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A Japanese Diary
by Lindsay Eccles
First printed in the WIMA GB newsletter 1998 –1999
Part 1
Wednesday 24th June 1998
I arrive at Nanta airport, pretty tired after the long flight from Britain. Of course, the customs people are intrigued (as my flight companions were) by the 'gaijin' in leather bike jeans and Hein Gericke winter jacket: after all, it's 30 degrees C here. They insist that I unpack the contents of my helmet I carried as hand luggage, it has my first-aid kit inside. Needless to say, it won't all fit back in. I struggle with 50 Kg of luggage, along with my fellow teachers, to our hotel in north Tokyo. I've given up my 'day job' to come and see Japan, armed with an English teaching qualification. Have I done the right thing? Will my friend take good care of my GPZ500S whilst I'm gone? I have a shower and collapse into bed.
Sunday 5th July
There are so many bikes in this country! I'm missing mine terribly, so go to Veno, Tokyo's second-hand bike paradise, to have a look. Unfortunately, half the shops are closed and the rest won't actually let me try any of the bikes - something to do with the insurance - so how do you choose?
Friday 31st July
It's one week to my first holiday period and I'm now desperate to buy a bike. I return to Veno and am lucky to find a guy, in one of the shops, who speaks good English (I don't speak any Japanese). He explains all the in and outs of registration, insurance etc. - completely different to Britain. His efforts are rewarded and I buy a Kawasaki ZZR250 from him. Now elated, I rush off to get the necessary documents from my City Hall and change my travellers' cheques into Yen. I'm lucky with the currency fluctuations and get a very good rate. My machine costs me about £1200 on the road, including insurance.
Friday 7th August
Back to Veno to pick up the bike. While I'm there, I buy a tank bag and take a look at 'Corin', the Tokyo bike superstore. I ride back to Omiya, missing an important turning, so it takes me two and a half hours, instead of the hour that it takes on the train.
Fortunately, they drive on the left here, so it doesn't feel too strange. The road markings and signs are quite different to those in Britain but at least there aren't as many traffic cops here. The biker's habits are very different though: they 'filter' down the kerbside and wait at red lights in front of the stop line and the cars. And, they have even more attitude - no one smiles and no one nods.
Sunday 9th August
I struggle to fit all my luggage on the back of the bike - maybe I should've bought panniers too? I set off north, but the roads are very slow (I'm saving my money and not using the toll-expressways). Still, I find some nice roads on the way to Chuzenji Lake and mark them on my map in green. I have great difficulty finding a campsite and end up in a small drainage channel at the side of a track - fortunately, a passing 4-wheel driver stops and helps to pull the bike back on to the track. When I do find the site, it's in a glorious spot on the side of the lake. I pitch my tent and have a beer as the sun goes down.
Monday 10th August
A lousy night's sleep, as it was cold and I've no sleeping bag but, during the day, it's hot and I spend the morning at several beautiful waterfalls. Later, I ride to Nikko and back again - an amazing one-way road around a mountain, with 46 hairpin bends, one named after each letter of the Japanese Hiragana alphabet. It's a bit misty and damp under the wheel, which is a shame, as the views must be great on a clear day. In from of me, another bike takes a comer a bit too enthusiastically and ends up on the Tarmac - fortunately unhurt.
Wednesday 12th August
After another day exploring temples and waterfalls, today I move north again to the area of Bandai-san, an area of (relatively recent) volcanic activity. It takes me even longer to find a campsite, but it's a nice one when I do and I have the first shower of the holiday. Lovely!
Later, I attempt to talk to the guy with the BMW in the next tent but his English is as good as my Japanese! It rains all night: the campsite is almost deserted when I emerge next morning.
Friday 14th August
Making my way back to Omiya, the roads are even slower, as everyone in Japan takes the same holidays. On the way, I visit a landscape garden in Mito, which is supposed to be one of the three best such gardens in Japan. I'm disappointed to discover that the Japanese prowess in producing their beautiful small gardens does not extend to larger models -or is it just that I'm not visiting at plum-blossom season?
Sunday 16th August
It's the last day of the holiday and a scorcher, so I ride to Chichibu, only one and a half hours away from where I live and away from the city. Eat my picnic lunch by a dam and head back over the hills on a track which almost peters out before becoming Tarmac again. I'm a little concerned about this, as my petrol is getting low and many of the gas stations are closed. Fortunately, and open one appears at just the right time!
Thursday 3rd September
Having taken a very long time to get in touch with the WIMA people here (entirely my own fault, I should say), I ride one and a half hours, after work, to my first meeting. I sit in the appointed restaurant for 2 hours and no-one else arrives. Very disappointed, I set off for home and am almost killed by a stupid motorist on the way.
