with friends or hotels with a kitchenette and honestly, restaurants are total sensory overload for me anyway. We will do lots of picnics in parks instead, we’re bringing a little kit to just for that purpose.

I just don’t want to be part of the whole bullshit system and heaven help me if I’m going into a Brown’s, Cactus, Earls or any of those cheeseball places.

I will also drink Jj bean dark drip coffee and not buy 8$ lattes :)

Japan Life/Travel, Personal Musings

‘Weird Japan’ a multi-purpose reply

Think I will set this up as an auto reply “macro” (do people use that term?) to email folks when they send me links to articles about “quirky weird Japan” things that may or may not exist but I’ve certainly never see:

“I’ve never seen {insert this here} but know foreign media enjoys sharing stories about strange/weird Japan like juvenile delinquents abusing sushi conveyor belts, whale meat vending machines, $5000 cases of peaches or strawberries or a watermelon, million dollar tunas, the vending machines with used panties that don’t really exist, and sports fans cleaning up at stadiums, thousand year old businesses, temples which are destroyed and rebuilt “every few years :-)”, the naked man festival, collectible left hand driving cars, etc”

I will also add, “

the things that make Japan really great are very normal like great transportation systems, reasonably priced housing, super healthcare program (works for my chronic complex illness anyhow), possibly too much infrastructure, rare random violence & the things about Japan which are fairly unsatisfactory are also rather obvious and include gender inequality and lack of official support for same-sex/etc. relationships, draconian policies about w33d, and the conundrums of excess plastic and waste, and something about cronyism”

(However, the above don’t make for clickbait headlines so instead we get “oh look, they’re eating insects and horsemeat sushi in Japan serve by robots dressed in s3xy maid outfits to customers to only leave the house in bear costumes”)

{But keep in mind it doesn’t say “Japan expert” in my Twitter bio so you should probably just ignore everything I say because if you don’t put some sort of witty “Japan expert” flex & drop how many years you’ve been here, doesn’t even count}

Continue reading ‘Weird Japan’ a multi-purpose reply →
Japan Life/Travel, Post'd (cards + letters)

Item by Poste: photo zines from Art Island Naoshima

Image

Photo book and photo zine by Andrew McCormick (@a.d.mccormick IG, @a_d_mccormick Tw) curator/wrangler of Art Island Center (@artislandcenter IG) on nearby Naoshima – one of the several art islands in the Seto inland sea.

you can order “perfect is unnerving”

Both have lovely production value, engaging content, and so great to support a really important and interesting project (with which I would love to collaborate eventually.

Update, here are the actual field notes that came in the bundle

(hard for me to get out to the islands as much as I would like to due to the #MECFS but the fact that so much art goodness is available scattered around charming little islands, simply *exists* and that when friends come to visit, I know they can head out there easily / warms my wee heart)

i also ordered some Drapin Field Notes notebooks which arrived in the lovely packet.

not this one specifically, just one from the stash from years ago

PS i have a post waiting to share about this island but for now visit David Billa‘s Setouchi Explorer & you can order “perfect is unnerving” you get a free gift & free shipping (Japan/US).

Field Notes, Japan Cottage Musings, Japan Life/Travel

Japan Renegade Travel Musings (specifically *not* Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka)

Video
Oh look, adventure Ted is having a beer, sashimi and plotting good times…

Adventure Tour Guide Ted Taylor and DaveO riff in a historic Kura barn in Tsuchida, Okayama, Japan talking about exploring… well off-the-beathen-ish-path Japan – specifically not Tokyo, Kyoto, & Osaka (sure those places are great or whatever but plenty of info) so let’s explore elsewhere with places, tactics, tips and musings. Alas, no “b-roll”, links, edits, but plenty of digressions and pretty great hats.

Despite what dashing Ted Taylor tells ya, you can/should hire him for adventure tours (seriously) plus dig his most excellent journals at: Notes from the Nog blog

Continue reading Japan Renegade Travel Musings (specifically *not* Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka) →