JAPAN – A TALE OF TWO TRIPS

Christy

Skiing in Niseko, Japan has been on my sister Kerri’s bucket list for years.  When I told her I was going to be in Japan in January, she immediately agreed to fly over and join me for an adventure. 

Niseko is on Japan’s northern island, Hokkaido, just south of Siberia.  Visitors flock to Niseko, the island’s largest ski area, because of the 48 feet of snow that blesses the area each year.  Kerri and I usually heli-ski together in British Columbia -- so we love powder!  Niseko did not disappoint.    

It snowed almost constantly during our visit bringing almost a foot of new snow to the upper levels of the mountain every day.   We avoided the marked runs and instead headed for the trees and numerous boundary gates the lead us to endless light powder.  Often, our last run of the day was as good as our first run.   

Hirafu, is Niseko’s hip small town that makes you forget you are in Japan.  It has been growing rapidly as more and more foreigners, especially Aussies, learn of the Niseko’s heavenly snow.  The bars and restaurants are small and welcoming and we indulged at Niseko Pizza, The Barn and a fondue restaurant – no, not very Japanese.  After eating “ship” food for 18 days straight, freshly made food was a refreshing change.  The last night we enjoyed Bar Gyu X, a quaint, neighborhood bar, where you entered through a small refrigerator door. 

After skiing powder all day, the onsen, traditional Japanese bath, was a welcome treat between happy hour and dinner.  (See my writing, “Quiet.”)  We stayed at the Hilton, which had a wonderful onsen and the best ski in/ski out location on the mountain.  It was not very Japanese and we had to take a bus to Hifaru, but it was comfortable.  Moku no sho or The Vale Niseko are other recommended options. 

While Christy was playing in the snow on the north island, the boys explored Jay’s old haunts on the main island. 

The Boys

After seeing Christy off to the airport bus, the boys (Jay, Luke, Ryan and Milton) headed into Tokyo to check out the sites there.  After a stop at a ramen shop and a quick visit in Akihabara, the electronics district, we continued on our way to the January Sumo Tournament! Despite living for six years in Japan and watching numerous events on TV, Jay had never actually been to a sumo tournament in person.  We arrived on the final day of the tournament so it was a perfect opportunity to share sumo with the family.  And it was an historic ending to the Tournament as we were present to see the first victory in ten years for a Japanese wrestler, after ten years of domination by Mongolian-born wrestlers.

The Japanese crowd went crazy when Kotoshogiku beat his opponent and clinched victory in the third last match of the tournament.  The tournament wrapped up with the best sumo wrestler in history losing his match and placing second.

From there it was off to dinner at a tonkatsu restaurant before returning to the ship in Yokohama. It was a relief for Jay to feel his Japanese skills come back day by day and be able to get around Japan easily.  As we start to head to other countries, travel will get a little more difficult as we don’t know the languages!

Our whirlwind tour of Japan continued the next day with the shinkansen (bullet train) past Mt. Fuji to Kyoto and a few days of touring just a few of Kyoto’s thousands of temples and shrines.  In our short stay in Kyoto, we managed to fit in a few more meals (yakitori, curry rice and more ramen) and visits to Kiyomizu, Kinkakuji and others.  A particular highlight was the visit to Shoren-In, a favorite of Jay’s from his first visit to Japan in 1988.  It was as serene and impactful this time as it had been so many years ago.

The following day turned into a marathon train day – covering 8 or 9 trains – on our way back to Kobe through Iga-Ueno.  As part of the memory tour of Japan, Jay took the boys (including Grandpa) back to the hometown of his favorite student, near where he taught English in Mie. Mrs. Ito had become his “Japanese Mom” and he even stayed with her and her family for a few months during his time living in Japan.  They had stayed in touch for several years but it had been a long time since Jay had been in contact with her or her family.

After tracking down the new location of their family restaurant, we were able to catch up with many members of her family.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Ito has passed away almost exactly a month earlier.  But it was a happy reunion with her children, grandchildren (who were in middle and elementary school way back then), and great grandchildren. Jay was able to see many of the family and even go back into the house where he stayed so many years ago to see the “shrine” set up for Mrs. Ito.  We were able to meet Hikari, her great grand-daughter who is going to study English at university this year and may come to visit us sometime.  In the end, while it was sad not to see Mrs. Ito, it was great to reconnect with her family and to be able to spend time with them.  We also managed to get some of the city’s famous katayaki (very hard cookies) for Christy while we were there.

We spend our final day in Kobe, tooling around the city on an eating and shopping tour.  In just four hours, we managed to find some good bargains and fit in ramen and the famed Kobe beef.  Overall, our Japan stop was a great opportunity to reconnect with a country we had all been to before, and to explore some new activities like sumo and skiing.  A good time was had by all!

RIP Itsu Ito