Travelling. I have been back to Japan every year for the past seven years. The first year I took Stephen, who was my fianc. The second year I went back with him again when he became my husband.

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Travelling

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4601

Jun Minohara Goode


I have been back to Japan every year for the past seven years. The first year I took Stephen, who was my fiancé. The second year I went back with him again when he became my husband. The third year, when we travelled in Japan, I was pregnant. The following year, we visited Japan with our 10-month-old son, Ken. Since then, my husband, my son and I have become good travelling partners and every year we have wonderful holidays in Japan.

We always have a three week holiday and I always split them into three. My parents and friends live in Tokyo, so for the first few days in Japan we stay with my parents, then set off travelling for about 10 days, come back to Tokyo, enjoy shopping and going out with my friends for the rest of  our holidays.

Our main destinations are always the country side, where we really enjoy nature and the culture. The first two years, Stephen and I did long mountain walks in the Japanese Alps, carrying tents from peak to peak, at about 3000m level. We took our own food, yet, attracted by the cheerful atmosphere of mountain huts, we decided to have evening meals in the huts. In the canteens all the guests sat at the long tables laid in rows, like school. Stephen was always the only gaijin (Western foreigner) in the huts, so we were often a centre of attention and received many questions about ourselves and England. In return, we asked about current affairs in Japan and how they felt about these issues.

After a five day mountain walk, we stayed at a hot-spring inn at the foot of the mountain. It was the first experience for Stephen to have a public bath. I explained how he had to take a bath and said ‘Don’t use soap in the bathtub.’ and I pushed him in the direction of ‘for men’. When he came back, I asked how he was. He said, ‘It wasn’t difficult, I just did what others were doing: I put a towel on the top of my head while bathing. It is a good idea.’

I chose Yakushima island as my next destination, when I was four months pregnant. The island is famous for a special climate, where longevity Yaku Cedar trees have grown. The oldest among these is estimated at 7,200 years old and is alleged to be the oldest tree in the world. The island is also abundant with wild animals. The locals say, ‘20,000 people, 20,000 monkeys and 20,000 deer are living on the island.’  We put up a tent by the deserted seaside for one week. It was the middle of June, but the sea was warm enough to swim. I enjoyed swimming every day, while Stephen was exploring live corals and sea creatures.

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Two days later, we departed for the mountains to see the cedar trees. It was supposed to be a 12 hour walk, but took us two days. On the first day, we encountered many wild deer and monkeys, which were just meters away. When we saw monkey mothers cuddling their babies, our feelings were tickled. Stephen was more fascinated with toads, which we often came across our paths. ‘I’ve never seen such big toads, as big as a house brick’. Stephen said. He spent a lot of time and films to take their pictures, squatting like toads.  

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