Happy New Year from Japan

Greetings from snowy Niseko, on the island of Hokkaido!

We’re at the end of two weeks in Japan in what has turned out to be the trip of a lifetime. Tokyo, Naoshima Art Island, Kyoto, Sapporo, Otaru—and now four days of skiing in Niseko on the northern island of Hokkaido. Niseko is world famous for its light, fluffy powder, and there’s lots of it. It’s such wonderful skiing, compared to ski resorts in the U.S., many of which no longer have enough snow due to global warming.

We’ve visited extraordinary gardens, temples, and shrines, stayed in a couple of fabulous hotels, and soaked up a little of Japan’s unique culture. Temples vs shrines, for example; temples are Buddhist, shrines are Shinto. Two different religions but with much in common: a deep reverence for nature, for mindfulness, and for the interconnectedness of all things.

The trip was our son’s idea and he invited us to come along with him and his wife and two children (ages 11 and 13). He and I both spent many hours organizing the logistics of the trip: the flights, hotel reservations, Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets, and so much more; it all seemed daunting in advance. The smartest thing I did was to hire a guide for us, along with a car and driver, for our two days in Kyoto. See photos below.

I don’t speak any Japanese, so like every other English speaker I’m relying on Google Translate. You set it to camera mode, focus on Japanese characters, click—and the translation to English appears. That’s how I’ve read all the labels in the 7/11’s and Lawsons, the ubiquitous convenience stores filled with rows of alluring snacks—and, always, an ATM; you don’t go to a bank. And how I decipher what’s in the bottles in the vending machines that are everywhere (is it coffee? tea? with milk? with sugar?). Choose a bottle or can with a red label in the door of the machine and out comes a piping hot drink. Choose blue and it’s ice cold. The drinks typically cost about 200 yen, less than $1.50.

Overall, our impression of Japan is of cleanliness and orderliness, respect and ritual. It soon felt very natural for me to bow and thank everyone with an “arigatō gozaimasu” (thank you very much). But enough of a travelogue. Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip.

Note: I’m composing this on my iPhone and can’t format the captions. They appear in italics below each photo.

Early morning snow-laden trees outside the window of our hotel room in Niseko.

Our son Timothy and his daughter Josie, with Sam. We’re taking the gondola to go to dinner in Niseko. Not-quite-English phrases are common.

Group photo in the bamboo forest in Kyoto, by our guide Mike. Sam is hidden.

Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine in Kyoto, on Christmas Day.

Our son and family dressed up as Ninjas, in the Samurai Museum tucked into a busy marketplace in Kyoto.

The extraordinary sand sculptures in the dry Zen garden of Higushiyama Jisho-Ji in Kyoto.

Mt. Fuji visible in the distance, beyond the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo.

Sam walks up the ramp of an art installation in the Benesse House museum and hotel, on Naoshima Island.

Honestly, I haven’t yet digested all that we’ve seen and done. Thank you, Timothy, for inviting your dad and me to come along with you to visit this fascinating country!

Questions for readers

• Do you find, as I do, that you’re ready to go home after about two weeks of traveling?

• What’s one country that’s on your bucket list to visit? Japan has long been on mine.

Back to regular programming next week. - Debbie