Suggesting that Japan is ‘different’ from Australia is an understatement. I felt as if we had done an about turn, changed gears and been turned upside down. Everything is downsized and infinitely exotic.

Arrived at  Narita airport in a fog. Made sure to collect a stamp in our passports so as to be able to rent a car and collected the official translation of Roland’s driving licence, which was indeed waiting for us at a counter as planned.

We then took a train to Narita centre and walked the hotel. This involved walking in small residential streets and crossing a railway line. I felt as if I was in an indie Japanese film. It was too early to check in, even if our short night on the plane and melatonin-induced fog meant we wanted to go to sleep, so we had no choice but to leave our bags and keep moving. We walked to the temple precinct via a touristy road with local delicacies, though not tacky at all and explored the town. The cherry blossom was out and it began to rain lightly which added to the mystery of the Japanese miniature garden. We saw carp and a turtle in the lake, engraved stones by the side of the road, paying hommage no doubt to long gone people.

Roland found a delicious and very simple place for lunch – our first Japanese eating experience and we began communicating with gestures, and of course Google Translate.

The next day we took the train, or several trains, to Nikko. At 10h, an emergency earthquake warning  showed on our phones on the Kita -Senja line.

Was this a real – or test – alert? No one seemed in the least perturbed, though the train stopped still for a few moments.  Our journey to Nikko involved several changes and then a challenge to find the right sort of express train in Tokyo. We saw more cherry blossom and rice fields. 

Upon our arrival, we hired a car in Nikko, where it started raining. Renting a car turned out to be simple but started with a police state-like operation. If Roland’s phone hadn’t picked up the renter’s call, we wouldn’t have been able to rent a car. However, there was no credit card guarantee, so lots of officious paperwork corresponded to sort of stream-lined  low cost efficiency. By this time, lunch was not longer being served, so we warmed ourselves up in a tea place  with sweet red bean soup and toast with bean paste. I mention this to assuage the concern that Roland might not find any bread in Japan.

We then drove to Nikko Beans hotel by Lake Chuzenji. This was one of the few places we had reserved in advance and turned out to be very nice and functional. The hotel was empty and gave me the impression of being in a Murakami novel, where the protagonist hires a car and finds himself in a deserted hotel. We ventured out in the heavy rain with anoraks and the hotel’s transparent umbrellas. Our options for dinner were somewhat limited, as it seemed as though the season had not really started yet. We ended up in a rather stately Europeanised room, where at least we were welcomed, and ate a very nice Japanese version of truite meunière. In retrospect that was lucky as trout is the local speciality but everywhere else we went it was sold out. There was an old Yamaha grand piano in the dining room.

The next day we visited the Ryuzu Falls and went for a short walk in the woods. The foliage on the ground was unfamiliar, some of the land being a sort of preserved marshland.

We were unsettled by the numerous bear warnings, which prevented us from hiking in more isolated areas. I was glad I had brought a bear bell with me. Thank you Tobias, because I believe you bought it  on your travels in Canada. We were also put off by the rain. In the late afternoon we walked in the woods along the side of the lake. Our walk was crowned by an encounter with several Japanese deer, some of which ran away but a few were unbothered by us and even agreed to have their photo taken. Japanese deer are not the same as the European species, and much more friendly.

The next day was beautiful, crisp and sunny.  We calculated that at 5c , we had descended 35c in a week. We visited Kegon Falls, a, impressive 100m waterfall. We saw a snow monkey crossing the road, with no by your leave. We later sighted several jumping in the trees, but they ran too fast for the camera. Contrary to what one would imagine, snow monkeys are brown and furry, not white.

We stopped at a visitor centre where it was confirmed that there had been 4 bear sightings recorded over the last few months. I need to record this, in case anyone suggests to me that I have bear phobia.

After some abortive attempts to walk, due to trail closure, though we really couldn’t understand why, we set out on our own walk in the snow, without snow shoes, which would not have been redundant. Our hike involved a clamber to join the road, which had obviously been practiced by other walkers, perhaps in a different season. 

