7eleven greeted us like and old friend when we arrived late in Tokyo. We enjoyed a sumptuous dinner and had a relaxing early evening, ready to leave early for skiing the next day. Our hotel even offered free sheet masks as well as a full wash bag worth of cosmetics and slippers in what would be a good sign of things to come. It was a great start to the mini detox we were hoping for after Vietnam.
It was surprisingly easy to get to Okushiga Kogen the following morning. This ski area is a 1.5 hour bullet train then 2 hour bus from Tokyo. It was quite late in the season, being 2nd April, but Nik had researched and looked to be open until May. It’s much lower than most European ski resorts, with peak elevation around 2300m, so we were a bit nervous on snow coverage but set off anyway. As our bus wound up the mountains, our worries were put to rest, there was a lot of snow. Not quite fresh powder but good coverage. The mountains are beautiful, many of the trees mixed in with the firs are bare with silver bark and reddish tips to the ends of the branches. The resulting pinky tinge summons visions of the many manga prints I’ve previously seen and incorrectly assumed was artistic effect.
We were nervous and excited in equal measure. Nik loves skiing and by all accounts, including his own, was incredibly good at it pre-accident. Just over a year on from his most recent surgery, less than 18 months from being told he might never run or play sport again, and 21 months from the fateful car crash, this would be his first time back on skis. Would he be able to do it again? Would it be safe? Would he enjoy it? Yes. Yes. Yes. I can confirm that Nik remains an excellent skier. It was so evident he remains brilliant that I started zoning out after the umpteenth chairlift spent analysing his performance. “Blowing out the cobwebs”, “bit rusty, need to strengthen for more attack in my right knee”, “Maybe I should switch my dominant leg” and other knee related sports analysis would make a good mindfulness soundtrack.
After covering as much of our mountain as possible in a few hours we headed for a late lunch, and discovered that the Japanese take on mountain food is delicious. I had delicious noodles and Nik a vegan curry, all for under £20. Given our ski passes had cost £40 each a day and our ski rental £70 each for the 3 days, we were pleasantly surprised to learn, bar the minor inconvenience of getting to Japan, how much cheaper it seems to be to ski here. This could have been in part due to the date, some parts of the resort officially closed on 1st April, so not all lifts were running, but we still had plenty of room to explore and the option of getting a free shuttle to connecting towns if we wanted.
We were staying at the Yama-No-Manimani Lodge in Okushiga. It is run by the wonderful Masa and Maki. The lodge was very cosy, and reflected Masa’s good style, complete with lots of records and great music playing throughout our meals. Nik was delighted to discover the strict and very hygienic shoe policy in the lodge. At the entrance are lockers for each room, where outdoor shoes are swapped for a pair of new slippers each person is given on arrival. The lodge also has 2 onsens in the basement that you could book 45 minute slots in. To go downstairs, there are separate, waterproof clogs that your slippers are traded for to ensure no contamination. Japanese onsens are typically filled with a local spring and are hot. You enjoy by first having a shower and getting clean, often sitting on a little stool, then sinking into the natural hot water tub. You can extend your time in the water without passing out by putting a cold flannnel on your head. It’s very relaxing after a long day skiing. After our evening onsen we then had dinner at the lodge. Every evening Maki cooked a 6 course feast. One night was more of a French theme, one Japanese, one Italian. They cooked a special vegan menu for Nik and both of us thought the food was impeccable. Not only was everything delicious, but all organic and nothing ultra processed in sight. Local mushrooms were being air dried over the fire on night 1, ready to add extra umami to our hotpots on night 2. The hotpot & sashimi dinner in particular was one of the best meals we’ve had.
Nik’s confidence had grown so quickly, that by the afternoon of day 2 he was determined to swap out the skis for a snowboard. Having followed in Jun’s steps a few years ago and he had started learning and was keen to improve. I have never been on a snowboard, but feeling inspired I decided to give it a go. How hard could it be?
Hard. Snowboarding is very hard. To begin with I could barely stand, relying on Nik to haul me to my feet. All those years I’ve spent laughing at boarders, what a fool. I was instantly filled with respect for anyone who makes boarding look easy, or gives it a go anyway. After 2 hours I had sort of got the hang of the “falling leaf” move, and was exhausted. After sending a video of my glacial attempts at boarding to our respective families, we were reminded in the contrasting approaches to support. The Shahs sending lots well dones, the Duckworth’s response of “slow down” could have been genuine concern over my new pace, but likely not. At least our gear from Vietnam was holding up well, while some of the zips broke almost instantly, the trousers were definitely waterproof.
