Japan

I wanted to write an article solely on Japan as it was the main reason for extending my trip from six to twelve months in this part of the world.

Having spent just over six weeks in Japan, I feel I have a basic understanding of the culture and people. A fellow traveler told me that it may take several visits to appreciate and miss this country of contrasts.

I feel as though I have just taken off the outer petals of an artichoke, merely revealing the first layer, especially with Tokyo. Hopefully I will return to dig deeper to its core.

Quick Facts

Over 98.5% of the population is native with the remainder originating from mainly Korea and China. Japan experiences the highest life expectancy, third lowest infant mortality rate and has the third largest economy in the world.

A consequence of living longer is that I have seen some very senior citizens working as parking lot assistants and security guards.....clearly there isn't much of a threat! It does make me wonder if they are working for the money or to keep busy, I hope the latter.

From my experience, Japan is a very safe country. I have seen five year old kids walking and riding their bicycles to school by themselves. They zoom through zebra crossings without looking left or right and without waiting for cars to stop....the cars all do, without fail.

Temples & shrines

Shrines have amazing tall gates at their entrance which represents the separation between common space and sacred space. You will see people go through a ritual consisting of bowing twice, clapping twice, then holding the second clap with their hands held together in front of their heart and a final bow after their prayer. There are also small wooden boards used to write wishes on, these are left at the shrine so that your wish will be granted...for a fee!

My "lost in translation" moment

I was walking around the streets of Nagasaki early one evening, in front of me was a businessman or salary-man as they are known. He had a very large opened black umbrella. My umbrella was closed, as it had stopped raining some time ago. I couldn't believe what I was about to witness.

He barged right through a couple that were walking closely together with his umbrella. He actually walked through the middle of them with his umbrella prising their faces apart. He did this two more times, right onto people's faces, splitting them apart.

I was gob smacked, after the third time, I had seen enough. I slam the top of his umbrella three times really hard with my closed umbrella, this completely bemuses him and stops him in his tracks. I started shouting and pointing at him and to the people he had barged through. He knew exactly what he had done.

Firstly, I was surprised by his behaviour, which is very uncharacteristic for a middle aged Japanese man. I wasn't as surprised that the people he barged through did not say a word. People in London get touchy even if someone hits the end tip of their umbrella, this was on a whole other level.

Eating

Japan like most countries has different price levels and dining options, but at the lower end, food is surprisingly cheap. Fast food in Japan, is fast in name only, but high on quality. Unlike the West, food is healthy despite many dishes being deep fried. Most set meals consisting of miso soup, rice, dumplings, vegetable tempura and some form of protein and free cold unsweetened tea usually all costing under ¥1,000/£7.50. This is enough to feel full. If you opt for more western style food of pasta, pizza and burgers you can still expect to pay the same if you stick to Japanese establishments rather than Western style restaurants.

Many of these cheap restaurants have vending machines either outside or just inside where you place your money into the machine and then select your dish and get issued a ticket which you give to one of the staff inside.

It is often said, that supermarkets are a backpackers best friend, this is especially true for food. For lunch, sushi in particular, is extremely good value compared to a restaurant. Many of the more upmarket supermarkets have their own sushi chef, just like a restaurant, showing how serious they take it.

Transport

The train system is pretty complicated as every train company tends to have its own train station. You can arrive at one station and then have to walk 10 minutes to another separate train station to pick up a different train from a different train company.

The famous bullet trains are expensive in my opinion, especially when compared to those in China which are more modern and far cheaper for ordinary citizens to afford. The Japan Rail (JR) pass, is a national pass giving you unlimited travel throughout Japan within 7, 14 or 21 days. If you are visiting Japan with a shorter 7-14 day itinerary, it may pay for itself, although it is complicated to use as not all destinations and trains are included. I only used it once as there wasn't an alternative. I'm surprised how many travel blogs recommend using it, as there are cheaper alternatives.

Local, non-fast trains, were surprisingly inexpensive often costing under ¥1,000/£7.50 for a 1-2 hour journey. I used these whenever I could without any pre-booking as they mostly depart every 20-30 minutes. Coaches were my second most useful method of getting around cheaply. Some journeys were significantly less than taking the train and often had better drop-off locations.

