The first day of our Japan adventure starts with the relatively long flight to Narita Airport which serves the Tokyo area even though it is quite far away (60 km). From the airport we have to take the shuttle bus to our hotel in Narita proper. As the buses come and go we have some trouble identifying to which hotel they belong as some have everything written only in Japanese however luckily the bus drivers always come out with a sign in English so we find our bus and off to the hotel we go.
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| Tokyo (Narita) Airport | Finding the right bus is difficult |
After checking in we go to our room which as we will see throughout Japan is of much smaller size than the ones we are accustomed too in the US and Europe. There is barely enough place to set our luggage but else the room is fully featured with everything needed including a refrigerator. What we need is something to put into it as we are hungry so we go outside trying to find a supermarket where we can buy some food.
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| Typical Japanese room | Very little room |
Right across the street from the hotel is a supermarket but to get there is a bit complicated as we have to use an overpass to the nearby railroad station in order to cross the street. As we will notice during our trip many passages are not really old people/handicap friendly as there are no elevators or escalators. We have fun in the supermarket buying things at random as we cannot understand what they are but most of them are obvious and we want to try as many different things as possible. Still as we do not have yet a car we restrict ourselves to items that we can comsume till next day and then plan on buying stuff from the next supermarket.
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| First supermarket haul in Japan | Sweet products are popular |
In the morning we enjoy the view from our hotel room and eat breakfast from our provisions before starting an early walk to the major tourist attraction in Narita the Naritasan Temple. We pass again through the railway station using the railway overpass but now we descent on the other side of the station and continue down the main shopping road.
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| View from hotel room | Hotel view from the railway overpass |
It doesn't take a lot of time to find out that everything is closed this early in the morning and that it is really hot and humid even early in the morning which makes for an uncomfortable walk. However we do not mind it much as everything is interesting to explore and see and we can make use of one of the features we liked a lot in Japan: ubiquitous soda/coffee machines with quite a varied selection.
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| Streets look deserted | Peaceful temple |
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| Small cemetery | Sunday morning - Shops are closed |
And then after one more twist of the narrow road we are in the front of the main gata of Naritasan temple, the Somon gate. The entrance is suitably impressive for such a large temple and the way to the second interior gate the Niomon gate is lined by traditional stone lanterns. This early there are few visitors so we have the grounds almost for ourselves.
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| - Naritasan Shinsho-ji entrance (Somon Gate) | Traditional lanterns (toro) line the path to Niomon gate |
After the second gate we pass on a small bridge between two ponds and as we examine them closely we notice they are full of turtles and fish. One turtle has even been painted in red and has a symbol on it that we cannot decipher. Right afterwards we have to climb some stairs to the main area of the temple which we do in our own time both to catch our breath and cool down a bit (it is getting hotter by the minute) as well as to examine the different nooks and crannies of the rocks which are full of mythical animals and other sculptures.
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| Who painted the turtle? | Huge stone turtle |
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| Side area on the path to the main temple | Interesting sculpture |
One of the things we noticed almost everywhere on our trip is that maps are frequent and quite a few are translated in English which of course is useful when visiting any attraction. We orient ourselves in front of the map and then start the visit of the main area with the Great Main Hall. As is usual in Japanese temple and shrines (as well as in ryokans and in a few other places) we have to take our shoes off before entering inside however plastic bags are provided so you can take the shoes with you and put them back on wherever you exit which is useful because most temples have multiple entrances. No pictures are allowed inside near the shrines so we take a look at them including the donation box which is usually featured proeminently and then move to the three story pagoda - the first pagoda that we see on our trip and therefore is a real novelty for us.
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| Map of the area | Great Main Hall |
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| Three story pagoda | Pagoda detail |
The sun is really beating down on us in the plaza so we decide to do a walk in the park surrounding the shrine, it is a maintained forest but it gives us much needed shade as we recuperate. There are quite a few shaped bushes interspersed with rocks and the trees also look to be tended closely by the gardeners. We see a lake in the distance and we descent using one of the many footpaths to cool ourselves near the shore (and see some fish).
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| Sculpted garden | View of the lake from a distance |
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| Close to the lake with the now expected fish | Another view of the lake |
We would like to continue our visit however we have to return to the hotel before checkout time so we start to find our way back first near the lake and then up the hill. But before starting our ascent we stop near a huge pagoda that sits further back from the main area and doesn't seem to be visited that often, the great peace pagoda. And then up we go and then down again to the city and through the city which now slowly comes to live to the hotel. We still have time to look at a few food displays, plates with model food so you can see what you get before you enter - a great invention in my opinion especially if you cannot read the menu.
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| Great Peace Pagoda | Signs in the temple park are not helpful |
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| Narita sign - cute | "Model" food - really useful |
After checking out of the hotel we take the shuttle back to the airport and take our rental car and start our "Grand" tour of Japan. Our first stop is at the Boso Fudoki No Oka Museum close by to Narita. Actually we do not enter the museum but what we are interested in are the old burial tombs (kofungun) nearby. First we buy a cold drink from the drink machine though and then we do the very short hike from the parking lot to the burial mound nearby. The tomb cannot be entered but we get as close as we can and walk around bit before going back to the car and moving on.
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| Boso Fudoki No Oka Museum entrance | Ubiquitous drink machines |
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| Old burial mound | Close up of entrance |
The driving on the county road is slow going so we are happy when we hit the toll road and we can start driving a bit faster. Of course when we exit we find out how much it costs but overall it is worth it for the time advantage it gives us so we can visit more things in the limited time we have.
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| Japanese toll road | Huge Buddha in the distance |
As an aside Japan is big on classifying everything in top 3, top 100 and so on which is really useful when trying to decide on what to see. And that is how we decided on our next stop, Kairakuen Garden, one of the top three landscape gardens in Japan. That and it is free which is relatively unusual for a tourist attraction in Japan. It takes a bit to decide where to park but then we orient ourselves a bit using the conveniently placed map and watch the swans jumping down into a canal before starting towards the main area of the garden.
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| Kairakuen Garden map | Swans relaxing in the garden canal |
The walk starts with an overpass (with elevators) that goes above the highway and then passes a few nicely maintained ponds before starting to climb through a wild maintained forest (a common contradiction in Japan). Soon we arrive at a spring which as we find out from a nearby sign, is sacred, which is also common in Japan. There are a few couples drinking and touching the water so we move on climbing to the top of the hill on the trail which has become a boardwalk after the spring.
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| Lake in the garden | Maintained wilderness |
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| Many springs are sacred to the Japanese | Trail through the forest |
After we recuperate a bit from the climb which was easier than in the morning as it is cloudy now and less hot we investigate the bamboo forest nearby, almost expecting to see a panda jump from it..no such luck. Then we finally find what Kairakuen is so well known for - the plum trees. Supposedly it is the place to be in the spring when all the trees are blooming but now it is fall so the trees are not as impressive. But still you can see how old they are and how maintained they are, some are even propped up by multiple planks of wood.
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| Bamboo forest | Famous old plum trees |
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| Trail through the orchard | Trees are sculpted in various forms |
After the plum trees we enter into the more maintained part of the garden with various sculpted bushes and trees. Everything even the distant views look managed to look as beautiful as possible which they do.
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| Typical Japanese Garden view | Everything looks sooo neat |
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| Beautiful tree | View in the distance from the hilltop |
Of course not everything is nature as the garden is interspersed with signs of human habitation including a castle but we focus on the nature part for now - we will have time to visit castles later. As the day draws to a close we hike back to the car and drive to Nikko the city where we will be staying for the night.
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| Old fountain | Descent to another entrance in the garden |
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| Trail back | Small waterfall |
As we arrive it starts raining heavily and we have some trouble to find the hotel but in the end we stop and ask and it actually is our hotel. Actually not a hotel as we decided to stay the night at a ryoka,n a typical Japanese inn. We are aware but still taken a bit aback that we have to take our shoes off at the entrance to the ryokan as we were hoping that this will happen only at the entrance to our room. Luckily there is appropriate footwear at the entrance but it is a bit difficult to carry the luggage in flipflops. To use almost anything in the room you have to sit at ground level, the chairs and table being so low and the comforter for the bed being laid directly on the ground. There is hot water in the tea kettle to make tea and we also have a refrigerator. The one thing we really wanted and took a bit to find in a ryokan is a private toilet which as all Japanese toilets is a bit more high tech than a normal US toilet.
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| Typical ryokan room | The more modern part of the room |
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| Tea is very important to the Japanese | This is a luxury in a ryokan |
After recuperating a bit we go to the lobby which also doubles as a shop to buy and warm something to eat. Full and tired we then retire to our room for the night as we have another full day tomorrow.
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| Souvenir shop inside the ryokan | Everyone must use these inside the ryokan |
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| Toshogu Shrine Panoramic View |
The sleep on the floor is strange and a bit uncomfortable but we are really tired so we have a good night sleep. In the morning the breakfast is included and it is a Japanese breakfast. We are not sure where it is served, initially thinking that it is in the room but there is a dining room where we are served immediately. The only problem is that we have to eat with sticks something that we never tried before. After a few tries however we can get the food to our mouth in most cases without falling on the way so we can now focus on the different foods that are part of the breakfast. Some of them are more or less usual like salad, eggs and tea (even though the tea is green tea) but some are less usual like fermented beans, soup and fish in multiple forms. Overall it is a good filling breakfast after we get used to it.
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| Ryokan from the outside | Japanese breakfast |
One of the reasons we chose the ryokan besides the reasonable price is that it really close to the historical area of Nikko that we intend to visit, which is full of Unesco World Heritage sites. The walk to the first temple the Toshugu temple is short but even in that short distance we find a few small nice temples tucked here and there besides the road. At the entrance to the temple is the five storied pagoda which looks impressive.
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| One of the many temples/shrines in the area | Five storied pagoda of Toshogu |
It is early in the morning so there is almost no one which means no lines when buying a ticket. The entrance is through the Omotemon gate where we present the ticket and are allowed in the exterior courtyard.
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| Torii at the entrance to Toshogu | Omotemon gate |
Almost immediately we notice one of the claims to fame of the site which is the original "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" monkeys carved above the sacred stables. In fact they are part of a story all carved in wood and represented mostly with monkeys above the entrance of the Stables. The other buildings here are also quite interesting as we slowly move towards the second gate and the interior courtyard.
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| Part of the Three Sacred Warehouses | Sacred Stables from a distance |
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| Famous carvings on top of the Sacred Stables |
The original "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" monkeys |
As we turn the corner we notice another sacred fountain where people go and do the ritual of pouring water on themselves that we notice everywhere. There are other buildings, all of them looking great, especially the wood carvings are impressive. We stop and walk along the wall examining them in depth there are birds, real and imaginary, in different stances, all of them masterfully colored and carved.
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| Sacred fountain | One of the many ornate buildings |
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| Detailed wood carvings near Yomeimon | Almost all carvings have birds in them |
The Yomeimon gate which is supposedly beautiful is unfortunately under renovation and hidden by scaffolding so we barely can see anything. Right before it we see a bit off the path the drum tower and Honjido further back but we intend to visit them when we return from the interior area. And so we pass into the interior area through Yomeimon and immediately notice the final gate Karamon which is exquisite with the walls carved again with beautiful wooden details. However the way though it is blocked and so we follow the wall towards another entry gate where after a bit of pointing we understand we can enter with our tickets.
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| Drum tower with Honjido in the background | Karamon the most interior gate |
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| Haiden the main worship hall is behind it | Detail on Karamon gate |
While it is clear that this is not the way to the main hall we are curious what we will discover here that is worthy to be guarded by a separate entrance gate so we look closely and notice the well known (at least in Japan) sleeping cat. While it is a fine carving we cannot wonder if its claim of fame is not created due to the fact that it is one of the few mammals between the multitude of birds carved in the other panels. It stands above a door which is not closed or marked "no entry" so we decide to forge on with our exploration.
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| The well known "sleeping cat" | Another beautiful detail |
The door leads seemingly outside the temple however it is well worn path and well maintained so we decide to examine our materials to see where it might lead especially when we are confronted by a large number of stairs. We deduce that it leads to the tomb of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, he of the James Clavell fame. So we decide to proceed to this historically important tomb, Ieyasu being considered by many as one of the most important men in Japanese history. After a few exhausting flights of stairs we arrived in front of a shrine from which we follow some other tourists around it to find the entrance to the tomb.
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| Trail to the tomb of Ieyasu | Moss grows on all stones |
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| View from the trail | Official tomb entrance |
The urn with Ieyasu's remains is protected by a fence that you can follow around the burial location. Close by is a historical tree which is also venerated and has a prophecy attached to it regarding the bad things that would happen if it died (it is well protected but it is getting old....). After this we climb down the stairs and go to visit the Main Hall that we missed initially as we were distracted by the side entrance.
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| Ieyasu tomb | Historical tree near the tomb |
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| Shrine in front of the tomb | Going down from the shrine |
The inner sanctum is strictly "no photos" and of course "shoes off". Luckily it is not raining as we have to go barefooted a bit before entering. After admiring it for a short time we return to the Karamon gate that we admire more in detail before looking at the collection of carriages and then examining the renovation of Yomeimon. The last place that we stop is Honjido where a guide takes us and a group of Japanese inside and explains the dragon drawings on the wall. Or likely that is what he is doing but he is doing it in Japanese so we have no idea what he is saying but at least we can look around and admire this nice little shrine.
