Reggie Thomson's Diary

The price of the folk museum was 700 yen – which was too much for me. I took snaps of the local town. The sun only occasionally broke through the clouds. A gentleman chatted at one point, which was a little inconvenient, since the sun was shining.

Further down the hill, I was looking at a map of the area, when another gentleman asked if he could help. I was just checking where the route to Gero was. He said he could give me a lift. He took me into town, and let me jump out to take photos of the old parts and streets. It was great! Winter is also about hot sake and warm miso soup.

With so much snow, it was better just to find a suitable place to hitch from. I was given a ride all the way to Gero, and dropped at the hot-spring in the centre of town. The gentleman gave me a couple of sachets of shampoo. He offered me a razor – but I don’t need one!

There were a few others in the hot-spring. I washed in the cold air before jumping in. I took some photos while the sun was beaming down. Later, the clouds started to gather.

I walked down the road to the main road, to start hitching. As usual, I wasn’t quite sure what to put on my sign. I opted for a nearby place and, after a bit of dithering, Nagoya. The couple who stopped were going to Nagoya. I wanted to go to Futamigaura, and at first suggested Komaki interchange. They took me, instead, to the inner expressway round Nagoya.

I stood for only a short while on the inner expressway. It didn’t seem safe or possible to hitch – the road is too fast and there is nowhere to stop. So, I started to walk into town. Maybe I would be able to get to Atsuda Shrine.

It took about four hours to walk to the shrine. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining. I was glad that I made the effort. Lots of people were gathering to be there for the stroke of midnight. As I went in, I noticed a full, perfect halo round the moon. I tried to take a photo, but it didn’t come out well – I really need a tripod for such occasions. Not many people noticed the halo. For me, it was the highlight of the evening!

There was plenty to photograph in the shrine. I wondered who drank all the sake that was donated. I didn’t know the exact moment of the New Year, but could guess when the crowds started to surge forward. They all looked so happy as they threw in their pennies to the huge collection area, and clapped their hands in prayer.

A group of young people chatted for a bit. I gave them each one of my namecards, but then got worried that I might end up handing them out to the whole crowd! I didn’t leave until about 1 a.m. I usually end my diary at the point when I go to sleep, but this night I didn’t sleep. Maybe it’s best to finish 2001 here.

I got a lift without too much difficulty in the morning, to Kyoto. However, there I was stuck for quite some time before I got a lift. I think there were a couple of rides up the Tokai-Hokuriku expressway. Suddenly, we hit the snow. My driver was going to Takayama, but I wanted to go to Gero, so I jumped out at the Sokawa junction. Many people were putting chains on their tyres. However, they were all going to Takayama.

As I walked off the expressway, a lady stopped. She could take me to Gero, but when we asked at the toll, we were informed that it would be easier to go up the expressway to Takayama and then down to Gero. The lady was going to visit a friend in Takayama, so I decided that I would go to Takayama. We went back onto the expressway, travelling very slowly. At one point, we had to pull over to remove the ice from the wipers. I wasn’t in a big hurry, and safety is much more important than time. “It’s an adventure,” I said.

I was driven to a folk museum in Takayama. It wasn’t worth going in at this time – 4.30 p.m. However, I liked the look of the place, and decided to stay. I took some snaps in the shops. In a teddy-bear shop, I asked if I could take photos. One lady said yes, but then another came and said no. She pointed to a tiny sign that said “No Photography” in Japanese. I guess that when the shop is full, tourists would cause trouble if they were all taking photos. The shop was empty – as was the town. Still, rules are written in stone in Japan, and cannot be broken.

Down the road, I found a convenience store, and then trudged back up the hill to the folk museum. There was a shelter in a car park, but I found a disused shop with a large, wooden covered front. A lady came over to check, so I asked if it was OK to stay there. I think she said yes.

I’m not quite sure of the pronunciation of this place – is it Hashikuiiwa or Hashiguiiwa? It doesn’t make any difference to the photos, though. Sunrise was excellent, making it all the more worthwhile to sleep outside, despite the temperatures. I especially like the photo of the cormorant on the top of one of the rocks. I didn’t notice that there were some geese flying in formation behind it. It is always enjoyable to discover something new when I review my photos.

