Roving Japan

Day 13 Photoset

I don’t know when it happened exactly, but that bastard Murphy decided to follow us around today.

It started out harmless enough. I forgot to charge the iPhone last night. We plugged it in for a little while this morning, but we only got about a 60% charge.

Then when we were walking down the 217 on our way to Usuki we decided to stop at a drug store to buy some dust masks. The 217 has a very long tunnel, and we wanted something to cover our faces while we walked through it. The masks were sold out due to the recent swine flu panic. No big deal… but that was just the beginning.

The lady at the hotel told us that the tunnel through the mountain was walkable since there was a sidewalk. What she didn’t mention, was that the road TO the tunnel did NOT have a sidewalk. Or that there is a lot of traffic and a narrow bridge before you even get there.

We walked for about an hour before we hit the bridge and realized that there was no way we could walk over it with all the big trucks that were on the road. So we made the decision to walk back to Tsukumi and get on the train to Usuki.

Did I mention that it was really really windy? Risas hat, which is hard enough to keep on her head during normal days, was constantly trying to fly off her head. Also there was a ton of dust being kicked up and it all seemed to fly directly into her eyes. So for the next hour while we walked back to the train station, Risa was holding her hat to her head and trying to walk with her eyes closed.

Then one of the hiking poles decided to fall apart for no reason. The bottom segment just fell out. Just like that. It was really weird.

Then Risa got a rock in her shoe.

All this, and we hadn’t even got back to the station.

At the station, we had an hour long wait for the next train. No biggie, that gave me time to charge the phone. The train ride to Usuki was also fine. Things seemed to be looking up!

Once in Usuki we walked south to the National Treasure Usuki Stone Buddhas. These old Buddhas were carved into the sides of the mountain and were recently restored and declared a national treasure.

The folks at the shrine ticket office also gave us permission to camp in the parking lot for the night.

Perfect! We are rid of Murphy!

Nope.

While setting up the tent, the wind picked up and it started to rain. Risa had mentioned that there was a “Strong Wind Warning” today, but we didn’t really pay attention since we didn’t foresee us camping in a large exposed parking lot. The parking lot was made of gravel and I couldn’t get my stakes into the ground. So Risa went back to the people at the shrine and they told us we could try sleeping in the shed where they keep the cricket balls and brooms.

So right now we are in the shed. Outside it’s pouring rain… and I just started to hear thunder. The shed is made of metal. That’s bad right?

If this post ever makes it online, then I guess you know we survived the night. Otherwise, I hope the netbooks HD doesn’t get fried too badly by the lightning bolt that kills us.

Day 12 Photoset

We made the early morning train and arrived safely in Tsukumi. The town is really small, and is essentially supported solely by the extremely large cement factory that juts out into the bay.

We didn’t do anything today, so I thought I would use this post to answer a few questions people have sent, and to talk about some things I love about Japan and stuff I miss from the USA.

So first some questions.

What are you using to blog?
We have an Asus eee 1000he netbook, an iPhone, and a Canon Rebel Xti digital camera. The netbook is a wonderful travel companion since it is relatively low weight and has amazing battery life (7-9hrs!). We take our pictures with the big dSLR, and then do all our photo management on the netbook at night. The netbooks 160gb HD is big enough to store all our photos, and the computer is powerful enough to do simple photoshop tasks. At night I type the days post on the netbook, then upload everything the next time we get internet access.

The iPhone is a constant aid. I use the GPS all day to make sure we are on track. I also have a ton of sweet apps that help us out. I have apps for weather reports, train schedules, hostel searching, language translation, unit converting, and even some board game and card games to keep us entertained. The iPhone also has a decent camera which I use with the ShoZu app to send pictures straight to Flickr. The one and only knock against the phone is the crappy battery life. I have to charge the phone every night, so its a good thing I can plug the phone into the netbook to get a charge.

Is the trip fun?
Yes! The trip has been really fun so far. The walking can get boring and difficult sometimes, but overall its still entertaining. We see some cool scenery and meet great people. It’s also really gratifying to see a mountain in the distance, and 2 hours later, YOU’RE ON IT.

