Chapter 6 - Shinkansen / Bullet Train

Date: 29 and 30 September 2019

Out:
Nozomi 124 Osaka bound for Tokyo
2.5 hrs
Model: N700

In:
Nozomi 23 Tokyo bound for Hakata (our station was Osaka)
2.5 hrs
Model: N700

Why:
To attend Australia v Wales at Tokyo Stadium (3rd match in Tokyo; 4th match total)

What a nose!

16 carriages per train

Condition of train: dusty on the outside (not as shiny as at the musuem!), 100% cleaner than any British train I have been on inside (helped by people like me who take my rubbish off the train; not helped by people like Paul who leave their rubbish on the train - his excuse was there are hardly any bins in Japan so why should he carry his trash.... Yes, it pissed me off too).

The journey was smooth and swift given it was a distance of 497km if driven (6 hrs plus). I guess that means the train was traveling at close to 200km/h... I couldn't see any kilometer markers to calculate the speed myself!

I also, surprise surprise, could not see Mt Fuji. Wherever she was, she was covered by cloud even though I could see her neighbouring mountains.

Cool thing about the Shinksansen train seating is that the seats turn 180' so that they can be flipped to face the direction of travel or to create areas where you can sit facing your fellow travellers. That is simple, yet effective! And I am starting to expect no less from Japan on such things....

Spinning seats!

A photo I took of a photo of the Shinkansen passing Mt Fuji, as I had a feeling visibility would be low IRL (in real life)

This return journey, booked less that 48 hrs in advance, cost the equivalent of £217. Each! There are discounts that apply to early booking but we could not book too far in advance because our itinerary wasn't firmed up. Also, foreigners can purchase a rail pass but this was something we didn't think necessary as we have the campervan.
Turns out, we could have taken two similar Shinksansen journies for the cost of a rail pass. Hindsight.

Other than my general excitement for the bullet train, it was a fairly standard train journey with snoring commuters, squealing babies and an expensive food trolley. The only difference to UK trains?
It ran completely on time and the trains were spotlessly clean.

Take away thoughts: not enough space for luggage storage on board.
Without the trip to the Maglev musuem last week the entire journey would only have been half as exciting!

In between, we headed to Tokyo Stadium for Australia v Wales. Did not support Wales. Could not support Australia. So I supported myself to a few Heineken tinnies and 10 Post-Match McNuggets. In between I told Aussie fans how I liked their yellow jerseys (just so I could get into an argument with them over whether or not the colour is gold 😂) and I just refrained from speaking to the Welsh generally. It was quite nice to come across a few of my people (those in England shirts) although when I approached to say 'do you mind I wish to stand with my people' the two middle age English men probably looked at me and thought that I was crazy.
I forget I am not white sometimes, more than I forget I am not male!

I wore my England flag like a sari, some would say....ironically.

Photo credit: Paul

Straya v Welshers

Stayed the night in a capsule hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, as we had left the van in Osaka! I will post a blog on Capsule Hotel living. I approve of this type of accommodation! #notSingaporeStandard #butIcandeal

Post blog update for those in the power generation and power distribution business:

The Shinkansen sources its power from its own power generation systems and substations, meaning it does not rely on the equivalent of a 'national grid' to keep its trains running on time. Imagine if Southern Rail had to run its own power generation to operate its trains!

Chapter 5 - England v USA

Thursday 26 September 2019

I was convinced that if I created a Twitter account for this rugby trip and made myself available in Kobe on the day of England's match against USA, then it would result in finding ticket(s) to the match last minute. Convinced! I had to start tweeting, and hashtagging (yawn) and I worked hard at convincing Paul that our itinerary must include Kobe on this day.

And I was bloody right!

The day before a guy (actually called 'Guy', thanks Guy!) reached out to me on Twitter to say he had a spare ticket because he had seen this tweet:

Did I want it? Did I heck! I almost replied yes straight away until I remembered one tiny teeny thing called my Rugby Trip Travel Buddy... Paul! (My spirit is so used to being solo, it is hard to remember others like travel companions on occasions like these.... Note to self: I must try to remember not to drive off in the campervan without him. As tempting as that is....)

So I sat on it overnight, mulling it over (he was fine for me to go, he would go watch the match in a pub) and then what happened next was just a spot of fate!

