D24 JttE Kazuno – Hakodate – Travelling reflections

A really scenic day. Lake Towada is the largest caldera lake on Honshu. It’s fed by the Oirase River. Which itself tumbles 14km down a lovely forest gorge fed by a variety of waterfalls, each different.

It’s also apple growing country and it turns out they are a dab hand at flaky pastry too. So no need to hurry. Just savour sight sound and flavour.

The sombre note was the Snow March graveyard, 199 soldiers (mainly kids) died on a snow practice mission in 1902 when the weather conditions deteriorated. They are buried in order of rank. Doesn’t seem right.

One thing I’ve wondered about is why the traditional ‘British’ blue white and red spinning barbers poles are so common. Wonder no more:

During the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, Japan underwent a rapid modernization and Westernization initiative known as Bunmei-kaika (“Civilization and Enlightenment”). As part of this, the traditional samurai topknot (chonmage) was outlawed in favor of short, Western-style hair. The Japanese government specifically looked to the British Empire as the model for modern men’s grooming. When Western barbershops were introduced to Tokyo in 1871, the traditional striped poles came right along with them.

Today, while barbershops globally use slightly different variations, the red, white, and blue stripe remains the universally recognized indicator of a shop offering classic shaves and haircuts in Japan.

And if you want to know why the colours and pole are what they are, you can look that up….