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| Dragon on Karamon gate | Wood sculpted ducks |
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| Collection of carriages | Yomeimon under renovation |
Toshogu Shrine is beautiful and we don't want to leave but we still have lots to see today so we exit it and walk towards Futarasan shrine on a beautiful path guarded by stone lanterns.
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| The stone lantern way | One of the many stone lanterns |
Futarasan is smaller than Toshogu, with a few smaller shrines spread out across the compound. It looks like there is also a separate main building but it isn't open for visit and we have to look from the outside at the ornate interior.
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| Futarasan jinja (shrine) | Entering the shrine |
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| One of the many shrines inside | Main building which was not visitable |
One of the more interesting features of the Futarasan shrine are the holy springs which are nicely landscaped and seem popular for praying.
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| Another smaller shrine | Small holy spring |
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| Torii with some uninteligible (for us) signs | View inside the main shrine |
Right next to Futarasan is another shrine which is part of Rinnoji and contains the mausoleum of the third Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. However due to time constraints we decide not to enter it and just view the impressive entry gate from the outside. As we return using different pathways to the hotel and our car we see quite a few other small shrines and temples on the side some of them appearing to be almost forgotten. There are also some well manicured small gardens - everything looks neat and beautiful. The car is already packed as we had checked out so we can leave relatively fast for our drive through the mountains towards our next accomodation.
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| Nitenmon gate of Rinnoji | God of thunder |
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| Small pathside shrine(?) | Nicely maintained garden |
Our next stop is in Nikko National Park, the Kegon Waterfall, one of the top three waterfalls in Japan. The weather as we arrive is cloudy and foggy and we can't see the views on the drive up the mountain very well. The entrance is paid and we hope that it is worth it as it is quite expensive.
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| Nikko National Park overview | Cloudy and foggy day |
The approach to the viewpoint is really commercial with lots of stands selling foods and a few gift shops. However the waterfall is beautiful and impressive with a length that seems to go on forever. Luckily the fog didn't arrive yet here so we can have a full view of the waterfall. There is a also a tower that you can climb down to for a slightly different view of the waterfall and even an elevator that you can use to go down to the base but that costs quite a bit more so we decide to skip it.
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| Kegon Falls | Close up of Kegon Falls |
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| Detail of Kegon Falls | View in the opposite direction from the falls |
We are already hungry as it is past noon so we settle on what looks to be a safer choice of food and it is quite good even though we have no idea what it was (probably some fish).
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| Interesting food choice | Glad there are some photos with prices |
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| How about this one? | Looks close enough to the photo |
We continue on through the National Park and stop at a signposted area to investigate in further. There is a trail that we follow as it starts to rain but we have our umbrellas with us so we forge on and after a few minutes of walking we discover what the attraction is - some nice rapids that according to the sign are called Ryuzu Falls. It is much less popular and quiet compared to the Kegon Falls and we enjoy walking along the river until the rain picks up and we have to run to the car.
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| Ryuzu falls - roadside stop | More rapids than a waterfall - still impressive |
Our next stop is supposed to be at the Senjogahara moor which has a trail going through it but we fail initially to find any point of access. We turn around and decide to stop at a rest area and examine whether we can access the moor from there and actually there is a boardwalk that goes into the moor to some nice views and an observation point with some descriptive signs about the vegetation and wildlife of the moors.
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| Senjogahara moor view | Boardwalk trail at Senjogahara |
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| Nice vegetation | Another view of the moor |
The drive is quite beautiful on mountain roads through lush forests however the speed limits are quite low. We decide on one more stop to visit an onsen (hot spring) town. We are lucky and we can actually walk through at least part of the hot springs area which is quite interesting with some miniature houses built over some of the springs. And of course the sulphur smell is overwhelming.
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| Yumoto - interesting hot spring area | Paths were passing near the hot mud springs |
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| Close up of a mud spring | Water was looking really hot |
The water feeds a surrounding marshy area which is actually full of birds especially herons and a few doves. They don't seem to mind the smell and seem quite happy so there must be enough food in the marsh.
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| Wonder why they did this? | View from above of the area |
The water feeds a surrounding marshy area which is actually full of birds especially herons and a few doves. They don't seem to mind the smell and seem quite happy so there must be enough food in the marsh. There is also a nearby temple likely built in thanks to the hot springs which are very much appreciated by the Japanese people.
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| Dove using manmade object to get a drink | Heron looking for fish |
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| Looking at us | Onsenji Temple |
Before leaving we decide on a short hike into the mountains which is more strenous than we expected with lots of stairs but we enjoy the vegetation and the great views of the town and the hot springs area.
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| Trail is marked well | Lots of stairs |
Tonight we stay again at a ryokan however first we have to find it. We have a rough idea where it is located but cannot see it anywhere so in the end we enter a building and ask around and find the correct place. What threw us off was that there was no sign in front of the building so there was no way to identify it without asking. The room is typical of ryokans but what we need is actually some food so we ask the owner where the nearest open supermarket is and then go there and buy both hot and cold food so we have enough for today and the following day as we don't have breakfast and we stay one more night at this ryokan.
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| Getting used to typical ryokan rooms | Toilet with space age controls |
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| Obligatory tea | Glad we found something to eat |
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| Additional provisions | Green tea flavored sweats |
We are getting used sleeping on the floor but still it is a bit uncomfortable and we have a bit of trouble just getting up from the ground level mattress in the morning. The view from the hotel window of the city and mountains is quite nice and we can even see our car parked in the parking lot up front. The hotel however is nondescript and even seeing during the day we would not have guessed that it is hotel.
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| Hotel in the morning - we stayed up top | Narrow street in front of hotel |
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| Parking lot for the hotel | View from the hotel window |
Our major goal for today is the Jigokudani Monkey Park to see the well known Japanese monkeys that take especially in winter take hot baths in thermal baths to keep the cold at bay. Our host tells us of an alternate parking spot that is supposedly free but it seems we miss it and find a completely desolate spot that however has a sign to the Monkey Park. As it seems like a nice hike we stop park in a parking lot that likely serves a ski area in the winter and start down on the overgrown trail.
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| Likely not the place where other visitors park | Nice view - looks deserted though |
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| Possibly it is a ski area in winter | Forgotten signs near our parking spot |
After descending for a while we intersect the trail that we should have found originally that goes to the Monkey Park and there is still a bit to walk but the trail from here is level and well maintained. There are quite a few signs and most of them are translated also in English. There aren't many people that early in the morning which makes for a nice hike.
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| Park is a bit farther than we expected | Stairs to our parking spot |
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| Signs are not always helpful | More mainstream path to the Monkey Park |
To our surprise we find quite a few wildlife on the trail from the crab that we notice near a river to a snake that we see in a bush. Given that it is a jungle it shouldn't have surprised us but it does and when we notice our first monkey following us the excitement quickly transform into apprehension as we are alone in the forest on a trail followed by a large monkey.
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| Wild Japanesse chestnut | Not what you expect to see in a forest |
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| This you expect - supposedly it is not dangerous | Is he really following us? |
As he is getting closer we walk faster however at almost the last minute he lazily decides to take a bridge to a village on the other side of the river. Likely he didn't even care about us as he was habituated with humans however we were not habituated with monkeys:).
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| Ok this looks serious | Phew..he was just taking the bridge to the village |
As we were calming down after the excitement we notice a geyser in the distance. This is a surprise and we decide to approach it to examine it closer. As it erupts continuously it seems a bit suspicious and from close up we notice that it actually spouts from an artificial tube so more likely it is an artificial water fountain but it really looks geyser like.
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| Is that a geyser? | Definitely a geyser |
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| Close up view of the geyser | Is the geyser artificial?! |
From the geyser it is a short climb to the visitor center and entrance to the monkey park. While we have seen already one monkey we hope to see more inside and we are not disappointed as there are monkeys everywhere. While it may sound like a zoo the Monkey Park is actually a protected area where monkeys can come and go as they please but there are certain incentives for them to return like food and the hot water in the winter. The park has quite a few visitors that obviously arrived from a different parking spot than us.
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| Visitor center and entrance to the park | Those are really close up pictures |
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| Monkeys here are not afraid of people | There are quite a few young monkeys |
The park is traversed by a fast river which has a footbridge over it (for humans) and a few ropes (for monkeys). The monkeys enjoy the ropes and especially the bucket placed beneath that they use as a resting place.
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| Overall view of the park | Main river flowing through the park |
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| Seems the monkeys enjoy to play with the ropes | Hanging around |
But their preferred spot seems to be the hot spring basin where they sit around lazily or search for food.
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| They even have a hot bath which they enjoy in the winter | Drinking and bathing |
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| Relaxing at the spa | No worry in the world |
And they also seem to like to swim often which in our mind is a good exercise as otherwise they just sit around lazily.
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| Learning to swim | There seems to be food in the water |
The Park has a livecam so you can see the monkeys however it seems that they do not want to cooperate and actually sit on the camera and below it on the wires but not in front of it. But the camera still has a look of the pool where most likely there are at least a few monkeys.
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| Bridge with the live cam | Close up of live cam..what is that below it? |
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| Probably not the safest place | Relaxing bath |
As we return back to the visitor center to exit the park we notice monkeys everywhere in different postures but the most impressive sight is of a mother carrying her child on the back, quite interesting. The walk back to the car is uneventful however just as we enter the car in starts raining so we have to decide what to do in the afternoon given the rain. In the end we decide to go with what our host recommended and to visit Obuse, a nearby town that has a few museums and therefore we can hide inside in case of rain.
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| One of the many monkeys | Some young ones are really lazy |
The biggest concern that we have is whether we will be able to find a parking spot in Obuse and fortunately we find one in the Central Square from which we start exploring the city. As it is not yet raining we start my exploring the narrow side streets and one of the things that Obuse is famous for, its private gardens. Some of them are open to visit and they are well maintained and beautiful.
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| Obuse - Central Square | Obuse - Side Street |
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| Obuse - Garden Area | Obuse - Garden |
The shops are mostly closed though but we still find a few stalls selling the famous Obuse plums so we buy a few and they are quite good.
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| Obuse Store | Interesting display |
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| Stalls near downtown area | Obuse plums |
Suddenly however it starts sprinkling and soon it is a flood so we run to the closest museum to us, the Chinami Gallery. There we discover that we can buy a combo ticket for three local museums and decide to do just that. Chinami Gallery has exhibits of modern Chinese artists and they are interesting and informative however the gallery is relatively small with only 2 exhibition rooms. As we go outside we notice that the rain stopped so we walk fast to the next museum on the combo the Hokusai Museum which is the most well known of the museums in Obuse. Hokusai while relatively little known outside Japan is considered to be one of the greater artists in Japan and the museum is full of his work of arts be it woodblock prints, illustrations of books or paintings of festival floats. It is quite interesting and good as an introduction to Japanese Art.
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| One of the many museums in Obuse | The Chinami Gallery from the outside |
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| Hokusai Museum | Stone Pavement |
Our next stop is the last museum on the list the Takai Kozan Museum. Takai Kozan was a wealthy merchant that brought Hokusai to Obuse and the Museum is his house with a few of paintings. The garden is beautiful and we enjoy it.
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| Takai Kozan Museum | Museum Garden |
You can also go inside (after you remove your shoes) and examine the interior which is sparsely decorated. There are however a few trapdoors and hidden tunnels that could be used to escape if the shoguns soldiers would come to arrest Takai Kozan. Tokai Kozan used the room for political meetings that were not necessarily friendly to the shogun and therefore all these precautions were necessary.
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| Interior where Kozan lived | Interior Detail |
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| Tatami mats | Trap doors to escape the guards if needed |
Before leaving Obuse we have to taste another thing that it is known for - its chestnuts. There is a sweets shop right in the Central Square which is open so we order with a bit of guessing two sweets with chestnuts and they are both tasty and we enjoy them. After this we leave Obuse and start our way back to the hotel.
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| Sweets shop | Obuse chestnuts are famous |
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| Another chestnut sweet | Interesting sign on the table |
However on the way we decide to stop in an Aeon supermarket we have noticed on the way, it is Walmart like in size with lots of different products but mostly focused on clothing. After making a survey of prices and styles we return to the hotel for our homemade dinner and then we go to sleep as we are really tired after this long day.
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| Japanese supermarket | Dinner |
Today our goal is the castle in Matsumoto one of the top three castles in Japan and which is supposedly well preserved and impressive. On the way however we stop at a rest area which like quite a few of them is trying to built itself in an attraction by itself. This one has a reconstruction at scale of a large battle that happened nearby with the location of armies, hills, observation towers and rivers reconstructed faithfully. Unfortunately the information is only in Japanese so it is difficult for us to undrstand what really happened and why it was important. In addition the restroom has one of the most sophisticated toilets we have seen in Japan including a selection of music multiple jet sprays and powers and so on. The rest areas are plentiful which makes sense given the high cost of the tolls and they are fully equipped with restaurants, vending machines and sometimes gift shops.
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| Battle of the parking lot | Battlefield reconstruction at scale |
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| Rest area bathroom | It even has music selection!! |
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| Highway toll ticket | Japanese highway |
We are a bit confused initially how to find parking in Matsumoto but we pick up a P sign and follow it to the official parking on the north side of the castle. Before going to the castle however we visit the Kaichi School to the north which was one of the oldest schools in Japan and is now an education museum even though we didn't see the entrance. Returning towards the parking lot and the castle we visit a nearby typical Japanese shrine with quite a few lazy pigeons.
