The (Re)visit List
Rodney Mantle looks back at his Japanese experiences and reflects on where to visit (again).
Like many foreign visitors, I learned from the start to appreciate Japan for the courtesy of the people and the cleanliness and the efficiency – not to mention the culture and the history, which need extensive exploration - and above all the variety of scenery, architecture and food.
An invitation from Japanese families led to my first visit in April 1988. Initially came several days in Tokyo, involving inter alia a family tea ceremony. Taking two small Japanese children to Tokyo Disneyland was a delight; the standard Disney history of the location introduced me to the East Asian phenomenon “harmony”, which I came to understand later in China: “If we don’t talk about a problem, it doesn’t exist.” The period up to 1945 was dealt with by a 20-second red laser flash, followed by reconstruction and democratisation.
Stays also included Gifu (with an onsen and a visit to a hospital of traditional Japanese medicine), Nagoya, Kyoto, Himeji Castle, and the Japan Alps. The visit coincided with Sakura, and it was possible to follow its northward path on television news and on the ground. With one host family, in Nagoya, I experienced its beauty in the city centre, where they described the determined efforts of work groups to secure a place under a cherry tree by taking it in turns to sleep there for weeks in advance.
Two enduring memories of this visit: 1) getting used to sleeping on a futon with a wooden pillow in the traditionally furnished guest room while the hosts slept in normal western beds; and 2) never eating the same meal twice: they all knew each other and coordinated.
At that time, I was working in the BBC’s International Relations Division, and the then BBC Tokyo Correspondent took me to lunch at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club – a memorable experience. Part of my work involved debriefing staff returning from programme visits abroad. Japan was not a “problem country”, but I well remember an account I heard later of how a Japanese fixer/interpreter solved a problem: by breaking into tears during a difficult phone call and begging her interlocutor to help her satisfy these demanding foreigners.
If I had a chance to return to one of the places visited, my first choice would be Kanazawa, where there are so many interesting museums and other sights, such as the Ohi Pottery Museum.
Only after I moved to Dalian (Dairen to the Japanese) in China in August 2003 was I able to renew my acquaintance with Japan. Various airport stop-overs in Narita made me a great fan of this little place, the only airport town I know with a real character. During a stay there in April 2005 I experienced in the Narita-san Shinōji temple a national drumming festival so exciting that I stayed for several hours, completely forgetting my jetlag. Narita is also on my revisit list.
TEFL conferences took me in 2007 and 2008 to Nagoya, where I admired the Orchid Garden and the Castle. The conferences also provided one of my few negative impressions of Japan. Chinese students were in my experience universally happy to help their foreign teachers, including showing them around the city. Before I went to Nagoya, I asked my EFL contacts there if they could put me in touch with students to give me a city tour. “No,” was the answer: the students would be too embarrassed about their poor English.
As my time in China lengthened, I became able to read parts of some Japanese texts, but the divergences in pronunciation could be a problem: 東京 Tōkyō/ Dōng jīng or 名古屋Nagoya/Míng gŭ wū. I started to appreciate how the Japanese had adopted or adapted some Chinese items, such as tofu.
In summer 2008, I moved from Dalian to Shanghai, where Japanese experiences included learning about the refusal of the occupiers to implement the “final solution” by drowning the large Jewish population, despite pressure from the Nazis.
A visit to a friend in Tokyo in 2012 included a stay in Nikkō, which would definitely figure in my return wish list – I loved the Shinkyo Bridge. A shopping expedition to Asakusa with a Japanese friend of my host acquainted me with a wide range of blades and other interesting items. Shortly afterwards I returned to live in the UK.
During a very hectic summer stay working back in China in 2013, I managed to satisfy a little more of my curiosity by inserting a few days in Fukuoka, with a day in Dazaifu. There I was particularly impressed by the Kyushu National Museum, not least its delightful setting.
My most recent visit to Japan was during another very hectic working summer stay in China in 2014. In mid-August I spent several days visiting Hokkaido, much appreciating the beautiful weather. Another positive aspect was the compactness of Sapporo’s centre and the island’s excellent transport system. In a relatively short time, I was able to see the famous clock tower, the TV tower (with fantastic views from the top) the Olympic Ski Jump and Sapporo Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill. A fascinating insight into the island’s past was provided by an excursion to Otaru, once apparently “The Wall Street of the East.” At the Ainu Association of Hokkaido I had my first insight into the world of the aboriginal people, subsequently extended by the DAIWA webinar on 12 July 2021 on AI and the Ainu Language. How I would love to return with enough time the visit the Akan and Daisetsuzan National Parks!
Operations and the pandemic regrettably meant that I have not been to Japan since. My biggest Japanese frustration in China was not getting to Okinawa and the Southwest Islands: there used to be direct flights between Shanghai and Okinawa City, but they were discontinued shortly before my planned visit. UNESCO World Heritage Sites are never disappointing, so, if the situation improves: Yakushima, here I come!