We made it! We were let on our last-minute flight without problems, and even got a lovely sunrise on the very short trip over to Japan. Actually setting foot on Japanese soil ends up taking us most of the morning however, as the immigration process at Fukuoka airport is painfully slow - despite all the preparation we did online. We spend two hours queuing to get through passport control, and another good thirty minutes waiting for a bus (!) for the two-kilometres trip into town to the station. But at last, we’re there!
We part way with Alex at that point: he’s staying in town for a couple of days, while we’re trying to catch up to our itinerary. The ferry’s cancellation has cost us our only day in Fukuoka, which is a shame, but we’ve still got time to make it to Nagasaki today - with our first trip in the Shinkansen!
While Japan may have the best trains in the world, they don’t come cheap. Tourists get a hefty discount with the amazing Japan Rail Pass, which allows unlimited rail travel through most of the country, and we made sure to secure one of these in Vietnam before heading North. However, the pass is only valid for a maximum of 21 days, and since we’re staying for 30, our first few trips will have to be paid for separately - a considerable expense even for the comparatively short journeys we will be doing.
Fukuoka station is heaving, crowds of salarymen speeding around groups of bewildered tourists like us. We’ve got half an hour to buy tickets and board the train we’re aiming for - no time to get lost! We find the correct line and luckily, things are moving swiftly. Despite all we’ve been told about the Japanese refusing to cater to English speakers, there’s an option to change the language on the ticket machine, and a helpful clerk swiftly comes to our rescue when it turns out the system is still bewildering, even translated. Thanks to him, we even have time to grab ourselves lunch: the famous ekibens, or “station lunchboxes”, renowned for their perfect presentation.
We need to take a transfer first, to a Shinkansen station - despite being the main international airport on Kyushu, Fukuoka seems to be rather out of the way. Then, our tickets only allow for less than ten minutes to change - but when we get to the station it’s well organised and our next train is on the same platform: easy! We don’t have time to take a look at the characteristic front car, but there we are regardless, finally stepping on one of the mythic Japanese bullet trains. It’s incredibly spacious (especially compared to the plane we were just on!) and very comfortable - so much so that I end up having a nap after lunch, to make up for our dawn start. Ollie, in the meantime, is drinking it in - this has been a dream of his for years. We’re bang on time to catch the cherry trees in full bloom - and as we speed through, we excitedly point out every sakura.
We get to Nagasaki mid-afternoon after a pleasant, almost too-short journey, and get our first proper look at a Japanese city on the walk to our hotel. We’re in one of those destinations that is so omnipresent in popular culture that you can’t help but have set expectations, almost an image of it in your mind already - but the beauty with Japan is that it seems to effortlessly match and exceed that image. We take delight in every little thing: the retro shopfronts, the writing, the ornate manhole covers, the ridiculously boxy cars. And some unexpected ones too: all the pedestrian crossings tweet to let you know it’s green, cars unfailingly give us the right of way (what a change from Vietnam!), there are convenience stores (combini) on every street corner. And when we get closer to our hotel, we realise that it’s smack bang in the middle of the town’s shopping arcade: a large, covered, pedestrian street lined with shops, which we’ll come to realise is an absolute staple in every Japanese city.
Hotel Forza is quite fancy - after our slightly lacklustre Korean accommodations it’s a nice change, and I’m very taken with the selection of sample-size complimentary skincare products available in the lobby. Still, we want to see more of the town, and after dropping off our bags, we charge off - no chance we’re missing another minute after the ferry kerfuffle! Our goal for tonight is to get to the observatory on top of Mt Inasa, which should offer an impressive aerial view of the city. It’s quite a walk but gives us a good chance of seeing more of the city, as we go along the docks and the Uragami river.
Nagasaki is a rather large city by European standards, if not by Japanese ones, and it obviously has a strong industrial activity. From the docks, we can see plenty of cranes and a couple of factories further off towards the sea - but somehow, the combination of those and a massive suspension bridge on a background of pretty green hills is beautiful instead of messy. We can see more industrial sites as we turn along the river and get back into the centre of the city, but again, they have an odd aesthetic about them - probably helped by the glimpses of cherry blossoms here and there, even in parking lots!