We’ve also been good about camping for a few days, staying at a hotel for a night, then camping again. We’re also not being totally anal about walking every inch of the trip. A couple of times we’ve jumped on a train, bus, or rented a car. Modern transportation lets us rest up, and in the case of renting a car, we’ve gotten to see some extra stuff that we would have otherwise missed. The point of the trip is to experience Japan, not punish ourselves into hating it! Even with the aid of vehicles, I think we have managed to walk over 100miles so far. That’s pretty cool.

What are you eating?
We get most of our food from the convenience stores. We plan ahead and buy our meals in advance as needed. Generally we get a lunch obento when we are hungry for lunch, then a little later we buy a dinner obento and some an-pan for breakfast.

Every once and a while we decide to splurge and get a restaurant meal, as long as it costs less than $10 / person. Our favorite places offer some great meals for $3 - $5.

Things I love about Japan:

• Convenience stores
  Back in the Edo period, there were guest houses and rest stops all over the country. The modern equivalent is the convenience store. These little shops are great. $4 obento boxes made fresh in the morning. Clean, western style bathrooms available to anyone, even if you don’t buy anything. Maps, comics, copy machines, ice cream, drinks, free water for our water bottles, and more!

  These shops are also super common. There is a store every few miles so if you have to use the bathroom or refill water, you’re never that far away!

• Nice People
  People here are very friendly. I enjoy saying Konichiwa to everyone we pass on the street. Sometimes, as with the shrine keepers or Mrs. Nei from the other day, we get to have longer conversations and even get a helping hand on our journey.

  It’s also really safe here. People just don’t break the law. Of course there are exceptions, but overall, Japanese people are friendly, law abiding folks who wouldn’t even think about stealing your stuff or doing you any harm. It makes traveling a lot easier to know you’re safe.

• History
  Japan has a rich history, and its is really fun to visit the historical sites. The samurai towns, castles, shrines, and temples are all fascinating to explore. The only downer is when we get to big cities. All that rich culture seems to vanish. Replaced by “city”. If I was dropped into the middle of Tokyo, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, or Kagoshima, I wouldn’t be able to tell what city I was in. They all look the same. There is more of a movement to restore and protect the old style Japan, but much of it was destroyed as Japan rebuilt itself after the war.
• Food (Lunch and Dinner)
  Japanese food rocks. There is a wonderful selection of food for under $5 as well, so Risa and I aren’t starving! I really love everything we eat in Japan, and you just can’t beat fresh, local Sashimi.

Things I Miss From the USA:

• Garbage Cans
  Public places don’t have them. The only place you can find a garbage can? You guessed it. Convenience stores. We usually are carrying a bag of garbage on our backs while we look for the next garbage can. Really annoying.
• TV
  Japanese TV is really bad and there are only like 10 channels. It doesn’t take long before “eeeeeeeehhhhhh?” and “Oishii!” gets old. American TV is much higher quality, with bigger budgets and better acting. Also game shows in Japan feature celebrities winning money and prizes… for themselves. I guess they don’t get paid much.
• Breakfast
  Japanese people eat dinner for breakfast. Salmon with rice and seaweed. Miso soup, and a salad. Sounds great… if it was dinner time. I miss the good old fashion 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 sausage and some hashbrowns. Or maybe even some Belgian waffles. I think Americans prefer to start the day with a sweat meal, while the Japanese dive right into the savory dishes.

Day 11 Photoset

We decided not to stay a second night in Nobeoka. We weren’t at all happy with the hotel, especially the fact that we spent $5 and 2.5 hours using their clothes dryer, and STILL had wet clothes. We didn’t want to give them any more money, so we checked out and headed to the train station.

While at the station, we spent a few hours coming up with a plan for the upcoming days. We looked up hotels in Oita prefecture and came to a decision regarding our walk/train ratio. We are going to take a train tomorrow to the town of Tsukumi. We have a hotel reserved there, so hopefully we can get in a day of rest while a pesky blister heals on my left foot. From there, we are going to walk north to Usuki and see the 1000 year old Buddhas. After that, we will work our way around to Beppu for an extended stay while enjoying the onsens.

Once the plan was settled upon, we had to figure out what to do TODAY. Since the hotel in Tsukumi was booked for tonight, we had to reserve it for tomorrow night. That left us without a place to stay tonight.

Since we are taking a train tomorrow, we felt that we should get in a little walking today. So we packed up and walked north out of Nobeoka. We only went about 8 miles, but it was a pretty walk through the river valley.

