Japan: Faster than a Speeding Bullet!
We only scheduled a week for Japan, and in addition to putting four cities on our itinerary, I of course delayed the start of our trip by a day. whew. No rest for the travel crazed.....
We arrived in Tokyo Tuesday night and stayed in a capsule hotel. My friend Margaret recommended this experience as uniquely Japanese, and it was actually kind of fun. You check in, drop your luggage at the front desk, receive some toiletries and jammies, and head upstairs. The capsule is a space approximately the size of a refrigerator, with a futon mattress and mounted TV/alarm clock. There are about 30 capsules per floor and the floors are separated by gender. You have a small locker for your valuables, but that's it! I slept in a fridge. Oh, and for bathing purposes, there is an attached bath house, also separated by gender. It has a nice shower area and then a hot tub you can lounge in once you're clean. :)
Wednesday morning we left for Kyoto. If you want to travel around Japan, I have to recommend the bullet trains. They are punctual, go about 150 mph, and are smooth enough to read on.
Kyoto is the home of old Japan. You can find tea ceremonies, beautiful temples, palaces, and gardens, as well as a few geisha if your wallet is deep enough. We visited Kyomizudera, a temple built into the side of a mountain with a massive deck hanging out over the edge. The architectural feat of holding that deck up was almost as impressive as the building itself. Next we went to Nijo-jo, or Nijo palace. It originally belonged to a shogun, but was given to the imperial family when they returned to rule. Every wall was covered with carving and painting, and the outside of the structure was ornamented with metal...probably copper and brass. There were secret doors that samurai would hide behind in case they were needed, whole rooms devoted to training in swordsmanship and martial arts, and most interesting were the nightingale floors. They were designed to squeak when walked on so that no one could sneak in at night without being heard. Our final stop in Kyoto was Kinkakuji. This is also called the golden temple because the exterior of the entire top two floors are covered in gold leaf. It was an impressive structure in the rain, so I can only imagine it glinting in sunlight. The garden here was beautiful as well; so much so that we decided to go through twice. :)
After Kyoto, we headed down to Hiroshima. The main attraction here is the city's history, so our stay was a bit somber, but interesting nonetheless. We got there in the evening, so we visited a little garden called Shukkei-en. It was made as a miniature of West Lake garden in Hangzhou, China. It was gorgeous, and due to the time of day and poor weather, it was virtually empty. There were many arching bridges over the water, and lots of cute little red land crabs! It was a peaceful place for strolling.
The next day we went to the A-bomb dome and Peace Memorial Park. A-bomb dome is called so because the bomb exploded directly over it, leaving a mangled wreck of steel and brick. The ruin was left as a reminder of the destructive force of nuclear weapons and as a monument to the fallen. The park has many structures and statues to honor the victims of the bomb, but the most heartening is a flame that will remain burning until all nuclear weapons have been dismantled. Every mayor of Hiroshima since the bombing has written letters of protest against nuclear weapons and calling for peace. The museum was heartbreaking. Pictures showing the city before and after the bomb are wrenching in the devastation they depict. I would not have previously imagined that a single bomb could completely flatten such a vast space. And then we viewed scorched artifacts while listening to accounts of survivors. Many of the first victims were school children who were enlisted to help with the war movement and were working outdoors when the bomb dropped. The living victims' included unborn children who arrived in this world greatly disabled due to radiation exposure. I've never felt quite so guilty about my nationality as I did standing in that museum.
At least now the city is a thriving place, and the park was full of school children, several of whom interviewed us for a project.
After Hiroshima, we headed back up to Tokyo. Saturday we visited Asakusa temple, a large Buddhist temple in the heart of the city where you can find delicious Japanese crackers and fried bean balls before you stroll the temple grounds. We also went to the Sony building where you can view and play with all of Sony's new and some even pending gadgets! A bit of a juxtaposition of old and new. On Sunday we intended to go out to Fujigoko to view Fuji-san, but it rained on us pretty much all week, so we decided to stay in town since the mountain would be hiding in the clouds. Instead, we went to Meiji-Jingu garden. This is a MASSIVE garden that we essentially spent a full day exploring. Our favorite part was the iris garden. We fortuitously arrived at the peak of the iris season, and there were just acres of them. It was gorgeous!
Before we left on Monday, we visited the Tsikiji fish market where most of the fish in Tokyo is bought and sold. It was CRAZY both for the amount of motorized traffic barreling through the narrow aisles and for the unidentifiable sea life that people were selling for eats. We had a fun sushi breakfast there and then headed for the airport for the odyssey home. Mom and I had quite an adventure, and don't worry, all the pics are on the next blog post!
