This trip is nearly a month! I’m staying in Komagome, Tokyo, to go to a Japanese Language School, and there is some fun planned along the way.
22nd May 2016: Kabuki at the CBA (Madrid, Spain)
I made a short escapade to the theatre Teatro Fernando de Rojas in the Círculo de Bellas Artes, in Madrid. It was my first time watching kabuki [歌舞伎], a type of Japanese theatre. The play was called Tsumoru koi yuki no seki no to [積戀雪関扉], something akin to “The Snowbound Barrier” and translated into Spanish as “En los límites de Osaka, bajo la nieve del amor” (In the Outskirts of Osaka, under the love snow). It is a dance-drama kabuki written in the 9th century, and deals with the spirit of a black cherry tree turning into a courtesan to extract revenge. Before the play, there was a small conference to explain some details about kabuki and that was really interesting.
Afterwards I just had to run for the trains so… no much time to hang around.
14th May 2016: Ikebana & Taiko in Madrid (Spain)
I went to the Royal Botanical Garden Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid because they were holding an exhibit of Ikebana and Japanese culture “X Gran Exposición de Ikebana y Semana Cultural Japonesa”. There were several activities, and I wanted to watch the ikebana and listen to the taiko players.
I was very amused when it turned out you could actually attend an ikebana class. Ikebana [生け花] is the Japanese art of aranging flowers, and it is one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement (the other two are calligraphy and tea ceremony, I’m doomed).
To my surprise, the ikebana scene in Spain is heavily dominated by elderly ladies who take the whole thing Very Seriously ™, so in the end the workshop was more like two of them giving instructions to each attendee and one of them just taking the flowers from you and rearranging them if you failed to heed the instructions within a couple of seconds. It was interesting though, and behold my creation:
They almost made me late for the taiko – Japanese drums – demonstration, which turned out to also be a workshop, my first time playing the drums. I’m not that good at that one, either, but let me tell you better than the flowers…
Afterwards, I wandered about the rest of the exhibition before I headed off… and this sounds really fast, but it was a good half day!
2nd April 2016: Círculo de Bellas Artes & Tsugaru-shamisen music (Madrid, Spain)
Círculo de Bellas Artes (CBA) is a Spanish cultural and artistic association founded in 1880, and they had partnered with The Japan Foundation to hold a concert by Kenichi Yoshida [吉田 健一], a famous Tsugaru-shamisen [津軽三味線] player / artist.
I got to Madrid in the late afternoon, with enough time to get to one of the most hidden Starbucks in the city, which was rather crowded as it was Saturday. Fortunately I found myself a table to spend the extra time (public transport transport paranoia, maybe. But it’s not paranoia if they’re really after you and you have been stuck in Spain commuter trains for hours already). And well, a Starbucks a year and all that… And I mean, I was planning to skip dinner so a Vanilla Frappuccino would keep me going.
The concert was to be held at the Círculo de Bellas Artes building, located in downright in the middle of Madrid. It was designed by the Spanish architect Antonio Palacios and erected in the early 1920s. From the outside, I had always thought it looked pretty weird.
Inside, however, it was a different feeling. I had never imagined the inside of the building was going to be this neat! The CBA Headquarters has a neat staircase, an impressive ballroom, and a reportedly-cool observatory at the top. Unfortunately, getting to the observatory required lining and I was not willing to do so either before or after the concert. However, I did get some views from the second-floor windows!
The concert was in the inner theatre Teatro Fernando de Rojas, a fully-functioning theatre on that second floor, with about 400 chairs, and I had got a fairly good seat so I was happy and could sneak up a couple of pictures.
The concert in itself was amazing. Kenichi Yoshida, the younger brother in the Yoshida Brothers band, comes regularly to Spain to teach shamisen – a classical Japanese string instrument – in Barcelona. Oftentimes he makes the most out of his time and organises recitals and other activities. The concert was a mixture of old and new melodies, played along some drumming. The concert lasted for about an hour, and it felt very short. As Yoshida is a frequent visitor, he can speak a tiny bit of Spanish, too, and he tried that. It was a lovely touch.
