SAYONARA NIPPON

25th - 26th Oct 2019

Never saw it.

Off back to UK by Aeroflot flight from Tokyo Narita airport via Moscow to London Heathrow.

Leaving the hotel at 7.00am by Underground to Tokyo Main and then on by the efficient Narita Express train to the airport (covered by my JR Railcard). The airport is well out to the east of town and a 1¼ hour train ride. I arrived far too early and had time to kill before the 12.15 flight. Bought a bottle of saké as a souvenir.

The Aeroflot flight left and arrived on time. It was a 9½ hour flight to Moscow Sheremetyevo airport in a Boeing 777. I travelled 'economy' with, conveniently, a spare seat next to me and the service was good, with a plentiful supply of free wine. Pleasant cabin crew. I was quite impressed.
There was a 3 hour stop-over in Moscow and the facilities, restaurants etc. there were fine. Then on again with Aeroflot to London Heathrow, a 4 hour flight, to arrive at 10.00pm after 30 mins delay due to 'holding' over LHR for some unknown reason. Not Aeroflot's fault.

I always find it extraordinary that in Japan all the people who staff the immigration, security, cafés, shops, transport etc. etc. are smartly turned out and polite Japanese. In Vietnam they are Vietnamese. In India they are Indian. When you get to London you are pushed to find a Brit, or someone looking British, doing any of these jobs (there must be some!). Foreigners arriving at Heathrow could be forgiven for not knowing if they had arrived in Bengal, Beirut, Bulgaria or Burkina Faso let alone Britain. Also, Heathrow is such a higgledy-piggledy mess with a confusing maze of inter-connecting passageways and inter-terminal transport systems. It is, frankly, scruffy, confusing and out of date. And it was raining.



I arrived too late to get transport home so I had to find local overnight accommodation. Fortunately there was a desk in Terminal 4 which could organise this (manned by an Algerian) which he did quite efficiently and not too expensively. It involved getting a hotel bus (£6) from what seemed like a bit of waste ground and parking lot outside Terminal 3 and having to hang about here in the cold drizzly wet for about 25 minutes.

Left: The scruffy bus stop with a makeshift half-collapsed signboard.

A twenty minute drive to the Mercure Airport Hotel and dropped off on the main road opposite! I was a bit concerned on arrival to find that a large crowd of Indian or Pakistani guests were in the foyer trying to book in ahead of me. I had visions of waiting in a queue for half the rest of the night. Fortunately their leader or tour guide did it quite quickly for all of them. I was checked in by a charming Greek guy at the desk. In fact it turned out to be a very decent hotel, and the bar was still open, with a comfortable room. I woke up the next morning to realise that the England v New Zealand Rugby match was on at 9.00am so managed to watch that in some comfort in my room. Then a walk to the nearby Hayes & Harlington railway station for a train via Reading and back home by 3.00pm. 

Impressions of Japan

On the plus side;

1. Ultra-efficient transport systems with excellent information facilities. Actually, everything for tourists was efficient and well organised.

2. Superior automation.

3. Polite, to the point of obsequiousness. Lots of bowing and smiling (and white gloves).

4. Short, sensible and helful announcements in English on trains and Underground.

5. Good value if you use a Japanese Railcard (if you travel a lot by rail).

6. Clean and tidy with no sign of any yobbish or anti-social behaviour.

7. Excellent and relatively cheap hotels available at short notice. (esp. the APA ones).

8. Lots of 7/11, Family Mart, Lawsons shops for supplies.

9. Lack of fat 'kangerillapigs' wobbling about (as per UK). They mostly looked slim and trim and smartly dressed. Diet? Tradition?

10. Fast free WiFi everywhere including trains, railway stations, bars and hotels.

11. Oirish or British Pubs (or equivalent) in every major town if you want home comforts.

On the minus side:

1. Somewhat 'robotic' in their outlook and behaviour. They always stick to the rules regardless of common sense.

2. Japanese food is something I never got the hang of. Strange menus, often in Japanese, and I don't like sushi or raw fishy things! Beef? exorbitant Kobe stuff breaks the bank.

3. Language is a problem outside major cities or tourist sites.

4. I was told that as a tourist things are fantastic, but it is somewhat less convivial if you work there. Their work ethic and hierarchical system is harsh to the point of stressful. Not my problem!

So, for a tourist, it is a fascinating and most enjoyable place to visit. Recommended.

TOKYO

23rd - 25th Oct 2019

Tokyo Underground map.

