SFS Scorecard: 2-2
another win and a loss with dear ol' Dad at the helm on Japan road trip.
As I mentioned earlier, my defeat at the hands of slimy Expedia forced me to cut short our road trip. So we missed out on the Seigantoji Pagoda (thumbnail pic), the Kinkakuji Temple, the Tottori sand dunes, and we didn’t even get to Hiroshima, where Andy is set to begin college next year. Andy, like me at 18, is a bit of a lazy bum if you don’t force him off his rump, and I wanted to check out the local BJJ dojo and good places for him to pick up part time work, using his English abilities in a very touristy town.
Hitting those places would have added well over ten extra driving hours, which would have made our 3-nighter a miserable slog. I don’t recommend seeing Japan by car; traffic and parking are a huge headache. Well, let me rephrase that- unless you are traveling out in the provinces- in the mountains, on the coastlines and in the countryside of faraway places like southern Kyushu or eastern Hokkaido, take public transportation. The train system is amazing, and busses go everywhere too.
I would have preferred travel by train on this trip as well- even Koya-san, the semi-remote, ancient forest cemetery in the misty mountains south of Osaka, can be accessed first by train and then by local bus up the long and winding narrow roads.
However, there were four of us, and the bullet-train bill would have broken the bank.
Still, car travel has its charm. We all love the rest stops along the express highway, where you will observe that Japan is truly the world leader in toilet splendor.
Spotless toilets with warmed seats and hot jets of liquid, bidet-bliss to clean you notwithstanding, the Japanese have a ways to go in modern, public woke-signaling:
What luck to have three of my children free to travel- in Japan, after your kids enter high school, it seems almost impossible to get the whole family together for an outing, as everyone is always busy. Indeed in this case my wife and youngest son had to stay home, she for -ehem- work*, and he for university exam studies. (*Hey, I’ll be back at it soon in Montana; I’m trying to pack in a year’s worth of quality, Ward Cleaver time in a couple weeks, before leaving the country again.)
Our first significant stop was at Koya-san, the beautiful forest with the ancient, mysterious and HUGE cemetery.
We walked around this huge and mysterious forest-cemetery until dark, checking out a giant shrine on our way out as it began to snow.
The next day I let the kids sleep in and took a walk around Kaizuka, a town near the Kansai airport. Without digital guidance, I ended up walking the rough streets of the industrial zone.
It wasn’t pretty, but there’s two cool things about the ugly side of a Japanese city:
No matter how ugly the neighborhood is, you’re pretty much always safe in Japan, so you can let your guard down and rest easy.
There’s always something beautiful. A temple; a front yard with bonsai; a little park for the kids. And it will be clean and well-kept- all in an otherwise drab, old and ugly neighborhood.
Then we saw the tourist-zone of Osaka:
The third day we saw Himeji Castle. You can see the wikipedia photos and read the description if you want. Suffice to say it’s a big and impressive fortress that projected power and control toward western Japan, from the political centers of Edo (Tokyo) and Osaka back in the Edo period. Ah, one story from Himeji. The local chief was short of construction stones and a kind old peasant lady offered her washing stone to help build a wall of the castle. Word of her selflessness and generosity got out and soon peasants all over the region were sending in their garden and washing stones. That was a touching story- people coming together for the common good. Later on our self-guided tour I read another story- an account of one of the more successful feudal lords who ran the castle for a couple decades. He was especially good at putting down peasant revolts. I don’t know if that was before or after the story of the rock lady.
So how do I get a win and a loss out of this trip on the Screen-Free-Sunday scorecard?
The loss: I would have preferred to leave all the smart phones at home and just wing it. Instead, each of my three kids on this trip brought their devices/appendages. To their credit, though, they didn’t have their noses in them the whole time. For the most part, we enjoyed each other’s company and they didn’t have to kill time with the fondle sticks. And to be sure, the smart phones came in very handy for navigation and finding lodging. Lyndi found a really cool, Japanese-style hotel outside of Kobe with an onsen (spa baths) and huge tatami room for all of us. It’s mid-winter low season rates so we stayed two nights.
