Bullet trains and traveling Japan

I had the opportunity to travel across Japan to the southern-most military Navy camp, Sasebo, followed by the Marine camp at Iwakuni.  My fellow traveler opted for us to go by train rather than flying so I had the opportunity to ride the world's fastest train!  Of course, getting to the world's fastest train station involved several not-so-fast trains!  I confess, up until this point I hadn't gone much beyond the walking boundaries of Yokosuka.....the train stations here are just plain SCARY!  LOTS of people, all the signs in Japanese and a whole lot of train choices just seemed beyond my abilities.......well, I am SO over that now!

Let's start with the train station.....this is a picture of the station at Shinagawa, where we got onto the Shinkansen (bullet train).  If you look carefully, you notice there is something like 50 different train tracks ALL converging in this one station!  I've been to Grand Central Station in New York....it's got nothing on this place!!!

It really adds to the confusion that there are multiple train lines in Japan, you have to pay careful attention to make sure you are actually on the train you've paid for (more on that later!).  However, Japan has one of the niftiest pre-paid commuter cards ever - you purchase a plastic credit-card looking pass that is used to pay the fares.  You simply have to "wave" the card over the electronic reader when you pass through the gate (this marks where you got on) then repeat when you exit the station - the card reader automatically calculates the fare and deducts it from the card balance.  I have no idea how it works....don't need to know, I just know it is very cool and makes there be one less scary thing to deal with....and you can just keep adding money to the card whenever necessary.                                                                                                         

I wasn't able to get the whole front of the "engine" car in the photo but it does sort of look like a bullet...or eel....or duckbill depending on your perspective!

 

 The seats are quite comfortable and each seat reclined as well as having a drink tray for the window seats and pull-down seat tray. There was a lot more room on the train than is one airlines!!  It also has electrical outlets onboard so you can charge any electronic devices while traveling.

 The train signs display in both Japanese and English-which is a HUGE help if you don't speak Japanese!

The stations were all exceptionally clean...and I now know why - the cleaning crew works non-stop mopping the walls and floors!

Hungry??  No problem...not only did every station have multiple food options, the trains themselves had a food a beverage service during the entire trip!

And let's not forget a beverage - adult and otherwise for your trip!

The Shinkansen is such a big deal, it has it's very own set of novelty items....yes, you can buy bullet train chop-sticks to use while wearing your bullet train slippers, LOL!!!

Many of the kiosks served freshly made items and the staff for each area has a distinct color uniform.  She were very gracious in allowing me to take her picture - silly tourist!

 The train station is sort of like Las Vegas, the state fair and a shopping mall all rolled into one!

oh yes, and about that paying attention to your train part....we did get on the wrong train - several times in fact.  What should have been an eight hour trio ended up being 11 1/2 hours because we went in the wrong direction.....and had to take the local train back to were we started. Local trains stop at EVERY station....let me repeat EVERY STATION!  And the next day, yeah, well I looked at the schedule wrong and got us onto the wrong train, wrong as in not the train we had paid for...so we were forced to pay an additional 1200Y.....oops!

 This is the Google map picture of how far I traveled....about half of Japan as best I can tell!

Commanders Fleet Activity-Yokosuka

The military installation isn't large....at least, not in comparison to some of the Air Force bases I've been on.  It is, however, a TRUE Navy shipyard - complete with ships!   This is the home port for several ships including the Blue Ridge, the John S. McCain and others.

The camp is small enough it can be traveled on foot, an option many of the personnel stationed here utilize, especially given the very limited parking spaces around Japan - there are people out walking and biking on the grounds at all times.  The installation houses both US and Japanese Navy forces and has quite an interesting history dating back to the mid 19th century.  Because of the US involvement in the area prior to WWII, there was little damage to the area during the war.  More can be read about the history of Yokosuka at:  http://wikitravel.org/en/Yokosuka

The hospital is designed to withstand earthquake damage - a significant concern in this part of Japan.

 View of the "front" of the hospital....the floors are staggered in size as part of the earthquake-proof design.

Front door to the hospital.....LOL, I didn't go in through them for the first week I was here!  Typical of most hospitals, the staff uses everything BUT the front door!  The hospital itself houses all of the medical clinics other than PT and mental health services - those clinics are located in the "old" hospital building.




The camp is shaped oddly due to the presence of a large hill in the middle......the hills around the area are rife with tunnels that were used for protection during WWI and WWII......it's rather disconcerting to see all of the tunnel entrances blocked up.  I've toured through Japanese war tunnels on other south Pacific islands....creepy is the best word to describe the sensation of being inside one!!