Train from Hiroshima to Tokyo via a change in Osaka. I arrived at Tokyo Main (centre-east of the city) at 7.10pm and booked into the APA Kodemmacho Ekimae hotel, which was rather more expensive than the other APA hotels I had used, probably just because it is in Tokyo and approaching the weekend of the World Cup Rugby final. It is near the Kodemmacho underground station not far to the north of the railway station. I used the underground system (above) with one change at Ginza to get there, and it is not as complicated as it looks...just follow the well signposted coloured lines. Not much time to do anything that evening apart from investigating one of the little bars in the area. Some are very small and if all the seats are taken they won't let you in!

I only had one full day in the vast metropolis of Tokyo so decided to visit the Imperial Palace. This is walking distance just to the west of the Main railway station (frontage left).

Well, what a performance that was! I was told I had to be there 30 minutes before the escorted (no solo wandering allowed) tour started at 12.30pm. There is a limit of 300 for each tour. 300! I got there at 11.45 and there was a long queue forming (no seats) along the edge of the square outside (right). At 12.30 an official came down the line and handed us registration forms to fill in and to check our passports. At 1.00pm  we filed past a desk where our passports were checked again (fortunately I had brought mine with me). 

......and then led across a bridge into a large reception room with desks and chairs (left). We sat and waited, and waited. There is a souvenir shop selling all kinds of expensive tat.  Eventually a series of 'hosts' gave briefings in Japanese, Spanish and English...some of which was intelligible.

The tour was to last about 1¼ hours.

At long last we (the English speaking group) were led outside and introduced to our charming lady guide (right). She spoke English, I think, but very quickly and with such a heavy accent that, frankly, she might as well have been speaking Martian.

We were shown the fortified (ex-Imperial) guardhouse at the entrance. This was designed to confuse attackers by looking the same all the way around (I think is what she said). Can't quite see how that worked as it was at the corner of the tall walls, but hey ho. She also pointed out some inscriptions in the wall which were imposible to see.

We were then shown an 'administrative' building (right), the significance of which rather escaped me.

Then on to stand outside what I took to be a large maintanence shed (left) next to an open concrete area. It was here, we were told, that three days ago they had carried out the 'Coronation parade' of the new Emperor (Naruhito) when 600 (I think) foreign dignitaries had been present.

......but no, this building is the Palace! I think it must rate as being the most singularly unimpressive Palace in the world, by 1000 Japanese miles! We were not alowed inside it, or any other building for that matter.

Right: The 'statue' of a pine cone in the corner of the square. The pine cone signifies 'strong character' in Japan.

Left: A 'nijo' bird statuette on the roof. Nijo birds are also significant for some reason but I was rather losing interest by this stage.

Right: The 'Spectacles Bridge' over the moat. So called because, when (or if) the sun is shining from the correct angle, it looks like a pair of spectacles with the reflections in the water. It is considered one of the three most significant bridges in Japan. Doesn't say much for the rest!

Left: The roof of one of the guardhouses which has birdy, or maybe dragon, statues at each end. Forgotten what they are called, but are common on lots of Japanese buildings and have some significance or other. As far as I could see it was just another popular resting place for pigeons.

Right: Another, final, view of the 'Palace'. I wondered who designed this? I note that there is a website called 'shoddyhomes.com' and suspect they might have had a hand in it.

We bid a fond farewell to our guide with a bit of bowing and finished the tour at 2.45pm. To be honest, it was not terribly impressive. At least it was free! Perhaps I could have used the 3 hours more productively.

There are some impressive gardens surrounding the Palace but not enough time for me to see them.

Then on by the Japanese Rail (JR) Internal Circle line, separate to the Underground but free to those with JR Railcards, to the Shibuya district in the west of the city. This is a busy and trendy area of Town and has a famous landmark; the 'Shibuya Crossing' also known as the 'Pedestrian Scramble'. The Shibuya Underground/Rail station is a complete maze of passageways and levels but, with the help of a local, I managed to find my way out in the right direction. Left:: The crossings with traffic halted.




Right: The pedestrian crossings. A poor photo taken from an upstairs window of a Starbucks café opposite. Better ones on the Internet I'm sure.

As per all Japanese road crossings the pedestrians are remarkably disciplined. The traffic stops and then thousands (I'm told thousands) of people cross in orderly fashion, almost in ranks, from 10 directions over 5 crossings.