I dumped my rucksack in the car park, and clambered over the rocks to get the photos. From time to time, I would peer back to see that my belongings were safe, but I didn’t really worry about them. I was quite out of sight of them when taking the photo of the flock of cormorants on a distant rock.

I got a lift into Shingu, and then another up to Kawanoyu hot-spring. The gentleman also came into the hot-spring with me. It is in a public river, so I switched to an old pair of underwear. The temperature was good. I swam around for a while, and washed just a little downstream from the main pool.

The gentleman was going to Kobe via the back routes. I decided to go with him. We went along many small roads. At one point, we had to turn back – I think the driver of another car said the route ahead was blocked.

There was a small suspension bridge to swing on where we took a break. Later, the gentleman pointed in one direction and asked if I was interested. I think, perhaps, I had misunderstood – he had maybe wanted to stay overnight at a campsite. Since I expressed uncertainty, he drove on, all the way to Osaka.

We seemed to take a few wrong turnings – or perhaps the gentleman didn’t quite know where would be best for me. I suggested Osaka station, and eventually, that was where we went.

I found a small convenience store near Umeda for a bite to eat. Then, I started walking towards Suita, doing some work on the way. It took me several hours, and I gave up working after a while. My rucksack is very heavy. After Shin-Osaka, I went into a convenience store for nourishment.

I was very tired by the time I got to the services. There weren’t many people there. Eventually, I gave up and found a place to hide that was just out of the wind. I was glad of my extra layers of clothing.

It was a beautiful morning, but I didn’t have too long to wait between rides. There were three, to take me to the next services, Gobo and Shirahama. At Gobo, I was dropped at a small car park with a tourist shop at the top of a cliff. I didn’t think many people would stop there, so walked on a bit to a better place for hitching. It’s always a difficult decision. Walking isn’t very effective in Japan, because there often isn’t a convenient place for anyone to stop. The roads are narrow, and often have large concrete blocks along the side to prevent cars from hitting the pedestrians.

A couple with a digital camera gave me a lift into Shirahama, stopping at a famous rock where they, too, wanted to take some photos. I was heading for a free hot-spring, so they took me all the way there.

The bath was fairly secluded, but quite full when I arrived. With only one day on the road, I didn’t really need the full wash prior to jumping in, but I braved the biting wind to cleanse myself according to tradition, but not according to local example. The temperature was pretty good. After some time soaking in the heat, I jumped out to take some snaps. Although I did ask permission, I thought afterwards that it might have been difficult for someone to say no.

Shirahama is famed for its beach (the name means “white beach”). The Lonely Planet guide informs me that the sand had to be imported from Australia after it washed away. Now, there are nets along the beach. I stayed until sunset, ate some sandwiches, and then took a few moon shots. Poets have come here to praise the sand and the moon. I didn’t write any haiku, though.

I got a lift with a group to the main road, and was deposited outside a convenience store. This time, it was sensible not to walk. I wouldn’t be visible in the dark, and if it rained, I would have nowhere to hide. There were several false alarms, when people pulled into a nearby block of flats. Finally, I had a lift all the way to Hashikuiiwa. If I remember correctly, I think it was a sponsorship lift. There was a place to hide for a night.

There was still more work to do on the computer, but I didn’t wish to overstay my welcome. I could have spent another few days just catching up on the diaries. Instead, I par celled up the Canada CDs to send to the people I stayed with in Canada as a way of saying thank you.

I set off at lunchtime, a little later than the 12 o’clock I had arranged to pick up my photographs. When the shop found them, I was shocked to see that the namecards had been incorrectly printed. Rather than cutting them to the correct size of the image, they had stretched one dimension off the edge of the card so that the other dimension fit exactly to the size. It should have been obvious to anyone that this was incorrect – my name was cut in two. I was angry that the staff had done such a poor job – probably leaving it to the computer to churn out the prints without glancing at them. I was so angry, that I tore up the useless printout in front of the staff. It’s not the done thing to show anger in Japan.

