On the 1st November, three of my work colleagues and I jetted off to Japan on a work trip. We couldn’t believe our luck when we were chosen out of the whole of the Wendy Wu UK team to go and enjoy all that Japan has to offer. In return we are now charged with conveying all that we did, saw and experienced to the Wendy Wu and Asia Inspirations clients who also want to explore Japan.
So I’m starting with a blog.
I’m not going to lie; it was a long flight but then from my experience you generally do need to get a long way from home to find something significantly different to what you are used to. We flew with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong, landing in Tokyo’s Haneda airport in the dark of the evening. The first thing that struck me was that the airport buggies play nursery rhymes as they zip about, and that the toilets, if you want them to, can play music or make waterfall noises…
An incense cloaked Senso-ji
We had a day in Tokyo, visiting the impressively tall Skytree and Senso-ji, Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple. Destroyed during World War II, the rebuilding of the temple was seen as a symbolic rebirth of the city, and today it was especially popular as it was Japanese Culture Day. We joined the crowds wafting themselves in incense, the smoke said to beautify body and mind, and picked our fortunes from a jar of sticks – mine wasn’t good so I tied it to a frame with the other bad fortunes and left it to be prayed over.
Traditional Japanese dinner in Yudanaka
In a complete contrast, we spent the next day travelling up into the Japanese Alps, where trees in their autumn dress cloaked the hills and the orchards were heavy with huge, rosy apples. Our destination was the onsen resort town of Yudanaka, where we were booked into a traditional Japanese ryokan, Biyu no Yado. We arrived as the sun set behind distant snow-capped mountains, making the hills burn red and gold as the dusk fell. We checked into our room that was a half Western-style (beds), half Japanese-style (tatami mats) and promptly got into our yukatas for photo opportunities. We even wore them down to our traditional Japanese dinner where we had to pick mushrooms off logs to cook on a little barbeque and steam thin slivers of beef in a little bamboo tube – the theatricality of it all was fantastic. The main feature of any Japanese ryokan, of course, is its onsen – the ritual bathing in onsen has been enjoyed by the Japanese for centuries, and are said to have all sorts of health benefits. Thoroughly convinced we ventured down to the steaming pool ready for a good soak…and lasted about 3 minutes it was so hot! Having said that, when the snows come to Yudanaka in the winter, there would be no better place to be.
Peeping Mount Fuji
Riding the bullet train for the first time was one to remember, I was surprised at how excited I felt as we waited for this sleek beast of a machine to slide into the station. When you’re sitting on it though, you don’t feel like you are travelling at 200 miles an hour – apart from the occasional wheelie case making an escape down the aisle, all our bullet train journeys were smooth, relaxed and, naturally, on time. Our maiden voyage whisked us back to Tokyo, from where we continued to the resort area of Hakone, where from the waters of Lake Ashi, we could see the summit of Mount Fuji peeking over the hills – the Fuji views were even better from the Hakone ropeway, even though a section of it was shut due to heightened volcanic activity. We spent the night in another ryokan, Hakone Tensei-en, which, much to my delight, had a huge buffet for dinner which included, amongst many things Japanese and international, freshly cooked tempura, ramen and sushi. Post dinner we decided to give the onsen another whirl. Located on the top floor, part inside and part outside, the baths here were lovely with sauna and steam room as well. Although hot, we managed a longer bathe this time and emerged from the waters rosy and refreshed.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Our next stop was Hiroshima, where the beautiful weather that we’d enjoyed for our first week was replaced by grey skies and drizzle, which actually felt oddly appropriate. Here we spent a morning wandering through the Peace Memorial Park after learning more about the atomic bomb and its after effects in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The museum was both fascinating and harrowing (for example, I didn’t know that only 1.7% of the nuclear material in the bomb underwent fission so it was considered ‘inefficient’), but out in the park itself, you’ll find memorials and statues dedicated to the victims, which really brings it home. We came across a school group at the Children’s Peace Monument, who started singing a song of remembrance – beautiful and emotional. Standing before the Peace Flame, which will burn until all the nuclear weapons in the world are destroyed, it’s difficult to imagine that it will ever go out, but this is by no means a bleak place, it is full of colour and beauty and whilst it does make you reflect, you won’t leave it sad and hopeless.
Fushimi Inari Tashi
Our final stop was Kyoto, Japan’s cultural hotspot. We crammed a day full of cultural wonders – Nijo Castle with its ever-entertaining nightingale floors; the beautiful golden pavilion at Kinkaku-ji; the contemplative zen garden at Ryoan-ji; the vast and mystical Bamboo Forest at Arashiyama, a trendy suburb west of the city centre; and Fushimi Inari Tashi with its thousands of vermillion red tori gates. In terms of sights, culture, history and atmosphere I’d say Kyoto was my favourite place, and our guide was able to fill our heads with knowledge of such things as the shoganate political system, the art of Japanese gardens and Zen Buddhism. And, as ‘cheating’ as it may be considered, after eating plenty of Japanese food throughout our travels, there was a really good Italian restaurant round the corner from our hotel…
Okonomiyaki
As a particularly big fan of food, I just wanted to add a paragraph about some of the delicious things that I ate. One of my favourite things was a bento box of pork ‘tonkatsu’ with rice, a few pickles and a sachet tonkatsu sauce which we picked up at Nagano station before that first bullet train ride. Aside from that we ate ramen, soba noodle, udon noodles, tempura, sashimi and sushi and oyakodon and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. But my particularly favourite, for both the taste and experience, was okonomiyaki in Hiroshima. We squeezed into a ‘restaurant’ which was basically a massive hot plate with stall around the edge, picked which okonomiyaki we fancied and then watched it being cooked right in front of us. Firstly a pancake is made and heaped with cabbage and any other toppings you chose (eg bacon, scallops, prawns, octopus etc) which was all cooked down and topped with an egg pancake, spring onions and lashings of okonomiyaki sauce. To me, heaven. I strongly recommend if you find yourself hungry in Hiroshima!
So now Karen, Liz, Flora and I (Nicci) have travelled through some of Japan’s most popular cities and sights, we are much better equipped to help you plan your tailormade, or even group tour, to Japan, with anecdotes, recommendations and (hopefully) fascinating little titbits that will really help you make the most of your time in this fascinating and charming country.
We have plenty more information about Japan here. If you feel that you’d prefer to visit Japan on a group tour, visit Wendy Wu Tours for a wealth of options.