{"id":225,"date":"2022-10-05T15:13:23","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T03:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/?p=225"},"modified":"2024-03-22T15:22:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T03:22:55","slug":"the-long-commute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/?p=225","title":{"rendered":"The Long Commute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was lucky enough to have this piece published in Metropolis Magazine. You can read that version here. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Noto Peninsula was once considered the edge of the world. Throughout Japan\u2019s history, the nation\u2019s rulers banished unruly lords to the rugged, windswept cape. Today, Noto retains that feeling of undisturbed isolation \u2014 cut off from the hubbub of Japan\u2019s more popular locales. <\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n

The name “Noto” is derived from the Ainu (Japan’s indigenous people) word for “big cape.” The landmass juts out into the Sea of Japan – the moodiest of Japan’s seas.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanting an adventure, I explored Noto on my commuter bike. I paid for my passage with sunburn and soreness. In return, I saw a side of Japan that had previously been little more than a blur outside the shinkansen window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My route followed a \u201c\u3064\u201d shape around Noto\u2019s south, east and north coasts. I rode a mamachari<\/em>, or \u201cmother\u2019s chariot,\u201d so named for the bike\u2019s capacity to haul anything from groceries to infants. Mamachari are slow, hulking bikes, seldom used for long trips. So, while I barrelled down Noto\u2019s hills like a bowling ball, I mostly traveled at a jogging pace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On day two I trundled towards Gunkan Jima,<\/em> or \u201cBattleship Rock.\u201d The island features on practically every one of Noto\u2019s brochures\u2014and for good reason. A sight to behold at sunrise, it rises from the sea like a great imposing mushroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gunkan Jima<\/em> is also known as Mitsukejima<\/em> (\u898b\u9644\u5cf6 – roughly “approaching the castle gate”), a name bestowed by the monk K\u016bkai<\/a> on one of his famous travels around Japan. I awoke at 4am to find the beach crowded with photographers hoping, like me, to capture the sunrise. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next to Gunkan Jima<\/em> is Matchmakers Beach. Here, couples can ring the deafening \u201cBell of Everlasting Love.\u201d After I\u2019d soaked in a nearby onsen (and received an enthusiastic tour of the building by its owner), I camped in Gunkan Jima\u2019s shadow. The bell rang all night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Japan\u2019s central government granted Noto \u00a5800 million ($7.31 million) in an effort to help the region recover from the pandemic. During my trip, I saw evidence of this subsidy everywhere; from the shiny new Bell of Everlasting Love to the new signage directing my route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mostly due to geography, the region missed out on much of the prosperity, glitz and amenities enjoyed throughout Japan\u2019s cities. Bereft of Tokyo\u2019s Skytree or Kyoto\u2019s palaces, Noto\u2019s communities had to get creative in order to attract visitors. Infamously, Noto spent a large amount of its subsidy on \u201cSquid King\u201d \u2014 a 13-meter-long fiberglass squid parked by the roadside in Tsukumo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsukumo was once a hub of squid production but had since been mostly abandoned\u2014a familiar tale in rural Japan. To Squid King\u2019s many critics, His Majesty was a frivolous waste of a much-needed handout. Outlets from the New York Times to the BBC reported on the controversy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I rolled through, the town was overtaken by what can best be described as squid-mania. Grandparents nibbled dried squid, couples flaunted matching squid t-shirts, and kids screamed for squid balloons. A recent report found that Squid King had since brought in 22 times his original cost in the last year alone. Clearly, the publicity served Tsukumo well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In taking my time in Noto, I stumbled upon many stories like these that told of a region striving for rejuvenation. For decades now the peninsula, like much of rural Japan, has experienced a demographic decline. The evidence is everywhere, from desolate homes to empty villages. Nonetheless, local governments have found creative ways to overhaul Noto\u2019s cultural scene, meaning this aging region is anything but stale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my third night I camped outside The Suzu Theater Museum, a converted clifftop gymnasium that was once part of an abandoned high school. This museum turns Noto\u2019s gloomy statistics into something hopeful, if not beautiful, by reworking evidence of its shrinking population into works of art. Carefully arranged by local artists, the exhibits display everyday items found within Noto\u2019s many vacant homes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My third night camping outside the The Suzu Theater Museum. Seated on a row of disused schooldesks facing out to sea, I cooked a meal of tuna and rice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arrayed across the walls was family porcelain with no one left to inherit it. Home movies and clips of the sea played on vintage televisions \u2014 their owners having long departed. My visit was melancholy. Yet, it was also inspiring, for it showed a community\u2019s determination to preserve and share the memories of those who had once called Noto home. It\u2019s representative of the peninsula\u2019s knack for adapting its past and present into something worth seeing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A culinary example of this quality can be found in the salt farms on Noto\u2019s north coast, which I rode through on my fourth day. These farms use a method of salt production called agehama<\/em>, a centuries-old technique that requires over ten years\u2019 training to master. The Samurai lords of present-day Kanazawa coveted this salt for its unique taste. Today, the nearby Sio cafe uses it to make pancakes. Light, fluffy and inexplicably crunchy; they were delicious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my fourth and final night, I camped in Wajima, a town on Noto\u2019s north cape famous for its millennia-old crafts industry and weekend market. The town was packed with tour buses, each having traveled up Noto\u2019s central highway from the mainland. The next day, these same buses whisked tourists to Wajima\u2019s scenic rice terraces, stopped at Squid King, then sped back to Kanazawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Wajima's<\/figure>\n
Wajima’s famous rice terraces. Over the centuries, more than one thousand paddies were carved into the hillside. I rested here on my fourth day, having bought an ice cream which melted into a sticky mess thanks to the scorching spring sun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To tour Noto this way is to miss the tales and quirks that make the peninsula truly worth visiting. Though the windswept coast may be quiet, there are treasures and stories to be found in the backwoods. If you travel too quickly, you\u2019ll fly right past them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should you bike, as I did, Noto will certainly extract a fee. You\u2019ll be sore, sunburned and (if unlucky) rained on. Yet, the peninsula will also reward you with an experience no city tour can provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"300<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

300 Koinobori (\u9bc9\u306e\u307c\u308a), or “carp streamers” flutter in the wind in the village of Otani. Koinobori are flown all over Japan from April through to May in honour of the national holiday “Children’s Day.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I watched the last sunset of my trip in Wajima. Tired and filled with grilled fish, I soothed my sunburn in the sea beneath a lighthouse. Squid boats drifted lazily across the horizon, their lights indistinguishable from the stars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I felt a pang of jealousy towards those banished lords who got to live out their days in manor houses amidst this desolate, beautiful land. Sure, threats of decapitation kept them here, but why would they ever want to leave? Between an eternity in Noto and an eternity in Tokyo, give me Noto. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was lucky enough to have this piece published in Metropolis Magazine. You can read that version here. The Noto Peninsula was once considered the edge of the world. Throughout Japan\u2019s history, the nation\u2019s rulers banished unruly lords to the rugged, windswept cape. Today, Noto retains that feeling of undisturbed isolation \u2014 cut off from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japan","category-published-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taliskersh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}