Disaster Befalls a Nation!!

It has happened!!
It's a 7.9..... no it's ....... 8.4 ......... 8.9.......... finally (days later) ....... it's classified...... 9.0!!!! No amount of preparation saved Japan from the ultimate assault of this record high score! Never in recorded history had Japan experienced such a severe earthquake.

This shows the location of the earthquake.

We had joked about the prospect, talked about National disaster plans and, naively, even wondered what it would be like to experience some seismic activity. Living in this country, used to regular seismic activity, we had experienced many minor tremors. Perched on the 16th floor, in a building designed to move like a pendulum, we had become sensitive to any movements of the earth. Evacuation points are familiar landmarks in all areas, particularly as the Tokai earthquake is now 25 years overdue. Japan's history has been built around wars and earthquakes and museums are full of information. From an early age school children are taught how to respond in an earthquake and all families have emergency kits ready to grab. In reality, the ferocity of Friday's earthquake put everything into perspective. No amount of preparation could have overcome the speed with which this monster moved.

Having delayed my return from a trip in Australia by a couple of weeks, I had only returned to Japan early Wednesday morning. I, lightheartedly, made comments on Facebook about Japan shaking with excitement at my return as the next couple of days were punctuated by regular tremors.

Friday dawned cool, clear and sunny and, as usual, I began my day by going out on the balcony to say 'Good morning' to my friend, Fuji-san. He is still wearing a long, Winter coat of snow and since the quake there has been no smoke coming from his chimney!!

Keen to overcome a virus that had been plaguing me I decided to go for a run. Donning my running gear I headed off. Passing through the hills of Yamate to the south, I then headed north through Yamashita Park along the picturesque waterfront and past all the normal view points to Minato Mirai and Rinko Park. As I ran I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty and diversity of this area.

Heading inland I made my way to Yokohama, taking a shortcut through the typically crowded station. Yokohama Station sees at least 2 million people per day passing through.

Turning southwards I headed through the back streets of Yokohama, Sakuragicho and Kannai back to the apartment. I had been gone 2.5 hours and covered about 13 kilometres, no record breaking times for me, but alternating between jogging, sprinting and walking I felt invigorated.

I had developed quite an appetite so I quickly knocked up a snack and sat down for a rest.
At 2.26pm I made this silly post on Facebook......
'It sucks!! Just went for a 2.5 hour run and when I got back silly iPhone hadn't recorded distance because I hadn't registered the program. Lulu Lemon's didn't suck though!!

As I nibbled away on my lunch I checked my e-mails. It was 2.46pm. Suddenly without warning the apartment began to shake. Uh oh!! Here we go again I thought. Within seconds I realized this was serious, the shake was not abating......with the adrenalin pumping I quickly typed a comment on Facebook....my fingers couldn't hit the keys.......
' Having a seriousw earthquake, never felt anything lijke it. Can stand shit im scared'  (should have said 'can't stand' but the room and my hands were shaking too much)

The shaking intensified.... getting stronger and stronger ......... faster and faster. I waited for it to subside but subside it did not! It went for so long! The building shook violently and ferociously. So violent and intense was the movement.....I  still could not hit the correct keys.....too bad.....I hit post without even correcting.

At that moment my mobile phone rang......it was Steve. We maintained a phone connection for the next couple of minutes and then, satisfied we were both OK, Steve proceeded with evacuation procedures at work. At work, he grabbed his emergency bag and hard hat and ran out of the office with his work colleagues. Watching as the next quake began, Steve witnessed the awesome rocking of the buildings from outside. I was still in the apartment and held on as I went for another ride. Within minutes of the quakes the phone systems, mobiles and landlines, went down and Steve and I didn't have contact for a couple of hours. Throughout the disaster Facebook and Twitter remained strong, except for a rapid slowing down of the Internet speed.

Hiding under my desk during the initial earthquake and praying that the building would remain standing, my greatest fear was falling to the ground with the building. Each time we have an aftershock now, I have visions of riding a chunk of concrete to the pavement 16 floors below. I felt surprise and fear as the quake continued to shake with fury for not 1 minute, not 2 minutes but more!! This was no gentle rocking, the shaking was fast, aggressive and furious. As I hid under my desk I watched the  wall opposite me moving backwards and forwards about a metre. My initial thoughts, which sound a bit dramatic,  were..... 
'Please don't let me die in my 16th floor apartment, alone and in Japan away from my family.'

