Hearts in the Japan Alps
Japan, 2008
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home;
that wildness is a necessity.
— John Muir
Searching the internet for a hiking guide in Japan, apart from Leon, I also found a Canadian, Dave, who runs an outdoor company in the Japan Alps. While I had already created my itinerary and booked domestic flights, I decided I might fit in the Japan Alps as well. However, on the dates of my choice Dave wasn’t available. Though, he did have a hiking trip with an American couple scheduled on other dates and I was welcome to join them. Sure enough I had for once locked in my itinerary prior to the start of the trip, and before even arriving in Japan my plans went out the window. I could not reschedule my domestic flights so I switched to traveling by train instead, which turned out to be a nice experience.
Buying a ticket at the ticket office on the railway station, I am also given a printed itinerary with a timetable. However, the Japanese signs on the paper are total abracadabra to me and I soon give up on studying it. I am trusting the Japanese accuracy: trains leaving at the exact right time and from the communicated platform. I feel lucky that the digital signs at the platforms give information alternately in Japanese and English. Without any effort I find my way to the right platform, where signs on the floor clearly indicate which carriage will stop where. And guess what, that is exactly where it will stop. Without any difficulty I find the right seat. Piece of cake.
Switching trains on a countryside railway station turns out to be quite a different experience. Everything is only announced in Japanese, and no matter how hard I try, I do not manage to find anyone speaking English. In the meantime I have found out that Japanese women are much easier to approach then men, and they will give it their all to help you. So, with a broad smile and a shrug I show my Japanese travel itinerary to an older lady. She carefully studies the information on the paper and starts rattling to me in Japanese. One look at my face tells her enough. With twinkling eyes she grabs my hand. While she continues talking to me, she leads me up the stairs, over a footbridge and via another stairway down to the platform where my train is expected to depart from. She parks me on the right place, using lots of hand signs to tell me to stay right where I am. After one more bright smile, she turns around and disappears from sight.