Central Honshu

Our trip towards Shizuoka for the third match had a couple of twists and turns. First nephew Phil decided to join us prior to entertaining Clients at the France v England match. Secondly a large typhoon (Hagibis – Phillipino for swiftly) was due to make land on Saturday 12^th directly where we were! (I will include specific dates as it helps with the timeline of events.)

The visit by Phil on Thursday 10^th was a great catch up and we all stayed at a hotel on the coast at Omaezaki. On Friday 11^th Phil returned and the forecast was that the typhoon would hit the region on Saturday 12^th. There were two matches cancelled (France v England and Italy v New Zealand). That threw Phil’s plans into chaos as he had a myriad of international visitors arriving just for the game! (Helen, Jamie and I also had tickets for the France England match).

Michael had even more fun! First his van had a puncture when at the hotel – just a tortuous process to swap (but not repair). His family were due to fly out at 18:00 on the 12^th and reluctantly he decided it would be unsafe to stay with the original plan of driving back to Tokyo after the Australia v Georgia match. Responsibly he opted to forgo the match and drive to Tokyo on the Friday. A blow out on the motorway increased the drama (as now there was no spare) with a pick up truck eventually taking the van away and a separate (2 seater) truck running a taxi service to the nearest Shinkanzen. A last minute hotel was booked for a couple of nights as the airport was to be closed on Saturday and many flights had already been cancelled. Eventually arriving at the hotel at midnight on Friday he was advised that his flight had been brought forward to just before midday on the 12^th. They literally caught the last plane out at 11:58 with the airport closed at midday.

By comparison Helen and I had a relatively trouble free time. We watched Australia v Georgia. Georgia were hard competitors and the match was more entertaining for the almost 40,000 strong crowd than the 76:24 might suggest.

Straight after the match we headed for the hills to at least get away from the coastal winds. (Campervans being light and high sided make driving in wind quite an exciting experience!) We found a site behind Mount Fuji. Although it was closed it had a good sheltered car park and we turned in at 02:00 with the rain steadily increasing.

On Saturday day we decided on a bit of exploring as the weather was not too windy just very wet. The rain had already made its mark with torrential rivers.

The local inhabitants were not impressed with the conditions and looked thoroughly dejected. We did not get much further up this road before being turned around due to a slip hazard.

Sunday brought sunshine and our planned itinerary was back on track with a tour of the well known Kiso Valley. This is an attractive valley with a variety of towns with their own unique attractions.

The first (Hirawasa) was famous for its lacquering. What a selection. We came away with chopsticks, matching rests as well as a soy dispenser all of course colour matched with the kitchen decor…..

Further down the valley is Nezamenotoko gorge with its smooth rocks.

For the opposite view the river cut a vibrant sight thanks to its higher water flows.

On a terrace above the gorge, artists have been busy with all manner of sculptures. I suspect the shape of this one was relocated from a natural source rather than being carved. There were no brochures but it may have been entitled "His mother loves him".

This area has so much history. Moving logs by sending them down on the river was deemed tortuous and unsafe and the industry then opted for narrow gauge railways.

A little further down was an unusual suspension bridge that used cable (at the bottom) to reduce horizontal sway. The campsite below was very appealing but could not be incorporated into our schedule!

Our final Kiso stop was the old town of Tsumago. Some of these buildings are over 300 years old with an enormous range of shops (including one with excellent coffee).

One that was fascinating and warrants a series of pictures was this character who was making Washis (Wa meaning Japanese shi meaning paper). Mulberry twigs are broken into pieces and boiled to become a pulp. The long strands are then thinned out using a comb, water and some vigorous work.

A little more vigour please or this will take all day.

Once the fibres have been thinned out they are collected by washing a frame through the water.

The frame with the fibres is then turned upside down on a pile and the supporting mesh pulled back. After some drying out and pressing the result is a very strong paper (compared to wood pulp). The paper maker was great fun. He even chased us down the street to see if we wanted him to take a picture of us. A wonderful character.

All the rain makes drying out rice a challenge so some have reverted to plastic covers. All farming seemed to comprise numerous small holdings and was labour intensive with limited machinery. It appears little has changed in centuries with no obvious trend to consolidation and the efficiencies that larger lots might provide.  

Our last hub in the van was back in the Mount Fuji area. Helen was keen to undertake a climb where (on a clear day) there is a top view of the famous Mountain. The weather was rather dismal but maybe if we were high enough we would be above the clouds... Anyway, one way or the other I was talked into climbing Mount Mitsutogeyama.

This was a serious challenge and after 3 hours of steep upward travelling we decided that this Buddha stone was our turnaround spot. There was still 1 km to go to the top and with the shorter days we had only 2 hours of light to get back down. Quite a work out and we did sleep very well that night.

One of the advantages of travelling with a group is that some areas get explored and highlights tested before you arrive. The five lakes near Mount Fuji was particularly scenic and amongst its many attractions was a doll museum. Picture taking was very restricted and limited to their making

and the display below.

The artist Atae Yuki was extraordinarily adept at ensuring each doll had both a wonderful expression and matching pose – they really felt alive. Even with the main story of fairies and elves you could be forgiven imaging they really did exist. Just brilliant.

Of course the five lakes also give rise to many viewpoints of Mount Fuji. Here it is on a cloudy day when we arrived

And the same shot a little later in the day

When we found this poster…

The team also suggested the open air sculpture at Hakone. This was a challenge to get to as the rail line and many roads were impassable as a result of the slips following the typhoon. Eventually we arrived and it was certainly worth the effort. There was so much variety. This small 1918 "Grandson of the General" really had me smiling. 

Whilst these two opposite were rather the other end of the spectrum. The stainless steel "pipes" revolved so at times, with different reflections, the tops seemed to be floating.

There was also a sculpture “house” just for children

in which huge nets hung that enabled all sorts of activities and games to occur.

There was a Picasso museum, an outside heated foot-bath – great for tired feet, a stained glass tower with unusual internal acoustics and more conventional statues such as these by Henry Moore. An extraordinary garden.

After depositing the ‘van we headed into Tokyo for a couple of days. Our hotel was in Ginza and only a 15 minute walk to Chiyoda city and the Imperial palace. This is in use so we were limited to the standard view – which is nonethless pretty dramatic.

and as we made our way to the end of the bridge there was a teetering of the guard…..

The grounds are surrounded by a huge moat. The reflection was mesmerising as the sun set and the various natural colours were replaced by bright lights. It is strange how the reflective pink appears more pronounced than the real tower colour.

Architects have been given a free reign and walking past the variety of buildings is a slow process (well at least for a visitor)

Mind you if you want to see the sights maybe this is not be the way to travel given the main focus should be on survival!