The Land of the Rising Sun

21^st-30^th June 

After six months in Asia I was starting to get a little tired. Believe it or not I was starting to look forward to going home where I would have a permanent place and I wouldn’t need to live out of a bag. There wasn’t long left, however, so I tried to make the most of it. There were two places left to visit in Japan. Tokyo and the big island of Hokkaido in the north.

I wasn’t too bothered about Sapporo if I’m honest. It’s more of a winter place. I would love to go to the winter festival where they carve massive sculptures out of the snow. It was early summer now, though, so there was definitely ice sculptures. The only reason I went was simply because I could. My rail pass could take me anywhere in Japan and I had a couple of days left to use it. I had thought the weather in the Alps and Mt Fuji might have slowed me down but it had been glorious weather which gave me a couple of spare days

Double Decker Shinkansen

And so, I decided to take the bullet rain to the North. I saw in a station outside Tokyo that the Shinkansen also comes in double decker form which surprised me. 

Welcome to the North

Its grim up north

The bullet train took me all the way to Hakedate in Hokkaido which involved a 53km section under water. It’s the world’s longest undersea tunnel. I changed in Hokkaido where the weather was very murky and trundled along on a normal train. It seemed to go very slowly after so many trips on the bullet train. After 8 hours of travel I arrived the small city of Sapporo.

The bright lights of Sapporo

Busy above the ground

And below the ground

At first I thought Sapporo could have been any major Japanese city but the novelty here is the extensive network of underground shopping lanes. It’s like there’s a whole separate city underneath the main roads. It took me half an hour to walk from one end to the other and there’s other lanes veering off under the whole town. It’s an ingenious way to avoid getting cold in winter. You could almost get from your house to work without going outside!

Sapporo Station

It wasn’t winter though, and it was actually rather sunny. I went topside to explore the sunnier side of Sapporo. 

Old Government House

Striking red bricks

There’s not a whole lot of tourist attractions here but one thing that did catch my eye was the Former Hokkaido Government Office. This building was built in 1888 and has a heavy American influence thanks to an American advisor on the team at the time. 

It's very grand

Old Meeting Room

It’s a quite a grand place but nothing too special. The design is not too dissimilar to something you would find in Europe but it was nice to look around into the now unused rooms.

In one room there was an exhibition on the fight with Russian over Japan’s islands that lie to the north of Hokkaido. They were originally Japanese, then Russia invaded during the war and Japan was forced to give them over to the Soviet Union in the Peace Treaty but Japan doesn’t recognise the Soviet Union and Russia claims some of the islands were never Japanese in the first place. I think that’s how the story goes. The dispute is still going on today.

Random

I was continuing to explore the city when something quite random and very Japanese happened.  I stumbled into Mario racing along the streets. He saw me taking a picture and posed. The same thing happened in Tokyo only this time Luigi, Yoshi and Peach were there too. Sometimes the Japanese are just plain awesome!

Sapporo Tower

The view from the shopping level

Next up on my walk was Sapporo Tower. I went up to the first level which was free. I didn’t fancy paying the extra to go to the top. I don’t think the view would have been all that worth it.

Fountain

Very shiny car

Looks like a child's city games

I slowly walked back to the hostel. It had been quite a big day for walking so I was very much ready to put my feet up with a Japanese curry from the shop. I miss them!

Ski Jump

Very steep

The next day I walked over to the ski jump they used in the 1972 Winter Olympics. I’ve never seen a proper ski jump up close. They are horrendously steep. It must be absolutely terrifying to jump off. I guess you’d get used to it but the first few times must leave a brown streak in the snow!

The view over Sapporo

Sapporo

The walk up to the top was tiring but worth it. There’s a stunning view over the city and there was barely anyone up there. I had one of them contemplating life moments whilst I was admiring the view. I was nearly at the end of my travels and I had been reflecting a lot about the things I’ve done, the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had. It’s always good to stop and realise how lucky you’ve been.

Don't want to go home now

Then reality hit about what I’m returning home too. The next day I was waiting for the train to Tokyo when I checked the Brexit vote. It was not good news. I wasn’t the only one disappointed. A random Japanese businessman came over to me. He must have guessed I was English and asked me what the result was. He had shares in the UK and was disappointed to hear his investment would take a downturn.

Hiroaki!

My final destination in Japan and Asia was the capital city of Tokyo when my old friend Hiroaki lives. I took a train to meet him in the suburb of Shiba where he showed me around the place he called home. 

It was so good to see him after so long. We first me in Bundaberg in 2013 where we did farm work together. We then moved to Cairns together before meeting up again in Sydney at the start of 2015. We reminisced about the memories we shared and the mutual friends we had. He’s still as much of a legend as he was a few years ago. He’d only recently got back from travelling himself. After Bundaberg he’d spent years in Europe. He even went to Blackpool!

Real Japanese food

He took me to a real Japanese restaurant where I had no idea what was going on. He treated me to this Japanese meal. I don’t remember the name of it but it was very nice.

Chiba Castle

Traditional Dress

Then we went for a walk around Chiba Castle which as a lot like Osaka Castle only smaller and free. There had some more local artifacts that showed the history of Chiba. Hiro translated a bit for me before a guide popped up and told us some stories.

