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Those mist pictures remind me of driving through the mountains in Japan (I don't recall which area, had to be at least 20 years ago), and staying at various onsens. We were in some park full of jagged black volcanic rocks, and the clouds moved in low. I remember the fog was so dense, I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of my face. I wish I could figure out where it was, so I could take my wife and kid(s) there.
If you were on Honshu, possibly near the Manza Highway in Gunma.
Plenty of touge and onsen there, and we've been touring there a number of times...
@various cheeses
Edit to above: if you were visiting Tokyo, quite possible you were also in Hakone, a much popular tourist destination, and also as you describe...
Continuing South to our first destination, the merchant town Sekijuku.
Warning signs often get inventive, adding human attributes to animals and inanimate objects.
Here, we are warned about Pressure Driving ('road rage' in the West) in an SA toilet, and to call the police if needed.
Arriving in Sekijuku, we asked where it was OK to park, and a local gentleman instead took us to his shop-house and insisted we accept one of his kokishi collection.
That she was wearing a kimono with a minka print made the random gift very special...
The town is still filled with Meiji-era shop-houses, storage kura, inns, temples, and a few large merchant houses.
With many now cafe, restaurants, and rest places, you can easy spend a day wandering the streets.
Parking in a mid-1800s village though, wasn't a problem.
We supposed no one cared in these Covid-19 days.
This Showa-era barber was nestled between two Meiji shop-houses.
Though closed for Covid-19, a road station had a number of kyusha prominently displayed.
These are a Hino-built Renault 4CV and a Datsun of some sort.
Both on their period license plates.
These are active homes in the non-tourist part of town, that leads off to one of the many touge in the area.
Curious collection on one property.
Many places were open mid-week, and everyone was wearing masks and properly washing hands.
One of the many kura (storehouse) in the backstreets.
Setting the navi to plot our next touge in the misty mountains.
Ex-drug store window, and one of those characters - likely a drug store / company mascot with a cute name and well-known to such otaku.
Seems like some of those areas would be spooky after midnight.
Indeed!
In Japan though, we prefer to call that 'romantic after midnight'.
The ghosts of samurai possibly being the only real threat...
Here's a vid of the Suzuka Touge we took into the mountains to the North-West of Sekijuku.
Curiously, a lot of our weather this tour was similar to this:
Before we left Honshu, we visited Kurashiki and Okayama castle.
The islands of the Seto Inland Sea are connected by a series of bridges, and touring their coastal roads makes for a great day's driving.
Many cafe and restaurants dot the coasts, so it is easy to find refreshments and something to eat...
We stopped at one cafe for lunch, overlooking the sea.
The near empty roads, with smooth surfaces and clear views into the corners allowed some decent safe driving.
It was in Gunma prefecture as it turns out. Onioshidashi Volcanic Park.
Great stuff... Gunma has an amazing range of places to explore; the volcanoes, hidden valleys, old mining towns, and of course some amazing touge - notably some inspiration for manga and anime.
Here's a couple of photographs from previous excursions.
The first one is a gas station on Asama-yama, one of the volcano, that was abandoned after ash killed everything around.
The other is an old turbine hall, built perhaps in the late 1890s.
Excuse the diversion, Porsche content to resume shortly.
Neko
Some spectacular bridges, connecting the Seto Islands.
More coast roads.
Plenty of near-empty roads, and no yellow line - allowing easy passing of any kei-cars or trucks trundling around.
We also saw a number of other 911s, and more than a few Honda S660 and S2000 for some reason...
Relatively pristine - for Japan - beaches.
Meiji-era ferry station, still in use to connect some of the smaller islands.
We overnighted in a cabin on the shore of Omishima (one of the larger islands) and this was our view out the window when we awoke.
In parallel, we've always wondered if the 911 used by police to patrol the expressways were in wide use, or just publicity stunts (like Lamborghini in Italy), but we saw this pic recently - coincidentally from the areas we were touring - and its RHD, not a match with the most common 911 police pic on circulation.
Incidentally, expressway police continue to use high performance coupe and saloons, including GT-R, RX-8 (now gone), WRX, and the ubiquitous V8 Crowns...
Leaving the Seto Islands, we drove onto Shikoku...
Originally Posted by Liongolfer
Thanks again for taking us along on your travels. I really enjoy this thread.
Originally Posted by TheTorch
terrific thread. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Thanks folks.
We feel a bit guilty though, as we had scheduled the tour South to coincide with lockdown relaxation, and some places are back in lockdown again AND the same week this happened (from The Guardian):
Due to a stationary cold front, and with global heating more and more prevalent, Japan has been subjected to record rains for over a week.
Nearly 100 have died, with many buried in landslides or drowned as swollen rivers burst.
You can see why so many places are subjected to landslide risks, with homes wedged between the mountains and the rice fields.
This scene is repeated all over Japan.
Though we were driving West across Shikoku into the rains, we managed to avoid the massive torrents, but still had to cope with heavy rains and treacherous roads.
When the weather was clear though, the views are spectacular, and the locals very friendly to tourists these days.
We overnighted in a late Meiji-era machiya, in Uchiko - a post and merchant town in Ehime-ken.
The Cayman splattered in mud and brake dust tracks all over the wheels.
The street we stayed in.
Local houses.
Drama on the road, courtesy of Nexco (the expressway operator).
Unlike the 3/11 tsunami, where we spent time volunteering, because of Covid-19 only local residents are permitted to help with the cleanup.
We will however plan another trip South to spend money as part of the 'Go To' travel campaign... as although disaster tourism isn't encouraged in Japan, travelling to impacted areas after the cleanup is encouraged.
You can even pay your national taxes, with online purchases from disaster declared areas.
Leaving the coast, we drove into the mountains, with a few touge mapped.
These roads too were mostly deserted, with just a few farmer kei and logging trucks.
Our destination was deep in the mountains, where a number of minka have been reformed with modern conveniences, but still retain their thatched roof and period layouts.
Some of the passes were only one lane, and many had a system of lights to warn the location of oncoming traffic, as there was nowhere to pass on many stretches.
With the weather clearing, the views were spectacular.
One of the mountain minka sets, now available for renting.
Self contained, they sleep at least six, and have heated floors, air-conditioning, modern kitchens and showers.
The minka on the left is the same configuration and construction as ours, and dates from a similar time in the late Meiji-era.
Now livable too, the building on the right was likely a naya for farm animals and storage originally.
The minka we had booked was even further into the mountains, and at the end of a single lane road.
We sat outside with toast and coffee for breakfast.
Here's a vid on one of the touge in the area:
Really loving this and living Japan vicariously through you. What's the Tsunami like glass sculpture at the end of the vid?
Thanks!
They are making tesukiwashi (hand-made paper).
Making washi requires flowing, really cold water, thus it is often found in mountain areas.
Like much in traditional Japan, it is not a manufacturing process, but an art.
Tedious and expensive these days, but beautiful.
Really amazing. Thank you for sharing. I've only been to Tokyo like most tourist but when this covid thing finally goes away hopefully in a couple of years and time permits, I must take time to visit some of these local places.
On the tesuki washi process, it's really nice to see the passion and hand made arts still surviving in today's highly automated AI world. It reminds me of a gentleman watch maker George Daniels who made such detailed and complicated time pieces by hand that you would imagine only possible with some expensive AI driven surgical CNC.
07-05-2020, 11:25 PM
