Nov 23, 2024
Japan: Autumn Country Walks, Gardens, Temples and Shrines
Kudus have encouraged us to organise a Japan tour for some years and finally, we decided to commit the not insubstantial funds to researching a small part of this surprisingly large country.
Japan has four major islands – Honshu; Kyushu; Hokkaido and Shikoku – with literally thousands of smaller islands forming this archipelago once joined to the greater mass of Asia. Honshu itself is bigger than Great Britain and the country is larger by 50% than the U.K. With a population of c. 123 million i.e. nearly twice as many people as the U.K. – you will not be surprised to hear that the population density is 879 people per square mile as opposed to the U.K.’s 729. So, we have two crowded island countries both with Imperial histories stretching back in Japan’s case, to 661 B.C.
Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world and throughout Honshu, where we concentrated our reconnaissance, you cannot but notice tightly packed streets and small living spaces. But – and this is a big but – you are not compressed by your fellow travellers.
The Japanese are spatially aware and immeasurably polite. The only persons into whom one might bump are Western tourists. On trains and subways, there are no high pitched mobile phone conversations. Tereza and I took a short bus ride from one of our walks and we both noted that in a packed vehicle we were the only people conversing. Lifts have signs encouraging “No Loud Talking”.
And the politeness? In our home country of the Czech Republic, every man, woman and child is inculcated with a regime which mandates a greeting of ‘Dobry Den’ (literally ‘Good Day’ when meeting someone, indeed everyone. In Japan, this is taken to the rather pleasant extreme of Konnichiwa being a ubiquitous salutation and Arigatou gozaimasu being the proper expression of gratitude used by everyone from hotel receptionists to petrol station attendants. Additionally, there is the bowing which can vary from a courteous nod to a full half bend. One hotel we stayed in featured within their guest information a statement that they did not offer “prostration” – I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a mis-spelling.
The other features of Japanese society is – how do I put this – the ‘demographic’. As someone in their mid-seventies, I am pretty sure I could be usefully employed as a security guard; parking lot monitor; taxi driver and as mentioned above petrol station attendant. Indeed the last job was performed wonderfully by a man of roughly my age who washed everything - almost including my glasses – ran back and forth to the pay station and held up traffic to marshall me back onto the road.
The food does take some getting used to and by day five we were delighted to find a wonderful little restaurant called Mieux which produced more than passable pizzas. However, once you have established your preferences amongst the smorgasbord of dishes with which you are presented then you can navigate your way through the various iterations of the catch-all term of ‘Japanese food”.
We loved sashimi and sushi and had a memorable evening with six other diners seated round the chef’s table while the impresario prepared dishes individually for our delectation. We enjoyed soba noodles and the Japan version of schnitzel but did not relish tofu in any of its forms. But suffice to say that by the end of our three weeks’ stay we deliberately chose Japanese for our last two nights in Tokyo. Most hotels have French restaurants and/or Western style buffet breakfasts so there are choices for the committed Western eater.
Hotels are generally of a good quality varying between a superb example of almost Victorian politesse to a simple guest house with futons on the floor: it is surprising how comfortable such sleeping arrangements are. We did stay in one ‘onsen’ where the shower and mineral springs bath were communal but anyone who has been to an English school and done P.E. should be pleasantly surprised with the gentility of such offerings. The toilets come with information guides, though I do miss the automatically heated seats.
The walking was sensational with autumn colours and breathtaking vistas. Where it appeared crowded, a few steps away brought us into our own private area with more than enough time to stop and stare. Fellow walkers were unerringly polite and the Japanese are very friendly people, though the use of English is very limited outside the major conurbations. Everyone asked whence we came, recognised the Czech Republic but struggled with Wales which was – as always – mistaken for England.
We drove over 400 miles without incident and the idiot count was well below that experienced in some European countries. The Japanese drive on the right side of the road i.e. the left side.
Some countries are easy to explore and understand: Japan isn’t. Without satnav, we would have struggled with road signs in often two of the three alphabets used by the natives. The same applies in most cities: you end up guessing whether a particular establishment is a restaurant or a retail outlet.
There are temples and shrines; samurai castles and shogun palaces; unique flowers and macaque monkeys; in short, it may be a challenge but one which is well worth addressing and we will be delighted to take Kudus to this new destination in 2025.
Kudu Travel's first Japan tour is scheduled for 19th October - 2nd November 2025.
For Japanese familiarisation, we recommend "Midnight Diner".