We have invented a fun game to play while walking over rivers. The water here is very clear, and there are a lot of fish. Sometimes we are able to scare the fish with our shadows. It’s a lot like those games you see in malls and movie theaters, where little kids can “kick” a ball that is being projected on the floor. We stand on the bridge, waving at the fish, and they swim away from our shadows. Its actually fairly amusing. I think everyone who watches us thinks we are crazy.

We are camping in a rest area off of hwy10. There is a small train station about 10minutes away. Tomorrow morning at 6:11am we will catch the train to Tsukumi. If we miss the train, we are screwed since the 6:11am train is the only one that stops at this station until like 7pm. We gotta get up early!

Day 10 Photoset

Today was another slow day. We left our beautiful camp in the cove near Hyuga and started north to Nobeoka.

It was fairly uneventful, with the highlights being the Totoro train station (exciting because we love the movie), and the restaurant we ate lunch in.

We are now staying in a business hotel in Nobeoka. We are planning on staying here for the night, then hopefully finding someplace cheaper to stay tomorrow. We need to spend at least a day going over our options for getting to Oita. We can either walk straight through the mountains, walk the coastline, or do a bus/walk combo around the coastline.

Stay Tuned!

Day 9 Photoset

Last night we camped at the Tsuno shrine. We planned a short 10km day today, so we decided to sleep in this morning. We woke up around 7, ate breakfast and lazed about inside the tent until about 8:30. When we finally started emerging from the tent, I was approached by a man who was riding his bike through the shrine.

Miwa-san is a volunteer worker at the shrine. He makes sure the place is clean, and he just wanted to come by and see what we were up too. He thought that our choice of camping in the shrine was a good one since there is water and a bathroom. We talked with him for a while, then went back to packing up our stuff.

As we were leaving, Risa wanted to eat the last two tomatoes from the other day, so we walked over to the picnic area where we found Miwa waiting. He called us over, so we ate our tomatoes while he told us stories about the shrine and how its his job to clean the garbage.

After a little while, another man came over, and Miwa told him to sit down and hang out with us. So the 4 of us were hanging out, talking at the picnic table when we learned that the second man, Ikki-san, was actually the shrines Kannushi, or owner/caretaker. He was super nice. When he found out that our target for the day was mimitsu, he said, “ Oh, I’m planning to go visit my grandson in Hyuga. The Onsen you want to go to is on the way. I can take you there if you don’t mind waiting here for a little while.” Of course, when a shrines Kannushi offers to give you a ride, you don’t refuse! Ikki-san said he needed to go change real quick, but he would be right back.

About 10 minutes later, Ikki-san pulls up in his car wearing a full ceremonial kimono! His son is the Kannushi of a shrine in Hyuga, and the reason he is visiting is to take part in a big ceremony. With that, we said good bye to Miwa and headed north to Hyuga Sun Park Onsen.

Did I mention that Ikki-san is super nice? When we got to the onsen he gave us an orange, some tea, and then 1000yen ($10) to pay for the onsen! What a great guy. I hope we meet him again some day.

The onsen was really awesome. Very clean, and with an ocean view. The rest area outside the bath portion was also perfect since we could sit next to big windows overlooking the ocean, eat ice cream, and use an outlet to charge the iphone and laptop.

We probably spent 2 hours just lounging around the onsen before we decided to use our new found energy to walk to Hyuga. Our plan was to get to Hyuga and find another shrine. No campgrounds were listed on the map, and we aren’t planning on a hotel until Nobeoka.

In Hyuga, we worked our way over to the Oomi Shrine. We almost didn’t make it, since we found a cool little flat area that might have worked as a campground. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we didn’t stay once we discovered a wired shrine with a dragon statue and offerings of sake. We thought that maybe we should try to stay on the side of good and camp at a shrine rather than this weird evil dragon shrine. (but it was pretty cool looking)

Once at the Oomi shrine, we talked to the Kannushi and asked if it was ok to camp there. He said that we couldn’t camp in the shrine, but there is a beach around the corner that we can use. So he walked us down the road and showed us the way to the beach. However, this being Miyazaki (which we love), and this being the day that Kannushi’s help us, he also gave us some free cookies! The cookies are special since they represent a special rock formation inside the shrine called “Sazareishi”.

So here we are, camping in a small little cove. The beach here is very pretty.

The plan tomorrow is to make it to Nobeoka!