Boog's Blog

Overcast to sunny, rain stopped but noticibly cooler in the mountains.

This is ski country, no skiing yet.

A day of two mountain passes on a very light breakfast. This morning food was different. Not to our taste. Taro served, looked just like alligot. Fermented beans, micro fish, etc. Challenging when hungry.

First pass lovely, slippery in a few places, ending with lunch and a fine view of some mountains,Mount Ontake, active volcano, pictured.

The owner baked fresh rolls and miso pizza for us. Peanuts were also served as this is peanuts day.

Shamisen soloplayed by owner. Then a duet with his wife on a mouth organ, samuri song followed by a lullaby.

Music was played with a demonstration of the model train railroad. Camptown races. Antic railroad.

Another mountain pass, steep, and then to a fine fine dinner after a nice hot bath.

In Album 11/11/15

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Rain with clearing.

Longest walk today but cut short.

Picture postcard walk in the Kiso mountains. Trees amazing colors, Vermont plus. Then a sudden rainstorm making the path too dangerous to climb and descent.

Kami of a powerful woman samuri who was the liver of adaimo who lost a battle for Kyoto.

Found a house for shelter and they provided coffee for the whole group, let us eat or picnic lunches,and then used their two minivans to drive us ask to a train station. Hospitality at its finest.

Interesting visit to a checkpoint along the nakasendo. Run by the shogun.

Hybrid ryokan,tatatmi mats but ensuite bath as well as communal bath.

In Album 11/10/15

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Rainy morning, clearing to overcast.

Garden at ryokan last evening, pictured.

Magone, old post town, fully preserved. Water wheel, no overhead lines, original architecture, built on hill of course.

Wonderful walk through a pictures forest. Postcard pretty. One of the most scenic walks we have been on anywhere.

Inn, pictured. Then a visit to a public onsen, bath. Lots of soaking. 41 degrees C.

In Album 11/9/15

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All day rain

Spot where the famous wood print was viewed for the artist's impression.

Perry woodblock print original. Curator would not answer what he thought of Perry visit, a seminal one for Japan.

Heavy rain, soaked throughout. Stopped at a place that serves only unagi. High quality and suitably expensive.

My rain jacket is a three to four hour one, today's seven hour walk was too much for it. Soaked through.

Excellent walk until the last 1.3 km of slippery cobblestones. Would have been easy except for the pouring rain and slippery surface. The road was lovely as was the first but had to concentrate on fitting.

Inn a nice ryokan. Hung up to dry our wet stuff, put newspapers in our wet shoes and were very accommodating. Beautiful building pictured.

Fab dinner including grasshoppers, quite fine, and stewed local boar, home made ice plum wine, among the fine dishes. Everything was local from their garden.

In Album 11/8/15

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Another nice day a little cooler.

QB looking forward to private bathroom ensuite, as am I. Laundry too. Still no WiFi,T-Mobile works but not all the pictures loaded for the past two days. Business hotel with WiFi.

The tree is the kami. 1400 years old.

QB was heard to say after 25km " free the pink ten "

Most excellent walk ended at the Hiroshige museum. QB made a wood block print. The brightness of the colors, with perfect registration on very large pieces jumps out.

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/u/0/collection/hiroshige-ukiyo-e-​m​useum?projectId=art-project

In Album 11/7/15

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Another warm day,a bit warmer and very sunny

Today we start walking on the better and more continuous parts of NB the nakasendo trail. For the past two days we have walked bits and pieces, picking up trains to avoid walking on expressways.

The group: six from Singapore, two from the Midlands, us and two guides, the main one from Venice. Four lawyers, one geriatric doctor.

Chrysanthemums are developed for size, these are huge.

Stopped at a power, apparently quite famous. Oven,pictured,400 hundred years old, five days to get hot. Went to but a piece but not for sales at $2300, saved face easily. Umehara.

Big black house as our ryokan. Also 400 years old. Run by a TV personality chef, tradional fish Japanese cooking in a modern way.

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Another warm perfect day

Short walk to hikone castle. Two black swans possibly pictured. Up to the castle: a day without stairs is a day without rice.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikone_Castle

QB vetoed the guardian statute.

Buckwheat tea is their local drink. Almost tasteless and odorless.

Sekigahara is the site of the battle which led to the Edo period. 150000 involved, treachery, decapitations and presentations of the heads of the losing daimos to the winning shogun. The battle decided on six hours and over in mind.

Back to a traditional ryokan. Nice bath though rushed as only one for the twelve of us.

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Another perfect day, almost as too hot!

Free day until 18:00 when we join up with the nakasendo way group for an introductory dinner.

First to this most excellent temple. No pictures allowed, marking everywhere within the temple, great 1001 statutes, beams, etc.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjūsangen-dō

Then off to another tourist and local area,
Gion. Shops, old tradional architecture, many restaurants and temple of course. Very large assortment of pickles pictured.

QB found an excellent birds and water furoshiki. Will get a book on folding when we reach Tokyo.

Shower, very long. Kyoto has a 1000 year water table. Now a bit less.

In Album 11/4/15

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Another perfect day

City tour of Kyoto via oku Japan.

Palace First. The palace is open to visitors for a week in the fall and we got in on the last if crowded day. Standard impressive palace keeping in mind that Kyoto was the capital for 1000 years and has 1000 temples-shrines. Extreme social hierarchy, enthronement ritual as well as gates for different levels of visitors.

Nijo castle – build by a shogun as a Kyoto residence while he was ensconced in what is now Tokyo. Painted screens in each tatami room, each a treasure, with an excellent garden. Pictured are two women with rented kimonos, something done for visiting attractions. Saw this style in other parts of town as well.

Myoshinji zen temple, head temple of this strain of zen. Has several hundred sub temples. Probably the best of the temples we visited as it is working temple with people copying sutras, taking meditation classes, rooms to rent for visits. Wonderful gardens of course. Many pictures on flickr from both Boogs.

Off to this tourist area with more zen temples, shrines, restaurants (udon eaten), bamboo garden, shops.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arashiyama

Tenryuji temple – zen and zen garden Connected to bamboo garden

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Rain,glorious rain! Nicely it easier until after all the hiking and step climbing to shrines.

Yesterdays ryoken was even more officious than the others. Threw a small group of us out after dinner, no bath or shower in the morning!

Some in town wandering before a bid and train ride to Kyoto. Nice high speed train, of course.

Waiting for the train we stopped in a coffee shop by the station. Small but nice. Siphon coffee, only choice.

Outstanding ramen in Kyoto. Local variety.

Laundry with excellent conversations, Japanese American, Canadian, Frenchman. Topped all off with a visit to Starbucks

In Album 11/2/15

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