Roving Japan

Day 81 Photoset

Rained quite a bit last night, but the tent remained undefeated in battles against the weather. It was a bit dodgey this morning though, when we realized that the space between the footprint and the main tent was full of water. We both slept well, maybe because of the extra cushion?

Our target for today was a traditional Ryokan (think traditional Japanese B&B) in the town of Tsumago. Tsumago was about 15km from our camp, so we planned a nice and easy walk through what is probably the most famous stretch of the Nakasendo.

After packing up, we started hiking up route 7 towards Magome, one of the most popular and well known post town on the Nakasendo.

We arrived at Magome around 8:30, which was perfect because we beat the crowds and could enjoy the peaceful streets alone. It was really beautiful, and we both could really sense the Edo era. The only knock against Magome is that it’s a tourist destination and is therefore a little TOO perfect. However, since we were basically alone, we could admire it all without fighting through the crowds.

From Magome, we followed the old preserved Nakasendo through the woods and along the highway to Tsumago. This section was really great, as we got to hike on the old road just like we saw a couple of days ago with Mr. Itoh.

The hike between the two towns takes a couple of hours, but is downhill for most of the way so it wasn’t that bad. We also past by 2 awesome waterfalls and found a rest house run by a nice man who gave us free food and even sang a song!

When we arrived at Tsumago, our first priority was to find the Ryokan. Risa had booked it last night while we were at the Onsen, so we weren’t 100% sure where it was. Turns out, this Ryokan was actually pretty far away from the main town, so we are glad we asked someone for directions.

The folks who run the Ryokan are really nice. When we got there, they let us check in a bit early, then the main lady took our laundry and started cleaning our dirty clothes for us! I couldn’t believe it. They also let us hang our soaking wet tent so it could be dry by tomorrow.

After checking in, we decided to go explore the main town for a couple of hours.

Tsumago is really cool. It’s not quite as perfect looking as Magome, so it manages to feel a little more authentic. The shops lining the street are part trinket store, part museum. Almost everything looks like it did 200 years ago. It’s pretty amazing.

We went to see the old luxury hotel which was built to house any VIP that might pass through. We also got a tour of an old house that also served as the backup hotel to the main fancy one.

The tour was cool, and we learned some things like the fact that in an old household, the family would have specific seats around the stove. The man would sit on the tatami mats with his legs closest to the fire, while the women would sit on wood floor.

The tour guide also showed us an area that was built specifically for the Meiji emperor who stopped here for 30minutes and never returned. They had to make his own room and bathroom which he never used.

We had fun looking around, but around 5pm everything closed, so we headed back to the Ryokan for a home cooked dinner!

Tonight we will get some rest, and tomorrow morning we will head back to Tsumago and then on to Okuwa.

Day 80 Photoset

Yesterday was so boring because we apparently walked down the wrong road while going through the town of Ena. If we had walked a few blocks north, we would have been able to see the old Nakasendo road, and a couple of neat little museums. Usually, this would have been filed under, “Oh well”, but today was a bit different.

Risa called her uncle Kazuhiko to tell him about our potential article in the Chunnichi newspaper today (It wasn’t in the paper when we checked, maybe tomorrow). When he found out that we were still close to Mizunami, he offered to take us to a few points of interest in the area, then drop us off somewhere on our route.

So this morning at 8:30, Kazuhiko picked us up at the Family Mart near the turn off to the park we were camping in. Just out of curiosity, I asked how long it took to drive from Mizunami to here (which would have taken Risa and I all day). He said “About 30min.”

Kazuhiko drove us back to Ena and we got to see all the stuff we missed yesterday. First we went to the Ena Gorge, then a cool old house museum, a Ukioe art museum where we got to make our own prints, and finally he treated us to lunch. I love Risa’s family!

At this point it was about 12:30, and he offered to take us all the way to our end point for the day. He could have dropped us off sooner so we could walk, but it was raining hard and Risa gave me “the look”. So we accepted his offer and got dropped off at the Onsen I had marked as our target.

Right now I am in the resting room, utilizing an outlet to recharge the phone. It’s raining outside, but I think I see a couple of potential camps across the river from the Onsen. We will spend the rest of the day here, eat dinner, then go set up the tent when it starts to get a little darker.

Tomorrow we are going to hike up highway 7 to the historic towns of Magome and Tsumago. This next section of the Nakasendo is the most famous, and the entire original trail is preserved between the old towns. We are looking forward to it!

