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blatherskiteRick and Nobuko built their own house, mostly Western-style, but with Japanese accents such as a tatami room for guests and blond wood everywhere on the floor and walls. It’s an open and airy place that’s nestled between rice paddies and a botanical garden, so peaceful and quiet, with many birds around. We started our day with a refreshing walk of the family dog, Chobe (spelling?), a golden retriever with the usual golden’s delightful personality. (I miss having a dog!) We were out for about 45 minutes, circling the paddies (not yet flooded or planted, since it’s still early in the spring) and chatting and birdwatching. A very pleasant residential neighborhood, and for our birder readers, a partial list of the birds: a wagtail (my best guess based on the bird book), three cormorants, a grey heron, many ravens and tiny birds, and many nightengales (heard but not seen).
We met the ELSS office ladies after breakfast. A bit awkward because we didn’t have much to chat about, but everyone seemed pleased (and/or amused) with my efforts at speaking Japanese. They were charming and hospitable, and our guest gift (artisanal chocolates from Marlaine, a master chocolatier in Pointe-Claire village) was well received.
Just before we left, Rick gave us a house tour. There are many very nice touches: a combination of active and passive solar heating (collection via a tank on the roof, with heat transferred into a concrete slab belowground), efficient insulation, fans to transfer hot or cold air between parts of the house (something I need to look into for our house), and 16-inch solar tubes that pipe sunlight into the house. One interesting bathroom feature: a “wash-olet”, which is like a happy hybrid of a toilet and bidet. You have two options of sprays to wash your nether regions once you’re done. (However, no orchestral sound system or perfumed sprays.)
Since we were going all the way across Japan to the north and west, today was our biggest travel day (from a little after 11 to a little after 6), including four trains. Shoshanna did her usual detailed research to ensure we knew which trains to take in which sequence. That probably wouldn’t be necessary for a simpler trip, like some of the ones we’ll be taking later in our vacation, but we wanted to get to a somewhat remote part of the country that required multiple connections to reach, and we didn’t want to miss one and start the dominoes falling: each missed connection might lead us to miss another collection, and so on, and since we would be arriving after 6 PM even if we made all connections... Travel by Japan Rail is about as easy as it gets if you don’t let the concept of travel in a completely new system throw you. Everything is clearly and abundantly labeled in both Japanese and English, so it’s never a problem finding what you need. The trains are on time, sparkling clean, and the shinkansens are very fast. They also don’t wait long at stations, so you have to hop to it if you want to avoid being left at the station. Fortunately, they announce all stations in both Japanese and English, so if you don’t fall asleep, you shouldn’t miss your stop. There are other nice touches, such as “brail” guides on the floors of stations (so that blind travelers can feel where they’re going just by using their feet and can count the track numbers based on changes in the bump texture that occur next to each stairway), and there’s also brail information on the handholds by the train doors. Our only mishap (almost!) was that we sat in a waiting room before one train arrived, and were both tired enough and enjoying the people-watching enough that we almost forgot to get up and run upstairs to catch our train.
The final leg of our trip, up the Hida River Valley to Takayama, is pleasant and lovely. The train has unusually large windows, so you get a great view. The river is surrounded by steep mountains on all sides, and it’s densely settled along most flat stretches above the river, with most houses having neatly manicured gardens. There’s only room for one track in many places, so the driver had to stop frequently to let trains coming from the other direction pass us. We were mostly past the cherry blossom season down near Tokyo, but up here in the mountains, many trees are still just in the early stages of blooming, so we won’t completely miss the blossoms.
We’re staying about a 15-minute walk from the train station, at the Sosuke (a type of iron pot one hangs over a fire) minshuku (sort of a home stay or B&B, though this one is a big place with a dozen or so rooms). We’ve opted for traditional Japanese accommodations wherever possible, so we stayed in a tatami room (straw mat floor) with futons and one of those low tables with sitting cushions. Off to dinner right away, since we skipped lunch; the really good restaurant where we’d hoped to eat seems to have closed, and the best option close enough to reach in our tired state was a small noodle shop (half a dozen tables), run by what seemed to be two teenage boys while three of their buds sat at the counter, smoked, and gossiped. We both had a hearty bowl of what was basically high-quality ramen noodles in miso soup; salty but savory, with a couple nice chunks of meat. Home to a shower in the communal bath room, where there’s a large tub big enough to hold several people (4 or 5 if you’re friendly). There were also private shower stalls, but I had the bath room to myself and decided to try the Japanese experience. Really nice shower (hot with lots of pressure), and stools are provided so you can sit (the showerhead is mounted low on the wall). Though tempted, I skipped the bath; it was too hot for my taste and I was too tired (i.e., I would have dozed off and sank beneath the waves).