Back end of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington- currently in port for inspection and restocking of provisions before heading out on a 2 1/2 month trip.  The ship to too large to capture in a single photo!

(This picture was taken outside the base grounds at the adjacent shopping center (Daiei)......it is frowned on by the Navy to take pictures of the ships when actually on the Navy grounds.)



The facilities here are definitely geared toward the sailors....the electronics section of the Navy Exchange has the largest collection of handheld "toys" I've seen at an exchange!  The CFAY also sports a brand new state-of-the-art fitness center, Purdy gym.  It has an olympic sized pool located on the SECOND floor.....as best I can tell, they are hoping any sea surges won't reach the pool??

The gym has brand new equipment through-out....guess it's going to be hard to explain to my trainer back home why I didn't work out while I was in Japan.......sigh....

This is the view from the top of a hill overlooking the town and waterfront.  The Navy facility is designed so there is limited view of any of the military buildings and activity from the hill.

Hotel New Yokosuka

I made it to Yokosuka on Thursday, August 9...it was a trip that involved cars (to the Okinawa airport) planes (Okinawa to Tokyo), and lastly, a 2 hour bus ride from Narita airport to Yokosuka!  There are so many U.S. military personnel and contractors arriving in Narita, the DoD runs a specially chartered bus 5 times a day from the airport to the military installations!

I was thankfully greeted by not only my new co-workers but my commanding officer, Lt. Mark Murriel, as well!  What a nice surprise to set off the bus and see friendly faces!

My company had booked me a room at the only available off-base hotel with rooms, the Hotel New Yokosuka.

Looks impressive, huh? 

Upon checking in at the front desk, I was offered their "options"......I could opt for the single "standard" room that included daily breakfast, laundry service and 5 weekly drink tickets good for free cocktails at the hotel bar....or I could upgrade to a larger room with options that included up to 10 DAILY drink tickets......and oh yes, the minimum price was 13,650Y (about $170) with the price increasing by $15-20 for each "upgrade".  I opted to stick with the single (I'm such a sucker for keeping business related costs down??)......this was not such a great idea as I was now shown what truly is the world's smallest $175.00 per night hotel room!!

This is the view from the hallway looking into the door of the room......

This is the view once you take a SINGLE step inside the door......the entire room measures about 8 foot by 6 foot....just large enough to hold a single bed, a shelf desk and a wall unit with a "closet" and shelves that house a mini-refrigerator, a micro-microwave oven and a 17 inch television!!  In keeping with the amenities, the television offers both Japanese programming as well as 5 "American" channels....of course, the American channels are analog so the reception is a bit iffy....and let's not forget the pay-per-view option!  For the low, low price of 600Y (about $8.00) I can have 60 minutes of viewing-choices include 2 Japanese porn channels or an American premium pay-per-view movie channel!

The bathroom is a modular unit...think RV-sized.  It also includes a step UP into the bathroom which I am sure has resulted in more than one emergency room visit due to broken toes or head-dives into the tub.  It truly is the model of efficiency as I believe you can take care of all of your bathroom functions....at the same time!

The hotel is within walking distance of the CYA (Commanders Fleet Activity...fancy name for the Navy camp) and it's located in an area called the "honch".  Wikipedia has this to say about the Honch - The Honch is home to dozens of different bars, eateries and nightclubs. These establishments range from traditional Japanese-style bars to American-oriented hang-outs that cater primarily to American sailors. Additionally, there are several "buy-me-a-drink" bars located in the area, typically staffed by Filipina women. There are also a number of "Japanese only" bars in the area.

Yes, my hotel is deep in the "entertainment district" a polite term for restaurants, bars and whorehouses.......YAY!!  There is an aircarft carrier in port when I arrived......and business is booming in the Honch, LOL!!!

A little typhoon delay.......stuck in Tokyo

I was notified by my contracting agency while I was home in Arizona that, upon my return to Japan, I was being re-assigned to Yokosuka........(uhhh, where the heck is that????)