It’s a nice day, and we shed a few layers when we got to the hotel: after all, we’ve travelled quite a bit south since Seoul. By the time we get close to the foot of Mt Inasa, we’re thoroughly warmed up. We don’t have that long before it gets dark, so we decide to aim for the cable car up - we’re not sure where the footpath is anyway! As we get close to the station, we spot a pretty stone tori gate guarding a flight of stairs. Curious, we turn off - and land in a beautiful alley lined with sakuras in full bloom, leading up to an adorable temple. There’s a few people enjoying the sight and excitedly taking pictures - but as we go a bit further into the shrine’s gardens they’re deserted, and quite magical for us first-timers.
Once we’ve explored the temple, we get our tickets for the cable car - it turns out the entrance was just next door. It’s a vertiginous ascent as the windowed egg dangles dozens of meters above the ground, but as we climb the view of the city soon takes over.
At the top, the observatory building has a covered spiral walkway and an open terrace making the most of the spectacular 360 degrees panorama. Nagasaki sprawls below us, prettily hemmed in by its neighbouring hills, and we can see all the way to the harbour and the islet-dotted East China Sea. It’s stunning, and we spend a good fifteen minutes slowly taking in every angle, despite the strong, cold wind here at the top of the mountain. Thoroughly chilled, we take refuge inside to wait for sunset - we're at the perfect time to enjoy the spectacle in both daylight and darkness.
The sunset itself isn’t that special but the surroundings certainly make it so, as we watch the fiery orb slowly sink in the sea. And as night falls, the city gradually twinkles awake, little pinpricks of all hues delineating the buildings. The prettiest moment is probably the transition at dusk, once the lights start coming on but while we can still make out the hills and the sea against the fading sky.
Japan is renowned for its love of lists and rankings, and the incredible landscape we’re feasting our eyes on is one of the established “Three night views of Japan” - also called ten million dollar views. We haven’t quite spent that amount to get here but we’re certainly not regretting a penny as we take in this amazing panorama. It’s starting this last leg of our trip on an absolute high - and making us look forward to the rest of our itinerary in this beautiful country, where we will be checking out the original three canonical views (daytime for those), established in the 17th century by scholar Hayashi Gahō.
One last look around the stunning cityscape, now fully lit up, and we head back down in the cable car before we freeze: despite our transition south, now that it's dark we're just as cold as we’ve experienced in Seoul. When we get to the bottom though, we pause once more: the temple and cherry trees are beautifully lit up, and with the crescent moon shining bright above them, it’s quite a magical sight. Thoroughly delighted with our first day in Japan, we start the walk back to our hotel, shivering: time to find something hot for dinner. Luckily, we’re now in the land of meaty noodle broths, and ramen will be perfect to warm us up.
As we walk past Nagasaki station, we duck at random into a tiny restaurant. It’s in the pure Japanese style, with an open kitchen at the centre, surrounded by a narrow bar where patrons sit and eat. There’s even a machine to place our order, another local staple. It takes us a while to figure out the buttons but the chef finds our bumbling hilarious, and him and a few other customers happily help us when we stall. Less than 2,000Y later, we squeeze into a gap at the bar and are soon busy with our own bowls of steaming noodles - perfect for the temperature.
It’s almost surreal to think that just 24h ago we were panicking about whether we’d make it into the country at all. We’ve not even been in Japan for a whole day and yet we’ve seen so many wonders already - including dinner at this oh-so-very authentic place! The only downside is having to properly scarf down our meal: the average sit-down time for the other customers seems to be less than ten minutes, which despite my best efforts we more than double. As we stroll back to the hotel, warmed through, we can’t wait for what the next few weeks will bring - such a fantastic opening day will be hard to top.
Comentários