On our third day, I said, “Hey guys, here’s a an idea. How about we leave the phones at the hotel today and just play it by ear? I’m sure we can get to Himeji without a hitch, and we’ll just eat at a place we find in the town. Should be easy.”
The three of them stared at me like I was proposing a day of trigonometry homework. Big sister Lyndi spoke for them all. “No, I don’t think so. I want to take pictures.”
-But I have the Nikon. You can use it!
Maybe Lyndi didn’t want to look like the retired grandpa getting off the Japanese tour bus at the Punchbowl in Honolulu with the big 35mm SLR strapped around his neck, because she said, “Nahh. I’ll take my phone.”
What am I gonna say? She’s been a good kid. Follows the rules. Studied hard throughout school. Has a decent job lined up for after college. Keeps busy, etc. I didn’t fight it. Oh well, her phone probably takes better pics than the old Nikon- a win for youth and technology!
The kids did humor me on the drive to Himeji and back, however. They sat in silence and let me navigate on my own, even after I got a little confused and said, “Pipe in any time if you think you have a better route!”
Since Himeji was only 35km or so down the road, I thought we’d avoid the fees on the toll highway and just take the coastal Route-1. This was a mistake- every Japanese city has it’s commercial zone along the business-route highway, and it’s jammed with cars and ugly. In America, it’s Aurora Ave. in Seattle; El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego; Reserve Street in Missoula. Eyesore City with the same, boring box stores wherever you go (reader’s high voice: “Heyyy! I like Bed, Bath and Beyond!”) Here in Japan, these sections are even worse, because instead of 4 or six lanes, there are two, or if you’re lucky four, but usually without a special lane for right and left turns, so it’s always clogged in Kanto and Kansai, if not everywhere. This is another good reason to ditch the car in Japan. Getting out of the main train station, at least there will be some variation from town to town, but if you’re driving you’ll think that every place in the country is a carbon copy of the last place- “Hey look, there’s a Starbucks across from the Family Mart next to the D2 home center!”- pure commercial blaa.
On the winning side of the SFS ledger is all the fun times we had together. My kids had their phones but they didn’t use them too much. It was like my upcoming children’s book, Look Up, Japan! instead of Noses in Phoneses Japan. We even had two more bridge sessions on the tatami at our Japanese hotel outside of Kobe. Here I was with teenage-plus kids sitting down for junk-snacks, drinks, conversation, jokes and a riveting card game- three or four hours long. Twice in one short trip! Who manages such feats? It can be done! Long live Screen-Free Sunday!
On our way home the last day we stopped in Kyoto. It’s the cultural center of Japan and kind of high class. Lyndi and the boys wanted to see some famous temple and they were none to happy with my unkempt hair and choice of clothing. I apologize for neither; with the hair I’m kind of going for the gumshoe reporter look, always preoccupied and on the lookout for the next great scoop. As for the clothes, OK, track sweats at the temple in Kyoto no less, is pushing it. But hey, both pairs of my pants were now dirty. And I did offer to tuck in my shirt. No dice- the kids headed for the temple on their own, and I was left to roam the alleys taking snapshots with the Nikon.
Here’s the entrance to the temple. Maybe the kids had a point. Most people were dressed respectfully, if not in temple garb like the young lady heading up the stairs.
I walked around the perimeter and found another temple, where the dress code wasn’t as severe. Some Chinese had the same idea as me.
Seeing all these Chinese roaming around the beautiful temples and castles of Japan, I can’t help thinking of the Romans as they took over from the Greeks.
After our little separate times exploring the temples, we rendezvoused back at the car. I suggested a fast food place around the corner that served a delicious Gyūdon (beef bowl). The kids offered to go inside and get mine and bring it out.
-What? Why? I want to eat inside too.
-No, just stay in the car, pops.
First they leave me and go see the temple on their own, and now this. We’ve been having such a great time together; I don’t know what’s gotten into them.
Loved this last one Dan. Thankful for your sharing. Hope your well.