Horse Archery in Ibaraki

Yabusame is the traditional horse archery of Japan. It is still practiced in locations all over the country.

We went to Ibaraki to a horse archery school deep in the forest. It turns out the family have been doing it for generations and indeed represent Japan at international competitions.

In the rather lucky shot below you can actually see an arrow in mid flight.

It's is obviously not an easy thing to do. In the competitions you ride along a path and shoot series of arrows at targets as you hurtle past. The arrows are stuffed down your trousers for easy access, although apparently some people still use quivers.

The women of the family were simply astounding to watch on both their speed and accuracy.

 They couldn't have been nicer or more friendly and helpful.









 It was such an interesting day amongst a traditonal family, who seem to like Western cowboy gear and indeed were playing lonesome cowboy music to their horses in the stables.

What a marvellous country this is.

The Old Salt Road

The Nakasendo is one of the 5 ancient roads leading to Tokyo, or Edo as it was then known.
There is the famous Tokaido road linking Kyoto and Edo, immortalised by Hiroshige's prints.
However the Nakasendo was the central mountain route  and it remains a very beautiful and interesting part of the world to explore.

This was also known as the 'Salt Road' as much of this commodity was transported along it. Indeed one of the major towns along it, today a small city, is called Shiojiri literally "Salty Bottom".




Tsumagojuku is a perfectly preserved town along the Nakasendo. Whereas many
historical towns are now polluted by more modern buildings, vending machines and ugly signs, Tsumagojuku is perfectly preserved and lovingly restored.
There are no cars allowed during the day and there is a 10 o'clock curfew at night, so it is incredibly peaceful.

We stayed in an ancient in and thanks to a friend's call to the owner were given the best room in the house,

The town is nestled in deep mountains by a
thundering river and as we were there in May the full  green riot of Spring was everywhere to be seen.

Interestingly there are two well restored buildings that were  Honjon and Wakihonjin's places. A honjin was the house of a family that hosted the lords and other great dignitaries as they proceded to and from Edo. As the lords travelled with an enormous retinue the whole village prospered from their visits. Providing accommodation for them was very profitable for the Honjin and Wakihonjin, the Wakihonjin being the vice, or second level Honjin.

Manazuru fishing village

Manazuru is a typical fishing village located not far from Tokyo at the start of the Izu peninsula.
At the start of a four day road trip we stopped there for a delightful night in a Minshuku.

Great seafood and green mountains behind.

Accommodation can be a little confusing in Japan so here's a rough guide:




Hotels

Can have Western or Japanese style rooms and these are almost always now with their own bathrooms.

Ryokans

Traditional Japanese inn. These can range from very small, 10-20 guests to enormous like a hotel. All rooms are likely to be Japanese style and many will have shared bathrooms. They will usually always have a shared bathroom anyway with a large hot tub for soaking. Breakfast and dinner are usually included in the price of the room and consist of large tradional Japanese meals comprising many courses. The buildings can be vety old and well preserved, so beautiful from the outside, or added to in the boom of the 1970's with incredibly ugly annexes to house extra guests. Although not very nice on the outside they can still be quite lovely on the inside, it's a very Japanese thing.

Onsen Ryokans and Hotels

Same as above but located in a hot spring area. So they will always have their own hot spring bath.

Minshuku

Small guesthouse with tradional Japanese rooms and a shared bathroom, meals often included. These places are usually all very small and its a bit like staying in someone's house.


So Japanese fishing villages/ports are working towns. The idyllic little untouched ancient village is a thing of the past. The winters are fierce, and there are tsunamis to worry about. So nearly all the fishing villages are protected by concrete walls and not so pretty breakwaters. However squint hard at Manazuru and its not all that different from Portofino, or that perfect Greek fishing port.







View from the minshuku room.

Lunch in local restaurant, fresh sea urchin and salt grilled fish.

Dinner, or at least part of it.

Shiga-Kogen

We have just returned from a week's skiing at Shiga-Kogen. It is the largest ski area in Asia  combining many resorts on one lift ticket. It is also one of the highest ski areas in Japan so it usually has very good snow.

Unlike Nozawa or Niseko it has very few private appartments and everyone stays in hotels and lodges. This means that there are very few shops and restaurants outside the hotels and almost none of the usual ski resort nightlife.

Not so good for nightlife but if you want to ski and ski then this is the place.

 Skiing in Japan is very cheap compared to Australia.You can stay at a good hotel or lodge for about $100 AUS per person per night. This price includes a large Japanese dinner and breakfast and some lodges will also include a ski pass.

 This sign in our room warns us to keep our windows and balcony doors closed if we go out. Otherwise monkeys often get in and steal things.

Below are photos of the Yakebitaiyama area, one of the best for skiing. The name means
"Burnt forehead moutain." It is in fact a volcano and in the past used to smoke hence the burnt name. Indeed skiing around you sometimes still get a whiff of Sulphur coming from a stream or a vent somewhere.

 In  the late afternoon sun it looks incredibly beautiful.

Snow!

We woke up on Thursday morning to a winter wonderland. It is colder out where we live than in Tokyo and overnight we had a significant snowfall.











Even fairly dreary parts of our area look wonderful under snow with the early morning sunshine.

Something Fishy

Odawara Port has a bustling wholesale fish market.


All around are smaller retail shops and restaurants.

The owners' kids seem to have been decorating this particular shop for them.

We had a truly delicious meal there. Soup pickles, grilled fish, rice and salad all for about $12.