24th – 27th March 2016: Easter in Barcelona (Spain)
I think this has been the first time I’ve been to Barcelona without a concert. However, one of the first times I did take a long touristing tour, so this time round my friend and I took it rather chilly – in the literal sense. As we were there there was a drop in temperature and I had to run to get myself a long-sleeved T-shirt.
24th March: Gaudí afternoon
Through different means and from different origins, my friend and myself arrived in Barcelona at around the same time mid-afternoon. We met at the station and dropped our things off at the hotel, then we took the underground towards Monte del Carmelo, Carmel Hill, where Parc Güell, the Güell Park, stands. The park, which was supposed to be a urban area originally, was designed by Antonio Gaudí. It became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1984.
Visiting some areas of the park is charged, but the whole park is accessible starting in the late evening. We decided to climb up first and then visit the paid-but-free area. Thus we got to the summit of Carmel Hill and saw the Turó de les tres creus, the Three-Cross hill, that offers a great view of the city, including the Tibidabo area with the Cathedral and the amusement park.
We went down and we walked into the architectural area. Although there is no artificial lighting in the area, as the sun went down we were treated to a bit of a magical area, also away from the tourist crowds.
We had dinner at Arenas de Barcelona, the old bullfighting ring now turned shopping and dining centre, then we went up to the roof for some night views.
25th March: Gaudí morning & Gaudí night
We woke up and had breakfast – coffee inception!!
Then we headed off to see the Casa Batlló, the Batlló house, one of Gaudí’s Modernist masterpieces. It is also called the “house of bones”, and it’s kind of wobbly and organic. The roof is designed to look like the back of a dragon. An interesting detail is that the building was not really erected on Gaudí’s orders – it was a renovation of a previously-existing building.
After the house, we went to the harbour area. We hung out for a while (with a stop to buy an extra T-shirt because it was cold), had lunch and eventually purchased tickets for the Museu Marítim, the Maritime Museum, located in the former Royal Shipyard.
The sun was setting when we came out, and we headed towards the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, the church of the Holy Family, also designed by Gaudí. Both of us had already seen it, so we were happy to see it from the outside. When they finish it, I would like to come back though.
26th March: No Gaudí!
We had a walk around the Gothic Neighbourhood of Barcelona, and we made a stop at the Iglesia de La Purísima Concepción, the church of the Conception to visit the cloister.
We saw the cathedral Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia.
We also walked under the Bisbe Bridge, Pont del Bisbe, in the street of the same name.
We had lunch in a Japanese restaurant, then walked around the Port area for a while.
As we had visited the Maritime Museum the previous day, we had a free pass to the sailboat Santa Eulàlia.
We ended the day in the L’Aquàrium Barcelona, the local aquarium.
After that, we backtracked to our hotel. The following morning, on the 27th, we met up with another friend who had a free while for breakfast and then everybody went home.
16th January 2016: Un Planeta Enloquecido: Fantasmas, Monstruos, y Alienígenas en el Manga (Exhibition in Madrid, Spain)
Naves Matadero in Madrid was holding a free exhibition on Japanese “monsters, ghosts and aliens” in manga and Japanese pop culture, and since I was around I decided to drop by. Here are some pictures.
I did not stay over but took a bus right back home because it was too cold for anything else.
2nd January 2016: Palacio de Cristal (Madrid, Spain)
Right after landing back from Scotland there was a couple of things I needed to get going in Madrid. That afternoon I took up the chance and went to see the Palacio de Cristal, or Glass Palace, in the Parque del Buen Retiro (Park of the Good Rest, sort of). The building is a Victorian, iron-cast structure which is currently dedicated to exhibitions. It is a satellite building of the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art. It featured an exhibit by the Vietnamese artist Danh Vō – with a hanging Christ and fossilised bones?