Suddenly the TV flew across the floor, I listened as the heavy double sliding doors between the lounge room and dining room slid shut and then repeatedly banged open and shut, drawers in the kitchen fell out, chopping boards, cutlery and bottles fell on the floor and were flung into the hallway. In the midst of this clatter, the fire door between the kitchen and living area slammed shut with a resounding bang. Decorative vases fell, curtains quivered as they swung backwards and forward, drawers in the dressing room slid open then fell over, pretty well anything loose fell.

In a word I was 'terrified'! But what could I do? Nothing but hold on and wait! The building creaked and groaned and the elevator pulleys clanged and banged. At its peak I could not walk and found myself crawling in and out of my hidey hole under the desk. It sounds a bit dramatic now, but at the time it was very real. Sometimes, certainly at this stage, two and a half minutes is a very long time!!

Like a predator shaking a victim in its jaws, the earthquake shook Japan. A whole nation became a seismic victim of this fierce foe.

The map below shows the recordings taken at the time of the earthquake and just after. Pretty amazing! Quite clearly the whole country was being ravaged!!

Even as I am writing this we have had another aftershock which registered 6.2 north of here. In excess of 350 aftershocks have been recorded.

Once the shake subsided the building continued to and swing and rock.  Eventually, as its pendulous motion lessened, the building 'regained its feet'!  Unbelievable!!

The hallway was littered with our fallen bikes and, at this stage, I called down to the main desk. Our Japanese concierges, Reyna and Naoko were equally scared and really had no advice to give. For them it was their first serious earthquake also. They invited me down but I felt happier staying where I was.

The lifts were still operational and, half an hour later, Reyna came up to see that I was 'daijoubu desu' (alright). Always considerate and in typical Japanese fashion, she even picked up the bikes in the hallway. At no stage did we lose power in the building and our elevator remained operational.
With a record force sufficient to move the position of this country 2.4 metres and move the earth 10cm on its axis, it goes without saying that the effects of this seismic attack were enormous. As one tectonic plate slid under another, the recipe for an enormous tsunami was complete. With the plates running parallel to the country, the newborn tsunami was able to vent its force unopposed. Unbeknown to those in the cities, who were assessing the damage and wandering around shell shocked, further away the worst was still to come.

North east of us, nearer to the epicentre, a monumental disaster was unfolding.  Within ten minutes a tsunami with such force, moving at such speed, wiped out entire cities and towns, turning houses into matchsticks and felling multi storey buildings in seconds. With each cubic metre of water weighing one ton, what chance did anything let alone a mere human have against this onslaught? In an instant, thousands of people died as water engulfed their homes and towns. Tsunami walls, common place throughout Japan, held tight but were unable to restrain the massive flood of water. Television footage has shown it all. Worldwide, everyone is familiar with the shocking reality of the tsunami and its ensuing side effects. Ships, boats, cars, trucks, buses, tanks, buildings, trees and people......this monster consumed whatever got in its way and swirled it around. What it left behind was reminiscent of a bomb site.

For the rest of the day, naturally, I was very nervous. I remained in the apartment, where I felt more secure, in an environment that I knew. At 3.10pm we had another very strong quake, not as bad as the first one but I was glad I hadn't picked anything up. Like before the building took a while to settle. The television, which had been flung off its perch at the height of the main quake, came to life as I lifted it up. From that moment, like so many, I remained glued to the screen as news from the disaster area was broadcast across the world. The enormity of this violent foe's assault was impossible to comprehend.

For those in Tokyo and Yokohama, a normal Friday had been transformed instantly. The railway system shut down immediately and, suddenly, millions of people were stranded. In the cities, which are reliant on public transport,  everyone was faced with the difficulty of getting home. Just after 4pm, Steve finally got through to me on the phone and said that he and some of the others from his office were on their way home. Unable to catch a train or taxi, like everyone else, he was compelled to walk home. Three hours later he arrived at the apartment, by this stage it was dark and cold. Amazingly, as he had left the office snow had been gently falling. Others work colleagues took 5 hours to return to their homes in Tokyo and some didn't even get home. Many people who work in Yokohama and Tokyo commute long distances each day, often catching more than one train to reach work. They were forced to spend the night in hotels or with friends. Throughout the rest of the day and evening the aftershocks came every 20 minutes. Very unnerving and unsettling. Finally, well after midnight we fell asleep but were often rocked out of our slumber throughout the night.

