Thursday, 1 November 2012
If you're going to visit Hakodate there are four items that fall close to automatically into the must do category. We'd managed three of them the day before, but if we wanted to fit in the fourth we were going to have to be up and about around sparrow fart, and the appropriate layering of clothing was going to be a major issue.
I'd nearly frozen on the way back from the alley full of eateries the night before and wasn't keen to repeat the experience.
We were off to the Morning Fish Markets, and I wasn't sure we were going to make it.
I've seen a fish market before, and, indeed, the Sydney version is something to behold, but in this case, on a crisp autumn morning since a picture is worthy a thousand words we might as well let the pictures do the talking. More here...
There are more than 360 stalls in the daily morning market (Hakodate Asaichi) near the railway station, and the action kicks off early. Actually there wasn’t that much actual action when we strolled through, since most customers have the sense to wait until things are set up before they arrive to make their selections.
So if you’re an early bird it’s a case of getting there at five in the morning (six in winter) but there’s really no hurry.
The markets, in an area covering four city blocks, operate through the morning, closing at noon, offer an incredible variety of cold water seafood, including crabs, salmon eggs,sea urchin freshly caught squid, scallops, Atka mackerel, and many other kinds of fresh fish and shellfish as well as fresh produce.
And you don’t have to cart your selection back to base to cook it. There are a multitude of restaurants and cafes in the area and plenty of stalls that will serve up a seafood breakfasts, such as uni-ikura domburi (seafood-topped rice bowl).
Apart from the famous Hokkaido crabs, Hakodate's signature fish is squid and the signature dish is shio rāmen, noodles prepared with squid stock instead of the pork version you’d be served elsewhere. Not Hughesy’s cup of tea, and neither is ika-meshi (rice-stuffed squid) but I’ll be back to gorge on shellfish and crab…
On the leg of the trip where being on time really mattered we were comfortably seated on the train a good quarter of an hour before departure. Not that I'm suggesting punctuality didn't matter on other stages, but if we were going to fit everything into the day's itinerary we had to be on the 8:08 Limited Express Super Hakucho and were going to be pretty smart about moving to the Shinkansen that was going to drop us at Sendai in time to head on a scenic sail around the bay at Matsushima.
We were on the left hand side of the train this time around, which meant another view across the water while we made our way towards the tunnel. The views across the bay were, once again, quite spectacular, though they'd lost some of the wow factor after the previous night's trip to the top of Mount Hakunodate.
There were the same false alarms we'd experienced on the northward journey the day before, but this time we were running on time and there was a helpful diagram and cheat sheet on the back of each seat in the carriage.
We were slightly behind the 8:56 on the back of the seat schedule when we hit the tunnel, passing the deepest point around 9:08 and the Tappi Undersea Station at 9:15, though it wasn't easy to tell which of the lights we passed were station and which belonged to a train passing in the opposite direction. My money was on a station to the left and a train to the right, but without a way of verifying the guess...
We were back on the surface pretty much on schedule at 9:21, though the tunnel factor continued to chip in as before, and the run into ShinAomori proved totally uneventful, although a lengthy stay at Aomori was followed by a change of direction for the train (nose in to Aomori, rear end leads the way back out to ShinAomori.
That would have left us sitting with our backs to the engine, but there's a facility that allows you to swing your seats through 180 degrees so you're facing the front again. Neat, eh?
We probably didn't need to do that, since it was only a matter of a couple of minutes before we were extricating ourselves from the carriage, onto a conveniently located elevator and headings towards the Shinkansen section, which was another floor above the intermediate level where we flashed our tickets and rail passes.
The train was ready and waiting, set to go, the baggage space at the rear of Carriage 2 conveniently empty, and once I'd shed the merino undergarment that had been a vital cog in the keep Hughesy warm arrangements over the previous couple of days it was time to settle back with the iPod shuffling through playlists and enjoy the bits of new territory I was able to glimpse between tunnels as we made our way towards Morioka, where we'd left the Tohoku Shinkansen line en route to Kakunodate four days earlier.
From there it was on to Sendai, where there wasn't a mad scramble to get from train to hotel to local line for the afternoon jaunt to Matsushima, but we moved at a pretty fair clip. It wasn't as if we needed to hurry, but there's a basic issue when you're not familiar with the actual lie of the actual land and lunch was waiting at the other end of the suburban rail,leg, so it made sense to get to the right station on the right line ASAP even if there wasn't any urgency involved.
Things would have been much easier if we'd paused and looked round the corner at the Lottery agency on the corner, as per the directions we'd been given at Reception when we checked in the luggage, but we didn't look, didn't find the handy subway entrance we emerged from on the return journey subsequently almost went via the cape.
Once we'd arrived at the appropriate station, Mitsushima Kaigan (Beach) as opposed to Mitsushima which sits on the JR Tohoku Main Line a ten minute walk away from where people visiting the scenic bay actually want to go, the first job was to find lunch.
We probably could have looked around for other options, but just along from the station there was a funky little place offering oyster burgers, which definitely seemed like the way to go. Mitsushima is, after all, a prime oyster producing area, as was obvious once we hit the water.
