Our room in the Yakushima Youth Hostel View at Picasa Our room in the Yakushima Youth Hostel30-Apr-2007 07:43, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

The communal room in the Yakushima Youth Hostel View at Picasa The communal room in the Yakushima Youth Hostel30-Apr-2007 07:42, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

A traditional Japanese dinner, served in our room at the Nakamuraya Ryokan – http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/db/sapporo/nakamuraya.htm View at Picasa A traditional Japanese dinner, served in our room at the Nakamuraya Ryokan – http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/db/sapporo/nakamuraya.htm09-Feb-2007 04:14, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

If you travel in Japan, there are a number of different types of places you can stay. In our travels around Japan so far, we’ve tried most of them:

• Ryokan: a traditional Japanese inn – Wikipedia has a good page on ryokans. You’ll sleep on futons on a tatami mat floor, and have a traditional Japanese dinner served in your room. They tend to be pricey but you can sometimes find affordable ones. When we visited Sapporo we stayed at the reasonably priced and very pleasant Nakamuraya Ryokan (pictured on the right). In Kagoshima City we stayed at the Nakazono Ryokan, which was a nice place to stay, but was actually much more like a minshuku…
• Minshuku: in my experience these are similar to youth hostels in the US. Bathroom and shower facilities are usually shared. Meals are not served in your room. What you’ll get for food may vary: some may offer breakfast in a communal room, others may simply offer a communal kitchen where you bring your own food, and some may not have a kitchen at all. During our 2004 trip we stayed at the Kimi Ryokan, but it really should have called itself a minshuku: all the facilities were communal, no meals were provided, and the guests were primarily noisy foreigners. In Tanegashima we stayed at the Tanegashima Miharusou, which was a relatively quiet, slightly rundown, but well run minshuku that catered to the many surfers that visit Tanegashima.

• The Oirase Keiryu Grand Hotel. This is where the conference took place, and it’s where we stayed. The grounds of the hotel, and it’s hot spring baths, were great View at Picasa The Oirase Keiryu Grand Hotel. This is where the conference took place, and it’s where we stayed. The grounds of the hotel, and it’s hot spring baths, were great20-Jun-2004 02:03, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.005 sec

  Hotels: western style hotels are common everywhere in Japan nowadays, except in the most rural areas. The only major differences from western hotels are that the rooms are typically smaller, and pricing is usually per person, not per room. They’re especially popular with business travelers who want a western style bed, and may not have the time for, or interest in, the amenities of a ryokan. When we visited Aomori in 2004, we stayed at the fabulous Oirase Keiryu Grand Hotel. Normally it’s not the kind of place that would be an option for us financially, but we were fortunate to have the room paid for by the folks sponsoring Maria’s conference.

• Capsule Hotels: these are unique to Japan – it’s kind of like sleeping in a cadaver drawer at a morgue, except there’s a small TV in your capsule instead of a freezer. It’s not the kind of accommodation one is likely to seek when on vacation (unless you missed the last train on a night of drunken revelry, and you don’t have enough yen to take a taxi or stay anywhere else). I’ve never had the experience of staying in one, but Wikipedia has an excellent page, with pictures.

• A room in the Miyanoura Portside Youth Hostel in Yakushima View at Picasa A room in the Miyanoura Portside Youth Hostel in Yakushima28-Apr-2007 09:16, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

  Youth Hostels: I’ve saved these for last, because they’re the best. The Japan Guide site says Japanese youth hostels “…do not differ much from European or American youth hostels.” This could not be further from the truth. American youth hostels are more akin to Japanese minshukus: not always clean and not always quiet. We’ve stayed in 3 youth hostels in Japan (when we visited Nikko in 2004, and two in Yakushima this spring), and they were all immaculate and quiet, with attentive staff. All have at least a communal fridge and microwave, and some provide a communal dinner. They have communal bathrooms and showers, but in my experience they were always very clean. All have doors locked and lights out policies, usually around 10pm, so they’re not good options for nightcrawlers (but traveling with children, we thought it was great). They also offer common areas for the guests, so they’re great places to meet other travelers. In Yakushima, I enjoyed a long conversation (after the family was in bed) with a man from Yokohama who was planning to hike clear across the island. He gave me some good hiking tips and we shared opinions on various Miyazaki films. The youth hostels on Yakushima island are especially worthy of praise. The southern one is very nicely designed (pictured at the top of this post), has nightly communal dinners, the staff organize and lead hiking trips for their guests, and they offer car rentals on the premises. The northern one is more utilitarian (pictured on the right), but is very well run, and offers western style beds.