Taxi's are horrendously expensive, taking one from central Tokyo to Narita airport which is around a 1 hour journey, costs £230. A coach taking the same time from Tokyo station is ¥1,000/£7.50.

The metro can also be pricey if taking many single journeys. It probably makes sense to purchase a 1, 2 or 3 day pass especially in Tokyo where distances are huge, these are priced ¥800/¥1,200/¥1,500 or £6.20/£9.35/£11.70 respectively.

Capsule Hotels

I also spent four nights in total, at two capsule hotels, my first for a reasonable £12pn which included free access to a sauna and hot dipping pool. The second hotel was more expensive at £38pn and was for males only, female only ones also exist. It was a bit of a surreal experience as everyone keeps themselves to themselves even in the communal areas but strangely also very liberating.

An open washroom with toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, combs, aftershave, hair tonic, shampoo, conditioner and towels are all provided free of charge. You wash yourself down prior to dipping into a massive communal hot tub in the nude, with a water temperature of over 42 degrees, it was an extremely relaxing experience, you then pop into the sauna and afterwards to cool down, an ice pool. Strangely if you stay for more than one night, as I did, you have to check out and then in again, as they clean and replace everything daily.

Hostels

I paid between £9 to £28 per night for a dorm bed in a hostel, this goes to show, just how expensive Japan and in particular Tokyo is. Weekends are when prices tend to go higher so it makes sense to book in advance. The quality of hostels is however very high, they are usually very clean with good facilities but the room's tend to be small compared to other parts of the world.

Expenses

For the first time during my backpacking trip, I decided to keep a daily diary of every expense as I was curious to see how much more expensive Japan would be compared to my previous destinations. My average daily spend over my 45 days was £37 per day on a backpacker's budget which equated to a total spend of £1,675 for just over 6 weeks. This makes Japan about 50% more expensive per day compared to backpacking countries such as Thailand.

Alcohol can be expensive especially if going out to bars. Prices for beer, saki and spirits are high but there are some exceptions in certain establishments where you can have unlimited drinking for a reasonable ¥1 to 2,000/£7 to 15. A 500ml can of Asahi or Kirin local beer is ¥280/£2.20 from most convenience shops. In a bar you will pay around £3.50 for a half pint, with a pint coming in around the ¥800/£6.25 minimum. I managed to find a range of Chilean red wines at the Lawson chain of convenience shops for a very reasonable ¥575/£4.50 which I would drink at my hostel. Another good value option in some restaurants was paying for an unlimited drinking package, with most priced around ¥1,000/£7.50.

Hostels & capsule hotels were the largest part of my daily expenses. Tokyo having the biggest choice but with prices often higher, especially over the weekends when prices would double. I would recommend booking your accommodation as far in advance as possible as options reduce and prices go up quickly. Capsule hotels can often be cheaper at weekends as office workers are not around.

Fruit seems to be very expensive on the whole which is because Japan has a shortage of arable land. I saw a bunch of grapes which must have been imported for ¥4,000/£31 and a red melon for ¥1,600/£12. A grapefruit sized local peach sells for around ¥1,000/£7...yes for one! Other fruits & vegetables were all much higher than UK prices but not as extreme as the examples above.

Destinations

Here is a brief overview of the places I visited. I started in the bottom left hand corner of Japan, flying in from Busan in South Korea to Fukuoka, then slowly worked my way east towards Tokyo.

Fukuoka

I would suggest staying in the Hakata or Tenjin area as this is where everything is happening with shops, bars and restaurants. Down by the canals you will find yatai food stalls, these very small and intimate eating places which were extremely popular with locals.

Dazaifu

An easy 30 minute train ride brings you to Dazaifu. This small historical town is home to many shrines and temples and has a small village feel to it and is easy to walk around in a few hours.

Yanagawa

Dazaifu to Yanagawa is another quick and short train journey. It is known as the Venice of japan, I wouldn't agree as it is not grand with palaces, but pleasant with its canal network. It is much more spread out than Dazaifu and takes quite a while to walk around. I managed to see around 20 temples and shrines by weaving in and around the canal network. Many visitors choose to take a 1 hour water punt for around £10 per person.

Nagasaki

I would stay in the Chinatown area which is pretty central to everything and the port with its daily arrival of different cruise ships. The town is pretty compact to navigate so you can easily walk around most parts. For a stunning view of Nagasaki, especially by night, a hike or cable car to the top of Inasayama Park is a must.