A couple of days later, I call Yuko, the WIMA captain: of course, it's a chain of restaurants and I was in the wrong one!
Friday 4th September
Go down to the office of the Japanese Automobile Association in Tokyo. They issue me with a Japanese translation of my British driving license (for a large fee), buy a English version of the Japanese highway code - not a very thrilling read!
Part 2
Wednesday 30th December
After discovering that the rather fine-looking castle in the centre of Kumamoto is closed for the holidays, we get another ferry from Misumi to Shimabara. Then, we cross more volcanic mountains to Nagasaki. The hostel is almost full, but they squeeze us in. It's on a hillside, in a part of the city that was completely devastated by the second atomic bomb in 1945. Despite the great views from the bathroom, as the city lights up for the evening, I am left with a very eerie feeling that I can't really explain.
Thursday 31st December
The morning is spent wandering around the Peace Park, and visiting other places associated with the A-bomb. Our sombre feelings are dispelled in the afternoon, when we visit Glover gardens and the area surrounding them. These were the first areas in Japan in which foreigners were allowed to live after the country was opened up in the 1850's, and, remarkably, there remain some very nice architectural reminders of that time. Of course, it's New Years Eve. We forgo the traditional crush at the local shrine: instead, we try to teach some fellow hostellers the words to ' Auld Lang Syne'.
Friday 1st January 1999
We spend the first part of the day in the A-bomb museum, which tells the story of August 9th 1945 in graphic detail. I'd like to bring a few of our politicians in here, and I'm glad to see so many children visiting. Later, we go to Suwa shrine, which is still full of people going to pray for health and success in this year of the rabbit.
Saturday 2nd January
Leaving Nagasaki, wet weather dictates our itinerary: instead of visiting the 'Huis Tem Bosch' Dutch theme park, we spend a very pleasant time looking at (and buying) ceramics in Arita, the centre of the Imari pottery area, before spending the night at Takeo Youth Hostel.
Sunday 3rd January
Better weather today, we visit Yanagawa, a small town with lots of canals. Tourists can be 'punted' around the town, Venice-style. Unfortunately, we can't find accommodation in Dazaifil, due to the very large number of visitors there for the New Year Festival - it's a popular place to pray for exam success - so we make the long journey back to Takeo for our second night there.
Monday 4th January
Back to Dazaifil to spend the day exploring there. This evening, arriving back at the Youth Hostel at 10:10 pm, we discover that the rather strange lady that runs it had locked up at 9pm and gone to bed. She was not at all amused to be woken by us.
Tuesday 5th January
We slip quietly out of the hostel, and make our way to the station in Fukuoka. I have agreed to lend Graham my bike, so that he can finish his tour around south Japan. He expects to be another two or three weeks. I get the Shinkansen bullet train back to Omiya and work. It's my first time on the 'Shink', and I must admit that it wasn't quite the thrill ride that I'd expected - more like BR, with people standing in the corridors, only faster.
Tuesday 16th February
I'm sure he said he'd only be two or three weeks - anyway, Graham finally arrived back with my bike today. In the meantime, I've had the inconvenience of having to use the train for work and pleasure, and I've had to miss two WIMA meetings. My bike now has a large dent in the petrol tank that it didn't have before. And he thinks that a meal and two beers at Denny's will put things straight! (I should've known - this is the so-called friend who borrowed my camera to go white-water rafting, and lost it when the raft overturned!)
Tuesday 2nd March
Two days holiday, so I set off early to visit the five lakes that lie north of Mount Fuji. It's beautifully sunny, although there is still snow lying at the side of the road. Unfortunately, the timing adjuster comes off in my hand, so I have to rev the engine at lights and junctions. All the same, I have a great day and some amazing views of Fuji-San. I stay overnight farther south, in Moto-Hakone.
Wednesday 3rd March
I explore the Hakone shoreline, but Fuji is shrouded in cloud today, so I go to the Hakone Open Air Museum, which is a wonderful place, filled with Modem sculpture. It's strange, but nice, too, to see the works of Barbara Hepworth and, my favourite, Henry Moore, so far away from their, and my, Yorkshire home.
Friday 6th March
Its my first WIMA meeting for three months tonight, and I'm so pleased to see everyone again. They always give me a real boost, and its well worth the two hours that it takes me to get home, due to roadworks.
Monday 8th March
I'm very glad to discover that the local mechanic speaks a little English. This morning I take the bike in so that he can repair the timing, plus new tyres, new chain and front brakes. Hopefully now I'm ready for a summer's touring
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