I want to tell you about my recent, too-short escape from the horror that is Tokyo in the rainy season.
It's hot and humid. Freezing air-conditioning is the only relief. Business attire sticks to the body as soon as you leave an A/C room. When it rains, you get wet from the outside instead. An umbrella only keeps your head dry. Shoes, skirt/pants, sleeves - all are soaked in the 10-minute walk from the station to my home. Everyone is tired and cranky.
Last Sunday night we had the latest in a long string of going-away parties. On Monday morning I had an early shift, which was not fun. I felt like everyone was shouting and the bells announcing the beginning and end of classes were designed to split my skull. I was OK by lunchtime but what I really needed was a good night's sleep. And I already knew that's exactly what I wasn't going to get...
...because I had a very early flight to Sapporo, on Hokkaido (the North Island) in the morning. It left at 6:20 but it takes 1 1/2 hours to get to Haneda Airport from my local station and the first train wouldn't be early enough. So I went home, had supper, packed, and took a nap. Then I got up and, with my Aussie friend Denise, set off to catch the last train to Ikebukuro - our nearest station on the line that rings the city. There we joined Lindsay and Chieko (English & Japanese respectively) who were going with us.
We looked around for a cheap all-night karaoke place and a large rat ran in front of us in a sidestreet. Yuk! We found a cheap family restaurant instead. They were open until 3am, so we had some snacks and stayed until we were kicked out. We still couldn't find a karaoke place that was cheap enough to spend an hour in, so we spread Chieko's plastic picnic sheets on some dirty concrete benches and sat there for an hour or so. At that hour of the night, there are lots of people in suits, waiting for the first train home after a hard night of drinking away their sorrows. Also, the next day was a national holiday (Marine Day), which probably explains why there were so many of them!
In case I haven't mentioned it before, Japan doesn't use daylight savings time so by 5am it's already broad daylight. We caught the 4:26 around the Yamanote loop and hopped on the monorail to Haneda. We got our boarding passes and headed for the plane. It was an All-Nippon Airways (ANA) flight, and there was a camera in the cockpit to show the view as we taxied down the runway. After takeoff it switched to a view down at the ground speeding past below us. It slowed gradually as we got further above it.
Then I fell asleep. I must have looked like one of those people I always see dozing on the trains - almost leaning on my neighbour to the right, an unknown Japanese man.
When we arrived at New Chitose Airport, we had some breakfast and set about renting a car. Then we drove off in the direction of Furano. None of us had international driver's licences, so poor Chieko had to do all the driving.
On the way to Furano, we passes a field full of some other purple flowers. Irises. We stopped to take some photos and saw a billboard advertising "Canadian World - 30kms". The artwork looked a bit odd until I worked out that it was a hat and two ribbons - a la Anne of Green Gables. (Have I ever mentioned that I saw postcards from Prince Edward Island for sale in a Tokyo dept store?!) Anyway, we did NOT visit Canadian World so I can't tell you much about it. Maybe next time...
In Furano, we found lavender, sunflowers, and many other colours all arranged in broad bands of bright colours across the fields and hills. The biggest one is a ski field in winter, and you can ride up to the top on the chair lift if you want. We also found huge traffic jams - all of Hokkaido had the day off and came to see the lavender!
That night we were exhausted. We looked for one of Sapporo's famous ramen (noodle) shops but couldn't choose one so we had regular set meals instead. Then we fell asleep, although not before I learned that green tea contains enough caffeine to keep even an exhausted person awake for a while.
In the morning we set off for Shikotsu-Touya National Park. It's only about 60kms from Sapporo, so we spent the day there. We drove around Lake Shikotsu (Lake Touya is on the other side of the park) and explored a beautiful moss-lined gorge. The ground looks like a riverbed - maybe this is where the snow melts down to in springime. I was surprised to see many Japanese women visiting there wearing city dress shoes - the sand and climbing around over rocky steps and branches can't be good for them. The shoes, I mean. But Japan has more than it's fair share of fashion victims. The latest fad amongst older women is punk-coloured hair. Imagine a puffy, dignified white perm. Now imagine it in purple or crimson. Or emerald green.
