Stranger In A Strange Land

• March 3, 2021
• Antoinette Bodeau
• Activities
• Tags: adventure, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Ishigaki, Japan, Japanese food, Kyoto, plant-based desserts, travel

Konnichiwa from Japan! It has now been 1 1/2 years since I posted my first blog from Japan. If you’re new here, you can go to: http://www.kscopewellness.com/toto-were-not-in-kansas-anymore/ and see where my journey in “The Land of The Rising Sun” started.

I will sum up my past 6 months since my last blog: Here it is if you need a refresher! http://www.kscopewellness.com/tell-me-what-is-it-you-plan-to-do-with-your-one-wild-and-precious-life/ Given the pandemic, work contact complete, little work available plus the state of the US, I chose to stay on and explore more of this diverse and amazing country.

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My adventure began by setting out to camp and hike the beautiful prefecture of Hokkaido that I had been calling home for a year.  I had some wonderful adventures and fell in love with Hokkaido’s summer. After that, since domestic travel was open, I decided to set out and explore other areas of Japan.

I began in the very south at one of the Okinawa islands called Ishigaki. It was amazingly beautiful, peaceful as well as extremely hot and humid! I experienced my first typhoon…warning….and saw how the Japanese “Batten Down the Hatches” so as to alleviate damages in the event of a “touchdown”. Luckily that didn’t happen and I was only in lockdown for less than a day.

At the tip of Ishigaki Island is the Hirakubu Lighthouse with amazing views

I discovered this wonderful vegan Indian restaurant in Ishigaki

I stayed in Kabira Bay in Ishigaki

A sign at a very deserted beach in Ishigaki after the typhoon had passed

Another view from Kabira Bay not far from the Airbnb I stayed at. This was the ‘calm before the storm’. The typhoon warning started later that afternoon

While in Furano, I lunched at a cute restaurant and had Taco Salad and fried tofu. SO good!

From there, I headed to Hiroshima which has so much (sad) history but it is truly amazing how the Japanese persevered from the atomic bombings and rebuilt their lives.

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I had heard about a couple of the Seto Inland Sea Islands commonly referred as “The Art Islands”. I took a bus, then ferry, from Hiroshima to Neoshima and spent a glorious few days exploring the museums and wonderful art exhibits. I took a ferry to Teshima for the day and had a wonderful time there.

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From Teshima, I easily accessed a ferry to Tokushima on Shikoku Island. I went to a marvelous exhibit at a museum in Tokushima featuring the artist Hokusai who is best known for his woodblock print series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” which includes “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”. Friends, Ken and Yoshiko from Osaka, whom I met in Hokkaido at the top of a peak, met up with me near the famous Kotohira Shrine. There were 1368 steps to the top. Of course I was up for the challenge and had a wonderful experience and awarded with beautiful views.

After a night and day spent in Takahara (still on Shikoku) with Ken and Yoshiko; eating udon noodles and relaxing at the home and Airbnb of Ken’s cousin, we all headed to Osaka.

From there, I headed the short distance to Kyoto and had a wonderful time visiting Temples, Shrines, and enjoyed people watching and sunsets on the Kamo River.

I organized a two-day walk on the Kumano Kodo which is a well known pilgrimage walk in the prefecture of Wakayama and one of only two pilgrimages in the world registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. My planning didn’t work out well for the walk. I had misjudged the distances and booked a room at the organic hotel, “Kirinosato” in Takahara along the Kumano Kodo that I thought to be a full days walk. It was only two hours along on the first day! Fortunately, we were still able to enjoy the walk and take a bus back to the hotel. It was a wonderful place to stay; the views, food, Onsen (hotsprings) plus the staff were amazing! Ken said to me, “Antoinette, this is the best mistake you’ve ever made!”

After walking and exploring some of the Kumano Kodo, it was nice to soak in an Onsen….never a bad time to enjoy the healing waters!

Not only were the views amazing, the food was to die for!

View from the Kiri no sato Hotel.

Nothing like a beautiful view while enjoying an iced soy latte and muffin in Kyoto

View of the Kamo River in Kyoto

Nice sunset walk near Tokushima on Shikoku Island

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto

Once back in Osaka, I headed to an area called Koyasan which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Kyoto. I was invited there to help open a Taiwanese Vegan Cafe called “Muku”. There is a Muku Restaurant in Kyoto and I had met the lovely proprietor, Anna, and became friends with her. It was a lot of work and yet so rewarding; I was paid in kindness and LOTS of amazing food!

Muku Vegan in Koyasan

After a long day of getting the cafe ready, we took a nice break to explore Koyasan

The ingredients ready to be put into the Hotpot

The finished Hotpot ready to enjoy!

Right across from the cafe was a nice temple

In spite of COVID, I decided that I had to see Tokyo once just in case I left Japan directly from Sapporo. I took the bullet train from Kyoto and hoped to see Mount Fuji but as luck would have it, she was encased in clouds. I spend a few nights in Tokyo; explored some of the popular areas and thoroughly enjoyed the food! The vegan food choices in Tokyo are amazing!

Tokyo Digital Art Museum. It was a lot of fun and amazing.

This was probably one of the best vegan meals I had in Tokyo. The restaurant is called Saido. This is the ‘eel’ lunch set.

Just about an hour from Tokyo is a beach town called Karakura. I spent two days exploring the temples, hiking trails and walking the beach.

Before heading back to Hokkaido, I did a little side trip to Kamakura and loved it there! I spent some well-needed quiet time walking trails, visiting temples and meeting some wonderful people along the way.

These days, plans have a way of changing readily as did mine. I was offered some part-time work in a take-out Korean restaurant with the opportunity to sell my plant-based delights. I decided to stay and see how that would go. Long story short, it didn’t really work out as planned. That, as well as the extreme winter this year, made me reevaluate my plans. An opportunity came up to go to Kyoto and stay in a short-term rental. I decided “why not!” experience living in a different area of Japan. I am there now and very happy with my decision. That is another story for another day…..soon, I promise!

Two versions of plant-based cheesecake that I offered at the restaurant “Matcha Madness” and “Lemon-Blueberry Bliss”

“Oiishi Energy Cookie” and “Black Magic Energy Balls”

The is ‘Kimbap’ which is a Korean roll that I learned to make working at the Niseko Kimbap. I ‘veganized’ mine.

While I am still a “Stranger In A Strange Land”, it is feeling more like home (even if temporary) and I am loving my life and experiences.

In happiness, good health and love,

Antoinette