Despite it being winter here Ive tried to make the most out of my weekends in January - helping to pass the time between my brothers going home after their Christmas / New Years trip and Stuart coming back in late February to spend a month here with me - its been a great distraction
Weekend Trip to Mie Prefecture
I had two clips left of my Seishun-18-Kippu (Y11500 for 5 people / days or all you can ride JR local trains) after the boys went home so decided to go on a weekend trip mainly to see the illumination at Nabana-no-sato but had some time to visit some other things around the area while I was over in Mie prefecture.
Stuart and I will be going to Nagoya in March for a couple of nights to check out some local festivals so seeing as I had to change trains here anyway I decided it was a good chance to check out the layout of the town and how to get from the station to our ryokan (Japanese style hotel) as the reviews were amazing but it’s a little far from the station It was snowing when I trained through Maibara but beautiful sunny skies when I arrived in Nagoya and there was even a free university students performance going on at the Nagoya Noh Theatre so it was a nice afternoon
Headed out to Nabana-no-Sato (in Kuwana, Mie) and had time to relax and watch the sun set from the outdoor onsen (rotemburo, hot springs) they have there before meeting Tim and Mio at 6-ish to check out the illuminations. The ones around the lake were pretty but it wasn’t until we hit the tunnels of light (one white and one rainbow) and the “moving” blue LED sea with dolphins and backdrop of
Stayed at Mios place that night and had a delicious dinner, and breakfast the next morning, with her family. It was lovely to spend some time in a Japanese home just relaxing and chatting with them – such hospitality! Unfortunately all of the Mie CIRs that I had met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Presentation in November were all out of Mie that weekend so I got up early on Sunday morning and made my way down to Ise on my own.
Weekend Trip to Nagano Prefecture - 15/16 January
In the spirit of "making the most of winter" I decided some snow sports were in order. I hadnt been snowboarding since I was living here last time for uni in 2004-05 so it was well overdue, and perfect timing that Tim let me know about a group that was heading up snowboarding to coincide with a local fire festival at Nozawa Onsen and a side trip to check out the Snow Monkeys at Yudanaka.
So straight after work on Friday, 6 of us crammed out gear and ourselves into the car and headed towards the snow, and boy was it snowing. We arrived in Hakuba close to midnight and stayed over in a beautiful little cottage with the Christmas lights still up and awoke to a beautiful blanket of snow (and more falling)
My first morning snowboarding in over 6 years didnt go too badly (once I remembered how to get up). and did a couple of runs in the Toumi area and managed to turn okay and not spend too much time just sitting on the snow. If theres any sport that would teach you to always get up when you fall down it would be snowboarding though! After a couple of runs there Andy, Lashanda and I decided to ride the gondola up the mountain and the ride down was a little intense with a red run - labelled the "dynamic course" - the only way to get between two of the beginner green runs but made it though ;)
Saturday fternoon it was time to check out the Jigokudani Monkey Park. In winter some of the smaller roads in the area are closed so its a 1.6km walk from the carpark but it was beautiful and the moneys were great too. They were so used to people visiting while they took a bath that they practically ignored us and just went about their businesses, allowing for some great shots.
After visiting the monkeys we made our way to Nozawa Onsen for some dinner and the much anticipated Dosojin Fire Festival, It is one of the three most famous fire festivals in Japan and is held on Jan 15 every year to pray for a plentiful harvest, health and good fortune in the coming year. The main attraction is the battle between the guards and the torch-whelding villagers as they attempt to set the beech wood shrine on fire. Decorative lantern poles are also set on fire as an offering to the gods for the health and prosperity of the first born son of some families in the village.
Was a bit sore on Sunday morning but did a few runs at Nozawa, enjoyed an onsen, some quality kotatsu time and went to the information centre to pick up a few maps and things to send Stuart and before I knew it it was time to head home. Had a great time with an awesome group of people and it was nice to get back on a snowboard after so long - bring on the skiing in March.
So straight after work on Friday, 6 of us crammed out gear and ourselves into the car and headed towards the snow, and boy was it snowing. We arrived in Hakuba close to midnight and stayed over in a beautiful little cottage with the Christmas lights still up and awoke to a beautiful blanket of snow (and more falling)
My first morning snowboarding in over 6 years didnt go too badly (once I remembered how to get up). and did a couple of runs in the Toumi area and managed to turn okay and not spend too much time just sitting on the snow. If theres any sport that would teach you to always get up when you fall down it would be snowboarding though! After a couple of runs there Andy, Lashanda and I decided to ride the gondola up the mountain and the ride down was a little intense with a red run - labelled the "dynamic course" - the only way to get between two of the beginner green runs but made it though ;)
Saturday fternoon it was time to check out the Jigokudani Monkey Park. In winter some of the smaller roads in the area are closed so its a 1.6km walk from the carpark but it was beautiful and the moneys were great too. They were so used to people visiting while they took a bath that they practically ignored us and just went about their businesses, allowing for some great shots.
After visiting the monkeys we made our way to Nozawa Onsen for some dinner and the much anticipated Dosojin Fire Festival, It is one of the three most famous fire festivals in Japan and is held on Jan 15 every year to pray for a plentiful harvest, health and good fortune in the coming year. The main attraction is the battle between the guards and the torch-whelding villagers as they attempt to set the beech wood shrine on fire. Decorative lantern poles are also set on fire as an offering to the gods for the health and prosperity of the first born son of some families in the village.
Was a bit sore on Sunday morning but did a few runs at Nozawa, enjoyed an onsen, some quality kotatsu time and went to the information centre to pick up a few maps and things to send Stuart and before I knew it it was time to head home. Had a great time with an awesome group of people and it was nice to get back on a snowboard after so long - bring on the skiing in March.
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