And then we found out that there is indeed a parakeet invasion in the Retiro…
27th December 2015 – 1st January 2016: Scotland (Great Britain)
A friend and I decided to organise a New Year’s Eve getaway to Scotland, and I used the opportunity to get some stuff and redtape out of the way, so you might notice some chunks of time missing. Furthermore relationship with Scotland is complex and bittersweet, so I’m not sure how this post is going to turn up
The first part of our trip was based in Edinburgh. We arrived rather late in the evening so we just got to Waverly Station and walked to the hotel to get some rest before we started off the adventure.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, and it is a dark city, but not in a bad way. The dark, moss-covered rock seems designed to absorb any little beam of sunlight and warm the houses. In our first morning we had a walk around Princes Street Garden, where the Scott Monument, a memorial in honour of the writer Sir Walter Scott, stands. There was also a Christmas market standing.
We climbed up Castlehill to visit Edinburgh’s castle, in the Old Town. The castle stands on an extinct volcano and some of the archaeological remains can be traced back to Prehistory! The first castle is thought to have been built around the year 1000 BC, which means the foundations are 3000 years old! The site of the castle includes, among other dependencies, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regimental Museum, National War Museum, the Royal Palace, St. Margaret’s chapel, and a couple of distilleries. Due to its vantage point, also features a great view of all the Edinburgh area.
We walked back down Castlehill and made a stop at The Tron in the City, a former church turned artisan flea market.
My friend is a Hard Rock Café collector, so we went to the George Street area, which was decorated.
After lunch, we walked to Calton Hill, a hill / park area located near the centre and that hosts the Dugald Steward Monument, the National Monument and the Nelson Monument.
Then we met with a local friend to have dinner (bangers and mash!) to The Elephant House, the so-called birthplace of Harry Potter, where JK Rowling went to write the novels.
On our way back we saw some of the illuminated views, most prominently the Christmas market and the Balmoral hotel.
Glasgow
Aside from all the emotional baggage associated with Scotland, I can say that Glasgow is one of my favourite cities in the world. Most of what we did was walking around even if the weather was nasty at points. As we came out from Queen Street Station, our first visiting spot was George Square and the Glasgow City Chambers, and we had lunch in a Greek restaurant that I love over there.
But we quickly moved over towards Saint Mungo’s Cathedral, also known as the High Kirk of Glasgow. It is a 12th century building built in North Europe Gothic style.
Afterwards we walked up the Necropolis, a Victorian graveyard on a hill behind the cathedral. Today it is a great place for a stroll, aside from a place with way too much history for a humble blog post.
We strolled up and down Buchanan Street and the Central Glasgow area a few times – Queen Street, Central Station, the museum of modern art, the Japanese restaurants… We stopped at the HRC again, the Mandela Monument and dropped by St. Enoch’s shopping centre to see the light reindeer and warm up.
We walked to the Glasgow Cross area then, with the Tolbooth Steeple, the clocktower that marks the entrance to the Merchant City.
We came across quite an amount of interesting buildings in the Merchant City, among them St Andrew’s in the Square.
Another of the places we visited was Glasgow Green, which was half flooded due to the storm.
And when the weather became so bad that the sleet was making impossible to stay out on the streets, we visited the Riverside Museum, the Museum of Transport of Glasgow, where we had some delicious scones too.
We tried to see Dumbarton Castle, but it was closed down due to wind and the storm, so in the end we just took a ride there and walked around.
On the 31st we had dinner at a very nice Japanese – with awesome staff. Then we bought some provisions and headed to the B&B.
At night we were surprised by the fireworks so we ran out of the B&B room to find them.
And on the first we were treated to a rather… unimpressive… first sunrise of the year.
When we flew back I had one of the most surreal experiences ever – we had bought a pack of scones for breakfasts and snacks, and somehow it became tangled in my phone wires. Well, turns out that wired-tangled scones look one hell of a lot like bombs on X Ray machines! The poor Scots security guard was first deadly pale, then so relieved that I was not carrying a bomb!