The Rolandesque path proved well worth it with a glorious view of the snow covered volcano, resembling a picture postcard.

Our trail off the road took us back to the village of Yumoto, where there are very odorous hot sulphuric springs. We had delicious lunch of plenty of tiny assorted local dishes, all meticulously presented, in a tiny restaurant in the village. We stayed outside as long as we could to make the most of the beautiful day, culminating in a glorious view of  the lake at the end of the afternoon.

We left the lake the next day for Aizu-Wakamatsu, the last bastion of Samouraï. If it didn’t rain when we left, it was certainly raining when we arrived. We  visited Tsagara Castle, with an exhibition of impressive and brutal swords – no photos allowed. The castle was reconstructed but interesting nonetheless, with good views at the top.

As the rain prevented us wandering and window shopping, we decided to do something useful and experience a Japanese launderette. Luckily Gaby, who happened to phone us, and Google translate enabled us not to shrink all our clothes.

We then set off to the ryokan we thought we had reserved, only to find on setting off, the reservation had been cancelled. We went anyway but the place stank of cigarettes and there was no one around. In the small village, famous for its onsens, we discovered that everything was fully booked up, plenty of hotels and no space whatsoever. We suddenly remembered it was Easter weekend. We had to make do with a room in a hotel tower in the city, the car was stowed away in a lift, as were we on the 11th floor. At least we didn’t end of sleeping in our tiny compact car. 

We then drove to Ouchi juku, a traditional Edo village with thatched roofs and lacquerware. The sun came out and we enjoyed our long awaited ‘flânerie’, with a few other tourists, nearly all Japanese. We have seen very few non Japanese tourists so far in Central Honshu.

We then took a windy road and arrived at Yunishigawa mid afternoon. The Kamiyashiki Taira no Takafusa Hotel turned out to be a splendid and luxurious in ryokan style but more chic. We were greeted warmly on our arrival, no question of carrying our own bags. The hotel boasts of indoor and outdoor, public and private onsen. Our traditional room had papered square-paned windows, a little low table and chairs. The futons were laid out on the tatami  and made up while we had a feast of a supper. Roasted fish, meat, potatoes and rice balls in embers of fire ( and 101 other delicacies). We had reserved a private onsen in the evening, thus avoiding any etiquette dilemmas in the single-gendered public baths. The onsen was incredibly naturally hot so we came out pink and throughly relaxed. The hotel contained a marvellous collection of all sorts of objects (I’m sure Roland will set this out in more detail) so I’d like to mention the bonsaï shoots.

I wrote part of this post sitting in the  picnic area of Heike no Sato, a reconstituted village in hommage to the Taira clan (for whom it was their last refuge). Beautifully recaptured: a peaceful, empty, quiet place, with thatched roofs and exhibits showing how they made everyday utensils. Earlier on Easter Monday morning we went for a short sunny hike, along the mountain dam.  I confess that our walks in the forest are a little tainted by thoughts of bears. All mountain roads closed for winter until end of month. Do the bears behave differently after that? It’s coming out of hibernation time now, so probably not a good time to meet one and am glad to say we didn’t. I spotted a snake which Roland nearly stepped on, though a close inspection and match of the photo, confirmed it was a Japanese variety of a grass snake.

Our stay in the Japanese Alps was very peaceful and calm. We saw huge bamboo shoots next to all sorts of pine trees. The cherry blossom  was out in the plains and on our way back on the hillsides and mountain slopes too. There were plenty of rice fields, some slightly terrraced further North-East.  Everything and everyone has its place and function, from the parking wardens ushering the pedestrians across the road to the gardener scrupulously weeding in between the stones at the magnificent temple complex we visited in Nikko before we left. Not only does each person have their part to play, but each one does what s/he has to do with perfection, or at least, that is how it seemed to me.