Saturday 26 September 2009

July, 2009: Shiminoseki, Japan to Qingdao, China. Slow Boat to China


There is a Japanese term, Kara-yuki-san. The "Kara" has the kanji of Tang (as in Tang dynasty.) It's a pretty old term to mean Japanese who travel to China, either for employment or business. But more likely, it meant Japanese who who was persuaded/forced/cheated into prostituition in China. That the direction of similar human traffic is Today largely reversed, it is obvious this term was used many years ago.
Most of the girls would be from poor villages in Kyushu. Human traffickers scoured the countryside, bring them across the straits to Shimonoseki in Honshu. From here, they will be shipped to China. Others may end up in the Nanyang regions, today's Singapore and West and East Malaysia. Even here, the Japanese prostitutes were considered second-rated. The Chinese coolies here would seek out Chinese prostitutes, and possibly one from the same home town. For those who lacks the fund, they will go to the cheaper Japanese one.
But some years before the War, as Japan grew in power, a royal decree from the Emporer put a stop to this. The decree mandated that it is not longer legal for Japanese to work oversea as prostitutes.
To me, this is the most significant event to mark Japanese's arrival at the world stage. More so than Pearl Harbor, or their victory against the Russian, or the Shimonoseki Treaty.
What more powerful statement can a strong country made than to tell the world that their women are no longer available for export as sex slave. My theory is that things would have turn out much better for everyone in East Asia if the Japanese realized this back then, that there is no need for the strong to turn aggressor to show their strenght.
It is partly because of my little fascination of this piece of history that brought me to Shimonoseki. The Orient Ferry will take me by sea over to Qingdao in China. To most people's surprise, it is a short 27hr journey. The short crossing is probably why Shimonoseki was chosen by the human traffickers back then.



Friday 25 September 2009

July, 2009: Shimonoseki, by way of Fukuoka, Japan


After leaving Fujinomiya, headed south to Fukuoka. The main reason is to stay at the same capsule hotel I stayed in almost a year ago. The carpet at lobby still smells like fresh laundry. In the span of 2 days, JR has taken me down south from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
Shimonoseki looks like an ordinary sea/fishing port, famous for her puffer fish cuisine. But because of an event back in 1937, it has a big part to play in history.
In the 12th year of Showa, following their defeat in the Shino-Japan war, Chinese diplomats with their premier Li Hong Zhang arrived in Shimonoseki. They were to sign the 'peace' treaty that handed Taiwan over to the Japanese government.
With a ferry to catch that same morning, I could only squeeze in a visit to the museum for the Shimonoseki treaty.



The actual location where the treaty was signed, Shunpanro (Spring Sail building) is now a restaurant and hotel. The museum is located at a smaller wing at the entrance.















Wednesday 23 September 2009

July, 2009: Fujinomiya, Shizuoka


The nearest Shinkansen station from Fujinomiya is Shin-Fuji. The express Shinkansen don't even 'bother' to stop here. But the town/city has a big attraction, Mount Fuji-san.
While it is in Shizuoka prefecture, it's a pretty short drive from Yamanashi ken. While I was being driven around in the Yamanashi side of Fujisan, I believe Noriko Sakai was hiding in Yamanashi, too. She was then a fugitive because of her drug habit.
Some young chaps taking picture before a waterfall in the mountain. I thought they were Mongolian, and even tried chatting them up in mandarin. Turns out they were Japanese and know not a single word of Chinese. Why they are in those costume remains a mystery till this day.
Anyway, the path near the waterfall was rocky and wet. I took a tumble and this was one of the pictures taken by my Nikon L16, aka "Good-boy", before it broke my fall.

July, 2009: Sapporo to Fujinomiya, Shizuoka




After the unevenful Furano trip, it is time to zip back to Honshyu, and onwards to Shizuoka.

It's the same night train Hamanasu, so there isn't much to write about, except.....

The two times I crossed the undersea tunnel, I have notice some of the Japanese chomping on what looks like really delicious bento from the Aomori platform kiosk. I made a mental note that I must have it.
It turns out the bento is a Saba Sushi bento. Unlike must sushi with pieces of raw fish on vinegared rice, this has a generous slab of saba (mackerel) grilled with light soy sauce on rice. It tasted good because the fish was really fatty (must be because of the cold rough sea in the area.) You can feel your lips turning glossy from the fish fat. Yummy.