A colleague (thanks Natasha L!) messaged in the morning to say she had a spare, and cost free, ticket donated by someone she had met during breakfast in Kyoto. Did I want it?!

Guy's spare ticket - Kobe Stadium pack, similar to my Tokyo Stadium pack meaning I attend all matches at Tokyo Stadium during the pool stage.

We ended up with two tickets, seated separately, but for £90 total!
That would NEVER happen at Twickenham.

What also wouldn't happen at Twickenham?

This:

Red Rose crown handmade by Thandar at Orsted!

This is England warming up right in front of my face! At Twickenham, a person like me (as in with no connections to a rugby club.. ) wouldn't be allowed so far down next to the pitch!
But Kobe Stadium has a capacity of 30,000 compared to 80,000 so I suppose it is not a mad stretch to allow fans to be so close to the pitch. I did get photographed and filmed a few times waving my England Rugby flag with the Japanese ladies standing next to me! (I converted more people to support England as their second team, you're welcome England Rugby).....

The match was hot, very hot. The roof was closed, I was very uncomfortable with my crown of roses and jeans, but hot is the head that wears the crown so the saying goes (!)

Anthems - the Star Spanky Banner sounded pretty good, admittedly.

It was a fun match, with a fun English crowd sitting around me. There were many tries, including one annoying one by USA.
I am not here to review the match, you all know what happened (spoiler alert: England won), but I do worry about their performance. Are England just in low-gear mode against two low-risk teams (Tonga and USA), and will they kick it up a gear for Argentina this Saturday? I don't know, but I will be watching as I will back at Tokyo Stadium for that one.

I do get a bit embarrassed by the English crowd though! After being around the Japanese, the British drinking and yobbo-ing feels cringe. I was stone cold sober though that evening.

That said, it was two Americans who stripped off to their American flag underpants and were looking for an opportunity to climb onto the pitch. Also, I hadn't seen such a large police presence in the stadium at Japan v Russia and France v Argentina!

I drove us back to the campsite after the match, and the sat nav crapped out in a tunnel so a 12 min drive turned into 35 mins. I was not pleased! Then I had to sleep up in the hot stuffy campervan penthouse, argh. However, there were other England supporters camping too (I wish I had known so we could have carpooled!) so it was nice to mingle in the dark, amid the mozzies and wild animals!

I went to the loo at 1am and set off the disabled toilet assistance alarm! (I thought the green button was 'flush' 😂).

The next morning I went to a park near to the campsite and found this huge slide! So I had to go down it. Then I had lunch by a pond before we left for Osaka, which was about an hour away. We stayed in a Capsule Hotel! I will share my review of capsule hotels in due course, but it is safe to say it is a thousand times more comfortable than camping!

I do wish I could like campervan camping but it just simply stresses me out. I feel quite safe, I am not worried about the dark or the elements. No offence to Paul, but I think I could genuinely handle it better if I was on my own. Then all my belongings would have a place, everything would be handled how I like it in a cramped space and I could keep my OCD triggers under control!

Divya + Campground x England Match ÷ Japan

=

Lots of new things!

Chapter 4 - Hiroshima

We spent two nights in Hiroshima, which is such a welcoming city with cool streets and pretty views. Had Okonomiyaki (Hiroshima's version of soul food, which was ok but not on par with a Katsu curry!) and watched rugby at a Molly Malone's (obv). We spent a sobering afternoon at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, followed by a visit to Hiroshima Castle.

Hiroshima's tram system is very cute

Hiroshima Highlights:

1) The Peace Memorial Museum and Peace Park

On 6 August 1945 at 8.15am, the US Army Air Force dropped an atomic bomb targeted for the port town of Hiroshima. The 'A-Bomb' detonated 600m above the ground in the centre of the town, blasting, burning and radiating 66,000 people, most of which were civilians, with its Uranium-235 fission reaction. It generated a blast yield equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT. I remember these stats because the museum repeats them as it tells the story of this awful event.

Sadly, it also has to show how history repeated itself because days later, a larger A-Bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The museum also highlights ongoing nuclear proliferation in the decades since, and has a peace clock, which is reset everytime a nuclear weapon is tested. It was reset only in February this year following a US nuclear test. My take away is, if climate change ain't gonna get us first, then nuclear war will!

