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calyponte · 5 years ago

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We’re back!

Sorry for the extended hiatus. We were finishing up our move to Italy and it took more time and focus than expected due to Covid-19 implications. We were fortunate though, as we were well prepared, had Covid tests done before we left and all the paper work we may have needed. In the end, nobody stopped us during the two trips we took with our furniture and other household items. We drove twice from Germany, on consecutive Sundays, it was really spooky to see the highway through the Alps, which is normally packed with traffic, completely empty.

Anyway, back to Japan…. Day 3.

My first JR train experience was a breeze

The App I recommended in an earlier post was indeed amazing, it tracks in real time all the trains along your route so you can make transfers very quickly, it even tells you which track or platform to go to, even if there was a last minute change.

I arrived at Kiso Fukushima the day before my first Shirin-Yoku private experience. I picked a very appropriate spot to spend the night, a cabin campground in the middle of the forest at Kiso, one train station before Agematsu, where the Akasawa forest, birthplace of Shinrin-yoku is located.

I booked this spot through AirBnB. The host picked me up at the train station because their campground is of course located quite a ways away from the town and there is no public transportation available. We stopped by a store on the way to buy some food since the campground did not sale any.

It was really a beautiful spot and a great way to immerse myself into the natural environment of Nagano prefecture and got to know their amazing Kiso-Hinoki tree. I also learned a few interesting things…

The wooden cabins were small, basically the size of a large tent with bunk beds. They had a large porch which was great since it was raining the first evening. They had sliding doors in the front and a window in the back. Well distributed and not very crowded so you got the feeling of full forest immersion. There was a small pond, stocked with fish. To heat up the cabin there was a small kerosene heater. The smell took me back to my childhood in Argentina, but it got old pretty quick. After a short time, I had to open the window a bit more to let some fresh (and quite cold) air in. The bunk bed “mattress” was a tatami mat. This was my introduction to sleeping on one. The bed gear consisted of a very thin yoga mat and a sleeping bag, no pillow.

I noticed that the entire camp was empty as it was the middle of the week, and the staff left before sundown, so I was there all by myself. I had a small “what if” moment, but it quickly vanished after I had a sip or two of the Sake I picked up at the store. I spent a genuinely nice time alone, getting acquainted with the Japanese forest, listening to the rain, enjoying the wood’s bright wet smells and the taste of the local rice wine. All was well.

Later I zapped my dinner at the shop’s outdoor cooking area and setup the “table” on the bottom bed as the cabin had no actual table or chair.

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I guess it was some sort of “glamping” experience I was having. It was wet and chilly outside, the most important part was that the bathrooms, though in the middle of the woods, had the now famous heated toilets which I was growing so fond of…

Tomorrow was a big day, the next morning, the campground keeper was going to take me back down to the train station. I will take the 9:00 am train to Agematsu town where staff from the Akasawa Forest Therapy Centre were picking me up. I was quite pumped that I was going to the very place where Shinrin-yoku was first practiced over 30 years ago.

Next, arrival to Agematsu station and the Shirin yoku session in Akasawa forest, where I was treated like a king.

Virtual Japan – Day 3 – Part 1 – The birthplace of Shinrin-Yoku We're back! Sorry for the extended hiatus. We were finishing up our move to Italy and it took more time and focus than expected due to Covid-19 implications.

#Akasawa Forest #Japan Shinrin-yoku #Shinrin-yoku

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calyponte · 5 years ago

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Breakfast Hotdog anyone?

Every day offers a new discovery in such a unique culture as Japan’s, and I love the amazing opportunity to get to know more about what the locals do and what their regular day looks like.

The first surprise was the breakfast menu at the Hotel Henn-na, “The Hotdog Morning Plate”, with toppings that included Sauerkraut and relish. It was either this or a bowl of noodles, which I later found out to be regularly offered everywhere for breakfast (and lunch and dinner). I got to enjoy hot coffee, for the last time in a while. I also later found out, it would be quite difficult to find a place which sold hot coffee in the mornings. I’ll show you what I ended up drinking straight out of one of the millions of vending machines you find EVERYWHERE, selling EVERYTHING imaginable.

Anyhow, I am not a picky eater and always welcome a new experience, especially in the culinary world. I opted for the hotdog platter, and it was indeed delicious. I have lived in Germany now for 3+ years so I know my Wieners and Franks 😉

My body still didn’t know what meal of the day I was having, so no problems whatsoever having a hotdog for breakfast…

A quick sightseeing walk around – 歩き回る

Today’s schedule included a quick walk around through this area of Tokyo before I took the bullet train. I picked this area near Hamamatsuchō Station because it was fairly central and easy to travel from to the Tokyo train station. This was later today, my departure point to Kiso-Fukushima, in Nagano Prefecture, my next stop.

