Memories of Taketomi Island (Originally posted on 2022-Dec-4)

During the COVID-19 outbreak, I began to travel more frequently in Japan, but I had not been able to visit Okinawa. The last visit to Okinawa was a business trip to Naha, just before the travel restrictions implemented.

It is not that I am not interested in visiting Okinawa. However, the timings of my plans coincided with peaks of COVID-19 infection in Okinawa. I hesitated the visits because I had planned going to remote islands, where medical resources were limited even for locals.

This year, there were two three-day weekends in September. I had thought of not going anywhere during the longer weekends because they would be too crowded. At the same time, it would not be a good idea to spend them idly lounging at home. Thinking about it for a while, I recalled that I was just infected with COVID-19 and acquired antibodies, so the risk of infection was low for the time being. Therefore, the risk of pressurizing medical resources on remote islands were also low. As long as the usual infection control measures were taken, all should be ok.

I tend to make thoughtless actions especially for traveling. Based on my (un)scientific conclusion, I checked on Taketomi Island, where I had been interested in for a long time, and found that there were hotels available despite the three-day weekend.

Gateway to Taketomi Island is Ishigaki Island. Of course, there were no seats available on the frequent flyer award ticket to Ishigaki Island on the three-day weekends. I tried to find an inexpensive way to get there. I liked to make travel plans, so this kind of tweaking was rather fun for me.

I firstly found an inexpensive ticket for Shimoji Island using Jetstar leaving Tokyo Narita early in the morning. There seemed to be no flight from Shimoji Island to Ishigaki Island, but the Shimoji Island was connected to Miyako Island by a bridge, and buses were operated according to the flight schedule. From Miyako Island to Ishigaki Island, Ryukyu Air Commuter operated at high frequency. From Ishigaki Island, it was a 20-minute ferry ride to Taketomi Island. It would be possible to reach Taketomi Island by the evening.

This first day seemed troublesome, but looked like island hopping and would be fun.

On the way back from Taketomi Island, I could take advantage of the discount ticket from Ishigaki Island to Tokyo Haneda via Naha. I had to spend about 5 hours in Naha to adjust lower-cost flight, but I thought I could kill time in town for sightseeing or shopping.

I was able to get tickets with satisfactory cost and schedule. At the last minute, a frequent flyer award ticket from Naha to Tokyo Haneda became available, so I re-book for a return ticket. Then all I had to do was going to Okinawa.

However, it was not that simple indeed. I booked an early morning flight from Tokyo Narita to Shimoji Island but taking that flight that was not as easy as I thought because I lived in Yokohama, west of downtown Tokyo.

I could not miss the flight to Shimoji Island due to train delays etc., besides Jetstar is leaving from LCC’s Terminal 3 at Narita Airport, a long walk from the airport station. In the end, I had to wake up at 3:00 a.m. and took a cab to Sakuragicho Station. From Sakuragicho, I took the first train on the Keihin Tohoku Line leaving at 4:18 a.m., which was said to be the earliest first train in Japan. I also boarded another first train from Shinagawa Station to Narita Airport. By the time I boarded the plane, I was exhausted.

Thanks to this, I was able to sleep on board and had no time to complain about the cramped seats in a packed LCC airplane. From Shimoji Island, I took a bus to Miyako Island via Irabu Island. The ocean in this area was perfect blue.

Since I had slight time at Miyako Airport to wait my 2nd flight, I got off the bus and walked around the public market of Miyako Island. It was very hot and humid.

It was already autumn in Tokyo area, and the summer heat had passed. The weather of Miyako Island felt like a harsh climate to me even in late September.

I decided to have lunch at the public market. When you come to Okinawa, you should eat Okinawa soba (Okinawa’s local noodles). Since this is Miyako Island, they call it Miyako soba.

There were several Miyako soba restaurants in the public market. The store facing the courtyard had beers, but I had to eat outside. On the other hand, an indoor store did not seem to have beer, but they were air-conditioned. After some hesitation, I decided to go to the indoor restaurant.

When I approached the lady at the store, she was somewhat surprised. She seemed to have given up business on that day. The restaurant’s specialty is “mozuku tempura” (tempura of seaweed). As she decided to close early on that day, she gave me some leftover tempura.

