Reggie Thomson’s Diary

I updated the homepage in the morning with all the 80% compressed photographs. There has to be some advantage in purchasing a CD over looking on the web. I had an email from Reg and Brenda later, wondering what had happened to the internet quality! Actually, I think I should put the photos smaller on the web. It’s not a problem with web space (I have 200Mbytes of which I am using about 80Mbytes). It’s more a question of bandwidth - my limit is 3Gbytes per month. With ADSL, cable and beyond, it is possible to zip through lots of photos. Indeed, I repeatedly get messages from Geocities saying that my page is too popular, and they have had to cut content. I ought to update that page someday.

I telephoned the insurance company in the evening. The lady was most helpful. The advice on the finger is, that if I have any doubts, I should go to see a doctor. I’ll have to make a claim when I get back to England.

I did some work on the walk to the service area in the morning. I guessed the few minutes of work, at, let’s say, a very cheap rate of 1000 yen per hour, would easily cover any electricity expenses. There’s lots of work needed at Najio.

I wasn’t really going anywhere today. I hitched to Kyoto and then on to Taga, but turned round and came back to Osaka. The gentleman from Otsu to Osaka went at what I thought was a normal speed - between 100 to 120. A police car flashed us over to the side. The speeding fine is quite hefty - 15000 yen (£80). Apparently, he was also told, hitchhiking isn’t permissible on the highways - even at service areas.

I walked from Suita to the Hankyu railway, and took the train to Namba. I bought some more CDs at Big Camera. Every time I go there, I have to spend a long time finding the right sort. They seem to change what they stock from month to month. Maybe it is being responsive to customers’ requirements, but it’s a little awkward for me.

Sofmap didn’t have any of the plastic CD cases. I have some plastic bags, but the CD cases looked more professional. I guess not enough people were buying them.

I browsed through some of the shops looking at video cameras. Of course, I don’t have the resources, and anyway, it’s all just a dream at present. I wonder if they will have the sort of facilities I would need.

I bought an English newspaper in a convenience store. When I phoned Noji, he was just going out to a concert. I would be too late to go. I had something to eat, and took the train.

I did some work in the morning, but the hitching was slow. I guess I can’t talk to people when I’m working. I always have such a lot of work to catch up on, though. All the hundreds of photos have to be sorted out and compressed to the right sizes for the CDs and the internet.

The moment I gave up on my work, I got a lift to Mito, just before Yamaguchi, with a group of alumni from, I think, junior high school days. They were going to a hot spring. Then it looks like I had lots of short lifts and one long one from Fukuyama to Najio.

I noticed the socket I had used previously was taped up.

There was someone on my usual bench in Najio - perhaps a car or small truck driver. I had to find an alternative place.

One of the guys had agreed to get up early and drive me into town. So, I was able to start work from about half-past seven. The Anayu hot-spring was empty! Well, not quite. It had been drained and cleaned earlier in the morning, and was about half-full. I took some more snaps.

I think I have decided that Kurokawa is now top on my hot-spring list. The guide book I had before put Kusatsu and Hirosaki as the two best, but I liked Kurokawa, especially in the Azalea season. The gardens are wonderful.

I was especially impressed with Noshiyu hotel gardens. The gentleman watering the gardens said it was OK to take photos, and I spent over an hour there. If I ever decide to create a Japanese-style garden, this will be my inspiration. I purchased a drink from the mossy water container and sat in the tatami tea-room. I think this garden beats some of the three famous gardens in Japan. I think it has become my favourite.

The hotel had a very interesting leaflet, with an unusual layout. I didn’t take one at the time, but now wish I had done so, just for my own edification. It had a consistent but adaptable style - each page flowing but not copying the previous. If I ever design a book, it will have to embody these principles. That takes much more thought than simply choosing a standard pattern and keeping to it. Now that I think about it, (on June 11th)I think I will have to go all the way back to Kurokawa just to pick up that leaflet, and sit in the garden for a while.

Even the toilets in Kurokawa were stylish, with the heated toilet seats and unusual gents urinals. Then there were the towels hung outside one hotel, all neatly and carefully hung, without creases, and with white ones separated from orange ones. The common thought is of discipline and art.

I had barely started hitching, when a gentleman stopped. He was a travelling salesman from the Nagoya area. He sells tiny “koi-nobori” ceramics (flying carps, literally ascending carps). This is the season for them. I hadn’t managed a good photograph so far. The gentleman was going to a village where there were lots across the river. I took a few photos, but not enough to make an album. There was a dog hot-spring near the bridge.

We got a bit lost taking the small roads over the mountains back to Kitakyushu. Actually, the road signs were confusing and we ended up going round in a big circle. In Kitakyushu, I was treated to some champon noodles (Nagasaki style noodles). They were very cheap - only 380 yen or so for a deep bowl.

I was dropped at the Mekari services just before the bridge, where I found a place to sleep.