The Hiroshima Peace Park surrounding the museum contains many monuments to bring peace to the families affected by losing loved ones due to the A-Bomb, many of whom died years later from cancer relating to radiation exposure.

Children's Peace Monument

Flame that will stay lit until the last nuclear weapon is disarmed

Bell of Peace

Before and after of the A Bomb Dome, left standing as a reminder of the devastation that hit the town in 1945.

2) The Hiroshima Castle

This castle is a replica of the real thing as the original was destroyed by the aforementioned A-Bomb, which was dropped by the USA, in 1945. It has a cute museum inside including Sumurai swords and battle gear. Views from the top of Hiroshima were particularly lovely (at sunset, timed perfectly by yours truly).

3) Okonomiyaki

Cooked on hot a sheet in front of you, Okonomiyaki must be something born out of a mish mash of leftovers like bubble n squeak! It is pancake, beansprouts, meaty or fishy fillings, noodles, egg, cheese, sticky tangy sauce, mayo. It is quite messy to eat, interesting yet at the same time not very tasty. I put on salt and chilli, and ate with pickled ginger, and only then did it taste of something! I am not in a hurry to eat it again.... These photos are from one of Hiroshima's top rated Okonomiyaki restaurant, Hasset. Great ambience, lovely service and we tagged our visit on their wall with marker pen!

PS: The cheese is optional on the menu, but non-optional to me! I had a bacon Okonomiyaki with fresh spring onions on top.

4) Rugby watching at Molly Malone's

Good international and local crowd for Russia v Tonga. The fish n chips was perfect because the chips were essentially long, thick, crisp roast potatoes.

5) Grand Prince Hotel on the peninsula

Although not centrally located, the hotel was good enough for us as we drove straight to it. It was simple enough to use public transport in Hiroshima to get about. The hotel had a touch of much-missed luxury (basically, a shower and a bed) that I was deeply in need of after the first two nights spent in the campervan.

Yes, this is more like the nice smelling hotel lobby I am used to! #singaporestandard

View from my room

DiStar Consumption Index:

Japanese food: decent amount including a very nice tempura prawn ramen bowl
Gin 'n' tonics: 2
Sake: Yes

Chapter 3 - Camper Van

Today we left Tokyo to head to Narita to pick up our campervan!
It is a Mazda Bongo, with pop up roof, V6. It is pretty old but that means we don't have to worry too much about any whoopsie daisy dents and scratches affecting out deposit....

Introducing the Rambling Rose II

(The first Rambling Rose toured New Zealand with Paul and his brother during the RWC2011)

The roads are very similar to the UK. We did a crash course (no pun intended) on the Japanese Highway Code as we picked up the van. Essentially it is stop at a 'Stop' sign and stop before driving over a railway crossing even if the barrier is up. Oh, and our van is 2.3m high. That has been very important to remember! I feel less aggression from drivers here in Japan compared to the UK. However, I am still susceptible to a tad of road rage here in Japan, evidently!

Squiggly road sings on the highway 
We have terms for them like 'inverse cross stitch exit on the left'

The Tokyo Tower.
 Tokyo's answer to the Eiffel Tower 😂
We tried to visit on the day we landed but were a little uninspired the closer we got walking to it, so we found a pub instead

The Rambling Rose II drives pretty fiercely but my favourite part is the green and yellow stickers on her bumpers which means we are *new* drivers! It is similar to when those who have passed their test in the UK put 'P' plates on their vehicle.

She comes equipped with two beds (sort of) and bedding, camping equipment including a mini portable gas hob and camping chairs. I am told this is all standard stuff but how would I know?
I have never ever camped in my life!

I don't love campervan life so far, but it is tolerable for now.  Soon I will be staying in a hotel after two nights of parking roadside and 'camping'.
The upshot is saving *some* money by using the campervan for accommodation. It has only been two nights so far. Maybe by the next time I post, Paul will be dropping me off at a hotel while he goes camp!