Saturday morning dawned sunny, clear but cold. We decided to ride around our local area on the bikes rather than sit around watching TV. We started off riding around the back streets of Kannai where cracked sidewalks, broken tiles and walls with jagged cracks were evident.  Cracked windows were taped up and the corners of many buildings showed signs of structural damage. We rode down Motomachi Street normally bustling with people on the weekend, but like a ghost town today.  Along the foreshore in Yamashita Park, families were out walking and pampered dogs were enjoying leashed walks.

We even witnessed a bride and groom having their photos taken.

Further along a juggler was entertaining the crowds.

It didn't feel right to be enjoying the beauty of the area while in the disaster area  the struggle to survive continued. But beauty and sunshine aside, something was different.......down the length of Motomachi Street shops were closed, the major stores in Minato Mirai were closed, the ferris wheel was still, Cosmos, the amusement park silent.  With an almost total reliance on public transport, the shutdown of the railway system had had a huge impact. No trains, meant the cities had virtually ground to a halt. The normally busy, crowded and frenetic streets of Yokohama were almost silent. Restaurants were closed and shelves in most convenience stores were soon stripped bare......no milk, no bread, no bottled water! The nation was in shock.....nervous.....waiting. It was very strange.

At about 12.00 before returning home we visited a friend in Minato Mirai. He had a dilemma! His wife, with two of his children, had planned a visit. They should have arrived on Friday but, with Narita Airport closed, all flights had been cancelled or postponed. After an overnight delay in Singapore they were due to land at 1pm. Normally travellers then catch a train or a Limousine Bus into Tokyo or Yokohama, or if you don't mind paying a taxi. On Saturday all buses had been cancelled, no trains were running and taxis at the airport would not take any one beyond Tokyo.

There was nothing to it....we opted to take the car and head off to Narita. Sounds easy .....normally is....but not today.  All the elevated major expressways were closed which meant we could not even use the bridge near our apartment to get across Yokohama Bay. So after turning around we headed for Kawasaki and onto a toll way. Initially, we made good progress but then suddenly the four lines of traffic ground to a halt.

Our route to Narita was also the same route going north to the disaster area. Progress was slow......it took 4 hours to cover 39 kilometres, which included 2 hours to do 2 kilometres. Phonecalls between us and the travellers let us know that we still needed to get to Narita. Finally after 4 hours, by which stage the car travellers were getting hungry and in need of a rest room, we received another call to say the travellers were going to be catching a series of trains, which had started running, to Tokyo! That was good news because we still had 113 kilometres to go to the airport..... We eventually got off the tollway and made our way to Ginza, just north of Tokyo. We had arranged to meet there because it would be easier for each party to find the other.

Even though the roadways were clogged Tokyo was very, very quiet and it was easy to drive through the streets. That was quite bizarre! We headed back to Yokohama and covered the same 39 kilometres in about 30 minutes. Thank goodness!
 
Had Japan only experienced an earthquake the damage would have been so much less....strict earthquake building codes had saved most buildings. But a tsunami of such monstrous proportions was overwhelming. The tragedy and horror created by the tsunami is beyond description. Surely that would have been enough... but no.... why not throw in a nuclear crisis to complete the trifecta. Nuclear power plant explosions. A nation in crisis!!

As I am finishing this post news has come through, nearly a week since the horrific earthquake, saying that radiation levels have spiked and are higher than any previous reading. When will this nightmare end....when will Japan be given time to mourn? The whole situation is so extreme!

The sadness, loss and tragedy that this nation is dealing with is beyond comprehension.  It took only minutes for the earthquake and tsunami to devastate Japan's northeast. Rebuilding will take years - if it can be afforded. The relentless wall of water unleashed by the quake killed countless thousands, swept away whole towns, inundated roads and knocked ports, oil refineries, steel plants and factories out of action. 

The world is now seeing what we have grown to love in the Japanese people......grace, dignity in the face of adversity, honesty, care, respect, no loss of law or decorum, no looting, no complaining or asking for some magical 'other person' to fix their problems!! The world has responded to this shocking catastrophe but stories are widespread of people, who have already lost everything in the tragedy, helping others in need.