For our final morning I woke up sore but determined. I was ready for a chair lift, and made my way up the mountain. 2 hours later and I could sort of turn! I triumphantly swapped back to skis for a final few runs before it started raining and we called it a day. Learning something new is rewarding and addictive, but also painful and exhausting so the final afternoon being rained off felt like a blessing. By the time we were saying good bye to the lovely Masa and Maki, driving passed snow monkeys in the bus and making our way back to Tokyo, it felt like we’d been in Okushiga for much longer than 3 days. The beauty of the mountains, joy of skiing, learning to snowboard and Masa’s incredible hospitality meant combined to make our time in Okushiga a real trip highlight. We felt restored.
We needed our new found energy for Tokyo. Tokyo is intense, the city is so big it can be a bit overwhelming. For night one we kept it simple and went to the famous Shibuya crossing and got some vegan ramen for dinner. There aren’t many veggie or vegan friendly places in Japan, so as a result there are often enormous queues for anywhere veggie friendly as all the vegan tourists, and a few Japanese, attempt to eat. Brown Rice by Neals Yard Remedies was the highlight, with honourable mentions to the flexi ramen spot Jikasei Mensho, vegan restaurant Farmers Osusowake Hanamame and flexi okonomiyaki place Zen.
Our days in Tokyo were spent wandering around, Yoyogi, Harajuku, Shinabashi and Naka-meguro. The architecture is amazing in Japan, every building is different and around every corner you will find something new. We were lucky enough to be there for cherry blossoms which was amazing. In the cities there are huge crowds and arguably the people watching is better than the blossoms themselves. (In my humble opinion the blossoms are even more beautiful in the countryside when contrasted against greenery and mountains). Street style is taken seriously, and we loved taking it all in. As a long time streetwear fan, Nik was happy to visit the Evisu and Oniksuga Tiger flagship stores, I of course don’t need asking twice to go window shopping.
We attempted to Izakaya hop in the evenings, however were wildly unsuccessful being let in anywhere in Shimokitazawa when we tried. Either everywhere gets busy early, or we simply didn’t make the cut, whatever the reason, so many places told us they were full when we entered that once we found somewhere for a drink, we didn’t leave for the rest of the evening and enjoyed soju fuelled DMCs. Like many big cities (read London), Tokyo isn’t particularly friendly vs the smaller spots. I think to get a good feel for the city you would need to live there/ spend a bit longer. While you rarely feel like you know a place after just a few days, Tokyo is a city of 35 million people, with this scale came, for me at least, a corresponding barrier to entry.
This being said, we headed to Golden Gai a bit earlier the next night and had a brilliant time. Golden Gai is a famous district in Tokyo consisting of hundreds of tiny bars, each one seating about 6 people and often themed. The first bar we perched in had a cover charge and 4 people already there. We took the final 2 spots and got talking. In addition to the very friendly barmaid, we had a famous South Korean Psychic, a steaming British couple and Berliner who was keen to talk about Berghain and orgies. Before long the couple departed to find food, we shuffled up our stools to make space for new people and kept talking. The Psychic was here for some TV appearances, and apparently this was his 3rd night in a row at the bar. A while later he and the Berliner departed, and some young guys took their spots. The young guys turned out to be 21 year olds on leave after finishing military service in Israel. After hearing so much about the war in Gaza over the past months, it was so strange to meet some soldiers in the last place we were expecting to. I couldn’t help asking a lot of questions, as from everything I’ve read or watched about the atrocities in Gaza, it was a rare chance to hear the perspective and some of the motivation from people directly involved. This isn’t a politics blog so I won’t go into the discussion. However I will say that while we didn’t agree on much, to their credit they invited my fairly hostile questioning until the final 2 stools were taken by some upbeat Americans from California who quickly changed the vibe. The beauty of those tiny bars is that you really have very little choice other than to talk to those around you, an increasingly rare occurrence. Meeting a huge variety of unexpected people is one of the real gifts of travel, and perhaps something that is on the decline as it becomes easier to search for restaurants and bars that cater to your, and people exactly like you’s, taste. Talking to people, no matter how much you agree or don’t, undoubtably gives so much more nuance than scrolling on social media.
We were ready for some R&R by Sunday, a week of skiing, cherry blossoms and Golden Gai had taken its toll. Our next stop was the mountain town Hakone, and we couldn’t wait for some zen.
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