28 March - Day trip to Nikko

We had a day trip to Nikko pencilled in as a possibility from Tokyo. With just one day to go, feeling stuffed from walking to the ends of the earth and back, a number of hours sitting on a train appealed a great deal.

Train station escalator

After a quick 2km walk to the Ueno train station, a route we had trod a number of times, we jumped on a bullet train for a 50 minute trip, followed by 50 minutes on a local train, arriving in Nikko around lunchtime. We didn't want to get caught short with nothing for lunch so picked up a couple of bento boxes before trekking uphill to the famed temple complex. We'd read that these temples were pretty good, and situated in a lovely setting, but we had no idea what we were in for. In fact, we consider it one of the best temple complexes we have ever seen, right up there with Angkor Wat and Borobudur. 

It was built by the son of the Tokugawa Emperor who basically brought together all the warring clans and daimyos of Japan in 1605. It led to over 200 years of peace, with the Tokugawa dynasty reigning supreme during that time. The capital was moved from Kyoto to Edo, now Tokyo. When the founding emperor died, his son organised 50,000 workmen to labour for two years to build this complex to honour his father. 

Approach bridge, famous in itself

The setting is lovely

Dragon water bowl on the way in

It is truly stunning. With no expense spared, the level of detail, colour, sculpture and everything else artistic related to the complex is jaw-dropping. Unfortunately our camera was totally kaput by this time and we could only take photos with our phones, therefore couldn't get the best close-up shots.

Gatekeeper

Sake barrels - the monks must be sozzled!

The experience was topped off with climbing the granite stairs up to the tomb, where Iyesai Tokugawa was laid to rest. The tomb has not been opened since that time in the 1600s.

The original Tokugawa emperor's elegant tomb

It was well worth the trip out of Tokyo, and we'd certainly recommend it to anyone. However, the wind was biting cold and we hot-footed it back down to the train station to catch the two-train ride back to Tokyo. We didn't really feel like going out again after arriving home late in the afternoon so finished off some 2 minute noodles, snacks and even muesli for dinner. It felt good to be packing our bags ready for departure the next day.

Massive escalators at Tokyo Station

I think we were both ready to leave. It always happens, no matter how long you have been away. The last few days always seem to come down to a countdown, and we start looking forward to home. We've loved Japan, and feel as though we've had a pretty good look at parts of it. It was lovely being back amongst the hills and mountains again at Nikko today. One of the highlights of the trip for me has certainly been being in the remote areas, especially trekking in the hills and coming across expansive views of the countryside.

27 March - National Museum and Ueno Park, Akihabara Nightlife

Our walk to Ueno Park got waylaid as we went through the restaurant supplies area, as we found the shops and their contents so interesting. With a few new items in our bags we continued on to Ueno Park.

Due to the time we'd taken, we needed a refuel before Ueno Park so chose a little Chinese place to have a quick bowl of soup. Just as well we got there at 10 to 12 as it filled up very rapidly with "salarymen" taking their lunches. Finally into Ueno Park, home to many museums. I had wanted to have a look at the Museum of Western Art, not because of its contents but because it was one of the limited number of buildings that Le Corbusier did outside France. I wasn't overwhelmed, but the various things on sale celebrating the 60th anniversary of him designing it were interesting, as was the small collection of Rodin sculptures outside.

Corbusier's Museum of Western Art, and Rodin sculptures

Off we went to the National Museum, past more cherry blossoms, which were becoming better every day. The National Museum was very good, with some fabulous pieces of Japanese history. We ended up spending some 3 hours inside it!

3D lacquered box

Detail of a kimono

Japan's equivalent of NZ's Bullers Birds

We were a little footsore as we found our way out to wander through the park, following the route an information centre woman had highlighted on a map. The blossom was definitely out more than it had been a few days earlier. The best trees are just clouds of white. It is a tradition during blossom season that families and businesses picnic under their favourite tree. At lunchtime it was more families, but later in the day it was great groups of men in suits, with their shoes neatly lined up on the edge of the blue tarpaulins they'd spread out on the ground.