View at Picasa The plaque for this statue reads, in part: “Satsuma, now Kagoshima, produced brilliant, far-sighted men during the Meiji Restoration (1868). In 1865, defying the Tokugawa Isolation Law, 17 courageous young students from Satsuma were smuggled to Europe and America to learn advanced Western technology. Overcoming great difficulties, they returned to become the driving force in the modernization of the feudalistic society.”03-May-2007 09:26, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec

Kagoshima City, with a population of approximately 600,000, is the fourth largest city in Kyushu, the largest southern island of Japan. “It has been nicknamed the ‘Naples of the Eastern world’, for its bay location (Aira Caldera), hot climate and impressive stratovolcano, Sakurajima.” The city is best known for its history in the period surrounding the start of the Meiji Restoration. In violation of the isolation laws preceding the Restoration, 17 students were secretly sent from Kagoshima (known at the time as Satsuma) to study Western technology in Europe and the US (the students are commemorated in the statue above). As a result, many of Japan’s early industrialization efforts were centered in Satsuma. It is also known as the home of the samurai Saigo Takamori, a legendary figure in Japanese history, who led the Satsuma rebellion against the Meiji government. He’s roughly analogous to General Lee in US history, minus the animus of slavery. His last stand was depicted – with great hyperbole – in the movie The Last Samurai.

The city is now known for its shopping districts, local cuisine, tourist attractions, and, of course, the simmering, occasionally ash spewing volcano that dominates the eastern skyline. The outdoor Tenmonkan shopping district has a series of long, translucent roofs, which are there so shoppers can go about their business without worrying about ash getting in their clothes and hair. For the rest of the city, there are ash collection points every few blocks, where residents and shopowners are expected to deposit the ash they sweep up and bag.

View at Picasa The footbath at Dolphin Port mall. It’s a real hot spring with sulpher water that’s good for your skin but very stinky26-Apr-2007 19:08, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

The central area of the city is dominated by a modern aquarium, the Tenmonkan, the Dolphin Port outdoor mall, and a number of museums, ancient ruins, temples, and statues celebrating the area’s history. The Dolphin Port mall sports a hot spring-fed footbath, which Kai and Maria thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, you don’t see things like this in the US – only in Japan is there complete, mutual trust that everyone will clean their feet properly before using the footbath.

All the food we ate in Kagoshima City was delicious. I remember the night we had sushi especially well, because it was the freshest sushi I’ve ever eaten, and because just a few hours later, I threw out my back.

For our last night in Kagoshima City, I took Kai to see Spider Man 3 at the enormous, modern Amu Plaza, which is probably the only place within a 100 miles where you can really immerse yourself in Japan’s consumer culture (which, believe it or not, surpasses the US’). We were staying across town from the plaza, so we rode on the trams. They aren’t too hard to figure out once you get to know the main roads, even if you don’t speak Japanese. Fortunately, in Japan they show most American movies in English, with Japanese subtitles. Unfortunately, Kai got scared towards the end of the movie when Venom was on the loose, so we had to leave before the movie was over – I still don’t know how it ends .

The only part of our visit that didn’t work out was our last half day. It was raining so we decided to cancel our plan to take the ferry over to see the historical sites surrounding the volcano. Instead, Maria and I cobbled together the last of our yen coins so I could take the boys into the aquarium while she tried to figure out where to get some more cash. It was a holiday, and the post office ATMs were unexpectedly closed (I wrote about how all that turned out in this post).

I should re-iterate from my previous post that we enjoyed staying at the Nakazono Ryokan. It’s inexpensive, it has a central location (it’s within walking distance of the Yamakataya bus terminal and the main port), and the man who runs it is very attentive. He even helped us buy our ferry tickets and gave us a ride to the port after I hurt my back. And he speaks English .

On the trip home Maria and I had idle conversation about someday retiring somewhere on Kyushu. It’s a place of stunning natural beauty, but with a few cities big enough that you can enjoy what civilization has to offer too.

