Ah. Now we are in Japan. I thought we arrived here a few days ago when we entered Tokyo, but I was wrong. This is the real thing. I think!
We are presently in Toyako Onsen. This is small town on the edge of a very beautiful circular lake, with a round volcanic island positioned in the very middle. It is famed for its lovely scenery and hot-springs, and apparently is on of the spas where the Japanese come to bathe (i.e. in ‘onsen’). However, they would also like foreign tourists to come here it seems…
As we walked from the bus stop along the lake-side to our hotel, laden with rucksacks as usual, we were approached by a very polite, young, friendly Japanese lady. She introduced herself as a TV director, and asked us (very very nicely) would we mind (please) being interviewed and filmed for a program on foreign tourists in Japan. There is apparently a summit in Toyako Onsen at the moment, aiming to discus ways of attracting more foreigners to the area.
Argh! Was the first thing that occurred to me. But she was so nice, friendly and polite that saying no would have been like kicking a puppy. And this is bearing in mind we had no hesitation to saying no to the strange guy in Hong Kong that wanted to take my photo for an ‘on-like fashion magazine’. So, Gary and I looked at each other, winced, and got wheeled in front of a film crew that magically appeared bearing a large video cameral and a huge fluffy microphone. We got quizzed on the Tourism summit, which we’d never heard of – I invented something about publicity being good for Tourism in Japan in general as its not widely known as a holiday destination in the West. We were asked about how Toyako Onsen itself should attract foreign tourists - bearing in mind we’d been there for all of 5 minutes, and had great difficulty finding the right train station, bus, and directions as EVERYTHING here is in Japanese characters and no-one speaks any English! Gary fielded this one with something about a very nice friendly lady who pointed out the right bus to us, and the announcements on the Shinkansen being well articulated in English. After this we were asked (painstakingly nicely) to walk into the tourist office and pick up a map. We did, feeling like right idiots, to be told that we acted ‘very natural’. Then (thankfully) we escaped, and fled along the lakeside!
Our traumas for the day were not over however. The hotel we had booked screwed up our reservation, and the bloke at the front desk was very rude. So we left that place and trekked around (rucksacks on backs) for an alternative. Everything here is really expensive. It must be where rich Japanese businessmen come to unwind. We eventually settled on a big plush hotel that was no more expensive than the less plush places. We were shown up to the ninth floor by a very friendly lady with no English, to a beautiful traditional Japanese room with a beautiful view over the lake, immaculate tatamis, a low table with green tea making facilities, but no beds in sight! She showed us where the dressing gowns were kept, and the bathroom (containing yet another really complex toilet with a warmed seat and several mysteriously labelled squirting buttons – I’m scared), and then she left. After a bit of exploration I found some bedding. Luckily this magically materialised into a bed later in the night while we were eating dinner (a huge, and quite tasty, complimentary buffet), saving us from having to work it out ourselves.
We also braved the cold wind in the afternoon to walk 5 miles or so along the edge of the lake to a volcano and back. This was really nice – there is a new volcano here called Showa Shinzan. It’s only about 50 years old – it first formed during the Second World War. Showa Shin was happily steaming away in the shadow of its bigger, more established brother on the side of Lake Toya. Yet again I think we must have seemed mad to hundreds of Japanese tourists. They were all bussed by their tour companies from train to hotel, to lake-side, to volcano, and back. Walk? Nah! They peered out of their big air-con busses at us as if we belonged to another species as we trekked up the long road to the lovely Showa Shinzan. Ah well.
Then finally it was back to the hotel for dinner, and firework-viewing over the waters of the lake. Weird day!
We are presently in Toyako Onsen. This is small town on the edge of a very beautiful circular lake, with a round volcanic island positioned in the very middle. It is famed for its lovely scenery and hot-springs, and apparently is on of the spas where the Japanese come to bathe (i.e. in ‘onsen’). However, they would also like foreign tourists to come here it seems…
As we walked from the bus stop along the lake-side to our hotel, laden with rucksacks as usual, we were approached by a very polite, young, friendly Japanese lady. She introduced herself as a TV director, and asked us (very very nicely) would we mind (please) being interviewed and filmed for a program on foreign tourists in Japan. There is apparently a summit in Toyako Onsen at the moment, aiming to discus ways of attracting more foreigners to the area.
Argh! Was the first thing that occurred to me. But she was so nice, friendly and polite that saying no would have been like kicking a puppy. And this is bearing in mind we had no hesitation to saying no to the strange guy in Hong Kong that wanted to take my photo for an ‘on-like fashion magazine’. So, Gary and I looked at each other, winced, and got wheeled in front of a film crew that magically appeared bearing a large video cameral and a huge fluffy microphone. We got quizzed on the Tourism summit, which we’d never heard of – I invented something about publicity being good for Tourism in Japan in general as its not widely known as a holiday destination in the West. We were asked about how Toyako Onsen itself should attract foreign tourists - bearing in mind we’d been there for all of 5 minutes, and had great difficulty finding the right train station, bus, and directions as EVERYTHING here is in Japanese characters and no-one speaks any English! Gary fielded this one with something about a very nice friendly lady who pointed out the right bus to us, and the announcements on the Shinkansen being well articulated in English. After this we were asked (painstakingly nicely) to walk into the tourist office and pick up a map. We did, feeling like right idiots, to be told that we acted ‘very natural’. Then (thankfully) we escaped, and fled along the lakeside!
Our traumas for the day were not over however. The hotel we had booked screwed up our reservation, and the bloke at the front desk was very rude. So we left that place and trekked around (rucksacks on backs) for an alternative. Everything here is really expensive. It must be where rich Japanese businessmen come to unwind. We eventually settled on a big plush hotel that was no more expensive than the less plush places. We were shown up to the ninth floor by a very friendly lady with no English, to a beautiful traditional Japanese room with a beautiful view over the lake, immaculate tatamis, a low table with green tea making facilities, but no beds in sight! She showed us where the dressing gowns were kept, and the bathroom (containing yet another really complex toilet with a warmed seat and several mysteriously labelled squirting buttons – I’m scared), and then she left. After a bit of exploration I found some bedding. Luckily this magically materialised into a bed later in the night while we were eating dinner (a huge, and quite tasty, complimentary buffet), saving us from having to work it out ourselves.
We also braved the cold wind in the afternoon to walk 5 miles or so along the edge of the lake to a volcano and back. This was really nice – there is a new volcano here called Showa Shinzan. It’s only about 50 years old – it first formed during the Second World War. Showa Shin was happily steaming away in the shadow of its bigger, more established brother on the side of Lake Toya. Yet again I think we must have seemed mad to hundreds of Japanese tourists. They were all bussed by their tour companies from train to hotel, to lake-side, to volcano, and back. Walk? Nah! They peered out of their big air-con busses at us as if we belonged to another species as we trekked up the long road to the lovely Showa Shinzan. Ah well.
Then finally it was back to the hotel for dinner, and firework-viewing over the waters of the lake. Weird day!
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