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| Kaichi school in Matsumoto | Sidewalk separated by bushes |
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| Temple near parking lot | Lazy pigeons |
We take a look at the map to get our bearings and head towards the castle which is quite near and almost immediately visible through the trees.
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| Maps are also in English and helpful | First view of the castle |
As we continue walking towards the castle we arrive at the moat which surrounds the castle. We follow it around and it is quite beautiful being in places covered with lotus flowers both white and pink and with the castle in the background it looks really pictoresque.
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| The moat is really pictoresque | Lotus flowers were seemingly everywhere |
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| There are even a few pink ones | Closer view of the lotus flowers |
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| Focusing on one of the lotus flowers | Close up view of the flower |
The castle is really impressive especially the keep, it looks impossible to conquer without cannons at least. There is a bridge over the moat but it is not the main entrance so we continue searching for it and circling the castle.
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| Matsumoto Castle and the moat | Red bridge over the moat |
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| Imposing castle keep | Moat is full of fish |
The view of the castle changes as we approach the main gate, actually there are two gates defending the entrance and between them is the ticket booth where we pay for the entrance before proceeding to the castle grounds.
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| View from a different direction | Keep is really imposing |
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| Entrance to the castle and admission booth | Entrance through the second set of walls |
Th castle grounds are a new addition, initially there would have been barracks/homes inside but after the castle was rebuilt they decided to create a garden that actually accentuates the imposing keep even more.
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| Nice decorations on the gate | Keep from up close looks impenetrable |
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| Inside garden | Trail in the inside of the castle |
Our ticket also includes entry to the main keep but before entering we have to take off our shoes and take them with us which makes climbing some stairs a bit tricky. The information inside is written in both English and Japanese which is really useful. There are no furnishings in the interior which leaves little to distinguish one floor from the other as we climb up to the 5th floor. The keep has some interesting features including different window slits for arrows as guns as well as openings where stones could be dropped on the invaders below. One talked about feature is the fact that one of the floors is not visible from the outside, no windows or any openings, where likely the lord of the castle would have resided during any sieges.
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| Those are gun openings | Keep entrance and shoe removal area |
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| Stone drop opening | No furnishings in the interior |
The stairs to the last floor are much steeper and difficult to negotiate with a few people hitting their head on a beam that is low above the stairs. Likely this is also a defensive feature of the castle to make conquering it more difficult. But now for visitors this makes it a bottleneck with quite a few people waiting both at the top and the bottom for a chance to go up or down.
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| Stairs down..we are going up though | Interior view |
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| Stairs to last floor are much steeper and dangerous | Which leads to a bottleneck at the top |
The views however from the top are worth it with a panoramic view in all four directions. We can also see the rain coming in the distance but we hope that we can still finish our visit before the rain starts.
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| But the views are worth it | Castle grounds view |
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| View towards the red bridge | Another decorative fish |
As we start descending we catch another glimpe of the red bridge and suddenly there are swans next to it. No idea where they appeared as we didn't see them before so possibly they were wild swans or maybe tame ones that were taking a stroll through the park.
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| Swans have appeared near the bridge | Close up of swan |
Descending further we enter into the museum that is housed inside the keep and is dedicated to weapons especially firearms used in the medieval times. It is quite interesting to see the variety of weapons including rocket launchers and cannon used by the Japanese in their struggles against each other.
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| Interesting gun illustrations | Historical guns |
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| Some of the guns are huge | Useful tools with old guns |
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| Model of medieval rocket launcher | Cannons were used frequently in warfare |
After leaving the castle we take a stroll through the downtown area arriving at the former outer moat of the castle, now a river mostly encircling the downtown area and we continue along it on a shopping street that likely lies where the former wall once stood. Unfortunately most stores are closed so we decide to return back to the castle area and visit the city museum nearby.
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| Matsumoto street | Former outer moat of castle |
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| Commercial area - mostly not open | Interesting sculpture |
On the way however we cannot resist entering a roadside shrine which is again full of lazy pigeons just sitting on the ground. And we are also hungry so when we find an open fast food joint we buy what it sells without knowing what it is but the food is quite good and filling.
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| Streetside temple | Lazy pigeons, again |
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| What should we order? | Our choice |
The museum has an interesting contraption outside that we identify as an umbrella holder where a coin is held as guarantee that you will return to get your umbrella. As we were hauling our umbrella through the city this was welcome and we left it there while visiting the museum. The museum is small but interesting showing how the people lived in the area across the centuries.
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| Umbrella holder in front of museum | Historical furniture |
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| Trojan horse? Probably not | Interesting float |
After exiting the museum it is a short walk to the car and on we go towards Takayama our stop for the night. We decide however to stop at a roadside area that catches our eye due to the large bridge next to it with nice views of the mountains and the hills. The rest area itself is like a farmers market and also has a gift shop so we buy some milk and a few souvenirs before continuing on.
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| Bridge at roadside stop | View from bridge |
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| Tomatillos are everywhere in the world | It was huge |
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| Map of the rest area | View of rest area with shopping inside |
As we approach Takayama it starts to rain steadily and heavy which makes it a bit difficult for us to enter the hotel as the parking area is a bit farther away from the hotel. However the doorman is offering us a large umbrella that we use to bring our belongings safely inside. The hotel is more high end than the previous ones that we stayed in with the room actually being split in two with an European part with beds, tables and the normal amenities and a Japanese one with all the traditional amenities.
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| Hotel from outside | Modern part of room |
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| Traditional part of room | Beautiful painting |
Besides the usual onsen (hot spring bath) it also has a huge souvenir shop and traditional handicraft stand but we are interested in restaurant. There are seven to choose from and we choose one which is at the top of the hotel with great views (if it wouldn't rain) of the area. It is a Chinese restaurant with interesting options like birdnest soup and sharkfin soup but we go with octopi and Hida beef which is the traditional beef of the area. The food is very tasty and satiated we go back to our room to recuperate for the next day.
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| Souvenirs in the hotel shop | Interesting handicraft in shop |
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| Octopi dinner | Hida beef dinner |
We start relatively early this morning but before checking out we enjoy the great views from the hotel windows that we couldn't see the day before due to rain and the fact that it was dark when we arrived at the hotel. There is a huge temple in the distance that we identify as the Main World Shrine the headquarters of the Sukyo Mhikari sect founded in 1959 by a Japanese businessman. Supposedly it is impressive also inside but we don't have time to visit it this time. After checking out we leave our luggage in the car and walk towards the old town of Takayama which is relatively nearby.
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| View from the window | Close up of Main World Shrine in the distance |
Takayama was once an enclave of skilled woodworkers which can be seen in the architecture of the majority of the old houses. Our first stop however is the morning market which is hyped in multiple guidebooks as interesting however it is a letdown for us with only a couple booths with vegetables and the tourists by far outnumbering the locals.
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| Takayama street | Stores in Takayama |
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| Morning Market - lots of people, few sellers | One of the few stands at the Morning Market |
As we walk across the river towards the old area we notice lots of small interesting details, a water fountain here, a landscaped area there which makes investigating the little nooks of the area exciting.
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| Landscaped area near a water fountain | Quiet area with stone benches |
Investigating the area we find a free museum that we decide to enter. It is a traditional like house used as government office for some time (even now part of it is still used). It is quiet inside and it has a nice interior garden, what we find most interesting though are the "prehistoric" calculators and computers in an upstairs exhibition.
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| Museum entrance | Inside the museum area |
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| Inside garden of the museum | Official room with old TV |
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| Really old calculator | More recent but still ancient computer |
Before entering the old town area we decide to climb up the nearby hill where the feudal lord castle once stood. There are only foundations to be seen now at the top but the walk through the houses and forest is invigorating (it is not yet that hot) and we also have great views of the city below.
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| Going up to the top | Shrine on the way |
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| Higher up the trail goes through the forest | View of the city from higher up |
Returning down we finally enter the old town area exploring first the main street running through the old town area. It is here we can see most clearly that this was the city of carpentors with wooden houses and temples everywhere. It seems quite popular with Japanese tourists which are everywhere. On the sides of the street is the old canalization which I think is still really useful given the rain the day earlier.
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| Main street in Takayama | Traditional wooden house |
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| Old sewer system | Shrine on the main street |
Almost all houses are now souvenirs shops mostly pottery and wood based carvings and we cannot resist buying some from one of the cheaper stores. We also find a cheap food stall selling some non-identifiable balls of food as snacks and we buy a couple and they are quite good.
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| Lots of people are visiting the old town | General view of the main street |
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| One of the many souvenirs shop | Interesting entrance |
While we are eating we also see a few hand drawn carriages which potentially could carry people around through the downtown area but we do not see anyone using them. As it is almost noon we decide to return to the car as we still have another stop planned for today. On the way however we notice an interesting food stall which sells something that we haven't tried yet and as we are still hungry we buy a couple of plates and they are great and quite filling.
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| Fewer people on this sidestreet | Hand drawn carriages |
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| No idea what it is about but interesting | Great food from streetside stall |
The second place we intend to visit today is close to Takayama but when we arrive there it appears to be in a different century. It is a rural area that has been mostly isolated from the surrounding countryside especially during the winters till the 20th century and it still maintains its traditional Gassho-zukuri(praying hands) architecture which is supposed to protect the roofs from collapsing from too much snow in the winter. Because of this it is an Unesco Heritage site and this is how we found out about it. It takes a bit to find the parking area which is huge and full of Japanese tour buses which we did not expect given the isolation of the area. The side of the river we are on is mostly recreated houses so we decide to cross the river on the nearby bridge to the main village on the other side to explore it.
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| Gassho-zukuri (praying hands) house | Visitor center |
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| Bridge to the Shirakawa-go village | Large river |
The village is in an area abundant in rains and it seems that it is full of lakes, and small creeks that follow the footpaths along the houses We look and find the visitor center relatively fast and it has a good map that we use to orient ourselves.
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| Map of the village | Path near irrigation channel |
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| Rustic scene | Water lilies/Lotus flowers field |
There are relatively few stores especially for a tourist destination as popular as Shirakawa-go appears to be. There are a few streetside shops selling snacks and one or two selling souvenirs and drinks.
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| Interesting drink cooler | One of the few souvenir shops |
Almost all houses in the village have a rice paddy and it looks almost taken from a historical book about Japan - you almost expect samurai's to appear after every corner.
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| Rice field and traditional houses | Rice close up |
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| Village view | Everything seems to have some historical significance |
There are quite a few wildflowers especially in a few fallow rice paddies. There are creeks everywhere feeding the rice paddies and a few small lakes.
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| View across the field | Wildflowers(?) growing in the fields |
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| "Ducks" in the water | Where there is water there are fish |
We continue walking through the village enjoying the sights and trying to reach one of the three houses that you can actually visit inside. Everything seems interesting to us, the houses, the rice paddies, the canalization canals near the walkways.
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| Water lily field | Flowers seem to be everywhere |
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| Quaint path through the village | Great view of the village |
We reach the Wada museum house the largest remaining Gassho style house in Shirakawa-go and one of the three houses that you can actually visit. It was the home to an official who dealt in raw silk and it was built in the late Edo Period. You can visit both the ground floor and the attic with the ground floor being sparsely furnished with a few interesting objects including a nice painting and a shrine.
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| Wada house and field surrounding it | Almost all houses seem to have a rice field |
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| Shrine inside museum house | Beautiful painting |
Upstairs and part of downstairs there are also lots of exhibits regarding the growing of the silk worms but the descriptions are mostly in Japanese only. Still it is interesting to see how they were grown and where they lived as well as the tools used to create the silk threads.
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| Traditional utensils | Storage containers |
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| Silk worms were grown here | This is where silk worms lived |
From the top there are quite a few nice views of the village and the surrounding houses. A small lake is also nearby unfortunately with no fish.
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| View from museum window | Close up of house |
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| Village view from the museum | Lake near rice field |
After visiting the museum we return to towards the car but we are already hungry so we decide to but some food from a street vendor. The snacks are quite hot so we have to wait a bit before eating them (and we also need something to drink from a drink machine which is in the parking area). In the end we sit down near the river and people watch the Japanese who cross the bridge while eating the quite good snacks.
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| Interesting packaging from the street vendor | Typical roadside food |
And then it is back to the car as we have a long drive ahead of us to Kyoto. It is also slow going as there are lots of tunnels and quite a few trucks initially and later on we get on the Tokyo-Kyoto/Osaka highway during rushhour which makes for slow going. We arrive relatively late in Kyoto and our hotel is a bit of the more touristic routes so we are lucky to be able to find it relatively fast. It is a quite a large room with a few interesting amenities that we enjoy during our two nights there. After eating dinner from our provisions we go to sleep as tomorrow is a long day where we intend to visit Kyoto and especially the Emperor's Palace.
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| Another rest area attraction | Do they really have to warn people about that? |
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| One of the many tunnels on our way to Kyoto | Kyoto here we come! |
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| Imperial Palace - Central Square |
Today we have a full day dedicated to Kyoto, the old imperial city of Japan. However breakfast comes first - luckily it is included in the room price and we have a choice between a few food items. What we get is something similar to a lunch in Europe which will be really useful during the tiring day that we will have in Kyoto.
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| Breakfast for one person | Dried algae sheet |
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| Another breakfast | Close up of soup |
The hotel is a bit outside of the main Kyoto area so we walk to the subway station and take the subway to the Kyoto Central Station. The Central Station is a modernistic building enlarged in the '90s which is impressively large including underground shopping malls and a department store. From the station we walk towards the first attraction of the day, To-ji one of the many temples in Kyoto.