The memorial museum is however a 1.5 hour walk from the centre of town so better to take the tram. A visit to the museum brings home the horror of the American decision to drop it's second nuclear bomb on Japan on the 9th of August 1945. This photo depicts the hyper centre or ground zero where the bomb exploded 500m above this spot. Civilians suffered terrible burns, people where begging for water to drink and douse themselves. A separate memorial, The Fountain of Peace was erected and dedicated as an offering of water.

Hiroshima

Another heavy day on the heart ensued as I visit The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. As you enter you are confronted by a huge 8 foot tall panoramic photo depicting the Hiroshima that was, walking further in, another panoramic photo shows the destruction caused. It really brings home the devastation the bomb caused.

Further in, the facts become harrowing and overwhelming. Graphic photos, showing dead charred bodies everywhere and the clothes civilians were wearing, burnt to shreds. Twisted metal from buildings demonstrating the force of the explosion. Most of those that "survived" with severe burns, died days later.

A poignant statue just outside depicts a mother shielding her new born baby from the nuclear blast whilst her second child is trying to get her attention by scrambling on top of her back. This artist's impression will stay with me for a long time.

Another part of the museum is dedicated to a two year old girl that survived the blast. Later she developed leukaemia and died at the age of 12. Children from around Japan and the world gave money to create a peace bell. Visitors can ring the bell to symbolize future peace. I have conducted further research on the bombings which reveal an alternative perspective, which can be read further down.

On a more uplifting note, The Itsukushima Shrine is an element of my website design (third far right) on my questions website. I therefore had to include it as one of my destinations in Japan. You can either take a very expensive return boat from the centre of Hiroshima, or the tram which goes all the way down to the port area. You then hop onto the ferry across to the island. The 1 day pass which includes unlimited tram rides and the ferry is available to buy on the tram for under £7 and is a steal. Itsukushima shrine is pretty amazing in its sheer scale as it is free standing.

There are many long hiking routes around the island as well as a cable car to the top. The hike is paved for most of the way but very steep and on a hot summer's day not easy. Arguably it's probably the most enjoyable way to get to the top as you get to experience nature up close. The 360 degree view from the top is pretty impressive.

Kobe

Kobe seems to be known for two things, the earthquake that struck in 1995 causing over 40,000 casualties and destroying just under 250,000 homes & buildings and its beef.

They have happy cows in this region. The beef is covered in white marble streaks of fat which melt on cooking, giving a perfectly moist and tasty steak. In a restaurant expect to pay around £30-40 for a 200 gram A5 (top grade) Kobe sirloin steak. Fine dining restaurants charge 3 times more than this for a more sophisticated version.

There are some questions regarding whether the lower end restaurants are actually serving you the top grade as advertised. I opted for the backpacker version which meant buying my own from an up scale supermarket, therefore guaranteeing l was getting what I paid for. I then cooked it back at my hostel with some bok choi. It was truly delicious and with a nice half bottle of red wine all for under £15.

Kobe is a very compact city, so if you're staying in the centre it's very easy to walk around down to the port area, restaurants and bars. There's a posh shopping area similar to Bond Street in London with the upmarket brands.

I spent the best part of half a day going for a hike in the forest that forms the backdrop to Kobe. You can easily walk up the many paved paths into the forest and visit a couple of waterfalls. I continued deeper into the forest following various tracks, but even with my smartphone satellite maps, it was sometimes difficult to determine the right path.....all good fun though, as over the five hours I only crossed paths with a dozen people.

Osaka

A quick 30-minute, £3 train ride from Kobe takes me to the centre of Osaka. It immediately feels like a much bigger city with my hostel in a trendy "Camden Town" urban type area, with lots of independence retailers, shops and restaurants, very cool with a hipster young crowd. The Shinsaibashi area is well within walking distance of everything you will need for a weekend trip without having to resort to the metro. Temples, shrines, parks and shops, from the deluxe to pedestrian, are on your doorstep.

Nara

A compact city of around 350,000 people makes this an easy place to walk around for a 1-2 day stopover on the way to Kyoto.The Horyu-ji Temple is a must see as it's the oldest wooden building in the world dating back to 670 AD. The natural population of thousands of friendly deer makes for an enjoyable time in Nara park, the backdrop to the city and where all the famous temples & shrines are located.

