Since moving back to Europe in 2013, we have spent every Christmas in Finland. Christmas was very important to my mother so visiting Finland was an easy way to keep her happy. After her passing I felt that I wanted to spend the holiday season anywhere else but in Finland, so my wife and I booked flights to Japan.
My in laws live in a place called Fujimino, so a common question I get is: “can you really see Fuji-mountain from there?”
Every time I visit Japan I notice again how much I love that country (disclaimer: as long as I don't have to actually work and commute there). One contributing factor to the on-going love affair is the onsen. It is hard to imagine a better stress relief than sitting in a hot spring bath with a towel on your head, while snow is gently covering the surroundings in a white blanket. Lucky me: I got to experience Japan’s substitute for sauna multiple times again as we made a family trip to Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture. I loved it! When it comes to hot springs, Kusatsu is legendary. It was considered Japan’s best spa already during the Edo Period (1603–1868). Beautiful scenery, hot baths, good food, and the place even smells like home (to be specific, like my man cave). I enjoyed the bathing so much that I'm sure I was a snow monkey in my previous life.
The view gets even better at the sunset.
My wife did a huge job bringing Finnish Christmas to Japan. We brought some bread and ingredients with us, and she spent a whole day preparing various dishes. The end result was impressive! She conjured all the essentials from rice porridge and mixed fruit soup to rosolli, casseroles, salmon, pastries etc. Even the ham (sourced from Japan) tasted like the real deal; the only thing that was missing was my favourite mustard which I forgot home. Everyone politely pretended like they appreciated the Finnish food while I was actually enjoying it. We had the fundamentals of Japanese Christmas cuisine as well (fried chicken and a cake), so all in all it was a very nice family Christmas.
As usual, I did a lot of walking around the city with my camera. It’s interesting to just wander around and make observations. Some things keep changing, some remain always the same. Some changes are positive (like the super fast immigration at Narita Airport), some changes are tragic (the closure of my favourite doughnut shop). Some things that should change unfortunately don't (excessive use of plastics everywhere). In the end of the day, the best thing about our visits to Japan is meeting family and friends, and doing ごろごろ without a hurry anywhere. I hope that those things never change.
This time it was really hard to return back to Finland.
I could complete my own “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” quite easily.
Welcome to Kusatsu! This is the famous Yubatake, hot water field.
Sainokawara Kōen.
I ate so much yummy food in Japan! This rāmen bowl was enjoyed in Kusatsu.
Kusatsu Yubatake at night.
Yumomi (湯もみ) is a centuries old way to lower the temperature of geothermally heated hot spring water. The idea is to cool the water to bathing temperature without mixing it with cold water and thus weakening its special abilities.
I visited Kusatsu Tropical Wonderland to meet some of my family.
Motherly love.
The local Christmas tree was pretty.
Kojenji temple.
Finnish designers are famous for their glass art...
…and I think that I’m ready to join their ranks! Finnish art, designed and made in Japan.
Back in Tokyo. I realized I always repeat the same patterns and visit the same places. Repeating always the same doesn’t necessarily make one a good photographer.
CoCo Ichibanya is one of the places I’m required to visit every time in Japan. It’s not the best curry I’ve ever had, but CoCo Ichi are a steady performer and they never disappoint.
At Kumano shrine. With correct camera angle you can create a peaceful, tranquil feeling while actually being surrounded by hordes of loud tourists.
Mister Donut is another one of my Japan favourites. It’s nice to take a break, coffee and donuts, while strolling around the big city.
I had finally decided to replace my old trustworthy camera backpack with a new one. That poor thing ended up in the trash bin after visiting at least 30 different countries with me. In this picture I’m probably heading towards Bic Camera in Yurakucho. After some serious research, I ended up with a genuine Japanese camera bag “designed specifically for Japanese back shape”. Somehow it fits me too, go figure.
One of the entrances to the East Gardens.
Moats of the Imperial Palace.
There’s probably hundreds of toy stores in Akiba.
I love Akihabara. I absolutely hate shopping, but gadgets are an exception. Somehow I get pleasure from browsing through electronics stores.
This is a Japanese Christmas cake. We also ate Christmas Fried Chicken (that happens to be a thing in Japan). There’s some Finnish Christmas pastries (à la my wife) and chocolate on the background.
Crossroads in Ikebukuro.
I pretended to be curious about the new overpriced Nikon Z series cameras so that I could enjoy the view from Nikon Showroom in Shinjuku.
Tokyo skyline.
This is how Japanese suburbs look like. Kamifukuoka in the front, Kawagoe further back.
Part of my “36 Views of Mount Fuji“.
36++.
Best drink of the trip. Absolutely delicious! I had to investigate further, and turns out that there’s a documentary called The Birth of Saké about making this very same saké. It’s a lovely piece of cinema (available e.g. on Netflix), please watch it, it’s highly recommended! I had just no idea how much work actually goes into brewing saké the traditional way. Now I appreciate it even more. Unfortunately Tedorigawa saké is not available in Finland.
I like sushi and I love good sushi. It’s just the squid and the octopus I struggle with.
My father in law took us to eat sukiyaki in a really nice place. Superb meat and a stellar view.
Kōshū Kaidō. The tower on the background is Skytree.
City at night. This view is from Shinjuku Park Tower towards North (away from Tokyo), over Saitama. On a clear day you could see the city continue all the way over 70km until the mountains. It’s a big town. The blue twin tower on right is the Tokyo city hall.
Old traditional warehouses in Kawagoe.
Kawagoe Bell Tower.
Fuji-san once more on the last night. If only the clouds could have gone away. Anyway, arigatō gozaimashita!