July, 2009: Furano, Hokkaido


Everyone who has been to Furano, it seems, rave about Furano on their retun.

It is the large field of blossoming flowers in summer that attracted most of the foreign tourists. For the Japanese, there is another additional attraction of this being the filming location of Kita Kuni Kara (From the North Country, KKK). I remember KKK was showing on Singapore TV many years back. It was dubbed into Chinese, has a male lead with a sad monkey face, a popular soundtrack, but it never achieve the kind of poularity like Oshin.


Having done the SL, and with a full afternoon ahead before the Hamanasu trip back, I decide to go ahead to Furano. That means taking the last train before nightfall to Furano. The brochure for the Furano train shows it cutting right across fileds of Lavendar. So I guessed a local train will give me a view of the lavendar field as long as there is daylight.

Well, obviously, the picture was photoshoped. Or maybe the local train I am on wasn't the ones on the brochure.

There was really many Hong Kong-ers and Taiwanese heading in and out of Furano. Even the brochure at the station is in Chinese.

On the way back, I got to catch a glimpse of the lavendar field up on a slope away from the track. If can be an Ah-Q, the only comforting thing is that it was no in full bloom and doesn't really look good under the overcasde sky of that day.

July, 2009: Hakodate to Mori, on the SL Hakodate Oonuma Go








(Itai!Itai!!)

The morning fish market near the Hakodate station is a famous tourist spot. Plan a breakfast there. It's worth it.
After the breakfast, the highlight of the day is a ride on the SL Hakodate Oonuma Go. SL is short for Steam Locomotive. The thought of getting on a steam locomotive is really exciting.
The SL pulls out of Hakodate at 9:35am, but way before that, there is already much festivity on the platform.
The drivers at the engine were dressed in old-style uniform and so were the conductors. There was even also a Japanese lady dressed in western clothes (supposedly from the Meiji era) who posed with the passenger and serves as a guide on the train.
The SL probably reminded many older Japanese of the good old Showa era (good, as compared to the current Heisei era), as evident from the winning entries for the SL's Haiku competition.























The train seems to attract mainly young kids. But along the way, many railroad otaku were waiting beside the track, heavy camera hanging their neck, ready to snap a few pictures of the SL rumbling down the track. And young and old, everywhere the SL passes by, stop and gave the train a friendly wave.
While the engine is a steam one, the cabin were modern well-lit and air-conditioned ones. The last cabin, though, was a old-style one. You can hang out there, stick your head out of the window a bit and feel the wind rushing pass your face. You would be amazed at how fast the SL can run.
At the end of the trip, I could actually pick up some tiny pieces of coal from my face and behind the ears.

Sunday 20 September 2009

July, 2009: Hakkodate, Hokkaido


After crossing the under-sea tunnel that bridges Honshyu and Hokkaido, Hakodate is the first major station in Hokkaido.

I have not intended to stay long in Hakkodate. Preferring to move further north in Hokkaido. But fate has her way of screwing up one's plan.



















Once reaching Hakkodate, I was to cross over to another platform to catch a connecting train. But the train was no where in sight. And none of the LED signboard shows the leaving time of the train I was to bord. Very unlike JR. There was some commotion at the ticket gate, and on crosser inspection, I realize an "act of god" has made the ever-reliable JR failing to have a train move out on time.

Apparently, the rain has caused a mudslide somewhere between Hakkodate and Sapporo, which has washed up on the track.
With no where to go, I decided to stay for the night. With a full day ahead, I went on a little walk around town.
Hakkodate reminds me of San Fransisco. It does not have anything like the Golden Gate Bridge. But, it is a port city, and with a hill near the sea, many of the streets are slope that lead directly to the sea...just like in SF. Plus there is a working tram system running in the city.
Being a port city, Hakodate used to be one of the few places westerns are allowed to enter the country. The western buildings the westerners left behind are highlight of the walking tour around town. Even today, Hokadate sees herself as a window to Japan for foreigners, and here's sign of her ties to neighboring Russia.
Interestingly, some of the best (in terms of FengSui) place in Hakodate are reserved for the dead. There are quite a number of foreigner cemetaries near high places on the hill. And without fail, the tomb overlook the sea. Apparently, all these foreign souls yearn to go home to where they were from.