Footloose
itineraries – Japan; The Narrow Road to the Deep North
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JAPAN
INTRODUCTION Stirred to roam "by the sight of a solitary cloud drifting with the wind" the great haiku poet Matsuo Basho set off on foot to explore the remote Tohoku region of Japan. He recorded the events of this five-month pilgrimage in his poetic
travelogue "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" - one of
Japan's best-loved literary classics. The Oriental Caravan will
follow in Basho's footsteps, and then travel even deeper north through
a landscape of rugged coastlines, volcanic lakes and holy mountains,
for a glimpse into a rural Japan rarely seen by Western eyes. Far from the bustle of Tokyo, the traveller to Tohoku has a rare
opportunity to witness the 'real Japan'. We wander the pilgrim routes
to the mountain temples of Dewa San; peer into Japan's feudal past
in the Samurai quarters of Kakunodate and the castle towns of Akita
and Hirosaki; stroll amidst the great Tokugawa shrines at Nikko;
and marvel at thesnow-capped volcanoes of Iwaki and Iwate. Adding
to the magic of the journey are the nights spent in charming and
characterful accommodation: mountain-top and lakeside 'shukubo'
temple lodgings, as well as traditional, family-run ryokan guesthouses.
This off-the-beaten-track itinerary (researched by and exclusive
to The Oriental Caravan) can be taken as a 15 day journey or as
an extension to "the Caravan through the Land of the Rising
Sun". Various elements of the itinerary may be exploratory
- a fact that will appeal to the adventurous and pioneering traveller
eager to take their first step on "The Narrow Road to the Deep
North". ITINERARY Day 1 Tokyo Group rendezvous in Tokyo and after time to relax in and around
our centrally-located hotel the opportunity to explore the city.
Tokyo is well-known for its bustling energy and futuristic architecture.
However, it also has a gentler side and its citizens often reveal
themselves - particularly outside of working hours - to be some
of the friendliest of any capital city in the world. Behind the
skyscrapers and neon signs, there are many vestiges of the past,
with historic temples and shrines still to be found in some of the
most unexpected places, as well as an abundance of parks and gardens.
Overnight - hotel Day 2 Tokyo Today we have a varied, full-day tour of the city beginning in
the lively Senso-ji temple district of Asakusa, with its many interesting
craft stalls. After lunch we are afforded an alternative view of
Tokyo as we relax on a short cruise down the Sumida River. Our boat
drops us off at the delightful Hama Rikyu gardens where we have
time to stroll along paths that were once the sole preserve of the
shogun. Later in the afternoon we make our way to the shopping district
of Ginza where, depending on the theatre schedule, we have the chance
to see a short performance of Kabuki, one of Japan's more spectacular
performing arts. We will then meet up again in the evening over
dinner for a trip briefing. Overnight - hotel Day 3 Yamadera Leaving the great metropolis of Tokyo behind we take our first
steps on a journey made famous over 300 years ago by the great haiku
poet Matsuo Basho. Moving at a somewhat faster pace than that made
possible by Basho's wooden clogs we speed north by bullet train
through rural communities far removed from Japan's neon-filled capital.
At first the scenery is quite flat - and, with its wide stony riverbeds
and arable farmland, similar to the vast Huabei plateau in Northern
China - but then, soon after our train leaves the station at Fukushima,
we find ourselves travelling through an increasingly impressive
landscape of steep, pine-clad mountains. At Yamagata we change on
to a narrow-gauge line that passes through a valley to the small
town of Yamadera where we make our way to the charming, if rambling,
pension that will be our home for the night. In the afternoon we
climb the short distance up the enchanting wooded slopes behind
the town to visit Okuno-in and Rissahku-ji temples which houses
the same sacred flame brought here over 1,000 years ago from Kyoto.
It was here that Basho wrote the famous haiku: In the utter silence Overnight - ryokan Day 4 Tsuruoka In the morning we continue to the Tsuruoka, our staging post for
visiting the temples of Haguro Mountain. Tsuruoka is a small, slow-paced
town, and during the afternoon we will have time to visit some of
its intriguing sights. One of the more interesting places to visit
is the Chido museum which houses old Meiji buildings and a large
'stroll' garden. Somewhat further away is Zenpo-ji temple with its
10th century pagoda and a pond famous for fish that appear to have
human faces. Overnight - hotel Day 5 Haguro San This morning we take a bus to the foot of the Dewa San mountains.
