New Year travelling: Kagoshima, Kagawa, Okayama
I began 2020 with a strange bang (and the apocalyptic way this year is turning out, I shouldn’t even be surprised) in Kagawa and Okayama. No one ever told me travelling in Japan during the New Year was a bad idea, and so I did. If you’re in the same situation, you heard it here first: it’s a bad idea. With some planning, it can be an average idea though.
My travel plans were most seriously disrupted at Naoshima, a quaint little art island. Ideally, your plan goes like this: you take a ferry to the island, you rent a bicycle, you cycle around visiting art installations and museums, have lunch at a nice cosy cafe, and then return to the big city for a sumptuous dinner.
Unfortunately, the tourist numbers were exceptionally high, and only one bicycle shop was open. The crowd swarmed in, and after half an hour of queueing, they ran out of bicycles, so we had to walk. Few of the cafes were open, and we spent a lot of time walking around trying to find lunch. After an exceptionally crowded ferry ride back to the main city, we found that nothing much was open for dinner.
My pensive face at Naoshima in the evening, moments before I boarded the ferry back to Kagawa to find no dinner. (Image credit: Jia Han)
Over the end-of-year holidays, also known as nenmatsu-nenshi (年末年始 literally year-end, year-beginning), many shops close. Do your research with special care if you travel during this period. My recommendation: stick to the bigger touristy areas, or your nature hikes, where you won’t have to rely on the smaller businesses who have all gone home to say 'hi' to grandma.
New Year Worship
One thing that definitely should remain open is the shrines and temples, because New Year prayers are a thing. Hatsumōde (初詣) is one’s first visit of the year to the shrine, and people generally do so within the first three days of the year. My friend and I went at midnight on bicycle to the nearby Hachiman Shrine (八幡宮 Hachimangu) in Arata, Kagoshima, in lieu of a countdown, but hatsumōde is such a thing that trains usually run overnight on New Year’s Day to facilitate this.
The procedure is no different from an ordinary shrine visit, except now you line up before the shrine, which will open at midnight. The usual clapping and bowing proceeds, and then you can also draw omikuji (おみくじ), a piece of paper which tells your fortune.
To get your prayer delivered to the gods ASAP, out-kiasu the Japanese by reaching early! (Image credit: Jia Han)
Aratahachiman Shrine (荒田八幡宮)
Address: 2-7-21 Shimoarata, Kagoshima, 890-0056
Nearest station: Aratahachiman Tram Stop (荒田八幡) (do note that trams in Kagoshima do not accept IC cards)
New Year Food
There is a Japanese tradition known as toshikoshi (年越し crossing-into-the-new-year) soba, where you eat soba noodles on New Year’s Eve. Purported reasons include:
- The buckwheat noodles are easily cut, symbolising a clean break into the new year.
- Long noodles symbolise a long life. (Hey but if they’re easily cut, what does that actually mean?)
- The buckwheat plant is hardy, and so soba represents strength and resilience.
Kagawa Prefecture is most famously known for sanuki udon. Building on the toshikoshi soba tradition, the Sanuki Udon Promotion Association began the campaign for toshiake (年明け, new year) udon to promote their udon. Cynic practicality aside, they specified that it should be white udon noodles with at least one red ingredient (a celebratory colour). Their beautifully-designed pamphlet also features handsome local actor Kaname Jun, who they have crowned the “Vice Governor of the Udon Prefecture”.
My friend and I went on 2 Jan to Meriken-ya, a short stroll away from Takamatsu Station. It was set up like a cafeteria—you order at the start of the line, and shuffle your way down to the end, picking up any tempura you want along the way. I took prawn and chikuwa, my go-tos. As part of the decently priced udon (I vaguely recall it was roughly ¥400, or S$5?), you were also given a whopping 600g of udon noodles to take home for free!
Not actually featured in the dish: red ingredients. But delicious anyway. (Image credit: Jia Han)
Meriken-ya Takamatsu Ekimae (めりけんや 高松駅前店)
Address: 6-20 Nishinomarucho, Takamatsu, Kagawa 760-0021
Opening hours: 7am–8pm (daily)
Nearest station: Takamatsu Station (高松駅)
New Year Walk in the Park
A New Year walk in the park is not actually a thing, unlike foods and shrine visits. Probably because winter is not a good time for humans who like staying warm (me) and plants. Kagawa’s Ritsurin Garden, considered one of the greatest gardens of Japan and awarded “Special Place of Scenic Beauty”, was for the most part a woeful and barren mess of lotus stalks and bare branches.
In contrast, Okayama Korakuen Garden (後楽園) was still scenic over the new year (see panorama cover photo). The gay contrast of gold grass and evergreen vegetation was a mood-lifter. Nearby, we also spotted a clowder of cats, which were not interested at all in snacks, but came to play when we held stalks out to them.
(Image credit: Jia Han)
Korakuen Garden is right beside Okayama Castle (岡山城 Okayama-jō) and can be visited together. There are also discount passes for multi-attraction tickets, which come in a variety of combinations for the gardens, the castle, and a couple of other museums.
Korakuen Garden (後楽園)
Address: 1-5 Korakuen, Kita Ward, Okayama, 703-8257
Opening hours: 8am–5pm
Nearest station: Shiroshita Station (城下駅)
Admission fee: ¥410
Not all travel is a bed of roses. We need to acknowledge that travel can be stressful as well as enjoyable. Adventuring out of our comfort zones is a healthy process, but a tiring one. We mitigate this with ample preparation, and also a positive mindset to embrace the unforeseen twists and turns that colour our journey.
Header image credit: Jia Han
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