Itinerary

Setting an itinerary for a year's journey was like building a house for me:  start with the layout of the land on which you're going to build and an idea of what you want.  Then make a basic drawing of the house's shape and rooms, and follow it with more, increasingly detailed drawings.  Throughout, seek the help from experts, in this case travel guides and particularly the advice of friends and others who have been to Japan.


The "land" I started with is a country of four big islands -- Kyushu in the south, Honshu (the big island where Tokyo and Kyoto is), Shikoku (nestled south of Honshu, with the Inland Sea between), and Hokkaido to the north, where Sapporo is located.  There are many smaller islands as well, including Okinawa to the south of Kyushu, with its US military base.


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I knew I wanted to visit the entire country, both urban Tokyo and Kyoto and the smaller towns and villages.  I wanted to see both traditional and contemporary architecture, the arts and artisans, temples and shrines, land and gardens, and explore regional specialties and festivals.  Because I wasn't going to be in any one place very long, I needed to pack light to make traveling easier. 


For my "basic drawing," I decided to start my trip in the warmer south, on the island of Kyushu.  After Kyushu, I'll make a big loop, first travelling north on the eastern side of Honshu, visiting Shikoku and seeing the cherry blossoms around Kyoto in the spring.  Continuing north, I plan to reach the cooler climes of northern Honshu and Hokkaido in late July and August.  Afterwards, I'll travel down the western side of Honshu, then circle back toward Kyoto and Tokyo, where I intend to spend a month or so in each city before returning to the US in late January.  Throughout, I want to take advantage of Japan's Traditional Handcraft Centres, seeing each region's crafts and hopefully watching some artisans at work or taking a class.

As I continued planning, I developed a somewhat more detailed itinerary, below.  But, except for my initial stay and having to make reservations at key holiday times, I haven't planned every week or month.  I want to remain open to what I discover, staying longer if I want or
moving on earlier.  I expect to plan for the upcoming few weeks as I go along, but my itinerary intentionally is rather loose.


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Kyushu (above).  After I arrive in Tokyo on Jan. 31, I'll fly to Nagasaki, on the island of Kyushu.  Nagasaki is the port where the first Europeans, the Dutch, were allowed to establish a trading post.  The US dropped an atomic bomb there during World War II, so it, like Hiroshima, has a peace memorial and park.  I've made reservations at a traditional Japanese inn, a ryokan, for a week, so I have time to get over jet lag, get my bearings, set up Internet service, etc. while also exploring the city.  Next I plan to travel north to Fukuoka and, among other things, visit the Saga pottery kilns and hopefully other active kilns inland.  Later I will travel to Kagoshima at the southern part of the island to visit the volcanic Kirishima National Park and take in an onsen recommended by a Japanese acquaintance living in New York.  Then I want to travel to Beppu, just south of Oita on the map above, which has a wonderful bamboo museum and is known for its indigo dying.  


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In March, I will wander up the western coast of Honshu (above).  I'll visit Hiroshima; Himeji Castle near Kobe, the grandest of Japan's feudal castles; and Osaka with its contemporary architecture along with museums of folk art and ceramics.  I'll be in Tokyo briefly in early April to see the biennial Quilt Nihon exhibition, put on by my visa sponsor, the Japan Handcraft Instructors Association.  I also want to visit Japan's 12th century capital, Kamakura, and see the cherry blossoms there, in Kyoto, and Yoshino.  I'm not sure how much I'll see at this point, but I'll be back later in the fall to explore the area further.



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Shikoku (above).  From mid-April to mid-May, I'll be on Shikoku, a mountainous island with small fishing villages, traditional crafts, and temples.  My Japanese classmate, Gabriella, will join me and we plan to walk much of Japan's famous Eighty-eight Temple Pilgrimage, first taken by a Buddhist pilgrim in the 9th century.  Along the way, I hope to explore many of Shikoku's crafts:  paper-making, pottery, kites, puppetry, and kabuki.  


Honshu.  After Shikoku, I'll pick up where I left off on Honshu, spending more time in Kyoto and Tokyo.  There's an exhibit at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art in late May of Japan's best living artists that I'd like to see.  There's so much these two cities offer:  museums, architecture, crafts, gardens, and just walking around the streets, shops, and markets.  As summer approaches, I'll continue northward to Nikko, passing through Sendai on my way to Aomori, hopefully to see a bit of its huge Neputa Matsuri (festival) with spectacular floats before heading for Sapporo on the overnight train. 


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Hokkaido.  In August, I'll visit Japan's northern-most island (above).  You can tell from the map that there aren't a lot of cities on Hokkaido, but instead there are several national parks.  One I remember is known for its huge algae balls -- not sure I'll get that far, but they certainly sound interesting.  My friend Karen will join me in Sapporo, home of Sapporo beer, and we will visit some of the parks, museums and sites of the Ainu people.  We'll also spend a week in nearby South Korea, seeing its ceramics (Karen used to be a ceramicist) and textiles (my love).  

During the fall it's back down the west side of Honshu.  I want to see the traditional Kogin needlepoint of that region, geometric cotton stitching to reinforce and add warmth to clothing in this cold climate.  I'll visit towns like Kakunodate and Kanazawa with their samurai houses; Niigata with its paper museum and the nearby Sado Island's Noh theatre; and Matsue, the town where Lefcadio Hearn lived, a westerner who ended up staying in Japan and wrote beautifully of its culture.  Then I'll go back around to the western side of the island.

