Day 65 ish
‘The Last Post’
Konichi wa. I actually left home on the 10th March and arrived home on the 15th May early. I started to post on the day I left the camper van place 3 days in. I figured you didn’t need to have details of me with flu. A good length of time away. Jet lag minimal on the way back. My lovely friend picked me up from the airport and drove me straight home. Yesterday I spent the day cleaning and arriving and this morning I unpacked my haul. Here is a photo of it. My intention was to buy ceramics from the 6 great pottery towns of Japan and whilst I only visited 5 of them….everyone everywhere came to the pottery fair at Mashiko… so I lucked out. They are mainly quite smal because I didn’t know how to transport them
otherwise. I also purchased incense from Awaji which is where the make the best. Other than that there are postcards and a catalogue of tiny things….and a bear bell. They are apparently not remotely efficacious.
Thankyou so much for following along with me. It helped me post everyday as a record of what I did.
There were many people who followed along who didn’t post or like etc but sent me encouraging private messages and I am grateful for it all.
As a final indulgence I would love it if you could give me like or a love or a laugh if you had any level of engagement with my journey. It will give me an idea of reach. Optional of course.
I am going to try and make a book of all the photos which I’m hoping will add the day and place because I cat necessarily remeber. Not sure if it matters.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again in whatever capacity we meet.
It’s a wrap.
Sayonara. 🌚
Day 63/64
‘The long corridor of travel’
Another quiet day. Went for a walk into Shinjuku again. I’ve had enough of heat and bright light now. Time to get back to mizzly Cornwall….actualy did some admin. Made my way over to Haneda for my final hotel and just got back from having a mooch around the airport which is one of the-best I have been in. Lots of restaurants and some simple
Shopping. I’ll be in the zone from now and should arrive home by midnight tomorrow night.
Then there will be one more post before this is a wrap.
Day 58
‘Farewell doughty friend, hello city lights’
It was nice to stay at Japan Campers last night. I woke up early and gave the van a good clean.. one it’s nice todo that but two I wanted my deposit back for Tokyo funds… which I got.
As I pulled my tucked away ceramic purchases and other bits and pieces it was clear that it would only just fit, despite me having purchased an extra bag. I had to leave behind my roadmaps … I figured someone else could enjoy.
I had a lift to the airport from the friendly man in the office and then caught the limousine bus which dropped me right outside my hotel in Shinjuku.
It’s a big hotel. I somehow had managed to book myself lounge privileges instead of breakfast and it took a while to sort that out.
They do have loads of free skin products.. which I have been wanting to try. Including masks.
It’s been hot today. First thing I did was have a bath. Then I got ready to meet someone who is in my Buddhist sangha… lives in Tokyo and is going to show me around a bit.
We went out for dinner and then a stroll around Shinjuku which is lively… my hotel is peaceful enough though.
Not to late a night as have fun things planned for tomorrow.
Day 56
‘The kindness of strangers’
This morning I woke up but Fuji San was still asleep under his blanket of clouds.
I was heading to Fujisawa to visit friends of friends…. On the way I popped into a big and rather glamorous shopping centre to buy extra luggage for the trip home…. I had seen a bag in Fukuoka snow peak that I liked and decided I would get it for the trip back.
Fujisawa is the home of Enoshima island which I could see when I drove in.
I thought I was camping on the friends driveway…When I got there they had got me a hotel room and I had to park the camper on the third floor using a turntable and a car elevator 😳
Once that was over we went for a pleasant lunch of seaweed noodles and tempura and then went on a local train to visit the giant Buddha of Kamakura…. Which was very fun… my first time on a train in Japan. I now have my suica card … so one less thing to worry about in Tokyo.
Tokyo is ever closer as it was just an hour to the centre from Fujusawa.
After this we took a different train back. This is a very nice town. I had driven along the seafront for quite a while on my way in and spotted many scooters and bicycles with surfboard holders. A big area for surfing and dinghy racing. I like it here. A laid back feel.. Palm trees etc. lots of water.
We went to there apartment and I could see why they had put me into a hotel. It was tiny. The were both retired and he played the viola in an orchestra and they both went horse riding in Hokkaido 3 times a year. It is apparently a thing there. Hokkaido horses are tough and calm was the gist of it.
After this we went for the best meal I have had since I arrived. It started with an interesting egg custard type dish with a mushroom in it. Then I just had sashimi and salad with miso soup which had tiny freshwater cockles in it.
I also tried a sparkling plum drink. All delicious. Lovely to share a meal and good conversation.
I have missed that.
I am back in my hotel room having had a bath in the small hotel onsen just down the corridor. The rhythm of my days which have been very similar in format is now changing.