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| Kyoto Central Station | Inside the Central Train Station |
To-ji is a historic temple founded in 794 by Emperor Kammu which permitted only two temples within the interior city wall with the other temple being long since gone. We enter through the east gate and the first view is not that impressive with a large parking lot and a few scattered buildings. The most attractive feature seems to be a nice lotus flower pond with a few turtles and ducks.
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| First view of To-ji | East entrance gate of To-ji |
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| View across the lotus pond | Close up of lotus flowers |
We are not yet sure if we want to enter the paid, enclosed part of the temple complex and instead decide to walk in the outside area first to see if there is anything worth seeing in the enclosed area. As we leave the main area we are almost alone in exploring the outside area and we discover two large halls, Ko-do and Kon-do, that can be entered from the enclosed area. As we reach the south side a friendly Japanese volunteer(?) offers to tell us the history of the temple and convinces us that the statues in the halls and the pagoda are worth seeing.
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| Large pathway inside the temple | Ko-do building |
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| Kon-do building | Close up view of the buildings |
And the pagoda is actually one of the main attractions of the temple complex as it is the tallest one in Japan and quite and old one being erected in 826. We catch a glimpse from the south side but it is mostly covered by trees so we decide to enter the enclosed area and see what can be seen from the inside. From the paid area the view is better however the sun is not helping with the pictures that we try to take. Ko-do and Kon-do both have a large collection of statues especially of Buddha, all of them huge and impressive. They are also a good place to catch our breath as it is cool and shaded inside.
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| Southern gate and the five story pagoda | Pagoda is difficult to photograph |
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| Tallest pagoda in Japan | Quite a bit of green space around the pagoda |
There is a nice ornamental pond near the pagoda with benches and paths and great views of the pagoda. Similar to other maintained ponds we have seen it has ducks and turtles and the ubiquitous fish.
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| Lake near pagoda | Where there is water there are ornamental fish |
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| Ducks relaxing | Turtles are also revered (or at least protected) |
After exiting To-ji we move north towards Nishi Hongwan-ji another temple in Kyoto. In fact Kyoto has it seems hundreds of temples from which tens are historically important but with us having only one full day we decided to focus on a few of them and then visit the Imperial Palace. On the way to Hongwan-ji we pass through a few typical residential areas which is interesting just for the fact that we spend most time in tourist areas which are not necessarily typical of how a typical Japanese person lives.
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| View from an overpass bridge | Residential Kyoto |
We arrive at Nishi Hongwan-ji a temple of one of the most popular and wealthy Buddhist sects Jodo Shinshu founded in the 12th century. Initially we arrive at the southern door which is beautifully decorated but unfortunately closed so we have to walk around the complex to identify the correct entrance.
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| Nishi Hongwan-ji south entrance - closed | Close up of door |
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| Animal detail on door | Leopard or demon? |
We find the entrance on the east side and are surprised at the size of the complex. It has a separate building that acts as a visitor center, multiple panels with detailed information about the complex in English and overall seems very tourist oriented. There are queues of students trying to enter the main hall, Goeido (Founders Hall) but somehow we manage to avoid them during our wanderings.
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| Detailed information of the temple | Visitor center |
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| Entrance to Hongwanji | Long queue of students visiting the temple |
We wander around quite a bit both in the old temple halls that surprisingly we can take photos in and in the newer build halls. In fact we almost get lost in the new complex and get a bit cold at the feet (shoes of course have to be taken off). The new complex feels almost new and we wander through modern amphitheathers art displays without no other soul around us. Finally we find an exit and we hurry outside as we need to rush to the Imperial Palace for our tour - one of the few English speaking ones.
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| One of the inside temples | View from the inside |
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| Inside of the Founder's Hall | Nice paintings |
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| Imposing gate | Lazy pigeons |
There is no subway station nearby so we have to walk for about 15 minutes through the old area until finally finding an entrance and then it is off to the Imperial Palace. Luckily we know where to go but still the distances are misleading and we almost don't make it in time it seems. As we hurry near the Palace we are surprised to see that the workers maintaining the side streets are not spraying the weeds but are actually taking them out one by one which seems like a Sisyphus type of work but then see also later on in other parts of Japan.
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| Kyoto old town area | Hand picking weeds |
We arrive at the Imperial Household Agency in time and are directed to the correct entrance and after they check our reservation we are united with our tour group in an AC cooled room where they show us a movie about the palace before finally starting with the tour. There are quite a few people in the tour, a mix of both European and Japanese tourists. The guide is quite good pointing things like the seal of the Japanese Royal Family with interesting explanations however many times we are too far away from her to hear her so we just read the brochure and take pictures.
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| Tour group - just starting | Tour group - admiring one of the buildings |
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| The emblem of the Japanese Royal Family | Golden detail on the Okurumayose entrance |
There are many interesting details, carved, sculpted or painted as we walk around. One of the more interesting ones are a few drawings inside a few rooms that were the waiting rooms before an audience with the emperor. They were named after the paintings - Cherry Room, Tiger Room and so on.
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| Detail on a gate | Drawings with tigers |
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| Cherry blossoms are a favorite theme | A well known tiger drawing |
After some walking we arrive at the gates for the inner courtyard that cannot be entered. The wall and the gates are painted in red and white in contrast with the more neutral tones of the other buildings. Through the Jomeimon gate (main gate to the inner courtyard) we can see the main palace building where the emperor was receiving visitors in days past.
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| Gate to the Inner Courtyard (Dantei) | Getting closer |
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| View through Jomeimon Gate | Main Palace Building (Shishiden) |
Opposite Jomeimon is Kenreimon Gate through which is open only for the emperor and foreign visitors. The emperor we learn was not allowed to touch the ground so he was carried everywhere by servants or he had a mat unrolled before him so he could walk on it.
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| Kenreimon Gate | Chrysanthemum - Imperial seal |
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| Kenshunmon gate - another main wall gate | Interesting building |
Next point of interest is Seiryoden which was the private emperor area, where he slept, ate, held ceremonies and so on. What attracts they eye is the tented Imperial throne - Micho-dai, unfortunately we cannot catch a glimpse of the throne. The emperor had a pretty rigidly scheduled life including hours of ceremonies meant to ensure that the gods remain pleased.
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| Some areas look empty | Seiryoden-Private emperor area |
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| Interesting entrance | Annual events and ceremonies |
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| Micho-dai-Imperial throne | Close up of Micho-dai |
There are quite a few other buildings that we pass, with a few of them having nice artwork including traditional Japanese paintings. Some of these buildings were used as administrative buildings and some were the courtiers/princes lived.
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| Building near maintained trees | Close up of stairs |
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| One of the few remaining paintings | The seal is everywhere |
One of the most beautiful spots in the palace in our opinion is the Oikeniwa garden with a great pond full of fish that even a heron could not resist. The tour path skirts the garden which is unfortunate as we would have liked to explore it more throughly. And then just like that we are back were we started and we take a final look at the palace through the well trimmed trees before moving on to the next order of business...finding something to eat as we are starving.
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| Find the bird | Oikeniwa garden...peacefuk |
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| Path through the garden | Typical Japanese bridge |
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| Palace is almost lost between the trees | Well maintained trees |
Actually finding lunch isn't that different as the gift shop nearby has also a small restaurant where we eat a good and filling lunch before continuing on through the park. The park actually was the private garden of the emperor previously but now it is a public park even though you can still see the path that the emperor and foreign dignitaries were brought in. There are also mosquitoes here so we don't linger and find a subway station so we can go to our next destination - Pontocho street.
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| Lunch near Palace | Easier to eat with chopsticks |
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| Path through the park | Obligatory ducks |
Pontocho street is a narrow street running in parallel to the Kamo-gawa river with many traditional restaurants and shops. We do some window shopping before walking to the nearby arcade for a more modern take on shopping. The shopping streets are full of people which is a change from the park where there were relatively few people. We buy a few things before returning back to the subway that we take back to our hotel. On the way back we do some supermarket shopping so we have provisions for the next days.
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| Crossing the Kamo-gawa river | Pontocho street |
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| "Chinese" lantern | Interesting food options |
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| Kyoto arcade | Thought this exists only in Osaka? |
Today we are leaving Kyoto and driving towards the neighboring island of Shikoku. There are 3 road links of the mainland with Shikoku and the one closest to us is near Kobe. In order to pass we have to take a bridge to the intermediary island of Awaji and then a second bridge to Shikoku. The drive from Kyoto to Kobe is how we expected the driving throughout Japan to be -suspended road zipping through skyscrappers with the city and the road being sandwiched between the ocean and the mountain. The bridge known as the Pearl Bridge comes almost unexpectedly and it is huge with the largest middle span of a suspension bridge in the world. It is an impressive sight and we search for a place to stop after we arive on Awaji to take a better look of the bridge from outside the car.
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| Driving through Kobe | Suspended highways of Kobe |
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| Akashi Kaikyō Bridge or Pearl Bridge | Largest middle span in the world |
We stop in the first rest area and even though the bridge is distant we enjoy the view and also the other different attractions in the rest area including a carousel, a Lovers Sanctuary and quite a few roadside fast food restaurants. It seems like the whole island is here spending the day. We decide to taste the fried octopus which is quite good before leaving to our next goal the Naruto Whirlpools which are under the bridge to Shikoku.
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| Rest area - Lovers Sanctuary | Funny sign |
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| Rest area food vendor | Fried octopus - quite good |
The parking lot at near the Naruto bridge is almost full but luckily someone just leaves and the attendant waves us in even though he is a bit annoyed at our parking skills in the tight place. It turns out that we arrived at a prime time to view the Naruto Whirlpools which are best seen at low/high tide and there are a lot of Japanese tourists. We walk following the most obvious path towards the bridge and notice a catwalk going to a viewpoint further up which to our surprise is free to enter with no entry fee.
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| Naruto bridge | Not for tourists |
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| View of the bridge with Shikoku in the background | Walkway towards the view |
The Naruto Whirlpools are a natural phenomenon that happens when the tides force the water through the narrow straits between Shikoku and Awaji. It is interesting and there are a lot of boats trying to get as close as possible but it is not as impressive as we expected. But we enjoy the views of Shikoku and Awaji island with fishermen and trade boats plying the waters.
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| First view of Naruto whirlpools | Bridge pillars |
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| Boats approaching the whirlpools | Fishermen plying the seas |
The whirlpools look more like rapids to us but they are huge and we admire the people who get really close to them in order to observe them from close up. We observe them from our safe perch high on the bridge but still it looks a bit dangerous to us. As we enjoy the views suddenly it starts to drizzle so we have to get back to the car and continue on our journey.
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| Speedboat getting close to the whirlpool | Whirlpool with Shikoku in the background |
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| Close up of whirlpool | Rough water in the whirlpool |
The next place we explore is the location of a very popular Japanese movie "Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World" which is an adaptation after the novel "Socrates in Love" by Kyoichi Katayama. We found about it by accident and as we wanted to explore a bit we decided to do the short sidetrip. We park at the bottom of the hill and climb to the viewpoint which is a grand view of the bay and the small village surrounding the bay. There were quite a few locks chained to the fence a habit that appears to be more and more common in what are considered romantic places. Nearby is a small shrine that we visit before returning to our car for the short trip to Yashima temple.
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| Location of "Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World" | Love locks |
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| Idyllic view | View from the shrine |
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| Shrine at the top of the hill | Sculpture nearby |
Yashima is the site of a famous battle for Japan between the Taira and Minamoto clans where the Minamoto clan surprised the Taira's by coming from land instead from the sea. For us the major attraction is the Yashima temple stop #84 on the Shikoku temple pilgrimage route (out of 88 temples). The road up is exhilarating with many great views and sharp curves, unfortunately it is also a toll road, quite an expensive one to boot.
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| Yashima top parking area | Helpful map |
The temple is quite close to the parking lot and we see quite a few pilgrims which are identifiable by their white clothing. It is a nice smallish temple with an impressive gate and a few interesting buildings and shrines.
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| Yashima Temple Entrance | Yashima Temple |
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| Inside Yashima Temple | A smaller shrine |
One of the more interesting shrines is the shrine dedicated to the Yashima Taburo Badger, one of the three famous badgers in Japanese folklore. It has two large statues guarding the entrance and a small shrine covered with a multitude of badgers of all sizes and shapes - quite nice.
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| The Yashima Taburo Badgers | Entrance to the Badger Shrine |
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| Peeking inside | Close up of stone Badger |
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| There he is...the Yashima Badger | Will the real badger please stand up? |
We take a closer look also at the main shrine which has some great roof detail and at the gardens which as usual are well maintained and beautiful.
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| View of main shrine | Roof detail |
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| Temple garden | Ancient water container |
We exit the temple and walk through a shopping street that unfortunately is already mostly closed towards the rim of the plateau on which the temple sits. On the way we stop to examine the different murals and statues lining the path including one about the Yashima battle.
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| Protector statue | Interesting sculpture |
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| Mural about the Yashima battle | Scary dragon |
The view of Takamatsu and the interior sea from the viewpoint is impressive especially with the fog making the islands in the distance seem a bit surreal. We sit down and enjoy the views for some time before making our way back to the car and the bottom of the hill.
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| View of Takamatsu | View of the surrounding islands |
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| Road through the forest | Islands lost in fog |
We stop for a few minutes at the bottom where there is a open air museu with typical houses from the region however it is closed. We visit what we can on the outside including a nice windmill near a restaurant. There is also rather incongruously a typical British phone booth - it seems really out of place.