28th September 2015: Super Blood Moon
I may or may not have set the alarm at 4:15 to watch the Super Blood Moon (Read: I totally did. It’s a bit grainy but I finally caught a blood moon on a clear night).
3rd September 2015: Kawagoe & Omiya {Japan, summer 2015}
For my last full day in Japan I set off to Kawagoe. Not coming from downtown Tokyo, I did not take the JR line, so when I came out I could not grab a map. Thus, I had to brave it and get on with it – as my phone did not recognise where I wanted to go. Wohoo, orientation adventure. And yup, you guessed it – I got lost. However, this time it was a fortunate loss, because I ended up at the Seiya-san Muryōshuji Kita-in [星野山無量寿寺喜多院] temple complex, which I had marked as ‘maybe on my way back’ originally. It was a very lucky turn, because I met up with a very nice Japanese lady who explained the complex to me and with whom I made friends. She showed me around the premises and recommended the museum – and the 500 disciples of Buddha Sculpture Garden – Gohyaku Rakan [五百羅漢寺], which I loved to pieces.
Kita-in Temple main building with the pagoda in the background:
Kita-in Temple Complex: Gohyaku Rakan:
Kita-in Temple Complex: Amazing main building:
Hakusan Gongen [白山権現], adjacent to the Kita-in Temple Complex
After saying my goodbyes and checking the museum, I headed off towards the area called Koedo [小江戸] (Little Edo), stopping around to check on small temples and shrines. Koedo features black buildings that survived WWII bombings because the pilots thought they were burnt already. This was the main thing I wanted to visit, and I was surprised at the fact that I met very few Westerners here. I guess it was due to my visiting on a weekday. The most famous street is the Black warehouse district, Kurazukuri no Machinam [蔵造りの町並].
I found the Clock Tower, Toki no Kane [時の鐘],
Once I was done wandering around Koedo Kawagoe, there was something else I wanted to check, the main Hikawa Jinja [氷川神社] in Omiya [大宮], a district in Saitama [埼玉], which was fortunately on my way back. There were huge koi in the pond there.
Afterwards I just headed home for some ramen and nice company as good-bye for now. See you next reload, Japan!
2nd September 2015: New views of known sights {Japan, summer 2015}
I went to Haneda Airport to see D****e off as she was leaving already, and on my way back I shook melancholy off by climbing up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] in Shinjuku [新宿]. I had noticed that my camera was better than I was expecting it to be, but I was a bit blown away when I realised the neat stuff it could do. I am very happy with it. Here is a sequence of me aiming at Tokyo Tower [東京タワー].
Views of the Skyscraper District from the TMGB observatory:
After that, I took a stroll down the Skyscraper District, as I wanted to go back to one of the shops I had visited on Sunday. Unfortunately, at this time I was not feeling too well, so when I made it to the shop I had to be quick.
After I had made a much-needed stop, I hit a Book Off (once again) or two (again, once again) and finally headed back for an early evening. B**** and I had a relaxing dinner, tonkatsu in my case, and we both ranted out about our problems. Good for the soul.
1st September 2015: Downpour Shibuya {Japan, summer 2015}
D****e and I headed off to Harajuku [原宿] to check out the idol shops, but I wanted a quick visit to Meiji Jingu [明治神宮] to get the calligraphy from there. I had never been able to find out where they did it, and it was good to have some Japanese-speaking person around. We were surprised to walk into some kind of religious parade I still have got to research.
Afterwards, through a downpour, we had a look at Takeshita Doori shops. When it was almost noon we headed off towards Hachiko in Shibuya [渋谷] as we had agreed to meet a friend for lunch – shabu shabu in Shibuya’s Nabezo and then headed off to Cosmo Planetarium Shibuya [コスモプラネタリウム渋谷], which is a really neat place with very comfy chairs that lean back… yep, you guessed it, I zonked out. In my defence, I shall say that… all Japanese and a talk about gravity and I was getting dizzy with the 3D screen…
After a quick visit to Tower Records for a magazine I was looking for (and in the end got a wrong one, but oh well…) we had yet more karaoke (in a huge room) and eventually headed off home to have some CocoCurry.
