11 Days in Japan in Winter

[anarchone]

Thank you, MrBrown, for sharing! Japan is on my bucket list.

[haraya]

Thank you!

I'm traveling with a Fuji X100T and a Fuji XT-1, 10-24mm f4, 35mm f2 and 56mm f1.2 lenses. Most of the time, I shoot with the X100T and even my iPhone 6s Plus.

Love your shots!! I traveled for the first time this summer with an X100, after years of lugging a big DSLR, and couldn't be happier! :)

[mrbrown]

Stunning photos, as always!! Oh the skies in that first picture!! And I love the moody one with the ski slope in sharp relief.

Love traveling vicariously through your posts. Can't wait for the next installment!!

(If you feel like sharing, I would love to know what camera equipment you've taken along for the trip. :))

Thank you!

I'm traveling with a Fuji X100T and a Fuji XT-1, 10-24mm f4, 35mm f2 and 56mm f1.2 lenses. Most of the time, I shoot with the X100T and even my iPhone 6s Plus.

[haraya]

Stunning photos, as always!! Oh the skies in that first picture!! And I love the moody one with the ski slope in sharp relief.

Love traveling vicariously through your posts. Can't wait for the next installment!!

(If you feel like sharing, I would love to know what camera equipment you've taken along for the trip. :))

[mrbrown]

11 Days in Japan in Winter

11 Days in Japan in Winter Part 2





SKIING IN TOGARINOZAWA-ONSEN

We finally got around to skiing. Or as others call it, Falling Down a Lot.

Being beginners at this skiing game, Ryan and I did our best to remember our lessons from previous trips. We parked our Tom Bihn DLBPs in the ski resort lockers and off we went, with ski gear from our lovely Minshuku (民宿) host, Junko-san.



We tried to find the easiest patch to practice but after trying the "Beginner's" slope, we realized we were Below Beginner. In Yabuli, China, where I recently went, they had a gentler slope for newbies with a "Magic Carpet" conveyer belt to take to you up.

There was no such thing here in Togarinozawaonsen, Japan. I took the ski lift up to level one on the mountain. Then took another even scarier one higher (single seat, no safety bar). I held on for dear life, thinking, "What am I doing so high up? How to ski back down?"

Then when we reached the very top, there was actually an even gentler slope for beginners. Still challenging but not as bad as the steeper "Beginner's" slope below. As in, instead of face-planting 10 times, you maybe face-planted twice.



We skied the whole day. Had a lunch break, and then skied again. Mostly at the topmost beginner's area. There were students learning there too. But even they were better than we were. We only stopped when our aging aching muscles told us we couldn't do it anymore. By then it was almost 4pm and sunset.





We walked home to our Minshuku, looking forward to Junko-san's awesome cooking.



ONWARD TO NAGOYA





Sadly, we bid Junko-san, her large family and Togarinozawaonsen farewell, and made our way towards Nagano by slow train. It was lovely to just watch the world go by. Bullet trains are nice but slower trains let you see the view. And what a view.





Snow fell on all the towns along our train ride to Nagoya. And we even jumped off the train at Nakatsugawa Station to look around. It's a common place for folks to walk the Magome and Tsumago trail.



We popped our Aeronauts into a station locker and wandered around the small town with just our day bags. We didn't have time to do the trail but we did have some lunch and admired the mountain view.







Then grabbed our Aeronauts out of the locker and we jumped back onto the train for the rest of our journey to Nagoya.



Nagoya is a big Japanese city. It has a Ferris wheel, and malls, and castles. We have seen enough malls and castles. We were more keen to use it as a base to see the surrounding areas.



We did want to try its famous dishes like miso-katsu and its ramen. We ate ramen at Ichiran, which turned out to be as good as the hype. You sit in a booth like you're taking an exam. And the ramen is served through a hole with a curtain.







The next day, we had planned to hike Mount Ibuki nearby but when we went to Sekigahara by train, we found out that the mountain was closed due to winter. Silly us. We Singaporeans don't know much about winters, I'm afraid.



No worries! Change of plans! Take the train to Nagahama and visit the tiny Chikubushima Island on Lake Biwa.







We even had time to squeeze in a visit that same day to Arimatsu, a small town near Nagoya famous for its old buildings from the Edo period and the ancient art of Japanese tie-dye.







To be honest, Arimatsu, while authentic and quaint, was a little quiet. I think it must be more bustling during seasons other than winter. But it was kind of nice to have the whole town to ourselves.

