February 15 – March 15, 2021
Places we Traveled:
Nikko, Yamagata, Mashiko, Gifu, Fukui
There is absolutely no denying that we started to feel the pressure of our end date looming in the not-so-distant future this month. In 2019, Andrew’s company decided to send him to Japan for an 18-month rotation in their Japan office. A lot happened between then and now. Like, we got shotgun married and a global pandemic changed everyone’s lives forever. And, you know, whatnot. At month 15 of our journey in Japan, the clock is ticking on our goal to see as many of Japan’s 47 prefectures as we can. The post-New Year’s state of emergency in our prefecture was lifted in early February, so we were free and clear this month to travel to other areas also not under a state of emergency. Of course, in between exciting trips to new locations, life happens. Here’s my recap of month 15!
Peaks:
- We finished our closet home brew project: coffee-infused shochu! After I tried a coffee-shochu and vanilla ice cream cocktail in Akita city, we started our own home brew experiment. After 2 months, we were finally able to taste the finished product. It is not poison!
- We saw snow in Nikko! Last winter, our area of Japan received surprisingly little snowfall. Like, they canceled a few of the local snow-related festivals due to lack of snow. This year, that was not a problem. We drove up Irohazaka and saw plenty of picturesque snow and ice. To make it even better, for lunch we stopped at a pizza shop and the owner spilled a full glass of orange juice on me. But in return, we got a free pizza? So, 5/5 stars in my book.
- And then, we saw snow in Yamagata! Mountainous Yamagata prefecture is a winter sports wonderland. Coming from flat-as-hell Ohio (and generally disliking snow), I’m not much of a winter sportswoman. However, the views were incredible and we got to experience the magic of Ginzan Onsen. It was definitely a splurge, but well worth it for the magical snowy secluded onsen ryokan experience.
- My first paid tourism opportunity in Mashiko! I’ve talked about Mashiko a few times on this blog. Just east of Utsunomiya, the town of Mashiko is well-known in Japan for their ceramics. The local government wanted to gather data on foreigners’ experiences of tourism in Mashiko, so they paid a group of us to spend the day in Mashiko organizing our own day of tourist activities. At the end of the day, we had a focus group discussion. And like, I got paid to eat ice cream which is really a dream come true.
- Lunch with our Japanese teachers! Andrew and I haven’t seen our Japanese teachers in person for classes since last April when Covid cases began to be reported in our area. My teacher has helped me through a few medical appointments and haircuts in person since then, but most of our contact is twice a week via Facetime now. Which is a shame, because we both really like our Japanese teachers and they are very, very helpful people. So, now that the state of emergency in our area has been lifted, we were able to meet for a really tasty Japanese lunch.
- Exploring Gifu and Fukui! I had kind of written off these prefectures as difficult to get to from Utsunomiya and not super interesting places, but we had the opportunity to knock them off our list in early March, and I am so glad. Both prefectures were stunning, even in the rain, and we had a great weekend seeing some of the sights.
Valleys:
- My kintsugi master canceled classes for another month due to the ongoing state of emergency in Tokyo. Hopefully we’ll be able to return to the classroom in April, I’m running out of time to soak up all of the sensei’s knowledge before we leave for good.
- Realizing we’ll be leaving Japan in just a few short months, I’ve been dealing with a lot of feelings of anxiety. Leaving my career, apartment, and general responsibilities behind for 18 months to explore Japan gave me the blessing/curse of a blank slate when I return home. I know, with some effort, I could slip back into my old career… But do I want to? Somehow, I still haven’t figured out what I want to be when I grow up and our 18-month honeymoon will be ending before I know it…