View at Picasa Bronze statue of Saigo Takamori, who’s legend was retold (with several major historical innaccuracies) in the movie The Last Samurai (he was named Katsumoto in the movie)27-Apr-2007 11:13, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 320	View at Picasa Hot dog sushi, at a restaurant in the Dolphin Port mall, Kagoshima City26-Apr-2007 18:56, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec	View at Picasa A common sign on the sidewalks of Kagoshima City, instructing residents and shopowners to bag the volcano ash they sweep up, and leave it by the sign for collection27-Apr-2007 09:38, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec
View at Picasa The covered shopping district in Kagoshima City, known as Tenmonkan. The roof is there to protect against ash from the nearby volcano.27-Apr-2007 10:03, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.006 sec	View at Picasa The road in Tenmonkan has a number of tiles depicting astronomical phenomena. This is a favorite of mine, the Hourglass Nebula27-Apr-2007 10:19, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.025 sec	View at Picasa A nicely decorated cafe, along the road by Shiroyama Park27-Apr-2007 10:56, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.02 sec
View at Picasa The Dolphin Port Mall in Kagoshima City26-Apr-2007 18:11, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 4.0, 10.8125mm, 0.006 sec	View at Picasa Etegami – hand-drawn postcards – is a popular Japanese art form. This is a display that was at the Kagoshima City post office.27-Apr-2007 11:24, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

ふきあげ はま すな の さいてん

The Great Khan’s Palace at Kambalu, at the Fukiage Beach Sand Festival View at Picasa The Great Khan’s Palace at Kambalu, at the Fukiage Beach Sand Festival03-May-2007 12:23, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100

After taking the ferry back to Kyushu from Tanegashima, we finished our Golden Week vacation with two days in Kagoshima City. This post is about our half-day trip from Kagoshima to Minami-Satsuma for their 20th annual Sand Festival (that link is for the official site, which is in Japanese, but if you click around you can see some more pictures, including some cool nighttime shots). After the wonderful time we had at the Sapporo Snow Festival in February, this seemed like the perfect contrast.

View at Picasa Sandy – the Fukiage Beach Sand Festival’s Mascot

It was an hour long ride on a packed bus from Kagoshima, which made Kai miserable (Eidan surprisingly handled it just fine). The bus turned out to be the best option though, as there was a huge traffic back-up as we approached the site of the festival, and the driver was savvy enough to take us down some dusty farm roads to get around all the cars. What surprised me however, was that we didn’t end up at Fukiage beach, or any beach at all. The festival instead was in a big lot surrounded by farmland, with no coast in sight. They must have hauled in many truckloads of sand. We asked one of the staff and he said the beach was about a kilometer and a half away. Adjacent to the lot was a large building with a stage, concession stands, etc. I imagine they held it there instead of the beach to take advantage of the amenities. Personally though, I think it would’ve been more fun to have a sand festival on the beach!

The sculptures were amazing. The theme this year was exploration, and the sculptures were grouped by continent: Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Fortunately, Kai perked up once we got some lunch in him, and Eidan napped in his stroller (which was preferable to having to spend all our time trying to keep him from stomping on the sculptures). There were two stages with live bands, and a flower show as well, so there was plenty to see for a few hours.

View at Picasa Tibet’s Potala Palace03-May-2007 12:25, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Saint Mark’s Basilica03-May-2007 12:08, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.006 sec	View at Picasa The far end of the Saint Mark’s Basilica sculpture03-May-2007 12:12, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec
View at Picasa One of the Buddhas of Bamyan, before it was damaged03-May-2007 12:28, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec	View at Picasa A Buddha of Bamyan, after it was de-faced but before being blown up by the Taliban03-May-2007 12:31, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec	View at Picasa Explorers in Africa03-May-2007 12:14, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa Underwater scene of a shipwreck03-May-2007 12:19, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Native Americans03-May-2007 12:27, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 9.0, 9.28125mm, 0.005 sec