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| Windmill at the Village Museum | The usual sacred fountain |
The hotel room is really small and in fact we have been a bit spoiled by the previous hotels as this will be the typical room size from now on. However it is cozy and it has a nice origami bird on the bed.
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| Inside the mini-room | Nice touch in the room |
As there still is a bit of time we decide to see Takamatsu at night. First we walk through the arcade that is right in front our hotel and do some shopping before walking on to the castle. Our assumption was that we can at least see it at night but it was closed off completely so we decide to return and find something to eat for dinner.
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| Takamatsu Central Arcade | Takamatsu at night |
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| Takamatsu street | Wall of former Takamatsu Castle |
What we choose is what appears to be a noodle shop however after entering we discover it is a Italian restaurant (which in the end is a noodle shop also). The food is good including all you can eat baked goodies which were different every time the server brought them to our table. Full we go back to the hotel and crash for the night.
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| Which one should we choose? | Italian food in Japan |
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| Ritsurin Garden - Takamatsu |
The major reason that we stopped in Takamatsu for the night is that we want to see the renowned Ritsurin Garden considered to be one of the top three in Japan. It is relatively close to the hotel but we do have to check out and therefore take the car to the garden. The parking lot is different from the ones we have been till now in Japan, if you pull in then a bar raises beneath the car and you cannot pull out until you pay which we hope we will be able to do when exiting. Ritsurin is a huge garden and we decide to focus on the west side in the couple hours we have here. Right at the entrance we receive a free English speaking guide who is really helpful in explaining the garden features even though sometimes he pushes us to move forward faster than we intended.
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| Map of Ritsurin | Parking lot |
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| Entrance to Ritsurin | Landscaped area |
Right after the entrance are a few buildings including a large one that together comprise a museum/shop complex. We cannot stay initially as our guide pushes as forward but we return later and it is quiet mostly and it has a few interesting exhibits about the history of the garden and the city. Right next to it is Oteue-no-matsu a group of pine trees which were planted by members of the imperial family.
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| Museum in the Garden | Close up of museum/shop |
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| Japanese volunteer guide | Oteue-no-matsu - Beautiful shaped trees |
The whole garden is based on the interplay between rocks, trees and water. It is difficult to know what is natural and what is artificial landscape and what not when even the stones are brought sometimes from large distances. One example of this is Tsurukame-matsu which is landscaped to resemble to a crane (the pine tree) on a turtle (the stone arrangement). That doesn't deter from the enjoyment of the garden with the well landscaped trees and stones placed in strategic places for maximum impact. There are of course also birds including pigeons and turtles and fish in the ponds.
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| Very old trees | Tsurukame-matsu - Fusion of rock and trees |
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| Wild(?) pigeon | Turtles in the ponds |
One of the attractions of Ritsurin is the two rows of interleaved pine trees grown for over 100 years just so in shape that they create a wall on both sides of the path. The smaller pine trees on the south side are called Hako-matsu (box shaped pine trees) while the larger ones on the north side are Byobu-matsu (folding screen shaped pine trees).
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| Byobu-matsu - difficult to grow | Close up of Hako-matsu interleaved trees |
There are of course also quite a few small creeks with bridges passing over them. The paths that we are walking on become narrower and quieter as most people use the main path through the garden. And in the creeks and especially ponds there are fish. Lots of them. And some them seem really hungry and jump around out of happiness when seeing us hoping that we will give them some food.
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| View from the bridge | Beautiful path |
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| Crazy fish | Crazy for food |
There are quite a few named stones and we try to keep track with them as much as possible - that is in shape of lion, that is in shape of a peony and that is - well there is no shape there of course:). Soon we arrive at a small tea house (Higurashitei) built in soan style with a thatched roof in 1898. It is a good place to relax but soon we are pushed forward by our guide towards Seiko an artificial pond just north of the teahouse.
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| Interesting stone in shape of peony(Botan-ishi) | Stone in shape of a lion (Mikaerijishi) |
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| Entrance to Higurashitei teahouse | Sculpture in front of Higurashitei |
Seiko is a beautiful pond with lotus flowers covering it and a red cliff (Sekiheki) providing a great contrast against the green of the garden. Sekiheki is named after the famous cliffs of the Yantze river which were immortalized in the famous prose-poem "The Red Cliff" by Su Shi. We don't know this of course but both the guide and the informative signs do a good job of educating us of all the little subtleties in the garden. In fact there even is a waterfall near the cliffs which is artificial - in the olden days the water was pumped by humans in order for the daimyo to enjoy the waterfall.
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| Signs add a lot of history to the garden features | Seiko view with Sekiheki |
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| White lotus flower on the pond | Beautiful purple lotus flowers |
We return past the Higurashitei tea house but now we focus on the garden which is beautifully maintained and landscaped. It looks postcard perfect like you would imagine small Japanese garden to look like. Moving on we pass Houbiu where there are a few cycads/small palm trees presented as a gift from Okinawa by the feudal lord of Satsuma about 300 years ago.
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| Higurashitei tea house garden | Another view of the tea house garden |
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| Cycads from Okinawa | Close up of cycads (palm trees?) |
Next we catch the first glimpse of Nanko (South Pond) with its three islands, it looks beautiful but first we are attracted by the sound of music coming from Kikugetsutei the largest tea house in Ritsurin. As we come round it we see a lot of people playing the national instrument of Japan, koto. We listen to them play for a while before moving on and starting to walk round the lake.
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| Large island in Nanko(South Pond) | Another view of Nanko |
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| Kikugetsutei - largest tea house in Ritsurin | Singing using koto (long 13 string zither) |
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| Tea house from a distance | View back to the tea house |
The trail around the lake climbs first to a great viewpoint of the lake, Hiraiho, tea house and the islands. The views are great along the trail and from Hiraiho with the landscaped islands and the teahouse as well as the bridges crossing the lakes just so for maximum effect.
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| Climbing up | Island and tea house from the top |
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| Another island in Nanko | Great landscaping |
Another impressive sight is a creek feeding the Nanko Lake which flows in front of a pavillion where the guide buys us some bread to throw to the fish in the lake. The side creek is has beautiful colors with green moss contrasting the reddish stones in the clear water. After that we say good bye to our guide and after a short jaunt on our own have to return to the car to leave towards Hiroshima.
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| Engetsukyo -largest bridge in the park | Quiet pavillion |
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| Great colors | With red it looks even better |
Before that we have to get back our car and unfortunately it is not as simple as we expected. The machine is only in Japanese and we have somehow to enter our parking spot in the end we find a parking attendant who after some gesturing (he doesn't speak English and we don't speak japanese) helps us pay and we are on our way.
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| How exactly do we use this? | Cars are immobilized |
Our next stop is Kotohira location of the ancient shrine of Kotohira-gu popularly known as Kompira-san. It is one the major Shinto pilgrimage sites which is obvious immediately as the whole area is chock full of people. It is reached by a climb of 785 steps - not so difficult usually but in the heat we intend to take it easy going up. The shrine is dedicated to the spiritual guardian of sailors which is evident by the many ship parts and replicas we see on our climb. It also has an interesting history as it was for over 1,000 years both a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine and so popular that people who were too poor to make the pilgrimage to the srine were throwing barrels of rice and money in the sea in the hope that they will be picked by sailors and brought to Kompira-san on their behalf. However during the Meiji restauration in the 19th century Shinto took precedence and the Buddhas were removed from the temple. We start at the bottom of course after finding a good parking spot relatively close to the arcade/main street that leads to the stairs. We are easily distracted by the different souvenir shops and exhibits on the way includng an interesting one in front of the sake museum.
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| Kotohira main street | First stairs toward Kompira-san |
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| Sake museum | Souvenir shop up the stairs |
Before starting the climb we need some additional refreshment (we are not procrastinating before the climb...really) so we stop at an Udon restaurant serving the famous Kompira Udon. To our surprise the Udon noodles are served cold which in the end is a good thing as it cools us down a bit and with new energy we tackle the first steps.
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| Kompira Udon restaurant | Udon noodles - cold dish |
The stairs are numbered from time to time just as a reminder of how much more we have to climb. Some people have given up and decided to take one of the palanquins upstairs, but not us, we decide to trudge on.
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| Just 168?! | Taking the easy way out..not us though |
As expected there are quite a few ship artifacts sent here so the guardian will protect the ship and sailors. There are a few museums going up but they are expensive and small so we decide to skip them. WE even use one of the springs following what we have seen other people do in order to cool us off a bit.
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| It is a sailor's shrine | One of many ship related artifacts |
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| Entrance to the museum | Sacred spring |
The stairs seem to be relentless so we are happy when we find a flat area between two flights of stairs and it is especially better when it has some shadow. Still everywhere there are things to see including a stall of sacred horses which are supposedly the messengers of the Sea Goddess. There is also wildlife here including a huge praying mantis that blends so well with its surroundings that nobody else is noticing it.
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| Still going up | A brief respite |
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| Statue of sacred horse | The real sacred horses |
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| Water from sacred fountain | Huge praying mantis |
After a short climb we arrive at the first major building Asahi-no-Yashiro the Sunshine Shrine. It is quite attractive and the sunshine is not allowing us to take any good pictures so I guess the name is justified. And then after even more stairs we arrive at the main shrine. Most people including us return from here but if interested you can climb an additional 583 steps to the interior shrine. Near the main shrine the major attraction is a hall with pictures of mostly ships but also spaceships and airplanes all sent to get the blessing of the temple. There is also a viewpoint nearby that allows us to see how much we climbed and also to see the whole surrounding area from high above which is beautiful.
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| Stone lanterns near stairs | Stairs between the shrines |
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| Asahi-no-Yashiro (Sunshine Shrine) | Hon-gu - Main Shrine |
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| View near the main shrine | Volcanoes in the distance |
After catching our breath we start our descent which is much faster but we still stop from time to time to enjoy the souvenir shops and a small free car museum that we noticed when we started climbing. It has only a few cars but it is interesting.
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| Cats are everywhere | Small free car museum |
And then we have to leave Kotohira and also Shikoku as we return to the main island using a different set of bridges closer to Hiroshima which is our destination for the night and where we will stay for three nights. There are multiple bridges all different and to our surprise not even charging toll fees, at least not each one separately.
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| Crossing back to the main island | Another bridge |
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| Getting close to the last bridge | Looking up |
We stop at different rest areas to take pictures of the beautiful sunset and some quaint villages along the way but then it gets dark so we continue driving nonstop towards Hiroshima. The road passes through lots of tunnels and a few times we get rerouted by our GPS on some smaller roads instead of highways. AS we get closer to Hiroshima we are a bit scared if we will find the correct exit to the hotel but we manage to navigate the streets correctly in the end and arrive at the hotel...which for the first time on our trip doesn't have a parking area in front of him. One of us runs inside to understand where the parking garage is while the other one parks on the sidewalk in a major city on the major throughfare a bit scary. But no police comes and we find out where the parking garage is and then finally climb to our room. It is quite high up in the hotel which is in downtown Hiroshima so it is a beautiful view of skyscrappers close by and sea in the distance. The room is small but we are starting to get used to it and we are really tired so we soon drift to sleep.
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| Beautiful sunset | Quaint view |
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| Hiroshima hotel | View from hotel room |
We wake up to beautiful views of Hiroshima from our hotel room that captivate us for a while. However we have to eat and we notice a small shop in front of the hotel where we go and buy some prepared food for breakfast. As usual it is good and energizes us for the day to come.
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| View of Hiroshima from the hotel | Peace Boulevard |
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| Breakfast..what should we eat? | This one looks best..lets do it |
Today we have planned an easy day - just wandering through Hiroshima and visit the different museums and sites related to the atomic blast. On the way to the island where the majority of points of interest are located however we discover an unexpected site - the former Hiroshima Branch of the Bank of Japan. It is one of the few building near the impact site that was not instantly destroyed as it was built reinforced to withstand earthquakes and now serves as both a museum for the impact the explosion had on the bank and art display area for temporary exhibitions. There are a few impressive reminders of the force of the impact including vault door locks that were bent so they could not be closed again and glass shards from the windows embedded in the wood panels. It is also a monument to the resilience of people as the bank was open again only 2 days after the blast conducting business in a building without a roof.
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| Hiroshima Branch of Bank of Japan | Helpful signs |
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| Interior of bank..austere | Surviving room |
It is quite impressive how freely we can move around the building - we do not meet almost anyone during our time there. Especially impressive was the vault room with three huge vault doors and the safe rooms behind them. Not something that we see every day.
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| Empty corridors | Some of the pins are bent from the nuke |
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| One of the safes | Former security box room |
Due to obvious reasons the whole central area of Hiroshima is new, it seems to us even proudly so. There are skyscrappers and modern buildings everywhere. Even the boulevard in front of our hotel, the Peace Boulevard was possible only due to the fact that there was nothing left from the houses that formerly stoud in the area.
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| Typical Hiroshima street..everything is modern | Interesting red building |
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| Crossing towards the former downtown area | Interesting pavement stones |
The majority of the memorials to the victims are located on the central island. We start with an interesting peace memorial that has inscribed the word peace in over 100 languages. We walk under it and around it and find a few languages that we recognize and then we move towards the Peace Museum on the other side of the road.
