Home » Japan » The top half of Japan… and the decision to head onwards alone

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair” (Robert Frost) .

The top half of Japan… and the decision to head onwards alone

Rob Lilwall
2007-12-01 14:32:32

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described as a weakness for overwork), it makes sense that there should be a place specifically designed for compulsory and ultimate relaxation. That place, in Japan it seems, is the public hot baths, or onsen. It is intriguing to watch the stress drain off the faces of an important looking business man as he sinks into the hot water, the strains, mistakes, failures, worries and concerns of the day, seeping away into the tub.

One night in a small Japanese Karaoke bar in a mountain village with a bunch of friendly middle aged locals, i thought i was getting off rather lightly on the singing front... but suddenly, unexpectedly, i heard a strangely familiar drum roll from the speakers, and a microphone was handed to me... i dutifully rose to my feet to sing (or yodel) GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Before heading for the bright lights of Tokyo I (for some reason) decided to cross over from the nice, dry Pacific (eastern) coast, through the mountains... and onto the (western) coast of the Sea of Japan. The sea of Japan was described by Yukio Mishima as `the source of all my unhappiness, of all my gloomy thoughts, the origin of all my ugliness and all my strength... a wild sea`. Well, perhaps it was not so bad as that, but it certainly was savage weather, with blasting wind, deep snow and stinging hail. After some very wild cycling i veered towards Tokyo.

Tokyo is a city aglow with neon, and alive with bustle. It is ignited by zooming traffic and energised by focused people. As i started to peddle into the capital, a January dawn rising over the mountains behind me, I set myself the challenge of counting how many traffic lights i would go through on the way to the centre...my rough total came in at well over two hundred for one days riding!

I arrived in Tokyo to discover that Al had become something of a celebrity... drawing large crowds to his charity slideshows, and even appearing in the illustrious and exotic sounding "TARZAN? ...