I’ll pick up the story from Koga. I think I slept out there for a while.

I hitched to Kumamoto. The gentleman was going to Amakusa, but chose to turn off at the Kumamoto junction. From there, I walked through the outskirts of Kumamoto. I got a lift half way to Mt. Aso, and then another to the main road round the mountain. I tried to take some photos of the beautiful green leaves, and a bright red bridge. The small track I followed ended in a landslide. I ate lunch there.

Afterwards, I went to a convenience store before continuing my hitch. A young guy in a noise car drove me all the way up to Sensuikyo. I was too early for the Azaleas. A few were in blossom, but not many. I wandered round, but the lack of sleep was catching up on me.

I ate an ice-cream. It cost 110 yen, when the price on the packet said 100 (and you have to add the magical, disappearing 5%). I think the lady mentioned something about this being a remote area. Still, I don’t like unpleasant surprises.

I hitched back into town, and then started walking towards Kurokawa. There didn’t seem to be much traffic, so I stopped at a point where I thought it might be safe to hitch from. If I didn’t get to Kurokawa, I would be able to go back to Kumamoto or somewhere. I was given a lift right to the village.

Another hot-spring was closed for repairs. There were lots of Azaleas in full bloom. Maybe I should just have come straight here. I made my way to Anayu. This time I put some money in the donations box, but I think I was the only person to do so. I was barely in, when a group of about seven guys entered. We chatted for a bit.

My thumbnail injury from 6th January is gradually working its way to the end of the nail. There is now a crack in it, so I could clean out the dark stain underneath most of it.

Afterwards, I walked round town in the dark. I decided it was a great place, and wanted to stay the night. I took some evening photos.

By a hot-water drinking spout, I met the seven guys again. They invited me to join them. They took me to one hot-spring and paid for my entrance fee. There was a young couple already in the pool. They quickly got out. I tried taking some snaps, but it wasn’t very good. I took one of the light shining through the trees, which turned out better.

They wanted a photo of the group, but my camera wouldn’t focus in the dark. I don’t often take photos like this, so it isn’t a limitation for me.

They drove me to their “bessho” - country home, or second home. I think it belonged to the company they worked for. I showed them some of the photos on the TV as we ate some curry. It was late, and I was very tired. I think I was first to bed. Well, Kyushu is still tops for hospitality (Hokkaido comes a close second.)

I hitched from Hikone to Arima in two stages. It was a pleasant journey. The gentleman going from Otsu was heading for Sanda, and had some time to spare, so drove me all the way to the centre of Arima.

I walked up to the public hot-spring baths and was SO surprised! There was just a hole in the ground! The building had been knocked down and I would have to wait until October before I could bathe there again. That was too long for me. I went back to the information centre, and was given a small map with directions to an alternative, and slightly more expensive bath. It was pleasant, but didn’t have the brown water, and didn’t have the super-hot bath (46-47°C) which was often impossible for me to enter, though I usually tried.

I wandered round town afterwards, but didn’t really make an effort to “capture the flavour” of the place. There was an interesting wood-work shop with lots of articles made of bamboo. I spent some time looking, then asked if I could take photos, but I wasn’t allowed. It’s a pity. It would have made my day.

Before I left, I bought some food at the convenience store. I then walked all the way back to the service station - for several hours. On the way, I was just checking where I was at some lights, when they changed. I started crossing, but a car peeped at me. Usually, the pedestrian has the right of way in Japan.

I again chose the Chugoku highway. I prefer it to the Sanyo. From the diaries, it looks like I travelled all night. I met someone who knew about PHP and Linux.

From the visitor’s book, I seem to have spent all day hitching. I met a Nike salesman who took me to Makinohara. My new Nike sandals seem to be doing very well. I haven’t had any problems with them, and the size 9 seems to be just right for me. The salesman told me that Adidas was an official sponsor for the World Cup football games coming up in Korea and Japan shortly.

In Ichinomiya, I stocked up on pot noodles. There’s hot water in all the service areas, so this is a very convenient way of living on the expressways without too much expense.

There are times when you just know you are at the right place at the right time. I was really glad I came here. It is a new shopping precinct, opened only three or four days before. I have the strange belief that “Life is meant to be” - all the waiting in service areas, the long walks, the choice of hitching over staying in Kakunodate, the hitch to Haneda airport - without any one of these, I wouldn’t have passed through Ebina, though I could never have known that was my destination at the time

I don’t usually photograph Japanese cities. There is usually no consistency from building to building, and the electricity tangle looks ugly. But this was different.

The whole place had a consistent theme - a rambling terrace, and everything fitted with that theme, but no two things were the same. It displayed excellence of thought and organisation from conception to final commissioning.. I could imagine it was a fun place to design and build. It was certainly fun looking for the interesting photographs.