This remote site has been a place of deep religious significance
for over 1,500 years, as it was here that Prince Hachiko, in emulation
of the Buddha himself, gave up the luxuries of princedom to take
up the life of an itinerant monk. Since then the region has been
associated with yamabushi (ascetic mountain priests) who follow
the shugendo sect of Buddhism - a form of worship strongly influenced
by Japan's ancient shamanistic rituals. These Japanese yogis - dressed
in white robes, staff in one hand, giant conch shell in the other
- wander these same mountain paths. The walk to the top of Haguro
San takes us through a beautiful forest of ancient towering cedars,
and past some magnificent, old wooden temples, including the 600
year old Goju-no-to pagoda, all in perfect congruousness with the
trees from which they were made. There are steps all the way to
the top, ensuring that the climb - which can be done in a leisurely
1-2 hours - is not overly strenuous. Once at the summit we will
spend the night at a splendid shukubo (temple lodgings) enjoying
spectacular mountain vistas and delicious vegetarian food. Overnight
- shukubo Day 6 Akita We return to Tsuruoka, and then travel by train along a section
of coast that faces the Sea of Japan. Akita is a modern, down-to-earth
city extensively rebuilt after the Second World War. There is a
certain intrinsic fascination to the place, and as few foreigners
venture this far north its citizens are particularly welcoming to
visitors. We stay in a very friendly ryokan with excellent home-cooking
and a bilingual parrot. The charming lady of the house, always dressed
in her kimono, will at some point, no doubt, entertain us with photos
from her Grand European Tour. In the evening, particularly during
the cherry blossom season, it is quite pleasant to walk around the
castle grounds, and visit the small museum for a glimpse of how
the heavily fortified Akita looked in feudal times. Elsewhere in
town the Akarengakan Museum also provides an interesting insight
into life in Akita in earlier times.Overnight - ryokan Day 7 Akita A short train ride from Akita, we make a day trip to Kakunodate,
a small town noted for its remarkably well-preserved Samurai district
dating from the early 17th century. Wandering around the old wooden
mansions it is still possible to get a feel for the Japan of bygone
days and sense the importance of bushido - the Way of the Warrior
- in which personal honour and loyalty to one's master was rated
more highly than life itself. A couple of stations further on from
Kakunodate is Tazawa-ko - Japan's deepest lake - where for the adventurous
there is the possibility of short hikes in the surrounding hills.
In the late afternoon or early evening we return to Akita. Overnight
- ryokan Day 8 Hirosaki Today we continue our journey north to Hirosaki, across wide coastal
plains and past spruce-covered mountains. This is very much an agricultural
area where the people still live in tune with the seasons, and where
Japan's ancient rural rhythms can still be felt. We pass fields
and orchards where peasants are busily tending the land, dressed
in white smocks and 'bee-keeper' hats to protect them from the sun.
Tohoku's cultural centre is an atmospheric place where the people's
accents are as strong as the saké for which the area is famous.
Dominated by the sacred snow-capped Iwaki San - a volcano almost
as impressive as Fuji itself - the town is small enough to be easily
explored on foot during a day left free for individual exploration.
Of prime interest is Hirosaki Castle with its extensive park and
fine gardens. Not far from the castle lies the tranquil Zenrin-gai
temple district where many smaller shrines lead up to the Tsugaru
family temple of Chosho-ji - an area that is particularly pleasant
to stroll around during the late afternoon.Overnight - ryokan Day 9 Osore San From Hirosaki, we travel via Aomori up the axe-shaped Shimokita
peninsula to the semi-mythical Osore San mountain. This remarkable
and somewhat eerie place is where the souls of the dead are considered
to congregate. With its bubbling pools, sulphurous hot springs,
forested hillsides and beautiful lakeside setting, this is an extremely
unusual and slightly 'other worldly' place, famous for the itako
'blind witches' who, through their mastery of the language of the
dead, are able to act as mediums between the living and the spirit
world. We spend the night in comfortable temple lodgings with access
to an interesting outdoor hot spring. Overnight - shukubo Day 10 Hiraizumi Travelling back down the mountain we skirt the coast of Mutsu bay
and make our way back to the junction station of Noheji where we
now begin our journey south. Passing first the towns of Hachinohe
and Morioka, and another great Fuji-like mountain, Iwate San, we
arrive in mid afternoon at the small town of Hiraizumi. This area
was once home to the Fujiwara clan who, in the 12th century, turned
the town into something of a cultural and economic capital, almost
rivalling Kyoto in the south. One of the clan's leading members,
Fujiwara Kiyohira, set out to turn the existing temple district
into a Buddhist 'paradise on earth' and some of his efforts can
still be seen at Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji. Centuries after the demise
of the Fujiwaras, a reflective Matsuo Basho, while visiting the
area, was inspired to write the following haiku… A thicket of summer grass Day 10 (continued) Our stay at Motsu-ji, is made all the more special by the fact
that, our accommodation - a small, lakeside temple hostel - Iies
in the grounds of one of Japan's most renowned paradise gardens.
