Once upon a time during Golden Week in Kume jima, Okinawa, I met this interesting person from Niigata who was staying with his girlfriend and two other friends at the same camping grounds as we were. We had a big barbecue with many other JETs who were also visiting Kume at the same time. And at this barbecue we were generally in high spirits and making much noise as we celebrated the moment. Many others at the camp ground joined us in the festivities, including this person I mentioned. We got to talking and exchanged info. He kept in touch with me (thank you, facebook) for the love of Indian ‘curry’.
This time when I came to Japan after more than a year, I needed to see some snow. What place better than the very one which saw the birth of skiing in Japan – Niigata. My friend had kindly offered his parents house and his time to show me Niigata on various occasions before. This time I took advantage of his repeated offer and went there.
I took a bus from Ikebukoro on the evening of the 8th and reached Niigata by night. On the way, I fell asleep soon, but woke up 2 hours or so before my destination. I then kept staring out the window in case it started snowing. Much to my disappointment, the landscape remained black.
Suddenly, maybe it was a reflection of light, I thought I saw white on the ground. Could it be? No... it’s just a figment of my imagination. But look! There it is once again. I must be dreaming… Salt? – It must be salt! It can’t be salt, you fool! Could it really be snow? Is it snow? It’s snow!! I wanted to shout – Snow! Yuki! I wanted to tell everyone in the bus - yuki! I looked around, no one shared my enthusiasm. They would probably think I was mad. In their lifetime, they had probably seen more than a zillion trillion billion million times the amount of snow on the side of the road that I was so excited about.
I calmed down. Actually I got bored after half an hour of looking out for patches of white on the side of the highway. Then came a huge tunnel. It seemed never to end. In the middle somewhere there was a line separating Gunma and Niigata prefectures. I thought there must definitely be plenty snow on top of this mountain we are cutting across.
Once the tunnel was crossed, my eyes got the treat they had been thirsty for. A layer of white covered the place. There were mountains of snow. And heavy machinery had been used to clear it up from the highway. My boredom disappeared and I stared till my eyes literally hurt and I could see no more white.
My friend met me at the bus terminal in central Niigata, showed me his favourite haunts around the city and then took me to his parents house which was in the countryside. His parents have a daiko taxi service – which is a special service to drive a drunken person home in their car after their thirst has been quenched at the bar at wee hours of the night. (Japan has a zero percent alcohol rule for driving, and thus such a service exists.) So they were up even at 11:30 in the night when I arrived. It was actually early in their case…
On the way home, Hikaru asked, “By the way, there are two dogs at my parent’s house. Is it ok?” I wanted to laugh, and did! If it was ok? It’s bloody brilliant! I love dogs and sometimes hunger for petting one! I miss Mickey more than anything else in this world! I still cry missing him so much! I was, in fact, praying that there be a dog! These dogs were so friendly, just like Mickey. Even their names begin with ‘M’ – Miruku(Milk) and Marin. They kept wagging their tails, and jumping on me and sniffing me until it tickled. Ah! The best welcome ever!
And Hikaru’s mother is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. I absolutely adore her. She is six years elder to my mother, but she looked like she was Hikaru’s elder sister! Of course she didn’t know English, so we used all devices possible to communicate. She took great care not to use katsuo bushi or dashi in the food she prepared for me. I had some extremely oishii Japanese home food there. If only I could have more understanding people like Hikaru and his mom at restaurants etc.!
The next morning after a filling breakfast, we headed over to an onsen called Yasuda onsen, where his mother would not let me pay. She said something to the effect that ‘mama’ will take care of it. I felt only a split-second moment of hesitation to take off all my clothes in front of her – she is mama after all. And then inside, when we were taking a shower before entering the real onsen, she came with a towel-like loofah and rubbed my back!!! I cannot recall a time when I had that luxury before! Maybe my own mom was the last person who scrubbed my back maybe when I was a child… but I have no memory of it.