31st August 2015: Up and down, Trains and fandom (reloaded) {Japan, summer 2015}
We took the Yurikamome line to Odaiba [お台場] once more.
Kushikatsu tries were more successful this time around, and D****e managed to get a few more Chupacabra out of the machine later. Afterwards we headed off to the Trio2 shop, located in Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] for some more fandom shopping. We saw the X JAPAN Tour billboards.
Later, we had dinner at Swallowtail, the Butler café – the first time I’ve not been too pleased with the food. The tea set was just too sweet all around, but all in all quite an enjoyable experience, as always.
To end the evening, we had a look at the UFO catchers, where we got Chupacabra uchiwa, and I raided the local Book Off.
30th August 2015: Up and down, Trains and fandom {Japan, summer 2015}
After laundry – which was kind of urgently needed, we headed off to Odaiba [お台場] to try to get some kushikatsu. Unfortunately by the time we made it there, there was no space any more, so we ended up in a Korean place. I’m not particularly fond of Korean food, except when it’s grilled meat, but it was late and food was needed, and I found something cheese and vegetables. Oh, well.
After that we headed off for some UFO hunting again (Chupacabra, you guessed it), and later to Shinjuku [新宿] to check out two fandom / goods second-hand shops: Pure Sound and Closet Child, where I found a few interesting things, and others that I filed away for future reference.
Then there was karaoke before heading home, and we tried the McDonald’s avocado burgers on our way back. That… was a rather underwhelming experience I guess. Not bad, but not particularly good XD.
29th August 2015: a-nation day (Ajinomoto Stadium) {Japan, summer 2015}
I woke up early that morning to do laundry… No, wait, that was the plan XD In the end we were not able to wake up early as we arrived super late the night before as we were doing the VAMPS Karaoke Booth. A friend had gotten D****e and myself a-nation Fes. tickets and we were baffled to find out that they were nothing less than Arena Tickets. E-block, which was before mid-stadium, which in Japan is super lucky. She ended up in block A, which is epic, but hey, her tickets, she had the right to choose her best seats ^^
So off we went to Ajinomoto Stadium [味の素スタジアム] in Chōfu [調布]. This time, we were not going to a concert, but a real music festival. Our main interest was VAMPS, but there was another band, Golden Bomber (ゴールデンボンバー), that I also kind of like – I try not to like them too much though, because in general they are very expensive. It was really interesting to see the different fandoms and their reactions to the different bands. The weather was rainy on an off and umbrellas were not allowed, but raincoats helped us have a good time overall.
The artists were:
- 加治ひとみ
- Leola
- SOLIDEMO
- Do As Infinity
- つるの剛士
- Dream5
- Every Little Thing
- ゴールデンボンバー
- f(x)
- 倖田來未
- FAR EAST MENTION MANNEQUINS
- VAMPS
- SUPER JUNIOR
28th August 2015: Matsushima and Sendai {Japan, summer 2015}
The day started in Matsushima [松島], the Pine Islands, where there are… lots of pines. And temples. We paid the small fee to cross the bridge to the biggest island, Oshima [雄島] and headed off there, to just walk around it. There were pines and other trees, but I am no tree expert, so… I could identify the pines… However, there were nice views and it was a good way to start the morning, even if I was not feeling 100%, as I had a small accident coming out of the station that ended up with me sprawled on the floor. Not fun.
This bridge survived March 11, although a smaller similar one was destroyed. In general, the area was quite spared by the tsunami.
View from Oshima into the bay:
After the main island, we visited a few of the temples around. First, Zuigan-ji [瑞巌寺], which has some really cool cave altars.
Entsuin [円通院] – Mausoleum of Date Mitsumune.
