Hiked above clouds in Shiretoko National Park on the northeastern edge of Hokkaido. If I went further I’d be in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Russian Kuril Islands. Over 10 days I’ll head for Tokyo. Today, I’m 980 miles and 15 hours by slow trains and bullet trains.
Category: Asia
Kawayu Onsen Station Footbath
Soaked my feet in the hot spring footbath at Kawayu Onsen Station (Akan Mashu National Park) while waiting for the first train to arrive at this station since the September 6 earthquake. I was the only person to board the train.
Caldera in a Caldera
Hiked up Mount Kamui, the caldera in a caldera I saw from a plane two days ago. At the top, a young guy from Kitami, Hokkaido shared his lunch with me (filled, steamed buns) and took this picture of me clutching my hat. He then ran back down.
After the Quake
Posted After the Quake.
After the Quake
September 20, 2018. The view from my seat on the turboprop from Central Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport summed up my hesitancy to visit Japan’s northernmost island. Below, I could see hills pockmarked by landslides. In some places roads were blocked. I was witnessing effects of Hokkaido’s massive earthquake exactly two weeks earlier. In the early… Continue reading After the Quake
A Kind Person
At Kushiro Shitsugen National Park a woman stopped her car to give me an origami crane. I thanked her, and she drove on. After a hundred yards she stopped again, this time to offer me a ride to the train station. I thanked her and explained I love to walk.
View from a Plane
This weekend I plan to hike this caldera lake (Lake Mashu). Another caldera (Mount Kamui) rises out of the lake. I took this picture from a turboprop, today, on my way to Nemuro, the most easterly town in Hokkaido and Japan.
Clean Clothes Every Day
Landed in Hokkaido from Tokyo, late Wednesday evening. Washed my clothes: they’ll be dry in time for me to wear them on an early morning turboprop flight.
Japan 2018
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Disaster Tourism
Hawaii Big Island, April 2009. My partner and I hiked across lava. A map on our GPS guided us along the invisible lines of streets buried beneath us. A school bus, trapped by lava, reminded us this is a disaster site where homes had once stood. Disaster Tourism can be distasteful. I think of people… Continue reading Disaster Tourism