Well, this is it—the final day of my week-long JR Rail Pass. I was thinking about taking a full-day trip back west to Nagoya and from there to visit the Sekigahara battlefield, but the schedules just didn’t seem to be working out. Instead, I opted for a return to one of the places I enjoyed two years ago, Nagano. After arriving, I decided that what I really wanted to do was visit the Kawanakajima Battlefield. It was yet another place I’d heard about both through my Military History reading and anime (Mirage of Blaze again).

It was a fairly quick bus ride there (after I broke down and ate lunch at the Nagano Staion’s McDonalds…) and there were some interesting shrines, displays and information. At times like these, it always make me realize just how primitive my level of Japanese really is. I felt like there was so much more that I could be learning.

It was HOT there and I was slightly disappointed that the actual museum site wasn’t particularly close to the river (where the critical crossing and flank attack came at Third Kawanakajima) so I asked one of the volunteer gentlemen there how I could get there. I was instructed to get back on the same bus and continue my journey to a specific station then walk from there. As I was waiting at the bus stop, another gentleman came up to me and said he would be glad to take me in his car to see the site of the old castle, the river and some other interesting places. Suemitsu-san was very kind and drove me to see some things that with the heat and limited weekend bus service would have been impossible. It’s that kind of thing that shows just how kind and helpful Japanese people are. It was fun conversing about various topics and I was very grateful. I only wish I’d had something with me to give as a present—because of my train schedule, I didn’t even have time to buy him something to drink. Arigatou gozaimashita!

The reason I had to get back in the evening was because I had arranged to meet my Conversation Partner Yasu-senpai from two years ago. He works for the JAL Credit Card business unit in Shanagawa and I was really happy to see him again. It was fun chatting about the good old days and what’s going on with us now. Afterwards, we fought through some heavy crowds near Asakusa because it turns out that in the evening was one of Japan’s largest fireworks displays anywhere. It was pretty crazy and we never really got to a particularly good viewing point but BOY could you ever hear the sound echoing through the concrete canyons of Tokyo! It was pretty impressive. Even more impressive, though, was that here I was after dark in the middle of literally 10,000 or so Japanese people out on the street packed together like sardines and I felt completely safe. The sad truth is that if I were anywhere but here, I’d be worried about getting pick pocketed, mugged, trampled, punched or otherwise annoyed. But Japan is just so safe. Another thing that makes me love it here…

I got back and turned in late after a full day. Sadly, there are now only three days until I’m flying home again…

Today’s big event was a trip to see the famous shrines, temples and forest at Nikko. It’s also where the great Tokugawa Ieyasu—unifier of Japan—is buried. The buildings are spectacular and pretty unusual for Japan because of the incredible ornamentation and color on everything. Interestingly, the JR Train station was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright—obviously a very early work, because it actually seemed a bit ordinary compared with the typical Wright—but it was interesting anyway.

Of course, it picked today to rain, so it was wet and muggy the whole time. It was also filled with about a gazillion elementary school kids on class trips. But I’m SO glad I went this time—I missed it two years ago. I also once again experienced a sense of déja vu during my visit since I’ve seen these sights before through the wonder of anime (in this case from Mirage of Blaze, which has the climactic ending in and around Nikko). It’s pretty fun when that happens, and just because it’s a “cartoon” doesn’t mean there isn’t any value. I’ve learned a lot from anime…

But I digress (I’m such an otaku). The scenery and temples are a LOT to see and I’m sad to report that I actually didn’t visit all of the shrines on my ticket. That, and towards the end of my visit, it absolutely began to pour down torrentially. I made my way back to the station on a very crowded bus, grabbed a sandwich and hopped on the little, 2-car train—which then immediately broke down! Very strange—I seem to be having trouble with Japanese trains this time. Since it’s only a single-track line, after they got it fixed we had to wait for the uphill train to arrive before we left.

But, there was no particular hurry, so I just said “shoganai” (essentially “it can’t be helped”) and made it back to Tokyo a little later. I had a little dinner and relaxed. Only one day left on my rail pass!

Okay, so the first thing to report was that as I was up late working on the computer and stuff, I felt at 12:40 or so a fairly strong earthquake which hit northern Japan (in Iwate prefecture). It actually shook the building here in Tokyo pretty well, though it was quite a long way off. Turns out the epicenter was right under Hachinohe, which is where I actually boarded the Shinkansen yesterday! It was pretty scary—today all the Shinkansen to the north were stopped for inspections, so I would have been trapped up there if I didn’t leave when I did. Later in the news it looks like there were some injuries and quite a bit of damage—it was 6.8 in strength, after all.

But enough about that. I managed to get up fairly early and was excited to take one of my favorite trains (the E257 Azusa) to Matsumoto. The city hosts one of the remaining original castles in Japan, and it’s really quite beautiful. The day was pretty warm but still gorgeous (actually, it was noticeably cooler than Tokyo, though), and the train ride goes right through the “Japan Alps”. You’d swear that you were traveling through Switzerland if all the street signs weren’t in Kanji. That, and the bamboo growing in the forests alongside the pines.