From a personal aspect, we are living in very uncertain times....will we have another large earthquake? Will the nuclear situation worsen? The country has had over 400 aftershocks since the big one and we, in Yokohama, have had too many to count. When the building starts rocking you hold your breath and hope it is not another big one. Some have been very strong....we had a 6.2 just 54 miles west of us at about 10.40 pm the other night. It was very near to Fuji-san. This one started quite differently, with a deep pulling and shuddering sensation under the building before the normal shaking. It was a very shallow quake, only 1 km deep!! The next night we had another one at the about the same time. Makes it hard to settle at night!! Using an application on my iPhone I am able to get accurate feedback of quake data.

This has been a very difficult post to compose. At the time I was too scared to take any photos, so I must rely on photos I have taken of the TV coverage. My normal enthusiasm to record everything photographically has  been dampened. Never again will we look at a warning sign and glibly dismiss it!!!

So many children, babies, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, spouses taken by this shocking monster.

So much grief and loss!!! Daijoubu ja nai desu!!!

'Gaijin' Snow Monkeys!!'

Mmmmmm!!! Here I go again....

Another first....another best.....! It seems to be a common pattern. Nearly every Japanese experience we have becomes....
'That was the best thing we've done so far!'.....How lucky are we???

It's cold up here in Japan. Each day the layers increase....long johns, coats, scarves, gloves.... but strangely the sun just keeps shining. The weather is consistent and stable, the air is dry, dry, dry and we have not had rain for weeks. But there is no denying it's winter so we must embrace the opportunities that come with it. With the promise of a long weekend, the decision was made to head for the hills, the hills over near the west coast of Honshu to be exact, the hills beyond the snow covered hills we can see from the apartment.

Throughout our few days at the snow I had to keep pinching myself. Here we were, skiing the slopes of the Japanese Alps!! The beauty of the mountains was awesome and Abi, an experienced skier from the US, excitedly said, 'Enjoy it guys, you're about to experience the best powder snow anywhere!'

Boy, did we find out...........There's literally mountains of it and..........it looks good, it tastes good (especially when you face plant it!!) and it feels good!

Our trip was organised by Ricky, an incredibly energetic and enthusiastic Philipino, who runs Tokyo Gaijins. He started organising trips for himself and friends and saw the potential for a lucrative business.....so began Tokyo Gaijins. Gaijin is a Japanese word meaning 'non Japanese' or 'alien'. The word is composed of two kanji- 'gai' 外 meaning outside and 'jin' 人 meaning person. On this trip the participants were nearly all gaijins.....14 Americans, 10 Australians, 8 Brits, 7 Germans, 6 Japanese, 5 Frenchmen, 4 Spaniards, 3 New Zealanders, 3 Philipinos, 2 Canadians, 2 Chinese, 2 Swedes, 1 Belgian, 1 Dane, 1 Indian, 1 Korean, 1 Malaysian, 1 Peruvian, 1 Russian and 1 Ugandan. A truly 'alien' group!!

We had 9 people in our group....Steve and I,  Si and Charlotte (our latest 'alien' visitors) and, workmates of Steve, Alex and Graeme, Abi, Meg and Abhishek.

In the week leading up to the trip, there had been the typical last minute purchasing of extra gear to be sure we were warm. Gloves, more thermatech long johns, jackets for the guys and balaclavas or neck warmers....the 'must haves' on the list.

Leaving home at 5:45pm on Friday evening had fortunately allowed some room for error. Getting to Shinjuku, seemed to be a comedy of errors and delayed trains, resulting in a rush between platforms and different trains. At Shinjuku Station, navigating our way through the unbelievable Friday night crowds to the correct exit, with our luggage in tow, was a challenge. Once out we latched onto another person loaded up with skis who, we correctly presumed, was rushing to the same bus as us!! We departed from Shinjuku Station at 7.30 pm and arrived in Hakuba by midnight.

Hakuba village, located in the Kitaazumi district in the north-west of the Nagano Prefecture, is one of the most popular winter sports regions on Honshu. The village is set against an impressive mountain backdrop. Hakuba was the main event venue during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. The men’s downhill and super giant slalom, as well as the ski jump and nordic combined events of the Olympics, all took place in Hakuba.

Having arrived at such a late hour and with many people rushing straight from a busy work week, it was lights out pretty quickly. For an extra fee many had secured a private room with 'real beds' and others were in shared rooms complete with tatami mats and futons. Personally, I love sleeping on futons but must admit it was nice snuggling up under the big fluffy doona in a bed. This is the view we woke up to in the morning.

Breakfast was at 7.30 each morning. That meant we could be fully geared up, ready to leave by 8.30am....no rest for the wicked!

