One last time...

Well, I'm safely back in the UK after a long (13 hours) but bearable flight. I'm not too enthused, but what can you do?

I guess it's time for the last post on here, anyway. So here goes.

For my last full day, before I flew back, I decided to take a train from Osaka to Nara. I missed Nara the first time around, and it's thought of as being somewhere you HAVE to go when you are in Japan. This turned out to be true, and I'm glad I caught it (the Naruto whirlpools will just have to wait until next time, I guess).

Nara has a few main attractions, mostly clustered into the Nara-koen park area. The park is notable for two reason - firstly, it is huge, and secondly, it has a sizable population of sacred deer.

Within the park there are a whole bunch of both shrines and temples. I should probably point out the difference between the two, here - Buddhist places or worship are temples, Shinto are shrines. They often look similar, but Shinto shrines usually have one or more Torii gates at the entrance, which are simple structures with two cross bars and two vertical pillars. Buddhist temples, on the other hand, usually have much more substantial gate structures. The two are often on the same plot of land, however, so it is often difficult to tell them apart...


5-storey pagoda


Temple to which the pagoda is attached (I think) - not sure of the name, though


A few of the many deer in the park


I had my lunch here - note the Shinto shrine Torii gate in the background


A deer in the same stream

One of the major attractions (arguably THE main one, in fact) in Nara is the Daibutsuden hall at the Todai-ji temple, which is the world's largest wooden structure, and contains the world's largest indoor Buddha. This thing is SPECTACULAR.


One of the entrance gates to the Todai-ji temple


The Daibutsuden hall itself - undeniably an awesome sight


The Daibutsu Buddha inside the hall - each of it's fingers are about the size of a person


There are also a smattering of other temples and shrines, such as this one (name unknown)


Part of the beautiful (and very famous) Kasuga Taisha shrine


The shrine contains a huge number of lanterns, donated by various followers

...and with that, it comes to an end. I got back to Osaka, I packed my bags. I went for a huge blowout meal in a nice Yakiniku (Mongolian BBQ) restaurant. Then I got up at 5am the next morning, boarded a plane at Kansai airport, and here I am.

I'm sad to be back, without a doubt. This was made clear when I had to queue for about the first time in 3 months to RE-ENTER MY OWN COUNTRY. Wonderful.

But enough complaining. I will be back to Japan, hopefully sooner rather than later. I still have so many things to see and do, and things and people I want to see again.

James Bond will return in...

The journey back (and back to Beppu)

This will probably be my last blog entry from Japan, unless I post one on my last night in Osaka.

Since my last entry I've been travelling from Toyako Onsen, via Hakodate, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima and finally to Beppu (where I am now). I have to be back in Osaka to fly back on the 28th (I have a hotel booked there for that night) but I have a friend in Beppu who I wanted to see before I left. So, despite it being quite a trek, here I am...

Anyway, on my way down I spent a couple of days in Sendai. There isn't that much to see there, but with beautiful coastline so near, you can easily kill a few days.

My first day I decided to go and see the coast, which is contains thousands of small, rocky islands, each covered in wind-shaped trees. It is apparently "One of the 3 most beautiful places in Japan". Sadly, late May sees the beginning of Japan's brief rainy season, and I was caught underneath a terrific thunderstorm right as I was eating my lunch on the beach. On the plus side, this made for some quite spectacular seas...





The next day was thankfully much drier. I took a look at two of Sendai's most important historical sights - the Zuihoden Mausoleum (for the old domain lord of Sendai, Date Masamune, and following members of the Date clan), and Sendai Castle (which is mostly no longer there).

The mausoleum is a collection of beautiful old buildings set in the woods, such as...





From the site of Sendai Castle, the view over the city is quite spectacular (and even better with hawks circling overhead).



There's a famous statue of Date Masamune on horseback near this viewpoint. Note the Date clan emblem on the helmet...



...which you can see on what is, I believe, his original armour...



There's also quite a sizable shrine on the castle site.



Taking the bus back from the site of the castle to Sendai station, we got stuck in VERY heavy traffic. The bus was about 40 mins late getting to the station. The reason for this became obvious as we neared the station...





I think this was the Aoba-dori Festival (although what it's in aid of, I don't know). It was worth my getting off the bus at the station and backtracking for, anyway.





From Sendai I moved onto Nagoya. I went through Nagoya more through neccessity than anything else, but I met up with some friends I made there the first time, which was nice.

From Nagoya I got another bus down to Hiroshima. Again, I had done most of the sights in Hiroshima, but one exception was Hiroshima-jo castle (also known as 'Carp Castle'), so I made a point of going to see it.

Unlike Sendai Castle, Hiroshima-jo is actually still there. Well ok, it's a ferro-concrete reproduction, since it was totally destroyed in 1945, but it's quite attractive nonetheless.







The last image for today is a quick one I took on the ferry from Hiroshima to Beppu. Technically the journey was by bus, but the bus is loaded onto a small ferry which travels through the Inland Sea area. The Inland Sea is full of tiny islands, as well as being full of busy shipping lanes. The short boat ride through there was really quite interesting.



So anyway, right now I am in Beppu (again). I leave here tomorrow, probably on a night bus bound for Osaka, if there is one. Staying in Osaka, the only thing I have left to do is to get the train across to the island of Shikoku - the only one of the 4 major islands I haven't visited yet. There's not a huge amount there (unless you want to do the traditional 88 Temples pilgrimmage, which takes months...) but there are some whirlpools off the coast of the town of Naruto which I hope to see, plus the world's longest suspension bridge (which I mentioned a while back).

