04.27.05
Golden Week: Preperations
Golden Week is a time in Japan where three national holidays fall very close together. Green Day is on April 29. It commemorates the birthday of the former emperor. Constitution Day is on May 3, and is self explanatory. Children’s Day on May 5 celebrates the vigor of youth and counterbalances Respect for the Aged Day in September. Usually May 4 is considered an unofficial holiday known as the rest-day between holidays. Many people get at least those three off, but almost everyone not in a service industry (such as hotels and restaurants) receives the entire time off from April 29 through May 5. It’s become known as Golden Week.
Everyone who gets off during Golden Week travels somewhere, usually to their home town. Tokyo is said to become a ghost town. I have no school on Fridays, so in theory, I get the period from April 29 to May 8 off. Perfect for sightseeing. If only the rest of Japan weren’t traveling too…
You should make plans for Golden Week as soon as possible, at least a month in advance. As usual, I let things distract and delay me. Only when I was reminded that I would have to have my permission-for-absence slip signed by Ms. Somekawa, who was leaving at 5 p.m. April 28, did true urgency set in.
I wanted to go to Kyoto early in the week, but searching the internet soon found this to be impossible. However, the Hotel Alpha Kyoto offered online room availability, and was free starting the evening of Children’s Day. Three nights was shorter than I wanted to spend, but at this point beggars can’t be choosers. I booked it. The room rates also went off-peak starting Children’s Day, so I’m spending less than I would have, which is cool.
BTW, Children’s Day is a new “politically correct” name for this holiday, which has been traditionally known as Boys’ Day. There is a Girls’ Day in March, but I don’t think it is a national holiday, so they decided to make Boys’ Day more egalitarian. Many, many people still call it Boys’ Day, and keep the same traditions as for Boys’ Day. This includes the flying of carp streamers for the period of Golden Week leading up to and including Boys’ Day. The legend of the carp is this: Once upon a time, a carp made the arduous journey upstream from the ocean to the start of a spring on top of a mountain. As a reward for his strength and determination, he was changed into a dragon. Dragons are respected and revered in Eastern cultures, unlike the aggressive monsters in the West. They don’t necessarily breath fire or have wings. So parents fly the streamers to hope their sons (now children) gain the strength and determination the carp had. Kind of sweet, really.
OK, so my original plan to visit Kyoto first, spend a couple days in Osaka, visit Nagoya for the World Expo at Aichi, and go to Shimizu for smashed pennies had to be changed. I also knew trains would be packed, so I was torn about how to do it. It’s sort of a chicken and egg scenario. Do I buy train tickets so I know I can get there (chicken), but wonder if there’s space (egg)? Or do I book a place to stay and hope I can get there? Once I booked the Kyoto hotel, I decided on the chicken route. I booked the train trip back over the internet, and attempted to book the train from Tokyo to Osaka.
For some reason I thought Shimizu was near Osaka. In the middle of the week, I planned to stay a couple days at Nagoya. Fortunately, the trains to Osaka were full. Then I hit the deadline for booking on line: 2 days. This shows you how last-minute I was. So I decided to do the egg route and go to the local Japan Travel Board (JTB) office to book train tickets. After consulting a map, and deciding Shimizu would not be at the top of most people’s lists for hot destinations, I booked a room in Shimizu for the first two nights, intending to arrive late the 28th after class. I tried reserving a hotel in Nagoya with their antiquated English booking site, but heard no response. I was a little nervous because the site gave me the year choices 2002 or 2003 only… Osaka was easy. There was plenty of space at the Green Hill Hotel during the entire Golden Week.
So, Shimizu, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto. Armed with my destinations, I headed to the JTB office during lunch and booked train tickets. I still needed to go to a major Japan Rail station to pick up my return tickets, but I decided to do that later.
Still no response from the Nagoya hotel, so I tried deciphering their Japanese reservation page (ack, kanji!). I received a speedy reply (also with a fair amount of kanji). “All full, so sorry, try later.” Okay, so I decided I would extend my stay in Osaka and take the train on the day I wanted to go to the Expo. That was easy enough. Then back to the JTB office to change my Nagoya to Osaka tickets.
I decided on a 4 hour layover from Shimizu to Osaka in Nagoya, so I could make a quick stop at the PokéPark. Pokémon, the Park, is sort of coat-tailing the Expo as an “annex.” It’s only open during the period of the Expo, and supposedly has some international booths to “fit in” with the World Expo. I didn’t care, it’s Pokémon! I had seen the park when passing through Nagoya station to and from Hiroshima, so was looking forward to it. Even if it does look like a Pokémon themed county fair.
OK, tickets and hotels booked. I now needed “permission” to go. Ms. Somekawa said she would permit anything, we just needed to follow the letter of the rules. It took some work figuring out just what to write where. I had to look up the address of the Green Hill on the Internet. Since I figured I knew where it was already, I hadn’t bothered to write it down. Done! Now I need to pack, and I’m ready to go!