The place began to fill up with people. Although it had a trendy, young-people atmosphere, it did not exclude older people, partly because it had SEATS (yes, deservedly in capitals - seats are rare in Japanese cities). I watched the young children run round the stage in front of the waterfall. I wondered if it was designed with that in mind, or was that just a pleasant by-product?

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I could have taken many more photos. I thought about taking pictures of the grills on the drains. They, too, were all different.

If there are any architectural contests, I would propose Ebina. I’m not sure such a project would work so effectively in other countries - I can imagine a defensiveness of thought in England, where there is so much vandalism. An architect has to be limited in thought and construction in England. Here is freedom with discipline, and its combination has created something of great beauty. I hope the people of Ebina appreciate what they have been given. I hope they look after it. I hope its concept spreads to other parts of the town, perhaps just in simple, inexpensive ways.

I’d like to come back here some day. If I’m stuck in Tokyo, this is where I come to hitch south from. I’ll probably call through during the summer session. But that is too early. No, I mean that I will make a point of coming here on another hitching trip in the future. I’d like to see how well it weathers, and how it changes.

So, I set off for the service area maybe just after lunch. I’m not sure how far I went today. (I’m writing this on 11th June in Gyeongju). I think I did some work in the cars.

I seem to have struggled with the hitchhiking today. I think I did some work at Sano. I eventually got a lift with a lady who was going into Tokyo. I decided to continue from Hasuda services.

I usually have a cup of the free tea at the service areas. I keep the same paper cup - I don’t need more than one, and sometimes there have been signs saying “One cup per person.” There was a short queue at the tea vending machine. A foreign lady, perhaps just flown in from the nearby Narita airport, was pressing the cup button - I think for about eight cups! It was quite amusing to watch. Let’s say, cups are about one yen each. That’s perhaps 800m of car highway fees. Or about eight hours with a computer plugged into an electricity supply.

I struggled at Hasuda, too. I didn’t wish to get stuck in Tokyo. Maybe I should put Yokohama on the sign. A bus driver signalled to me. He was going to Haneda, which is near Yokohama. I thought about turning him down, but really wanted to get to the other side of Tokyo. He was quite chatty.

So, I was dropped at the airport. I could have taken photos there, but I spotted some telephones with - guess what - Electricity Sockets! So, I sat down and did some work. I’ve now put a thumbnail into the diaries to link to the photos taken on that date. The diaries themselves, of course, are way behind - I’m still on the 4th April. I typed in my new song into the diary for yesterday.

I took the train to Yokohama, and wandered round a bit. At first, I thought I might stay there and take photos, but I wasn’t sure if it was the place I wanted to wake up in. So, I bought another ticket to Ebina.

I was a bit confused when I came out of the station last time I was here, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t go off in the wrong direction. I didn’t recall the shopping centre - how come I missed it last time? As I walked through, at around midnight, I had the feeling that this would be a nice place to wake up in. It would take another hour to get to the services, so why not spend the night here and take some photos tomorrow? I had to hunt for a spot further away, though, since there were guards in the mall.

Someone moved into the capsule below me at 6 or 6.30 or so. I wasn’t able to continue sleeping, so just got up and did some more computing. There’s no lack of work to be done. All the recent photos have to be sifted through to choose the ones I like for the albums. That’s not so difficult - it’s the same thought process as taking a photograph, checking for technical accuracy (correct things in focus), no distractions, and then impact. The chosen photos are reduced to size for the CDs and the web. A program detects my new photos and creates the MySQL code that I then use to create the new albums. The photos and albums are titled, and put in order. Then, I have to create the CD files - again, just another program. If I have time, I write some of the diaries, but I rarely have time. This diary is being written up on 3rd June!

I took some photos of the capsules just before I left, but they aren’t good enough for the web. It wasn’t really worth coming to a capsule hotel just to do my washing. I didn’t get much sleep, and perhaps the computer disturbed the other residents. It’s only the fourth time in six months where I have paid (well, in cash) for my accommodation. Perhaps I should have stayed in Kakunodate for the night - they might have offered to do my washing for me.

I set off. First stop, was a Daiei. I sat in an underground walkway to eat breakfast. Then, after consulting a map, I headed out of town. The words of “Sing me a song that’s me,” began to fall into place, and a tune seemed to come naturally. I had to stop every so now and then to scribble down another verse. It didn’t matter that nobody stopped on the 12 km walk to the expressway.

I stood for a while near a Family Mart, but still nobody stopped. I gave up, and started walking to the parking area. There were some remote-control go-carts whizzing round a track. It looked fun. I think I did some more work as I walked between the rice fields. They’re under water, but haven’t yet been planted.

It was just getting late by the time I reached the parking area. “Is this the way in?” I enquired. The gentleman who seemed to work there said there might be an entrance further up. I had just walked six hours to get here, and the reception seemed a little cool.

I got a lift down to the Sano service area, where I managed to do some diary work and make some more CDs. I didn’t get a lift, though. In the end, I had to find a place to hide for the night.