Riding through land ravaged by an earthquake triggering a tsunami
A sobering ride
Our stay at Hotel Furtabo do Mori in Namie has been a special experience which has provided us with wonderful memories. We felt like we had been given an exclusive glimpse of Japanese life on the road. It was very comfortable with unique touches that made us feel like we were having a genuine Japanese experience. The staff went out of their way to make us feel welcome.
We chose a Western/Japanese room which works best for Barry and his back issues. We had a western style bed which was pretty close to the ground and traditional Japanese seating with a low table on the tatami mat floor. There was also a desk chair which was helpful. Tatami mats should not be walked on by outside footwear, so the customer of leaving your shoes in a locker makes sense.
The spas, one for men and one for women was very good and just what we needed after a day of riding. We appreciated that therapeutic hot springs were used in the baths. What will we do without an Onsen in Canada? For me, it settles down knee pain and generally makes me feel restored and Barry feels relief as well.
It must be wonderful to grow up in Japan. Everywhere you go, you see happy and animated characters on signs and on products. We have never travelled in a country where kindness, smiles and thinking of others first is the way people live their lives.
Now, this is exciting. I have not been able to drink caffeinated products and have had trouble finding decaf coffee in Japan. I have been drinking decaf and herbal teas, but I do miss having coffee. This store Mugi at the Michi sells origami decaf coffee. Yeah. Origami coffee is so good and works well for travellers. As the image on the package shows, the coffee is in a pouch that has handles that sit over the rim of the cup. It takes a bit of time as you pour water over the pouch 2 or 3 times. It is worth it as the flavour really comes through with this method of making a cup of coffee.
Barry and I bought a character to ride with us on our trikes. The beauty of it is that the motion of the bike activates the lights that are built in. This is my goofy guy who does make me smile.
The lovely coast….much money, work and ingenuity has gone into trying to prevent a tragedy like the 2011 tsunami with reforestation and interesting hand built fences to support the trees as well as the continuous high cement walls alongside the coast.
We have been so impressed by the sheer volume of solar panels we are seeing. In this area countless acres are filled with these panels. From afar it is confusing, as the coverage is so fast that it looks like water. In this area, for as far as you can see, solar panels are on both sides of the road.
We have been in a rural landscape for some time and couldn’t believe our eyes when this Temple with its shiny gold details and colour jumped out at us. It was odd that no one was there. We read that people are not happy with this temple as it seems to be a money grab by the fellow who owns it. We decided not to go for a visit but Barry did a quick walk around.
We were surprised at the negative comments. We haven’t heard criticism like this before about a Temple or Shrine, so we took it seriously. As you can see from Barry’s photos, it is quite lovely but empty.
We have been seeing so many photos, posters and items related to a horse event in Soma, our destination for today. It is called the Soma-Nonaoi Festival (the Soma Wild Horse Chase).
The event has been occurring for over 1,000 years. There are threeevents. One is where the rider tries to catch a sacred flag and in the other event, the riders race around the track dressed in Samurai armour. Each rider’s goal is to capture one of the two sacred flag as they fall back towards earth after being shot into the sky from a cannon with fireworks. The third event involves catching bareback wild horses.
Precious to this year, only unmarried women under the age of 20 were allowed to participate. This year, the festival eliminated the rule restrictions regarding the age of female participants, and also eliminating the requirement that the female be single. It may have taken 1,000 years, but now it welcomes all to compete. An amazing step. There is a parade through the city with the competitors on their horses dressed in Samurai armour. What a sight it must be, 500 Samurai warriors riding through town. 35,000 people attend the festival.
Everywhere you go, there will be banners, posters and items available relating to this 1000 year tradition. We somehow missed out on knowing about this event, or we might have tried to time it to see the parade as the competitions are probably sold out.
Fukushima Prefecture, after the nuclear meltdown at the plant, is moving out of nuclear energy and is converting to solar and wind energy. We see much evidence of this on our rides….a great endeavour.
We have made it to our accommodation in Soma….the Station Hotel. It is a new hotel and is beautifully decorated with local pieces like this huge urn. Note the horse on the top shelf….this is the home of the historic, 1000 year old horse race, the Soma Nomaoi festival. Images of horses are everywhere in this town of Soma
