Japan: Day #10 (September 30, Tuesday)

We were almost reluctant to leave the Toyoko Inn Sapporo because we liked the ammenities so much but we were up early and ready for the long drive ahead of us to the city of Kushiro.



Once we got used to using the bidet and butt washer, I'm thinking it would be a pretty neat thing to market in the U.S.



When we learned that we would be having rice balls and miso soup for breakfast, we were a little skeptical that it would satisfy us. We were delighted to find that the rice balls (mixed with salmon, sesame seeds or tuna) were delicious with various pickled veggies and the miso soup and tea. It was more than enought to sustain us until lunch.



We liked the Japanese heading to their newspaper. "Without fear or favor..." Lovely!



At first we found the Japanese traffic lights rather daunting and confusing. The red light would be on but there would also be green arrows.... and several of them....what to do...what to do. Art must have nerves of steel. He got into the car and after turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal several times, he was on his way. My mother sat next to him and translated what the GPS system was saying.



We stopped for lunch in a town called Shimuzu that must have a lot of bears. We saw bears in the shops but none on the road.



After watching Art drive for a while, Dennis offered to give it a try. He was a real trooper... hmmmm... even more daring than Art I'd say. Mom has nerves of steel too, sitting next to him.



These arrows over the road helped us keep to the left side of the road.



My dinner tonight was fish eggs over rice and miso soup. Very nice but I was hungry again an hour later.

Today was a long day of driving. Tomorrow, we'll be on our way to Utoro!

Here are some fun differences we've noticed about Japan so far:
1. No taxes on things you buy so most things are round numbered and you pay the price listed.

2. No tipping. We especially like this one. You never have to wonder how much you should be tipping, you don't have to.

3. Toilet seat wipes are provided in many toilets. But then again, there are often no soap to wash your hands with and no paper towels to wipe your hands with.

4. The service people are extremely kind and solicitous. I really, really like this. This is very impressive. I wish it could be this way all around the world. It would make for a happier, kinder world.

5. Many cars have a boxy shape to them and the colors are usually white or black or muted.

Japan: Day #9 (September 29 continued)

Monday began with a webcam call to my daughter and granddaughter in Illinois. It was early morning Monday here in Japan but afternoon, Sunday in Illinois. It seemed as though we were talking through a time warp.

After a hearty breakfast, my uncle, aunt and cousin, Tomoko drove us to the Sendai train station.

We were suprised to be met at the bullet platform by my cousin, Masako who came to say goodbye. We were very touched by her kindness.


We caught the 9:18 AM train and after several transfers arrived in Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido at 5:20 PM. It was a long trip passing more rice fields and through mountain tunnels. We then went through Japan’s longest undersea tunnel to Hokkaido aboard the bullet train. That was pretty darn exciting although I dozed through some of it.



We’re now in Sapporo at an economical businessman’s hotel and it’s wonderful. I’ve never seen a room like it. It’s got two twin beds separated by the bathroom, a tea maker, hair dryer, two TVs (one for each bed, a refrigerator, pajamas, house slippers, toilet with bidet and butt wash, a huge face mirror, eco-bags, etc. and Internet hook-up. Unfortunately, even with my mother reading the Japanese instructions we weren’t able to figure out how to connect the modem.

Ah well…

Japan: Day #9 (September 29)

On to Sapporo in Hokkaido!
Hi everybody,
I gave the impression that we were returning to the States. Nope.
This is only a third of our trip. We'll be leaving for Hokkaido now on the Shinkansen and are anticipating an 8 hour ride. There will be no one to help us there. We'll be on our own driving on the opposite side of the street! Aaaaack!

Japan: Day #8 (September 28) Matsushima

We began our morning with Art giving the family lessons on how to prepare oatmeal. My cousin, Masako learned that we ate oatmeal so she hunted down a box for us. The directions called for round onions. We were aghast so Art showed them how we prepare it with some fruit. Who knows? Maybe it would have been good with round onions?

My aunt invited us to look at her garden and we had fun noticing different flowers and plants. She even had a kiwi vine producing fruit. She said this flower was lavendar.


We thought these flowers looked like orchids.


Her garden was very lush but like every place we went, full of garden spiders which I cringed at. I do suffer from arachniphobia.


My aunt is a historian, rock enthusiast and amateur archaeologist. She shared some of her 3,000 year old rocks, crocks and arrow heads with my brother who shares her interest. I collect stones for him from around the world.


My cousin Tomoko who is Masako's sister drove us to my mother's family zen temple. I've been there three times; the first time as a college student, the second time with my two children and Art and today. Each time, the temple has doubled and tripled in size and grandeur. My mother's cousin took over the congregation and temple from my mother's father since my uncle (her brother) decided to become a judge. Her cousin passed away and now his son will be taking over the temple after he completes his studies.


This room within the temple is where the Meiji Emperor (great grandfather of the present Emperor) once visited and slept. Perhaps they're waiting for Emperor Akihito to come and visit also.