Guns were introduced to Japan on Tanegashima by the Portuguese, and it’s a big part of the local culture. View at Picasa Guns were introduced to Japan on Tanegashima by the Portuguese, and it’s a big part of the local culture.02-May-2007 14:24, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.006 sec	A shrine gate at Chikura Caverns, Tanegashima. We saw folks trying to toss rocks and shells onto it. View at Picasa A shrine gate at Chikura Caverns, Tanegashima. We saw folks trying to toss rocks and shells onto it.01-May-2007 15:23, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.006 sec
A rock formation at Kumano beach, Tanegashima View at Picasa A rock formation at Kumano beach, Tanegashima01-May-2007 14:13, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 10.0, 10.8125mm, 0.008 sec	A life-size replica of a HII-A rocket, at the Tanegashima Space Center. That’s Kai and Eidan running to check it out. View at Picasa A life-size replica of a HII-A rocket, at the Tanegashima Space Center. That’s Kai and Eidan running to check it out.02-May-2007 10:43, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 9.0, 7.96875mm, 0.004 sec

According to the taxi driver who picked us up after we stepped off the ferry to Tanegashima, it’s an island rarely visited by foreign tourists. I got confirmation of this quickly, as I felt long stares from everyone as I walked down the street. Another clue was the complete lack of any tourist guides written in English (in contrast, they weren’t too hard to find at Yakushima). The local accent was also noticeably different from “Tokyo Japanese.” For example, instead of hearing “kakoī na” directed at the boys by schoolgirls (aren’t they handsome), it was “kakēi na.”

Tanegashima has three towns. We stayed in the largest, Nishinoomote, which is home to the island’s main port. It’s population is about 18,000. In the middle of the island is Nakatane, and then in the south is Minamitane, where guns were first introduced to Japan by the Portuguese. Near Minamitane is the Tanegashima Space Center, which is Japan’s primary satellite launching facility.

While Yakushima’s economy appeared to be a roughly equal mix of tourism and agriculture, Tanegashima seemed to be more dependent on agriculture (and probably the space center). The island’s visitors are mostly Japanese surfers, as there are a number of good breaks all around the island. In fact, we stayed at the Tanegashima Miharusou, which is a surfer’s minshuku (you can think of a minshuku as a ryokan without the meals and attentive service). It had surfing stickers all over the front door, and surfboards lined up along the walls of the lobby.

We arrived in mid-afternoon, so our exploration that day was limited to a short taxi ride down the west coast of the island, to Yokino beach, so the boys could play after a morning of traveling. We were thrilled to have this nice long stretch of coastline all to ourselves. We ended up having the same experience at all 3 of the beaches we visited on Tanegashima. Kumano beach was surrounded by amazing rock formations, and there wasn’t a person in sight. The nearby Chikura caverns had great sea caves to explore. The “animal rock” beach, at the Iwasaki hotel was also great. Although it wasn’t the peak summer season, it was Golden Week (the busiest vacation time in Japan), so I couldn’t get over these great beaches being empty. My only explanation is that Tanegashima is not the easiest place to get to, so people looking for nice beaches probably go to popular destinations in Okinawa, Guam, or Kyushu. It was a real treat to have such wonderful surroundings all to ourselves.

We learned from our experience on Yakushima not to mess around with buses and bicycles, so we went ahead and rented a car for our second and third days on Tanegashima. The second day was all about beaches, and the third day was mostly for the Space Center. Maria particularly enjoyed the Chikura caverns, but for the three little boys in our family (I count myself as the third) the space center was the thing. It’s tagline is “the most beautiful rocket-launch complex in the world.” As you can see in the pictures, there’s probably no arguing with that, as the facility’s buildings nestle in nicely among the hills and beaches along the coast. They had a small but very well done museum, with a focus on rocket engines and how they work (most of the displays were in Japanese, but some also had English, and one of the short movies was available in English). Most importantly for Kai, of course, was the gift shop. Kai has a small collection of various toy American and European rockets, so he was thrilled to get his hands on a toy Japanese H-IIA rocket. I don’t think it came out of his hands for at least the next 3 days.

Good resources on Tanegashima:

• The JNTO web page on Tanegashima.
• The Tanegashima Space Center web site.
• Eddie Does Japan, Tanegashima category: gives a window into life in this far corner of Japan. Written with a great sense of humor.
• Also see the other links in the body of this post.