Day 43
‘Back on dry land’
My mind has been mainly at sea for the least 3 days with many unbidden imaginings of watery potentialities. After a decent night at the hotel..I had an uneventful (yay) trip on the ferry back to Honshu and drove for two hours inland so as not to be near any coast. The first sleep spot I had chosen didn’t have toilets and was Wierd… which I could do without… so I
Pressed on through the hills with the sun setting rather spectacularly behind me and am at Kazuna. I was really hungry and found a little Izakaya with lovely gingery ramen and a pleasant man running it who only had 6 months to live. We had proper bar talk. He had been in a well known Japanese Rock band as a young man and then became a civil servant. His dream was to travel in a camper and he can’t now because he has dialysis 3 times a week. He was 60 like me. It was a poignant conversation even though we mainly had to do it over translation apps.
I am very glad to be off Hokkaido as I am now within relatively easy striking distance of Tokyo if I need to be.
I am going to try and make my way down the centre as much as possible whilst avoiding the high mountain passes which still have snow. In part of Tohoku prefecture they have these snow roads that are cleared during the day but have 10 metres of snow piled up on either side. Someone didn’t believe me when I said that Japan has the most heavy snowfall
In the world… look it up. If I could change one thing about this trip it would have been understanding that snow tyres were needed even on normal roads sometimes until May on Shikoku and Northern Honshu. My guidebooks said that things were clear from April.
I’m looking forwards to a nice sleep in my van. It hasn’t been windy driving today … although the boat was a bit bumpy…which makes a big difference. It was a bit warm and stuffy in the hotel.
Day 40
‘You never know what’s round the corner’
Today I experienced an earthquake and tsunami advisory in the place where I am .. Hokkaido Coast. I have been in a large building for the last few hours and staff at the road station have been helpful and will come and get me from my van if anything else happens. I am posting this because several people have now contacted me. So I am marking myself as safe… although there is not quite an all clear yet. I am in good hands and Japan is excellent with their systems and best course of action. I always have a grab bag ready with passport etc… wasn’t expecting to use it. I have done other things today but will do a double post tomorrow. Here is a picture of me smiling with sunburn from the lovely boat trip yesterday. If I hadn’t come here I would have been in a potentially more tricky area.
Ups and Downs
Today started off a bit rough after a Wierd nights sleep in the gravel pit. Mindset is an interesting thing. I left at 7 and started off down the Izu peninsula pondering how I could sort out the ‘finding somewhere to stay the night’ dilemma. I like an efficient system and then I can ‘go with the flow’ more easily… paradox…and haven’t created a successful one yet.
See map for my journey so far, in yellow. I have a long way to go…..
I have upskilled considerably in the IT dept and am able to translate almost anything with a couple of deft moves. It has not helped me book into campsites. So tonight I am at a Michi no Eki and will have to learn to be comfortable in a car park… which in the Uk tends to make us homeless. I have been exploring my reluctance. Not much choice really.. which can be helpful.
I drove up early to a gallery called the ODAWARA Art Foundation Enoura Observatory. The hills rise straight up from sea level and it was a very steep, long and twisty drive. The little camper managed bravely and it was worth the trip.
It was architecturally interesting… much space… and it held some national treasures. You can mainly see rare scrolls. I loved the play of form and emptiness in the early zen works and I have included an early Shingon image… the most closely related to Vajrayana… see if you can spot it.
Architecture has been a bit of a theme today, driving along the high cliff top roads there is a chance to see many different types and there is a mixture of dilapidated 60s weirdness combined with what is probably contemporary Wierdness. There were also a fair few very bad bronzes western style dotted about the ports. The Onsen around here are in fancy hotels and enormous! I haven’t braved one yet. Today my bravery was used up driving up the hill, refuelling and finding somewhere for the night. I missed out on a chairlift to a volcano but I anticipate there will be more and am learning the sustainable pace.
Day 5
‘After the ecstasy , the laundry’
I had my first decent nights sleep. Which is a relief. The first photographs show my lovely campsite and the office with a prized motorbike inside. There were a couple of people motorbike camping. Plus a fairly typical Chiba roof. I really would have liked to stay another night here but places to go and washing to do.
I also located a rubbish facility and rather guiltily dropped my wrong sort of small bag in there. It is not easy to dispose of rubbish here.
I had been fairly nervous to use a launderette, I don’t think I’ve needed one for 40 years. They are of course very simple….when you know how… and I found a nice gentleman to help me. I also found an exchange machine for coins and got far too many because it was exciting but they use 100 yen coins here for many things.
As I was driving here, so easy with Sat Nav, I found myself trying to work out what I would do if the sat nav stopped working and how much more difficult it would be. I find that doing driving trips really allows me to notice what my mind does, in a way that meditation doesn’t because I am at ease on my mat. I have an hour here, hence the early post but will also try and split things up a bit so I don’t have to recall the small things at the end of the day.
