My Trip: Kokura & Hiroshima

On Wednesday morning they woke me up at 7am (argh!) and they had all been up since dawn at 5am. It was such a rural lifestyle.

There was a breakfast of cooked ham, fried eggs, sausages and miso soup waiting for me in the kitchen. Dazed and confused, I knelt down on the tatami and ate as they sorted things out for the day.

We watched TV for a while in the living room, and my friend showed me that she had the song 'Miles Away' by Madonna on her phone. This song is huge in Japan as it's the theme tune to a popular TV drama called 'Change'. Whenever my housemates and I hear this song, we all sing along with it. It was nice for me to hear it, as I really was Miles away.

It was that morning that I was attacked by bad hayfever. I couldn't stop sneezing! Usually I'm not affected at all by pollen but maybe my body has grown accustomed to not being surrounded by nature in Tokyo, and this was a bit of a shock.

All the windows and doors of the house were open to let a cool breeze blow through, but it also let the pollen in! I really felt like a city person. Get me away from all this damn nature!

But, despite the streaming eyes and increasingly red nose, we drove to a nearby spot, and all they told me was we were going to see 'Totoro'. I didn't know this word in Japanese so I just sat back and watched the countryside flash by, behind a protective screen of pollen-proof glass of course.

After about 15 minutes, we stopped near a small forest with this sign in front of it.


Oh! Totoro!

This is Totoro's Wood, from the Hayao Miyazaki animated film 'Tonari no Totoro' (となりのトトロ). I watched this film just once before I came to Japan, but I still recognised the bus and the characters.




After having a wander through the enchanted wood, we drove back to the big bridge we had gone to the previous day, and my friend bought me some presents to take back. She gave me some Kyushu cookies and a box of ramen. In return, I gave her some sweets I had bought for her family, a leaflet for Cadbury World, and my business card. Fair trade?

Then, still bleary eyed and wet nosed, she drove me back to her house, where I thanked all her family and said goodbye. Her mother didn't speak English, but she wrote me a note, which I kept because it was so thoughtful.

She drove me back to Miemachi station, and waited with me until the train came. A woman in the waiting room told me that my jumper was touching the ground, and when I understood, she started a conversation, asking me why I was in Kyushu and if I liked it. I love the people there!

It was actually very sad to say goodbye to my friend, as it was such a short time to meet for the first time. But it was lovely, and a great experience for me to stay with a rural family in a place so different to Tokyo.

I took the train back to the city of Kokura, which took a couple of hours. I noticed that all the train station announcements elongate the name of the station when a train pulls in. Like, when I arrived in Kokura, the loudspeaker blared "Kokuraaa. Kokuraaa." Obviously, people have more time to listen to long place names in the countryside, or inaka in Japanese.

I had arranged to meet one of my housemates' brother, because he lives and works very near Kokura. As I was walking to the station's main gate, he appeared behind me and tapped my arm. I was very surprised to see him there, but it was nice to see him again, as I met him once when he visited Tokyo earlier in the year.

He said there's not a lot to see in Kokura, but there is a castle. So that's where we went. Kokura Castle (小倉城) is very modern, and it actually looks new as it's so clean and pure white. Though it's not so modern it has an elevator installed, like Osaka Castle (大阪城).

He said it was very hot that day (33C), but I felt it was quite cool. Actually, when I got back to Tokyo the next week, it was only 31C and I thought it was lovely and cool, but everyone was complaining about the heat and stickiness. Looks like I'm finally adjusting to the hotter climate, a couple of weeks before I have to go back to 20C in Britain!

Entrance to the castle was only a few hundred yen, and there were several floors of exhibits to see, so we went in. My housemate's brother paid for everything that afternoon, which was very kind of him. He bought me a ramen lunch, where they played 'Soba ni iru ne' by Aoyama Teruma, a song I like.

This tiger's eyes follow you wherever you go, which is actually a bit unnerving.

They had lots of exhibits showing the town as it used to be, as it had real artefacts from the feudal era.

The tour takes you to the top floor, where you can see a view of the moat and the city around you.
Kokura actually has some funky looking buildings.
After the castle, we went to a nearby Shrine.
Before I left he treated me, yet again, to a cold summery drink at Starbucks. It was very refreshing. Then we walked back to Kokura station and he helped me buy my first ticket back towards Tokyo. My destination was Hiroshima.