After receiving the mozuku tempura in a paper bag, I took a cab to Miyako Airport. As I had some more time to kill before boarding, I had a can of local Orion beer in one hand, and the paper bag of mozuku tempura in another. It was quite nice time.

The propeller plane from Miyako Airport arrived at Ishigaki Island in about 20 minutes. From the airport, I took a bus to the ferry terminal. I decided to take a later boat to Taketomi Island and went to a restaurant near the port to eat Okinawa soba again. Ishigaki Island is a part of the area called Yaeyama Islands, so they call it Yaeyama soba. And, I finally got local Orion beer on draft.

Finally, I arrived at Taketomi Island around 4:30 pm. It was a long trip, more than 12 hours after I left home. I put the luggage at the hotel and went out to explore the town. I had another Yaeyama soba on Taketomi Island for dinner. Three bowls of Okinawa soba, five islands, and countless beers on this day alone.

Taketomi Island still maintains an old-fashion Okinawan countryside. I walked around the town in the early morning and evening when the crowds were small. While the island was busy with tourists in hot and humid daytime, I was idly lounging and drank beers. After all, I acted almost as same as I stayed home.

In the end, the only difference was the place where I was idly lounging and had beers, changed from my home to Okinawa. Still, the weather was fine, and it was a wonderful three-day weekend.

New Year (Originally posted on 2023-Jan-2)

Last year was so not good. To be honest, it would be more accurate to say that last year was not good “either” since I have been saying that “last year was not so good” every year.

The root cause of my “not so good” feeling was that I spent whole the year idly every year, and I realized the fact when each year was over.

This is not that all years are the same. I was finally infected with COVID-19 last summer, so there were some changes in my life. Yet my life was still passive, and I have had a strong “same old” feeling. After all, COVID-19 did not change my life.

In addition, yesterday was the first day of the year, nevertheless I spent the day idly. I woke up in the afternoon and thought about picking up my New Year’s greeting cards from the mailbox, but I had never left my room. I thought about writing a blog but ended up not sitting down in front of my Mac all the day.

These accumulation of idly events from Day 1 will lead to another “not so good” year by the time of Day 365. I wonder if I can continue like this. I need to take some actions.

After some thoughts, I decided to buzz off my head. A buzz cut can be a refreshing enough to change of my mindset. It may seem trifling, but at least it gives me a sense of “having done something.”

It should be better than doing nothing at all.

Even if the “sense of having something done” turns out “sense of messing up something,” they are just a matter of good or bad, meaning that I have done something. It will lead to a break from the days of idleness, and will be a departure from “not so good”.

I will try to do something on my own initiative.

Admittedly this is something at low-level, but it is the first New Year’s resolution I have had in almost 30 years.

Memories of Kushiro (Originally posted on 2023-Feb-27)

Last year, a nationwide travel support program was implemented by Japanese government. It was a miraculous policy that the government provides subsidy for going out and having fun.

I had planned to visit to “Hozumi-tei” in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture to eat tai-meshi (sea bream rice) in last November, but I was an office worker indeed. Unfortunately, the timing of the trip was such that “being in the office itself is work” due to some visitors I was not directly interact with. It seemed absurd to me, but I had to accept reality and canceled the trip just in order to say “hi” to someone who would forget about me within a few minutes.

While I deplored my absurd misfortune, the travel support program was extended for one more month. I decided to go to Kushiro instead. I wished to see Kushiro Marsh in winter. An ambitious plan was made, in addition to Kushiro Marsh, I was going to take JR Senmo Line to Kawayu Onsen for an overnight stay, then heading further north to Abashiri and take a limited express train to Sapporo, whose cars were planned for replacement in this spring.

I have been visiting Kushiro about once in a while, partly because my favorite restaurant in Tokyo introduced me to an izakaya (Japanese style bar) in Kushiro.

On the day before my departure, a bomb cyclone was developed from the Sea of Japan to the Sea of Okhotsk, and Hokkaido Island was hit by heavy snowfall. I asked the owner of the izakaya in Kushiro for local weather, he told me that Kushiro was mixed of rain and snow. He also told me the roads in Kushiro were badly wet although not much of snow accumulated. On the other hand, according to JR Hokkaido’s website, limited express service between Abashiri and Sapporo 　 would likely be suspended due to the difficulty of snow removal work in inland mountain area.

