Sayonara

The holiday is almost over, and I am remembering what we were told when checking in at Tullamarine - you can see the future in Japan. This rings true when viewing Tokyo from above, built up as far as the eye can see, from the new tallest-tower-in-the-world sky tree, admiring the hyper fashion in Harajuku, or trying to figure out the buttons on the arm of a techno toilet. Thankfully you can also see the past, as traditional things, such as the communal bathhouse and ikebana (see photo below) live on.
Things have changed - there is lots of English (written and spoken), free wifi everywhere, it is much more affordable for Australians than it was last time, and there are more Western style toilets.  But I was also struck by familiar things - the food is great, you can still get almost anything in a vending machine, millions of pairs of disposable chopsticks continue to be used every day, people wear paper face masks in public, and there are homeless people in parks.
Japan is still so Japanese - I don't think we will let another 24 years pass before visiting again.

Shops

Our ryokan is in an old part of Tokyo, with more bikes than cars in the lane outside our window due to its narrowness, which makes it quiet at night. There are a lot of tiny traditional specialty shops, selling things like rice, seafood, sushi, Japanese paper and tea cups and pots - with a 7/11, Mister Donuts and 100 yen shop sprinkled in between. We've been to a few of the famous shopping strips and centres as well, and although there are lots of global brands (like Gap, Zara and Japan's own ubiquitous Uniqlo), there are many more I've never heard of which makes for great variety.
Here's Shinjuku - full of electronics stores where we managed to get a charger for the e-reader, and Imo with her purchases in Harajuku (look in the bottom left corner).

Metro

We've traversed a lot of Tokyo in 2 days, thanks to the subway network under the city. It's colour-coded and there are lots of signs and announcements in English, so it is easy to use.
The highlight so far has been Meiji-jingu, a majestic Shinto shrine honouring a much-loved emperor and empress who died a century ago, set in peaceful Yoyogi gardens. The Emperor arranged for large iris fields to be planted in the inner garden, for his wife to enjoy during her summer strolls. What a guy! There is a lovely well, which has a reputation for bringing good luck (photo below).
 Yoyogi gardens sit alongside Harajuku, home of teen street fashion. Imo and I will return so she can do some serious shopping.

Onsen

Nozawa Onsen, as the name suggests, is renowned for its onsens - a public bath filled by the hot mineral springs running through the town, set in an ancient wooden building (photo below). Our ryokan had a shared onsen for guests (no ensuites). The Japanese communal bathing tradition can be confronting for anyone who likes their privacy, so we had checked when booking that there was a shower with a door.
This turned out to be the general onsen room, with 5 hand-held showers fixed at knee height, next to little wooden stools, for washing thoroughly before getting in to soak - but it wasn't hard to find a time when it was empty.  Tony and I loved our daily soak in the hot bath, and it really helped with après ski recovery.
It is a charming town, and peaceful with very few cars on the steep, narrow roads, which are heated so they are free of snow.  It is small enough to go everywhere on foot, and there are lots of dining options. We've left for Tokyo now - from small town to huge city.

Food

Breakfast is included in our room rate, and it is a feast of about 10 different dishes, always including miso soup, rice, various pickled vegetables, egg, strange salads and the local delicacy nozawana, a green leafy vegetable cooked in the hot mineral springs that run through the town. There is usually fish of some kind, and a hot dish cooked on a little burner on the table - today was frankfurter on bean shoots, which I gave a miss. Photo of today's breakfast is below.
We have lunch at a little restaurant on the slopes, usually a bowl full of soba (buckwheat noodles), or curry rice.
It is a vegetarian paradise, as there is lots of seaweed, mushrooms, and tofu on offer. For the first time in my life I have no trouble exceeding the recommended daily intake of vegetables. To make sure we don't get too healthy, we stock up on ice cream and chocolate on the way down from the slopes.