First impressions:

1- Japanese people seem to smoke a lot, at least this was my impression so far in Tokyo. After I quit smoking almost two decades ago, I became extremely allergic and somehow a crusader against smoking. Having lived in Calgary and working downtown where these days you’re not able to walk down the street without navigating through heavy puffs of cigarette smoke and vaping, I was elated to see this, a especially assigned outdoor smoking area!!

People can’t seem to just smoke anywhere in the city just because they’re outside. Huh!?! what is this crazy concept!! Yes, they do it in these designated areas on the side walks and some other, well marked, large open spaces, and get this, actually far away from buildings’ entrance doors, so the smoke doesn’t get blown inside by the wind. Revolutionary concept! who would have thought 😮 (Sarcasm)

Anyway, brilliant idea, I am not sure if it is mandatory or voluntary though, as the second would go very much in line with the empathic Japanese ways.

2- Another thing that got my attention was the extreme care about pedestrian safety on the streets, for example there was a construction zone right next to the Hotel which I only realized it was there after I saw it from above, from the hotel room’s window. I had walked right by it the day before and because of the very high, solid white wall around it, which looked like a permanent fixture on the side of the building, you couldn’t even guess there was a hole in the ground and heavy excavation equipment behind it. Not only there was no chance of any debris flying onto the street, but it did not look at all like a construction zone from outside, and no traces of mud or dirt outside it on the street or sidewalk either.

A few streets over, there was a crane-truck parked temporarily by another construction site. I noticed the yellow cones around the truck clearly marking the area where people should take precautions, but also real people, dressed in uniforms, which I believed were some kind of city safety workers, or maybe even regular police. They were standing between the truck and the people passing by, with their arms open signaling which direction pedestrians had to proceed. Once again… “Whaat?”

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3- Japan’s Shinto religion was brand new to me, I later found out much more about it and discovered that its foundation beliefs and history are quite fascinating, especially because of its deep link with nature. I will be sharing a lot about my impressions and findings on Japan’s indigenous religion in later posts. Together with Buddhism, these are the two predominant religions in the country, and not mutually exclusive. Much more on this later.

For now, I will share a little bit about the iconic “Torii” 鳥居 (pronounced toree) as seen in the header photo of this post, and in the image below. These are the traditional Japanese gates, most commonly found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine, the place of worship of this religion. They symbolically mark the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and it is usually the way to identify Shinto shrines, or sacred nature spots, such as bodies of water, very old trees, waterfalls, etc. that are considered sacred. We will see and visit many of them during our virtual stay in Japan.

In the city of Tokyo there are many Shinto shrines. In the hundreds actually, if you count the grater Tokyo area. The one I visited near the Hotel, called Shiba Daijingū was founded in the year 1005, it has been restored since of course. The history in Japan is not only amazingly rich but it is indeed ancient. We will particularly see this fact in our visit to Nara, which was the capital of Japan one thousand years ago and for that a very special historical place.

What I found interesting at this shrine, was the behavior of people, young and old, walking by the shrine. For example, seeing office workers rushing to catch a bus most likely, slowing right down, stopping and bowing with their hands together in front of their chest and instantly continuing on with their mad rush to get to where they were going. No matter how in a hurry they appeared to be, or even if anyone was watching or not, they all took the time to show with their body language and actions, how important for them it was this transition between the mundane and the sacred.

All aboard!

Time to leave the city for now and start our adventure in the interior of Japan and Shinrin-yoku country. First stop, the forests of Kiso area and the Akasawa forest, the birth place of Forest bathing as an official wellbeing and stress reduction practice.

I got to the Tokyo train station, near Chiyoda, where the Imperial Palace is located. I started to get the hang of how to navigate the Japanese trains in a very short time, with a very special helper.

Travel TIP: The best aid I had to, not only know what trains to take and from where, but also to get the best connection times while on the go, was this must have Japan Official Travel App You get every useful detail of your route, with many options to chose from. The invaluable info included which platform to take the train from, which allowed to transfer from one train to the next very quickly and hence making some tight connections. All this was presented on the app extremely fast and accurately, updated almost instantly. Very impressive and really all you need to help you move around in Japan by public transit. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to get a SIM card with unlimited data during your stay.

