Natural Disasters

Just in case the idea of going on a weekend getaway to a part of Japan where English is rarely spoken wasn't enough of a challenge, we decided to do it on a weekend where there was a typhoon predicted. Throw in an earthquake, a small tsunami and an nuclear waste spill and you have a weekend we will be talking about for some time.

With a three day weekend ahead of us, we decided to be brave and get out of Tokyo, traveling to Sado Island, which is off the western coast of Japan. We found a hotel on the northern tip of the island, booked our Shinkansen and Jetfoil tickets, packed our bags and were off.

As you can see, Ariana was having a fine time on the very fast train we were riding on. After two hours, we landed in Niigita, the port city where we scheduled to catch the jetfoil. Another hour and we were in Ryotsu, the main city on Sado. As we made our way to the hotel pick up area, a man came up to us, obviously briefed on the "gaijin" who would be arriving, and loaded us into the van. Off we were on a beautiful ride up the coast to the hotel. But the ride couldn't match the view once we checked in.
It turns out we had an amazing view of both Ohnogame and Futatsugame,
two famous rocks formations off the northern tip of Sado. There was a path leading from our hotel down to the beach where we could walk to both of them. As it was a few hours before dinner, we decided to make the steep walk down - 347 steps.

Ariana started out fine, but once she saw just how many steps she would have to maneuver, she pulled the "I'm only 2 1/2, help me" act and so..
.... she made the remainder of the trip safely in baba-san's arms.
We started strolling and passed a small Buddhist shrine. We found out later it was set up by someone mourning a child who died prior to his or her parents.
It was incredibly peaceful and relaxing, even with the knowledge at some point we would have to make the trek back up all 347 steps.


After exploring the beach a little bit, it was time to head back up. Ariana started out for the steps, but looked up, realized what she was in for, and ran in the other direction. We found a solution that would make her very happy... and baba-san slightly winded.

After a dinner of the freshest seafood we have ever had, it was time for a few episodes of "Father of the Pride", an hysterically funny animated TV show that didn't last very long on network television and should have.

We woke up to rain and wind and a truly Japanese breakfast (no coffee!!!!) of seafood and salad. We hung around the hotel deciding what to do. For those traveling to Sado Island, take our advise and rent a car. We did not, because our international driver's licenses had expired and we had not yet started the process of getting Japanese ones. It left us in a bit of a bind, as we had to figure out how to get down to the middle part of the island where much of what we wanted to see was located. Finally figuring out the bus schedule, we left just as the rain was stopping and made in back down to the port, only to get on another bus going across the island. Let's just say we did a lot of riding the second day. We did make it to Aikawa, the old mining town that looks pretty much the way it must have looked back in the days when the gold mine was still operating.

We met an old woman on the way, who asked us where we were from. We spoke for awhile and it was clear she had a lot of pride in her island. Other than a few other people, itt was very quiet, almost like a ghost town.

Dinner that night was another feast.

Ariana listened intently as baba-san explained (or tried to) the various dishes that were in front of us.

Our last day was when the fun started. About 10:15 am, as we were standing out on the cliff taking pictures, I felt the earth move. Literally. Not a lot, but it did move. As we were STANDING ON A CLIFF!!!!!!!, I immediately looked around for my loved ones to make sure they were far enough away from the edge and then waited for the movement to stop. Since Arny was walking around at the time, he didn't feel it. Ok, I thought, maybe it was just a strong gust of wind. As you can see, it was blowing: (yes, I know, bad hair day)

On the television in the lobby of the hotel, we kept seeing pictures of houses down and trains derailed, but we thought it was the result of the typhoon that hit further south and didn't pay much attention. Then, we started hearing "Shinkansen", the Japanese name for the bullet train that took us to Niigata, where we boarded the boat and would have to return.

No one at the hotel spoke English and our Japanese is enough to order food and say please and thank you. So, we drove down to the ferry where we found out that the trains were in fact, not running. OOOOOOOOkkkkkaaaaayyyyyyyyy then. We boarded the ferry thinking we would just deal with it when we got to the station. Imagine our surprise when as we were waiting for a taxi to take us there when we felt the earth move. Again. OOOOOOOOOkkkkkkkaaaaayyyyyyyyy. Looking around, everything seemed fine, so in the cab we got. Arriving at the station, we saw many people very calmly hanging around. Waiting. While Arny waited on the very long, very calm line for the ticket booth, I found the other gaijin in the station and asked what happened. And then we knew. The very city we were standing in was the one that earlier that day, an almost 7 point earthquake had hit. All trains were down. They were supposed to start up again at 7pm, but no one knew if that would really happen.

Rather than hanging around the station for hours, only to get on a very crowded train with a 2 1/2 year old who likes to repeat things over and over and over and over and over....................
and over, we decided on the spot to find a hotel and stay overnight. While baba-san straightened out the tickets, I did exactly that and off we were. While watching BBC worldwide, we discovered the whole story. The typhoon that did little damage, the earthquake that did much more to the older area of town (I am happy to report that the part we saw was untouched) and to the nuclear power plant, which suffered a leak they are still trying to investigate (won't be swimming in the sea of Japan anytime soon). There was also a small Tsunami on Sado Island, but not the part we were on.

All in all, a whole lotta weather goin on in this part of the world.