Christmas Journey, there and back again (part one)

All of my journeys here in Japan start the same way: open front door, walk out. And all of my journeys here in Japan end the same way: unlock front door, collapse inside. My three day Christmas journey was no different, however, what occurred in between those two points was remarkably different.

To begin with, it’s Christmas and my head has been spinning with memories of the past 22 Christmases spent in Atlanta with my family. Christmas has been the one absolute holiday that I’ve always known where I would be and what I would be doing. In years past I would just get in the car and head to Atlanta and then spend the next several days eating and talking and eating and celebrating (and then eating dessert) with family. But now, I’m in Japan and I have to make my own Christmas instead of just going along with my family. I asked God to give me a good holiday since I was afraid to be away from the people, places, smells and tastes that usually accompany me during this season. God delivered in a three part blessing.

First, a twelve-hour, overnight ferry ride from Beppu to Osaka. Traveling companion: Stephron Baker Holmes, second year JET from London. We boarded the passenger liner at 7PM and were due to dock at Osaka the next morning at 6:20AM. The ferry is a must have cultural experience here in Japan since it crowds together all sorts of people for a long passage across the inland sea. Steph and I had booked the economy, third class accommodations that provided us with a narrow sleeping mat on the floor, a blanket and “pillow”, and a cubby hole for our things. The sleeping room has narrow spaces for 40 individuals lined up in four lines of ten. Upon first looking into the room, one might think the room was meant for slave transport in the eighteenth century, but then one sees the lovely elderly couples eating gohan in chatty groups of four while little babies babble Japanese babbles and teenagers listen to rock on tiny headphones. The communal, unpretentious environment allows one to see that sleeping 2cm from strangers really isn’t bad at all.

Steph and I “slept” through the night and were awoken in the “morning” (5am) to an older gentleman coughing and spitting phlegm. Stretch, yawn, let’s disembark! We left the ship and headed for the train they would take us to Kyoto. YES, KYOTO…my Japanese Mecca! While our true Christmas destination was Koyasan, we had time to explore the nearby legendary cultural capital (we did dock at 6:20AM).


Kyoto Station, the massive complex from the future, greeted us with festive decorations and crowds of people traveling about in the falling snow.


Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, one of the highlights of Kyoto if not all of Japan, sits shining in the white layers of winter. I squealed and ran around taking lots of photos and kept whispering to myself, “I can’t believe I’m here on Christmas Eve.”



The day stretched on into afternoon and Steph and I had more traveling to do before the evening came. We went back to the station and caught a train to Koyasan, the Esoteric Buddhist Monastery where we would spend a most pleasant Christmas.