I allowed extra time to make it to where I was taking the Shinkansen (Bullet train) from. Using this app, I managed to arrive at my departing platform very early. I had reserved a seat on my train, which thanks to the prepaid JR Pass, was included at no extra cost. You can reserve seats at the window where you show your Japan Rail Pass to get into the station, or online ahead of time. The efficiency I saw in the train system so far was outstanding, no wonder millions of people are moved around this city every single day without many issues.

You may have a sense of me and my observation skills by now, I had time this morning (or was it afternoon?) to watch and spot a few remarkably interesting things while waiting for my train.

These key behaviors I observed, which it appears that most all Japanese travelers seem to follow and do naturally, result in the benefit of everybody. I point this out, because in many places I’ve visited or lived in South and North America and Europe, and you ofcourse know this too, there is always the “smart” ones that skip lines, cut other people off, stand right in front of the bus/train doors as people are trying to get off, and always put themselves first. In Japan, it is very apparent the respect of people for everybody else and they know that following the well-designed rules only helps everybody in the end, not just a few. This “outrageous” behavior (in the best sense of the word, as in being positively shocked) was something I got use used to right away, and it only makes sense that you follow suit. You see so much awareness, care, and respect from others that you jump on board right away. I sincerely loved it. It makes coexistence with millions of other folks going about their lives so much easier and less stressful.

Ok, enough blabbing, these are the most noticeable points:

1- Preparation for boarding: You see a few markings on the platform floor. The most obvious are the car numbers which are located exactly where the car’s boarding door they indicate will stop when your train arrives. Then, you see these lines of different colors, just a couple of feet away from where the door will end up when the train arrives. This is how it works. There is a line for first departure and one for second departure, meaning that for the next train scheduled to stop at this platform, people line up where it says “First Departure”, for the following train, you can start lining up ahead of time using the “Second Departure” marking on the floor. Since I was so early, I was first in line for the second departure.

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2- Offloading, cleaning & boarding: Just before the train arrives, you see people lining up behind the “First departure” sign, then at least two cleaning staff members for each car waiting just in front of the first passenger in line. When the train arrives, passengers can get off the train quickly, without being blocked by passengers trying to get on because these are orderly lined up and waiting away from the door. Once the last passenger gets off and walks away from the door, the cleaning staff get on to do their work, while passengers still wait patiently in line on the platform. The cleaning was for long distance trains at the end of their line ofcourse. When the cleaning staff gets off the train, then and only then, passengers can start boarding the train. No physical barriers, gates or staff directing the pedestrian traffic, just painted lines on the floor! Blown away by how everyone complies with these rules, it’s just part of their routine and obviously they would never understand how or why we do what we do in many cities in the west!!!

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I am now ready to go, my Shinkansen train has arrived, and knowing what to do I follow the rules, low stress and efficiency.

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Next, we stay in a wood cabin campground in the beautiful forests of Kiso area in Nagano, and the first Shirin yoku session in Akasawa forest, where it all started…

Virtual Japan – Day 2 – Glimpses of Tokyo Breakfast Hotdog anyone? Every day offers a new discovery in such a unique culture as Japan's, and I love the amazing opportunity to get to know more about what the locals do and what their regular day looks like.

#Imagine Japan #Virtual Japan trip

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calyponte · 5 years ago

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Don’t touch the robots!

I stayed in Tokyo for a night before continuing on to Nagano Prefecture. I don’t think I was prepared for the kind of reception I got at the hotel.

Play the video below to see and hear for yourself…

The “Don’t touch the robots” phrase, as it turned out, came up a few times while in Japan, especially in Tokyo. Most robots I saw during the rest of the trip were kind of “cute”, but these two, I thought, were borderline creepy.

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So, it worked like this, you selected your language on the large touch screen, then scanned your passport. The machine next to each robot would issue your key card and was also setup to receive payments by cash or card upon check out. Very efficient, and the robots added a “human touch” if you will, nicer than just having the two machines that looked like ATMs, I guess. What do you think?

The Room – Full of surprises

This Hotel, I figured, was designed to host office workers mostly, that don’t make it home due to a very late workday. As you may know, the Japanese is a workaholic culture, especially noticeable in Tokyo. It seems to happen very often that workers stay at the office so late that depending on how far they live, they are better off staying at a nearby hotel than heading home and having to commute back to work just a few hours later. All workers stay at work as long as their boss is there. I was told that no one leaves the office before their boss, so if you’re “lucky” to have an extra workaholic boss, you’re in for very late nights. The room was pretty small, in comparison to our western standards, but I was expecting this. Some aspects were quite unexpected, though. I love learning new ways of doing things, especially in this such unique and far away culture, I was in for a treat. These are the top three!

