path: root/src/inc/nikko.htm

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<nav class="table-of-contents capital">
<ol>
<a href="#top">back to top</a>
<li>
<a href="#getting-there" id="toc-getting-there">getting there</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#exploring-nikkō" id="toc-exploring-nikkō">exploring nikkō</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#hotel" id="toc-hotel">hotel</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#trails" id="toc-trails">trails</a>
</li>
</ol>
</nav>
<span class="date">
2023-04-30 (2 days)
</span>
<h2 id="getting-there">getting there</h2>
<p>Before leaving home I had gotten myself an international Drivers
License, that gives you a permit to drive in many countries (outside the
EU) for up to 3 years. It only costs 15 EUR in Berlin and I had set the
soft goal of driving in Japan at least once.</p>
<aside class="notice">
The international Drivers License, as it will turn out later, was
entirely unnecessary for me.
</aside>
<p>For my first destination I chose <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D"
target="_blank">Nikkō</a>, another common day trip destination from
Tokyo that I had not done and conveniently located along the Tōhoku
Shinkansen line. My plan was to take the train to Utsunomiya, rent a car
from there and continue towards Nikkō, with the eventual goal being a
hotel at the shores of <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ch%C5%ABzenji"
target="_blank">Chuzenji-ko</a>.</p>
<p>So I start the day nice and early on one of the first trains out of
Ueno terminal. It’s another grey morning in Tokyo with the weather
forecast promising sunshine for the next day at least. When I arrive in
Utsunomiya though, none of that is in sight at all. Quite on the
contrary it is pouring down as I leave the station building. Luckily I
have my umbrella from the last trip with me, so I quickly orient myself
and find the tiny Toyota Rent-A-Car office not far from the station.</p>
<p>At this point my biggest fear is the interaction with the staff
there. I am very much aware that I don’t speak enough Japanese<a
href="#fn1" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref1"
role="doc-noteref"><sup>1</sup></a> and they won’t be super competent in
English<a href="#fn2" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref2"
role="doc-noteref"><sup>2</sup></a> for us to be much of any help to
each other, should there be issues with my reservation or documents.</p>
<p>So I enter the store and approach the woman at the counter with my
phone in hand to show her the reservation code. I was not aware at the
time, that Toyota also has a version of their website in English, but
because I booked through the local version the emails I received were
all in Japanese as well. She confirms my booking through her computer
and asks me for my passport and license, so I confidently give her
those, including the International license. I know immediately that
something is wrong. Her expression of confusion when she sees the
admittedly pretty retro looking license says it all: This won’t do.</p>
<p>She goes to the back and after some back and forth she returns with
another woman, who I interpret to be her superior. She asks if I have a
translation of my drivers license into Japanese. Now it is my turn to be
confused. I simply point at the International license she is still
holding, but am well aware that it isn’t a <em>Japanese</em> translation
at all.</p>
<p>So rather than a car, I only receive a polite “sorry” and have my
booking fee refunded to me. I come back out into the rain with no idea
how to even get to my hotel later and if it even makes sense to go at
all.</p>
<p>I reconvene to the station Starbucks to do some research on what
acutally went wrong. I figure out that some countries (among them
Germany) don’t actually need anything more than a translation of the
local drivers license into Japanese issued by the JAF<a href="#fn3"
class="footnote-ref" id="fnref3" role="doc-noteref"><sup>3</sup></a>.
This costs ¥4000 and takes up to 2 weeks (according to their website).
So there is no way I can work this out today.</p>
<aside class="notice">
<p>
I applied to receive a translation on the same day while sitting at that
Starbucks and received the notification the next week. It seems that 2
weeks is quite a conservative estimate.
</p>
<p>
One curious detail is that you don’t receive a PDF, but instead a button
to issue 7ELEVEN “Net Print Service” codes (that are one-time use only),
which you then take to a convenience store and print out on their
printer.