View at Picasa Kai leaving his mark on Yokino beach, in Tanegashima30-Apr-2007 14:56, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.004 sec	View at Picasa Those tiny people in the distance are Maria, Kai, and Eidan, on Kumano beach, Tanegashima. Even though it was Golden Week, we had the place all to ourselves.01-May-2007 13:53, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec	View at Picasa The wedded rocks shrine, out on the rocks along the west coast of Tanegashima01-May-2007 11:12, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec
View at Picasa Kai emerging from one of the caves at Chikura Caverns, Tanegashima01-May-2007 15:26, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec	View at Picasa One of the sea caves at Chikura Caverns, Tanegashima. It’s good we came during low tide.01-May-2007 15:32, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec	View at Picasa One area of the Tanegashima Space Center.02-May-2007 09:33, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 10.0, 10.8125mm, 0.004 sec
View at Picasa Another part of the Tanegashima Space Center.02-May-2007 10:40, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 9.0, 7.96875mm, 0.003 sec	View at Picasa Kai and Eidan, astronauts.02-May-2007 09:46, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec	View at Picasa A cool little moon base diorama at the Tanegashima Space Center.02-May-2007 10:19, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.125 sec
View at Picasa A timeline of Japanese rocket development, at the Tanegashima Space Center.02-May-2007 09:56, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.125 sec	View at Picasa Another beautiful beach all to ourselves on Tanegashima (except for a few surfers). This is the “animal rock” beach. Viewed from a different angle, this rock is supposed to look like an elephant.02-May-2007 11:19, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Kai and Mike on the “animal rock” beach, Tanegashima02-May-2007 11:19, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa Kai and Eidan, back in the Miharusou minshuku in Tanegashima02-May-2007 17:11, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100

Dead coral reef at Haruta-hama, Yakushima View at Picasa Dead coral reef at Haruta-hama, Yakushima29-Apr-2007 10:17, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.004 sec

View at Picasa The forested hills of Yakushima28-Apr-2007 17:35, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 3.5, 9.28125mm, 0.003 sec

View at Picasa More of Haruta-hama29-Apr-2007 10:19, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.003 sec

View at Picasa A small stream in Yakusugi land, Yakushima29-Apr-2007 13:42, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.125 sec

View at Picasa The Arakawa river, flowing through Yakusugi land29-Apr-2007 12:35, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.02 sec

View at Picasa An example of secondary growth – a giant sugi tree was cut down, and then new growth began on the stump29-Apr-2007 12:39, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.1 sec

View at Picasa These trees made a strange choice to grow on the surface of this boulder29-Apr-2007 13:43, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.125 sec

View at Picasa Another shot of the Arakawa river29-Apr-2007 13:46, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100

View at Picasa Yakuzaru (Yakushima monkeys) on the road to Yakusugi Land29-Apr-2007 14:28, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100

View at Picasa Toroki Falls. This is a rare type of waterfall, as it falls directly into the ocean.29-Apr-2007 15:25, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100

View at Picasa Kai and Maria in a hot spring pool at Hirauchi Kaichu onsen, in Yakushima28-Apr-2007 14:54, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.005 sec

View at Picasa Eidan on the rocky beach at Yudomari onsen, Yakushima28-Apr-2007 16:23, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.005 sec

View at Picasa Kai at Yudomari onsen, Yakushima28-Apr-2007 16:26, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 4.0, 10.8125mm, 0.003 sec

Yakushima is a place of stunning natural beauty. I’ve never been anywhere else like it. It’s a small, mountainous, roughly circular island. You can drive all the way around it on the island’s only major road, at low speed, in less than 3 hours. What’s so remarkable is the variety of natural wonders contained in such a small space. It’s home to the highest peaks in southern Japan. It’s inland area is covered by a dense forest of giant, old-growth sugi trees (including the oldest known living specimen, estimated at around 7,000 years old), as well as some 1900 other species of flora. It has an unusual ecosystem that is both sub-tropical and sub-arctic. The forests are home to monkeys and deer that you will definitely encounter if you spend even just a few hours in the woods. Numerous waterfalls are scattered across the island. It has several coral reefs and beautiful beaches to explore, including a weathered granite beach that is one of the world’s primary spawning grounds for loggerhead turtles (unfortunately we were a few weeks too early for the turtles). And it has several onsen, including one that has natural hot spring pools right on the shore, so you can take a nice hot dip during low tide, with the surf crashing around you.