Day 79 Photoset

This morning we said goodbye to the Itoh family, then Mr. Itoh took us to Kamado station, one station away from Mizunami, where we began the next leg of the Nakasendo.

We spent the day walking towards Ena, while rain cloud after rain cloud passed overhead. I guess it was good that the clouds moved faster than we did. It allowed us to get a few breaks between storms.

Other than the rain, there isn’t much to talk about. I think the highlight of the day was the rainbow we saw near our target end point.

It’s been a while since we walked, so we planned out a short day for today. I think we only went about 15km. Originally we were going to go to an area north of Ena, but Risa didn’t want to take a 2km detour, so instead we stayed on the 19 and walked to a big sports park. Since it is raining, there is basically no one here. We are tucked away in the back corner, so we should be able to have a good nights rest without anyone bothering us.

It’s probably going to rain tonight and tomorrow, but I hope the rain lets up on Wednesday when we head into the mountains.

Day 78 Photoset

Mr. Itoh scheduled the interview for this afternoon at a Nakasendo post town called Okute-juku.

We arrived with all our gear packed up and ready to go. I didn’t want the reporter to look at our bags and see empty water bottles or something. We were fully loaded.

The town was pretty small, and I don’t think there was a single shop open. But it was still neat looking, and we managed to get a couple decent photos. One interesting thing was the old fire hydrant (basically a wooden bucket with water inside).

The reporter showed up about 10minutes after we did, and the three of us sat down and talked about our trip. She asked us questions about what we thought of Japan, and where our favorite places are. She also wanted to know what we thought about Gifu prefecture. We talked for about 20minutes, then we took a photo by the old bulletin boards as you enter the town.

While we were doing this, Hiro was taking photos with his camera. We haven’t gotten his copies yet, so I’ll post them when we get them.

The reporter told us that the story would run in the paper in 2 days at the earliest. In 2 days we should still be in Gifu, so hopefully we can see the article. If not, I bet Kazuhiko or someone in the family can save us a copy.

After the reporter left, Mr. Itoh took us on a drive around the town. Tomorrow we will start walking again, but we going to start from the next post town. Since we will miss this area, Mr. Itoh wanted us to see what we would be missing!

We are really glad he did, because this stretch of the Nakasendo is actually one of the best preserved. At one point we got out of the car and followed the old road up into the mountain. It was really cool since this stretch had the original stone pavement.

We almost missed it, but Mr. Itoh also wanted to show us the “Ichiri-zuka”. These two large grassy hills built next to the road were actually original markers on the Nakesendo. Back when the highway was still in use, these mounds were found every 4km.

Since this was our last night, we stopped at a grocery store on the way home and stocked up on supplies. We bought a new umbrella to replace the one I forgot at Kazuhiko’s house - I decided to get a bright orange umbrella so cars can see us easier. We also got new water bottles and some snacks. Woohoo!

Today was the last day of the sumo tournament, Kotooshu had a good showing, but lost the title to the Yokozuna Hakuho. Oh well, it was still an exciting tournament!

This evening we all went to the Onsen and had a nice good-bye dinner. Mr. Itoh’s dad had some friends from Taiwan visiting, so they joined us as well.

I lasted about 14minutes in the sauna this time. It was torture. I still can’t believe these guys do it every night.

Tomorrow morning we are going to get a ride to Kamado where we will start walking again!

Day 77 Photoset

We’ve seen the big factories, and the small family shops. Today we got to see another, more artistic side of Sue pottery.

We visited the home/store/workshop of Jyunji Miura who is famous for his unique flower designs that he paints by hand on to all his pieces.

Mr. Miura is a really nice guy, he let us watch him paint a few cups and poke around his studio. We also met his wife who is really extraordinary. Since Mr. Miura has to paint such delicate pictures, his wife is responsible for all the heavy lifting around the house and in the studio. It’s her job to carry around the heavy clay and do all the mixing. His hands are too important to risk injury or callouses so she make up the difference. Strong lady!

Together they have built a very successful business. Some of his bigger vases sell for as much as $6,000.

We added to our streak of free stuff as well. Mr. Miura let us take home a couple of his cups as a gift. How nice are these people? We’ve gotten so much stuff!

Today was supposed to be our last day with the Itoh’s, but Mr. Itoh decided to call the local newspaper and have them interview us tomorrow. We thought he was joking, but he actually got on the phone and called them.

We will meet a reporter at a nearby Nakasendo town tomorrow afternoon. I hope she likes us!