Takao-san

May 30, 2006 - 8:35 pm by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

On Sunday a friend and I went to Takao-san (Mount Takao, in western Tokyo, which at 599 metres barely qualifies as mountain) to join an event called International Exchange in Nature. This was a tour led by volunteer Japanese guides who talked about Takao-san’s history and nature in English. Arranged by the Takao Visitor Center [...]

March 11th: The monkeys of Jigokudani

May 7, 2006 - 3:48 pm by Up and Down Japan in Food, Travel  

Our minshuku in Jigokudani Yaen Koen was not just a regular family-run inn: Korakukan is one of the few places in Japan (and the world) where people can share a rotemburo (outdoor hotspring bath) with wild monkeys. This is a rather recent development– it was only about 40 years ago that the first monkey ventured [...]

March 10th: Jigokudani

May 2, 2006 - 4:09 pm by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

Our inn for the night was Korakukan, a large and rustic minshuku (family-run inn) in the Jigokudani Yaen Koen (Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park), Nagano. The area is a sanctuary for nihon-zaru (Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata), Japan’s native monkey species. Japanese macaques are the only primate other than humans to live in cold climates, thus their [...]

March 10th: Obuse

April 25, 2006 - 8:01 pm by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

After lunch we were given a tour of the Masuichi Sake Brewery, which consists of several beautifully renovated buildings dating back 250 years, set amoung stone paths and traditional landscaping.

At the brewery itself, the brewmaster talked about the history of the place as well as introducing their currect line of sake. I understood little of [...]

March 10th: Nezugaseki to Obuse

April 18, 2006 - 11:53 pm by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

It was great to wake up in a big, comfortable room. We stayed at Minshuku Marutake, and like all of the other places on our trip it was Japanese-style, with tatami (reed mat flooring) and futons. But Marutake was one of the nicer places we stayed, and seemed to be more of a ryokan (high-class [...]

March 9th: Chusonji, Naruko and Nezugaseki

- 11:44 am by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

We continued driving through Iwate Prefecture to Hiraizumi, an ancient capital. Hiraizumi prospered in the 11th and 12th cenuturies under the rule of the Fujiwara clan, and is said to have rivaled Kyoto in cultural sophistication. After the Fujiwaras fell from favour at the end of the 12th century, the city’s importance declined and most [...]

March 9th: Takahashi House and Umen noodles

April 14, 2006 - 11:05 am by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

Our first stop of the morning was in Kuroishi, Aomori, at the Takahashi-ke Jutaku (Takahashi Family Residence). This is a rice merchant’s house that was built in 1763 and has survived in a remarkably well-preserved state.

The house is situated along Komise Dori, a street of traditional wooden houses featuring a covered sidewalk. The cover is [...]

March 8th: Sukayu Onsen and Shamisen performance

April 12, 2006 - 5:50 pm by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

That snowy road had led us to Sukayu Onsen (hot spring), near Mount Hakkoda. This was a place I’d been dreading, seeing as how it features konyoku bathing. What’s to dread about that? Well, konyoku means mixed bathing. As in men and women together. Naked.

Like any hot spring in Japan, swimsuits aren’t worn in the [...]

March 8th: Oirase Valley and a snow-lined road

- 4:06 pm by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

After lunch we drove to the nearby Oirase Valley. We followed a road that winded along the Oriase river, which is pretty enough as it is but happens to be fed by over a dozen waterfalls.

We stopped at several of them to take pictures and taste the fresh, cold water, others we passed by, [...]

March 8th: Apples, swans and horses in Aomori

- 11:50 am by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

Driving through Aomori, the first thing I noticed was that everyone was old. Unlike Hokkaido, there were no young people out on the streets- only little old men and women, walking, driving, even riding bikes and motorcycles.

I also noticed apples. Aomori is famous for its apples and produces more of them than any other prefecture [...]