Duds and Suds!

When taking a longer trip, there are housekeeping tasks that one must take care of that are unnecessary on a shorter trip. One of these is laundry.

In an effort to travel as light as possible for our trip to Japan, I brought just enough clothes to last about a week between washes. I can go a bit longer by washing t-shirts and undies out in the sink a few times. But sooner or later, you need a washing machine for a thorough cleaning.

Such was the situation on our second to last day in Nagano, about 10 days into our trip. Apple Maps suggested a laundromat just 700 meters away, so we packed up all our soiled clothes into a bag and headed out.

The laundromat was a separate room inside a hotel, accessible by a dedicated entrance. There was only one other person in there. Most of the machines were available.

The laundry room itself, like every other public space in Japan, was incredibly clean. All the equipment looked so new, it could have been installed the previous day.

I thought the smallest washer could handle everything the two of us had so we threw everything into the machine and then pondered how to operate it — the instructions on the front of the machine were only in Japanese.

Using the Apple Translate program on our iPhones we managed to decode the various buttons, but where to insert the coins and start the cycle? There appeared to be a coin slot but it was covered with a bit of laminated paper over the slot with a hand pointing to the right.

Pay over there.

It was Barbara who figured out that you pay and start the wash from a central station in the center of the back wall. Again using my iPhone to translate, we put in the number of our washer, selected the type of cycle and water temperature, and paid for the load using my Suica transit card on my Apple Watch. No need to bring or buy detergent, which is included and automatically dispensed at the right time. No yucky compartments with old gummy detergent to disturb your wa.

The cost for the whole thing was 1200 Yen ($7.75), which seemed reasonable for wash, dry, and soap. Not having to find a fist full of quarters as we usually do on our laundry days while traveling in the U.S. was an added bonus.

The “Multi Cashier” takes bank notes, coins, IC Transit Cards, credit cards, debit cards, and Apple Pay. No traveler’s checks!

We completed the transaction and like magic, our washer on the other side of the room started filling with water. That’s when we noticed the detailed English instructions right there on the wall! There was also an option to set the payment machine to English that we had overlooked.

Another option we had missed was to automatically clean the drum of the machine before putting in our clothes thus ensuring a hygienic machine. Notwithstanding, the machine was already spotless inside.

Because of course there are instructions in English!

One machine both washes and dries your clothes, and a timer counts down to the end of the cycle. We had 55 minutes so we were able to walk around taking pictures of manhole covers while the machine did its thing. No need to return to move the clothes from a washer to a dryer. So civilized!

Nearby “I’m Waiting” cafe is a perfect spot to “do some writings” while you wait. Or don your clean duds in the “powder room” once the washing is complete.

We returned just as the laundry finished then folded our immaculately clean clothes.

Laundry is not the most exciting activity while traveling but there is something satisfying figuring out how to do it and getting it done on the road. Longer travel is like that. Yes, there are sights to see and yes there are unique things to taste and experience but traveling on your own for more than a week or two means a closer encounter with ‘real life’ in all its beauty and banality. To really begin to understand a place one must take subways and public buses. One must bicycle through traffic. One must get up early and run through a city while people are commuting to work, or figure out where to buy a bottle of contact lens solution. And yes, one must find a place to wash one’s dirty clothes.

I’ve visited many a laundromat in my time on this planet and I can honestly say the one in the Apa Hotel in Nagano is the nicest by far.

Clean socks never smelled sweeter.

The world’s a narrow bridge; fear nothing.

Ainu and Onsen

It was the first time I’d felt cold since we arrived in Japan. When we stepped out of our hotel in Hakodate to visit the Museum of the Northern People (Ainu) there was a brisk wind blowing. The temperate was about 5 C but it felt much colder. At least the rain had stopped. It was only a few km to the museum but we decided to take transit. It was a straight shot on the streetcar, which was easier to navigate than the Tokyo Subway. As in Tokyo, each stop had a number for the line (e.g. “N”) and a number which goes up or down depending on which direction you are going. This means that even if you get on a tram going the wrong way, you will realize it in one stop.

The museum told a familiar story. The indigenous people of this region were originally met with friendship and opportunities to trade, but as more Japanese people came from the mainland, the Ainu were oppressed, forbidden to practice their traditions or speak their language, and forced to try and assimilate. It is a story as old as people.

The Ainu people still exist but they face economic challenges and probably discrimination like minority people everywhere.

After the museum we headed off to find a vegetarian restaurant we found online. It was about a km walk but when we got there, it was closed (this happens to us a lot!). So back to the street car. By the time we got to it, our ears ached with the cold.

