Ton van
Zutphen and Biya Han taking a short trip to Kyushu Island in Japan / Olle Trail
walking end of December 2018
A cold
Christmas night hung over Seoul, and where we live in the Bulgwang area, temperatures
dropped to below 14 degrees C. But the
morning was sunny as we took the subway to Incheon / Seoul airport. From there it was an
80 minutes flight to Fukuoka, the largest city on the island of Kyushu. We flew
JinAir, a low-cost subsidiary of the national carrier Korean Air (and to be pronounced as gin-air / haha / no
booze on board though!).
During this 5
day trip two things became clear to me: systems in Japan function and the
Japanese continue to work their buds off. We mostly used public transport: train, bus, taxi: all
running on time through an excellent network with dense frequencies. We bought
a 5 day rail pass with JR (Japan Railways) that makes long distance travel
cheap and we used their famous, fast and comfortable ‘bullet-trains’. Then the Japanese we spoke
with were always doing something / busybodies = working. In Europe one sees a lot of people simply
sitting on benches or hanging around, window-shopping, or in the Netherlands my
country…cycling about. I did not get the impression from the Japanese they even
have time for that. We arrived on Xmas day in the afternoon and travelled for
over 3 hours to the tiny Tabira Hirado Gucci station, and in fact saw hardly any people
around. They must have been working….as it was not a public holiday. We still
cannot figure out why we saw so few Japanese during our trip, although there are
13 million of them on the island of Kyushu alone; roughly 10% of the total
country population. We arrived in the pitch darkness at this small railway
station and just missed the last bus. So when walking to the town of Hirado I saw
some kind of an office still lit at 8pm. It turned out to be Mr. Ju-i-Chiro’s
private school: he considered it normal
to work whenever needed. Very surprised to see a Dutchman (Biya waited outside)
he bowed politely and in broken English said…’wait I will see how you can get
to the hotel’. Finally he managed to talk to the hotel desk and 20 minutes
later a small bus arrived to take us to the resort. When Biya entered the
school and spoke Japanese and mentioned she is also a principal of a school in
Seoul he was positively surprised and impressed. As we left, Mr. Ju-i-Chiro then continued
tutoring young adolescents in his private school. Not easy to be a teacher, nor
a pupil/student in this country…about the same situation in S. Korea where work
and education come first…and promotions are few and slow and working members of
the family can spend up to 14 hours a day away from home…so… family life suffers
big time.
There is the 2018
World Happiness Report as some kind of (dubious I find) indicator for the well-being of people in
over 150 countries. The ranking is based on: income, healthy life expectancy,
social support, freedom, perception of corruption and generosity. Data were
collected from real people. Therefore no Fake News!! The Netherlands ranks #6 whereas Japan ranks
#54 and S. Korea #57. Somewhat surprising as both countries are affluent and
member of the G20 group. But their hard working people and competitive students with their forever paying
parents do not judge themselves happy. Working
hours may have something to do with it? I guesstimate that in the NL 70% of the
working population (male-female combined) clocks up less than 30 hours a week. In Japan and S. Korea I
assume that 80% of their working population clocks up 55 hours or more on a
weekly basis…and then have few holidays on top of that!
Room for
Yellow Vests / Gillets Jaunes / Gele Hesjes? I expect, that because of the high
internal discipline of its populations, this sudden populist demonstration of
enough = enough against the politicians
and business tycoons-managers (many of these overpaid in my opinion) is not
going to happen in Japan or in S. Korea.
Interestingly, the Netherlands now sees on a weekly basis tiny demonstrations
of the Yellow Vests movement. Some interesting scores of this Happiness Index
are Israel #11, Costa Rica #13 and Mexico #24…Winners of the year are Finland,
Norway and Sweden…all in my opinion countries where people smile relatively
little, the climate is not conducive to drink beer and these places have come
across to me through many visits, as generally no fun countries to live in. Certainly
these countries are low on my personal happiness scale.
My top
ranking includes: Austria, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Philippines to name
a few where I as a Dutchman (pensionado) could see myself very happy to live in. And my
personal happiness indicators are based on: - can I give love and receive love?
– I have all I need in life to live and no big new wants! - I have my government, family and friends to
support me – I trust in God – I have freedom of participation and decision
making – I am still in good health….to name a few crucial indicators.