Overnight - temple hostel Day 11 Nikko Continuing south, we pause at Sendai and make an excursion to Matsushima,
one of Japan's 'three famous views' - famous because of its strangely
shaped, pine-clad islets. On visiting here Basho was apparently
so overcome with the place's beauty that, lost for words, he wrote
the haiku… Matsushima ya Later however, after thankfully recovering his diction,
he penned the somewhat more eloquent lines… Clear voiced cuckoo From Shiogama we take a ferry across Matsushima Bay before continuing
our journey to Nikko. Overnight - ryokan Day 12 Nikko Nikko - meaning 'sunlight' - is justifiably one of Japan's major
travel destinations, and we have a full day to explore its many
interesting sights. Sacred to Buddhists since the 8th century Nikko
achieved its present grandeur during the 17th century when its forests
of giant cedar and cypress trees became the site of the tombs and
shrines of the Tokugawa shoguns. Grandest of them all is the wonderfully
opulent Toshu-gu shrine which houses the mausoleum of the greatest
shogun of them all, Ieyasu Tokugawa, as well as the famous three
monkeys carving that expresses the Zen maxim to "see no evil,
hear no evil, speak no evil". There are other attractions near
Nikko, including Yashio-no-yu onsen (spa) or, just a bus ride away,
Chuzenji Lake and the nearby Kegon-no-taki waterfalls. Our accommodation
for the night is a 10 minute walk from the Nikko shrines, in a small
ryokan near the Gamman-Ga-Fuchi Abyss - a wooded riverside area.
There is a lovely short walk near here passing by a collection of
jizo Buddha statues. The ryokan also has its own hot bath that looks
out over the flowing waters of the Daiya River. Overnight - ryokan
Day 13 Tokyo After, in the words of Matsuo Basho, "turning the corners
of the narrow road to the deep north and soaring on the exhilaration
of our hearts" we today make our way back to Tokyo. Bewildering
though it can sometimes be in terms of first impressions, Japan's
great capital is in the end, like London, merely a collection of
villages that can be a joy to explore. We arrive in time for the
weekend when the city relaxes and night-time Tokyo comes alive.
This evening we discover some of its many highly atmospheric back
streets. Overnight - hotel Day 14 Tokyo Today the whole day has been left free for further independent
exploration or shopping. It is also possible to arrange day-trips
outside of Tokyo, including a visit to the Hakone area of Mt Fuji.
In the evening, a great way to bid Japan farewell is by spending
a few hours in Tokyo's unforgettable nightlife district of Roppongi.
Overnight - hotel Day 15 Journey's end… The Oriental Caravan heads home
Tour price (excluding international flights) - from £1,695 per person on a twin share basis
PRACTICAL INFORMATION Group size & Leader The group will comprise between 6 and 12 members, and be escorted
throughout by an experienced Japanese-speaking tour leader from
the UK. Transport We make good use of Japan's well-developed and highly efficient
train system, travelling on super fast bullet trains as well as
sleepy branch-line locomotives. It is felt that use of the public
transport system allows for a more in-depth and personal experience
of Japanese life - and is also invariably a lot of fun. We will,
on occasion, also be using private taxis, local buses and boats.
However when visiting some of the remoter sites there will be, due
to the nature of these locations, a certain amount of walking. Accommodation In terms of charm, hospitality and local character, the places
we stay at are one of the highlights of the journey. In Tokyo and
Tsuruoka we stay in comfortable centrally-located, tourist class
hotels. Elsewhere we stay in ryokan (traditional Japanese guesthouses)
or occasionally shukubo (temple lodgings). At all places we can
expect a warm welcome and a relaxing stay, and as these are traditional
Japanese properties, the experience of sleeping on futon mattresses
on tatami matting floors - a system many people find to be more
comfortable than sleeping in a Western bed. Food At Yamagata, Haguro San, and Hirosaki all evening meals and breakfasts
are included. At Hiraizumi breakfast is included. Elsewhere meals
are not included but are easily arranged en route according to individual
preferences. (Depending upon appetite and choice you can expect
to spend, on average, between £15-20 a day on food and drink.
It is possible to eat more cheaply than this, or to spend considerably
more). Often the best and most convenient way is take advantage
of the typically excellent home-cooking provided by the ryokans.
It is worth mentioning that Japanese cuisine is generally of a very
high quality and extremely varied, and for many visitors it is a
distinct highlight of any visit. As elsewhere in Japan 'piscivores'
will find themselves in paradise, with some of the finest fish dishes
in the world on offer, especially in coastal areas. Vegetarians
can get by though sometimes the choice of meat/fish-free meals is
limited - that said, at the shukubo on Haguro San we will enjoy
a great gourmet vegetarian meal.
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