This 400 year old tombstone/shrine holds a third of my grandfather's ashes along with ashes of previous zen priests of this temple.


This grave site shrine is for all those people who no longer have families to tend to their graves.


This shrine is dedicated to children who have died either through miscarriage or very young.

After visiting with the family and paying our respects we were on our way to Matsushima which is considered one of the most beautiful places in Japan.


Tomoko's car was a compact van but fit 6 people very comfortably. It was also fully equipped. We were quite impressed!



We climbed up a tower to see an absolutely gorgeous view of the area.



We then visited a zen temple site called Zuiganji. This was another temple built for Masamune Date, the warrior lord.


After that, we were more than ready for lunch. We ate hot soba (buckwheat noodles) and mochi (rice cake balls) at an outdoor restaurant. It was just the pick up that we needed.


Matsushima was indeed beautiful and we were thrilled that it did not rain! We expected a typhoon to hit. We're still expecting it sometime.


When we got home, my chef uncle and aunt prepared another incredible gourmet meal of sukiyaki with various side dishes which my mom was thrilled to serve! What a day!

Tomorrow, Tomoko-chan will be taking the day off from work to drive us all to the train station. We have enjoyed our stay with them so much and had a beautiful evening filled with laughter and joy. I'll miss my aunt and uncle and cousins. I can only hope that they will visit us all someday in Hawaii. I've promised them a Cousins' Party if they do.

Japan: Day #7 (September 27) Hiraizumi

My cousin, Tomochan has just loaned me her Internet connection so I"m trying to catch up with my travel journal. I don't have much time to write very accurate information so this will be mostly photos of today.

After a sumptuous breakfast, my aunt and cousin, Masako took us to Hiraizumi. From 1089 to 1189, three generations of the Fujiwara family headed by Kiyohira Fujiwara, created a political and cultural center in Hiraizumi. He wanted to create a "paradise of Earth." Hiraizumi was certainly a strong attempt.

Here are the photos:
The morning began with a near disaster. Our PC laptop with the Vista operating system went haywire. It somehow rewired itself to its original set up somehow losing all our inputed information including all the photos we had uploaded on it and didn't have time to back up. We were horrfied but my brother managed to reset it again and saved our day!


Hiraizumi is an absolutely heavenly place.


I can see why wedding couples like to have their wedding photos taken here.


The lake area was just gorgeous and my mother and aunt enjoyed the walk. It's incredible how different the temperatures are between Tokyo and Sendai which is farther north. It was sweltering in Tokyo. We need jackets in Sendai.


My aunt says the hagi flower is very popular there and they have hagi festivals at this time of year.


The museum was very interesting. We couldn't resist having our photo taken in front of a statue of the poet, Bassho.


Ahem... These are ancient toilet papers, OK... so they're sticks. Not exactly soft but I guess they did the trick.


Shrine: I'm sorry I can't remember which one. I'll have to fill this out when I'm more awake.


Another shrine


This is the grave of the famous warrior, Benkei. A pine tree was planted at this site because the pine is unchanging even in winter. Benkei was also unchanging in his loyalty to his Lord Yoshitsune. Legend goes that he died still standing while protecting his lord even though a slew of arrows had covered his body.


We cajoled Art and Dennis to pose as Benkei and Lord Yoshitsune.


Here is my wonderful master chef uncle with one of his favorite fans.

Japan: Day 6 continued (September 26)

Yesterday:

We caught the bullet train to Sendai and were met by my uncle, aunt and cousin, Masako. We went to the Sendai City Museum. There we learned about the famous Masamune Date who was also called the One Eyed Dragon. Lord Date was a very important lord in the Sendai area.

My mother's family temple was originally built for Date's young son who died at seven years of age.

We went next to my aunt and uncle's new Japanese style home and were served an incredibly delicious dinner of different artistic dishes.

Our bath was the traditional ofuro where you wash yourself on the outside before entering a deep, hot tub. Heavenly!

Our beds were futons on the floor and we got the best rest of our entire trip.
Here are a "few" photos:

Tokyo was extremely hot and muggy. We found an air conditioning register at Tokyo's JR train station and stood under it to get some relief.


We boarded the bullet train and were off to Sendai. The ride from Tokyo station to Sendai station was approximately 2 hours.


We passed through golden rice fields. Apparently north Japan is known for its excellent rice.


We were met at Sendai Station by my mother's sister and her husband and my cousin, Masako. It was a joyous reunion.


We were driven to the Sendai City Museum and given a guided tour by my aunt.


This is Masamune Date's armor.


Masako felt we needed to try out Date's kabuto (helmet). My brother is demonstrating why he was called the One Eyed Dragon.


Dinner was absolutely incredible. My uncle took a year long cooking course and we were treated to a sampling of the delights he had learned.


We slept in Japanese style rooms with shoji doors and futons on the floors.