Wild Crane Chase

Hooded cranes, also wintering in Izumi. The blue fencing is part of the protected area control. The image above is a family of White-naped Cranes.

Late in the planning stage for this trip (August!) I decided to subject my future self to a quick trip to the south of Japan to chase down two objectives: the Sugi forest on the island of Yakushima and the wintering cranes in Izumi. I’m still a bit surprised that a set of fortunate circumstances allowed me to successfully achieve both objectives. If you go off the beaten path in Japan, online information in English becomes sparse.

Why cranes? Along with solar eclipses, I’ve chased down these large birds in the past. Years ago I went to Kearney, Nebraska to observe giant flocks of lesser Sandhills bedding down for the night on the Platte River sandbanks. The thing that I love about cranes is their call, and I’ll go to some lengths to hear it. I was also hoping that some of the more beautiful crane species winter in Izumi. Indeed, Japan’s iconic White-naped Cranes were wintering there (perhaps not as ubiquitous throughout Japan as they were in the past.) As a bonus, it turns out that the Hooded Cranes also have the thrilling, resonant chortle in their call that’s similar to that of our North American Less and Greater Sandhill Cranes.

Sugi trees are on the left & right and along the road.

As for Sugi, (cryptomeria Japonica) there are two carefully cultivated ones at the Portland Japanese Garden. They are elegant and kind of feathery-looking. I wanted to see a forest of them.

And, of course, everyone who goes to Japan needs to take a trip on the Shinkansen!

Once I got to the small city of Izumi in Kagoshima, getting to the cranes was merely a matter communicating across the language barrier with the hotel clerk, who helped me book a taxi that would take me to Crane Observation Center on the agricultural outskirts of the town, and then pick me there up after a couple of hours. (I was afraid of getting stranded in the busless suburbs.)

ATR 72-600, a favorite of mine.

Getting to Yakushima Island, on the other hand, was quite an adventure. The night before I tried to book an outbound ferry using an international online ferry booking service (English!) But it was too late: the booking had to be done two days in advance. I could only book the return trip. And so, at 7 a.m. in the morning I found my way to a ferry terminal in Kagoshima that didn’t require reservations.

When I got there, I discovered that the ferries weren’t running due to high winds (but hooray, I didn’t have an expensive online ticket to deal with!) I sat in ferry terminal, empty except for two guys from Hong Kong, and managed to book a flight on my phone for about $100. Then I got myself to the airport and lo, the plane eventually took off and landed me on Yakushima. We had some interesting swaying during the approach, but otherwise the flight was fine.

The river near my room in Anbo, Yakushima

At the Anbo, Yakushima Tourist Information Center, a bit of intense non-verbal communication with patient and enthusiastic clerks resulted in the information that I could take a bus the next day up a mountain and choose from a set of five graded hikes through the Sugi forest. This was exactly what I wanted to do with my one day in Yakushima, but online information in English had been so sparse that I had to actually go there to find out what was possible.

The result was a fantastic hike and a close call avoided: My legs almost gave out in the deep woods after I chose trails that were extremely difficult. I had been misled by information like “3 hours, 1.4 km” (Hmm – I see the problem now.) The “trails” were vague paths where I had to scramble over tree roots and teeter over stepping stones and horizontal ladders with narrow, rotting planks. (Perfect for the hiker I spoke with later who had the experience, youth, balance and strength to easily navigate these woods: he appreciated the sense of genuinely being in nature.)

Looks easy, right?

Diverse life growing on a nurse log

The trail …

I turned back one quarter of the way into my chosen trail after eating a substantial hiker-bento lunch supplied by my landlady. But there had been some moments of worry. There were no guys with rattan backpacks around to carry me if my muscles gave out, and a fall would have been a bit dire. https://pellegrinaconnie.wordpress.com/2022/11/25/a-walk-down-emei-shan-day-one/ No more risks like that for me!

How Did I End Up in a Ryokan?

As previous posts show, I like Japanese public baths. Several years ago I read about a town devoted to onsens in one of Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell book and decided that one day I would stay there. And so I booked four nights in Arima Onsen, near Kobe. Generally I stay in hotels with kitchenettes so I can relax with my own breakfast and/or a takeout dinner. But I couldn’t find any rooms like this in Arima Onsen, so I booked at a hotel that looked relatively large. The booking included breakfast and dinner – maybe this would simplify the three-times-daily problem of finding something to eat in a foreign country. Since the hotel looked relatively large (as opposed to ryokans with just a couple of rooms), maybe it would be kind of Western.