Another Temple

There was a service on

Then next place we visited was a temple. I can’t remember the name of it but Hiro persuaded me to a get a fortune thingy. (Can’t remember the name of that either). Hiro was very excited about his. Mine said good fortune whereas his said great fortune which apparently is pretty rare. He must really put some faith in it because he was really excited.

My fortune

Mine told me that I would have a good life, I would find love but not for a little while yet, I will achieve my goals if I work hard on them and I would visit many places. I’ll take that. We then tied the piece of paper to a tree before leaving.

Local bands

We sat and had a few beers whilst we watched some school bands playing in a square. We reminisced about our old friends. I decided I would get in contact with Felix to see if he wanted to meet up the following month. He said yes but that’s a story for another time.

A buzzer for service

I think I had pizza in this place. I just remember the buzzer we used when we wanted to order something. How does every restaurant in the world not have one of these already. No one more trying to catch the eye of a waiter.

We wandered around the streets for a bit before watching a busker and drinking a couple more beers. It was great to meet up with an old friend. It had been a while since I’d had a proper friend to talk to.

Exploring Tokyo

I spent the whole of the next day exploring the wonders of Tokyo. My Rail Pass had now expired so I got myself a day pass and off I went. The first stop was the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. It does what it says on the tip. It’s a government building and looks very metropolitan.

Tokyo

It had a free viewing platform and I’m always down for a freebie. I could see Tokyo tower off in the distance but it’s the only real landmark I could see. I’m not sure it was worth the hour wait for the lift up and certainly not worth the hour wait for the lift back down.

Tokyo Tower

It took me a little while longer than planned to get to Tokyo Tower. Like most cities in Japan, there isn’t just the one subway system in Tokyo. There a few different companies that each have their own tickets. You can buy combined tickets but then it gets expensive. It’s quite confusing too with all the foreign names. I ended up getting out at the wrong station and walking around for a while. I thought I would be able to spot the tower but it was blocked behind all the skyscrapers. I eventually found out where I was on my map and walked to the tower.

It’s not that exciting anyway. Just a smaller orange version of the Eiffel Tower. It didn’t fancy paying to go up it as I would be going up a different tower later on.

Senso-Ji Temple

Very busy

Next stop was Senso-Ji Temple which was an unexpectedly cultural site in the heart of this mad bustling city. It was, of course, rammed with people but it was nice to see that the traditional Japan isn’t completely lost in this city.

Stopping for a prayer

Inside the temple

Wafting the smoke across their faces

Not sure why

There was a queue of people waiting to offer their prayers on the edge of the temple and an incense pot in the middle of this square. Here, people were wafting the smoke over themselves and sticking their hands in. It was like they were trying to absorb it in some way. This ritual undoubtedly means something but I have no idea what.

A golden turd?

Tokyo Skytree

Very very tall

Just nearby was the Skytree. At 634m its one of the tallest towers in the world. It stands alone on the edge of the city, a massive spike amongst the concrete. It is neck breakingly tall.

High speed lift

If there’s ever a viewing platform to be visited than this has got to one of them. The lift that takes you up goes at a fair rate too. Over 600 metres per second. 

Very high up

The finance district

Long way down

Glass floor

It’s not for those nervous of heights. It’s extremely high up. You can see the entire city of Tokyo. You can even distinguish the different suburbs. On a clear day you can see Mt Fuji in the background. I squinted hard and convinced myself I could see the outline but I might have been imagining it. I spent a little while up here to make sure I got my money’s worth by looking at everything there was to see.

Pointy

That legendary crossing

As evening drew in I went to a junction but not just any junction. Rumored to be the busiest intersection in the world. No trip to Japan would be complete with at walking across Shibuya Crossing. It’s been a few films but for me, Resident Evil was the one I recognise it from. Fortunately, there was no infected girl in the middle that killed everyone whilst I was there.

What it used to look like

I sat in the window of Starbucks for a while watching the organised chaos below. There was nice picture in Starbucks of how Shibuya used to look before the boom. To be honest it still looked rather busy.

Arty picture

I treated myself to a Maccas whilst I waited for night to draw in, the lights to come and the madness that is rush hour to kick in. Then I returned to the Crossing to take some awesome pictures. It was fun just to watch all the people. Its crazy how busy it is, as I discovered when I attempted to get on a train back to the hostel.

Squashed

The woman on the right threw her whole bodyweight at the crowd to make sure she squeezed in. I, on the other hand, waited for the next one!

The future!

The next day it was time to say goodbye to Japan, and in fact Asia. Japan had come at the end of 6 months of backing through 13 different countries in South East and Eastern Asia. My only regret is that I didn’t get as involved in Japan as I could have down due to being a little tired of the travel.

Japan did win me over completely and is very high up on my favourite country list. There is a good mixture between new and old, modern and traditional and the people are fantastically friendly and very welcoming. I would love to return, in fact I mean to.

As far as my Asian Adventure is concerned, wow. What a mad mix of delights that turned out to be! Each country individually different but the madness, the charm and the friendly inhabitants is common across all the countries I visited. Travel has changed my life and non-more so than through my time in Asia. What a truly remarkable part of the world.

Its wouldn’t be long until I was home but there was just time for one last adventure in Europe with my good friend Dave.