Konnichiwa Japan!

Eyes as Big as Plates has landed in Japan and we will be touring the country over the next two weeks. After some hours in Tokyo we headed to Niigata and Sado Island, together with our trip planner extraordinaire, Ms. Akemi Date from The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo. Ms. Ohsawa and Mr. Fuji met us at the Sado harbour and took us straight for some delicious local soba noodles.

Ms. Myosetsu Ohsawa is a buddhist priest of Horinji Temple in Sado, a charismatic lady with a lot of flare and one of the very few females in her profession in Japan. Our team of the day consisted of a priestess, photographer, tea ceremony master and a royal information officer and we positively overtook everyone’s schedules for the whole day. We can only bow down (way down) in gratitude!

We are quite a shock to the clean and compact system here and seem to end up apologizing profusely several times a day for our sticks, branches, suitcases and unfolding maps ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
We are quite a shock to the clean and compact system here and seem to end up apologizing profusely several times a day for our sticks, branches, suitcases and unfolding maps © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
People have stopped us several times to ask how heavy our bags are - it's not that big, is it? ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
People have stopped us and asked how heavy our bags are – it’s not that big, is it? © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Life is like a bento box, you never know what you gonna get ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Life is like a bento box, you never know what you’re gonna get © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Sado Island is a little island of  80000 inhabitants, which apparently is sparsely populated by Japanese standards. A jetfoil will take you there in an hour from Niigata ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Sado Island is a little island of 80000 inhabitants, which apparently is sparsely populated by Japanese standards. A jetfoil will take you there in an hour from Niigata © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
A special treat from Ms. Osawa, tempura, soba and seasonal spring vegetables (the mandatory slurping was difficult) ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
A special treat from Ms. Ohsawa: Tempura, soba and seasonal spring vegetables (the mandatory slurping was difficult) © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Not too many people can say they have their own temple ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
How many people can say they have their own temple? © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Ms. Osawa has been the priest of this temple for the last 20 years. ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Ms. Ohsawa has been the priest here for the past 20 years. © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
© Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
This is the 400 year-old book she prays from every day ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
This is the 400 year-old book she prays from every day © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
An afternoon opera matiné at the temple ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
An afternoon opera matinee at the temple © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Today's catch after the location and material scouting, nicely fitted into our Ryokan. ® Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Today’s catch after the location and material scouting, nicely fitted into our Ryokan. © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

 

 

 

 

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