Picnics under the blossoms

The main avenue of Ueno Park, a couple of days before its peak

Some of the avenues of blossoms at the south end of the park were just perfect, very much what we had hoped to catch. We were a bit weary after the circuit of the park, so headed back to our room for a bit before going out again to see the odd area of Akihabara, which is known for its strange cafes, manga, games and roleplaying people. Maybe it was the cold but the odd people were unfortunately not too visible, but the lights were excellent.

Off the main street there are many dozens of weird themed cafes, with maid and animal cafes being popular at the moment. Each cafe has one or more young female touts outside, dressed in strange gear, stocking-legged but with a thick jacket over the top to counter the cold. Very strange.

Touts for some of the weird cafes

Back on the train to Ueno, and a meal of grilled meat. Meat is one of the few expensive things here. Groceries are certainly not cheap, hence the amount of eating out, which is cheap.

26 March - Imperial Palace, Ginza

We spoilt ourselves by staying in bed and reading for a while, and even breakfasted on our muesli in bed. However, we were on our way by mid-morning but didn't get very far - only a block away where we were in a fascinating area of kitchen and restaurant goods shops, partway between Asakusa and the Ueno train station. Here prices were very reasonable, i.e. non-touristy, and we bought a few little things that caught our eye. We now have a genuine (but possibly Chinese-made) Japanese lantern for our bedroom to replace one that disintegrated years ago. John also got a haircut. We passed an 'express' type hairdresser and for NZ$15 he got a great haircut. It also catered for women but judging by all the clients, I would have come out with a 'short back and sides' too if I'd ventured in. It took us until nearly midday to work our way to the Ueno train station, then it was a very short trip to Tokyo train station. 

Our first aim was to wander around the east garden of the Imperial Palace, followed by another garden further to the northwest that is noted for its cherry blossoms when in season. Feeling a little low on energy we nipped into a supermarket and bought a small bento box for lunch, then set off for the east garden. Unfortunately we got distracted by a queue of people in the palace grounds nearby and, reading the confusing signage, thought we had to queue to be allowed into the palace gardens. Nearly an hour later, with an assigned 'free' ticket, personal details taken and passport checked we were one of 300 taken into the palace grounds, to be part of a free one hour tour. 

Our Japanese English-speaking guide was very cheerful and we enjoyed learning more about the history of the Emperor and Japan. However, the tour didn't include going into any buildings, and was confined to one part of the grounds, adjacent to the moat and a few of the administrative buildings. It was interesting all the same, but it meant we didn't get back on track to finding the east garden until 3pm.

One of the corner guard towers

Nice view back to the city

With only an hour before the latter closed, we hot-footed through it, to find the acclaimed garden further to the NE. Indeed, some of the cherry trees here were in full bloom, with the blossoms just stunning. 

The blossoms can be spectacular

One thing we hadn't quite cottoned onto was that with the variety of cherry trees, some will blossom earlier than others. Therefore, while one may be in full bloom, or even losing its flowers, the one next to it may barely be starting to blossom. Instead of a long line of blossoming trees, the effect can be intermittent, but still glorious. The best trees are just like snow - all great puffs of white, and some through to pink. They can be really spectacular.

The Imperial Palace Grounds make for a lovely park in the middle of Tokyo, and there are some beautiful views to be had of the park against the modern city.

Back towards the Imperial Hotel

We got a bit trapped by the moat around the palace grounds and, constrained by needing to find bridges over it, ended up walking miles to get back in the direction we wanted to go, which was to see three places. Eventually we found the Good Design Store (fun but very little to see), Spiral Market (a design store that turned out to be even smaller) and the International Forum (modern and impressive architecture and multi-purpose building).

International Forum Building

 

Our final aim was to end up in the Ginza district in the evening, to see the bright lights in the trendy commercial area. We did that. However, we were also knackered. We stumbled around Ginza, where all the name brands sit beside each other, housed in glamorous buildings. Not our kind of shops, but it was definitely fun to wander around. 

Ginza is all name-brands

A Ginza street at dusk

We were struck by a few things. Both of us expected more large flashing signs on the sides of buildings, especially at corners, but there weren't so many. Perhaps we weren't quite in the right part of town. The footpaths and streets were very wide, the traffic drove slowly, many of the cars were electric or hybrids and so there was very little traffic noise. The whole area seemed much less manic than we expected, including the crowds.

