Boog's Blog

Rain

View from our room at the Royal Park hotel.

Wandered first up ginza. Itoya, a fun high end 8 story stationary and related items shop. Department stores of famous brands. Loft, recommended, might be related to mugi.

We are unclear about the beautiful bento boxes, plastic, some as much as $250, which are clearly for gift foods. Are they delivered fresh to an address or do you wait until they are made up with real food and you must cash and carry or some other variation?

Late lunch at X'ian noodle. Excellent hot and sour soup with tasomen noodles, soup dumplings, shu mei. A fine and filling change of cuisine.

Starbucks madness. Crowded, were asked to go upstairs, her on line for a seat reservation number. We left.

Day ended with longish very wet walk back to the hotel through ginza at night.

In Album 11/14/15

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Cool,sunny

City and travel days.

Up to the shrine at the usai pass.

Wandered Karuizawa, then of to tokyo by train. Walk to the point where the nakasendo ends.

In Album 11/13/15

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A nice day, very cool to cold

Climb to a god of the mountains,kami. The last mountain pass of the trip, with a shrine of course. Remain uninjured!

Soba in the post town, preserved by the government. Narai-juku.

Then off to karuizawa, a town trying to be international, john Lennon,ono,artists,writers,etc.

Skiing, we are at about 1000 meters.

Fugu appetizer pictured

In Album 11/12/15

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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.

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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.

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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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