JetSetterJoe.com

I usually prefer my adventures motorized; however, an article about a historic hiking trail in this month’s japan-guide.com email newsletter caught my eye. Japan-guide.com is an excellent resource for anyone planning to visit Japan, whether it is for a short stay or for foreigners intending to move there for good.

In line with my philosophy of not being “just a tourist”, I’ve been looking for interesting things to do while in Japan. The cultural and language barriers sometimes make it difficult for Westerners to deal directly with Japanese companies. For many this would be perfect excuse to give up and just book an organized tour, but sites like japan-online.com can make it less daunting to travel independently. The site even has forums were one can ask burning questions about travel and living in Japan to Japanophiles from all over the world.

According to the site: “Hakone used to be an important checkpoint to control traffic along the Tokaido, the highway which linked Tokyo with Kyoto during the feudal Edo Period.” Anyone who has watched Samurai movies knows that these checkpoints served to control movement of the population and enforce the strict class system that existed during the Edo Period, which finally brought Japan together under one authority and ended centuries of civil war.

To be able to visit the reconstructed checkpoint and walk over some of the original stone pavement of the old Tokaido trail has to be an amazing experience (even if one is not much into hiking). I’ve referred in the past to the “sense of place” that comes with visiting historic sites. This is one of the reasons why we travel.

All this talk about feudal Japan brings to mind an excellent book I read a while back by famed author Peter Carey. “Wrong about Japan” tells the story of journey Mr. Carey took to Japan with his teenage son who is an avid Anime and Manga fan. During the journey they talked to many Amine masters to try to find the hidden meaning behind the fanciful stories of science fiction, adventure and magic.

Mr. Carey had visited Japan before but had focused mostly on temples and historical sites, which he considered the “real” Japan. Before this trip his son made him promise that he would not try to force him to experience the “real” Japan (although, the pair did go to what seemed an unending Kabuki performance). As the title implies, father and son discovered that they were both probably wrong about the “real” Japan and that defining what this means is harder than it seems.

Whenever I do go to Japan (soon, I hope), I want to experience both its historic past and its modern pop-culture filled side. As with any other country, you need a mix of both past and present to really understand who people are. To ignore one or the other would give us a distorted view of the culture.