The main attraction for me was the opportunity to do some hiking, as Maria had graciously offered to tend to the boys so I could do a full day hike. But as I mentioned before, I hurt my back the night before we arrived at Yakushima, and I could only walk short distances without considerable pain, so hiking wasn’t in the cards. And did I mention I had spent a whole day in Tokyo hunting down hiking shoes for this trip? My feet are bigger than typical Japanese feet, so shoe stores here don’t stock my size (I finally met success when one seasoned clerk steered me towards a brand whose sizes ran big, and my feet just fit in their largest size). I now have excellent Japanese language skills when it comes to discussing shoe size .

Anyway, from what I was able to see, I’d have to agree with this eloquent description of Yakushima’s forests by one hiker:

The trail through the forest this day is truly spectacular, awe-inspiring, over-coming, astonishing… I do not think English has sufficient means to describe it. Even if I’m mistaken in this regard, I know I don’t have the ability to do the island justice. Every turn reveals trees twisted and wise, old and powerful. Maybe magical might be defined by reference to these woods. Yes, that must be as near an adjective as I will find. If ever a place was magical, Yakushima must be it.

Magic is not something you laugh at for a fleeting moment of amusement. It is not a passing sensation. Magic is not something seen from a particular vantage point or in a stunning vista. It is not something you breathe on the light air. Magic is the wonder a child experiences when his father pulls twenty cents out of his ear. It is inside. On Yakushima, every pebble and every boulder, every twig and every trunk, every frond of moss or tropical leaf, every muddy clod, patch of snow, whiff of damp air, everything, is just so…. ALIVE… That is magic. To be raised here is to take animism for granted. To visit is to discard or discount any religion which does not grant the trees and rocks a soul.

Our encounter with the forests was limited to a visit to Yakusugi Land, where you pay a small admission fee in exchange for a map that guides you along several short walks through the woods on well marked paths, with benches and suspension bridges to make things easy. But even just that brief encounter was enough to make me understand why the Yakushima forests were the inspiration for the anime film Princess Mononoke. The forests drawn in that movie seemed too beautiful to be real, but after seeing Yakushima, I now know that they are real.

We spent most of our time visiting hot springs around the island, as Maria and Kai love them, and it was therapeutic for my back. My favorite was Hirauchi Kaichu onsen, where you climb down the rocky shore to get in the hot spring pools that appear only during low tide. The experience was marred only by a grumpy old man who was there, complaining vocally to his friend about us. I didn’t need to understand a whole lot of Japanese to know that his repeated references to kodomo (children) and gaijin (foreigners) weren’t intended as friendly. Maria’s favorite onsen was another one just down the road – Yudomari onsen – where you’re still on the beach, but the pools are manmade and set back from the shore a bit, so you don’t have spray from the crashing waves splashing on you.

We also spent some time at Haruta-hama. “Hama” means beach, but it was actually a dead coral reef (there’s living coral further out, which you can see if you go diving). It was low tide, so there were many pools on the reef filled with crabs, tropical fish, and a few small colonies of living coral. Kai enjoyed looking at them all, while Eidan enjoyed simply sitting among the infinite rocks near the reef, diligently trying to throw every single one of them into the water.

The one thing we struggled with on Yakushima was how to get around. We started with buses, but they were slow and didn’t come around very often. We rented biycles for one afternoon, which was a lot of fun, be Maria and I weren’t in good enough shape to handle Yakushima’s many hills, especially on rusty old bikes and carrying the boys. We finally rented a car, which was definitely the best way to get around. In a place this far from civilization, no paperwork was involved. An exchange of cash for keys, and a handshake followed by “if you damage it, you pay for it, ok?” and we were off. The only catch was that I had to quickly learn how to drive on the “other” side of the road (we got international drivers’ licenses before we left the US, and you don’t need to take any kind of test to get one). It was particularly challenging having my first experience be driving up the winding mountain road to Yakusugi land. It was a 16km, 40 minute drive on a mostly one lane road, with mirrors mounted on the numerous blind corners so you could see if anyone was coming. I nearly killed us only once, which I think was actually pretty good, given the situation

Lastly, I can’t speak highly enough of the two youth hostels we stayed at, which were cleaner and better run than most hotels. But that will be a topic of an upcoming post…

Good resources on Yakushima:

