Yakatabune - Boat Trip

On Sunday 25th September, I and approximately 30 other customers from my local hostelry (Elwood's Bar) went on a boat trip in Tokyo Bay. These boats, called yakatabune (meaning 'roofed boat'), are a popular excursion for Tokyoites. Rather surprisingly, most of my fellow passengers had not yet actually been on one.

Yakatabune used to be popular amongst the cream of Japanese society many centuries ago, but are now popular amongst the hoi polloi. Great background information to yakatabune can be found at the following link. The interior of these vessels are supposed to invoke the memory of days gone by - tatami flooring, low tables, wooden windows, and paper lanterns around the exterior of the boat. Very nice indeed!From what I can gather, most yakatabune serve traditional and high quality Japanese dinners. However, the main source of sustenance on our vessel was monjayaki and okonomiyaki. Much cheaper, and in my opinion, much more tasty. The unlimited amount of beer available was also very welcome.It was quite a pleasure to eat and drink in the boat, with the views of Tokyo gradually changing as the evening drew in. A very pleasurable day out on the water, and one which in my mind finally signalled the end of summer.A great day out which I would recommend to all.

Earthquake - 6 months later

Well, it has been 6 months since the massive earthquake hit the east coast of Honshu - a useful point to reflect. Looking back, I am still more than happy with the decision for Clara and I to relocate for a week in Hong Kong. Radiation is still spewing from the nuclear plant up in Fukushima and I am therefore hoping my biggest mistake will not prove to be returning so quickly.

A small section of Japanese society has actually lambasted and mocked many foreigners (referred to as gaijin in Japan) for pulling out to more stable climes. For a time, we were rechristened byejin or flyjin. I am not criticising anyone for steadfastly staying put in Japan, but I think the criticism aimed at those who left is a bit rich. The Japanese have proved to be one of the most discerning and sensitive nationalities when it comes to world travel. Again, that's fine by me. Just don't criticise others for doing their best to preserve the safety of themselves and their family members, especially in a land where the Tokyo mayor advocates imprisoning Tokyo expats if a major disaster were to strike.

The cleanup in northern Japan seems to be progressing in fits and starts. Some areas look like they are ready for reconstruction whilst others are still covered in mounds of debris. Perhaps a bigger challenge will be persuading people to move back.... Since the problems with the nuclear power stations, there has been a big public backlash against the use of atomic energy. Let's just see how long this backlash lasts.....people forget very quickly.

There are still regular aftershocks, but they appear to be lessening in their intensity. People are slowly returning to their normal lives with the ever-present tension felt in the months immediately after the earthquake and tsunami decreasing steadily. In the back of my mind though, there is still the threat of the next big quake forecast to strike Tokyo. Some seismologists state that the risk has increased since the quake on March 11th, as discussed in the following link.

Fingers crossed for an extended period of stability.

And finally.....Hakodate

Our last night in Hokkaido was the 24th August. We left Sapporo early in the morning and headed to the nearby town of Otaru, famous amongst the native Japanese for the glassware made there. Otaru is famous amongst the foreign expat community in Japan for an entirely different reason - a lawsuit aimed at lifting the ban on non-Japanese from using some of the local onsens. Fortunately, one of those banned from the onsens (Debito Arudou) for not having the right ethnicity, took umbrage and won his anti-discrimination case. Despite such a victory, it is still not yet illegal to exclude customers from any premises in Japan based on race.

After our stop off at Otaru, the bus journey down to Hakodate was actually very nice. Lovely views from the road which followed the coastline south. We stopped off at a couple of places en-route and arrived at our hotel in Hakodate at approximately 5.30pm. Our hotel, the Bourou Noguchi, was very impressive indeed! A great blend of traditional and modern Japan. After arrival, we had to quickly eat dinner and then rush to join the bus once again to experience the night views from the top of Mount Hakodate. This rush meant we didn't have time to eat desert.

And the views from Mount Hakodate were certainly impressive - supposed to be amongst the three best night views in Japan, for which I wouldn't necessarily disagree. However, there were thousands of other people pushing, shoving, and shouting to get a glimpse of Hakodate below. The night view was certainly impressive, the experience depressing. I much preferred the experience of Mount Inasa in Nagasaki when we visited almost 4 years ago. Similar night view, but much more restrained and civilised. I wasn't at all unhappy to get back on the bus and return to our hotel.The room at the Borou Noguchi Hotel was one of the best I have stayed in. As can be seen from the picture, we had our very own hinoki (cypress) wooden bath on our balcony. Soaking in the bath was the usual pleasure and the Western style bedroom and Japanese style lounge were very tastefully done with little expense spared. However, the same problem existed as I experienced in Sapporo the previous evening. By the time we had returned from the night view and had an onsen, it was too late to explore the city of Hakodate (even if I did have the energy from the marathon day we had just experienced). So, similar to the night before, I was in bed asleep by 10.30pm.It was a terrible shame we were all so rushed. I spent approximately 8 hours in the Borou Noguchi Hotel, 6 of those hours were spent sleeping. It seemed to have defeated the purpose of staying in such a lovely place as we never had a proper chance to enjoy all the hotel had to offer. Shame.

Before our flight back to Tokyo the following day (25th August), we still had the chance to spend half a day wandering round Hakodate. I skipped breakfast in exchange for an extra 30 minutes in bed and then split from the rest of the tour and found a quiet watering hole to sit and have lunch with a couple of beers.

In summary, Hokkaido is certainly a fantastic place to visit and I was lucky to have a brief glimpse of what the island has to offer. I would recommend it to anyone. On the other hand, if you want to really understand and have a deeper appreciation of Hokkaido, it would perhaps be best to hire a car and explore at your own pace.