Here we are, in our gear, ready to go.....not the latest trendy fashions but we were dry and warm all weekend. I did buy some new goggles because my hire ones were a bit scratched and, as many are aware, I have enough trouble accepting the fact that I need glasses, without wearing defective equipment!

Steve and I, who had only ever skiied for a few days post school, joined in the beginner lesson. Ricky ran the lesson during the morning and very quickly left us to our own devices (or was that destruction?). The area where we had our lessons was very picturesque....I wish all classrooms were like this!!!

Once empowered with some basic skills, a dangerous thing indeed,  we were keen to hit the slopes. The weather was fantastic.... Saturday was clear and sunny, on Sunday it snowed lightly most of the day with a big dump during the night and then Monday dawned sunny and clear again. Not wanting to waste a moment, apart from the obligatory lunch breaks, we spent three full days on the snow. By the end of each day, the 'in house onsen' was a very, very appealing prospect....who cares about no clothes!!!

On Saturday we caught the shuttle bus from our accommodation, Murano Hotel Shinya, to Happo-one. Happo-one (pronounced hah-poh-oh-ne), with 700 hectares of ski-able terrain, boasts 26 lifts and has one run that is 5 kilometres long. In a word it was 'beautiful'! With runs catering for all skill levels, everyone soon dispersed to their chosen areas. We picked up the basics and then progressively moved our way up the slopes.

Here is the beginner's group, all seven of us, ready to hit the slopes....solo!!

After a quick lunch we were off on our own, with Ricky waiting at the bottom to offer advice when needed. At the end of the day we did the 5km run....what a way to finish! The end of this run terminated in deep, soft snow which was to be the undoing of many tired beginners. It was quite hysterical really. As the long run merged with the last downhill section many of us were plunged into snow up to our waist, resulting in deeply hidden stocks and skis.....cause for much merriment!! By this time Charlotte had already decided, that come tomorrow, she was going to ditch the skis for a snowboard.....this was positive affirmation!!!

Quote from Charlotte:Skiing lessons with our awesome instructor and event organiser, Ricky. After a few runs, (or falls rather), down the slope, Ricky suggested it would be worth giving snowboarding ago, "...Not that you suck or anything," he added, but because of the way I walk and my sense of balance or something like that, I may find that snowboarding would come more naturally to me than skiing. At that stage, I did suck actually, but at some point during the day something clicked and on the last run I managed to make my way from the top of the slope to the bottom, falling only once at the end when I slid into the deep powder snow, but still being one of the first to reach the end!

The scenery from every aspect was nothing short of spectacular, we were surrounded by craggy mountains and as we ascended, at each stop on the multiple ski lifts, we reached beautiful wide plateaus.

Naturally, Steve threw himself into the challenge of mastering those long, flat things connected to his feet. No way were they going to win. He ploughed, traversed and sped down the slopes. His tricks!!! were many and varied, but the best one was the full 360 degree turn followed by an almost cartwheel that ended with him in deep s_ _ _! No, not what you think, it was deep snow! Typical of much of my weekend, I was hysterical with laughter!

Is it possible Henry, that
the 'Dark Side' had something to do with Poppy's falls??

One can't afford to be too smug though, as it could be your turn on the next corner or bump (if you accidentally go down a mogul run! Lordy, they're bumpy)! When you least expect it, you're suddenly propelled through the air. A sure certainty is that the manoeuvre will terminate with an ungainly landing in the snow....on your belly, your derriere or your face! One landing resulted in a very sore wrist which hurt all night. I soon learned to let go of the stocks before another crash landing. There's nothing like hearing the sound of your head reverberating on the ground. Ouch!! Steve actually ended up in bed early on Sunday night with a headache, he was labelling mild concussion. What do they say?...'No pain, no gain!!' ...or...'If you never fall, you're not trying hard enough!!' Sounds fair to me.

On Sunday we caught the shuttle bus and headed off to Iwitake. Iwitake also has long wide runs and beautiful scenery.

We were keen to begin......snowing or not!! It actually snowed on and off all day but not enough to put us off.

 

Pictures speak louder than words and describe the beauty and tranquility far better than I can.

We had lunch in a great little Japanese cafe. There was the usual guesswork selecting food from the menu and the normal camaraderie learning to speak the 'lingo'. I am always on the lookout for some poor Japanese person who I can test my very poor Japanese language skills on. I will never be able to speak Japanese but I have found 'just trying' has opened up wonderful chances for friendly interactions.