Kyoto

Kyoto as well as being one of Japan's most ancient cities, is probably the most popular tourist destination. It was the official capital of Japan for over a thousand years and now home to just under 1.5m people.

A few must see attractions include The Kyoto Imperial Palace which was home to countless Emperors, a 20 minute walk north, takes you to the Kifune Shrine.

A visit to Nishiki Market is interesting with many stalls selling fresh seafood, pickles and other produce that are particular to Kyoto. Most people buy one item from each stall and eat on the go. If you are looking for a sit down lunch there are restaurants too, but things shut down for the evening. The golden temple is exactly what it says on the tin, a small temple with the upper portion wrapped in gold leaf foil making it shimmer in the sunshine. It's surrounded by nice gardens, an hour or so being sufficient to see everything. Unfortunately I did not have time to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove as it is a little further out of Kyoto, but have read it's another impressive area.

The Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine is one of the most famous in Japan as featured on many photographs depicting the country. As you enter everyone is trying to take the iconic photo, however, you should wait until you hike further up the hill. There are fewer people and you will have ample time to take your own iconic shot. It's an enjoyable circuit which loops up and down the hill.

Tokyo

I decided to take a night bus from Kyoto for £22 which left just before 11pm and arrived around 7am. The equivalent train ride was around £95 taking only 2.5 hours. In one sense, the cost of the bus was zero as I saved one nights accommodation, this is one of many backpacker hacks for which I will create a separate article for.

Tokyo has been one of my must-see destinations for many years and is the main reason why I extended my trip from six to twelve months. I spent just over three weeks here, taking my time to see and live in different parts of this mega-city.

It's big......really big, with a population of 37.5 million, which is a staggering 25% of Japan's total. In fact, around 92% of people live in and around a city with this expected to rise to 95% in the not too distant future.

Hostels in Tokyo, from my experience, tend not to be really close to the popular sights which is odd, as in other cities they tend to be right in the thick of it. I suspect it's the higher price of property which Tokyo is known for. As a consequence I stayed at hostels usually within a 20-30 minute walk from the major sights. For me this is nothing as I tend to walk all day long anyway.

Akihabara:
This is a gadget haven for tech heads with a huge selection of products. In one of the big stores I counted at least 200 ear & headphones. I was able to have access to multiple hi-fi rooms to test speakers often costing over £10,000. The sheer choice of items was an eye opener. Akihabara is also famous for manga and anime with numerous shops selling costumes and books. You can even pay to spend 30 minutes talking with a character....not cheap and obviously better if you speak Japanese!

Asakusa:
This area is famous for its Buddhist temple, Senso-Ji and has more of a local neighbourhood feel to it, with shops selling high end chef knives. The Marugoto Nippon building specializes in "Made in Japan" products and is an interesting place to spend some time too.

Ginza:
This is the posh shopping district of Tokyo where all the up market brands have their flagship stores as well as restaurants, night clubs and cafes. Not far away is the famous Tsukiji fish market. Unfortunately it has become a tourist haven with everything selling at inflated prices, better to wonder away from this area for reasonably priced sushi.

Roppongi:
Everything in this area happens within a 500 metre circumference of the metro station. Bars, restaurants, nightclubs and shopping malls are all easy to walk around in this compact and up market neighbourhood.

Shibuya:
This is the area of Tokyo that is famous for one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the world and is often featured in films. Shopping is probably the most important element in this part of town with my personal favorite area being "Cat Street". It feels like Hampstead in London, a narrow road lined with independent and up-market boutique shops on either side. Other shopping areas include, Takeshita, Meiji and Omotesando streets.

Shinjuku:
This is probably the number one destination where everyone comes to. I would describe Shinjuku as the Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Soho equivalent of London, but possibly on a grandeur and crazier scale. The neon lights blaze down on the streets below and everything from large department stores to small independent restaurants, bars and gambling joints are available on this side of town.

If you only have time to visit one area of Tokyo, this would probably be the area that is familiar from television & movie screens. It is pretty chaotic any day of the week, but really comes to life at night as the lights change the character of the area to a party town down some of the backstreets. The small area known as the Golden Gai consists of some very narrow paths with tiny restaurants & bars. When I say tiny, these are small even by Japanese standards with most just having enough space for 6-8 people which makes for an intimate experience with the chef/bar tender.