The first night was quite a challenge. We had to get from Narita to the Mt Fuji area.  It was a distance of 200kms and 3.5hrs drive. Naturally, Typhoon Tapah was doing her thing, ramping up her forceful winds and cold lashings of rain across Japan. So we got caught up in that, and by 5.30pm it was so dark on the roads and Mt Fuji was naturally, hiding behind clouds. We were anxious to find a pub to watch England's first match in the tournament against Tonga (which spoiler alert: they won, but not very convincingly if anyone, such as Eddie Jones perhaps, was to ask me for my opinion. Must try harder England, grade: B-).

We ended up in a cute Sports Bar (above photo), with lots of NBA basketball memoribilia on the walls called Boomers. After the match, we headed to a Parking Area to sleep for the night. To put a Parking Area into perspective, it is a bit like a service station on the M1. Minus the petrol station, but definitely with the massive articulated lorries coming in to wind down for the night. There are toilets (some better than others) and usually a shop or restaurant. It was raining so hard when we arrived that I almost tricked my mind into it being an out of body experience, where I could convince myself it wasn't happening. Shudder.

But I sorted my gear out, made my little basket of supplies to take up to the penthouse, aka the roof box, and eventually buckled down into my new sleeping area. I was just dozing off, and a large artic lorry carrying parked up across from us. It proceeded to run it's engine (or secondary power) to keep the air con on, all-night. It was really loud and annoying because it wasn't like the drone of a plane engine, which is consistent. This thing kept revving up and revving down. And of course, everytime Paul even so much a breathed from his bed below the entire van shook. I genuinely could have been on a plane passing through turbulence dozing off in biz class minus the luxury, minus the booze, minus any sense of calm. Argh. But I slept, woke up feeling similar to jet lagged.

Then for our second day in the van, we drove south during a morning of rain and high winds until we passed the city of Nagoya, where blue skies and sunshine were visible. Hurrah!

There is a port with not-so-small boats visible. Paul said 'wow look at that big boat', I glanced at it (I was driving) and answered 'it is not that big, it is one of the small car carrier ships, maybe carries 4,000 cars only'!
#RoRo
Then we saw larger ones around the corner. That central area of Japan is home to a lot of car manufacturing, not least of all Toyota. For which, there is also a town called Toyota! Wonder what came first....

We stopped at a museum all about Japan's... Wait for it, Bullet Trains!!
The SCMAGLEV & Railway Park houses the history of the Shinksansen, the bullet train's official operating name. We saw some cool Platypus looking train sections!

This beauty MLX01-01 reached a speed of 581km/h on magnetic tracks! Meaning, the train levitates over the track, crazy cool. The lack of friction compared to regular trains allows for such high speeds. 

Following a 4hr, 350km drive, we camped down roadside to a lake close to Kyoto for an early night (Paul cooked salmon, rice and veg, I did the dishes, my OCD hit the roof...) as the following day included a 5hr drive to Hiroshima.

 Lake side camping views (hard to appreciate when camping stresses me out!) - Lake Otsu

                       Back of the van cooking

Post blog note: a fun way to pass the time driving through many many many tunnels between mountain ranges is for the driver to observe the tunnel length, and the passenger to guess the tunnel length. We also play 'tunnel length bingo' where we cross off tunnel lengths on a piece of paper when we come across them! When we get a line, we eat sweets :)
The tunnel lengths range from 97m to 3,200m!
And, likely, explains the very steep price we are paying in toll fares. I won't tell you how much they cost just yet because you may lose enthusiasm for Japan - like we are, after one week of driving!
#shouldatakenthetrain

DiStar Consumption Index:

Japanese food: zero. Unless soy sauce drizzled over salmon and rice cooked on a camp stove counts?

Chapter 2 - Opening Match

Safe to say, Japan's committment to hosting an event that celebrates their love of rugby and their culture is deep.
And, yes do they love rugby here!

The journey to the stadium was akin to trekking thru London (Tokyo) to Waterloo (Shinjuku) to catch the train to Richmond (Chofu), from where there is a 20 minute walk to Twickenham (Tobitakyu St). Meaning, it took a while! But the journey was full of Japan supporters in their red and white Blossom jersey, and many of them ready to engage and chat about the upcoming fixture plus, give us directions.