The oyster burger went down a treat, and I could easily have opted for another one, but there were places to go and sights that needed to be seen, so I had to be content with the prospect of a grilled oyster and a glass of white wine once we'd been out on the briny. I was intrigued, to say the least, by what variety of white wine a funky little operation like this one would be able to rustle up.
From there we set off in search of the cruise terminal, wandering through a park along the way, and arriving just in time to be hustled onto an earlier cruise, which turned out to be rather handy from a post-cruise perspective.
The bay and group of 260 pine-clad islands and islets half an hour outside Sendai known as Matsushima (Matsu = pines, shima = islands) is ranked as one of the Three Views of Japan alongside Miyajima and Amanohashidate.
There’s an apocryphal haiku often attributed to Matsuo Bashō that supposedly suggests the great poet was at a loss for words when he visited the place, stopping off on his way to or from the Deep North:
Matsushima ah!
A-ah, Matsushima, ah!
Matsushima, ah!
But he would surely have been able to come up with something better.
There are a number of companies operating cruises, most of them based at Matsushima Pier, a five minute walk (ten if you take your time) from Matsushima Kaigan Station with others operating from Shiogama Pier, a short walk from Hon-Shiogama Station, three stations ahead of Matsushima Kaigan on the JR Senseki Line.
We’d opted for the all-Matsushima experience, though if you’ve got tome on your hands it may pay to shop around. When you’ve got a couple of hours in the afternoon your choices are relatively limited. Of the hour on the water, there's not much that needs to be said, apart from invoking the one picture = a thousand words principle, noting that the water resembled a mill pond, the oyster beds were obvious and it was a very pleasant way to spend an hour. More pictures here...
Back on dry land, we were inclined to head to Godaido, a small temple hall on an islet right next door to the pier. It mightn't be the most historically significant or architecturally impressive temple going around, but the site does date back to 807 and it was founded by the same priest who founded nearby Zuiganji. The present structure on the site is a 1604 reconstruction paid for by local feudal lord Date Masamune, decorated by carvings of the twelve animals of the lunar calendar, three on each side and its prominent location means it has become one of the key symbols of Matsushima.
More impressive, although we didn't have time for a more exhaustive look is the nearby Zuiganji Temple, currently undergoing renovations. It'll stay that way until 2018 and although the grounds are open, the main hall will be closed until March 2016 though if you're visiting in the meantime they've opened during alternate buildings which aren't usually open to the public.
It would be natural to suspect the renovations are related in some way to the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami on 11 March 2011, but Matsushima escaped major damage thanks to its location inside the island dotted bay since the islands blunted the impact of the waves. Most tourist attractions, shops and hotels reopened within a few weeks or months of the earthquake but there was some structural damage and though the JR Senseki Line is open for business, after Matsushima Kaigan you can only go one stop further, so if you’re looking to get to Matsushima by train, you’re going to have to head through Sendai.
Originally founded in 828 by the Tendai Sect, Zuiganji became a Zen temple during the Kamakura Period (1192-1333) and was restored, after years of decline, by the same feudal lord (Date Masamune) who restored Godaido as his family temple in 1609 and today it's one of the region's most prominent Zen temples, known for its gilded and painted sliding doors (fusuma) which we didn't get to see, but there's every chance we'll be back some time.
As you enter the grounds, there’s a straight path flanked by cedar trees leading to the Main Hall, the Kuri (the Zen kitchen where meals were prepared in the past) and the Seiryuden, also known as Zuiganji Art Museum displaying some of the temple's treasures and artifacts of the Date Clan, but as you head inside there’s an interesting path that veers off to the right of the main avenue that takes you to a number of caves that were used in the past for meditation, and today contain moss-covered statues.
Madam had wandered in earlier with photographic intentions, before we headed to Godaido while Hughesy was putting his feet up and was struck by the long straight path that leads to the main hall, but it was what she sighted on a side path to the right of the main one that had her hauling Hughesy in for a gander on the way back to the station from Godaido.
As it turned out we didn't stop off for a grilled oyster and a glass of white on the way back to the station, though there would have been plenty of time. Madam wasn't keen, and I didn't insist, knowing we were meeting up with some of her old friends for dinner.
Arriving back in downtown Sendai we finished the check-in procedure, and hit the free Wi Fi until six, when we wandered back downstairs to rendezvous with a couple who we, I was told, wine lovers, although she was forced to refrain, having drawn (or possibly, in the light of subsequent events, chosen) the designated driver short straw.
A brief chat in the hotel lobby had us heading back through the main Sendai Station complex in search of a funky little yaki tori place that boasted a rather decent wine list. That, by the way, is an unusual combination. Yakitori usually gets washed down with beer or sake.
We started with beer before moving onto the red, and at that point I'm inclined to draw a discreet veil over proceedings, noting that the food was plentiful and quite excellent, and the vinous proceedings started with a very acceptable Barbera and concluded with an equally enjoyable Nebbiolo, though my liver would have preferred to have done without the Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet my learned colleague insisted on inserting between the two.
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