We headed back to Nagoya for the night to rest early. Because the next day, we had a crazy idea: wake up at 5.30am and make the six-hour train journey from Nagoya to the deep sout

[WenV]

Thanks you jannilee, FrozenJ, haraya and , mrbrown for all your helpful suggestions. I will look into waterproof pants as well as wool leggings. I, based in sunny Perth, WA, so don't have much invested in snow gear as yet. We will have two boys traveling with us (8 yrs and 4 yrs). So, will also need to buy clothes for them.


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[mrbrown]

May I ask also, mrbrown, if you had special pants (waterproof?) for the snow conditions? I was wondering if regular jeans would be sufficient wear for the bottom half of the body? Sorry if this question seems too simplistic. I'm just unsure of the best attire for snow conditions for regular tourist activities. We don't plan to ski or snowboard as such...

I had Icebreaker merino wool leggings inside, and a pair of water-resistant hiking pants from Marmot (the Rockmoore) when I was there.

When skiing, I had an additional pair of ski pants loaned to me by the Ryokan.

As others have said, jeans are ok if you are not doing anything like skiing, as long as you don't get them wet. I wear my jeans for some trips when I know I won't see snow.

I also tend not to pack jeans because they are such a pain to wash and dry when traveling. So I ended up looking for good travel pants like my Columbia hiking pants and my Marmots. They wash easily, don't require ironing and are comfy.

The only exceptions are my Uniqlo lightweight stretch jeans, they are quite travel-friendly compared to full-on denim.

Do wear good socks and shoes. I wear merino wool socks and my Columbia hiking boots are insulated and waterproof.

You step on thick snow and water goes through your shoes, and it will be miserable. Cotton socks, like the kind we wear in hot Singapore, aren't very good for winter. At least get some Uniqlo Heat-tech socks.

[haraya]

May I ask also, mrbrown, if you had special pants (waterproof?) for the snow conditions? I was wondering if regular jeans would be sufficient wear for the bottom half of the body? Sorry if this question seems too simplistic. I'm just unsure of the best attire for snow conditions for regular tourist activities. We don't plan to ski or snowboard as such...


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Am not MrBrown but perhaps I can chime in... What, if any, cold/wet-weather gear do you already have? If I was walking around in snow as for MrBrown's trip, but not skiing or sledding, I would take merino leggings (light, can also double as PJ bottoms if your hotel room is cold), durable pants (such as jeans), and waterproof pants (rain pants; also lightweight, but less bulky than dedicated ski pants). If you tend to run cold, though, then you might like to have dedicated insulated pants that might also double as bottoms for, say, going out to eat, if you had a long walk in the cold.

(I have in fact skiied in such an outfit - leggings + jeans + rain pants - when I was on a very limited budget, and didn't know anyone my size I could borrow gear from. It was fine for an afternoon. The main thing is that you don't want cold wet cotton next to your skin.)

[Antonia]

I love your photo stories - thanks for sharing your journey and all these beautiful places! :)

[FrozenJ]

I have uninsulated waterproof pants for snow activities. I've worn them over jeans for outdoor ice skating or fleece pants for skiing. They take up less space than regular snow pants. Don't forget waterproof boots.

[jannilee]

Jeans are okay if they stay dry but if they get wet they become unbearably cold and heavy. Speaking from Canadian winter experience.... Okay for city walking but not okay for heavy snow conditions.

[WenV]

May I ask also, mrbrown, if you had special pants (waterproof?) for the snow conditions? I was wondering if regular jeans would be sufficient wear for the bottom half of the body? Sorry if this question seems too simplistic. I'm just unsure of the best attire for snow conditions for regular tourist activities. We don't plan to ski or snowboard as such...


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[mrbrown]

… How do you navigate the language barrier?

Thank you!

The language barrier is overcome by mostly hand gestures and pointing. Haha!

If you're lucky, you find someone who can speak in English. Many of the essential stuff, like public transport info, have English names or info too. Some restaurants have English menus as well, if you ask.

It also helps that we can kind of interpret the Japanese characters because many of the characters are similar to the ones we use in the Chinese language, which we are also conversant in.

I also use Google Translate app sometimes. You type your question in English and show them the Japanese translation. Also handy, the camera feature of the Translate app, that can read printed text in Japanese and OCR it into English.

[WenV]

Wow, love your latest post mrbrown! My family is heading to Sapporo and Niseko this early April. This will be our first trip to Japan and I'm quite looking forward to it. How do you navigate the language barrier?


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[haraya]

Ohhhhh. Thank you for sharing your journey, Mr. B! The photos are magical, even mystical. Love the atmospheres you convey - as much in the eateries as by the lake. I hope one day to get to visit Japan in the winter!!