Our touring is officially over, but that doesn't mean we're finished sharing some of our adventures. As one person put it, we really did have an "authentic Japanese immersion" experience. So many varied adventures. We were never in a tour group on a tour bus, but did all the travel on our own, planned with us by Global Base Tour group, who contracts with Inside Japan Tours. We recommend them highly!
Linda and I were good travel companions, with similar interests and energy. We were mostly quite lucky with the weather. It rained some, but mostly the days we needed to be out and about, it wasn't too bad. And some days were sunny and a bit warm. Our last day, which was mostly on the Shinkansen (bullet) train, it poured rain, but didn't affect us (except we didn't get to see Mt. Fugi, as we had hoped.) The Shinkansen was great fun to ride -- sometimes going 200 mph but it was smooth and comfortable. Tourists like us can buy a Japan Rail Pass in US to use in Japan but locals are not eligible for it. It was expensive, but it was great for us because we could get on and off the various trains without extra charges, and since the Shinkansen is quite pricey, it didn't cost us anything extra to take trips wherever we wanted.
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| Shinkansen |
The train stations are something else. So many shops and restaurants in most of them--it's like a big shopping mall and much more impressive than our airports. We've appreciated the artistry in the way things are displayed, whether in the train stations or shops or covered outdoor markets. Things are packaged so exquisitely. Fancy wrapped candies and sweets. Full displays of vegetables and fruits, meat and fish, dresses and shoes, handicrafts and touristy items -- all very tastefully arranged.
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| Plastic food advertising menu |
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| Packaged sweets in train station |
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| Meat & Produce in one of the many mall markets |
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| Meat & Produce in one of the many mall markets |
The restaurants often display their menu with plastic "food" outside their door. Sometimes we would have to ask the waiter to come outside so we could point to one of the food items, since we couldn't read the Japanese. We were mostly very pleased with our dining adventures. Loved the okonomiyaki -- a pancake-like batter with vegetables or meat that we cooked right at our own table grill. Really enjoyed the sukiyaki -- cooked in a pot at our table. The soba noodles were delicious. The tempura the best. Linda loved the sushi/sashimi, but have to admit I didn't try it. Vegetable-meat stir fry, rice and miso soup quite often. Yakatori (grilled skewers or meat) was great. Lots of fresh or pickled vegetables but not much fruit although they did see it in the markets. We were pleasantly surprised that meals weren't as expensive as we'd been warned, but then we didn't order sobe beef or go to expensive restaurants. We especially liked the Japanese-style breakfasts that every hotel served until our last 5 days in Kyoto, but then they had good coffee and an English newspaper, so we kept going despite the same menu every day of boring baked eggs, little sausages, etc.
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| Okonomiyaki |
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| Sukiyaki |
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| Soba noodles/tempura |
OK, besides food.... we had wonderful touring experiences. Local guides were contracted for us, and were mostly excellent. One day, though, our guide was a Canadian former soccer star who has been living in Japan for 20 years. He is an expert on geisha culture, and took us through the backstreets of Kyoto, often sharing how much he enjoyed going out at night with drinking buddies and geishas. He "got mixed up" on the tour he was scheduled to do for us one day so the tour company rescheduled. Linda and I suspect the 2:30 a.m. drinking with geishas may have had something to do with it. He gave us a DVD he produced about geishas--if you're interested I can share it. He is also listed in the credits as a consultant for the movie "Memories of a Geisha." He took us to the "navel" rock marking the original center of Kyoto. Nearby was a sculpture indicating the origin of ikebana
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| Geishas (dressed for tourists but not real ones) |
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| Guide (Peter McIntosh) pointing out original center of Kyoto |
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| same area as start of ikebana |
We went to several shrines and gardens in Kyoto, but we didn't get to all 1600 of them! We especially loved the day our guide took us on a "Secret Gardens" tour and to the Golden Pavillion.
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| Gardens at shrines |
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| Gardens at shrines |
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| Golden pavillion |
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| Ayako Kiyono, our favorite guide in Kyoto who works for Inside Japan |
We were quite interested in the architecture and city street views.
We went to a re-created farming village one day -- Hida Village outside Takayama, that had many old thatched roof structures, and a display of the silk worm production in that area. Takayama was one of our favorite places.
Saw the Sky Tower in Tokyo but didn't go up. Did go up in the tower at Kyoto and had a nice view.
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| White castle in Kawazana |
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| Shrine gates |
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| Thatched roof at Hida Village |
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| Cocoons at Hida Village |
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| Nice view from Kyoto tower |
We did a couple side trips from Kyoto. Went to Nara where there are many shrines and Buddhist temples. The deer were everywhere, including trying to get to my green tea ice cream cone.
We didn't go in to the temple with the large Buddha in Nara, but I did go twice to Kamikura (20 minutes by train from where Kristen & Chris live in Yokosuka) to see the 2nd largest Buddha in Japan, if I'm remembering correctly.
We went to Hiroshima on the Shinkansen from Kyoto one day. An emotionally heavy day, but glad we were able to spend time in the Peace Park and museum. One of the displays is of a clock that marked the 8:15 Aug 6th atomic bomb -- and then pictures of the damage it did. I'm not including some of the pictures of the badly burned people or remnants of their clothing. Too horrible to look at. The Peace Park had a sculpture for the children and the many beautiful origami crane chains people have sent from all over the world praying for peace. The original cranes that Sadaka folded were in the museum. (History:
Sadako Sasaki, who lived inHiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing, developed leukemia from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami (folded paper) cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese legend that one who created athousand origami cranes would be cured by the gods. Her wish was simply to live. However, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died on 25 October 1955 in the morning. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako.)
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| Crane chains |
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| Sadako's origami cranes |
We loved looking at the countryside from train or bus. The most interesting views were from the bus from Matsumoto to Takayama.
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| View from bus |
Lots of hills, trees, rivers, mountain lakes. We had hoped to get a view of Mt. Fugi on another train ride, but the weather was rainy & cloudy so never did get to see it. Next time!
There will definitely be a "next time." I've got a precious reason to return to Japan, beyond touring the country itself. I'll add another blog before I leave with more Abigail pictures! She's the most precious thing in the world, so have to add at least one here!
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| Abigail |