We then headed to the nearest ski area so I could see snow. Maybe it was the effect of the onsen, but I had no need for the many layers of clothing I brought to protect me from the fear of cold. I put on an extra sweater only because of psychological cold, but really I didn’t need it. My parka was more than enough! I loved it. I was so happy and excited. Hikaru said later that only children are so happy to see snow the way I was. I wanted to play, but it had already hardened. I guess that it is possible to play only after a fresh snowfall, with soft snow that can be molded… It was great for skiing nonetheless. I was asked if I wanted to try my hand at skiing, but I think just walking on ice was enough for the first time!
Next, we went shopping for a special sweet called ‘maanju,’ (It’s like a small sweet bun with filling inside). Then, we went to a sake factory:
The rice in Niigata is considered the best quality rice in Japan. So wine made from this rice is naturally also considered good. I was told many facts about sake as Hikaru has extensive knowledge about it and other alcoholic beverages. His old room was almost a storage area for wine!
We went to landlord’s manor later on. It wasn’t really great – the lighting was bad for photography and the trees were bare. It would have been best in autumn or at least a feet of snow for a visit. 
To wrap up the day, we went shopping for spices and I ended up making dinner – aloo sabji (potato curry), raita (yogurt salad); and bhatooré (fried naan). It was interesting… I hadn’t made aloo sabji and poori since Okinawa!
The second day, we went to an open air onsen – a rotenburo called Murasugi onsen. It was completely unmanned and had a sensor which made noise when a person approached the gate. You had to buy a ticket from a vending machine and simply drop it in the box next to it. The day before Hikaru had made me go in and ‘check’ it. If someone wanted they could just go in free. But the Japanese would never. Also its just 300 yen! So cheap! Therefore, no one would think of cheating!
It was an old style, so it didn’t have a shower. Just strip and enter the water. I think there is pseudo-nudist in me. I just loved it. Out in the open amidst nature – in a bamboo forest; the roof of a Shinto shrine visible nearby; blue skies on top; and I, relaxing in hot blue waters… Ah! It was awesome. The water was actually very hot. Despite the winter season and cold air on bare skin, it took me a splash of cold bucket full of water and 5 – 10 mins of jumping in and out of the onsen to adjust to it! But once it was bearable, I just didn’t want to come out! We went to another onsen later that day so I could have a shower and it was a three-in-one kind of onsen. It had a sulfuric bath, a new style bath and a rotenburo bath. When I walked to the roten, it was snowing. So not only have I seen and touched snow, I have been naked in snow! :)
We had Tofu made from natural spring water near Murasugi onsen. (Seriously, that spring water was the freshest water I have ever drank!) We also had natural fruit ice-cream. I chose sakura (cherry blossom), special Niigata pears, and wild strawberry flavours. Hikaru had machha, cream cheese and sweet potato. I liked mine better because the sour taste of wild strawberries contrasted the strong sweet of the pear. And the man served me more strawberry flavour than the rest, so it was awesome! (I love sour taste best!)
We went to some big and famous shrine later on. I was unenthusiastic as such shrines are scattered everywhere. If you have been to Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, you don’t need to go anywhere else really... Again the light was bad for photography, and it was really cold to enjoy anything. Sun had gone down and it was drizzling snow, if you know what I mean… This time, I hardly did any research before going to. I usually undertake as extensive a study as is possible. I left it to Hikaru’s discretion to take me wherever he felt best. So I don’t really remember the name of the Shrine or the Manor.
It was coming near to the time when I would have to catch my bus back to Tokyo. We had actually bought more time by requesting to board the bus from a stop in the middle instead of from where it originated. When we reached what we thought was the stop, we found out that we were on the opposite side. We had a minute or so to the scheduled time! To get to the other side, we would have to take a round about. Hikaru was on the phone with a girl at the bus center. We were lost and couldn’t find the stop. It was nerve-racking. Last time I felt like this was when Dave and I ran against time to catch our ferry to Ishigaki (which we missed!) Hikaru had a car and we could have gone to the next stop, but it would have been a bit problematic for Hikaru to drive all that way. So it was critical to catch the bus here itself. Thankfully, it was running 10 mins late due to snow, so we made it. I don’t know if the bus was waiting for me or not, but it was standing there and the driver was outside waiting with the luggage compartment open. I was out of breadth and I managed to thank Hikaru, say goodbye and board the bus.
