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| View of Lake Biwa from Hikone Castle |
We (eight customers and Declan) drove off in a 10-passenger mini-van with a
bubble roof (makes it easier to stand in) onto a toll-freeway in the north part of town heading west. It was a two-hour
drive before pulling off the freeway and paying a 3,100 yen toll. Halfway in between, we took a 15-minute break at a
freeway rest stop.
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| Ascent to Pagoda, Chikubu Island, Lake Biwa |
Too bad this one didn't have any English newspapers. It would have been nice to catch up on current events during the drive rather than just studying the textbook or reading a manga. Looking at the scenery as we drive by is fine but I can't just do that for two hours. I haven't had much success getting newspapers in English here so far (just scanning the internet isn't enough). There are none in the stores in Okazaki but I could get one delivered if I wanted. I've been too busy to read them thoroughly anyways and I shouldn't be while I'm still taking Japanese classes.
Most of the tour was based in the Hikone area. For a town of about 100,000, it has some pretty good-looking sports facilities. The baseball stadium alone looked like it could hold 20,000 people but there was much more there for various sports covering maybe a half-dozen city blocks. Nearby, in the moat surrounding Hikone Castle, there about 20 or so people practicing their fly-fishing.
Since the next ferry to Chukubu Island, one of the features on the itinerary, wasn't leaving until 13:30, we stopped by Genkyu-en garden and Hikone Castle first. The garden was fine, though, there was nothing special to speak of it other than it was odd that day that the ponds were all drained. It was certainly the first time that I've seen a pond in a Japanese garden without water so, aside from wondering where all the koi went, it was surprising to see that the bottom of the pond was quite flat.
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| Genkyu-en | Old residence at Genkyu-en | Hikone-jo from Genkyu-en |
The castle itself was not that big but the interior looked pretty authentic. The first clue was the steep stairs that might as well have been ladders. It didn't say for sure in the literature but I think the castle is supposed to be almost 400 years old and if that's the case, it is pretty impressive. The view of the lake from the top floor was nice as it is.
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| Hikone Castle | Stairs inside Hikone Castle | Bridge to Hikone Castle | Statue of Ii Naosuke outside Hikone Castle |
Declan was displaying a wealth of knowledge of the history of the area, particularly concerning how the castle site was awarded by Tokugawa Ieyasu to Ii Noamasa, one of his top generals. The castle site was previously in possession of one of the main opponents. He also talked about at length about one of the family descendants, Ii Naosuke, who helped usher in the opening of the country in the mid-nineteenth century and was assassinated for his efforts.
I initially wasn't enamored with the restaurant choice for lunch. I didn't come to Japan to go to Tokyo Disneyland or see Hollywood movies, so going to Big Boy to eat didn't seem appealing but it turned out fine. I have eaten at a few western franchises in Japan and found that they vary in adapting their menu to Japanese tastes. It looked like this restaurant had done a pretty good job of it. Funny thing is that franchises that seem to have disappeared back in North America still survive here. One of the tour participants from Baltimore in the states doesn't recall ever seeing a Big Boy restaurant and Fanta still seems to be a popular brand of soft drink here.
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| Chikubu Island, Lake Biwa | Entering Chikubu Island | Overlooking a temple, Chikubu Island |
The 30 minute plus cruise to Chikubu Island showed just how big Lake Biwa is. When I saw the island itself, I was thinking that it was a bit like Miyajima near Hiroshima - lots of temples and shrines on a hillside meaning climbing a lot of steps. It was too bad the stalls and shops at the dock were closed but then again, with the tight winter ferry schedule, we really didn't have time to shop anyways. It was great as it was walking around there but, with the cruise across the lake, it would have been a lot nicer in warmer weather.
One more stop on the drive back to Okazaki - the grounds of the great Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Since it was getting dark and it was beginning to rain a bit, it was a quick stop. Not much actually there except a few old fort-type fences and a platform laying out the battlefield in the plain below. Looking at it reminded me of Akira Kurosawa's classic movie "Ran".
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| Plain of Battle of Sekigahara site | Battle of Sekigahara site viewing platform |
Even though the tour information said we could be back to Okazaki as late as 20:30, we actually got back by 18:00 that night. It was still a pretty good deal overall. I think the boat cruise alone costed about 3,000 yen of the 7,900 yen I paid for this day-trip.
Getting back early also allowed me to join a couple of classmates for a neighbourhood yaki-tori dinner as a send-off for one of them. Paul was forced by circumstances at work back home in England to return earlier than planned. The yaki-tori near the student village was one of his favourites though the service was a pretty slow since it was Saturday night and it was busy.
A full tour day with another one to come.