I was quite
surprised to find out that Japan is not that expensive anymore…25 years of
limited economic growth allowed only for
the maintenance of infrastructure with people getting the same paycheck year
after year. Prices of food, transport and leisure activities are now similar to those in Korea. Therefore
comparable to the Netherlands (except for house prices which are more than double
to those in my country). Interestingly on Kyushu Island I saw few signs of big
investments; hardly any new buildings, or better, no large construction sites. No signs of opulence, no Porsches, few Benzes; the usual Japanese brands with a
flavor for small electric vehicles by Daihatsu, Suzuki, Mazda and Honda…I call
them box-cars or cube-cars…already seen in Eindhoven, and coming to Europe soon in big numbers I guess!!
The above left to right are Suzuki and Honda 2018 model 'box-cars'..quite spacious actually. Please note the small sized tyres
So this trip was scheduled again as a walking trip. Kyushu Island has a Mediterranean climate and with temperatures in Seoul reaching minus 15 at night, the sun and breeze with a walking temperature of around 12 degrees was a welcome change in the weather.
Two sites are
relevant with precise information:
The Olle trails
concept was initiated by a lady Myung-Sook, a news reporter originally from
Jeju Island off Korea’s south coast. This concept has now been exported to
Bhutan and to Japan. Biya and I walked some 7 Jeju Olle trails in the past and
we planned to walk 3 modules on Kyushu Island.
Kyushu carries
some Dutch flavor from the past. The first traders from the European West were
the Portuguese but on 19th April 1600 a Dutch ship called ‘De
Liefde’ and chartered by Dutch businessmen made a successful but terrible trip
from the Netherlands to South America, rounded treacherous and dangerous Cape Horn and finally
reached Japan’s Kuroshima island…with only a few sailors left. As of 1605 a
trading post was established in the port of Hirado and the Dutch presence can
still be seen and felt because canals were dug, bridges built and the
foundations of the Dutch chief
representative’s residence can be viewed on the hill overlooking the port area.
An interesting museum shows the visitors some of the Dutch wealth and influence
in what we call our Golden Age (1600-1700)…on sale in the museum are: Haagse
hopjes (typical Dutch sweets) and
Indonesian Arak…and of course colourful plastic tulips! Hirado was in fact a
port already known by the Chinese and Indian seafarers from the 12th
century onward. It traded goods all over South East and South Asia. The Portuguese, Dutch and later the English
simply increased trade volumes (especially teas and silk) and founded trading
posts.
The Hirado Olle
trail starts right at the port / bus station and took us for about 15 kms.
through a pleasant walking environment of hills and mostly pine forests. Eye
contact with the sea is frequent and presents beautiful vistas. The last 2 kms.
passes the majestic and with emerald green plastered Jesuit Church founded by St.
Francis Xavier who brought Christianity to Japan. The Hirado area remains until
now the core of the Catholic community in Japan and attracts pilgrims from all
over the country. Only 1% of the Japanese are Roman Catholic.
Many statues of Dutch merchants line the streets in the center of this small and pleasant town; further dotted with boutiques, to buy clothes, bric a brac and the usual souvenirs, and small restaurants including a Mexican one called ‘Pancho‘.
Many statues of Dutch merchants line the streets in the center of this small and pleasant town; further dotted with boutiques, to buy clothes, bric a brac and the usual souvenirs, and small restaurants including a Mexican one called ‘Pancho‘.
We
overnighted in the Yukai ‘Dutch’ resort some 10 kms. from Hirado which offers a
modern and traditional blend of upmarket
facilities: 1. A large room with a tea corner, tatami-flooring and bedding, and
very comfortable 2. A more than complete buffet with Kyushu specialities like ever
new portions of freshly cut raw fish (the sea bream was excellent!), various
miso soups and noodles, vegetables fried, boiled, steamed, raw, the choice was endless,
and meats to grill on the table…WOW!! 3. The traditional ONSEN experience which
boils down to a hot water basin supplied with water of around 40 degrees C from
a natural source with bathing and grooming facilities / relax and enjoy you
tired traveller! This, including a copious breakfast for the two of us at a
price of 140 euros (excluding 2 excellent Suntory draft beers). Definitely
value for money.
Traveling
back to Fukuoka we checked in at the Wing International hotel close to Hakata
station rather late, and found ourselves in a small room with a bed the size of
a one person’s bed in the NL. Haha, that
is the real Japan: hotel rooms and their bathrooms can be very small in the
large cities. Nevertheless the service is always tops: staff is courteous and punctual.