My favourite ice-breaker was to cheekily ask 'who are you supporting?' to which they would laugh and say 'Japan, of course!'. Then I would ask who is your second team to support, and the reply would often be 'England, Eddie Jones', which is when I would whip out my photo of me with Eddie Jones*. One guy, dressed as a Samurai warrior (obviously) even took a photo of that photo whilst I held my mobile phone. I featured in a lot of photos with Japanese fans who wanted a photo with an England fan dressed up in Roses / Eddie Jones' best mate!

*Eddie Jones is the England coach. Prior to that he coached the Japan rugby team so they have a lot of respect for him.

Eddie Jones, head coach, and John Mitchell, defence coach 

(Photo taken in June 2019, London. 

Photo credit: Chia!)

The stadium has a capacity of 50,000 and 45,500 were in attendance for the opening match. A lot of seats are given up for press boxes which is a shame as that could have allowed for a few thousand more fans to enjoy the match. Otherwise, all seats were occupied in a sea of red and white, and some tiny teeny patches of blue from Russian fans.

We popped into the Spectator zone adjacent to the stadium, where sponsors had set up stands for fan interaction activities and a live brass band was performing. Then we saw the Japanese acrobatic air force team (Blue Impulse) perform an aerial show, which included the shaping of the five Olympic Rings. They are really excited about Tokyo 2020 here!

We headed into the stadium and to our seats. Our row was the penultimate row at the top of the stadium but it was still an incredible view of the playing field. We greeted our seat mates (by bowing gently!) and got chatting, eventually learning Japanese for 'heave' and 'go, go, go'.

The Opening Ceremony was cute ('kawaii!') with the kids rendition of 'World In Union' mesmerising.

Then the match began!

We were completely Team Japan, it was hard not to be given the fanbase around us. Things I noted:
- the Opening Ceremony drums, wow
- My man Richie McCaw, hard to miss (former All Blacks player, and that is an understatement of his talent)
- How gratious Japanese fans are to players as they walk off the field during substitution, applauding for even the opposing team.
- The 'Gong' to signal half time or full time
- 'Taiko Cam' during half time where the camera forces spectators to pretend play Taiko drums on screen, very funny
- How the Japanese and Russian players did a lap of the field at the end of the match. The Russian players bowed, the Japanese fans bowed back, it was a lot of bowing!

Not so good things from a project management / event coordinator point of view:

- Crazy long food queues (update: RWC officials have now stated that food for personal consumption can be brought into the stadiums)
- Lack of rubbish bins around the stadiums meaning empty tinnies and food waste was collecting (albeit neatly) in pockets on the streets. Which is understandable given that a tinny outside the stadium was Y300 and a pint inside the stadium was Y1,000.
- The 'Waterloo' Shinjuku train station should have shown platform info in English
- Poor egress information at the time of departure, with my belief that information should have been available in English to reach out to wider audience (over a tannoy)

I know I am in Japan but it is world event with apparently 400,000 visitors to Japan.  English would reach out to majority of overseas visitors. And don't forget, they have the Olympics coming up too when Tokyo will be even more congested so visitors will rely on clear information even more so for this event.

However, we had the benefit of experience the second day when we travelled back to Tokyo Stadium for France v Argentina. It was a good match, lots of French fans showing their passion but I wanted Argentina to win.

France v Argentina national anthems 

We rounded off our first match with a visit to Golden Gai in Shinjuku, which is a small area with over 200 bars within small alleys. Very cute, lots of energy, quite pricey. Lots of cool people to chat to, mostly about rugby including a Japanese law professor who was so drunk I wouldn't have been surprised if he was the guy napping on the pavement, with his head on a rucksack, two hours later at a traffic light. Apparently, that is normal in Tokyo! We ate Katsu curry after the second match, that was a quiet evening, but we did pop into the Fan Zone at Chofu to watch New Zealand v South Africa on the big screens. Fan zones are weird, lots of rules about where you can or cannot stand. But it is easy to sneak in a tinny and snacks!

Busy street in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and an alley in Golden Gai 

Half time match analysis at the fan zone, presented by professional Japanese rugby players

Katsu Curry

DiStar Consumption Index (DCI) for two days of eating:

Fried Chicken Pieces (Kari-age): 16
Of which, were McNuggets: 10
Fries: 1 portion
Japanese food: 1 portion (Katsu Curry, technically a 17th piece of fried chicken)