We had a good night’s sleep, despite waking a couple times. It’s a reasonably quiet neighborhood despite being centrally located.
We met the ELSS office ladies after breakfast. A bit awkward because we didn’t have much to chat about, but everyone seemed pleased (and/or amused) with my efforts at speaking Japanese. They were charming and hospitable, and our guest gift (artisanal chocolates from Marlaine, a master chocolatier in Pointe-Claire village) was well received.
Just before we left, Rick gave us a house tour. There are many very nice touches: a combination of active and passive solar heating (collection via a tank on the roof, with heat transferred into a concrete slab belowground), efficient insulation, fans to transfer hot or cold air between parts of the house (something I need to look into for our house), and 16-inch solar tubes that pipe sunlight into the house. One interesting bathroom feature: a “wash-olet”, which is like a happy hybrid of a toilet and bidet. You have two options of sprays to wash your nether regions once you’re done. (However, no orchestral sound system or perfumed sprays.)
Since we were going all the way across Japan to the north and west, today was our biggest travel day (from a little after 11 to a little after 6), including four trains. Shoshanna did her usual detailed research to ensure we knew which trains to take in which sequence. That probably wouldn’t be necessary for a simpler trip, like some of the ones we’ll be taking later in our vacation, but we wanted to get to a somewhat remote part of the country that required multiple connections to reach, and we didn’t want to miss one and start the dominoes falling: each missed connection might lead us to miss another collection, and so on, and since we would be arriving after 6 PM even if we made all connections... Travel by Japan Rail is about as easy as it gets if you don’t let the concept of travel in a completely new system throw you. Everything is clearly and abundantly labeled in both Japanese and English, so it’s never a problem finding what you need. The trains are on time, sparkling clean, and the shinkansens are very fast. They also don’t wait long at stations, so you have to hop to it if you want to avoid being left at the station. Fortunately, they announce all stations in both Japanese and English, so if you don’t fall asleep, you shouldn’t miss your stop. There are other nice touches, such as “brail” guides on the floors of stations (so that blind travelers can feel where they’re going just by using their feet and can count the track numbers based on changes in the bump texture that occur next to each stairway), and there’s also brail information on the handholds by the train doors. Our only mishap (almost!) was that we sat in a waiting room before one train arrived, and were both tired enough and enjoying the people-watching enough that we almost forgot to get up and run upstairs to catch our train.
The final leg of our trip, up the Hida River Valley to Takayama, is pleasant and lovely. The train has unusually large windows, so you get a great view. The river is surrounded by steep mountains on all sides, and it’s densely settled along most flat stretches above the river, with most houses having neatly manicured gardens. There’s only room for one track in many places, so the driver had to stop frequently to let trains coming from the other direction pass us. We were mostly past the cherry blossom season down near Tokyo, but up here in the mountains, many trees are still just in the early stages of blooming, so we won’t completely miss the blossoms.
We’re staying about a 15-minute walk from the train station, at the Sosuke (a type of iron pot one hangs over a fire) minshuku (sort of a home stay or B&B, though this one is a big place with a dozen or so rooms). We’ve opted for traditional Japanese accommodations wherever possible, so we stayed in a tatami room (straw mat floor) with futons and one of those low tables with sitting cushions. Off to dinner right away, since we skipped lunch; the really good restaurant where we’d hoped to eat seems to have closed, and the best option close enough to reach in our tired state was a small noodle shop (half a dozen tables), run by what seemed to be two teenage boys while three of their buds sat at the counter, smoked, and gossiped. We both had a hearty bowl of what was basically high-quality ramen noodles in miso soup; salty but savory, with a couple nice chunks of meat. Home to a shower in the communal bath room, where there’s a large tub big enough to hold several people (4 or 5 if you’re friendly). There were also private shower stalls, but I had the bath room to myself and decided to try the Japanese experience. Really nice shower (hot with lots of pressure), and stools are provided so you can sit (the showerhead is mounted low on the wall). Though tempted, I skipped the bath; it was too hot for my taste and I was too tired (i.e., I would have dozed off and sank beneath the waves).
We had a good night’s sleep, despite waking a couple times. It’s a reasonably quiet neighborhood despite being centrally located.