"Hey Sophie, here's
Nanny and Poppy with some Japanese snowmen."

After lunch it was back to the slopes for a few more hours. We mixed trails with downhill slopes but, obviously, I didn't have time to stop and take photos on the steeper bits. Sorry...maybe I should get a camera attached to my head so I can film the 'trick skiing'!

Watch out...here I come!!!

Upon returning, it was into the onsen for a delightful soak. Lying in the communal bath, chatting with other Gaijins about the events of the day was wonderful and, once again, cause for much laughter!!

It was then time for drinks and tea. Many went out to various night venues in the village but then some of us were happy to lounge around playing 'Mexican Train', a strategic dominoes game.

On our last day breakfast was not supplied so we checked out early, donned our gear and clomped off down the street in search of  breakfast. Happo-one was about a 10 minute walk and we soon found somewhere to eat. We each ordered a breakfast set, which was the normal collection of unidentifiable foods.

With food in our bellies we were ready for our final day of skiing.......time to test the snow, which was deep and powdery after heavy snowfalls all night! The slopes were uncrowded and in fine condition. Our whole group was feeling a little weary but time was precious. Our first run of the day saw us taking three lifts to the top, which obviously took us up a fair way. How beautiful it was!

At the top the views were stunning and it was a brisk -11 degrees. From here we took a long trail, which unnerved me a little with its steep drop offs. Yesterday's track had been a little wider, this one allowed a little less room for error. Rather than hurtling over the edge, I sometimes found simply heading to the other side and stopping or falling over in the deep snow guaranteed my safety.

After these early morning hiccups, brought on mainly by pure weariness, we went on to have an extremely successful day which saw us taking on some steeper grade slopes and improving our parallel turns. Overall, we found that the snow boarders were the greatest danger to our safety. They tended to go hurtling past then come to a grinding halt in front of you, just as you went to make a turn. 'Yeeks, do you realize how dangerous it is to do that in front of me!' It was reminiscent of me sailing my Laser in amongst the catamarans. They come hurtling past you at a rapid rate of knots then suddenly tack in front of you, just the same as the boarders.

Sadly, the time for us to return our hire gear and take one last plunge in the onsen came. Steve and I chose to walk back to the hotel but, unfortunately, took the incorrect route. Uh oh!! 'Lost in Japan' again! Clomping along in our cumbersome boots, we walked for 45 minutes before arriving back where we started. Sensibly we then opted for the shuttle bus. By this stage, it was a weary bunch of 'aliens' who were eager to head back to the onsen for a final hot soak. So keen was I to get in the onsen, that I forgot to have the pre-shower (oops!)and then I splashed two Japanese women relaxing and reclining in the hot water. With a couple of 'gomenasai's' all was 'daijoubu desu'. Even Charlotte, who had been reluctant to have an onsen previously, was glad to join everyone and relax those 'ski board' tired muscles.

Quote Charlotte:That's right, I did it, my first communal bathing experience. It was only on the final day that I dared to venture into the bathing pool filled with hot water from a natural spring. Sounds beautiful doesn't it? Well it was, but I'm sure many of you, like me, would have felt at least a little bit uncomfortable with the idea of stripping down to your bare skin in front of a group of women you've only just met.

We had three full days of ski/snowboarding on different mountains, free beginner's ski/snowboarding lessons, an early Friday 7:30pm departure on a private bus to avoid heavy traffic, three nights accommodation, breakfast and dinner for Saturday and Sunday, free drinks at a pyjama party, an in-house natural spring onsen, two days lift passes and accident insurance. We paid extra for all our gear hire (including a penalty rate for boots over size 9!!), an extra day lift pass ($50) and a private room. We got all this for about $620.00 each, and better still I didn't have to do anything, except pay!!! Not bad!!!

We had a great time....such a great time that we have already booked and paid for another trip in 2 weeks. So look out, we will be back!!

This time we are off to Myoko Suginohara, Niigata. The resort is described as one of the highest-caliber ski slopes in Japan, with 3,700ft (1,124m) in vertical drop and the longest ski run in Japan at an unbelievable distance of 5.3 miles (8.5km) in length. On offer is everything any skier or snowboarder could desire with the runs apparently being wide open or tree lined. From all areas there are magnificent views of the lakes on the plain.

Sounds good! We can't wait. We might even fit in another trip at the end of February. Seems a shame to waste the opportunity!!

'Sore wa totemo tanoshikatta.........Arigato gozaimus Nippon!'