The castle is stunning. It’s a short walk from the station in a lovely park right on an existing moat. you can see the photos in my gallery if you don’t believe me. It was one of the Takeda Clan’s castles which was extra interesting to me. Inside is an amazing collection of old Japanese firearms that were unfortunately difficult to photograph. It was also nice to be able to go through at my own pace instead of the break-neck one we had to follow at Himeji a couple weeks ago.

I strolled through the really lovely city center enjoying the cooler mountain air and thinking once again how much this place reminded me of Salt Lake City or maybe Denver. I guess it’s the mountains. I dropped into some random restaurant for what turned out to be an extra-delicious Tonkatsu lunch before heading back on yet another interesting train the Super Azusa. It’s the purple one in the photos and I’ve had a model of it for years and was glad I could finally ride it. The ride back was about 40 minutes shorter because it stops at fewer stations and it’s also a “tilt train”, allowing it to go much faster around curves on the mountain grades.

So I got home, had dinner at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara (where I also did some last-minute shopping) and that was pretty much it. It was kind of nerve-wracking to go through the earthquake—one of the two things I didn’t want to experience here—but was otherwise a fun and interesting day.

So I get up this morning at 5:45 to make sure I’m ready and out the door by 7:00 to walk to the station. I pick up my tasty but smallish (certainly not worth the ¥1,500 I prepaid for breakfast) box lunch and took off. Good sign—it wasn’t raining.

But that turned out to be a big deception…

When I got to the station, everything was in an uproar. Apparently, overnight there was extremely heavy rain and so my train was CANCELLED! And so were the next ones! So much for a smooth trip today. I first ate my meager box lunch so I wouldn’t have to keep carrying it around, then changed my tickets and all the connections to take the 9:19 AM train. When it too was CANCELLED, I changed to the 10:35 train (the next available), put my suitcases in a locker and went to the Internet Cafe to inform Makoto-san that I would be quite late arriving tonight. It was all kind of surreal—I didn’t think they cancelled trains in ultra-efficient Japan. What a hassle. There were even TV news crews there interviewing inconvenienced passengers.

If I were smart, I would have actually sat down and had a real meal at the station before leaving, but I foolishly declined. I did see some of the torrential rain come through in the interim before leaving town.

Of course, the 10:35 train that did leave was late and I barely made my first connection after they had us get off and transfer at an earlier station. The second leg was on the Super Hakucho express which goes through the world’s longest underwater train tunnel under the Tsugaru strait separating Hokkaido from Honshu. It was a fairly impressive (though in reality dark and sort of boring) 35 minute journey in the tunnel itself—100 meters under the seabed which is in turn 140 meters below the water’s surface.

And of course, the Super Hakucho was late arriving at Hachinohe as well, but my luck held and I was able to run down the platform, up the escalator and to my waiting third train (the Shinkansen Hayate 26) with my rail pass in my teeth to show the guard. I made it to my seat with a whole 90 seconds to spare—the Shinkansen waits for no-one!

Of course, I forgot to mention that during this whole ordeal, I’d had nothing to eat except a Melon bread and bottle of green tea I had in my bag from yesterday (and we’re talking 6 hours by this time), so I was starving. Luckily, the Shinkansen had one of the ever charming girls with the food cart so I bought and devoured a box lunch in record time—not even a moment to spare for a photo. It’s 7:15 PM, and I’m still on the Shinkansen for another hour before I get to Tokyo where I’ll call Makoto-san, make my way to Nakano and then undoubtedly CRASH!

I hope I can survive the rest of my trip! I think if I can get myself going in the morning, I may go to Nikko; after all, I only have three days of rail pass left after today…

When I got up this morning, it was raining. I came down and ate my pre-paid breakfast and WOW—what a spread! It was what they call a “Baikingu” here (the Japanese pronunciation of “Viking” which is what they call a Smørgasbord, or all-you-can-eat buffet). I ate until my eyes bubbled, including lots of bread, fresh Hokkaido butter, yummy miso soup, salmon, and probably a liter of Orange Juice. Yay!

I couldn’t really think of anything else I wanted to see in Sapporo (really lame thing to say, since I know I’m missing a LOT), so I thought I’d get on the train (since I now have an active JR Rail Pass) and see what else I could visit on the island.

Not too far away is the town of Otaru, about which the Rough Guide had some nice things to say. It was only about 30 minutes, but in that time the rain had become a torrential downpour. Sadly, I wasn’t feeling adventurous enough to go out in it, so only saw the main street from the station entrance! I wish I had more time…

Instead, I decided to try in the other direction, so headed back through Sapporo to catch a Hokuto Super Express to Hakodate. It’s well known for its historical western-influenced buildings. It was one of the first ports opened to the outside world in the Meiji era, and many countries opened consulates here. I only had about an hour-and-a-half, so took the little trolley car down to the end of the line and hopped off. Oops! Should have looked at the guidebook first, since I missed the big historical building area and ended up in the fishing district.