I had intended to go to visit the famous Senso-ji temple, Tokyo's most visited  Buddhist shrine (with a golden image of Kannon...see Kyoto) which was quite nearby but time was pressing and I would have got lost having to use the Shibuya station again and I'm not that fanatical about visiting temples anyway. So I took the easy way out and found a JR Circle line to the Shinjuku/Kabukicho district (north of Shibuya). This is the really trendy part of town with bright lights and clubs, pubs and restaurants (left).

I was tempted to go into the 'Robot Restaurant' here (right) which advertised a show and robot served dinner. It looked fun, but the price was extortionate (¥7000) so I resisted. Instead I wandered around looking for an interesting restaurant (it was now 7.00pm) and after consulting my trusty guide book got lost again.

Left: A weird looking hotel with a 'Godzilla' theme which seems popular around here. I am told Godzilla was a protector of Japan but haven't a clue why.

So I ended up in another Oirish (British) Bear...and had a delicious meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes and veg plus a pint of Kilkenny beer. I'm afraid I never got the hang, or taste, of Japanese cuisine. I don't like sushi things, raw fish or boiled white unknown vegetables. Call me unadventurous, but I know what I like. Sorry Bernie, no Pie 'n Mash which would have been quite acceptable, but it doesn't seem to have caught on here yet.

Left: Inside the British Pub in Kabukicho district. Replay rugby on the TV.

Back to Kodemmacho and a late call in at a local little bar, the Eclipse. This proved amusing because there was a very sociable barman and a couple of Japanese businessmen in who spoke some English. One of the businessmen had worked in Edinburgh at some stage. We exchanged interesting experiences and I was generously presented with a bottle of saké plus a traditional wooden saké drinking vessel as a gift. Very kind of them. They are, on the whole, a very polite and decent people. I was impressed.

Not half enough time to see many of the myriad sights in Tokyo, but at least I got a feeling for the place. It is a vast city of 23 million people and innumerable places to visit.  Definitely worth another visit.

That was my very limited experience of the city. Got to catch the 'plane back to UK tomorrow.

BRIEF VISIT TO KURE

22nd- 23rd Oct 2019

Neptune statue outside the Kure 'Yamato' Maritime Museum.

I got to hear, belatedly, of an interesting sounding Naval museum in the port of Kure, about 40 miles south of Hiroshima. I took the 10.20am train from Nagasaki and had to change at Shin Tosu for Hiroshima and then on to Kure. I hoped to arrive there at about 2.00pm for a visit and stay the night in Kure. It all went a bit wrong! For the first time in ages (I remember once going to Newcastle and waking up in Edinburgh) I fell asleep on the train and woke up as the train was stationary in Shin Tosu. You only have about 60 seconds to get off at these intermediate stops and I didn't make it! Next stop was Tosu itself so I decided to get off there and wait for the next train. At this stop (about 10 minutes later) my suitcase got stuck in the luggage rack and despite much frantic tugging the train moved off again! I thought I was doomed to a big diversion. Fortunately a very helpful lady conductor saw my desperate struggle and suggested I go on to the next stop, Hakata, and there would be a fast train from there to Hiroshima arriving at 3.15pm. So I did. I then thought it would be too much of a rush to get to Kure and anyway I couldn't find a cheap hotel there. So I decided to spend the night in Hiroshima and go to the museum the following morning. It turned out to be a very fortunate move. Another night in Hiroshima in another great little (cheap) hotel near the station was a pleasant break with a jolly evening spent downtown. On arrival at Kure the next morning (Wednesday) I was told it had been closed yesterday (Tuesday) because Monday, when it is usually closed, was a public holiday and open then but closed the next day instead! What a fortunate fluke. FYI, as I discovered, many museums in Japan are closed on Mondays (unless public holidays). Confusing.

Kure had been a major Japanese naval base and arsenal since 1889 until the end of WW2

This museum is centred around the WW2 Japanese battleship Yamato. The blurb said it was the biggest battleship ever built at 263m long. I think this is wrong as the USS Iowa was 270m long. Maybe it was heavier?

Left: A 1:10 scale model of the ship in the central hall. The main guns, 9 of them in three turrets, were 46cm calibre (18.1 inch).

Right: It even had a biplane 'spotter' aircraft on the rear deck. I couldn't work out how it took off, let alone landed (presumably ditched if out of range of land).

Left: It had the most amazing amount of smaller gun turrets amidships.

Anyway it was sunk in April 1945 by US fighter-bombers when on its way to Okinawa. As indeed at some point was most of the rest of the Japanese fleet, and the remainder scuttled.

