After a lot of research on our part, and much discussion of alternatives, Warner, Nancy and I have settled on plans to go to Takayama in the mountains and then to Kyoto to visit with Maya Wanaka, a Japanese professor-friend of Warner’s. It means that we will need to relinquish other planned trips but we realize that we will otherwise spend too much time trying to return multiple times to the ship when it moves to the port of Kobe. All of us give our tickets to deserving students on limited budgets and we make our own independent arrangements for subways, trains and accommodations. It’s low season in both the mountains and in Kyoto but that does not mean it is easy to get reservations. It’s not and in both cases we will get the last two rooms at the inn.
Maya (who lives and teaches in Kobe and Kyoto) thinks we’re crazy to want to go to Takayama because it’s remote, it’s cold, there will be snow, and you really have to take the train to get there. All reasons we want to go. Takayama is almost exactly like Hot Springs, North Carolina, where Kenneth and I have a little house called Chapel View. Among other things, it is small enough to walk through and it is well known for its hiking trails through ancient forests and temple compounds. But there are some big differences and you can understand why a small town high up in the mountains of Japan (80% of Japan is mountainous with nearly all of its 128 million people in a mere 20% of its urban land) can be sustainable. For one thing, there are 8 passenger trains daily in each direction up into the mountain towns north of Nagoya. Let me repeat that: 8 passenger trains daily, every day of the year, in each direction from north to south, across the central belt of mountains from sea to sea. Can you imagine the kind of economic development you could have in a place like Hot Springs, North Carolina, if you had even 1 passenger train coming through in each direction? (Older citizens of Hot Springs have told me that at one time there were at least two; there continue to be many freight trains each day but none for passengers.)
Much like the French Broad, the Hida River gorge is spectacular and the train ride extremely comfortable. It occurs to us that if the minshuku did not get our reservations satisfactorily we can just ride the train back down. The journey from the Yokohama port that morning includes the remarkable 180-mile-per-hour Shinkansen (bullet train) from Yokohama to Nagoya and then a Wide-View local up through the mountains, with the train working hard to get up the steep elevation. We leave early morning and arrive early afternoon after a trip of over 500 km. The ride lets us see all of the many family and community gardens and all of the laundry out to dry on balconies and porches in every home. The Japanese have understood sustainable for centuries. Some people might think the laundry and the plots unattractive but they are in every case tidy. Pass any pile of “stuff” in Japan and you marvel how carefully it is stacked and secured against the elements.
More and more snow the higher we go with the fulsome Hida River coming down through the valley and powering a number of small hydroelectric plants on its way. Takayama proves to be thoroughly charming and very densely settled with extremely narrow streets and old wooden homes of dark Japanese cypress and gray terra cotta tile roofs piled with snow. At one time the town was well known for its carpentry and there are astounding examples of woodworking in both the galleries and structures. It rains off and on nearly the whole time we are there and so we hear the sound of rivulets rushing through endless networks of drains and miniature canals the entire time. There are always so many details to notice in Japan, but one that a walker cannot miss is the astonishing manhole covers. They appear to be made of solid bronze and decorated with leaves and flowers in an Arts & Crafts style. By far the best I’ve seen!
Our reservation has, indeed, been successful by email at the Yamakyu minshuku and we find it right off on the eastern edge of the town. The rooms are Japanese style and very comfortable. Every window has a tiny garden in its view. Mine looks out over the town to the 10,000-ft high mountains surrounding the town. We go out for a couple of walks through drizzle. That night we feast on a meal that we cannot imagine could be possible for the rate we are paying. It is endless and delicious. Afterwards, Nancy and I warm up in the women’s hot springs baths in the minshuku’s basement. Warner resists trying the men’s public hot bath until we talk him into it the next morning and then he doesn’t want to get out it is so warm and wonderful. As grim as winter is everywhere, we realize that the snow in a place like Takayama actually brightens the light and lightens the mood.