• The Japan National Tourist Organization’s PDF on Yakushima – this is very well done
• Japan Times – Navigating through a lost world
• Canada.com – Hiking Japan’s ancient forests
• A hiker’s dazzling photographs of Yakushima’s forests – much better than mine
• A Japanese hiker’s many pictures and good overview of Yakushima’s attractions – available in English and Japanese

We’re back from our vacation, and I’ll write some posts about it soon, but right now I want to tell you the amusing tale of our cash flow problem. On our final day in Kagoshima City, Maria paid for our room with the last of our cash. She then headed to a convenience store ATM for some more cash, but for some reason it wouldn’t let her withdraw any from our Japanese bank account. She had no luck at other ATMs either. Normally the next step would be to call or visit the bank to find out what the problem was, but this is Golden Week: many businesses, including all private banks, are closed while everyone is on vacation.

As part of their privatization process, Japan’s Post Office ATMs are now closed during Golden Week, just like private banks. View at Picasa As part of their privatization process, Japan’s Post Office ATMs are now closed during Golden Week, just like private banks.04-May-2007 10:00, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100

So we figured we’d head to an old reliable Japan Post Office, to use their ATMs to withdraw money from our US account. As I’ve mentioned before, private bank ATMs in Japan don’t let you withdraw money from foreign banks, but Post Office ATMs do. Japan’s government run Postal Savings system is in the early stages of being privatized, as a result of a political battle won by former Prime Minister Koizumi a couple of years ago. We were shocked to find the post office ATMs closed, even though it was a weekday. The sign in the window explained that, as part of the privatization process, postal banking services are now unavailable during Golden Week, just like the private banks. Wonderful.

So we headed back to the Ryokan and the owner was nice enough to give us our cash back and let us pay with a credit card instead. Hotels, department stores, and fancy restaurants are just about the only places that take credit cards in Japan – it’s mostly a cash economy – so we were lucky. Without some cash we wouldn’t have been able to get to the airport, or home from the airport, or buy any food.

We were all supposed to go to Hida this weekend, but I’m staying home with Eidan, as my back is still bothering me. I have our last ichiman yen (about $80) to get me through the weekend. Maria’s friend Andrea flew in last night, and fortunately she brought a bunch of yen with her, so they’re paying for everything on the Hida trip with her money. Maria will pay her back once Golden Week ends in a few days, and she can get cash again.

The title of this post is a Humphrey Bogart line from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. But I know it better from Looney Tunes’ 8 Ball Bunny. I’m re-living my childhood watching Bugs Bunny cartoons on DVD with Kai. Like me, his first encounter with a lot of 1950s American culture will be via old Warner Bros cartoons.

Haneda Airport View at Picasa Haneda Airport26-Apr-2007 12:40, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.008 sec

Our vacation started yesterday, and it began smoothly. We took a nice ride on the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda airport, and then had a pleasant flight from there to Kagoshima airport (if you read my post about Sapporo and our flight there, you’ll know why I liked it). From there it was a 1 hour bus ride into town, and then we found our way on foot to Nakazono Ryokan, where we planned to stay for just one night. The place is a bit shabby by Japanese standards (i.e. not at all bad by US standards), as it’s one of the few inexpensive places to stay in Kagoshima City. But the guy who runs the place is very nice. Maria was chatting with him about our plans, and he immediately got on the phone and reserved seats for all 3 of the ferry rides we had planned (to Yakushima island, Tanegashima island, and then back). He also offered to give us a ride to the ferry the next day.

Eidan enjoyed his sushi View at Picasa Eidan enjoyed his sushi26-Apr-2007 18:53, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

Kai and Eidan in Kagoshima City View at Picasa Kai and Eidan in Kagoshima City27-Apr-2007 11:07, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.004 sec

Kai in the Youth Hostel on Yakushima View at Picasa Kai in the Youth Hostel on Yakushima27-Apr-2007 16:27, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec

Eidan at the Youth Hostel in Yakushima View at Picasa Eidan at the Youth Hostel in Yakushima28-Apr-2007 09:18, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100

We had a great dinner at a sushi restaurant in the Dolphin Port outdoor mall: the kind where the maguro (tuna) just melts in your mouth. For me that kind of maguro is like a drug – all my muscles relax and it’s all I can do to not slump in a heap on the floor, with my eyes rolling back in my head. After that Kai and Maria enjoyed the mall’s free public outdoor foot bath (yes, you have to wash your feet before you use it). It’s fed by a sulfurous natural hot spring, so it smelled like rotten eggs, but Maria said it felt wonderful.