‘Mama’ had packed an ume onigiri bento (plum rice ball box) for me, along with maanju, cake, extra ume boshi (pickled plum), and Japanese orange called Nagasaki. She had used goma (sesame) with the rice, and packed the nori (seaweed) separately so that it wouldn’t get soggy. It was so good! I have not had a better onegiri ever! Am salivating with the memory of it!
On the way back it snowed like crazy in the first hour of the ride. I was amazed at the driver though, he overtook so many cars and went at a speed which seemed very fast considering the bad weather. When we stopped at the first service area for a break, I felt what real fresh snow feels like, and also made a chisai yuki daruma – or a small snowman! I wish we had more time at the service area so I play more. (Although, it wasn’t so much fun alone!)
On the way I saw so much snow – it had snowed maybe a feet or more. It was so beautiful. I started to cry. Most people who know me, know that there is very little that wouldn’t make me cry. I was really overwhelmed. I wanted this to have happened yesterday in central Niigata. I wanted to be able to run and jump in that whiteness. I wanted more time in that snow. I wanted time to freeze.
I would say that for a non-skier, it was not such a great time to have gone! After I left it snowed afresh in central Niigata (where I had stayed) and Hikaru told me to come back. Perhaps during the many interesting festivals, or spring/autumn would have been the better seasons to visit Niigata. But two of my utmost desires were fulfilled during my stay - to relax at an open air onsen and to see snow. Because of these I can say that my visit was successful. But I would still like to visit again with more research put into it, and see more of the cultural aspect of Niigata. Maybe next time I visit Japan…
(for all those who read this 2246-word blog entry: please tell me and you will get an unlimited number of free copies of my book, when I write it. Promise! :) )
This time when I came to Japan after more than a year, I needed to see some snow. What place better than the very one which saw the birth of skiing in Japan – Niigata. My friend had kindly offered his parents house and his time to show me Niigata on various occasions before. This time I took advantage of his repeated offer and went there.
I took a bus from Ikebukoro on the evening of the 8th and reached Niigata by night. On the way, I fell asleep soon, but woke up 2 hours or so before my destination. I then kept staring out the window in case it started snowing. Much to my disappointment, the landscape remained black.
Suddenly, maybe it was a reflection of light, I thought I saw white on the ground. Could it be? No... it’s just a figment of my imagination. But look! There it is once again. I must be dreaming… Salt? – It must be salt! It can’t be salt, you fool! Could it really be snow? Is it snow? It’s snow!! I wanted to shout – Snow! Yuki! I wanted to tell everyone in the bus - yuki! I looked around, no one shared my enthusiasm. They would probably think I was mad. In their lifetime, they had probably seen more than a zillion trillion billion million times the amount of snow on the side of the road that I was so excited about.
I calmed down. Actually I got bored after half an hour of looking out for patches of white on the side of the highway. Then came a huge tunnel. It seemed never to end. In the middle somewhere there was a line separating Gunma and Niigata prefectures. I thought there must definitely be plenty snow on top of this mountain we are cutting across.
Once the tunnel was crossed, my eyes got the treat they had been thirsty for. A layer of white covered the place. There were mountains of snow. And heavy machinery had been used to clear it up from the highway. My boredom disappeared and I stared till my eyes literally hurt and I could see no more white.