We decided this would best be a “dine in” night so on the way back we popped into a “Combi” (convenience store) for rice balls, sandwiches, snacks, and little bottles of saki (rice wine) that is cheap and excellent.

A tree grows in Hakodate.

The next morning dawned cold but clear. The wind had settled down, so as we had a few hours before our train to Sapporo, we took a look around town. It was early and most things were closed. The town felt deserted and somewhat eerie after the teeming hustle of Tokyo.  We picked up a few more rice balls for the train and headed back to the hotel to pack up.

We were staying at a hotel branded “Four Points Flex by Sheraton.” It’s part of the Marriott system, which I like because of points, but this is their budget brand in Japan. The rooms are tiny but as usual everything was immaculately clean. Clean and a bathroom in the room. What else do you need?  The cost was under $50 a night!

The train ride to Sapporo was slower and so almost as long as the trip from Tokyo to Hakodate. There is no Shinkansen that runs to Sapporo so we had to take the Express train. Notwithstanding, it was a very pleasant ride with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. Unlike in Tokyo, up here the leaves had already started to change and we were treated to a beautiful show of “autumn’s muted madras.”

Anthropomorphic octopus is excited to be eaten by you!

Sapporo is a huge city! It is the 5th largest in Japan and home to about 2 million people. There are several subway lines. Arriving at the main train station we had to take one of the lines 3 stops to our hotel. After checking in, we strolled through a beautiful park right next door where hundreds of people were taking in the fall colors. After sundown, we found an elegant restaurant called “Farm to Table” that served a number of beautifully prepared vegetarian dishes like grilled vegetables, spring rolls, and also cod in a creamy sauce. Everything was delicious.

Our hotel offered a fabulous breakfast buffet and had given us coupons that lowered the cost so we decided to try it. A mix of western and Japanese items meant something for everyone. I had some grilled fish and eggs and also a large salad, which I’d been missing, and some smoked salmon. Barbara, who is not a big fan of fish for breakfast, stuck with eggs and some of the vegetable and potato items. (A few days later we noticed a large contingent of Indian business people staying at the hotel, and the breakfast that morning featured new selections of south Indian dishes. It was as if the hotel staff knew and catered to the particular demographic of the guests!)

Why, yes. Don’t mind if I do!

After breakfast it was time to meet up with Jun who would be picking us up for our mountain biking and spa day.

When we stepped out side, he was already waiting in a Honda minivan with three bikes attached. As we climbed in and buckled up we asked how many others he was picking up.

“It’s just you,” he replied.

It took us about an hour to get where we were going. As previously mentioned Sapporo is a big city and with the traffic it took time to get to the mountains. It was also pretty far. As we gained a little altitude, there was evidence of a recent snowfall on the ground. We parked in the lot at an Onsen (hot spring bath) and headed out on the bikes.

Ready to hit the trails! Glad we brought those gloves!

So it turns out that “mountain biking” meant riding ON mountain bikes. It did not mean going off road on trails. But that was actually fine with me. I’ve never really been mountain biking and I had had visions of barreling down trails at 40 km per hour and cracking my skull open.

This was very mellow.

Japan is an archipelago of islands created by volcanic activity over millions of years and there is still a lot of geothermic activity going down — volcanoes, earthquakes, and in some places steam and hot water flow out of the ground. The land beneath your feet is unquiet.

We rode down to the village where a large collection of Onsen Hotels has grown up around the huge number of hot springs. You can see the steam emerging from various points in the ground. We biked through a number of parks and again the trees were stunning in their fall colors. Then we biked back up the hill to the Onsen where we parked for a shvitz and lunch.

Japanese have a strict protocol about what you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to behave in the Onsen. I had expected a tutorial in advance from our guide but he simply had us pay our fee (1,000 yen or $6.50), handed us our washcloths, and said he’d meet us downstairs when we were finished in an hour.

There was a laminated card of instructions in the lobby but unfortunately, I didn’t see it until after I had bathed.

Make sure to review and follow all the rules when experiencing Onsen for the first time.

The sexes are separate, which makes sense since everyone is completely in the buff, so I headed for the men’s side. I was mortified that I’d make a mistake so I tried to observe what other guys were doing in the locker room but not too closely because, well it’s a locker room.

I knew that you were supposed to be meticulously clean before going into the bath but there were no showers in sight, just a sink, so I was stumped.

I tried to wipe down at the sink as best I could but it seemed insufficient and pointless. Other men were heading into the bath area without preparation so I followed them in.

