The longer I stay in Japan, the more I understand why people want to relocate here indefinitely- it’s so ironic, because that’s really not the way I felt at the beginning (and I still don’t, and I don’t thik I ever could, but…) I guess it’s really one of those places that slowly get to you and before you know it, you’re just too comfortable in this embrace of convenience, security, reliability.. trust really. But if someone asked me personally, what my favourite places to visit in Japan have been so far, I would not hesitate one second on shading light on this secret: If you leave the city, Japan can be wild and adventurous!! Of course, some of this is inevitably personal – I went to Tohoku after 3 weeks of quarantine and it felt like a relief; the first time I went to Hokkaido I went by myself and found a friend, but still, these are experiences that are not obvious when visiting Japan but that truly blew my mind. So – these are some of my favourite experiences in Japan:
Tohoku in Winter (Zao in particular)
The North of Honshu gets tremendous amounts of snow and in addition to that it has some very unique, at times spookie aura. Driving by you’ll see masks on households and tradition is kept alive in so many ways, from monster festivals to kokeishi dolls painting. But as far as visual sights go, I was absolutely amazed by the natural wonder at Zao onsen. It’s 10 times more impressive IRL. Being this area particularly cold, almost every winter at some point the wind wraps the snow around the trees creating the banally named ‘snow monsters’ (bear in mind that being a natural phenomenon it doesn’t always happen ~ also it’s only worth going if there are clear skies and great visibility to appreciate it). It was fortunate that we were there under the right conditions! You can also ski between the monsters, however we didn’t as our itinerary was quite packed * I’ve heard that snow here is very hard being so cold so not optimal for skiing, but it still sounds like an amazing experience as you get to see the trees from a different angle. At the top of the ropeway you see endless snow monsters on the distance.. I felt as if I had landed on a different planet.. some frozen kingdom. Tohoku has also some of the best natural onsens in Japan, many are still mixed, we visited one that blended with a natural waterfall (winter is the right season as in summer there might be leeches – that’s too much adventure). Rightfully famous Ginzan onsen is tiny but worth a visit ~
If you think you’ll encounter a Japanese spirit, Tohoku is the place where it could happen. If you have the chance, I really recommend to try the tofu in this region.
Hokkaido’s snow
Japan has the best snow in the world – I’ve been repeating this sentence like a mantra, I just can’t get over how amazing it is. And for 5 months a year, in Hokkaido it snows,
it snows
It snows
It snows
It snows and it snows a little longer …. and this just contributes to that general WILD feeling it emanates. On the train ride from Furano to Sapporo via Takikawa I saw two foxes (one dreamily running in an open, snow-covered field) and countless deers/stags. One can sense the proximity to Russia’s far East and of course, this used to be Ainu country, so home to a whole different culture that truly blended with Winter nature. When you take a break from the snow you can eat sea urchin, crab and sushi Oishiiiiiiiiii *pictures of my first visit to Hokkaido at this link
Swimming with dolphins in Mikurajima
Taking an overnight ferry from Takeshiba pier it’s possible to reach some of the islands south of Tokyo. The whole group is called Ogasawara or Tokyo islands but they’re spread out in quite a vast chunk of ocean. These islands are not like Okinawa, they are truly wild ~ you can only get there by ferry and they’re scarcely populated. The island of Mikurajima for instance is home to a significant, very social, dolphin population. To get there we took the ferry to Miyakejima and then reached Mikurajima with a smaller boat. It takes between one and two hours to get to the second island depending on the weather. It’s one of the few places in the world where you can swim with dolphins ~ they are insanely fast but they’re also curious, intelligent animals and sometimes they decide to play or just stick around longer. On another trip they would all gather around this girl ~ she later found out she was pregnant ~ the dolphins of course knew: they have sonar and are intrigued by the two heartbeats. The open sea can get rough (on my first swim I threw up four times) but under the right conditions it’s been one of the most real and humbling experiences I’ve had in Japan. The dolphins will be so close that you can see the scars on their skin , you have to be careful not to touch them, and when I was there there were baby dolphins too. I saw a dolphin poop and even that looked magical. Aside from the dolphins, the island has an interesting history ~ like all around Japan, there is an active volcano on the island, which has erupted a number of times over the years; the island has also been evacuated due to poisonous fumes coming out from crater. For a time, all residents owned gas masks in case of fumes and that’s how it has earned its nickname: gas mask island. What’s really interesting is to visit some specific sites like the Shinto shrine or the former school that have been completely covered by lava. Where the Shinto shrine is you can both see the remains of the old buried shrine and the rebuilt one which features a beautiful part between cave and green lush. I don’t own the following pictures, that’s why I’m just sharing a mini screenshot just to give an idea of the feeling.
Beauty for the less adventurous
On the opposite spectrum, Tokyo’s urban landscape during cherry blossom has been one of my favourite sights. It just fits the city so well – light pink totally matches grey concrete, and it’s the perfect seasonal fit for such a visual city – I feel in Tokyo sakura are even more beautiful than in more traditional settings like Kyoto, somehow it gives the concrete jungle a put-together, graceful look. Like pastel tone make up, blush.
I feel most experiences end up being cultural in some way (everywhere, but here it has hit me the most); if we are making lists, my favourite cultural experience has been staying at the monks’ in Mount Koya. But onsen while looking at the night sky comes to mind to (for example, Hottakarashi onsen). Some of my favourite artificial experiences have been: TeamLab’s sauna and admiring Monet’s paintings in Naoshima.
Let’s see what other quirky thing come up in the next two years ..