But you know, that kind of serendipity also has merit: I think I got some excellent photos there and saw things that the average American tourist would never see. I think the close-up I took of the squid boat lamps is one of the best ones from this entire trip (see it in the photo gallery). After wandering a bit and looking at the guidebook, I realized that I could save the ¥250 and walk back to the station on my own—and I’d pass by some of the historical quarter on my way. And since it’s COOLER here, walking isn’t as big a chore.

I got back to Sapporo fairly late, so dropped into the Internet cafe where it’s all-you-can-drink soft drinks, free soft ice cream and cheap eats from the grill while you web surf in your own private little cubicle. Incredibly, pretty much everything in the huge station mall was closed (this really IS like Salt Lake City…), so there wasn’t much else to do. I guess since I was wimping out, it also means I won’t be eating any of the signature Gengis Khan on this trip.

Since it’s already time for me to leave (can you believe it?), I had to get stuff packed and ready—I have a 7:30 AM train to catch with 2 connections on my 10-hour journey to Tokyo tomorrow. Sadly, since I’m up so early, the pre-paid breakfast for tomorrow was lost—at least they agreed to pack me a box lunch of sandwiches for tomorrow. I’ll miss the gorgeous spread from this morning, though…

The overnight trip was fine but long, and as soon as I arrived I felt something I haven’t felt in a month: COOL! The weather here is SO nice compared with the hot, muggy Japan I’ve come to know and love.

My first order of business after getting my bearings was to walk to my hotel and drop off my luggage. The Sapporo Garden Palace is where I booked from the internet and it’s pretty nice. It’s also conveniently located right across the street from the old Hokkaido capitol building. That was my first sightseeing destination, followed by the Botanical Gardens a block away. They were really beautiful and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to walk around without instantly sweating like a pig from the heat and the humidity. I guess the rest of Japan feels like this at times other than the middle of summer.

The next sight suggested to me was the old Sapporo Beer brewery museum, which was a short bus ride away. I wandered through the museum which was kind of interesting, even for a guy who doesn’t drink. I really liked the old-time advertising posters (I bought a set of postcards showing some of them). I also ate at a fantastic restaurant there, the Garden Grill. The grilled lamb in my lunch was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten in my life! I wandered around the grounds a while and into the insanely huge adjoining shopping mall before ending up at the nearby Book Off store where I picked up a couple more volumes of used manga and a CD (just what I need, more stuff to have to pack…sigh).

I went and checked into my room, relaxed a bit then went back down to the main station where I found a pretty nice internet cafe. Sadly, I couldn’t connect my own computer there, so I won’t be uploading this until I get to Tokyo.

After such a full couple of days, I was pretty beat and turned in fairly early, watching some local TV and a couple shows on my computer.

Well, David got back late (or should I say early) as usual, so there wasn’t much time for goodbyes. I think he and I got along just fine and I’m grateful. He was off at 5:00 AM for his trip home, and though I had a hard time getting back to sleep due to the excitement, I managed another couple hours until it was my time to leave.

For some inexplicable reason (probably because of my pigeon-Japanese), I was told I had to travel to Osaka to catch the night train, so off I went at 9:30 AM to get there in plenty of time for the 12:03 departure. I had an extremely early lunch at Osaka station then boarded the really luxurious Twilight Express, where I had a B-class upper berth in a compartment of four. Of course, the train made its way via Kyoto where it stopped and I could have gotten on with less hassle. But as they say in Japan, shoganai…

I was slightly concerned about the prospects of 21 hours on a train, but turns out it was a nice time. In the compartment with me right from the start was a very nice gentleman, Shimazaki-san, who chatted with me quite a bit for most of the trip. I was proud of myself for understanding pretty much everything we talked about and though it’s frustrating not to be able to keep up my end of the conversation at a very high level, I did contribute enough so that he knew I wasn’t some idiot and understood what was going on. Later in the evening, we got our third cabin-mate, a very charming and genki gentleman of 73, Matsui-sensei, a retired University professor who spoke English and had traveled the US. It was almost more fun for me to listen to the two of them carry on their conversation later into the evening. Matsui-sensei was incredibly interesting and spry for a 73-year old and in some ways reminded me of a Japanese doppelganger of my late grandpa Kendrick. I ended up getting really sleepy (talking for hours in Japanese can be quite mentally taxing at my level of understanding), so turned in around 9:30 or so. I’d planned on writing in my Blog and working on other things on the trip, but didn’t—I’m actually writing this after getting to Hokkaido.

I popped in my earplugs and essentially slept a pretty good sleep for almost 10 hours…