We arrived in Tokyo Tuesday night and stayed in a capsule hotel. My friend Margaret recommended this experience as uniquely Japanese, and it was actually kind of fun. You check in, drop your luggage at the front desk, receive some toiletries and jammies, and head upstairs. The capsule is a space approximately the size of a refrigerator, with a futon mattress and mounted TV/alarm clock. There are about 30 capsules per floor and the floors are separated by gender. You have a small locker for your valuables, but that's it! I slept in a fridge. Oh, and for bathing purposes, there is an attached bath house, also separated by gender. It has a nice shower area and then a hot tub you can lounge in once you're clean. :)
Wednesday morning we left for Kyoto. If you want to travel around Japan, I have to recommend the bullet trains. They are punctual, go about 150 mph, and are smooth enough to read on.
Kyoto is the home of old Japan. You can find tea ceremonies, beautiful temples, palaces, and gardens, as well as a few geisha if your wallet is deep enough. We visited Kyomizudera, a temple built into the side of a mountain with a massive deck hanging out over the edge. The architectural feat of holding that deck up was almost as impressive as the building itself. Next we went to Nijo-jo, or Nijo palace. It originally belonged to a shogun, but was given to the imperial family when they returned to rule. Every wall was covered with carving and painting, and the outside of the structure was ornamented with metal...probably copper and brass. There were secret doors that samurai would hide behind in case they were needed, whole rooms devoted to training in swordsmanship and martial arts, and most interesting were the nightingale floors. They were designed to squeak when walked on so that no one could sneak in at night without being heard. Our final stop in Kyoto was Kinkakuji. This is also called the golden temple because the exterior of the entire top two floors are covered in gold leaf. It was an impressive structure in the rain, so I can only imagine it glinting in sunlight. The garden here was beautiful as well; so much so that we decided to go through twice. :)
After Kyoto, we headed down to Hiroshima. The main attraction here is the city's history, so our stay was a bit somber, but interesting nonetheless. We got there in the evening, so we visited a little garden called Shukkei-en. It was made as a miniature of West Lake garden in Hangzhou, China. It was gorgeous, and due to the time of day and poor weather, it was virtually empty. There were many arching bridges over the water, and lots of cute little red land crabs! It was a peaceful place for strolling.
The next day we went to the A-bomb dome and Peace Memorial Park. A-bomb dome is called so because the bomb exploded directly over it, leaving a mangled wreck of steel and brick. The ruin was left as a reminder of the destructive force of nuclear weapons and as a monument to the fallen. The park has many structures and statues to honor the victims of the bomb, but the most heartening is a flame that will remain burning until all nuclear weapons have been dismantled. Every mayor of Hiroshima since the bombing has written letters of protest against nuclear weapons and calling for peace. The museum was heartbreaking. Pictures showing the city before and after the bomb are wrenching in the devastation they depict. I would not have previously imagined that a single bomb could completely flatten such a vast space. And then we viewed scorched artifacts while listening to accounts of survivors. Many of the first victims were school children who were enlisted to help with the war movement and were working outdoors when the bomb dropped. The living victims' included unborn children who arrived in this world greatly disabled due to radiation exposure. I've never felt quite so guilty about my nationality as I did standing in that museum.
At least now the city is a thriving place, and the park was full of school children, several of whom interviewed us for a project.
After Hiroshima, we headed back up to Tokyo. Saturday we visited Asakusa temple, a large Buddhist temple in the heart of the city where you can find delicious Japanese crackers and fried bean balls before you stroll the temple grounds. We also went to the Sony building where you can view and play with all of Sony's new and some even pending gadgets! A bit of a juxtaposition of old and new. On Sunday we intended to go out to Fujigoko to view Fuji-san, but it rained on us pretty much all week, so we decided to stay in town since the mountain would be hiding in the clouds. Instead, we went to Meiji-Jingu garden. This is a MASSIVE garden that we essentially spent a full day exploring. Our favorite part was the iris garden. We fortuitously arrived at the peak of the iris season, and there were just acres of them. It was gorgeous!
Before we left on Monday, we visited the Tsikiji fish market where most of the fish in Tokyo is bought and sold. It was CRAZY both for the amount of motorized traffic barreling through the narrow aisles and for the unidentifiable sea life that people were selling for eats. We had a fun sushi breakfast there and then headed for the airport for the odyssey home. Mom and I had quite an adventure, and don't worry, all the pics are on the next blog post!
posted by Claire | 3:27 AM
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