The wreck, which was only discovered in 2016, is  widely scatterd in bits over the sea-bed. It had blown up. It had had a ship's complement of 3332 of which 3056 perished. An underwater video showed the wreckage.

Right: An example (presumably replica) of a 46cm naval gun.

Left: A  diorama of one of the 12 boilers used to power the Yamato. This type of boiler was rescued from some Japanese ships (before they were scuttled) and used ashore and, I believe, some are still operational.

There are many more exhibits of Japanese naval vessels, plans and technology including this (right) of a pre-WW2 Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier, the Akagi. There were lots of details of the exhibits but unfortunately most of the descriptions were in Japanese.

Left: This was interesting. It is a Kaiten human ridden 'kamikaze' torpedo. About a hundered of these were actually used. Understandably there are not many left. I don't suppose the Kaiten Veterans Association ever had many members.

Right: A description of these suicide torpedoes. Click on to enlarge to read.













Left: A Zero fighter is on display. A very capable machine in its day.














Right: A Type D 'Koryu' midget-submarine. Many were built at Kure during WW2.

Left: Adjacent to the museum is a decommissioned (in 2004) submarine, the Akishio (nicknamed 'The Whale of Iron') It is 76m long. This is open to the public (free entry) and provides, according to the  brochure, a fascinating tour of all the compartments and living accommodation. I was really looking forward to seeing around inside. Unfortunately, for some reason I didn't establish, it was bleedin' well closed that day. Very disappointing.

Right: the train staff are very smartly turned out

Left: .....as are the Underground personnel. They are also very helpful to bemused tourists.













Off that afternoon to Tokyo.........

NAGASAKI

20th - 22nd Oct 2019

Nagasaki City looking north-east from Mt. Inasa.

Another efficient train journey; a 3¼ hour trip with a change of train in Shin Tosu from the Shinkansen to something called the 'Express Famome' which got me into Nagasaki at 2.50pm.

Nagasaki is a port city on the south-west tip of Japan (Kyushu Island). It started off as a Portuguese trading port in the 16th century, followed by the Dutch and became wealthy as a result. Lots of cruise ships still call in here. It is a long narrow city running north-south.

I booked in (by internet) to another excellent (£45pn) APA hotel (left) which was coincidently, and conveniently, just opposite the railway station. It had an 'Oirish Pub' attached and there was another just around the corner. A bit of luck there.

Right: The interesting and efficient booking in system where you just slap your passport onto this computer screen, fill in a few details and your room keycard is spat out at the bottom.

I visited the Irish Pub later that afternoon (touristing on hold) to watch the World Cup Rugby matches; Wales v France and later Japan v South Africa. There was an enthusiastic crowd including this (temporarily) happy Welshman and his Australian wife.

Of course Nagasaki is well known for the second horrific US atomic bomb attack at 11.02am on 9th August 1945, just three days after the Hiroshima one, when the B-29 bomber, 'Bockscar', dropped a much bigger bomb, 'Fat Man' on the city. About 74,000 people were killed instantly followed by tens of thousands more due to radiation and burns in the following days and months. In fact Nagasaki was the secondary target (cloud cover prevented the primary target, Kokura, from being hit). The main target in Nagasaki was to have been the Mitsubishi arms factory in the south of the city, but in good ol' American fashion they missed, and the 'hypocentre' was above Urakami Cathedral in the north of the city. 200 Allied POWs in a prison camp in Urakami were also killed (what a tragic cock-up that was!).
There is an interesting story of a worker in the Mitsubishi factory in Hiroshima who was caught in the open and badly burned by that explosion. His house was flattened but his wife survived. The family was evacuated to Nagasaki the next day. Guess what? He was further injured two days later when the bomb fell there. I wonder what his thoughts were? He actually survived, produced two healthy children and died at the ripe old age of 86. The effects of radiation can be somewhat unpredictable.


As in Hiroshima there is a Memorial Museum in the northern Urakami district (a 2 mile tram journey) which contains similar exhibits as the Hiroshima one, if on a slightly smaller scale. Again, lots of gruesome photographs, a clock stopped at 11.02am, mangled artefacts and accounts from survivors and heroic rescuers. Right: A full size replica of the 'Fat Man' bomb, Yes, it was yellow.

As an aside, there is a very efficient, comprehensive and cheap tram service around the city using very charming, colourful and old-fashioned trams. I used them a lot. I forgot to get a photo of one.

Left: A cut-away model of the insides of the bomb and a detailed description of how it worked (also in English). Beyond my comprehension.

