Akita – Trip to Japan

Akita

Senshu-Koen was a working castle until 1868, as seems the case, now is a temple. Would have liked to have a walk around, but had forgotten my skates.

The Japanese do not salt their roads, instead ploughing and leaving huge piles of snow or removing it in wagons. The main paths are cleared but once in to the park its just left, walking, is to say, entertaining.

Honshu – Hokkaido

From the largest to the northernmost island, the longest in time with two changes. Akita to Morioka. change. Moriokato to Shin-Hakodate, then to Hakodate. 10:07 until 15:02.

All the Shinkansen (bullet trains) that I have travelled on, have forward facing seats. How can that be? A huge run around at the end of every journey, nope, Tokyo arrival was to a dead end. Spotted at Akita, a man walks trough each coach, operates a foot pedal on each seat or pair of seats swivels and relocks them in the opposite direction. Really clever.

The journey starts off and within ten minutes we have mountains, with pines top to bottom, flanking the line on both sides. Whilst at the lower altitudes we still have rice paddys in the level areas.

Semboku – Shizukuishi

It’s stunning in its beauty, clear blue skies, down to the brown and greens of the trees, contrasting with the dazzling white of the snow. Open vistas one moment, tunnels, then sharp sided valleys with gushing stream cascading through. One can only imagine the flash of the pink Komachi Express i’m on only adding to the spleandour. Truly a winter wonderland.

Morioka

To use Railway parlance, time for a “splash and dash” 47minutes to have lunch. Bentos are great, but a seat that doesn’t move is a distraction from the relentless beauty of the scenery. Then you get food like this:-

pickles, omelette, rolled ham and a onion and pepper chutney

boiled pork with onions over a lettuce topped rice. Miso soup with tofu and pickled cucumber with spring onions relish

Morioka – Aomori

Japan names its express train, now on the Hayabusa (peregrine falcon) , after changing from the Komachi (beauty), Tokyo – Niigata was Toki (crane), and Tokyo – Kyoto was Hikari (light)

Which after rest to let food settle was about the only words I could find. At least 95% has been through tunnel or high fenced railway.

This is the first train I’ve been on that 1. has westerners onboard and 2. japanese are tourist type. We must really be in the wild north now.

Aomori – Hakodate

Those who look at the map might have noticed there is a bit of a gap bewtween the two islands. This is crossed by the Seikan Tunnel 33.5 miles long, 2nd longest in the world. Ours is 3rd. After changing at Shin-Hakodate we get on to a local train

It is named Odearyme (oh heck love)

Hakodate

Adopt very best Palinese “Hakodate is a coastal port, over looked by a mountain. Visiting by cable car there is a fine observation lounge were can be viewed the squid fishing boats with their lights glittering against the ocean and the gaily lit bay side bars and restaurants with their welcoming hosts and fine beers and seafood”You could have fooled me

Not to bad in the end, Hakodate. Temperature dropped, skies cleared and you showed yourself. Taking of which….

Onsen

There is a little known word in Japanese, Inostare (inn-oss-tar-ee) it describes the action of watching what the locals do without being spotted. It applies in shops, restaurants, standing bars, whilst eating, drinking and queuing. But it mostly applies whilst you are in an Onsen. Onsens are a away of life going back longer than Shoguns, Temples, Tea Houses and maybe even Tullys.
Onsens are public bathing houses, usually built around hot springs and they have their own set of rules that are strictly adhered to.
Among those are, no clothing, no tattoos, no sleeping, no swimming, no washing of hair, no towels in the water and no talking.
You enter via a curtained entrance way, blue for men. There you remove all footwear. Lockers or baskets are provided for all your clothes. You get two towels, one for drying and one the size of a flannel for modesty. Naked you go through a sliding door in to the steamy Onsen proper. To one side is a line of stools like upturned buckets in front of a tap and shower head assembly with a bowl. Provided are shampoos, liquid soaps and conditioner. On the other side is the pool, natural looking with rocks, ferns, waterfalls and steaming hot water. Before entering your must use the afore mentioned taps and showers, sat open legged on your bucket, covering yourself in a sticky soap that keeps its lather as you wash, thourghly rinsing after using bowl and shower head. Only when this is done, do you enter the water. It’s hot, the thermometer reads 45°c . And here you lie, contemplating life and how lucky you are, with your modesty flannel perched on the top of your head . Further pools are available, a freezing plunge pool, large cask ones with different waters in and in one I visited had an outside pool that had snow flurries around your head it was on the 13th floor of my hotel!
After your soaking you repeat the wash before rinsing then back to the dressing room. On a quick visual inspection I looked something like a cherry crossed with a prune, and a little light headed. Provided in the dressing room are combs, brushes, cotton wool buds, razors and all the liquids associated with those items, gels, after shave, and hair tonics. I had more use of some than others.
Thankfully cameras are also not allowed.

