A Journey North

On Saturday November the 1st, our long anticipated trip away to the countryside to the north of Tokyo finally took place. Sometimes I wonder if staying in Tokyo is really worth it. My desperation to see some flora and fauna seems to indicate that my fellow Tokyoites and I are starved of even the very basic of pleasures in life.

Our release from Tokyo was fantastic and gave us the chance to see the lovely autumnal foliage that the Japanese countryside has to offer. We drove up on Saturday morning and stopped off for lunch at an Italian restaurant that we have been to several times in the past. The further north we drove, the more chilly it became.

We had booked ourselves into the Grand Hotel in Ashinomaki. Ashinomaki is about 20 minutes drive from Shimogo, the town where we lived for nearly 4 years. As the hotel was so close to Shimogo, it was convenient to quickly drop by and say "Hi" to a couple of friends. Whilst in Shimogo, we drove past our old apartment and other places of interest and reminisced about our time spent living in the Japanese countryside. Perhaps my biggest regret is that I no longer have the chance to cycle. It was really gut wrenching to realise that if we were still living in Shimogo, I would undoubtedly have been on my mountain bike on such a fine and fresh day.

The hotel itself was adequate, but had seen better days. I speculate that the Grand Hotel was one of the original large scale hotels in Ashinomaki but has been superseded over the years by larger and plusher competitors such as the Okawaso and Marumine Kanko hotels. The hotel was showing signs of aging as the fixtures and fittings seemed a bit tired and in places a visit from the local painters and decorators was required. A bit of a shame really, as the investment needed to bring it up to a reasonably high level does not seem too great.

Despite that, the food was up to the usual Japanese high standard, the views from our room were lovely, and the onsen was absolute bliss. We all drank a bit in the evening and I fell immediately asleep as soon as my head hit the futon at 10pm.

The following morning, we had breakfast at 7.30am and then packed our bags. One reason for staying in Ashinomaki was that it would be easy for us to visit Shimogo and buy some of the locally produced rice. We bought 90kg of rice (3 bags) which should last a considerable length of time. Whilst waiting in the car park for the rice transaction to be completed, I picked a wild growing Cosmos flower and gave it to Clara. It seemed a fairly insignificant moment for myself, but when I looked at Clara 30 seconds later, she had a tear in her eye. I guess I must have struck a nerve.

From Shimogo, we drove to Nikko, one of the most important cultural sites in Japan. We visited Toshogu, a shrine complex which contains the mausoleum of Ieyasu Tokugawa, Japan's first Shogun, a man who can claim to have shaped Japan more than most other individuals. His dynasty ruled Japan for the following 200 years.

The roads became packed the closer we drove to Nikko, and eventually we decided to alight from the car and walk the rest of the way to the shrine complex. This is the time of year when Nikko is busiest. The autumn colours were at or near their peak and it was a long holiday weekend in Japan. There were thousands of people in and around the shrines but it we did not have to wait for too long at any of the points of interest.

The weather was beautiful, and the shrines covered in gold leaf perfectly complemented the various colours of the autumn trees in the fading afternoon light. It was truly lovely and I do not feel that the experience was harmed in any way by the hordes of other people milling around. I have visited the more famous temples and shrines of Kyoto, but have to say that Nikko was far more satisfying. The remarkable thing is that despite living on the doorstep of Nikko for nearly 4 years, we never once visited during our stay in Shimogo. The highlight for many of those who visit Nikko must be the site of Ieyasu Tokugawa's mausoleum. We had to queue up and around the 200 steps leading to the mausoleum, but the wait was done under the canopies of some very large and ancient trees. Once at the top, the monks who look after the shrine complex regulated the flow of people around the mausoleum, thus giving respite from the crowds and enabling some form of respectful tranquility to surround the scene.

Once we returned to the bottom we tried to buy some souvenirs to take back to our colleagues in Tokyo - a very Japanese tradition! We were surprised to encounter some difficultly in finding souvenir shops which was a little irritating at first and then completely refreshing. The Toshogu shrine complex must be the only touristy place in Japan that I have visited that does not try and cash-in on the visitors to the area by selling tacky souvenirs. It is refreshing to realise that some people still have a sense of pride and appropriateness. Well done!

We left Nikko as it started to get dark and hoped for a swift return to Tokyo. Unfortunately, the roads were packed with other cars and the journey took much longer than expected. But who cares? We still had a lovely escape from Tokyo and sampled some lovely scenery and some very interesting Japanese history.

We will visit Shimogo again on the 27th of December. I am looking forward to meeting up with old acquaintances and experiencing some Shimogo snow again. Thanks for reading.