We dragged ourselves back to Tokyo train station, jumped on a train to Ueno, then walked the 2km home. By 8pm we were well and truly done in, having been on our feet since 10am. We grabbed a small table at a cheap eatery, gobbled some noodles, picked up an ice-cream at the supermarket along with replacement muesli and hobbled to our hotel. We'd walked 24km. 

25 March - Tokyo Skytree, Senso-ji Temple

We both slept well, with the special treat of being in an ordinary off-the-floor bed for the first time in nearly a week. Sleeping on futons on the floor has actually been very comfortable, but getting up out of them takes a bit of work. Are we getting old?

With 4½ days in Tokyo we didn't need to push ourselves to the limit to see everything we wanted to, so set off at a leisurely pace just after 9am. Our first destination was the famed Tokyo Skytree, just 20 minutes walk away. At 634m tall, it was the second tallest structure in the world when it was built in 2012.

The Skytree is a very impressive building

Liftwell interior

Support structure

Both the lower deck at 350m and the highest observation deck is at 450m gave a stunning view of Tokyo. It was a clear sunny day when we went up, but unfortunately the potential distant glimpse of Mt Fuji was obscured by haze. However, we did get a grand view of the extent of Tokyo - built up in every direction as far as the eye could see. For some reason, and we can't quite work out why, neither of us were particularly wowed by the view. Perhaps it was too remote? Or perhaps it was the extensive display of all manner of Barbie doll paraphernalia around the inside of the viewing deck and on the walls, combined with the opportunity to sit on a huge pink plastic shoe and have your portrait taken? Why Barbie?

View from 650m, like being in a plane

The ultra-fast rides up and down the tower in the lifts were impressive, if slightly disconcerting, but we exited back at ground level feeling we'd taken a hit in the pocket that we'd rather have used at a fancy restaurant. It certainly wasn't worth paying extra for the higher floor. However, onwards. Nearby was the Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo's most impressive temple. On the way there we had crossed over the river and were spoilt to see lines of cherry trees starting to blossom. Some were even starting to lose their flowers, though most are still coming on. They should be even more spectacular in a few more days.

Blossoms along the river

The entrance to the temple, which was built in 628, is via a lane which has always been lined with small shops. It is still the case today, mostly souvenir stalls today but they added to the bright atmosphere of the place, as did the large number of people obviously enjoying visiting and, in many cases, praying at the temple. We were keen to explore the temple gardens but unfortunately they were closed so we ended up just wandering back to our hotel.

Senso-ji Temple

Unusually for us we spent a few hours during the afternoon just resting up. We'd struggled to keep up with the blog during our trekking week and had a fair bit of that to do, plus other research for the next few days to catch up on. The Asakusa area we are in is full of fascinating small shops and little eateries and is a fun place to wander around. We went out again in the evening and picked up a very tasty Chinese meal for the grand sum of NZ$7/dish. 

Nice ukiyo-e graphics on shop shutters

We are both starting to turn our thoughts to returning homewards in just four days' time. Our tenants vacate by the end of the week, but we have a few days in Melbourne and in Auckland before returning to Walters Bluff. We are both desperately in need of haircuts. I have been loathe to get a haircut here, in a land where 99.9% of the 38 million population have straight and often spiky thick hair. I've opted to wait until Melbourne for a hairdresser who is used to cutting wavy hair.

24 March - Karuizawa to Tokyo

The day didn't start well with me waking at 3:30am dripping with sweat. I got back to sleep but woke again at 5:30 feeling nauseous, and ended up retching. On checking the symptoms of fugu poisoning (death!), it didn't seem to be that! Not an ideal start to the day and we clearly had to give away the long walk in favour of a shorter option, as most days on this tour have, but we had so far always taken the long option. Karen had breakfast at 7am, I had a glass of water and lost that too. By 8am the outside temperature had risen to a toasty -5 degrees!

By 9am I was feeling good enough for some walking, so we decided to pack up our belongings, not difficult as we only had the day packs we'd arrived with, and we set off up the Usui Pass. It was a gentle walk up through very open forest. Low down is clearly an area where rich Japanese have holiday houses, those we saw were very architected, and some were rather nice.

