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cycleboy1957I feel I've said this before, but it is often the case that you begin to question ones own society when you witness another.
Yakushima is one of the main places left in Japan where sea turtles come to lay their eggs in significant numbers and there are certain beaches that have restricted access during Turtle Time. On the ferry from Kagoshima to Yakushima there was a room about turtles. Along with information boards about their breeding habits and the problems with plastic pollution. In the room was a tank containing a few examples, but what rather shocked me was that the tank was completely barren of anything except water and turtles. I don't know if turtles get bored, but they'd be pretty well comatosed in that tank. That said, they say turtles do spend years in the open sea, which is pretty well featureless itself. However, would a rock or two been too much trouble?
On a tangential theme; plastic. Given the information panels about the danger of plstic to marine life, turtles especially, it still troubles me that Japanese shops seem incapable of joining the dots. (Almost) everything is sold wrapped in plastic. They then put certain items into small thin plastic bags which are, in turn, placed into a plastic carrier bag. True, many shops now ask if you want the carrier bag, but the other plastic seems unavoidable.
So, my question is:
On landing in Miyanoura, we were met by someone from the car rental we'd booked. Paperwork completed, he handed us the key. Junko had asked about paying by credit card, not carrying that amount of cash with us. "Not here," he told us, "but, as you're staying near the airport, our main office is there so just pop in tomorrow morning." Of course, this is a pretty small island, but even so...
Yakushima is only about 100km right round, but soars to over 1,900m in the middle. Consequently, the scenery is pretty vertiginous. It always was well known for its cedar trees and was heavily logged during the Edo Period (Shogun), primarily for roof shingles. The humid conditions and poor soils mean that the trees grow even slower than elsewhere and are so heavily impregnated with sap the left-overs still litter the forest floor hundreds of years later. One fascinating aspect of growth is to see new trees taking root in the moss growing on the sides of others, both fallen and still growing, then growing together, intertwined.
The drive up to view these venerable giants, many over 30m tall and over 2000 years old, took us up a very steep and winding road. When one corner suddenly got sharper than expected and my bag slid across the rear seat, the car chimed in, "Aggressive steering detected. Please drive safely."
Speaking of roads, one of the road signs still puzzles us. The usual speed limit signs would be familiar to any UK driver and there is another slightly familiar sign indicating 'Unrestricted' (which seems to mean 60kph here) but a blue diagonal stripe, as opposed to black. However, when leaving a restricted speed zone, they invariably place an unrestricted sign directly above the 40 sign (the usual speed for built-up areas). "The 40kph zone is now ended" perhaps? Presumably, but a little confusing to my eyes.
Yakusugiland (Yakushima + Sugi - cedar) is an area with some of the oldest trees on the island and has a well built path around much of it. However, to do the whole trail means departing from the smooth path and on to a rather more challenging one. It's still well marked, but progress is generally pretty slow as you pick your way through tangled tree roots, some rickety wooden steps and over rocks. Still, a memorable walk and hopefully you can view these photos, even if you don't have a Facebook account.
https://www.facebook.com/mark.kuramotoheadey/media_set?set=a.10212780661329465&type=3&uploaded=9
Yakushima is one of the main places left in Japan where sea turtles come to lay their eggs in significant numbers and there are certain beaches that have restricted access during Turtle Time. On the ferry from Kagoshima to Yakushima there was a room about turtles. Along with information boards about their breeding habits and the problems with plastic pollution. In the room was a tank containing a few examples, but what rather shocked me was that the tank was completely barren of anything except water and turtles. I don't know if turtles get bored, but they'd be pretty well comatosed in that tank. That said, they say turtles do spend years in the open sea, which is pretty well featureless itself. However, would a rock or two been too much trouble?
On a tangential theme; plastic. Given the information panels about the danger of plstic to marine life, turtles especially, it still troubles me that Japanese shops seem incapable of joining the dots. (Almost) everything is sold wrapped in plastic. They then put certain items into small thin plastic bags which are, in turn, placed into a plastic carrier bag. True, many shops now ask if you want the carrier bag, but the other plastic seems unavoidable.
So, my question is:
What do we do in the UK that visitors would find equally inexplicable?
On landing in Miyanoura, we were met by someone from the car rental we'd booked. Paperwork completed, he handed us the key. Junko had asked about paying by credit card, not carrying that amount of cash with us. "Not here," he told us, "but, as you're staying near the airport, our main office is there so just pop in tomorrow morning." Of course, this is a pretty small island, but even so...
Yakushima is only about 100km right round, but soars to over 1,900m in the middle. Consequently, the scenery is pretty vertiginous. It always was well known for its cedar trees and was heavily logged during the Edo Period (Shogun), primarily for roof shingles. The humid conditions and poor soils mean that the trees grow even slower than elsewhere and are so heavily impregnated with sap the left-overs still litter the forest floor hundreds of years later. One fascinating aspect of growth is to see new trees taking root in the moss growing on the sides of others, both fallen and still growing, then growing together, intertwined.
The drive up to view these venerable giants, many over 30m tall and over 2000 years old, took us up a very steep and winding road. When one corner suddenly got sharper than expected and my bag slid across the rear seat, the car chimed in, "Aggressive steering detected. Please drive safely."
Speaking of roads, one of the road signs still puzzles us. The usual speed limit signs would be familiar to any UK driver and there is another slightly familiar sign indicating 'Unrestricted' (which seems to mean 60kph here) but a blue diagonal stripe, as opposed to black. However, when leaving a restricted speed zone, they invariably place an unrestricted sign directly above the 40 sign (the usual speed for built-up areas). "The 40kph zone is now ended" perhaps? Presumably, but a little confusing to my eyes.
Yakusugiland (Yakushima + Sugi - cedar) is an area with some of the oldest trees on the island and has a well built path around much of it. However, to do the whole trail means departing from the smooth path and on to a rather more challenging one. It's still well marked, but progress is generally pretty slow as you pick your way through tangled tree roots, some rickety wooden steps and over rocks. Still, a memorable walk and hopefully you can view these photos, even if you don't have a Facebook account.
https://www.facebook.com/mark.kuramotoheadey/media_set?set=a.10212780661329465&type=3&uploaded=9
