Japan: June 10-19, 2018. A Few Notable and Impressive Tourist Sites

This post is, meaningfully, my very last post on our Japan visit. While these are all wonderful and important places to see and visit, currently it simply feels somewhat obligatory to include tourist sites. The most meaningful parts of the trip for me were the vernacular (which some people find mundane); for it was here in the common, everyday experience, that I learned more about Japanese people and customs. Many of the images below are included in previous posts; this is just a blog post that summarizes the "bucket list" items, if you will, that we saw on this trip to Japan.

Golden Pavilion: This was the grandest of all for the shimmering gold three-story building. Certainly this was a surprise to round the corner and see this exquisite sight. There were acres of gardens to be tended. I saw a single gardener clipping a bush; when I commented about him to our guide, the guide said it was a great privilege and a great honor to be a gardener at this temple. I think he was using toothpicks and tweezers.

Fushimi-Inari Shrine. What a surprise this was to walk under orange-painted archways. Impressive for its scope, this shrine is over 1300 years old and includes a 233 meter tall mountain. This is a Shinto Shrine, the head shrine of the god Inari. This shrine is notable for its orange archways, covering literally miles of a path up and around the mountain. People could purchase, for varying prices, one arch. On it would be written a thought, or a prayer, or a person's name. This site was heavily visited, free, and came complete with multiple gift-shops, shrines within the shrine, and cemeteries. Notice the man sweeping with a broom in the foreground. Paper foldings hang from the central prayer area, shown in the picture below. The folds represent: wind, rain, earth, sky and fire: the 5 elements. Indeed, 5 is a sacred number for the Japanese; the holiest of shrines and temples will have 5 stripes on the wall. Sometimes, for the temples or shrines of lesser importance there will be 3 stripes, but never 4. 4 is a bad luck number. Just as we don't have a 13th floor in a hotel, the Japanese will not have a 4th floor, or a 4th row of seats or 4 stripes on a wall.

Looking backwards, one could see the writing on each vertical post.

From the outside of the pathway

Mt Fugi, from the Shinkashen. rice patties in the foreground.

Shinkashen or Bullet Train. Fast, smooth, and regular, this was a reliable form of easy transportation.

Kyoto Mall. In the center of town, this narrow pathway had many food, clothing, and knick-nack shops on either side. We sampled many new and different food items, many good, many not-so-good.

Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower:We arrived in our hotel room to see we had a corner room and large windows on two walls. Through one window, we saw a piece of the bay and the Rainbow Bridge.

Through the other window was an equally dramatic view of a skyline, busy flyway highways, and the orange Tokyo Tower.

The next morning, I asked the concierge at the hotel how to walk there; she suggested a cab. It was too complicated and too far. "An hour to walk," she said. Google maps and I got walking and in 20 minutes I was at the base of the Tokyo Tower. This tower appears to be an orange Eiffel Tower with gardens, temples, concrete children (with windmills and bibs) and a gift shop at the base.

Nagoya Castle: Grand for its size and moat, this impressive temple is in the town of Nagoya. While the temple itself was closed for renovation, we were able to go into a different building with similar painted panels and style of rooms. The rooms did not have furniture, but had elaborately painted panels showing wildlife playing and scenes from nature. When guests or dignitaries were served tea or food, a small table was brought into the room.

Bamboo Forest: I discovered this particular bamboo forest in my wanderings around Toki in a region where none of the narrow roads were on the map. The larger, more publicized bamboo forest in Kyoto was also magnificent and near a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it was very crowded. I had this bamboo forest to myself.

Toki Bamboo Forest

Arashiyama Bamboo forest (Microsoft windows screensaver, forest theme)

Bamboo forest (Microsoft windows screensaver, forest theme)

Arashiyama Tenryuji Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site . 天龍寺

Near the large bamboo forest, on NW corner of Kyoto, we biked to this temple. With extensive gardens (some of the oldest and at least 500 years old), we saw similarities between the temples in architecture, fountains, art, and gardens. We also watched a heron catch, spear, and consume a large bullfrog who nearly got away on a couple occasions.