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| Peace memorial | Peace in multiple languages |
The museum seems to consist of two buildings joined by a walkway and it takes a bit to find the entrance as we go to the wrong building first. In front of the museum the area is landscaped differently than we are used in Japan with little vegetation but even so we notice butterflies and birds enjoying the little green areas that remain.
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| Peace museum from afar | Connecting bridge between the 2 parts of the museum |
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| Plaza in front of the museum | Butterflies were relatively common |
The Museum is sobering and it is sometime difficult to endure but it is something that maybe everyone should see once to remember and make sure that it does not happen again. The first building has a bit of the history behind the war including how important Hiroshima was to the Japanese Empire as it was a major military headquarter of the Japanese armny and during previous wars even served as the residence of the emperor. The major exhibit here is a scale model of Hiroshima before and after the bombing showing the few building that survived the explosion. The second building is showing different objects and clothing of people affected by the bombing and there are also a few survivor/non survivor stories. It also talks about how the search effort was conducted and how the reconstruction proceeded afterwards. Overall the theme is "never again" including a petition to sign at the end for the world to destroy all nuclear bombs.
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| Where it exploded and the buildings that remained | Photos of the destruction |
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| Clock stopped when it exploded | Fused objects |
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| Impacted children clothing | Tricycle destroyed by the blast |
We continue our walk through the Peace Park and pass the Cenotaph that holds the names of all the people killed by the nuclear bomb and different memorials to soldiers and civilians alike. The most well known is the one to the origami girl who following an ancient Japanese story wanted to fold 1,000 origami cranes to get a wish however she died when reaching 644. Her friends finished the origamis and she is buried with them.
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| Cenotaph and Dome | Looking through the cenotaph |
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| Artificial pond | Picture of the origami girl |
Our next stop is the Atomic Bomb Dome or Genbaku Domo likely the most recognized building from Hiroshima. It was the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall and used primarily for arts and educational exhibits. After the bomb fell it was the closest structure standing near the hypocentre and after some controversy it was decided to be kept in its post bombing state as a monument to the power of the bomb and hope for peace in the future. It is quite a sight and we walk around it before entering the new Hiroshima - the shopping arcade nearby.
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| Story of the A-bomb Dome | View of the dome over the river |
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| Getting closer | Close up view of the dome |
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| Opposite side view of dome | Nature (some surviving) near the dome |
The shopping arcade is huge with lots of restaurants and stores. There are lots of people in a mix of traditional and very modern clothing. We enter a few stores but then we get hungry and start searching for a restaurant to eata late lunch. We research a few and then decide on one with the best pictures outside the restaurant.
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| Hodori Arcade | Which one should we drink? |
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| More traditional outfit | Schoolgirl uniforms |
The restaurant chosen, Ootoya is a short walk outside the main arcade but it has great food and we enjoy everything including the dessert. By this time we are serviceable in eating with chopsticks so we can eat without being the center of attention. After lunch we return to our hotel which is close by and later we take another walk through the arcade buying a few souvenirs and some clothes. Overall it was a more relaxing day about halfway on our trip which enables us to gather energy for the days ahead.
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| Ootoya restaurant | Lunch food |
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| More traditional lunch food | Dessert..why not? |
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| Akiyoshidai karst plateau |
Today we plan to visit to south side of the main island of Japan, Honshu. The first stop is Iwakuni where we intend to visit the Kintai-Kyo Bridge one of the more aesthetic interesting bridges in Japan and the old town area beyond the bridge. Finding parking is a bit confusing initially but we find the descent to the river bank where a large unpaved parking area is available. As we step out of the car we can already see the bridge, one of the top three in Japan. The original bridge was constructed in 1673, washed away in 1674, built again without any nails and then washed away in 1950 by a typhoon. The current bridge was built in 1953 trying to be as faithful as possible to the original and it is an impressive site. We pay the toll fee (else we will likely get eaten by a troll) and walk across to the other side. The walk across the spans is surprisingly difficult as the ascent and descents are steep and the wood is a bit slippery but we make it across safely.
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| Iwakuni - Kintai-kyo Bridge | Four spans over the river |
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| Walking on it | Quite difficult to climb actually |
The views from the bridge are nice with the large river flowing underneath the bridge and the fishermen catching fish underneath the bridge in the shallow water. We can see the city from the bridge layed out along the river. It is very quiet and peaceful and we enjoy the scene before moving on to the old city on the other side.
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| View from the bridge | View downstream |
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| Iwakuni from bridge | Fishing near the bridge |
One of the attractions is the viewpoint at the top of the mountain near the river however it is a relatively long hike or a relatively expensive cable car ride so we decide to just walk around the old samurai houses at the bottom. One thing that we splurge on is a chestnut icecream to help us endure in the midday heat. The old wooden samurai houses are interesting to see and have small well maintained gardens as we enter a few and see a few more from outside.
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| How do you get up? | Aaaah..this is how |
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| Iwakuni old downtown area | Samurai house |
On our tour we discover an interesting water fountain built so that people can get soaked in the downpour (or at least that's how it seems) however there is no one when we pass even though it is already quite hot. Still the quantity of water cools the air off which energizes us a bit to continue on our walk. In fact the whole park Kikko-koen was once the estate of the ruling Kikkawa clan and that is the reason for the old samurai houses encircling it.
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| Intricate water fountain | Good on a warm day |
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| Side view | Another water feature |
We encounter a few gardeners maintaining the trees and the shrubs on the side and again we marvel and how they painstakingly pick the weeds out one by one instead of relying on herbicides. There is also a small lake behind the samurai houses which has, as we start to expect, quite a few turtles.
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| Landscaped path | Mekata residence - old samurai house |
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| Quiet lake | Turtles are everywhere |
As we start returning towards our car we pass through the former castle area and visit the Kikko shrine which is the family shrine of the Kikkawa family. It is off the beaten tourist path and we are almost the only tourists visiting it. And then back to the bridge where we noticed that we are missing one of the return tickets (the ticket is good for a roundtrip). However the lady that guards the bridge is quite nice and lets us pass so we can return to the car. Before leaving we need some food though so we examine the food stalls and decide on some fried octopus which is quite good as fast food go.
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| Old(?) torii towards Kikko shrine | Wooden gate to Kikko shrine |
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| Common near shrines | Wonder what they sell here? |
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| Food stall | Trying out the octopus |
Our next planned stop is Yamaguchi, also known as the Kyoto of Western Japan due to the number of temples and shrines in the area. We plan to stop at one of them, Ruriko-ji, which has one of the top three pagodas in Japan. On the way we notice one of the interesting fake workers/policemens that the Japanese place at the beginning of working zones on roads. The policeman actually move the sign and it looks lifelike enough from a distance. After arriving at Ruriko-ji we find a parking spot and then we have to pass through a quiet park full of stone lanterns. There are a few statues that a Japanese couple are praying too but we don't know what they represent so we pass them and arrive in front of Ruriko-ji and the famous five-story pagoda.
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| Shopping zone in rest area | Ubiquitous fake workers |
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| Stone lanterns along quiet path | Lots of stone lanterns |
The pagoda is impressive but to us it doesn't look that different from the other pagoda's we have seen. Of course those were also some of the top ones in Japan so maybe we are just spoiled - either way we walk around it and then explore the park before entering Ruriko-ji temple.
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| Ruriko-ji pagoda - top 3 in Japan | Carvings at the base of the pagoda |
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| Park in front of Ruriko-ji | Typical Japanese cemetery |
Ruriko-ji is a small temple but it is cozy and is beautifully landscaped with some pictoresque ponds, we are glad that entered to visit it. It also has a cold drinks vending machine from which we buy some grape sodas and then sit on a bench enjoying the scenery. After relaxing a bit we move on to our last goal for the day the Akiyoshidai karst plateau.
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| Ruriko-ji entrance | Interior shrine |
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| Small pond in the interior garden | Artificial/natural beauty |
The streets towards Akiyoshidai from Ruriko-ji become narrower and narrower with lots of hairpin turns forcing us to drive slower and slower. After a few missed turns we arrive at a large parking area for what we are hoping is the entrance to the cave Akiyoshi-do. The map next to the parking lot agrees so we walk to the arcade that leads to the entrance to the cave. There aren't a lot of people this late in the day but we still have two hours to explore the cave which we hope is enough. Akiyoshi-do is the largest cave in Japan and one of the largest in Asia and about 1 km of it can be explored freely which we intend to do. After paying for the entrance fee the walk to the cave entrance is level and through a forest with flowers and following a river that flows next to the trail.
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| Sidestreet stores towards Akiyoshi-do | Window shopping |
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| Flowers in front of houses are abundant | After the entrance station - where is the cave? |
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| What is that in front of us? | Wildflowers in the fall |
Soon we arrive at the entrance which is impressive as the footpath crosses a bridge over the river and suddenly becomes a suspended walkway anchored in the stone as it enters the cave above the raging river. There is even a small waterfall at the entrance that roars and makes any conversation impossible. After getting inside the cave opens up and through the mist from the waterfall we can see how large the cave entrance hall actually is...quite large:). The trail continues near the river which is flowing in full force next to the walkway. This is a rare occurence most of the caves we have visited are dry caves but this one is wet with a vengeance and we have to be careful how we step as the walkway is wet and slippery. Along the trail there are information stations which speak in Japanese or English quite tunderously but with the relatively few people in the cave we don't feel bad in listening to the lengthy descriptions of the karstic features in English.
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| Impressive entrance into the cave | Where are all the people? |
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| Looking back towards the light | Inside view with interior river |
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| Other visitors near information station | Fast flowing river |
The most well known (and impressive) formation is the 100 plates formation which seems to have more than 100 'plates' to us. With the water sounds from the river and with the twilightish lightning it looks as something otherworldly. Of course it is not the only impressive formations there are a lot more named formations including the Mt Fuji formation (looking like Mt Fuji of course).
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| 100 plates karst formation | Another view of the 100 plates |
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| Frontal view of the formation | Mount Fuji formation |
There is something interesting everywhere we look so we advance slowly through the cave. After some walking we arrive at the second exit which is an elevator however according to the nearby map the trail continues past it for about 400m to a third exit so we go that way until we arrive at the exit where we have to turn back as our car is of course still where we entered.
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| Another interesting karst formation | Glittering stone |
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| Map of the cave | Huge stalagtite/stalagmite |
On our return trip we stop to take in a few formations that we skipped including an interesting dragon shaped stalactite. We arrive at the exit prior to the closing of the cave but only by 20 minutes. Still we have a few minutes to enjoy the exit of the river near the cave - it is as impressive to us as it was we entered the cave with the nice waterfall and the sounds of the river flowing near us.
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| Lion/dragon? | More traditional cave formations |
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| Exiting the cave | River near the cave |
We continue our visit by driving to a trailhead further north in the Akiyoshidai Quasi-National Park to hike also on the surface. The trail is almost a dirt road and meanders through a field of chest high vegetation. Everything is green but you can still see depressions from sinkholes and there are nice views of the hills. Supposedly there are a lot of different animals and birds here but the chance of seeing them is really low in all the vegetation.
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| Akiyoshi-dai karstic plateau | Hiking trail through the fields |
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| Supposedly they live here | Everything is green |
After returning to the car we make one last stop near the elevator exit of the cave. Here there is an observation tower with great views of the surrounding karstic area. You can see sinkholes and sculpted stones and different surface features of the karstic plateau.
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| Observation tower | Talking about the area biodiversity |
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| Sinkhole near tower | Interesting rocks |
We walk around a bit on the hiking trails exploring the area and there are lots of different stone formations that catch our eye and we have to stop to take pictures of them. The trails here are more like footpaths and most of them disappear in the vegetation after a few minutes of walking.
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| Highlight of the area near the tower | Flowers are everywhere |
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| Hiking trail near tower | The views are expansive |
There are also quite a few flowers which we didn't expect given that it is early fall - there is green everywhere and the air smells of leaves and flowers. Unfortunately it is getting dark so we have to move on and return back to Hiroshima and our hotel.
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| Abundant vegetation | Benches near the natural stone garden |
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| These flowers were everywhere | Distant view from near the observatory |
After parking the car and before climbing to our room we first go to the small supermarket across the street to buy some prepared dinner - it is warm and tasty and it fills us up nicely. Then we sit and enjoy the illuminated city before drifting to sleep.
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| Dinner from the grocery store | Dessert/dinner - quite good |
Today we leave Hiroshima and start on our long road to Tokyo. We will spend the night in Osaka and for a change only have one stop planned on the way in Kurashiki. Kurashiki is an historic city which was historically controlled directly by the shogun and become quite rich during the industrial revolution. The old merchant quarter Bikan is the major attraction with old 17th century warehouses near the canal and traditional houses nearby. We park close to the train station before walking to one of the entrances to the Bikan quarter. There area a few interesting houses and a couple that can even be entered however it is really hot and humid outside which makes for an uncomfortable walk so we cannot really enjoy the area.
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| Kurashiki - Train station area | Entrance to Bikan area |
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| Old houses in the historical area | Traditional area in an museum house |
We try to escape the heat by walking near the canals which is where most of the old warehouses are. You can take a boat on the canal as some other tourists have done however they are surprised by a meeting with a pair of swans and have to return back towards the dock.
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| Canals in the old warehouse district | Tourists enjoying a boat tour |
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| One of the historic streets | Canal near warehouses |
As in all historical quarters there are a lot of stores and we enter a few of them that are air conditioned or fan cooled to cool down a bit and even buy some souvenirs. At a roadside food stall we buy some finger food that gives us the necessary energy to continue with our visit.
