Thinking Allowed: Japan rail adventure

Japan has an extensive and efficient rail system that services its many cities and islands. One of the perks granted to foreigners is that they are able to purchase a rail pass (much like many do in Europe) that grants them access to all the trains owned by Japan rail for a reasonable fee. This pass is only worth it if you are taking a lot of trains in Japan between cities as the reasonable fee is still relatively high. We decided it was only worthwhile for us to get the pass if we were actually going to make the most of it. Jakob had to travel for work for a week to Saudi Arabia so while he was off meeting princes and sweating in a suit I decided the girls and I were going to move a bit quicker for a week. I strategically got Aurora interested in the research and planning of the week by assigning her the task as part of her school work (genius or self-serving?). We decided we had to go only to places we hadn't been and that they should span a large enough distance to make the most of the high speed trains. At the same time we wanted to have enough time to actually see and enjoy each spot. Here is our itinerary in brief in case anyone ever wants to save themselves the planning and benefit from our research: Day 1: Osaka to Kanazawa, Day 2: Kanazawa, Day 3: Kanazawa to Takayama, Day 4: Takayama to Hiroshima, Day 5: Miyajima Island (from Hiroshima), Day 6: Hiroshima to Beppu, Day 7: Beppu to Fukuoka. It was a packed week but was also incredible. Here is a rather wordy account for those that won't make it to Japan anytime soon or for my children to one day read over with nostalgia.

Although we spent a fair bit of time on trains this time was generally very relaxing. For some reason, although it is taboo to eat in many circumstances and places in Japan, it is a given that you will eat on the high speed trains. The JR stations are full of shops selling fancy bento boxes, teas and desserts. Not sure why these trains are such eating hotspots, but, my kids do love to eat which means that they adored getting to sit and watch the countryside roll by while eating and snacking.

Kanazawa was a quiet city that quickly won our hearts. After dropping off our bags we went for a long stroll through markets, through the castle grounds, and then through the Kenroku-en gardens. The Kenroko-en gardens are classified as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan (a country with a lot of beautiful gardens!). It was a very beautiful spot that was so tended to and manicured that we felt like we had shrunk and been transported into a fairytale bonsai land. We were impressed with the number of gardeners constantly tending the plants, with the root bases that rose out of the ground (really interesting how they made this happen), by the meticulously sculpted mosses and by the number of ropes needed to be set up to protect the plants from snowfall. I had told the children we would get tea at the garden but our chosen tea house looked so perfect and serene that I was hesitant to walk in with my troop of children. We found another teahouse overlooking a lake serving matcha and wagashi in the shape of a peach and Tova impressed us with her ability to be quiet when needed. We spent the rest of the evening at the modern art gallery clamboring over sculptures and marvelling at paintings made of naked women, mud and flames (count on a French artist to combine these three!) and other modern art pieces to get us thinking.

The following day I had a number of things I thought might be fun to see in Kanazawa but the kids got really into the Higashi Chaya geisha district and the history of gold leaf application (99% of all Japanese gold leaf comes from this region). Who knew that making the paper to make gold leaf was the most difficult part of the process. The kids really wanted to participate in a gold leaf workshop so after a short break at home we returned to the same area to try our hands at decorating chopsticks and small plates with gold leaf and then frittered away the sunset walking through temple district. We all really liked Kanazawa and agreed that our small apartment was the best of our trip in Japan so far.

We woke early to head to our trains bound for the mountains between Kanazawa and Nagoya. Takayama was still snowy but the sun was shining bright as we walked up the hill to the Hida folk village to roam through a village made up of old traditional Japanese houses set up for exploration.
After a stroll through old town Takayama and a hearty meal of Nepali food we headed to our accomodation to make use of the onsen. The children adored the fact that we were given outfits and slippers to wear to the onsen. They also adored the fact that there were popsicles provided to cool down with after our bath. We had a small family outdoor onsen to ourselves. It was the perfect way to end our day and we all wished that we were staying another night to do it all over again.

Our next morning in Takayama was spent strolling though markets, along the river and through temple grounds before heading to the train station for our long journey south. Takayama was a beautiful and peaceful town and we all agreed we could have happily spend more time exploring. After six hours and three trains we were in the town of Hiroshima.

Our only full day in Hiroshima was spent taking a train and boat to Miyajima Island. The island is known for its peaceful forests and temples and for its large Tori in the sea that appears to be floating on water at high tide. I decided that our main objective would be to climb Mount Misen. Luckily, our walk to the base of Mount Misen also passed by most of the islands other attractions, docile herds of deer, town proper, temple over the water, the giant tori, and a temple at the base of the mountain. The Mount Misen climb was epic as it was all stairs -hundreds and hundreds of them. We shed layer after layer and we worked our way to the top. The top had both a temple and lookout tower and was the perfect spot to eat our onigiri and cookies. After our journey down I let the kids play on the rocks by the river and, as it was low tide, we walked right out to the large tori in the bay.

Our next morning in Hiroshima we actually explored a little of Hiroshima by walking through town and to the Peace park for our lessons on history and morality. The kids were taken aback by the bombed out building and the stacks of paper cranes and very taken aback by the museum itself. We have children who are fortunate enough to have been born into peaceful countries with no war. The museum was both graphic and sad and was a humbling introduction to war atrocities. Turns out Zadie, who is quite a good reader, read every gruesome caption and account. She told me partway through that when she had children she would never ever take them to that museum. When we left the museum to sit in the park and have our lunch I got a lot of serious questions and Sophia had a good cry. It was probably all a bit too much for them but still important things were learned so maybe worth it. Our train trip to Beppu was less serious as was our evening in Beppu at the beach and eating pizza.

Our final day was one of exploration of natures powers as Beppu has a lot of geothermal activity and claims over 2,000 hot springs. We spent the day touring the Seven hells of Beppu, which are seven different hot springs for viewing rather than bathing in. We saw bubbling mud pools, steamy blue pools, bathed our feet in numerous scalding hot pools, pools where the heat is used to breed crocodiles (not sure why really?), drank scalding water from pools, ate eggs, corn and pudding steamed in pools, saw bright pink pools, and watched a geyser. We walked from location to location so go to see the mountains around Beppu and sweeping views of the steamy city below. And then tired out from so much thermal activity we took a train to Fukuoka ending our week on the JR pass. We were all a little travel weary but so glad to have had that little adventure. It was a well planned week that included so many different locations and educational opportunities. Tova struggled through some of the fast travel but my heart was filled with happy when a few days later she wrote me a thank you note for getting the JR pass and taking them on the JR adventure week.