Fukushima Day One - Nov 17th

I got to Hoshien with about 15 minutes to spare; I somehow managed to fit just about everything I needed in my small backpack. Hans was the second to last one on the bus, but we eventually all made it in time for departure. My suspiscions from reading the list of attending students was confirmed: we didn't know anybody.

The bus ride was long, but most of us were unconscious, catching up on the sleep that was interrupted by our assembly. Our first stop was Sekinomori, a park on the outskirts of Shirakawa, where we would learn how to make soba noodles from scratch by a living national treasure. The soba sensei was amazing; his decades of experience boiled down to just a few minutes of mixing, kneading and cutting. We were split into groups of four, and spent about an hour trying to get a respectable consistency to our mixtures, intermittently deferring to experience and letting the sensei have his way with our lumpy clods of buckwheat dough. A skilled craftsman, he knead the dough in a way that reminded me of my ceramics teacher; he even created the same "chrysanthemum" pattern in the dough as he turned and pressed it into the bowl. Once the dough was the right consistency, we had to flatten it and stretch it into a giant square, then fold it several times over. The last step was cutting, which he pretty much left up to us. Of all the groups, I think ours was the most consistent, and closest to the actual width of soba. Everyone else's soba was comically fat, looking more like udon or chow fun.

We went to an adjacent building and each team ate the soba they had made, along with a huge serving of vegetable tempura generously prepared by a group of volunteers from the town. It was delicious! As you can tell from my photo, I gained some weight from the meal.

There was a sweet dog with no tags running around the parking lot that everyone but the bus driver was fond of. That part of the story really goes nowhere, but I figured the dog was worth mentioning. After lunch, we were given some free time to explore the surrounding park; Hans and I dashed towards the awesome playground nearby. Japanese kids are so spoiled!

We were soon rounded up and piled back on the bus, and made our way to the remains of Komine Castle in Shirakawa. Unlike Matsumoto, this castle had been reconstructed at some point, but it was still quite old. There were even holes in the floorboards from one of the wars the castle had endured. It was considerably smaller than Mastumoto, but it also had its share of interesting history. One of the students, a Korean who was quite fluent in Japanese but spoke no English, was thoroughly excited when we went through the adjacent museum and learned about all the of the historical importance of the castle, including its connection to the shinsengumi. Only able to understand a small part of the lecture, I was visibly less enthused. I did learn, however, that there were certain classifications of money back then; some were used only for official transactions between daimyos, and just one of these "coins" was worth the equivalent of a small fortune. Quite amazing! Coincidentally, it turns out that the castle is also used as a backdrop for the movie "Bushi no Ippun."

As the sky started to dull and fade into darkness, we arrived at our final destination for the day; Kita Onsen Ryokan, just south of Shirakawa in Tochigi prefecture. The ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) was tucked deep into a valley, at the end of a narrow road winding its way down one of the cliffs surrounding it (too narrow for our bus, we had to dismount and manage the final quarter mile on foot). Behind the old buildings is a large staircase of man-made waterfalls, feeding the baths. Copious amounts of steam and the faint smell of sulfur permeated everything.

We got a quick tour of the maze of corridors leading to the rooms and various baths around the compound. I would be staying in the largest room, along with Benny (from Germany), Ryu (England), Dong (Northern China) and Sen (Shanghai). We made plans to try out the routemburo (outdoor-bath) and the pool (also filled with warm spring water) after dinner. There was also a couple konyoku (co-ed) baths, including one right by the room in which I was staying. In fact, the konyoku bath was known as the "Tengu no yu," and is famous for being very hot, and having huge Tengu masks on the wall. All the guys visited the Tengu room and waited patiently for the ladies to join us, but they never came 8*(

After dinner, we headed for the routemburo and admired the view and the extremely warm water. I have never had a more pleasant spa experience, and had almost forgotten how beautiful the night sky is, since the lights of Tokyo swallow up any trace of anything beyond the stratosphere. A few intrepid souls joined me in the pool (also co-ed, but requiring a bathing suit) located out in front of the complex. The water was warm, but not as nice as the routemburo. I floated around on my back for a while, staring at the pinholes of light that were so often obscured by clouds and light pollution. Again, no girls, not even in swimsuits.

Lastly we went to the famous Tengu room, and talked to some of the older gentlemen staying at the ryokan as we boiled ourselves in the hot spring. The mask in the photo is actually much larger than it appears; it's about 4 feet tall, and the nose protrudes about 3 feet. I didn't have a chance to photograph it (as I didn't want to disturb the bathers), but I found this image on the net.

After bathing (but not showering, for strangely enough, there are no bathing facilities other than the hotsprings themselves), we gathered in one of the dens to chat and share snacks and drinks. It was decided that Benny, as the student with the least experience learning Japanese, would be making our introduction tomorrow at the cultural exchange with Shirakawa Asahi High school's English and International club. I breathed a sigh of relief. After cavorting for an hour or so, a group of us went back to one of the rooms to play card games, ultimately ending with a rousing but endless game of Bullshit. I managed to go out early, and spent the rest of the time joking around with the others.

Also worth mentioning; A majority of the students on this trip, including Hans, speak Chinese; for some of them, our only common language is Japanese. This leads to some interesting conversations, but for the most part, we understand each other and are able to have a great time.