As it turns out, Yokosuka is where the "real" US Navy is located in Japan.  It's located just outside Tokyo proper, about 30 miles from Tokyo itself and is located on the north Pacific side of Japan across from the bay of Tokyo.  Of course, the last minute change of plans meant I had to fly from the US to Okinawa to collect all my belongings, then pack up and head back to Japan mainland to get to my new destination.  I should have checked the weather forecast before leaving Arizona because when I arrived at Narita Tokyo airport to change planes for the final flight to Okinawa.....it had been canceled!  Turns out there was a typhoon sitting right outside Okinawa and all flights had been canceled for 2 days.  Let's just say being awake for 26 hours and finding out you're stuck in an airport in a foreign country.....makes a girl a little nervous!  Thank goodness I wasn't the only one stuck - there were at least 100 people and families on my same flight - all trying to get to Okinawa.  I joined forces with a few others and we managed to relocate to Haneda airport by bus.  Haneda is also located in Tokyo but is more of a "local" airport so this location was more likely be able to get us to Okinawa as soon as flights were allowed.  After manhandling my two VERY LARGE suitcases on the bus, off the bus and into Haneda airport....I was were told to find a hotel because there was nothing the airline could do for me on Sunday evening!  The stranded travelers were desperately calling any and all of the hotels nearest to the airport to find rooms....many just opted to spend the night in the airport!  I did find a hotel room, it even included a shuttle bus that picked me up at the airport and delivered me to the hotel!  Let's just make it clear - hotel rooms in Japan are SMALL!!!!  I'm not sure if it's because there isn't much room or because Japanese people are nit very big themselves but this was, what I thought at the time (hahahaha) the smallest hotel room I'd seen.  And......because electricity is so expensive in Japan, the rooms are all set u so that you must insert the room key into a control panel by the door to engage the lights and A/C. 

Bathroom for Tokyo hotel room

I finally collapsed in a heap and tried to sleep........yes, tried......oddly enough, the room was set up so that there was no way to turn the lights off when the power was on.  My choices were to try and sleep with lights and and air conditioning...or sweat in the darkness.  I opted for cold air and lights......and was back up at 3 AM because of it!  I caught the 4:30 AM shuttle back to the airport where I was greeted by the sight of most of my fellow stranded passengers waiting in line for rebooking on flights to Okinawa.  There ended up being so many people traveling to Oki, the airline finally just added an additional flight and, at 1:30 Monday afternoon, I was finally on a plane to Okinawa.

The highlight of the whole ordeal was that the specially charted plane was the Pokemon plane.......I was able to find a picture so everyone can appreciate the  exterior....and the interior of the 747 is completely themed out...down to the flight attendant outfits (they had Pokemon aprons), the cabin curtains...to the headrests!

Festivals, dancers and sunsets.........

During the summer months, there is some kind of festival  somewhere on the island every weekend.  On my last weekend before going back to AZ for a visit, a festival was being held at Sunset beach just across the marina from my apartment house.  I wandered down to see what was going on and lucked out to arrive just before the last of the Eisa dancers took the the sand.  Eisa is a dance unique to the Okinawa (Ryukyu) islands and I was so happy I had a chance to see it in person.  More on the history of the dance can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisa_(dance)

Chillin' out behind the stage waiting for their turn to perform.

The drum needs two people-one to hold on and the other to tie it into place!  Same thing with the headbands - they took turns getting one another dressed before the performance.

The boots the dancers wore fascinate me.....Japanese culture apparently thinks the big toe deserves its' very own shoe compartment or something.  Even funnier was the look on the dancer's face when I asked if I could take a picture of his feet, LOL!

The women all dance to the beat of the drum....their kimonos, shoes, and hair accessories all color coordinated and matched to the drummers outfits.

Waiting to perform.....each "team" of Eisa dancers had very colorful outfits!

My last Okinawa sunset before heading back to the states......I didn't know it at the time but it was going to be one of my last Okinawa sunsets altogether....I found out when I arrived back in Arizona that I was being transferred to Yokosuka when I returned to Japan in August........stay tuned for Part II of my Japan adventures "Redhead in Yokosuka"........

Yomitan pottery village......and Fresh fish!

Once of the more interesting aspects of Okinawa is the strong local craft industry  - the pottery produced here is quite exceptional.  There are several places on the island with "pottery villages", locations where the traditional crafts are maintained.  Although I never managed to find the Tsuboya pottery area next to Kokusai street, I did manage to find Yomitan  pottery village (thanks to the signs that pointed me there, LOL!).

Almost endless bowls drying in the sun...although the high humidity, I'm not sure how "dry" the pottery actually gets?

