Juu San – Return to Nihon

I travelled to Japan again this year, across the mighty Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa and back, and have been home for several weeks. As usual when I travel, I fully intended to write about my experiences while I was there, but somehow the time just slipped away. When you are out of your normal routines, all the ‘other country’ experiences take up your whole time, and I also had editing work to keep me occupied. My current plan is to catch up on my Japan writing in small spurts. We’ll see how far I get… the good intentions are there, anyway.

I left New Zealand towards the end of March and flew with Air New Zealand to  Hong Kong (a nine-hour stop over that saved me a few hundred dollars), and from Hong Kong to Narita, with Cathay Pacific. I landed at Narita early on a Friday morning, jumped on a Limousine Bus to Haneda, and then took an early afternoon Japan Airlines flight north to Asahikawa. This was a much better method of travelling than booking a ticket from New Zealand to Sapporo, and then taking the train up country. On previous trips I’ve twice had something go wrong and missed my connecting flight to Sapporo–this  way I had allowed plenty of time between landing at Narita and my next flight.

Hong Kong Stopover

My stopover in Hong Kong had the potential to be really tedious, but I had a copy editing job to work on, and the airport is well set-up with work spaces, so I was able to complete two-thirds while I was bailed up there. Because I’d arrived so late in the day, there wasn’t much in the way of food available. I wandered around for an hour or so, before finally finding a Starbucks. I was thinking of coffee, but couldn’t resist a Matcha Latte, which cost me HKD48.00. I had no idea what the conversion rate was, but was sure it was going to be bad. As it turned out, it equated to about NZD 9.50. An expensive drink, but I really enjoyed it. And was able to use the cup for water from the drinking water fountains. So I was happy. I’d had so much food on the previous flight–‘dinner’ and ‘breakfast’, and a range of snacks, that I was barely hungry.

Glad to be back on familiar soil

I was tired but in good spirits when I boarded my Cathay Pacific flight to Narita, but the food offered inflight was horrible. A bun made from white flour, and a sugary cake. Dry and textureless. And a small pottle of very sweet yoghurt. I think there might also have been a very small, limp, salad. By the time I’d landed in Narita, I was keen to find a konbini or a vending machine.

Asahikawa

Flying in to Asahikawa was a bit hairy. There had been some rattles and shakes as we passed over the hills and mountains surrounding the city and this didn’t improve as we drew closer. I think I’ve written before that I’m not that keen on air travel, and when the plane suddenly decided to try again for landing, accelerating up out of the slow descent just when I thought we were almost there, I did my best to relax. We touched down safely on the second go.

Once landed, and walking off the plane and into the airport, I was overcome with warm feelings. The kids are six and four now, old enough to be glad to see me, too, and it was lovely to be reunited with them and my daughter. They’d spent a few coins on a Gachapon, a Japanese ‘capsule’ toy that you purchase through a vending machine, and I was intrigued by the item they’d chosen this time. Tiny bananas, that were so realistic I had to lift one to my nose to smell it, to be sure it wasn’t a real banana, somehow shrunken down in size.

On the drive to the city, there was more snow than I’d been expecting, as the weather prior to my arrival had (by local standards) been unusually mild. The car ride  gave me the chance to relax and enjoy the scenery once again. It’s difficult to explain, but (and I guess it’s to do with having family there) when I arrive in Asahikawa it’s almost like I’m coming home. Perhaps it’s to do with the number of times I’ve been to the city. I first visited in 2017, and this was the fifth year, and the sixth visit. There are so many sights now that are familiar to me, and I miss some of them, even when I’m back in New Zealand. There are lots of differences, but also lots of things that are the same.

I’m always on the lookout for amusing signs, and spotted this one on the ride from the airport.

Belt sushi

After I’d unpacked and settled in, we went out to Sushiro, a local conveyor belt sushi restaurant, for dinner. This visit was especially for my benefit. Enticing sushi items that glide past your booth on a conveyer belt cannot be considered healthy, but they are a lot of fun.  The food selections are very tasty and good value for money, AND, there are few belt sushi restaurants in New Zealand, so I’d recommend then as a ‘must do’ for a NZ tourist. At least once. They are like a degustation menu in that you can order all kinds of tiny dishes, but there the similarity ends, as these restaurants are designed for families, and are therefore, inexpensive. The food is freshly cooked and tasty, and caters for many tastes. Not so good for vegans, or people who don’t like fish, but especially good if you like seafood, both raw and cooked. And you can even buy a small desert for about 120 yen. This equates to around $1.50 in New Zealand.

More to come.

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