Rather nce FLW-style holiday house

and a more modern one

The walk up to the pass seemed to be quite a lot longer than our guide book said (2.5km) and certainly longer than the Japanese direction signs stated. Apart from the biting cold, it was a good walk up, rewarded at the top of the Usui Pass by tremendous views out.

Well wrapped up on the Usui Pass

Spectacular views from the top

The landscapes of Japan have been very varied. It is clearly geologically a young country like New Zealand, with many of the mountains we've seen having been volcanoes. From the Usui Pass, there were some very odd knobbly hills, and views across to snow-covered ranges in the distance. Instead of continuing on another 12km to complete the trek  itinerary, we retraced our steps back down, through the main street of Karuizawa, and onto a shinkansen about 1pm. Karen had some of her lunch on the train, I thought I'd wait until we got to our room to start eating again, just in case!

We heard on the train that it would stop at Ueno Station, and a quick check of maps showed that was closer to our "The B Hotel Asakusa" than Tokyo Station, so we jumped off. I wanted to see if I could get a replacement camera cheaply in Japan, and there was a Yodobashi Camera shop near Ueno station, so that's where we headed on arrival. All too hard to work out in Japanese, so we gave up and headed to our room.

The B Asakusa turned out to be near new and very nice, not to mention surprisingly cheap at under $60 per night. We'd originally booked somewhere else but at 11m² it was always going to be a squeeze, so a few days before arriving we'd changed our booking to the B which boasted 18m². A good move. We did a quick shop at a nearby supermarket, and in the evening I ate my lunch while Karen had cereal. Quite a relief after the feasts of the last six nights.

23 March - Yabuhara to Narai over the Torii Pass

Breakfast was early this morning because we had to be transferred back to Kiso Fukushima to get to Yabuhara for our day's walk, and also had to send on our bags to Tokyo, meaning we'd be without them for one night. We were in Kiso Fukushima by 9am for the two train trips. For the first time we reserved seats for the main trains for today and tomorrow, as the trains are filling up as the tourist season gets underway. Until now we have seen few tourists, but numbers have been increasing, and the cherry blossoms were due.

We met a nice Aussie couple on the train, who turned out to be doing the same walk as us, and in fact we, the new Aussies and our group's couple walked together most of the day. The two women in our group were missing the last two day's walks in favour of an exhibition in Tokyo.

It was only a 6km walk today, 3km up to the Torii Pass and 3km down to Narai. There was a bit of slippy snow on the way up, and a particularly nice shrine at the top. This was unusual in that it was both Buddhist and Shinto. It had fabulous weathered rock kami, and a range of expressive Buddhist statues.

Looking down from the Torii Pass

Ontake Yohaijo Shrine, Torii Pass

Coming back down into Narai, we hadn't seen a bear, but did spot a Japanese serow, a type of goat-antelope which is Japan's national animal. It just stood in the trees for some minutes observing us before disappearing over a ridge. Our camera had been playing up ever since the wet day, and refused to cooperate at all from the morning, so we couldn't get a close shot of it.

A Japanese serow

Narai was our third well-preserved "post town". It was a little different architecturally to the other two, with the top storey of the houses overhanging the ground floor. We stopped for a good hot ramen noodle lunch in a little cafe. Most pleasant.

Narai post town

 

The weather had been getting progressively colder, and we saw it was -2 by the time we caught our first train out of Narai. We started on a local train for 50 minutes, onto a limited express for another 50, and finally a super shinkansen for another 40 minutes into Karuizawa.

Our shinkansen arriving

It was a bitter two kilometre walk through Karuizawa town to our hotel, stopping along the way to pick up some bakery items to save us backtracking in the morning for lunch provisions. The Tsuruyu Hotel proved to be pretty flash, again. We got as fast as we could in to the onsen, which was hot and very welcome.

Dinner had one of the most impressive menus yet, with fugu (poisonous blowfish) as an entree for the 11 courses. The fugu turned out to be clear flavourless rubber, with nothing to recommend it except the slight risk of being killed by toxins! The following courses looked OK, but just didn't have the flavour of any of the more simple establishments' offerings. To be honest, we were both looking forward to more ordinary meals such as ramen or udon noodles.

Without our laptop, we used our phones to sort out times for the following and last day of our trek, looking to an early start and a late-afternoon arrival in Tokyo.