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| Stores and food stalls in the downtown area | Narrow alleyway |
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| Pottery stores | Arabic pottery in Japan |
As we start to return we arrive at a hillside shrine that looks interesting but after a few stairs we decide that it is too hot and return to the car. We are affected quite a bit by the heat so we decide to drive through to Osaka and visit Osaka in the evening when it is cooler.
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| Climb to a shrine...not for us today | Rock garden at the bottom of the hill |
Osaka is a huge city with major highways suspended above the city so it seems daunting to find our hotel close to downtown however our GPS routes us safely to the hotel which has a really small parking garage. In fact after you park the car is taken on a carousel ride so another car can be parked beneath it so we have to be careful to pick all our belongings with us as we won't see the car till morning.
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| Car before being raised to parking spot | Osaka hotel room |
In the evening we take the subway to the downtown area where we start with the famous Dotombori street. It is famous both due to the shops and neon/electronic advertisement signs and is a major gathering area for the young and hip Japanese. We are hungry and notice a crowd of people in front of a restaurant so we decide to try it - it is a hamburger place! Well they call the food hamburgers but it doesn't look like it and it tastes a little bland. Still the chestnut icecream is good and we are full when we exit the restaurant to continue our walk through the downtown area.
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| Well known sight in Osaka's Dotombori street | Interesting lights |
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| This is hamburger?! | Chestnut desert |
We find a nice view of the area from a bridge - lots of neon signs - in a way this is the Japan you see in the movies and not the one of small villages and castles that we have visited till now.
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| View of downtown Osaka | Osaka is full of colorful ads |
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| This is another example of the ads | Entrance to the shopping arcade |
AS it has cooled down a bit we decide to walk back to the hotel which is about 1 mile away - the walk through the downtown arcade(s) is interesting with lots of shops catering to all possible tastes including a few for cosplay that we haven't seen till now. We are tired when we arrive at the hotel so we go to sleep as tomorrow is a full day with lots of sights.
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| Osaka shopping arcade | Side street |
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| Electronic stores are popular | As are cosplay stores |
Before leaving Osaka we intend to visit the famous castle which played a major role in the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shoguns. The hotel is actually quite close to the castle so we walk to it prior to checking out. On the way we marvel at the many skyscrappers including one which is actually the City Police Station.
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| Osaka futuristic building | Interesting building shape |
The castle has been destroyed and restored multiple times including in World War II with the latest restoration being completed in 1997. While we know this when seeing the majestic walls for the first time they look to us ancient and forever. They are huge and look impossible to conquer even though we know that unified Japan started with the conquering of the castle in the 17th century by Tokugawa Ieyasu. It also plays a large role in the Shogun book by James Clavell which is the first time we had heard about it.
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| Osaka castle moat | Fortress walls look impregnable |
We cannot see an entrance initially so we walk around following the moat until we find a bridge to enter the next level of fortifications through the massive doors. The stones to build the wall and fortifications were donated by the various daimyos and it was their responsability to ensure the walls are in good condition. The biggest one and most impressive is the Octopus stone which is 60 square meters and weighs approximately 130 tons and was given by Tadao Ikeda the daimyo of Okayama.
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| One of the huge, solid doors | Walking between the doors |
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| Huge stones "donated" by daimyos | "Octopus stone" given by a daimyo to build the castle wall |
The inner moat is more quaint than the outer one and it gives a more gentle impression of the walls - the outside walls look foreboding while the inner ones look more peaceful with plants decorating the walls. We soon find the second entrance which is not in the same area as the first entrance in order to make the invading armies walk under the inner walls for a while while being bombarded from the safety of the walls.
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| Inner moat looks less impressive now | Even the cat is not impressed |
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| Walkway to the inner keep | Gate to the inner keep |
The keep is really impressive as we view it from different angles during our approach. Even though it is a concrete reproduction it looks original from the outside while there is a museum inside that we decide to visit as we still have a couple hours before we need to check out from the hotel.
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| Inner keep from a distance | Inner keep close by |
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| Side view of the keep | Front view of keep |
The museum is mostly focused on the history of the castle and of the shoguns that lived here. It is interesting especially for us as we learn about battles and the complicated relationships of the different leaders of that era. One of the attractions is the view from the top of the castle which is panoramic with a view of the park and the further of the skyline of Osaka.
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| Picture of the historically important battle of Osaka | Museum exhibit |
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| Top of the keep view | One of the golden fishes |
After exiting the keep we hurry back to the hotel while taking a different route that we discover. Unfortunately after crossing the first moat we have to walk a long way before finding a bridge over the exterior moat so we can return back to hotel but still we make it back with 10 minutes to spare.
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| Stone garden behind the keep | Statue near keep |
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| View from afar of castle | Birds using the castle wall |
Our bags are packed so we check out without a problem and then it is back to the parking garage where we watch our car being brought down so we load it up and on we go.
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| Car descending | There it is |
Our next planned stop is Nara, which was the capital of Japan between 710 and 784, and is relatively close to Osaka. We miss the entrance to the highway a few times near our hotel and with the one way streets we have to wander a bit before being able to return through some streets that didn't appear to be lead to the highway but were the only way in fact to reach it in our direction of travel. After that we hope for a smooth drive and it is so until we enter Nara where it suddenly is stop and go. After a quarter hour of stop and go traffic we pass the traffic accident that was holding up the traffic and soon we arrive at the central historical location where we park.
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| Sight on the way to Nara | Some people are tired |
Almost immediately after leaving the parking lot we meet one the major attractions of Nara, the wild/tamed Sika deer. They are regarded as heavenly animals protecting the city and the country according to an old legend that states that the god Takemikazuchi arrived in Nara on a white deer to guard the newly built capital.
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| The deer of Nara | Looking bored |
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| Those are a lot of deer | Glad he cannot gore us |
There are quite a few places to buy food for the deer and they are quite used to humans sometimes even running after them to get the last crumbs of food. But mostly they sit in the shade trying to avoid the oppresive heat.
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| Deer getting fed | This is what happens if you disappoint them |
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| Mixing with people | At the entrance of the temple |
Another major attraction in Nara is the Todai-ji temple home to the largest bronze statue in Japan, Daibutsu - a huge Buddha. At the time of construction around AD 750 the project nearly bankrupted the Japanese economy consuming almost all available bronze in Japan. The main temple hall that houses the Buddha, Daibutsuden Hall, is also claimed to be the largest wooden structure in the world. Lots of people seem to be visiting the temple so there is a line at the entrance but after getting tickets it gets smoothly and we can see the main building in the distance. After entering the Buddha is right in front and is really is the largest we have seen since being in Japan and it is framed by two smaller (still large) statues nearby.
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| Todai-ji main gate | Daibutsu Den - Todai-ji main hall |
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| Japan's largest bronze statue | Back of Buddha |
We walk around the statues and admire the details while trying to decide if the sun at the back of the Buddha is real gold or just covered with gold.
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| Buddha with side statue | Statue near the Buddha |
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| Buddha face | Another large statue inside |
There is also a small exhibit of statue heads inside the temple hall but the more interesting thing is a hole in one of the support beams through which children try to pass. It seems it has a significance but we are not able to deduce it on the spot. The internet however helps so we found out afterwards that the hole is the size of the Daibutsu nostril and whoever passes through it will gain enlightment in the next life..go figure. After exiting Todai-ji we walk a bit more through the area and visit one more temple Kofuku-ji another Unesco World Heritage site. Parts of it were under construction but still we saw the main pagoda and one of the halls.
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| These are scary | I am sure there is a good reason for this |
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| Kofuku-ji | Pagoda near Kofuku-ji |
Our next and last stop for the day is Iga-Ryu in the town of Iga a bit off the main tourist trails. But we had to come here because what is a visit to Japan without seeing a Ninja House:)? And Iga-ryu (the Iga school) is one of the two most well known schools of ninja in Japan. We are really surprised how unmarked this attraction is, there are no signs from the highway so we are are happy that we are prepared with a map. After parking we are not sure where to go but the parking attendant who doesn't speak English points to a different kiosk where we receive a map of the park in English. As we get to the museum we are afraid that it is closed as there is no one around but the office is open and we buy tickets however the ticket attendant makes us wait until they can get an English speaking guide which takes a bit. Finally we enter the museum which starts with a typical ninja home with lots of traps, hiding places and weapons hidden in caches throughout the house. The guide is showing us the usage of all of these with descriptions in English actually being written down throughout the house. We even enter a few of the hiding places to see what a hidden ninja would see if somebody would invade the home.
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| Iga-ryu Ninja museum description | Hideout in case of danger |
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| Another hideout | Inside the demonstration house - lots of places to hide |
After the house the guide points us to where the museum continues and leaves us. The next section is dedicated to the different tools of the ninja from which disguise seems to be the most important. Rarely did they wear the black garb that is so prevalent in the movies - most of the times they dressed as peasants and entertainers to blend with the population and enter the castles unnoticed. Of course there are also quite a few weapons and a few tools of the trade can actually be used like a pair of snowshoe like shoes that were used to pass through marshes and moats that were considered to be impassable. We also find out that Hattori Hanzo that we know off from other popular culture channels was actually a well known ninja from the Iga clan and helped Tokugawa Ieyasu, the future shogun, in the hour of his greatest need.
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| Ninja disguises - 7 official ones | How to dress like a ninja |
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| Ninja tools | More direct tools |
The last museum building is describing the detailed knowledge of the ninjutsu of the nature and natural signs so they can orient themselves, treat themselves when sick and avoid detection. Overall it was very interesting and worth a visit and we are surprised that it seemed we were the only visitors at the time in the whole museum.
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| Different ninja tricks | Knowledge of nature was important |
After the museum we decide to visit a few other highlights in the park. Right next to the museum in a quiet and peaceful location is a Poet Memorial Hall dedicated to Matsuo Bashō born nearby, the most famous poet of the Edo period a master of the haiku.
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| Torii way to mausoleum | Poet's Memorial Hall |
The other major attraction is the Iga castle where only the keep has been rebuilt. It looks quite impressive even when compared with the Osaka keep, and because of its architecture and color it is known as the "White Phoenix castle".
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| Iga Castle | Entrance to castle |
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| Main keep | Lake at the bottom of the castle hill |
After a few false starts where the trail disappears in the vegetation we return to the car and from there drive to our rest for the night at the bottom of the Fuji mountain, Fujinomiya. Here we have our worst night of the trip with a group of drunken Japanese banging on walls and shouting through the night so the next day we are not as refreshed as usual.
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| Stone lantern in the meadow | Trail?! - not really |
Today we plan to start the day by climbing as far as we can with the car on Mount Fuji and doing a short hike on the mountain before continuing towards Tokyo where we have to give back the rental car by 10 PM. As we are starting the climb we enter the clouds and it is really foggy. We stop at a parking area to enjoy the cooler temperatures but it is hard to see anything so we continue the climb hoping that further up we can actually climb above the clouds. The road is very curvy as you would expect as we climb higher and higher from almost sea level to over 2,000 m.
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| Halfway up Mt Fuji | Dense fog on Mt Fuji |
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| View(?) from Mt Fuji | End of the road parking - Fujinomiya 5th Station |
Unfortunately that is not true as even when we get at 2,400m to the road's end we can barely see anything around us due to the fog. We wander around a bit to acclimatize ourselves with the altitude and visit the shops and also identify where the hiking trail starts that climbs to the top of the mountain. We intended to do a longer hike but due to the weather we decide to take only a short stroll up on the trail and then continue on towards Tokyo.
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| Sign at Fujinomiya - Hiking trail starts behind it | Stairs between parking lots |
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| Starting at 2400m | Cannot really see the peak |
The hiking trail is really rocky as we climb for about 1/2h and take in the vegetation, or lack therof, during our short climb. There are lots of other people some of the on short jaunts like us some of them returning from the peak. It is quite windy but it doesn't disperse the fog so we return back to the car and start the long descent.
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| There are relatively few other hikers | Trail is really rocky |
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| Windy area | Pumice on Mt Fuji |
As it is still relatively early we decide to do a short detour to Kamakura which is a former capital of Japan. On the way we stop at a rest area to refill and for the first time in our trip decide to try the automated ordering system - you press a button with an image of the food you want in a central ordering location, pay for it and then receive a ticket that you take to your food stand. It works just fine and the food is very good. At this point we are already used to eating with chopsticks - it seems so long ago when we had no idea how to use them and were afraid of starving:).
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| Rest area food court | Food at rest area |
The drive into Kamakura is slow after leaving the main highway and driving on surface streets that become more and more congested as we approach Kamakura. It seems that Kamakura is a major destination which makes sense from a tourist point of view as it is one of the old capitals of Japan between Nara and Kyoto and as such has a lot of remnants of that period especially temples and shrines. After a lot of stop and go traffic we finally arrive and find a parking place close to the main attractions and walk to one of the main shrines of Kamakura, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. It was built by Minamoto Yoritomo who established Kamakura as the political center of the country for over 100 years and it is dedicated to Hachiman the Shinto god of war. It is nicely landscaped with a torii at the entrance leading to the the pictoresque Genpei-ike ponds.
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| Kamakura - Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu | San no Torii at the entrance |
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| Crossing the bridge | Genpei-ike ponds |
The main shrine is on top of the hill so we have to walk up while stopping a few times to catch our breath. It is a very popular shrine with lots of tourists wandering around it as you cannot enter it. We also walk around it and take a look at the detail on the building and also its surroundings including the usual paper streamers and lanterns and then move on towards another temple that we hope we can still enter as it is getting late in the day.