<p>
</aside>
<p>Now that I am dependend on public transport my schedule is a lot more
constricting. The hotel I booked is served by a bus that runs every
hour, though only until 1800. This means I have to be careful how I
spend time around today’s destination: <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrines_and_Temples_of_Nikk%C5%8D"
target="_blank">Tōshō-gū et al</a></p>
<h2 id="exploring-nikkō">exploring nikkō</h2>
<h2 id="hotel">hotel</h2>
<p>The bus ride to the hotel is a little event in itself. From the main
tourist area around the temple grounds there is quite the elevation
difference to Lake Chuzenji. The narrow road winds itself up into the
mountains as fog envelops the bus. I sit right at the front next to the
driver and am baffled by how much we block the road when taking the
serpentine turns, I dont’ think oncoming traffic (once they even see us
coming) would have anywhere to go.</p>
<p>Up on the lake plateau the fog lifts and I get another sunset over
the water this time. If the bus was already empty when I got on, when I
reach my stop I am the only passenger left. The hotel bus stop consists
of just a sign next to road and a driveway up into the hills.</p>
<p>Since I spent all day sight-seeing I had not had dinner, the first
thing I do after getting into the room was checking out my options for
food. The hotel has a menu, so I order Gyu-don<a href="#fn4"
class="footnote-ref" id="fnref4" role="doc-noteref"><sup>4</sup></a>,
which is supposed to be delivered right into my room.</p>
<p>While waiting for the food, I get changed into hotel attire. I really
like that this is a thing. You really feel like changing pace when
getting out of your own clothes.</p>
<p>Since this is an Onsen hotel, the thing to do after dinner is
obviously the bath. I always like to go late, this is less effective
when going to Sentō in the city, because lots of poeple seem to go after
work or going out, but here it really makes a difference. I have the
place for myself (at least for a bit).</p>
<p>The indoor bath has a huge window out to the forrest but since it’s
dark and the room is lit up, that is not really useful.</p>
<p>There isn’t really much to do and I have a long day ahead of me
tomorrow, so I decide to just go to bed early.</p>
<p>After getting up, there is obviously breakfast first. The room fee
includes a full course Japanese breakfast, so rice and various side
dishes</p>
<p>At this point I still don’t know how to get to my planned destination
for today, the Senjogahara wet lands, 10km from the hotel.</p>
<p>The other problem I am faced with is how to make it back to the
station in time for the train back to Utsunomiya and eventually Tokyo.
At the front desk I get told that the hotel provides a free bus back to
Nikko at 11:00, but that is not helpful, since I have already seen the
sights around there and want to explore the area in the exact opposite
direction. After some research online I find that the same bus I came
with yesterday goes aroud in a loop. So I decide to take off on foot for
now and catch it on the trip back to the station later that day.</p>
<h2 id="trails">trails</h2>
<p>So I begin walking at the lake shore alongside the road, follwing the
sign for the Lake Chuzenji Nature Trail. There are some larger
information boards that tell the histories of a small memorial garden
and the lake house. It doesn’t take very long before I reach
Shobugahama, where I start following the path towards <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABzu_Falls"
target="_blank">Ryuzu Falls</a>. The waterfall is on the way to where I
want to make it today, so I put off my plan to find a bus stop that
could take me to <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senj%C5%8Dgahara"
target="_blank">Senjōgahara Marshland</a>, and check them out first. I
just follow the marked trail which takes me up the hill next to the
falls and into a web of paths through a wooded area tracing the Yu
river.</p>
<p>At this point my plan has shifted to walking all the way up to the
entrance of the wetlands walking trail, exploring there and then finding
a bus stop to take me back to Nikkō. The weather is great and it
surprises me how accessible the trails around here are. Although after
some kilometers I encounter a gate into the Senjōgahara park area, which
is apparently fenced off to keep deer <em>in</em>. I wouldn’t mind deer,
but the entrance is also plastered with signs warning the inclined hiker
of bears!</p>
<p>Once I arrive at the Senjōgahara Plateau Nature Trail, a raised
wooden walkway straddling the open grassland, I start my GoPro and put
in my OKM II microphones <a href="#fn5" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref5"
role="doc-noteref"><sup>5</sup></a>. I enjoy the serene atmosphere,
enjoying the views and the calmness. Despite the number of other groups
I encounter it feels relaxed and refreshing. At some point the path
leads into a more forrested area, again the path is surrounded by the
same plant as before which sound great as it rustles in the breeze. I
can’t forget the bear warnings though. This being the first time I came
that far out into the “wilderness” of Japan and I don’t really have a
good sense of how serious I need to take them.</p>
<aside class="notice">
I learn over time that the “bear problem” is taken maybe a little too
serious.
</aside>
<section id="footnotes" class="footnotes footnotes-end-of-document"
role="doc-endnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1"><p>hardly any tbh<a href="#fnref1" class="footnote-back"
role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li>
<li id="fn2"><p>unless you are lucky, which I will be today<a
href="#fnref2" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li>
<li id="fn3"><p><a
href="https://english.jaf.or.jp/driving-in-japan/drive-in-japan/about-dltas"
class="wikilink"
target="_blank">https://english.jaf.or.jp/driving-in-japan/drive-in-japan/about-dltas</a><a
href="#fnref3" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li>
<li id="fn4"><p>a rice bowl topped with braised beef<a href="#fnref4"
class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li>
<li id="fn5"><p>prior to leaving for Japan, I started experimenting with
binaural audio recording as a way to capture memories. I have a page
with some notes around the setup and some recordings here: {[audio]}<a
href="#fnref5" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li>
</ol>
</section>