The showers were in the room with the bath! Along the wall was a row of spigots and handheld shower sprayers with little plastic chairs to sit on. Each “station” had a giant shampoo and a soap dispenser and the pre-bathers were going to town scrubbing themselves to a state of pristine cleanliness.

My only faux pas (that I am aware of) is that you are supposed to take your shower sitting down on the plastic stool, as I realized later, not standing up as I did. But either no one noticed or was too polite to correct me.

After a through scraping down to my primer coat, I got into the bath.

The baths are fed from the local springs and they are hot! I didn’t have a thermometer but I’d guess they were about 105-110 F or about 40-43 C. Maybe a wee bit more. There is one spot where the hot water pours into the pool from a spout so you can kinda of control your temperature by moving closer or farther from the spout. I got as far from the spout as I could and it was still plenty hot.

Nothing except your immaculately clean body is supposed to go in the water and that includes your washcloth which you are required to have with you at all times. That means there is only one thing to do with the washcloth and that is put it on your head, which is exactly what everyone does. The only foreign object permitted in the water is your locker key, which goes on your wrist with an elastic band.

I stayed in the bath for about 20 minutes, after which time I thought I’d likely have a stroke if I didn’t get out. There was an outside part too but I didn’t think I could tolerate the heat any longer and felt I’d had enough. I had sprung for the purchase of a bath towel to dry off (an extra $3.50) which you are encouraged to keep and take home. But I already had a travel towel and no room in my bag for another so I left it in the bin. I don’t know if they toss them or reuse them. Likewise, I returned the washcloth.  Opening my locker with the key, which fortunately had the number on it as I had forgotten which locker was mine, I got dressed and went back downstairs to meet up with Jun and Barb.

Seemingly not one for small talk, Jun didn’t want to join us for lunch so he helped us order ours and then went to wait in the car. The food was Indian style curry and naan (surprisingly) and there were several tasty vegetarian dishes. We had one with eggplant and tomatoes and the other was mixed vegetables. The dining area was traditional Japanese style, sitting on the floor on cushions and eating at low tables. The walls were huge glass windows looking out into a beautiful garden with streams and trees.

After lunch, Jun shuttled us back to Sapporo and our hotel. Jun seemed like a very nice, gentle man but, we had realized, didn’t speak a lot of English. He played the radio while we were driving and didn’t seem to care to engage in conversation. That was fine with me. The hot water and hot meal (not to mention the bike ride) had made me sleepy and I was happy to doze as we made our way back through rush hour traffic.

Autumn in Hokkaido, why does it feel so inviting?

With lunch so late and sunset early, skipping dinner seemed prudent. Besides we had another early morning the next day heading to a local park to see the geothermals up close and personal. We were also supposed to go to a bear ranch, whatever that was. This tour would not be picking us up; we’d have to meet the group at Sapporo main train station so we’d need to be up bright and early to get the subway back downtown. Again, I had a feeling of gratitude for the Japanese system of flawless public transport — comprehensive, affordable, and intuitively easy to use.

We’d allow an hour to get there but I knew we’d be early. We wouldn’t have time for breakfast but we’d grab some tuna sandwiches and rice balls at the combi.

About a week into our trip, we were starting to feel we were getting the hang of traveling in Japan. It was easier than we’d imagined.

Checking out the geothermal activity in Shikotsu-Toya National Park, Hokkaido, Japan.

The world’s a narrow bridge; fear nothing.

Shinkansen!

I first heard about Japan’s super fast “bullet trains” some time in the mid-1960s. I think there was a documentary on PBS about their construction. As a young boy I was fascinated by trains of any kind, and the faster the better. It would be more than 50 years, however, before I would step on board on and take a ride. It happened this week.

The online booking system for the Japanese Railway system, JR, is a bit complicated — all the more so because there are multiple lines in Japan and each is owned by a different company. If you are in Tokyo and want to go to Kyoto, you’d use a certain website to book your seat. If you want to go to Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in the north, it’s a different website.

Sitting at home, trying to book a ticket for a railway I had never seen was even more daunting. But eventually, I figured it out and booked two tickets from Tokyo to Hakodate where the line ends, and then two more from Hakodate to Sapporo. There didn’t seem to be a way book a ticket all the way through. That was fine however. It is a pretty long journey all the way to Sapporo, around 9 hours, so it seemed sensible to break it up and stay overnight in Hakodate at the very southern tip of Hokkaido.

I also managed to link our tickets to our transit cards on our Apple Watches so that we’d be able to just tap into the fare gate and tap out again. No paper tickets needed.