The staff were a bit upset, but agreed to reprint the requested files again, within the hour, leaving white paper at the top and bottom of the page to compensate for the smaller size. Their printer, it seems, can only cope with the standard 35mm ratios. Or, perhaps the operators haven’t yet learned how to cut prints to the correct dimensions for the camera.

Meanwhile, with an hour to kill before I could head off, I walked to the nearby post office to send off a dozen CDs. It’s a lot less than I normally send (well over a hundred calendars). Each one cost 280 yen in postage alone, depleting my money supplies. Still, it’s the price I have to pay for the kindness shown to me. I sent a few copies to friends, too.

Back at the Kodak shop, the new namecards were correctly done, though I had to cut white off the top and bottom – I have put two on each printout. It’s much cheaper to print this way – only 25 yen for two. When all the namecards were cut to size, I placed them carefully onto the colour photocopier, cleaning the glass beforehand. I made about 200 cards, enough for a couple of months. I haven’t made any of the Canada namecards this time round. I debated whether or not to give the staff a card, and decided it would be politic to do so – perhaps removing some of the pain of my anger.

I should have gone back to Noji’s to deposit the Christmas prints, but I didn’t wish to trouble them. On my way through town, I went into a few stationery shops looking for spare paper. I was out of luck and had to buy some – at an exorbitant 200 yen for fifty sheets! Again, it would have been better to get 500 sheets in Daiei for 380 yen, and donate the spares to Noji (or, perhaps, to have asked for a small supply.)

I was glad to be on my way, though already felt a bit stressed. Carrying a heavy load doesn’t help. After a short walk, I was given a lift to near Kishiwada. From there, I decided to go to the service area. I looked at a map in a convenience store, and thought I had memorised the route. A computer store briefly distracted me. Worse, it began to rain slightly. It took a long time, and I had at least one dead end to back-track from. I asked in a nearby shop. At another convenience store, I checked the route. They found a large map, and pointed me in the right direction. Meanwhile, being hungry, I bought the usual sandwiches from a supermarket, and ate them outside before continuing on my way.

I finally got a lift when I was only a few kilometres from the service area. The place was quiet, and no-one seemed to be going my direction. I gave up, and found a place to sleep for the night.

It took most of the day to make the new namecards, with photos of Japan on them. The photography shops can only accept JPEG files, and my programs (PaintShop Pro, and Ulead PhotoImpact) don’t let me write in Japanese, even in Windows 2000. I had to make an image using Word and capturing it from screen. It would be very useful to have a “Print to JPEG file” option. Perhaps I should do an internet search to see if such a facility exists.

The Kodak shop said they could do the prints by 2p.m. tomorrow. I asked them to if they could be done by noon, since I would be leaving that afternoon. I checked that the photos would be correctly printed, showing the staff the original meishi to ensure that I would have a good printout.

I sorted out my belongings, puting the inner lining in my overcoat, and the extra pair of long-johns into my rucksack. I packed the sweat-top but not the matching base – I’m ever conscious about weight.

Another late morning. Fortunately, I received a second email about the virus. As suspected, it was just a hoax. It had originated in Portuguese several years ago. I wonder why sane, rational people don’t ask questions? Perhaps it is a side-effect of “faith.” Some things just have to be accepted without questioning. It made me think about the two questions in Luke 1 (“How can I be sure of this?” and “How will this be?”) Some people aren’t even asking questions!

Noji’s father drove us to Michael’s, stopping at a Kentucky Chicken on the way to pick up a contribution to the pot-luck meal. There was a small group gathered. It was good to catch up with David. He still has work to do on the M.A. but may soon be returning to New Zealand.

There was plenty of delicious food. We then exchanged presents à la Michael. Each present was given a number, and we all chose a number. Starting from number one, we could either take our number from the pool of presents, or choose an opened present from someone else. Most the presents were of a humorous nature. It was good fun.