I thanked him very much for meeting me and for buying me everything that afternoon and then took a Kodama Shinkansen. Kodama is the slowest of the three types of bullet train. It stops at every station on the route, while Hikari stops at only semi-major and major stations, and most Nozomi trains zoom past the small and medium-sized places, stopping only at Hakata (博多), Kokura (小倉), Hiroshima (広島), Shin-Kobe (新神戸), Shin-Osaka (新大阪), Kyoto (京都), Nagoya (名古屋), Shin-Yokohama (新横浜), Shinagawa (品川) and Tokyo (東京) on the Tokaido (東海道) route.

The Kodama is less comfortable than the Nozomi Shinkansen, and slower, but it gets the job done and I arrived at Hiroshima within 90 minutes.

My hotel gave excellent directions and I was able to take the tram (Hiroshima has both trains and trams, as well as buses, but no subway) to the right station, and found the place easily. It was night by the time I arrived so I couldn't see much of the city, but my hotel was very near the Tenma River so it was pleasant walk.

The place I stayed was called the 'World Friendship Centre'. I truly cannot recommend this place enough. If you are going to Hiroshima, definitely make this your first port of call to see if they have rooms available. It was easily the best hotel/ hostel I've stayed in in my life.

It is so relaxed there. The front door doesn't close, and the individual rooms don't lock from the outside. But the atmosphere is so friendly you feel completely safe. When I first walked in, I was greeted by another guest because the owners had gone out. She showed me my room, and where the kitchen and everything was.

You can use the computer there for Y300, unlimited time. They don't even check if you've paid for it, they just trust you to put the money in the tin. For a local call, the phone costs Y100.

My room was basic but very pleasant and comfortable. The owners, Kent and Sarah Sweitzer had left me a little origami swan on my pillow.

Kent and Sarah were so friendly, I met them both that evening. They're an American couple who have been at the hotel for one year out of their two. They are volunteers and love Japan so wanted to come here and run the hotel, while doing English lessons and experiencing the country.

They go well out of their way to make their guests feel comfortable, and even do your washing for Y500, and make you a personalised breakfast. The breakfasts were really something. There's a choice of cereal, toast or bread, juice, yoghurt, fruit and tea or coffee, and everyone sits around the table together, chatting and getting to know each other.

One girl who was staying there had scalded her hand and they were so helpful, offering to call their friend who's a doctor to come round and take a look, and doing everything they possibly could.

They can provide everyone with information about sightseeing in Hiroshima, arrange talks with hibakusha (A-bomb survivors), tell you when high-tide is so you can go to Miyajima Island at the right time, and basically anything else you need to know.

I really really recommend this hotel. It's just 15 minutes walk from the Peace Park and one of the best things it, you get all that for only Y3,900 (less than £20) per night.

That evening, I met another guest, a Hawaiian girl, and she asked if I wanted to go and explore the city. Normally, I would shy away from doing something like that with a stranger, but I decided that I should have as many new and different experiences as possible, so I said yes.

We saw a lot of Hiroshima at night, and I learned that she's an English teacher in a tiny town in Niigata prefecture (新潟県), north of Tokyo, so I was very interested to hear what teaching was like out there.

She was very friendly, and I was pleased I found someone to chat to, as I was a bit worried I'd get bored and lonely by myself.

So far so good!

My Trip: Beppu's Hells & Meeting My Penpal

On Tuesday morning I got up and checked out of my hotel before 11am. It was a bit of a late start but I was quite tired so I needed a good lie-in.

I wanted to see a bit more of what Beppu had to offer before I left to meet my friend in the small city of Saiki. I read in the guidebook I took, 'Lonely Planet', that Beppu has two types of onsen. There are the ones for baths, and ones for looking at. These are called jigoku (地獄), or 'hells'.

A group of hells was quite close (or so it looked on the map) to my hotel, so I decided to walk there after checking-out. It turned out to be a gruelling uphill hike in 33C. I was so overheated I had to sit down several times during the walk, which took about 40 minutes.

They were called the Kannawa hells, and there are loads of different ones to choose from. I only had time for two so I went to Shiraike Jigoku (White Pond Hell) and Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell). The entrance fee for both was about Y400, but you can buy a combination ticket for Y2,000 which allows entrance to all of them, excluding two.

I went to White Pond Hell first.




And then Sea Hell.

They were very interesting and definitely worth a visit, but I had to get back to the station, and it's a long way from the Hells!