My friend met me at the bus terminal in central Niigata, showed me his favourite haunts around the city and then took me to his parents house which was in the countryside. His parents have a daiko taxi service – which is a special service to drive a drunken person home in their car after their thirst has been quenched at the bar at wee hours of the night. (Japan has a zero percent alcohol rule for driving, and thus such a service exists.) So they were up even at 11:30 in the night when I arrived. It was actually early in their case…
On the way home, Hikaru asked, “By the way, there are two dogs at my parent’s house. Is it ok?” I wanted to laugh, and did! If it was ok? It’s bloody brilliant! I love dogs and sometimes hunger for petting one! I miss Mickey more than anything else in this world! I still cry missing him so much! I was, in fact, praying that there be a dog! These dogs were so friendly, just like Mickey. Even their names begin with ‘M’ – Miruku(Milk) and Marin. They kept wagging their tails, and jumping on me and sniffing me until it tickled. Ah! The best welcome ever!
And Hikaru’s mother is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. I absolutely adore her. She is six years elder to my mother, but she looked like she was Hikaru’s elder sister! Of course she didn’t know English, so we used all devices possible to communicate. She took great care not to use katsuo bushi or dashi in the food she prepared for me. I had some extremely oishii Japanese home food there. If only I could have more understanding people like Hikaru and his mom at restaurants etc.!
The next morning after a filling breakfast, we headed over to an onsen called Yasuda onsen, where his mother would not let me pay. She said something to the effect that ‘mama’ will take care of it. I felt only a split-second moment of hesitation to take off all my clothes in front of her – she is mama after all. And then inside, when we were taking a shower before entering the real onsen, she came with a towel-like loofah and rubbed my back!!! I cannot recall a time when I had that luxury before! Maybe my own mom was the last person who scrubbed my back maybe when I was a child… but I have no memory of it.
We then headed to the nearest ski area so I could see snow. Maybe it was the effect of the onsen, but I had no need for the many layers of clothing I brought to protect me from the fear of cold. I put on an extra sweater only because of psychological cold, but really I didn’t need it. My parka was more than enough! I loved it. I was so happy and excited. Hikaru said later that only children are so happy to see snow the way I was. I wanted to play, but it had already hardened. I guess that it is possible to play only after a fresh snowfall, with soft snow that can be molded… It was great for skiing nonetheless. I was asked if I wanted to try my hand at skiing, but I think just walking on ice was enough for the first time!Next, we went shopping for a special sweet called ‘maanju,’ (It’s like a small sweet bun with filling inside). Then, we went to a sake factory:
The rice in Niigata is considered the best quality rice in Japan. So wine made from this rice is naturally also considered good. I was told many facts about sake as Hikaru has extensive knowledge about it and other alcoholic beverages. His old room was almost a storage area for wine!We went to landlord’s manor later on. It wasn’t really great – the lighting was bad for photography and the trees were bare. It would have been best in autumn or at least a feet of snow for a visit. To wrap up the day, we went shopping for spices and I ended up making dinner – aloo sabji (potato curry), raita (yogurt salad); and bhatooré (fried naan). It was interesting… I hadn’t made aloo sabji and poori since Okinawa!The second day, we went to an open air onsen – a rotenburo called Murasugi onsen. It was completely unmanned and had a sensor which made noise when a person approached the gate. You had to buy a ticket from a vending machine and simply drop it in the box next to it. The day before Hikaru had made me go in and ‘check’ it. If someone wanted they could just go in free. But the Japanese would never. Also its just 300 yen! So cheap! Therefore, no one would think of cheating!