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| Do the shrines always have to be on top of hills?! | Main shrine area |
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| Main shrine dedicated to Hachiman, God of War | Paper streamers near shrine |
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| Collection of lanterns | Ancient gate protector |
Kencho-ji is relatively close to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu so we walk to it which is good as the parking places in front of it are limited. We are surprised at how much more quieter the area is with only a few tourists actually visiting it even though it is the most important of Kamakura Zen temples and one of the five main Zen temples in Japan. Of course it is also paid entrance which might be the reason for it being less popular. After entering through the main gate we walk through the gardens till we arrive at Butsu-den the Buddha Hall - an ancient building moved from Tokyo in 1647.
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| Kencho-ji greatest of Kamakura Zen temples | Entering through So-mon (main gate) |
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| Lots of greenery | Butsu-den building |
The interior gate San-mon has an interesting history as legend says that a raccoon dog transformed himself in a monk to collect donations for the building of the gate. There are interesting sights almost everywhere including one of the oldest bells in Japan from 1255.
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| San-mon interior gate | Original temple bell - one of Japan most beautiful |
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| Sign on interior gate | Gate is off the ground |
Whenever we get we also enter a few buildings including the old Butsu-den and then newer Hatto building which has beautiful dragon painting on the ceiling.
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| Interior of Butsu-den | Wood detail in Butsu-den |
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| Hatto building interior | Detail in Hatto |
We can also enter the main building (after taking our shoes off of course) and here it looks like a functional temple with people meditating and some just arriving it seems for a prayer or meditation session. Behind the main building is the oldest surviving Zen garden in Japan which looks really peaceful even though it is a bit smaller than expected.
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| Main building (Hojo) complex | Japan's oldest surviving Zen garden |
One of the more impressive sights in the complex is the Kara-mon gate which was built in Chinese style and is really beautiful. It has been brought together with Butsu-den from Zojo-ji in Tokyo.
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| Kara-mon Chinese style gate | Huge leaves near Kara-mon |
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| Getting closer to the gate | Close up of Kara-mon |
In the back of the main temple area starts a trail that connects it to other temples. We decide to walk a bit on it and then return to ensure that we get to Tokyo on time. The path is quiet with no other people as it passes near houses and then continues through the temple garden.
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| Quaint trail | Old tree near trail |
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| Precariously perched houses | Interesting seeds |
The trail is quite interesting as it passes near monuments, cemeteries, gardens and even a small tunnel. However when it starts climbing towards another temple we decide to turn around...it is a nice place and we would have loved to continue but there isn't enough time.
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| Trail up to Hansobo | Looking back |
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| Inscribed stone | Old stone marker |
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| And a newer one | Wonder what the frog is doing here? |
After exiting the temple and while returning to the car on the main street we admire the "tunnel" on the way which has an open ceiling through which the plants are starting to invade the interior.
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| Interesting tunnel | Plants are beginning to enter the tunnel |
And then we have to leave Kamakura but almost immediately we arrive at a barrier free train crossing which has the lights on. We wait in line with the other cars however a motorcycle decides to pass everyone and cross - bad ides as there is a police car further up expecting exactly this kind of behavior. This is the first (and last) time that we see any traffic police in Japan. Finally we arrive at the highway and with it pass Nagoya and then enter Tokyo. We have decided to return the car at Haneda airport and not at Narita which is further out from Tokyo and it would have meant that we have to cross the whole metropolitan area. We are sure that it won't be a problem to find the rental place but we are wrong - this was the worst signed return car rental location that we have seen. There are no signs throughout the airport (at least that we can read) so in the end we stop at a gas station to ask for directions. Unfortunately they don't speak English well but they point in a direction which we follow however we get further and futher out from the airport and then enter the city. Just when we decide to return we notice the Hertz sign - phew - we were really getting worried. After returning the car we take the rental shuttle to the airport from which we take the train to downtown Tokyo where we will stay the next days. Our bad luck continues as we exit one station too early but the walk in the evening on the streets is nice and we find the hotel easy. The hotel is clean and safe but the room is probably the smallest that we have been in - no problem for us as we do not intend to stay a lot in it. We are really tired however we first have to exit a bit to find a supermarket to buy some provisions and then eat dinner and go to sleep.
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| Tokyo - small room | First night in Tokyo dinner |
Today we start our visit of Tokyo with the Ueno Park - we are interested especially in the Tokyo National Museum but in order to visit it we must pass through the whole garden. It is quite popular and full of Tokyo-ites enjoying the different attractions that it offers. We start near the Shinobazu Pond which is covered in lotus leaves and is full of wildlife including ducks and turtles.
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| Ueno Koen(Garden) - Shinobazu Pond | Lotus petals in the pond |
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| Turtle sunning | Ducks relaxing |
In the middle of Shinobazu Pond on an island is Benten-do a temple dedicated to the goddess of good fortune. Even though it is small it seems quite popular with the Japanese. Behind it there are concessions renting boats including the typically Japanese/Asian swan boats.
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| Benten-do - dedicated to the goddess of good fortune | Shrine in Benten-do |
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| Boats at the ready | More typical Japanese boats |
Ueno Park is actually the remnant of the grounds of the Kaneiji temple of the former ruling shogunate family Tokugawa which was destroyed during the Meiji restoration. One of the remaining historical places inside it is the Tosho-gu shrine built in 1616 in honor of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The golden entrance looks impressive and there are people praying in front of it. Another point of interest is an eternal flame that will burn as long as there will be nuclear weapons on earth.
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| Fountain at Tosho-gu | (Possibly) eternal flame |
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| Toshogu shrine - people are praying | Entrance at Toshogu |
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| Detail on shrine | Wooden prayers |
From the shrine we move on toward the Tokyo National Museum through the middle of the park. It seems that there are some festivities going on with music and lots of vendors. We get a bit distracted and then lost but in the end we see the museum in the distance and head straight to it. As we get close we notice how big it is and actually is composed of multiple buildings. After paying the entrance fee we are greeted by the museum mascots (everything has a mascot here) and after checking the map we walk to what we think is the main building.
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| Lots of people on this hot Saturday day | Where should we go? |
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| Music festival in the Ueno Park plaza | Tokyo National Museum in the distance |
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| The mascots of the National Museum | Main museum building |
The museum is really interesting and it allows flash photography in some areas or in other areas the artifacts are illuminated quite well which leads to great photographs. It is also less full than expected which is great while the explanations in English are very good and allow us a good understanding of what we see. There are a lot of Buddhist artifacts as well as some artifacts uncovered during an expedition in Mongolia in the early 20th century.
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| Buddhist stelae | Old buddha |
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| Old seals | Old camel figurines |
The ceramics collection is quite large and it has some beautiful Chinese porcelain and Japanese imitations of it - the colors used are impressive and beautiful.
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| Buddha head | Beautiful ceramics |
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| Blue glaze plate | Another beautiful plate |
It seems that the Japanese really like animal representations as there are quite a few figurines of different animals from birds to camels to imaginary animals like dragons.
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| Ibis statue | Camel statue |
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| Dragon statuette | Interesting art object |
A few of the most popular exhibits are related to Buddha carvings and statues from Cambodia and South East Asia, they are really intricate and well done and as such much photographed by the Japanese. And of course given that it is a Japanese museum there is a section about samurai swords and their history.
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| Buddhist carving | Old Buddha statue |
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| Samurai sword | Colorful ceramics |
One of the more unique areas is a section about animal drawings done at the beginning of the 20th century which is interesting especially regarding the treatment of imaginary animals that were drawn based on descriptions of eyewitnesses (or at least that is our understanding).
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| Animal survey | This is real |
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| This is mythical | This is really mythical |
Another section that we enjoy is the one about Japanese divider panels. They are quite interesting and beautifully painted and some of them are very large even though most of the are relatively standard.
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| Divider panel | Masterfully painted panel |
During our visit we get quite hungry so we stop at the museum restaurant. It is very popular though so we have to wait for some time before a table opens up. The food is good and we eat a Japanese specialty - Unaju - which is grilled eel and is served in an lacquered container, very posh.
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| Unaju (grilled eel) lunch | Pork cutlet lunch |
After finishing with the museum we plan to spend the reminder of the day in Akihabara, the electric town. This part of the town is supposed to be all about electronic shops and department stores as well as anime related stores. To us it doesn't seem that different from a normal shopping street we have seen in Japan, it has a few electronic stores but nothing that is really that shockingly different and it is in no way cheaper. We visit the Anime Center which is relatively small and enter a few anime stores, most of the are books or magazines in Japanese so we don't know what they are about. Even so we do a little shopping with a few items that we wanted to buy for some time and time is already running out as we have only one full more day in Japan.
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| Akihabara main street | Billboards in Akihabara |
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| People waiting in front of a "maid cafe" | Huge anime characters |
To move from place to place we use the Tokyo subway for which we bought a day pass. It is as expected very convenient however the subway stations are usually very far down so we have to take multiple stairs down and then follow the color coded routes to the correct station. After a few false starts we get used to it and especially when it is raining it is great to have a place to escape the rain. In fact many times you dont' have to exit to the surface as the subway exit will lead you to underground entrances to malls/businesses.
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| Tokyo metro station | The (in)famous woman only cars |
After a good night sleep we start our day with a visit to the Shijuku area. Our goal here is the Metropolitan Government Building where you can climb for free to one of the top floors for a panoramic view of the area. The walk to it is quite interesting with an underground walkway complete with moving sidewalks while on the surface there are multiple skscrappers including some which are almost a work of art. The view from the top of the building is great but it is very popular so it is difficult to catch a free spot near the windows and for that matter you also have to wait a bit both to go up and down with the elevators.
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| Shijuku skyscrappers | Walking through the skyscrappers |
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| On top of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building | View in another direction |
After visiting the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building we are getting hungry so we search for an open restaurant which proves to be a challenge on a Sunday in a business area. Finally we find an open one in an underground passage with no English speakers but using the pictures in the menu we convey our intentions and the food is quite good and we leave satiated.
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| Lunch - better than it looks | No idea what we are eating |
Next we go to Shibuya a well known area of retail stores with a famous intersection where you can see all the new clothing trends in Japan (supposedly). It certainly is very very busy almost overwhelmingly so. That may be also from the fact that there is a festival procession going on which seems really popular. We enter in a few stores (mostly expensive) and do a little people- and sightseeing and then decide to move on to our last destination of the day Asakusa.
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| Shibuya craziness | All of Tokyo seems to be here |
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| There is a festival going on | Seems difficult to carry |
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| One of the many stores in the area | Famous intersection in Shibuya |
The main reason that we intended to go to Asakusa was that it is an arcade area that we hope may be cheaper and we can buy any last minute things we can think off. And it certainly is that even though the stores are starting to close especially on the sidestreets.
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| Asakusa - Kaminari mon (gate) | Well illuminated shopping arcade |
What we didn't expect was the Senso-ji temple which is beautifully lighted and the complex can still be entered even in the evening. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo and it venerates Kannon the goddess of mercy and even this late there are people here to pay their respects and pray in front of the temple. The grounds are also beautifully illuminated with lighted paper lanterns.
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| Senso-ji buddhist temple | Hozo-mon the treasure gate |
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| View inside Senso-ji | Nio - protective god at the gate |
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| Close to the temple entrance | Lighted paper lanterns |
What attracts the eye however is the five story pagoda especially how it is siluetted against the modern Tokyo Skytree in the background. It is an interesting contrast especially lighted at nignt. After our visit we are really tired and go back to the hotel as tomorrow we have to leave and return to the US.
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| Illuminated pagoda in Senso-ji | Tokyo Skytree at night |
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| Another view of pagoda | Skytree and Pagoda |
As our plane leaves late in the day we arrange with the hotel to hold our luggage and we decide to try to catch a glimpse of the Tsukiji fiah market a renowned fish market were supposedly you can see almost any fish imaginable and there are also in theory restaurants that serve fresh fish. However as we exit the hotel we notice that it starts to rain quite badly and the wind also picked up - luckily we are prepared with rain coats and umbrellas. The umbrellas don't survive match under the increasing wind and the rain coats are almost pulled off us a couple times but we get in the end to the market - which is empty and closed. All stores besides it are also closed - a huge letdown. We decide to return to the central area then and do some shopping but first we want to buy the train tickets to the airport.
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| Tsukiji fish market area in typhoon | Detritus carried by the strong winds |
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| Closed market | Close up of empty street |
As we get to the train station the ticket seller and announcers are letting us know that the trains got cancelled. There is little information why so we run from person to person until we find out that there is actually a typhoon passing through the area and that trees have fallen on the tracks which stopped all traffic. We are frantic now and we try to find a different transportation option and we discover a bus which of course we expect to be mobbed by all the train passengers so we run to the hotel and get our luggage and present ourselves to the next bus. Luckily it is only half full and it makes good time to the airport where we arrive in time. In fact we have lots of time so we eat lunch at one of the airport restaurants - for the first time for almost two weeks we see a fork and knife and then we wander through the airport to see the different art exhibits. The most interesting one is shop with a lot of origami exhibits from small towns to flowers - very interesting. We are a bit stressed about whether our plane will leave as there are quite a few cancelled but we leave ok and then it is a smooth flight back to the US. This was a great trip with lots of interesting and beautiful sights in a culture both different and sometimes so familiar.
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| Airport food | Not really appetizing |
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| Impressive origami landscape | Origami Flowers |
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