The Japanese are extremely polite and respect the elderly young like Biya and
myself. The next day we met several staff from the Olle trails-project and we
walked part of trail #22 around Fukuoka and Shingu.
Anton, Mr. Yokoyama, Erika, Biya and Buyun
It was a walk to agree on the final trail parcours, and many people were involved from relevant government ministries and the Olle Jeju organization, including : Eun-ju from Seogwipo on Jeju Island, Miss Erika, Miss Buyun, Miss Aya, Miss Naomi, and others with Mr. Ikeda and Mr. Yokoyama the senior reps. of government, and of the Olle organization on Kyushu Island.
Eun-ju, Biya, Anton and Ms. Suzuki / with thanks for the pics.
We walked through fruit orchards, villages with houses/small farms that had the typical Japanese gardens dotted with Bonzai tree species, we ploughed through thick bamboo groves and talked a lot. Had traditional noodles soup and plenty of oysters / I reckon that the ten of us altogether ate more than 50 freshly grilled oysters.
It was a walk to agree on the final trail parcours, and many people were involved from relevant government ministries and the Olle Jeju organization, including : Eun-ju from Seogwipo on Jeju Island, Miss Erika, Miss Buyun, Miss Aya, Miss Naomi, and others with Mr. Ikeda and Mr. Yokoyama the senior reps. of government, and of the Olle organization on Kyushu Island.
We walked through fruit orchards, villages with houses/small farms that had the typical Japanese gardens dotted with Bonzai tree species, we ploughed through thick bamboo groves and talked a lot. Had traditional noodles soup and plenty of oysters / I reckon that the ten of us altogether ate more than 50 freshly grilled oysters.
Then we took
the train back to Fukuoka and sped off to Hizen Kashima on a JR bullet train,
with finally the bus to Ureshino town where we lodged again in a Yukai hotel
…same style, facilities, welcome, gorgeous food and this time we selected the
option to enjoy unlimited adult beverages
for 90 minutes at a price of 25 euros for the two of us during the meal.
Suntory beer is definitely the best beer in Japan (better to my taste than
Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo), and we had a couple of ‘pichets’ of excellent mild sake
(rice wine)..cold and warm. And obviously a hot bath = onsen; again in our comortable yukatas (dressing gowns)) before the meal. Japan can be a relaxing experience for
foreign travellers like us.
Final leg was
the Ureshino Olle trail the most beautiful one through the forests and rolling
tea plantations; during the day we felt that the cold from Korea had arrived
also here and it started to snow lightly. Simply pleasant, and this added a romantic flavor to our walking when
we performed our daily lunch ritual with making hot milk coffee or tea with
sweetbread and cookies / always on a nice
spot looking at God’s creation. Biya
always prepares the lunch and I carry it in my backpack: best labor division
possible!
We stayed one
night in the traditional Japanese ‘Kutabuki inn’ in Ureshino with the onsen / room
with tatami flooring/bedding, and separated bathing and grooming areas. In
Europe we have one area to do all: bath/shower/grooming/toilet. In this inn
there was a special place to take a hot bath in a shared basin (onsen); then a
separate grooming desk in the corridors, then a special area where the urinoirs
and toilets were, and no shower at all.
Hmmm…something to get used to when you are walking around in a yukata
with slippers all the time on and off, carrying your towel on your shoulders
and your keys in your hand.
A perfect
trip / all trails are easy and well marked / Anton-Biya couple had fun and long
loving talks; and admired the nature in
Japan…sea, forests, bamboo groves, tea plantations, villages, orchards; and we
appreciated the food and above all the politeness of the Japanese and their
willingness to always help. Obviously Biya speaking fluently Japanese was a
major asset and we felt at home abroad.
Tea plantation in the Ureshino area / famous for its mild, flavour-rich green teas.
Things to remember:
Things to remember:
1 In Japan one pays the bus or train
when one exits and not when one enters. There is a special system to calculate
the price which I felt would go beyond my intelligence to apprehend
2 I devoured the best ever tasted
kaki-fruit (persimmon in English or kam in Korean) , picked by myself straight from
a tree in the Shingu area
3 I saw my first ever automatic beer
draughting machine in operation: it produced
glasses of beer perfectly filled with ‘Suntory Lager’, sporting the correct foam
level.
Arigado
Japan! Hai hai!
Ton van Zutphen, 1st
January 2019
Biya and Anton in the EHWA University grounds in Seoul / November 2018 with the colourful maple trees