Right: There were several exhibits of burnt and tattered clothing. This one included a photo (taken much later) of a burns victim. Keloids (large disfiguring scar growths) were a common phenomenon of radiation burns. 

Across a main road from the museum and up on raised ground was the Peace Park which featured (left) the supposedly dove-shaped 'Fountain of Peace'.

Right: Plus various rather odd sculptures.

Left: The main statue, the Nagasaki Peace Statue, a 10 ton bronze at the base of which people are still leaving flowers.

Right: Hypocentre Park. The black stone column marks the point above which the bomb exploded. There are bomb-blasted relics around the outside including a section of the wall of the destroyed original Urakami Cathedral. A new one has been built but I didn't get to see it.

Back to the station and a bus ride to the Nagasaki Ropeway. This is a cable car which goes to the top of Inasa-Yama (Mt. Inasa) to the west of the city.

It is a comfortable 5 minute ride in a smart gondola to the summit where there is a viewing station including a good restaurant. You can stand on the roof (telescopes provided).

The view over the city at night is considered exceptional and ranked as one of the worlds top three night-time views (alongside Hong Kong and Monaco).

Left: The view over the harbour at the south end of town. The river which runs south into the sea here is called the Urakami-gawa. I think 'gawa' is Jap for 'river'. The rest of the view is at the top of this blog.

Right: A sort of 'montage' outside the restaurant which was advertising a concert with the night-time view as a backdrop...so I've seen it now and no need to revisit after dark.

Left: Our delightful 'white-gloved' gondola operator.

There is a small island off the west coast near here called Hashima Island. It was a seriously major coal mine until closed down in 1974. Up to then it housed its own 'high-rise' community which was considered the world's most densely populated place. Since 1974 it has been deserted and left to the mercies of nature whereafter the buildings have semi-collapsed and become overgrown; rather similar to the deserted town of Pripyat near Chernobyl. It is nick-named 'Battleship Island' and you can see why from its silhouette (right). 

Guided tours were organised around this place until the typhoon at the beginning of September (not the recent Hagibis one which never affected this area) rendered the structures to become even more unsafe. They are restoring them for future tours. So now you can either take a (expensive) boat trip around the island or go to the Gunkanjima Digital Museum near the docks. Here they have some very hi-tech visual displays of the ex-life on the island and you can take a '3D Virtual Tour' around the place. I did this. Quite spooky, but no means of getting photos. Right: A model of the island in its heyday.

It was a short walk past Oura Cathedral (left), Japan's oldest church. Built in 1864 it is dedicated to the 26 Christians who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597 when under Shogun rule.

Then on uphill (Nagasaki is very hilly) to the Glover Gardens. After paying ¥650 entry fee (wow!) you get taken up to the top on escalators and moving walkways. These gardens hold some two dozen former (rebuilt in most cases) very grand homes of the city's Meiji period European residents (after the Shoguns). It is beautifully landscaped.

Left: This is an example of one such; the former Mitsubishi No.2 Dock House at the highest point. 

They all have fantastic views over the harbour (right).

Left: The renowned and enterprising Scotsman, Thomas Glover, who was one of the chief 'movers and shakers' in these parts at the end of the 19th century. It was he, mentioned previously, who built Japan's first railway amongst much else including starting what became the Mitsubishi industry.

His residence, Glover House, is the grandest mansion in the gardens, but it was closed off behind screens for renovation.

Right: ....and a statue of him next to the café in the gardens. It was getting dark by now as I settled down for a refreshing and much needed glass of beer. Can't think why my photo has a blue patch on his head and feet. They weren't on the statue!

I also took a walk up what is called the Dutch Slopes, a cobbled street with many attractive wooden 'colonial' houses on it. Steep and good exercise. Also, before tramming it back to my hotel, an evening wander around Chinchi Chinatown, a busy brightly lit and humming 'entertainment' area which also contains the main tram station.

Lovely city and a crying shame that the US flattened it in 1945 as I expect they destroyed a lot of beautiful colonial architecture (as well as the mass slaughter of innocents). As with Hiroshima I only had time to scratch the surface regarding sightseeing.

Off again the next morning back to Hiroshima and then intending a visit to what sounds like a very interesting Naval Museum in the port of Kure.

Left: At the railway station. I can't help but be  impressed by the way the schoolchildren such as these are always smartly dressed, in this case in quasi-naval uniforms, and march around in well- disciplined file.

Post Script. Right: A dusk view from the harbour up the river to the north.