It seemed absurd to me, but I had to accept reality and gave up on taking the limited express train from Abashiri. Instead, I would return to Kushiro, take different limited express to Sapporo as I already booked air ticket from Sapporo New Chitose to Tokyo Haneda. The night before departure, I made arrangements for various changes and set out for Kushiro wearing Gore-Tex sneakers as a precaution, which prevent water penetrating even if they get wet.

This was a mistake.

I had bought these shoes several years ago, it seemed that the soles of the shoes did not drain well, so they can be slippery depending on the surface. Especially wet tiles were bad, and I once slipped and fell at the entrance of my apartment building.

I had not taken this into consideration when I left my home. I should have imagined when the temperature drops, the badly wet road surface would be frozen. It was no surprise that shoes that slip on wet tiles would do the same on the ice or it could be even worse.

It was no problem in Kushiro Marsh because snow remained from the previous day, but the road surface in Kushiro town center was already frozen. Moreover, the temperature was below zero even during the daytime, so the road surface was kept slippery all the time. After having hard times walking and almost falling down several times in Kushiro, I tried to head for Kawayu Onsen. However, due to a fallen tree by heavy snow, the JR Senmo Line operation was suspended. Everything in Kushiro was absurd.

I had come all the way to Hokkaido, but staying at a budget hotel in the city for the rest of the night did not sound appealing. Besides, adding a night in Kushiro, where was no snowfall, would increase the risk of slipping on the ice surface and falling down. On the other hand, it would be foolish to advance the flight home for one day just because of the slippery shoes. All of them were absurd.

While grieving for absurdities, I managed to find an alternative onsen hotel in Akan Lake area. The gods of Kushiro saved me at the last minute.

It was too absurd to fall down because of poor drainage of the shoes, despite the fact that I had bought shoes that were made of water-resistant material. It was probably a warning from the gods of Kushiro that it was time to give up on the bad shoes.

I came to Kushiro by absurdity at work, but I could not escape from the absurdity even after arriving in Kushiro. I decided to buy a new pair of shoes after returning home and prepare for my next winter trip to Kushiro.

COLO’s Traveler Guide: Kushiro

The times are based on the timetable at the time of the visit.

Day 1

Tokyo Haneda 1135 (All Nippon Airways ANA741) >> Kushiro 1310

– Kushiro Marsh (Onnenai Visitor Center)

Overnight stay: Kushiro Prince Hotel

Dinner: Shubo Chiba

Tips for Day 1
– According to weather forecast the day before, it was predicted sunny only on this day. After much of thoughts, I requested a sightseeing (time charter) taxi from the airport to Kushiro Marshlands and then to Kushiro City. However, it turned out to be cloudy. Good Grief…

Day 2

Kushiro Station 0855 (local bus) >> Onnenai 0940

– Kushiro Marsh (Onnenai Visitor Center)

Onnenai 1218 (local bus) >> Kushiro Station 1310
Kushiro Station 1450 (local bus) >> Lake Akanko Onsen 1650

Overnight stay: La Vista Akan River

Tips for Day 2
– In the morning, I took a local bus to Kushiro Marsh. Buses are infrequent, but the schedule allowed about 2.5 hours to stay in the Marsh area. This was enough for a good walk and have a little extra time. There is a seating space inside the Onnenai Visitor Center for waiting return bus. It is quite comfortable.
– The journey from Kushiro Station to Lake Akanko was supposed to take two hours according to the timetable, but due to the snow, it took about two and a half hours. The bus was a standard route bus, and the long ride was hard on my legs and backs.

Day 3

Lake Akanko Onsen 1020 (local bus) >> Kushiro Station 1220
Kushiro 1342 (JR Limited Express Ozora 8) >> Minami Chitose 1729
Minami Chitose 1735 (JR) >> New Chitose Airport 1739
Sapporo New Chitose 2120 (All Nippon Airways ANA084) >> Haneda 2300

Tips for Day 3
– The return bus from Lake Akanko Onsen was crowded. On this morning, a sightseeing bus was assigned so that I could return to Kushiro Station easily and everyone on board got seated. The local bus company, Akan Bus, did a wonderful job.