The rest of the early evening went just as smoothly. It even took less than an hour for me to get Eidan to sleep – a remarkable achievement when staying in a new place (he spent the time squeezing my nose and rubbing his arms against the stubble on my face until he drifted off). I indulged in the ryokan’s hot bath, and then – this being a Japanese style room with a tatami floor – I climbed on top of a pile of soft fluffy futons and feel asleep.

Then I woke up at midnight to what sounded like a small herd of mechanical elephants, grazing near our window. I wanted to get up to take a look out the window, and realized I couldn’t move. A moment later I discovered I could move, but it required inducing a great deal of pain in my back. I have a lower back injury from about 15 years ago, but it hasn’t bothered me much for the past 8 years. Unfortunately, the hot bath and the soft futons (which offered no back support) proved to be a deadly combination. It felt like I’d pulled every muscle in my lower back.

I managed to pull myself up to look out the window, to see a trio of construction vehicles and a half dozen workers, tearing up the main road, about 100 ft. away. Eidan slowly woke up over the next 20 minutes, crying “no, no,” against the strange sounds from outside, until he was fully awake. Then he indulged in some full-throttled screaming. The walls in this place were really thin, so I got up and managed to carry him outside, hoping it would snap him out of it before he woke up everyone. It worked, and I carried him closer to the workmen, so he could see where the strange noises were coming from. In my aggravated state it crossed my mind to yell at them in my pidgin Japanese “kazoku wa nemasen!” (my family’s not sleeping!) but I realized that no conversation started that way was likely to end well, so I thought better of it and headed back to the room.

Miraculously, Eidan managed to get back to sleep despite the noise, and it didn’t seem to bother Maria or Kai, but between that and my back pain, I was up for hours, until they finally stopped tearing up the road, and some aspirin took the edge of the pain.

The real bummer is that we’re spending the next three days on Yakushima island, a mountainous island, home to some of the best hiking on the planet. I just bought some hiking gear before we left so I could do an all day hike to Jomon-sugi, the world’s oldest cedar tree (Maria had kindly volunteered to watch the boys for one of our days here). But right now it’s all I can do to stand up and shuffle around. I can’t bend at all – to put on my socks this morning, I had to lie on my back and bend my knees to my chest so I could reach my feet.

The beaches here look to be quite nice. So shuffling down the beach and flopping on the sand sounds good too. If I had to pick a place to recover from a back injury, this isn’t such a bad choice .

I may not post much over the next week or two, depending on our internet access while we’re away.

Our original plan was to go even further south, to Okinawa, but then we started reading about Kagoshima, and it sounded like a lot of fun, so we changed our plans. We’ll spend a few days in the Kagoshima City area, with a side-trip to Kaseda for their annual Sand Festival (check out the pictures at that link – I think it will be a nice complement to our visit to the Snow Festival). Then we’ll visit the islands Yakushima and Tanegashima – both are supposed to have beautiful beaches. Yakushima is a rain forest island – check out this guy’s amazing pictures. Tanegashima is home to Japan’s largest space center. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll get to see a satellite launching.

We’ll briefly return to Tokyo, to pick up Maria’s friend Andrea, who is flying in from the US, and then we’ll head to Hida for a few days. Hida is a mostly rural area in mid-Western Japan. Maria and Andrea will be tourists with the boys. I’m being released on my own recognizance to go hiking around Mt. Tateyama with Paul, a former student of Maria’s from Villanova, who is currently living in Hida and kindly agreed to take me hiking.

The only thing I’m worried about is Eidan – for the past 6 weeks he’s been getting up 4 or 5 times every night. Maria and I are exhausted. We probably could have improved his sleep if we were at home in Philly. But here, with neighbors on every side and 4 of us in a 1 bedroom apartment, the best we can really do is try quieting him down as quickly as possible when he wakes up. All the moving around we’ll do on this trip will be a major disruption for him, which means his sleeping will get even worse, …or if we’re lucky it’ll get better. Who knows – wish us luck