I asked a local and she said to take a bus from station number 1. So I waited for just ten minutes, I was worried that it could be an hour or so as it's quite rural, and was on my way to JR Beppu station. As I got off and paid my fare, I accidentally put my money in the change machine instead of the slot for paying, and a load of Y10 coins came pouring out! The driver said "No, no! Cheinji!" but some of the coins fell on the floor and he said it was okay. I apologised and got off the bus, very embarrassed.

I bought my ticket to Miemachi station, which is near my friend's house, and then took a local train to Oita city, the capital of Oita prefecture. There, it was quite easy to change to the long-distance train, which took me all the way to Miemachi. It cost about Y1,000.

We passed more countryside, and there were no real city areas around.

At one point, my friend rang me to ask where I was, but I didn't know the name of the station, and I was struggling to remember what I'd seen on the sign, when a woman in front of me turned round and told me the name! How nice of her!

And then, once we were off again, a man came up and sat behind me, and started chatting to me! He must have been in his sixties but spoke some English, which he said he learned in high school. I said he must have a great memory. He gave me a pack of chewing gum and even waited with me until my friend arrived at the station! He was so kind.

I think that Kyushuians (I have no idea what the English word for them is!) are generally very friendly, as several people asked me if I was okay, or let me know when my jumper was touching the ground and I hadn't noticed.

Meeting my friend for the first time was very strange. We'd written so many letters to each other, for nearly five years, but never met face to face.

She and her sister drove me to a shopping mall nearby, and she bought me some lunch. I was very surprised to find that in Kyushu, people can stand on either side of the escalators, and the people who want to walk up have to wind their way through them. In Kansai, people stand on the right and walk on the left, but in Tokyo everyone stands on the left and walks on the right.

Then she drove me to her home. She lives in the middle of some really beautiful scenery.

This is her house. It's so traditional! She told me it's 200 years old.

I met her family, who were very kind to me. Everyone was very friendly. But at first all her pets went crazy when they saw me. They'd never met any foreigners before so I must have been very strange for them. But they warmed to me and let me play with them after a while.

They drove me to a large bridge nearby, and we looked down at the view and took some photos. It was still very hot, but because her house is in the mountains, the air was fresher. It was so clean!

Coffee and pizza anyone?
Then we headed back to her house for a delicious meal. It was very like British Shephard's Pie. They said that it tasted bad, but I thought it was great. We all knelt down around the table and ate like a traditional Japanese family. They were very impressed that I could use chopsticks!

It was interesting for me to listen to the local dialect, called Kyushu-ben. Usually I can gather some meaning from people's conversation, but their accent was so different!

The main one I noticed, because they said it a lot, was the difference in pronunciation of "Atsui" (hot). It sounded much more like "Achii". And I'm not sure, because I'm not a native speaker, but I think the 'o' sound was a little different from Tokyo Japanese. It was very interesting for me to hear it!

After dinner, we all had a traditional Japanese bath (separately, not at the same time!) which is called an o-furo (お風呂). It was my first in a Japanese home. It was the usual procedure, where you shower and wash hair before you get in, and then you wash all the soap and shampoo away before easing yourself into the scaldingly hot water. It was so hot it felt like sunburn!

After the bath, we took her dog for a walk around the local area. The thing that struck me most was how dark it was! Tokyo is never dark, but there it was pure blackness. You could see the stars, moon and Milky Way clearly. It was lovely. It reminded me of one of my last nights in Birmingham, when I stared up at the night sky and wondered what the sky would be like in Japan. I know now!

Something that surprised me was how cool and fresh the air became at night. I guess because it's a higher altitude, but it was a big difference from Tokyo, where it stays sticky and warm all night.

I slept in her brother's room, because he was away, and I saw that he had Friends DVDs, 'Spirited Away' and a PS2! I should meet her brother.

Before we went to sleep, she showed me all the letters she keeps from people all over the world, and some of her photos from when she was a baby and at school. It was a completely different life from mine. She loves drawing, and she showed me some really lovely pictures she had done. It was nice to be able to finally see these things in real life.

She also showed me her English study notes. They were really extensive and detailed. I was impressed.

As I lay down to sleep, I had a weird feeling of missing Tokyo. It was probably because I was so far out in the countryside, but I had a sudden desire to be back in the city. It was reassuring to see a Coke vending machine or a McDonalds. I'm such a city kid!