The kiln is angled up the hill....as I understand, various pieces of pottery need different temperatures for firing and the angle allows for the different types of pottery to be fired all at the same time

There were so many different pieces of pottery all out drying in the air before being fired....it was so cool to see them!  There were probably 12-15 different potters, each with their own workshops and shops with finished goods for sale.

The woodpile!  There were very precise piles of each of the different sizes and kinds of wood.....It was amazing to think that the pottery was fired in a wood-burning kiln considering the enormous amount of heat needed to correctly fire the pieces!

CRAZY MARKET!!

 Seafood....anything edible that comes from the sea was here.....much of it still alive, LOL!

I had heard several people mention the crazy food market that was part of the Kokusai. market...but I didn't see it during me previous visits....I had to go back and see it for myself!  Crazy is the only word to describe it....any weird, edible "thing" was here!  It was like living in a real-life episode of Andrew Zimmern's food program!  I found out later that you can purchase the food items and upstairs, above the market, is a restaurant that will custom cook your shopping finds.  Unfortunately I was there late in the day so I didn't get the "full" experience.....not that I think I would have the stomach or nerve to even try some of the things I saw in the place!

Big Birds, Strange rocks and beautiful sea views

On my adventures to the northern end of Okinawa and Cape Hedo...I got sidetracked and ended up in a couple of unexpected places..........

The first strange item was the GIANT statue of the rare Okinawa dodo bird.  OK, it's not really a dodo bird....it's some other rare, endangered flightless bird found only on the northern end of Okinawa.  In its' honor, someone has created a gigantic statue hidden in the rain forest.  For those folks lucky enough to not only notice it but also find the sort of hidden road up to it....much fun can be had climbing around inside the bird!

The views out over the beach and ocean were quite gorgeous.....once I got passed the idea that I was inside a giant chicken statue, LOL!

The rare Okinawa bird is so endangered, there are multiple roadsigns dedicated to it and people who spot the thing.  I'm not sure but strongly suspect this sign says "Call this number if you see this bird".  Of course, the poor thing can't fly so it's easy pickin's for the mongoose (? mongeese?) and other animals that find it a tasty treat!

The birds might be in danger from the pigs that apparently wander around the island too??

Once I finished playing around here, I took another road....OK, yes, it was a wrong turn, and I found myself in a parking lot.  Turns out I had managed to find a botanical garden of sorts.  Since the nice man in the parking lot had already waved me in, I felt obligated to check things out.  Of course, when I was told it involved a bus ride up a rather steep hill...I almost changed my mind!  It ended up being a pretty cool spot.  The official name of the place is Kohgoh Sekirinzan Park - it is a sort of botanical garden hiking trail.  The paths were separated into three distinct trails - each identified by the color of string marking the path.  There was the strange rock course, the beautiful sea view course...and last was the 1/2 miles hike down the hill that the bus had taken me up!  All-in-all, a neat and unexpected find on my day of adventures!

The rocks were quite strange...and large, LOL!  The rocks are a specific type of volcanic ocean that is found only in the south pacific seas.  More information and pictures can be found at this site:  http://okinawahai.com/2009/04/april-24.html

Next up....beautiful sea views!

OK, so this isn't exactly a beautiful sea view but it was a very interesting "spirit" rock.....and in the interest of maintaining my physical and spiritual health, I put a 100Y donation in the box and placed my hands on the rock for a few minutes.....one should never pass up the opportunity to protect their souls is what I figure!

This is one of the beautiful sea views...it was incredibly gorgeous!  Interesting that there are so few people inhabiting this end of the island - I suspect it has to do with sea port access more than anything.  I found the northern end to be very peaceful and was by far my favorite end of the island.

Banyan trees make me think of the Swiss Family Robinson ....or Tarzan!  How fun it would be to build a treehouse in one of these things!

After my adventures for the day, I headed back to the south end following along the east side of the island.  I was hungry and looking for ANYTHING to eat when I came across what looked like a pineapple packing plants with a small market alongside.  Sure enough, there was a small restaurant.....and not one person working there who spoke English!  Thank goodness there was an English-speaking women having lunch when I wandered in.  The menu was completely in Kanji - I would have never managed to figure out what I was doing but, thanks to the kindness of a stranger, I got lunch.  The women behind the counter who were cooking were so cute, I had to take their picture.  Many of the Japanese restaurants I have been in so far have incredibly small kitchens considering the quantity and variety of food they produce and this was no exception!

YUM!!  Garlic fish!

If anyone can read Kanji, please tell me what else is on the menu??

Frying my fish!