It was an old style, so it didn’t have a shower. Just strip and enter the water. I think there is pseudo-nudist in me. I just loved it. Out in the open amidst nature – in a bamboo forest; the roof of a Shinto shrine visible nearby; blue skies on top; and I, relaxing in hot blue waters… Ah! It was awesome. The water was actually very hot. Despite the winter season and cold air on bare skin, it took me a splash of cold bucket full of water and 5 – 10 mins of jumping in and out of the onsen to adjust to it! But once it was bearable, I just didn’t want to come out! We went to another onsen later that day so I could have a shower and it was a three-in-one kind of onsen. It had a sulfuric bath, a new style bath and a rotenburo bath. When I walked to the roten, it was snowing. So not only have I seen and touched snow, I have been naked in snow! :)We had Tofu made from natural spring water near Murasugi onsen. (Seriously, that spring water was the freshest water I have ever drank!) We also had natural fruit ice-cream. I chose sakura (cherry blossom), special Niigata pears, and wild strawberry flavours. Hikaru had machha, cream cheese and sweet potato. I liked mine better because the sour taste of wild strawberries contrasted the strong sweet of the pear. And the man served me more strawberry flavour than the rest, so it was awesome! (I love sour taste best!)We went to some big and famous shrine later on. I was unenthusiastic as such shrines are scattered everywhere. If you have been to Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, you don’t need to go anywhere else really... Again the light was bad for photography, and it was really cold to enjoy anything. Sun had gone down and it was drizzling snow, if you know what I mean… This time, I hardly did any research before going to. I usually undertake as extensive a study as is possible. I left it to Hikaru’s discretion to take me wherever he felt best. So I don’t really remember the name of the Shrine or the Manor.It was coming near to the time when I would have to catch my bus back to Tokyo. We had actually bought more time by requesting to board the bus from a stop in the middle instead of from where it originated. When we reached what we thought was the stop, we found out that we were on the opposite side. We had a minute or so to the scheduled time! To get to the other side, we would have to take a round about. Hikaru was on the phone with a girl at the bus center. We were lost and couldn’t find the stop. It was nerve-racking. Last time I felt like this was when Dave and I ran against time to catch our ferry to Ishigaki (which we missed!) Hikaru had a car and we could have gone to the next stop, but it would have been a bit problematic for Hikaru to drive all that way. So it was critical to catch the bus here itself. Thankfully, it was running 10 mins late due to snow, so we made it. I don’t know if the bus was waiting for me or not, but it was standing there and the driver was outside waiting with the luggage compartment open. I was out of breadth and I managed to thank Hikaru, say goodbye and board the bus.‘Mama’ had packed an ume onigiri bento (plum rice ball box) for me, along with maanju, cake, extra ume boshi (pickled plum), and Japanese orange called Nagasaki. She had used goma (sesame) with the rice, and packed the nori (seaweed) separately so that it wouldn’t get soggy. It was so good! I have not had a better onegiri ever! Am salivating with the memory of it!
On the way back it snowed like crazy in the first hour of the ride. I was amazed at the driver though, he overtook so many cars and went at a speed which seemed very fast considering the bad weather. When we stopped at the first service area for a break, I felt what real fresh snow feels like, and also made a chisai yuki daruma – or a small snowman! I wish we had more time at the service area so I play more. (Although, it wasn’t so much fun alone!)
On the way I saw so much snow – it had snowed maybe a feet or more. It was so beautiful. I started to cry. Most people who know me, know that there is very little that wouldn’t make me cry. I was really overwhelmed. I wanted this to have happened yesterday in central Niigata. I wanted to be able to run and jump in that whiteness. I wanted more time in that snow. I wanted time to freeze.
I would say that for a non-skier, it was not such a great time to have gone! After I left it snowed afresh in central Niigata (where I had stayed) and Hikaru told me to come back. Perhaps during the many interesting festivals, or spring/autumn would have been the better seasons to visit Niigata. But two of my utmost desires were fulfilled during my stay - to relax at an open air onsen and to see snow. Because of these I can say that my visit was successful. But I would still like to visit again with more research put into it, and see more of the cultural aspect of Niigata. Maybe next time I visit Japan…
(for all those who read this 2246-word blog entry: please tell me and you will get an unlimited number of free copies of my book, when I write it. Promise! :) )
2 comments:
I read it! I read it!
:-)
i read it too!! you write so well juhi and i am longing to do all these things myself...even the "onsen"!! what fun!! listenm you have to be in japan when i visit it whenevr in my life...
Post a Comment