By Day 20 in Japan, the cognitive load of culture shock in a country where I can’t even read the signs has been constantly lingering just below my conscious mind. Occasionally a thought tries to rise to the surface—“It’s all just too hard: I wish I were home.” But I nudge the thought aside (or go for coffee) and come back to the present, which has mostly been quite glorious.

Alas, at Arima Onsen I’ve found myself in a traditional ryokan—just like the descriptions you can find online: the room with tatami mat flooring, meals served in your room, the futon on the floor. Of course those descriptions, and even reviews, give you No Idea. I have a combination maid / server (nakai-san) who takes care of my every need in the mornings and evenings. Another nakai-san who speaks English helps out. Cognitively this has all meant more challenges for my trip. However, the physical luxury of two hot bath visits a day, after hiking through sunny autumn woods, makes up for it.

When I checked in, both nakai-san took me to my room for a little meeting about the room, how things work, times for meals etc. The room was empty except for a big low table and “chairs” that would involve sitting in seiza position on folded knees. No beds were visible. Fortunately they supplied me with a chair that I can actually sit in to eat—low but endurable for the length of a meal. We also negotiated keeping the futon out all day so I can take my afternoon naps. Then, after waking up aching in both hips during my first night, I got two more mats under the futon. I now have a cozy nest made up of a futon, three mats, two duvets and two pillows.

I use the alcove next to the window with normal chairs as my base of operations. Nevertheless, I’ll be glad to get back to rooms with a desk and chair.

After I had checked in and they left me alone in this zen-like room, the first thing I had to do was figure out where to put my stuff. A tiny closet with lots of hangars also has space for a suitcase underneath. By now I know which clothing I’ll wear and re-wear every day given the sunny, cold weather, so I hung up all those items. The summery clothes, kitchen kit, just-in-case medicine, emergency food and other fussy travel supplies are stashed in the suitcase.

And so I’ve settled into this exotic room that evokes classical Japanese paintings from the Edo period. Those images imply that people could sit for hours perfectly comfortably. For me there’s a lot of getting up and down from the floor. Who knows how people watch television in these rooms – maybe only while eating. Also, there’s no hot coffee in the morning. At 6 am I go out and buy a can of hot coffee from a vending machine across the street (luckily the hotel’s doors are possibly unlocked all night, but I suspect I disturb someone in the office when I go in and out before dawn.)

As for those two meals a day – these probably deserve their own post but I’ll just add a couple of breakfast photos here because in most cases I have little understanding of what I’m eating. (The fish in the heading was part of dinner last night. It was already been filleted so I didn’t have to disturb the display.) Dinner is three courses plus a small desert, but breakfast gets served all at once. There is always miso soup, but also another soup and then a hot-pot soup that cooks at the table. Fish in all forms possible. Each meal is a collection of small art works, both visibly and flavorfully.

Breakast

Breakfast

Another experienced Japan traveller told me I’d be bored spending four nights in this resort town. But like all resort towns, especially those that are in the hills, there are plenty of footpaths and vistas to explore. Arima Onsen itself deserves its own post (but we’ll see.)

Housekeeping

My hotel room has several panels in the wall, but the one in the bathroom is the most interesting. When I came home one hot afternoon after my room had been cleaned, it felt like a heater was on. The bathroom felt like an oven: the cleaner had the bathroom heater on. Apparently she had hosed down the bathroom and turned on the heat to dry it. I used Google Lens in the translate app to figure out how to turn it off.

A few days later I had an idea after I did a load of laundry in the room’s washer (possible thanks to more camera-translating: I chose the “fashionable clothes” setting, assuming that would be “delicates” or at least permanent press.) I googled “drying clothes in Japanese bathroom” and sure enough, it’s a thing. https://www.japan-mobility.com/guide/how-to/bathroom-dryer

So that’s what I’m doing! No need to worry about my PJs drying in time for bed.

In the first photo above you can see the shower/bath area. I could wash onsen-style by sitting on the stool and scrubbing myself, or I can run a deep, hot bath (which I’ve done: lovely.) Normally I stand on the floor and take a shower, after removing all the towels and the bathmat.

I can also watch TV while taking a bath!

Coming soon: On Saturday I visited Tenryu-Ji, one of the prime viewing spots for autumn color.