Heated toilet seat: Toilets are in fact state of the art machines in Japan. They even have a control panel with button to activate and manage all its functions! The most prominent one is that seats are padded and heated. It was the first time I ever experienced this feature, but it turned out to be an extremely popular thing all over Japan. Every toilet I encountered, yes, even public toilets, or in the middle of nowhere, in a campground, as I found out later in my travels. I got so used to it that after two weeks of enjoying this very comfortable feature, it was a shocking experience the first time I used a regular toilet back home.

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Suit Fridge: What? I know it sounds weird, but I could not find any other way to call this device. At first glance, it looked like a full-size fridge, which was odd to see in such small room. When inspected more closely, I figured out what it was. Going back to office workers staying here, and the fact that they would be forced to wear the same clothes the next day, this device refreshes and steams their suit and shirt, (everybody wears a suit to the office). It even creases your suit pants. I HAD to try it of course… I did a shirt, jeans and even the socks came out fresh!

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Free Smartphone Service: I scanned around the room for another toy or novelty, besides the huge LED TV that was almost as big as the side wall, I spotted a phone in a cradle charging. I’ve been out of the corporate world since I came to Germany 3 years ago (which my body and mental health thank very much), so this was the first time I saw this service. I found it extremely cool. Basically, while you stay in this hotel you have a free smartphone that you can carry with you and enjoy free internet access and local and international calls. Dang!

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Out for dinner – A whole new world to explore

As I said earlier, I had no idea what meal I was having next, it looked like dinner, but it was the middle of the night back in Munich. I just went out to explore the neighborhood and check out the restaurant scene in that part of Tokyo. The streets look like narrow alleyways, and the restaurants were tiny hole in the wall kind of setup. Many had tables outside for that matter. Everything looked very clean and the roads had huge bright signs almost freshly painted. I noticed a few of those office workers in their suits even though it was 7:30 pm local time. I guessed they were looking for a place to have dinner, (or lunch?) I got pretty excited because the best way to learn about a culture is through food and I was in the best spot, where locals go, no touristy places around. Then it happened, I spotted a Japanese beef place. Tiny like the others, with a lot of weird equipment hanging from the ceiling. I figured it out when I saw these tiny gas grills on each table, self-grilled Japanese beef, count me in!!!

The moment I stepped in, I felt like a very important person, all the staff started screaming, repeatedly “Konnichiwa” and “Yokoso” (Hello and welcome) while doing that quick and snappy head bow. I could only hear “..chiwa” and osooo” but later I realized what they were saying. Really cool.

Very thankful that the menus had large pictures of every dish, this was a local joint, so nothing was translated to English. After a lot of pointing and a lot of emphatic “Hi” which means yes, I got my order. Man, I could not care less about the jetlag anymore, or what time it was.

When the amazing looking raw beef mini steaks and fresh veggies arrived, they turned on the gas grill and pull down one of those pipes hanging from the ceiling. Individual chimneys with an extractor fan inside. I also ordered Sake, of course. This was the beginning of my two week Sake tasting tour.

Enjoy the pictures and try not to drool too much.

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Besides the chopsticks, I had a mini pair of BBQ tongs and scissors to cut the meat with. Never ate grilled meat before with either of those utensils, chopsticks & scissors. It was delicious, and I had seconds, I tried two other types of Japanese beef. They catalog their beef as fancy wine in other countries. Each with their ”Terroir” and type of grass or grain they’re fed with. Very impressive, and very satisfied, I was absolutely ready to call it a night…

Travel TIP: When you are planning your trip next year, allow for at least one extra evening in Tokyo on arrival day. This extra day in advance of the rest of your plans will be extremely helpful to process the jetlag and to get your body used to the new time zone. The first few hours are very confusing, you just traveled your whole night (12 hr flight from Munich) and by the time you get to the hotel after you arrive, it is basically night again, so you don’t really know what meal to have next, let alone what day it is.

Next, we will learn about the famous Japanese Rail system, and more shocking behaviour (in the best possible sense)

Virtual Japan – Day 1 – Part 2 – Tokyo Hotel & Dining Don't touch the robots! I stayed in Tokyo for a night before continuing on to Nagano Prefecture.

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