Then we went to Mt Tarumae, an active volcano. We drove up to the 7th station (don't ask about the other 6 or if there's an 8th, I have no idea) and started hiking. Where there weren't steps it was difficult because the stones there are pumice - ground up small and very slippery. It was OK for me because I just treated it like ice, but poor Denise, from tropical Queensland with flat sneakers and no ice-walking experience, had a hard time of it. But getting to the top was very rewarding.
Actually, we didn't get right to the top. When we reached the top of the ridge we were climbing, around 1000m, there were no signs there telling us which way to go. Paths led off in several directions and, as Mt Tarumae is a rather active volcano, we didn't want to take the wrong one! So we headed back down, which was even more slippery and difficult than coming up.
Back in Sapporo, we stopped in the suburbs and drove up Mt Moiwa. There's an observation platform on top with billboards from famous moments on TV that have been filmed there. We waited for the sun to set and took lots of pictures of the mountains around the city. A low cloud came up to the mountain and the temperature dropped quickly. The sunset and scenery were beautiful - and the great photos were worth the wait.
We had dinner that evening at the beer garden in the main street/park in the city. We were joined by a very drunk man and his 15-year-old, even-drunker son. (The drinking age here is 20, I think.) When they saw our empty glasses, they gave us their full ones! They were very confused by Denise, whose parents are Chinese. Of course, she can't speak much Japanese (or Chinese!), but it takes a while to get the message across, especially when people are drunk.
The next day we went to Noboribetsu. It's famous for its onsen (spas) and bear park. We decided against the bear park, thinking it might be just a little too sad. We figured it would be a typical Japanese thing of big animals miserably living in tiny cages.
So first, we went to Lake Kuttara, a very beautiful lake surrounded by wooded hills. We sat on the dock of a boat house/restaurant for awhile and basked in the sunshine. Then we set off for Hell Valley.
Hell Valley is a very active geothermal area. The earth is red and ochre and sulphur-yellow. The water is grey and boiling. The steam smells foul! It is dramatically surrounded by cliffs, which are partly bare due to landslips, and partly green with trees. After the thermal areas I visited in NZ I was surprised that (a) the ground wasn't hot when I touched it and (b) so much "normal" green vegetation grew in the area. Amongst the steaming vents were patches of grass!
We drove through the village of Noboribetsu, with a quaint main street but full of high-rise hotels too. Outside of town we found the Sun-Child Ice Cream Shop on a farm road with a great view of the sea. There was an almost new-born kitten, a 2- or 3-month old kitten with its mother, a puppy, and a fawn. One of the women working there draped the poor thing over Lindsay's shoulder for a Kodak moment. The ice cream was good, though, and we arrived just ahead of a tour bus!
Our last stop was an onsen. The ones in the tourist area promised to be expensive, so we drove under the expressway to the seaside and found a little one for 300 yen. We washed at taps and poured water over ourselves with plastic bowls to rinse the soap/shampoo off. Then we got into the baths. They were VERY hot. Yet some old Japanese women, not to mention Chieko, just hopped right in. It took me a couple of minutes to get past my knees!
It was good to feel so refreshed for the flight home. We returned our car and had dinner at the airport. Then we went shopping for souvenirs - especially for people at home and work, a Japanese tradition. I went for boxes of chocolates made with famous Hokkaido milk - yummy!
When we landed in Tokyo it was about 11pm. The humidity hit us as soon as we stepped off the plane. It was summer bonus time so the train was not only full but also smelled strongly of alcohol being sweated through pores. Yuk.
The next day, someone hijacked a flight from Haneda to Sapporo and killed the pilot. He wanted to prove that the security at Haneda is no good. Think he made his point...
I'm getting used to Tokyo again now. But I loved Hokkaido and am seriously considering asking for a transfer...
Copyright Ailsa Wylie 1999