It was just 3 stops on the subway from our hotel in Kinshichō to Tokyo Station. We allowed plenty of time but it was rush hour. Perhaps you have seen or heard stories of the Tokyo metro at rush hour? Yes, just like that. We (and our backpacks) were crammed like the proverbial sardines into the car. No need to hold on; the press of bodies kept me upright. Fortunately, Tokyo station is a major stop and we were carried off the train like salmon rushing upstream in river of of our fellow fish.

The tickets on Apple Watch worked perfectly. A tap at the Shinkansen entrance and the gates opened for us. Within seconds I got an email, letting me know that the system had recorded us passing through the gate, and confirming our train, time of departure, and seat assignments. Now all that remained was to find the right platform and board the train.

More than 1 million people per day pass through Tokyo stations and every one of them seemed to be there at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Like most train stations, in addition to trains and people, there are hundreds of shops, restaurants, and coffee places. As we would be on the train for much of the day, we stopped to pick up bento boxes for lunch as one does. There were dozens of choices. We picked boxes that had grilled fish, pickles, vegetables, and, of course, rice.

A snack for the journey

About 30 minutes before departure, our train appeared by name and number on the digital board with the platform number. The displays alternate between Roman and Japanese characters so it is easy to find your train’s location.

We had reserved seats, so once on the platform we proceeded to where our specific car would board as each car stops at a specific point on the platform. Even the car doors align perfectly, with marks on the floor so you know exactly where to stand. People line up to board the train in an orderly fashion.  For our first journey, I had booked tickets for the “Green” car, which is kind of like business class. You get a bit more room, handy electric outlets right in the arm rest, and an attendant comes by with a trolley offering food and drinks for purchase if one wishes. It costs a little more but I thought it would be fun to try it especially for what would be one of our longest train journeys.

As we waited, a petit women in a pressed uniform appeared next to us on the platform. We surmised from her outfit and her battery of tools that she would be cleaning the train when it arrived. As the train into the station still traveling at an astonishing speed, she stood facing the train and bowed deeply from her waist to the train as it arrived on the platform.

A moment later she and her crew mates were inside making the inside spic and span for the onboarding passengers. They vacuumed, wiped down all the seats and tray tables., and took away all the trash all in about 6 minutes. With just 3 minutes to departure time, the train began to board. We found our very spacious seats and had barely stowed our luggage when the train glided out of the station without so much as a jolt or a shudder.

The Tokyo metropolitan area is home to more than 40 million people so perhaps that gives you a sense of its massive size. Yet seemingly within minutes, the city gave way to suburbs and then to a more rural setting with small villages and farms. The Shinkansen reaches top speeds of around 300 km/hr (around 190 m/hr). If I understand Einstein correctly, I added at least a few seconds to my life by traveling so fast.

The train ride was as close to silent as a train can be. Phone calls or even phones ringing or making sounds is prohibited in every car. If you must make a call, you are permitted to stand in the space at the end of the car and speak in a whisper. The train itself is smooth and quiet. That leaves just the announcements of upcoming stops (in Japanese, English, and Chinese) to disturb one’s repose. No one asked to see our ticket. Somehow they just know who you are and where you are supposed to be. The conductors move silently through the cars. As the staff goes from one car to another they turn and bow to the car before moving to the next one. It is a way of showing respect for the train, their work, and the passengers.

Around noon, we enjoyed our bentos which were quite ouishi (delicious) and watched as the scenery rolled by at astounding speed. The tracks run right along the coast so the view is enchanting with the sea on one side and snow-capped mountains on the other. I assume many of them are snow covered all year round.

Autumn in Hokkaido — Why does it feel so inviting?

There was intermittent rain and mist and sometimes sun as we rolled through one micro climate after another. Also, though we weren’t really paying attention to it, the outside temperature was plummeting as we barreled north leaving Tokyo’s late summer and heading toward fall in Hokkaido. The trees, which had barely started to change in Tokyo, now began to present yellow, red, and orange adding to the charm and beauty of the passing landscape. Finally we passed through the 56km long tunnel under the sea that separates Hokkaido from Japan’s main Island of Honshu. Passing through the tunnel is the only time on the entire journey I lost mobile service for a few minutes.

At exactly 1:36 p.m. the train pulled into the Shin Hakodate-Hakuto station. We would need to take another local train about 15 minutes to the town center where our hotel was. The weather app reported it was 10 degrees Celsius but felt like 4.

Yes, that is snow on Oct. 30.

A few minutes later we tapped out of the final exit gate with our Apple Watches and stepped out of the warm station into the rain, cold, and gusting winds of a Hokkaido autumn.

The world’s a narrow bridge; fear nothing.