A few days in the north
Having a few holidays to use before they expired, I decided to go up to Tohoku (north-east Japan) by myself last week. I took the bus and spent the first night with Eiko’s Aunt and Uncle in Sendai. I had planned to volunteer the following day but due to rain it was cancelled.
So I decided to head up to a town in Iwate pref. call Hiraizumi. It has just been granted World Heritage status, so it was good to visit there before the masses start their invasion. It’s a nice town with some interesting temples, or the remains of what was left of temples after most of them were destroyed by fires over the years. I stayed at a small ryokan, with one of the most unremarkable onsen I have yet seen. But it was relatively cheap – ¥7300 including dinner and breakfast.
The following morning I was up early and the sun was shining. I was enjoying a tranquil walk through some forests when I saw signs warning of bears. Lots of signs. I became a bit nervous and hyper-sensitive to all the sounds around me. Bear attacks on humans in Japan are very rare but I have seen stuff on the news once or twice. I have no idea what the recommended advice is if you come across one. Run, make noise, look them in the eye, don’t look them in the eye … anyway I was happy when I got back to the main road.
So Hiraizumi was enjoyable, but what was as much of a pleasure was taking all the little local trains to get up there and back. Often just two small carriages with just a driver to take care of making sure the passengers had paid the right fare. Speeding above these endless, lush rice paddies with the sun reflecting off the water is an enduring memory of the trip.
On the way back to Sendai I realised that I could get over as far as Ishinomaki and decided to do that. Evidence of the tsunami is still very visible throughout the town but it has improved a lot since mid-April (when I was last there). I visited a few of the places that we worked on in April, not much evidence yet that they were ready to start business again. The town itself was very very quiet on the Wednesday afternoon that I was there. I saw just a few PeaceBoat volunteers near the town center but what a change from the hive of activity in April.
It was an enjoyable short break and a good way to immerse myself in Japanese, especially the time I spent with Eiko’s relations in Sendai, who have little English. This is a good thing I should make an effort to put myself in those kind of situations more often. I was given a load of cow tongue, a local speciality and Koichi (Eiko’s uncle) gave us a box of vegetables he grow himself. All organic and from what we’ve tasted so far – delicious. He was at particular pains to point out his cucumbers with their rough, jagged skin which you’ll never see in a supermarket.
You can see a few more photos from the new little camera here.
