Catchup Japan 7 May

We 're heading into the final week of the course.  A few people have gotten fed up or have had enough of the somewhat ramshackle organisation and lessons and have taken off to travel in Japan instead. While I am fairly bored with the classes now, I am still learning a bit and still enjoying getting to see things, so I am staying.

We had an outing to a former gold and copper mine, now a museum, where you get to walk about a mile of tunnels inside the mountain and see vignettes from past mining days. Conditions for workers in the old days looked horrendous. 

We also went to see a traditional Japanese wooden house with a pretty Japanese style garden around it, which was pretty cool.  It had two tea houses, including one that was open in the front a bit like the little one I built for the garden of my Japanese dollshouse, only much cuter.

A lot of the normal modern houses around here look pretty utilitarian, and don't have much of what looks like a garden to British eyes.  But you see the odd one where they have made a lovely garden either Japanese style or with planted bulbs like tulips.

The main cherry blossoms are all done now, but we are getting a second wave of gorgeous late-blooming varieties.

We went on another trip, out to the Hakkoda ropeway/cablecar, which is a famous viewing spot in a national park. Unfortunately on the day we went, it was raining all day so not a great day for views.  At first it was fine, and we could see all the snow still on the mountain.

But by the time we got to the top, the visibility was pretty much zero. So we didn't get to see any of the famous views.

After the trip, we stopped at a soba noodle place for lunch, and I took a chance and had some with tempura shrimp on top. It was delicious and didn't upset my stomach too much, I don't seem to be as sensitive to Japanese wheat, and soba is partly buckwheat which is fine.

Another trip I enjoyed was to a traditional 300 year old onsen on different mountain. You could walk over to see the steaming mud lakes, bubbling from all the volcanic gases coming up from below.  The onsen itself was in a large wooden building and as well as hot baths, it had steam boxes (like mini saunas that you sit in) and a bath where you could smear volcanic mud on yourself then soak in the muddy water, and a small outdoor pool where you could sit in steaming water while admiring the snow.

I thought you would enjoy seeing this tissue box cover that my teacher brought in, her mother makes them out of recycled obi (the elaborate sash that ties a kimono).  I saw some gorgeous obi at the secondhand kimono stalls I saw in Tokyo but couldn't think what to make from such heavy elaborate fabric. I wish I'd bought one now.

I'm going to have to do some sorting out and repacking this week, to divide my possessions between the bigger suitcase (mainly full of fabric) that will get shipped back to Tokyo, and the smaller case that I will take travelling after school finishes. I think it will be fine, I made a lot of room in the big case taking out the things that I brought only to use at school, they've either been used up or I will throw/leave behind. I might try to get my hair cut this week as well, which could be a bit of an adventure in the Japanese language.  I don't know the Japanese for 'wet trim' but I guess I will find out.