Tonight is my second night staying at the big Japanese house in Kii-Tanabe. Last night I was the only guest, but tonight there’s 2 other families staying here with me–all Japanese–for a total of 6 other guests (4 adults, 2 kids). One of the kids is actually screaming in the next room at the moment. The walls are surprisingly thick, though, so even though I … Continue reading Pilgrimage to the Sea and Mountains – Part 2
I think this might have been my longest hiatus from this site now. I really fell off of my once a week posting plan. For the past few months I’ve been slowly transitioning from my job teaching English at a public high school in Tokyo to being a full-time freelancer. So for maybe a month and a half that basically meant working almost 2 jobs … Continue reading Pilgrimage to the Sea and Mountains – Day 1
It’s amazing how cold it still gets at night in Nagano even when it was a bright and sunny 75 degrees during the day. Tonight I’ve traded the chilly museum-cafeteria common space for my bunk bed in the still-empty dorm room. The hostel and surroundings are so dark and intensely quiet that it feels much later than 8:30pm. I think there are only two other … Continue reading Into the Mountains: Komagane, Nagano (Day 2)
I feel like this hostel hasn’t really optimized the space of its common area that well. It’s a pretty massive room, at the far right corner a little kitchen space with sink, counter, and such essentials. At the back right (where I’m sitting) is a little gray love seat tucked away in a poorly lit corner of the room. To my left and before the … Continue reading Into the Mountains: Komagane, Nagano (Day 1)
I’ve been struggling for awhile now with keeping these posts nice and concise and readable. So I’m going to impose a 500-word limit on myself for at least the next few entires and see where I end up. It’s been rather busy in Tokyo these past few weeks. My sister, step-brother, step-brother’s best friend a.k.a psuedo-step brother, and one of my best friends from the … Continue reading The Impostors of Ginzan Onsen
We’re now on the second to last day of our trip—we’ll be riding the long local trains back to Tokyo tomorrow morning. The scene outside our current train is the thick blue haze of dusk, with dampness sinking into the fields and onto the black thatched roofs of the little Japanese houses scattered around, or else hovering around the great mountain backdrop and choking it … Continue reading Kanazawa Train Travels – Part 2
I’m starting this post not in the best place for blog posting– sitting on the awkward half-seats in the middle of the train corridor next to the door. The area we’re passing through right now is so inaka (countryside) that the doors don’t automatically open when the train stops, and in fact few passengers of this four-car train are alighting at any of the in-between stops, and only … Continue reading Kanazawa Train Travels – Part 1
Well I begin this post back in Tokyo, with a full day of lazy recuperating behind me. It was actually unbelievably warm in Tokyo yesterday– a high of 75 degrees, and stunningly sunny the whole day long. Unfortunately for me I hadn’t slept much at all the previous night, so rather than walking around Kichijoji and drinking in the gorgeous sunshine, I threw open all the … Continue reading Northern Treks (Day 3)
I tend to like starting these posts with a description of my current surroundings for whatever reason, so let me begin from there once again. I’m now in the far less atmospheric (and far less warm) kitchen of my host’s house, since I assumed that my kind host would not exactly approve of me bringing a cup of tea and chocolate cake up to my … Continue reading Northern Treks: Iwate (Day 2)
Well I start this post in much different surroundings from my last one. I’m sitting on the tatami floor of a beautiful Japanese-style room (right next to the flame-burning space heater, as there is no central heating). The room is divided into 2 identical 6-tatami mat rooms (~10 sq ft each) by a beautiful fabric sliding door, painted with a simple Japanese landscape (currently open so that … Continue reading Northern Treks: Iwate (Day 1)
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