Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [4]
Seishun Jūhachi Kippu – For ¥11,500, you get five one-day tickets good for travel on any regular Japan Railways train. You can literally travel from one end of the country to the other for around US$100. Click here.
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
TRAVEL LITERATURE
Travel books about Japan often end up turning into extended reflections on the eccentricities or uniqueness of the Japanese. One writer who did not fall prey to this temptation was Alan Booth. The Roads to Sata (1985) is the best of his writings about Japan, and traces a four-month journey on foot from the northern tip of Hokkaidō to Sata, the southern tip of Kyūshū. Booth’s Looking for the Lost – Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan (1995) was his final book, and again recounts walks in rural Japan. Booth loved Japan, warts and all, and these books reflect his passion and insight into the country.
* * *
JAPAN IN THE MOVIES
Here are a few excellent films to whet your appetite for your trip.
Marusa no Onna (A Taxing Woman; 1987) Director: Itami Jūzō
Tampopo (1987) Director: Itami Jūzō
Osōshiki (The Funeral; 1987) Director: Itami Jūzō
Minbo-no-Onna (The Anti-Extortion Woman; 1994) Director: Itami Jūzō
Tōkyō Monogatari (Tokyo Story; 1953) Director: Ōzu Yasujirō
Maboroshi no Hikari (Maborosi; 1995) Director: Koreeda Hirokazu
Nijushi-no-Hitomi (Twenty Four Eyes; 1954) Director: Kinoshita Keisuke
Lost in Translation (2003) Director: Sofia Coppola
Rashomon (1950) Director: Kurosawa Akira
Okuribito (Departures; 2008) Director: Takita Yojiro
MOST BEAUTIFUL SIGHTS IN JAPAN
Japan is all about pockets of beauty. It’s unfair to single out just a few, but here’s a list of some chart toppers.
Cherry blossoms in Kyoto – slow pink explosions? Stationary rose-coloured clouds? The English language reveals its poverty when confronted with Kyoto’s cherry blossoms.
Saihō-ji Click here – is there a garden more beautiful than the one at Kyoto’s Saihō-ji temple (otherwise known as Koke-dera or ‘Moss Temple’)?
Bamboo dancing on a hillside – you’ll see it from the shinkansen (bullet train) or when you’re hiking in the hills.
Yaeyama-shotō Click here – the reefs around Iriomote-jima are as colourful as a Kyoto geisha’s kimono.
Kerama-shotō Click here – we like our sand white, our water gin-clear and our coral colourful.
Japan Alps – there is a sanctuary in the heart of the Japan Alps that will give any part of New Zealand a run for its money.
Daitoku-ji Click here – there are 24 temples and subtemples here and countless gardens; it’s pointless to pick a favourite – just go see for yourself.
DON’T LEAVE JAPAN WITHOUT TRYING THESE FOODS
Even experienced travellers will be amazed by the sheer diversity, quality and tasty goodness of Japanese food. A note to our vegetarian readers: most of these foods contain meat or fish, but we’ve included two items that contain no meat, fish or dairy products. For more on Japanese food, Click here.
Good sushi – not automatic sushi, the proper sit-down-and-order type.
Unagi – eel cooked the Japanese way and served over rice is one of the finer things in life.
Wa-gyū – Kōbe beef is only the most famous of the many types of Japanese beef.
Kaiseki – our apologies to the French, but there is simply no food on earth more refined than kaiseki (haute cuisine) – especially when you take into account the utensils, plates and setting.
Rāmen – no, not the plastic packets of the stuff you take hiking – the real item served from steaming vats by a guy wearing a headband.
Shōjin-ryōri – Japan’s Buddhist vegetarian cuisine may win over a few carnivores; a good place to try it is at Kōya-san Click here, in Kansai.
Okonomiyaki – the so-called ‘Japanese pizza’ is both delicious and fun (since you help in making it).
* * *
A more recent account of a trek across the length of Japan is Craig McLachlan’s enjoyable Four Pairs of Boots