6 days in Tokyo
In many ways it is a modern metropolis yet it maintains many Japanese attitudes. A clean city without garbage cans, a busy but quiet city, a crowded city with no security issues, in short Japanese attitudes, engrained over generations, make themselves felt everywhere and all the time and city runs like a clockwork, smooth and steady.
The travellers:
Shinjuku night life:
Admittedly I haven’t used my travel camera in a while and was busy figuring out how the place works. So the pictures are a bit sub par.
Shinjuku Gyoen park:
Tokyo Tower:
The day I visited it had its 67th birthday. Completed in 1957 in the post war period when Tokyo was rebuilt for the second time in roughly 20 years, first an earth quake, then the war, this must have been a symbol of pride for a reemerging country whose pride was probably more hurt by the violent intrusion of a foreign culture than a lost war. Twice did the USA force Japan to give up on its isolationist tendencies. First time around it was 1853 with the arrival of a US flotilla, second time 1945 with the end of the war.
Shibuya from above:
Not my favorite cup of tea, the money area and more of the same Gucci, Prada, Versace the usual crowd and little Japan except for food. I am not sure if there is anyone left in Tokyo cooking at home, the multitude of restaurants suggests otherwise.
Traditional?
I haven’t been here long enough to judge but on occasion I get the distinct impression that in Tokyo tradition is more a sales pitch than a lived experience. Two examples, a small Sumo show for tourists, which is actually advisable before attending the real thing, and Senso-Ji temple where some rent a Kimono around the corner to experience 5 minutes of tradition.
5 days in Kanazawa:
a medium sized town on the west coast, less popular with tourists, doesn’t share Tokyo mega city hunger for modernity. The crowds are missing, the streets narrower and the attitudes a little less reserved. We arrived at our little home in a heave snow storm.
Kanazawa castle, park and Samurai quarters, and Oyama shrine, the historic parts of town.
A classical residence in Kuromonmae Ryokuchi Park
Walking back from the Geisha district, Hagisha Chaya District, past temples and some museums one finds that the architecture from a hundred years ago lives on.
Another culinary excursion the Kanazawa fish market. Its busy but worth while.
1 Night in Tsugura:
A short stop, one night in a Ryokan, in Tsugura. The only noticable items of this sleepy fishing town are an utterly oversized train station and a nuclear power plant.
5 days in Kyoto:
Heian Jingu shrine (Shinto) with the big gate (torii), with fortune slips (Omikuji) on wires against bad luck and wooden plates (Ema) for good luck and a purifying water basin and a dragon spout (dragon ryujin good water spirit).
Shoren-in temple (Buddhist) is one of the five Monzeki temples of the Tendai sect in Kyoto; the head priests at these temples originally belonged to the imperial family. The atmosphere at the temple is solemn and peaceful, similar to the ambiance of the Imperial Palace; this kind of an environment can only be found at Shoren-in temple. Known as Awata Palace, it served imperial needs, even housing an empress temporarily in the 18th century, and is famous for its ancient camphor trees, beautiful gardens designed by artists like Saomi and Kobori Enshu, and its role in Tendai Buddhism.
Chion-in (Monastery of Gratitude) is the headquarters of the Jodo-shu (Pure Land Sect) founded by Honen (1133–1212), and build by his disciple Genchi. Unlike the previous Shoren-temple this one was built to impress not seduce. Maybe size alone explains its popularity. Architecturally Shoren is far superior when one considers how its buildings with open views blend into its surrounding gardens.
One of the Five Great Zen Temples in Kyoto, Tōfuku-ji was founded in 1236 . Walking across the famous Tsūten-kyō bridge In fall must be a dream, when the colors in the Zen garden below are full of bright reds in all possible variations. But even in winter the garden is a treat.
Smaller temples on the way to our temporary home.
Finally after a cold morning, a drive across town to Tenru-ji temple and the adjacent Arashiyama bamboo forest. As it turned out this place was a major tourist magnet with tons of stores and restaurants catering to the crowds that arrive here year round. I used the time to take a walk up a local mountain to get the view of all of northern Kyoto.