Thoughts on Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Having experienced a deeply moving time at the two sites of the US annihilation of up to 300,000 innocent men, woman & children and over 750,000 falling prey to future fatal illnesses; I felt compelled to put pen to paper. If you don't know my style of writing, I look beyond the obvious narrative that we have all been told and dig deeper to sometimes un-earth some ugly truths.

Forget the fake narrative of WMDs used to manipulate the public into approving the Iraq war, the original weapon of mass destruction, the nuclear bomb, was used twice by the US during World War II.

The narrative used by the US and its allies was that the use of these two nuclear bombs was a necessary way to save the lives of soldiers by not having to invade Japan and therefore shortening the war and getting Japan to surrender.

As always, history is written by the victors but revisionist historians and others tell a somewhat different version of this monumental event. Here are two quotes, firstly from President Truman's Chief of Staff and the Chief of the Air Forces:

The use of this barbarous weapon was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. Admiral William Leahy

The atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war at all. General Curtis LeMay

In fact, the top brass of the US military knew that the use of nuclear weapons was unnecessary as Japan was about to surrender. The US had been able to decipher Japanese communications for a while and knew they were negotiating their surrender via the USSR. The war could have ended in the spring of 1945 without the dropping of the bombs.

The bombing was used to send a message to the USSR signaling the arrival of the US as a superpower. The nuclear scientists which developed the two bombs interestingly included Albert Einstein. Their goal was to conduct an experiment to see which bomb was more effective. The plutonium bomb named "Little Boy" dropped at Hiroshima or the uranium bomb "Fat man"over Nagasaki, three days later. Yes, these monstrous weapons of mass destruction were even given names...very Hollywood!

It was strange to us that Hiroshima had never been bombed, despite the fact that B-29 bombers flew over the city every day. Only after the war did I come to know that Hiroshima, according to American archives, had been kept untouched in order to preserve it as a target for the use of nuclear weapons.Dr. Shuntaro Hida

We continue to hear about the war crimes by Germany, Japan and others, but are ignorant of the truth about the civilian massacres at Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the so called "good guys" of WW2, the US and its allies. No tribunals or charges were ever levelled or conducted, why would there be, the tribunals were created and controlled by the US and its allies.

The main photo used in this article I had intended to show one of Japan's beautiful shrines. I changed my mind to highlight the 75th anniversary next year (2020) of the massacre. I searched for an image I could use and came across the one shown, which by shear coincidence included a shrine. When I read the story behind the image, it further solidified using it.

The image was taken shortly after the attack by an unknown local photographer who is believed to have died shortly afterwards. A Scottish RAF pilot named Clifford Fern purchased a second hand camera from a shop 15 miles from Hiroshima. The camera was forgotten about until the son of the pilot decided to exhibit this and other photos to mark the 70th anniversary in 2015.

Thoughts on Fukushima

The 2011 earthquake and ensuing tsunami and nuclear disaster was a truly horrendous event with it being described as Chernobyl on steroids. It is quite common when someone asks about what's happening with Fukushima that a Japanese person will change the subject. It's very similar to the Harry Potter films and Voldemort, where his name is not to be mentioned. It is estimated that tens of thousands of people are still displaced and living outside the prefecture.

The Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe has said that things in Fukushima are "under control". But the millions of dead fish and thousands of mammals that are washing up on Californian & Canadian shores tell a different story. Journalists and scientists visiting the area with geiger counters register levels way above safety limits and yet Olympic events and torch bearers will be based and pass through Fukushima in 2020.

Honour is huge part of Japanese culture and yet, through my eyes, seems also to be a great contradiction. Honour is defined as a combination of respect, being proud, and honesty. Yet the Japanese culture of not speaking up and ignoring the facts doesn't make history go away.

I was puzzled by this attitude, so I looked into it further. It turns out the Japanese Government passed state secret laws in 2014 banning people talking about radiation and Fukushima, as a result, journalists and residents have been arrested.

How does one honour the dead? I believe the only way is to tell the truth no matter how dark it may be, to expose how and why events occurred and with education and time change things for a better future.

HOMEPAGE

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