Must be read in a Michael Portillo voice “My guidebook says the region is characterised by its splendid scenery, ranging from prolific rice fields, to rugged coastlines”

For the beginning 30 minutes of this days journey, Niigata to Akita, the first part has been absolutely right. Almost immediately after leaving, we cleared the docks and industrial area, since then the line has been bordered by rice fields. The housing has changed to a more traditional type with four sided pagoda style roofing. Then a huge big chemical plant.

It never happens like that for Portillo.

Roofs, sea and rice fields, have that Portillo

My steed for the day is a rather grand looking Series E653. More business like than his long nosed cousins, that i’ve been used to.

For the 2nd hour of the journey we have indeed been encountering the rugged coastline. The train is following it closely, punctuated only by tunnels and small fishing villages. It’s a wild windy day for those coastal dwellers. Seas breaking over harbour walls, full fishing fleets tied up for safety. Strangely, most of the beachouses passed have allotments, with leeks and cabbages still in the ground. They maybe come ready salted. The only pretence to protection they have is that they are dug in to hollows with small fences circling them.

Now half way through the 4 hour journey we have turned inland and returned to rice fields on both sides, now seen bordered with snow. These open fields saw a train on this service blown off the tracks in 2005. There where 3 cars derailed, lives lost and lessons learned.

But what about food

Before encountering today’s journey, mileage was done looking for breakfast. Intending not to have hotel food, I’m struggling to understand what the Japanese eat early in the morning. Noodle shops are open, don’t fancy that. Convenience Stores (Konbini) fill the gap. So it was coffee, steamed pork filled thing (Nikuman) and what looks and tastes like a hotdog floating in brine.

Tastes a lot better than it looks, wouldn’t be hard though.

The journey continues

With high, snow topped, mountains to the east we are being forced back towards the coast.

On taking a visit to the urinal, yes again one on a train, it seems like JR, provide you with sideways facing seats, so you can take selfies with the sea as the background.

Purely as an example of sideways seating.

On the cliff tops now, the rice paddys are now terraced, making use of all the available space down to the sea. A small beach resort with a green watered lido, it’s only resident a heron keeping a watchful eye over the deep end.

Coming towards the end of this 170mile 3 1/2hr journey and on the landward side of the tracks, the rice paddys persist, butting up to the factories. There is no wasted space.

To show my influence, even to the running of Japanese railways, we shall be arriving at Akita 50 (Fifty) minutes late.

Akita

Hey Akita, is it cold, in your little corner of the world?

Damn right it is. Windy, snow flurries and dark. What sort of welcome is that! Straight to the Hotel. Nice hotel, on the 9th floor great views of the department store next door. Straight out for food, leave the bar hopping for after.

Portillo voice again ” the regions most famous speciality dish is Kiritampo, a substantial stew of chicken, mushrooms, onions, glass noodles and the key ingredient, mochi, rice pounded around cedar sticks before grilling” So why was the first thing to arrive a hotplate, shortly followed by a bowl.