In October, my "ichiban no tomodachi" (best friend), Betsy, will come for a couple of weeks, which we plan to spend in Kyoto and Naoshima.  Naoshima is an island on the Inland Sea with a fabulous contemporary art museum complex designed by Tadao Ando, and my favorite place from my visit three years ago.  In late October/early November, I'll join a basketry tour sponsored by the Tai Textile Gallery in Santa Fe, so will travel around the country again, visiting some of the best of Japan's  basket makers.  By then my Japanese should be good enough to have a conversation with them!

In November-December, I'll spend more time in Kyoto, revisiting spots I love, visiting artisans if I can, and wandering among  its old shops, temples and shrines.

From Christmas-time until I leave, I plan to explore the many facets of Tokyo, perhaps booking an apartment-hotel for the duration.  Tokyo has everything:  the imperial palace and soaring contemporary architecture; throbbing sections of town and quiet areas; museums, crafts, shops, department stores, electronics and food of every kind.  When my friend Kit and I were there three years ago, we found the subway system quite accessible, particularly in non-rush hours, so I expect to get a SUICA card (the equivalent of NYC's Metrocard) and go all over the city. Then, after another quilt festival in Tokyo, it's back home -- with tons of photos, craft mementos, sketches and collages, and lots of good memories of the people I've met who will have made this journey so memorable.

 

Preparations

Katsura Imperial Village

Preparing for a year's journey anywhere can be daunting, but in some ways it is no different from any other trip:  it involves getting ready to leave where you are, planning to go to another place, and keeping and making connections.  It's like closing one door as you move to open another, while keeping a link to both.

Leave-taking.  Getting ready to go involves tasks and lists that never seem to end.  There are all the things that need to be taken care of when you're gone -- the mortgage and credit card bills, annual insurance renewals, etc.  Fortunately, with today's technology, I just needed to make sure  that all my bills came by email. There are the things you need to stop, like the newspaper and other subscriptions (and get the apps to read them on line).  Then there are the things you need to do differently.  For me, that meant subletting my apartment:  finding a broker, keeping the apartment clean, arranging for storage, etc.  Last, it's a good idea to find someone you can rely on who's willing to take care of what you forgot and things you cannot do from afar.

New York City Skyline

Leave-taking really became for me a time of letting go, not of the memories but of the things that were part of past lives.  It was time to give away the business clothes I no longer wore, the books I had to admit I would never read again.  I threw out files of work completed.  Even tossing out boxes of slides became easy:  the things were immaterial, the memories lasting. I was making space for new experiences, new ways of thinking and doing.

Going.  Going obviously means planning:  where do you want to be when and what do you want to see?  Since I was applying for a cultural activities visa and was traveling throughout Japan, I needed to prepare an itinerary, which I'll discuss in my next and last posting before I actually leave for Japan.  This was a useful framework for my journey, but I realized it was just that, not something to be slavishly followed .  As I read the guidebooks and talked to people who had spent time in Japan, I realized it was important to walk the streets, visit flea markets, be willing to explore and be open to the unexpected.  

Shinjuku Skyline, Tokyo

There are other essential, practical tasks:  booking your flight and getting a visa if you're traveling to Japan for longer than three months.  It's a good idea to get trip insurance -- I'd seen first-hand the value of it when a friend fell and injured both knees.  And of course, it's essential to  have Internet access and a SIM card to make local calls.  I made reservations for the first week of my stay, and will be making others for holiday times and the first night or so when friends come to join me in my travels.  The rest I'll do when I'm in Japan.

Shinto Shrine, Imperial Palace Kyoto

What to pack requires careful thought. Since I was traveling throughout Japan, I wanted to travel light, using a carry-on suitcase and a day pack.  But for a year?  The answer is layering.  I ended up taking 3 pairs of pants and a pair of tights to wear underneath in the cold,  4 heat-insulating long-sleeved shirts, a silk camisole for added warmth, 3 T-shirts, an easy-care dress, a light weight V-neck sweater and nice-looking cardigan, a warm down-like jacket with hood and zip-off sleeves, a compact raincoat, a few decorative scarves, and a couple of pairs of underwear.  In addition I took the usual toiletries, camera, and laptop (thank you, Apple, for your lightweight Mac Air).  Shoes were the real challenge.  Americans have big feet compared to the Japanese, so I bought shoes here and arranged for them to be shipped or brought when I think mine will have worn out.  I did a trial pack, but the actual packing proved I needed to take less.  While I stay with friends in a brief transition from New York to Japan, I'll have to take out some things  and repack.  

I ended up buying new clothes for the trip, taking very few of what I had.  Some made sense: I didn't have warm, very light weight tops, for example.  But it also symbolized my embarking on a new adventure, in a new direction.  Starting out new seemed right.

Connecting.  The process of preparing made me realize how important staying connected is.  Many friends had good advice for my travels ("think about shoes!", Karen said) or referred me to others, whether here or in Japan for me to look up.  I made new friends here -- Gabriella, who took Japanese with me; Suzanne who suggested I read a book on pilgrimage.  At year end, I was touched by the care and thoughtfulness friends took in Christmas gifts, finding small useful things to take with me, all of which will remind me of them.  And, despite the hectic pace as I finished my preparations, there was time for dinners and conversations as we bid each other good-by. 

I created this blog to stay connected with my friends, old and new, so I could share with them this amazing journey.  As I make friends in Japan, I hope they, too, will enjoy this tale of travel.