Tokyo to Nagasaki

For our last day in Tokyo we opted to obtain an overview of the city and visit Skytree. The weather was not ideal and below turned out to be the clearest view all day! In the foreground is a rather bizarre “nose? carrot?....” (you decide) which appears to be coming out of the side of a high rise. It is in fact a “flame” atop the lower Asai (beer) headquarters. The flame represents their passion and dedication to brewing over 100 years.

By the time we ascended the weather had really set in and the view moved from poor to non-existent. After a quick lunch we headed down for a more close up exploration of the nearby Sensoji temple. This Buddhist temple was founded way back in 645.

One area that was attracting a good deal of attention was a wall with little lockers. For a small fee you could obtain a written fortune.

The instructions were interesting. If it was good luck take it home - if not then leave it here!

Near the hotel was a street of restaurants located under the old railway bridge arches. The atmosphere and variety was hard to ignore and we found ourselves in one called Baden Baden. A stein of German beer,  goulash, and sauerkraut all in the middle of Tokyo was a little surreal but tasty and fun.  

We then hopped on a shinkanzen and headed off for Fukuoka (back on Kishu - the southern island) and shuttled to and from Oita for the QFs. Although our mob was now smaller they were no less enthusiastic and looking forward to seeing the Australia v England clash albeit with a clear underdog status. The 40:16 defeat was expected and largely as a result of England’s Australian (ex Brumbies) coach. The second QF which we watched on the following day was a far more exciting affair with Wales just scraping over France (who early on were reduced to 14 players) 20:19.

As a break to the Fukouoka/Oita two hour drive we diverted to a pottery village called Ontayaki. The village comprises a dozen or so potteries – very much a family affair. The first step is to ensure the clay is as fine as possible. This is undertaken using "karausu" which are beams simply rising and falling using water diverted from the river. The other end has a large pick to pulverise the clay. This is a 24/7 affair. I assume the villagers must somehow find the erratic thumps soothing, although how you fall asleep awaiting the next tremor escapes me. 

The pottery is turned and then the set out to dry. 

Once the initial drying has occurred they are fired using rising kilns. A fire is lit in the bottom chamber and the heat flows through the various chambers loaded with pottery until eventually being exhausted through the chimney at the far end. The length of the kiln enables more pottery to be fired at the same time and also helps with achieving hotter temperatures by drawing the air over a greater length. 

The whole process is hundreds of years old but the villagers have developed their own distinctive pattern.

As we meandered back to the expressway the valley progressively opened up and this view rather typified much of the country. The flow of small paddy fields and pockets of houses/farms running up to the foot of heavily timbered hills ensured there was not much wasted space!

Our flight back was in the evening and this gave us time for one last day trip. Nagasaki the site of the second A bomb was an obvious choice. The Memorial park is topped by the Peace statue. It was good to see another wave of schoolchildren visiting although these had a slightly more upbeat approach to the service we saw in Hiroshima. 

The park incorporated sculptures sent from all over the world. Towards the end was the Fontana Della Pace (peace fountain) from Italy. Overall the park is not large and you can see the Peace Memorial in the background.

Inside the nearby museum were some harrowing stories and memorabilia. Also included was a life sized model of the bomb with a cutaway outlining how it operated. It was not particularly large in stark contrast to the massive damage it caused. 

Throughout Japan there were origami cranes which are viewed as birds of paradise carrying souls to heaven. The cranes were used in many designs but none more impressive than this picture. (Don’t ask – I have no idea of the number of cranes!) 

With that we headed back to Fukuoka and the airport. Another RWC over! Quite one of the more frenetic ones due to the large amount of travelling but nonetheless very enjoyable. Japan is a fascinating country but probably best viewed in smaller bites. Highlights – the food and mountains were wonderful, the streetscapes and overhead cables less so. Most of the people were terrific and keen to overcome any language challenges. In time the generation that still holds to Japan being for the Japanese will diminish. Certainly, there is lots more to see but a return visit may need to wait on countries with a higher priority!