Dosojin fire festival

Pyromaniac heaven - a wooden tower stuffed with highly flammable material is attacked by villagers with flaming torches, trying to set it alight. Two groups of men at the 'climacteric' ages defend the tower with nothing but gloved hands, the 25 year olds at the bottom hanging on to ropes, and the 42 year olds up the top cheering them on (or it could be the other way around - hard to tell as Japanese people age so well). The battles went on for a couple of hours, until finally the villagers succeeded and the tower turned into a giant bonfire.
On the Monday, we saw the men dragging the logs down from the snow fields and through the town, stopping periodically to chant and thank people who donated sake (there is a lot of sake involved). On Tuesday, the building began, using only ancient methods and materials by the look of it. All that work, literally up in smoke the next night. It's not just for show, serious injuries are sustained. I hope the Dosojin deities (final picture below)  appreciate it.
Thinking of everyone at home enduring a record-breaking heat wave and high fire danger - keep cool.
 t

Skiing

Three days of skiing so far, each better than the last as we regain our ski legs. The snow is brilliant, a firm base with a powder coating. The slopes are relatively uncrowded, and lift queues non-existent until today, as people have flooded in for the fire festival (more on that later).  We have stuck to the easiest runs so far, but are determined to try some more challenging ones tomorrow.
The weather has alternated between sun and snow, both lovely, with no wind. It's cold - we bought face warmers (basically a tube scarf which can be pulled over the lower face) which helped.
Nozawa Onsen's fire festival is on tonight, after much preparation and anticipation. Full report, with photos, to come.

Winter wonderland

It has snowed each night and morning so far, and the town is a winter wonderland. Here is the ryokan we are staying at:

The tree out the front

View from the street

Arrival

It was 3.30 in the morning when we arrived at our accommodation, but we were welcomed by three pairs of slippers lined up at the edge of the genkan (entrance where you leave you shoes) and two polite and helpful staff members.  We are staying in a traditional ryokan in Nozawa Onsen, and our room has tatami mat floors, a thermos of hot water to make green tea, and most welcome of all, futons laid out ready for us to collapse into.
The bus ride was long but a great (re)introduction to Japan.  In Tokyo, where it was clear, dry and cold but above zero, we started off on a large bus full of other Westerners headed for the snow. As the journey progressed it got colder, the snow started billowing down and we transferred with two other groups to a mini bus. After a stop to put on chains, the driver ended up navigating the steep, narrow and very snowy lanes of the town in the dark, looking for our accommodation.
Along the way , there was a 20 minute stop for dinner. It took us 5 minutes to work out the system, another 5 to choose food and pay at the vending machine (my rusty kana skills didn't hold up too well under pressure and tiredness, and there was no English and few pictures), and 5 to wait for the food to be ready, leaving only 5 to gulp down the ramen. At another stop in the middle of the night, I encountered the best roadside public toilets ever - clean, light, with flowers (fake but colourful) and, best of all and a very pleasant surprise, heated toilet seats,
Tune in tomorrow for our first day on the slopes - hopefully I'll have worked out how to add photos by then.

Special day

We've made it as far as the Gold Coast qantas lounge, after a terribly early start. As we start heading towards sub-zero temperatures, Melbourne is on the cusp of a heat wave. There is still an 9 hour flight ahead of us, then a long shuttle bus ride to the village in the snow, arriving after midnight.
Tony and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary today - if the bar was open we'd be having a glass of champagne. It may be only 9.30am in Queensland (no daylight savings here), but it feels as if the sun is over the yard arm as we have been up since 3.30. A long day! 

Gearing up

This weekend we have dusted off the ski gear - it has been a few years since any of us have skied, and never outside Australia before. We also stocked up on thermals and polar fleeces to wear underneath at an outdoor store with a permanent sale.
Will our gear and skills (intermediate at best) stand up to the conditions in the Japanese Alps?
We'll find out next week, but there is one thing I know for sure now - I'm going to need a large suitcase! 

Nihon ni ikimasu! (Japan here I come!)

I first went to Japan in 1990 with my best friend Michelle, taking Japanese textbooks from the evening language classes I'd been attending for 6 months, and little else. We had jobs as golf caddies (no golfing knowledge or ability required) and planned to stay a year.

I didn't stay for a year in the end. After an eventful 6 months, including quitting caddying, teaching English in Kyoto, practising my basic but functional Japanese, sightseeing, travelling around Honshu and Kyushu and getting engaged, I returned to Melbourne to marry Tony, who I had met in the Japanese classes I mentioned earlier.  Michelle stayed 3 years, and then on her return to Melbourne became a Japanese teacher in a secondary school - where she met her partner and father of her 3 kids. So it turned out to be a life-changing trip for both of us.

24 years and 3 kids later, I'm finally returning to Japan, with Tony and our youngest daughter Imo, in a week's time. Will it have changed as much as I have in the intervening period?