Island Time

A three part saga

1)

I was luckily given a week of vacation from the shoe factory. My first idea was to go visit a friend (also a shoemaker) in Sapporo in order to spend some time in cooler, drier weather. After it was clear that this plan was not going to materialize, I had to rethink my possibilities. All of Japan was at my fingertips, the shinkansen(bullet train) was calling for me and my wallet…

I found my next best option in the form of a tiny chain of island of the coast of the Izu peninsula. I figured, if I can’t get any cooler weather, I might as well go for some sand and sun and palm trees. I decided to trade pines for palms. The beach was calling me.

I made the journey down to Tokyo, in order to leave from the nearest, cheapest major port. I have a friend in Akabane who most generously let me stay at his house until the time came (I must give due credit: the island trip was his idea so we went together in addition to another friend). We stayed one night at his house.

The next day we booked our tickets over the phone and made our departure time for 11 pm. The islands all offer free campgrounds, so we decided it would be nice to get some real outdoor experience and camp. We had no gear, so we went off to the nearest sports shop in search of our home for the next two days. We stumbled upon a Sport’s Authority near to the station and ventured in. Upon walking in, we were first taken by a small shelter of sorts with a good price. It was no tent by any means; it was a sun shade for a day at the beach. We got to talking and decided it might be nice to have the moon and sea breeze on us while we sleep. It had a plastic floor and would keep our backs dry as we slept. The structure seemed sturdy, and it was about 1/3 of the price of a proper tent with walls and zipper doors and such. We had a winner.

Next, we needed beds. I found a pile of 999 yen sleeping bags. Easy choice. I didn’t need any cold weather protection, so I figured it would work just fine as a mosquito barrier. One flashlight, and we were done with gear hunting. We were only staying 2-3 days, so we didn’t need a stove or any thing else.

We headed off to Shibuya to play in the hustle and bustle of tourist Tokyo and went shopping for a while. We walked around the endless shopping of Tokyu Hands and looked at a few more camping gear stores. Everything was insanely expensive, of course. We decided we could tough it out, the great outdoors was what we wanted, and we wanted to full experience.

We headed down to the port area, about 20 minutes from Shibuya, and picked up our tickets. We noticed there seem to be substantially more people than normal walking around in Yukata, the traditional summer dress of Japan. There were thousands actually, brightly colored, with the melodic percussion of clacking wooden sandals on the concrete. Eventually, we found out there was a Tokyo bay cruise that gave a discount to anyone in traditional clothing. There were even a few foreigners in Yukatas, it looked like fun. Next time, I thought; the islands were no place for anything but boardshorts.

We ate dinner at an udon restaurant, where I had noodles with duck meatballs. It was delicious and hot. After, we were off for the port to board our ship with the anxious anticipation of the unknown.

Once aboard the boat, we noticed that there seemed to be a standard procedure for enjoying the ride. Most people went down to their assigned seat, dropped off their bags and headed quickly back up on the deck. The deck was full of people who spread out big plastic tarps and used the provided blankets to make a little beds and areas to play cards and socialize. I was dumbfounded. It seemed like the entire population of the boat wanted nothing to do with their seat, they all had staked their claim on some part of the deck and slept or drank beer as the Tokyo bay lights rolled by in the distance. I instantly wished that I had known about this option. This was not the first time on vacation that I would feel this way.

After drinking a few beers, socializing with the other foreigners, and enjoying the view of Tokyo float by, I decided to retire to my seat and get some shut eye. The cabin area was mostly empty, except for one person snoring so loudly that the roar of the engine seemed peaceful in comparison. After tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, I decided to try my hand at sleeping on the deck. I took my sleeping bag out and went out into the hallway, instead of in the wind on the upper deck. There were a few dozen others sleeping in the hallway so I figured, why not give it a shot. I laid out my bag, crawled inside and slept like a baby for about 4 hours, occasionally woken up by some teenagers laughing or a door slamming. The gentle rocking of the boat was quite enjoyable, and I felt somewhat refreshed when I woke up at about 5 am.

The boat had arrived at an island called Oshima, the largest and, from what we read, most touristy of all the islands. Our island, Niijima, was still an hour and a half away. I went up on deck to take some pictures. My camera lens, and glasses, instantly fogged with the moisture of the morning air. I felt like I was swimming through the morning fog it was so dense and heavy. The sunny was rising, casting the sky a dreary and cloudy grey. The air smelled thick like salt, diesel exhaust and spilled beer. There was no body else on the deck anymore, except a young boy who ran off when he saw me. I felt strangely like a pirate arriving on some distant island full of savages.

Our boat docked, unloaded its people and shipping containers and was roaring back to sea within 20 minutes. All around me were tiny, strangely shaped islands, too small for inhabitation. Some were nothing but large rocks with a few trees and grasses sprouting from the top. The water was an indescribable swirl of green and blue with the white foam from the wake of the boat looking like some type of sea water cappuccino. I wanted to dive in right there.

I went back below, bought a coffee and hot cup of soup from the vending machine and went upstairs to eat and enjoy the view. I could see dozens of islands float by, wondering which one was ours for enjoying. They all looked so inviting. As I slurped my noodles, the intercom announced we would be arriving in 20 minutes. My body was exhausted from the ride, but my mind was so excited I couldn’t be bothered with fatigue. We had a whole island to explore. I gathered my bags, found my friends and we were, thankfully, off the boat. It was 7:45 am. We were ready.