I showed my photos on the TV screen. It would be good to show them from the camera at much higher quality, but the computer gives me the ability to pick and choose readily. David wanted to know whether the images could be used royalty-free. Well, the CD is for personal, non-commercial use only. Still, another sponsor.

It’s harder to remember what I was up to during the day. At Noji’s, I tended to get up late and do some computing before lunch. We skipped breakfast. I made the cover for the CD of Japan in Autumn, and printed it out. I wanted to find out about printing some of my snaps to make new namecards. A local Fuji shop could send away my files. They said they didn’t know of a digital print shop in the area. It was a typical Japanese lie, borne of the hatred between Fuji and the “foreign” competitors of Kodak, about 50 yards round the corner.

The Kodak shop had a good photocopier, which can do A3 colour for less than 50 yen per sheet. I printed my CD covers there. That gave me something to do on the train journey to Osaka – cutting up the sheets. Noji asked how many I had made. I replied in yen!

We were a little late for the service at IBC. I thought about taking photos, but again, it would have been intrusive. There was a choir, a sermon, and at the end, we all were given candles to hold. Afterwards, I seemed to be buttonholed by a small group. The gentleman gave me his mobile number, writing it on the back of one of my namecards. I generally don’t call mobiles because of the expense involved, but I didn’t say this.

Rika was the only person interested in my CD. Still, it helps make up for some of the recent train expenses.

Noji took me round Shinsaibashi for a yakiniku meal. The BSE scare hasn’t put him off beef. I remarked that there were fewer people smoking in the restaurant. We wandered round some of the shops, too.

I received an email from a friend about a virus. I nearly wrote back a VERY strong reply. It mentioned a file, which, sure enough, was on my computer. Norton didn’t flag it as having a virus, though. I would have to check

I made the special CD for Bill and his wife, and set off by train. The extra luggage makes hitching impossible. I had promised to bring a bottle of wine, but didn’t find a shop near the station. Anyway, I was regretting the additional expense to my limited resources.

It was quite a packed party, with lots of food. I thought of taking a set of photos, but didn’t really take enough to make an album. I would have spent all my time taking snaps and intruding on the atmosphere.

Miguel was there with his guitar as usual. He also has a set of postcards which he has made from his photographs. They were of excellent standard, many of them in black and white. Some people were interested in my photos, but no one wanted a CD.

I became Santa and handed out the presents – we each had to bring a small gift. I should have put one of my CDs into a bag. I don’t think my present was suitable for the person who drew that number. Oh, well. I gave Terumi a CD, even though she doesn’t have a computer yet.

I took the train to Kobe and then transferred to an Osaka train. In Umeda, I pointed a lady in the right direction (I hope) for the Hanshin train, then transferred to the subway for Namba and Izumiotsu. It was good to see Noji again, and chat about some of the tales from the road

Bill has a fast link to the internet via cable. Once I had chosen and labelled all my photographs, I uploaded them to the internet and updated the database. I had to connect with my own modem, though, to get my emails directly into my computer.

In the afternoon, I tried without success to plug my old MO driver into the computer. Eventually, I found out from the internet that there are no drivers for windows 2000 or ME. Bill said I could take it with me, so I might just send it home to plug into the old IBM. I now have the windows key, I think, so maybe I can restore it to work with windows 98. It would be useful to have my original photos taken on the Konica. I have a selection of the better ones, but not the complete set.

Bill went off to a “drinking club with a serious running problem.” I gave him several CDs to see if anyone was interested. However, an organiser said it would not be appropriate. Pity! I’ve now made a new version with all the photos to date. However, I’m rapidly running out of space on a 700Mb disk, so I really need to split the files into two separate CDs. That seems to be a complicated thing to program, so I didn’t do any thinking about it.

I installed several programs onto Bill’s computer – the scanner went in very easily, and I put the ZoneAlarm firewall on. This, incidentally, is a VERY STRONGLY RECOMMENDED piece of software for anyone using windows and connecting to the web. About two or three times per hour, someone tries to “ping” my computer. You don’t know exactly who it is, or for what purpose, but it is best if the computer doesn’t respond. Windows isn’t particularly secure. There is more information from www.zonelabs.com.