And from there...back to the UK. Ah well...

Take care everyone,
James

Toyako Onsen

With less than 2 weeks to go (I can't quite believe it) my time in Hokkaido is drawing to a close. I wish I could spend longer here, but the limitations of public transport really restrict what you can do.

Anyway, before I leave here there is time to see one last volcano. I knew I wanted to head to the Toyako Onsen area, but I had no idea quite how interesting it would be, and how nice the area would be, too.

Toyako Onsen is, as the name suggests, an onsen (hot spring) resort area. Why does it have so many onsen? Because it is right next to an active volcano. It doesn't even have the good fortune, like Kagoshima and Sakurajima, to be across a stretch of water - the town of Toyako Onsen is right at the foot of the mountain.

Om the other side of the town is Lake Toya, a classic caldera lake (the 3rd largest in Japan, apparently) with a small cluster of extinct volcanic peaks in the centre. In the background you can see another perfect cinder-cone known locally as Hokkaido's Fuji (the shape is almost the same perfect cone).


The view across Lake Toya.

As you can see, when I arrived, the weather was great. It didn't hold. The one day I had to explore the area, it rained. A lot. Ah well.

The volcano next to the town is called Mt. Usu (Usuzan). It's erupted 8 times since 1663, and 4 times in about the last 100 years. The last eruption was in 2000. The next is predicted to be around the year 2020.

When Usuzan erupts, it has a particular pattern. First comes about 32 hours or longer of frequent earthquakes, followed by ground deformation, and then the eruption itself. This means evacuation is usually able to be carried out before the eruption begins, and so people living in the town don't seem to mind.

The other pattern shown by Usuzan is that the location of the eruption changes each time, and that eruptions from the summit itself are quite rare. In 1943, a farmer at the foot of the mountain noticed a bump forming in his field. Within 2 years, a 400m high mountain had formed, now known as Showa Shinzan.

As this occurred during the war, the government were keen to keep the new mountain a secret, since they believed it could be taken as an unlucky wartime omen, and so proper scientific measurements couldn't be kept. The local postmaster, Masao Mimatsu, bought the volcano. He kept records of its growth using methods he devised himself, and which are now considered to be standard practise.


Showa Shinzan


Another shot of Showa Shinzan, with a statue of postmaster Masao Mimatsu at the bottom


View down on Showa Shinzan from the top of Usuzan


Masao Mimatsu's diagram of the growth of the mountain

Usuzan erupted again in 1978-79, this time from the summit. A large crater was formed, and volcanic mudflows (lahars) caused extensive damage to the town below. A huge ash column formed and pyroclasts and volcanic bombs rained down below.


The crater at the peak of Usuzan, formed by the '78-79 eruption


Lava dome at the peak


View across Lake Toya from the top of Usuzan, showing the shape of the caldera lake

In 2000, Usuzan erupted again. This time it erupted from the western flank, creating new craters deforming the land as it had in previous eruptions. Mudflows once again did massive damage, volcanic bombs rained down on the tow, and ground deformation left roads unusable.


Truck damaged by ashfall and volcanic bombs from the 2000 eruption

Much of the damage caused by this eruption has been preserved along a few walkable 'promenades' in the area, which are surely unlike anything else you'll find elsewhere.

The Nishiyamagawa promenade shows the damage caused by mudflows.


I think this may have been an onsen building, but I'm not sure


Apartment building - mudflows entered as far as the second floor


This bridge was washed downstream by the lahar


Overview of the whole area

The Nishiyama Crater promenade takes you around the actual site of the 2000 eruption. The eruption occured right next to a major local road, which was thankfully not in use since the evacuation had been completed on time.


The old road leading towards where the new crater formed (steam column is coming from the crater)


Apparently the road was uplifted a total of 50m by the ground deformation


Proof that I was there, in the pouring rain. I had to walk 4km total there and back, plus 3km total along the boardwalk, so I was pretty wet.


Crater formed by the 2000 eruption


More of the still-steaming crater area


Building destroyed by ground deformation and volcanic bombs


...and more...


...and more...


This is what a volcanic bomb does to the roof of a bus


Elementary school near the eruption site


Volcanic bomb still stuck in the wall of the school

Unzen, Sakurajima and Aso were all spectacular in their own ways, but I think this area is surely the most impressive I've visited in Japan or elsewhere (arguably even above Yellowstone, in this regard).

As well as the volcano(es), which I knew were here, if not how impressive they were, this little town had a couple of other suprises up its sleeve.

Firstly, it turns out that the 2008 G8 Summit is being held here. It's interesting to see what a sudden influx of government money does to a small town, with solar panels and wind turbines everywhere to try to impress the visitors, and what appeared to be a brand new building for the summit itself. That said though, the place still had its small-town charm, which made a really nice change from cities like Tokyo, Sapporo and even Asahikawa.


Countdown clock to the 2008 Toyako G8 Summit

The second suprise was one you only see for 15 minutes. Every night, between about　March and October, a huge boat goes out onto the lake and launches a full fireworks display over the water. I have no idea why (it's not just a G8 thing) but it's certainly spectacular, and I caught it both nights I stayed there.


Fireworks over Lake Toya


More fireworks, obviously

And so there you have it - Lake Toya. Certainly one of the most suprisingly places I've been in Japan, and probably one of my favourites, too.

As I type this I'm in Hakodate, about the most southern city in Hokkaido, ready to catch a train further south back to Honshu tomorrow. I'll probably stay in Sendai a night or two, and see where I go from there, with an overall aim of heading back down to the Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe) within a week or so.

Anyway, until next time,
James