みちすじ: The Path to Perfection

There is some comfort in the emptiness of the sea, no past, no future. And then at once I am confronted with the hard truth of the present circumstances.

Algren-san (played by Tom Cruise) in the movie “The Last Samurai”

This was perhaps the mood of Algren-san as he set sail from the US Pacific Coast towards Japan, and saw the majestic Mt. Fujiyama during the journey. For me, I can well replace sea with air as I was flying and then, there were some “hard-truths of the present circumstances” I had to keep an eye on.

This post will explain the みちすじ / Path I took in Japan – The Path to Perfection to explore a part of this perfectly beautiful and blessed country, as well as a mention of those “hard-truths” being referred to.

---

The Path to Perfection

---

One main ingredient of a perfect trip focus on a limited area and exploring it as fully as possible instead of spreading oneself too thin to explore anything and ending up with clicking a few selfies in front of the biggies.

For this trip, and keeping the theme of this blog (which is “Uncliche”) alive, I set my focus on a highly under-explored yet extremely enigmatic and superbly beautiful prefecture – Hokkaido.

Hokkaido is the Northernmost Prefecture of Japan and is characterised by intense cold and snowfall during winters, almost akin to its northern neighbour, Russia. Oh, and didn’t I tell you that I am a chionophile?

Hokkaido is perhaps the only place in Japan, which serves as:

• A Region – for cultural or geographical demarcation
• A Prefecture – from the administrative point of view
• A Major Island – Japan comprises of 4 major islands (and of course several thousands of smaller islands as well) and Hokkaido is one of them

Hokkaido is the largest prefecture of Japan with Sapporo as its Capital. Sapporo is one of the newest cities of Japan having its distinct charm and identity of its own. The city was the proud host of the 1972 Winter Olympics. More about this beautiful city and the prefecture later on in subsequent blog posts.

The Path is shown here in this map. Zoom-in or zoom-out as per your convenience.

The major places covered in this Hokkaido sojourn are as follows:

1. Sapporo – The Capital of Hokkaido Prefecture
2. Otaru – a quaint and picturesque coastal town, which serves as a major port close to Sapporo
3. Noboribetsu
4. Toyako
5. Shiraoi

Each of these places pack a mighty punch and contain lots and lots of experiences to witness and enjoy, which I shall explain in subsequent posts of mine. Keep following my blog to stay updated on each release.

Remember, this isn’t a regular trip. This is an Experience.

And my posts on Japan are not mere some other articles. These are my humble way to express gratitude towards this blessed and Perfect place. If perfection were a person, then that person would definitely have studied in Japan to learn more about Perfection.

---

The Hard Truths of the Present Circumstances

---

I am trying to revisit the then “present circumstances” as depicted in the blog post initially, to confront some “hard truths” back then.

Those “hard-truths” were things which had the potential to devastate my trip once again and there were not one but several such “truths” that needed patient observation and lots of prayers. They are now gone (thankfully).

Fast forward in time, and here I was standing in Nishisen Jurokujo tram station and was on my way to the 1.5 odd kilometres walk to the shrine.

1. The alarming rise of COVID-19 cases in India: The horrors of the COVID-19 wave in India in 2021 were still fresh in people’s minds when this shocking news came, a mere 14-15 days before the trip to Japan. I don’t know about the fatalities or seriousness of the then existing wave, which in my opinion were very less, mostly due to massive vaccination drive taken up in India in 2021-22 (I recieved 3 doses of the vaccine). I still prayed hard to help keep the active caseload to near zero, prevent serious cases and keep the Japanese borders open for Indians. Thankfully, nothing serious happened and Japanese borders stayed open.
2. The eruption of Mt. Shiveluch: A mere 3 days to go before the trip and this is what I hear. And I mentally kicked myself – why the hell does THIS unknown volcano have to erupt at THIS time? Why? Although there were no reported casualties, yet, the volcano did erupt with quite a massive bang. It’s eruption did threaten air traffic owing to kilometres tall ash plumes injected into the atmosphere. And how could this affect Japan? Well, Mt. Shiveluch is located at a mere 2000 km distance from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido. Its ash cloud already traveled 400 km and its VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) was a staggering 4, which implies that the volcano presents a big reason to worry. Thankfully, the ash clouds didn’t reach the Japanese shores. However, something else did reach Japan.
3. Yellow dust storm from China: A very hazardous dust storm from China crossed the Sea of Japan and reached Japan, which enveloped large swathes of the country in a layer of dust, making it difficult for residents to step out of their homes and flights to operate due to low visibility. This happened a mere 2 days before my trip. My fingers were crossed and again prayers started to help thin out this storm and let people in Japan breathe easy at the earliest. Other than unexpected weather changes, the dust storm didn’t cause too much of an impact to the trip.

Thankfully, these “hard-truths”, though scary, didn’t make the then circumstances unbearable and the trip did happen smoothly. But boy those 3-4 days’ wait was one of the hardest, as that had come at a time when I was literally going paranoid over the lack of travel for the past 2+ years either due to the pandemic or due to work – both beyond my control. But yes, there is no need to fret over it now, as Shakespeare once famously said “All is well that ends well” .. Well, this instance of the trip did end well. The Japanese sojourn has however, merely started for me..

---

The way forward

---

Next, I shall describe my experiences in Japan in my subsequent posts. Do stay tuned for more such content.

Thank you for being patiently there supporting my content. ありがとうございます / Arigatou Gozaimasu

© Abirbhav Mukherjee. All the pictures / videos posted in this article are my own unless otherwise mentioned.