Having experienced a number of Japanese rail stations now, we decided that the best way to make sure we catch our reserved trains was to be early, so we got up earlier than we planned, packed, and wandered down the street to our favourite chain cafe near the station for breakfast. Caused chaos with two suitcases in a cramped restaurant for 10, but of course they smiled, and were very polite about it. Seemed to be a lot of tittering as we arrived and they remembered us from the day before. Not that we stick out or anything, of course.
Why is it that a lot of restaurant chains have Bossa Nova music playing in the restaurant? Actually, there is an answer to that one. The largest community of ex-pats in Japan is from Brazil. Bet you wouldn’t have guessed that.
Headed down the subway for our last look at our local station and were literally crushed onto the metro train in the morning commute rush for our short trip to Akihabara. Changed lines on to the JR rail service, which is really the local suburban service. Arrived nice and early at Shibuya, which you might recall is the busiest train station in the world. However, it was amazingly uneventful to find our platform with plenty of time to go and get some coffee and pastries from the boulangerie before we boarded.
Hopped on our express train at the appointed time and settled in to our reserved seat. So, here is the question of the day. Just why on a Japanese train do they use a red light to indicate a seat that can be sat in, and a green light for seats which cannot be sat in? No answer for that one.
Just to give you an idea of the complexity of the system, the JR East rail company has over 1600 stations, 2100 trains, 7000 km of track, and serves 14 million customer journeys per day. Whilst JR East includes Tokyo, and is one of the biggest rail companies in Japan, it is only one of six major train companies, so you can get some idea of how big, vast, and complicated the whole system is. And yet it seems to run to the minute. Ponder, if you will, where they put 2100 trains at night when they close down.
Arrived on time in Kofu (what else). It’s a provincial town at the bottom of the hills which contain Mt Fuji, which is our objective tomorrow. Cloaked our luggage, which took two lockers, and went out the front to the bus stop where we waited for our bus up into the mountains. Unfortunately, the bus stop was outside a large electronics store that blasted “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” being sung in Japanese by some cutesy girl on an endless loop.
And so it was off to the ‘famous’ Shosenkyo Gorge. So famous, in fact, that we were almost the only ones there. Now, if I was bright, I would have taken the bus all the way up to the top of the gorge and walked all the way down to meet the bus again but, no, not being in Einstein’s class, I got off at the bottom and trudged the 4km up the endless trail to the bus stop at the top. Maybe that’s why we were almost the only ones there. Anyway, the day was perfect, the river was gurgling, the autumn leaves were turning, and it was a great way to spend an afternoon.
Saw the various bridges and shrines, and the destination waterfall at the top. On the bus coming down the gorge back towards Kofu, the day was crowned when we came around the corner, and there was Mt Fuji glistening in the setting sun. But more of that tomorrow.
Retrieved our bags out of the lockers and walked up the road to our next Airbnb. It’s as close to a traditional Ryokan as I could find without mortgaging the house. We’re sleeping on futons, the doors slide, the wall panels are wood, and there is a large wooden soaking tub in the bathroom. In a typical Japanese awkward juxtaposition, the toilet automatically opens its lid, turns on a blue light in the bowl, and sanitises itself in preparation as you approach. A warm seat welcomes you, and afterwards it automatically closes and flushes. There is a console that allows you to choose the seat temperature and a bum wash if you want one, whilst choosing the pattern and intensity of the spray and the temperature of the water. I can’t find the USB port to load your favourite music, so it’s probably bluetooth.
Shosenkyo Gorge
Shosenkyo Gorge
Shosenkyo Gorge
Our bath