Back in Sendai, our first stop was the combini Ōsaki Hachimangū [大崎八幡宮], also known as the Black Shrine, as it was supposedly erected to enshrine the kami of war. It was ordered by Date Masamune, who was a very important figure in the history of feudal Sendai.
Though we did not make it to Date’s mausoleum, we did see the sculpture erected in his honour up on the ruins of Aoba-jō [青葉城]. Here are the Date Masamune memorial on the ruins of Aoba Castle
View of Sendai from Aoba Castle:
Afterwards, we headed back to the station as we had to catch the 19.30 train, since we had an appointment in Ginza [銀座] at 22.00. We had a reservation for VAMPS Joysound special karaoke booth, which was normal karaoke, but in a room decorated with VAMPS stuff and a special video, along with some themed drinks. Just one of those cute fandom money-drainers activities.
27th August 2015: Foxes everywhere {Japan, summer 2015}
Zao Kitsune Mura [蔵王きつね], the Fox Village in Zao is as its name says, a fox village. There is about a hundred foxes running around, chewing your shoelaces and marking territory. It’s like the deer of Nara, in foxy form.
Zao is located close to the city of Sendai [仙台], up north of Tokyo, and here I ended after a couple of bumpy train rides to meet with D****e at Shiroishi station. We took a taxi to get there.
The Fox Village is located in the mountains, about 20 minutes away from the town. There is an outer part which consists on a sort of petting zoo, some baby foxes and the hospital. You’re not allowed to pet the foxes without permission though, because they have, you know… teeth. There is also a badger (for some reason), some rabbits and goats. In that area you can take pics holding and petting the foxes for a fee.
Once you go into the main area, you find yourself in a large yard where there are… 100? 200 foxes? There are different colours of foxes, even if all of them are “red foxes” they have different coats: standard red, white, black (technically called ‘blue foxes’ apparently?), mixed colour (called ‘ice and fire’ or something because why not?).
You’re allowed to feed the foxes from a platform / shed as long as you don’t touch them, and you’re supposed to stay still when they try to chew you cross your path.
The area is separated into a small zone for the cubs, an acclimation area for the ‘teens’ and the main freedom yard.
There the foxes have got… well, I’m not even sure of how to call them, so just have a few pictures. As long as you follow the rules and don’t freak the foxes out, you can get pretty close to them, which is amazing. We tried not to disturb them while they ate, either.
The weather was miserable though so you see some dry foxes and a lot of wet foxes. There was a very wet me in-between too. And well, the foxes were fascinated by D****e’s clothing and kept trying to eat her. However, my mission was to ‘take pictures first, rescue her later’.
There is also a little shrine with space inside for the foxes to sleep.
At the end you’ve got a bittersweet feeling because you’re not allowed to take any home (T_T) I just wanted one or twenty…
The day ended with yummy gyutan (grilled cow tongue), a walk throughout the covered Sunmall Ichibancho [サンモール一番町] commercial galleries and some Chupacabra hunting in an UFO machine downtown Sendai.
26th August 2015: Kobe – the calm before the storm {Japan, summer 2015}
Before setting off to Kobe, there was one stop in Kyoto I had to make: Kyoto [京都]’s Seimei Jinja [晴明神社] which enshrines the soul of Abe no Seimei, reportedly the most powerful onmyōji Japan has had. He lived in the mid Heian Kyo as was the main actor in the union of the Shinto church and the state. He has been widely used in fiction as his figure seems to be half historical – half fictional anyway (Note to self: you’re still missing the Osaka Seimei Jinja). The shrine is built where he lived in Kyoto, quite close to the Imperial Palace itself. I am quite happy I got to go there alone, because the level of fanbying I achieved in that place might be embarrassing ^^”
After taking pictures to my heart’s content – getting the shrine’s seal, an omamori, and getting a free sticker because I was a foreigner, I went back to the station and took a Shinkansen to Kobe [神戸]. Kobe is one of the most important ports in Japan, and in 1995 was hit by a major earthquake which displaced areas of the city up to 6m to the sides. It is quite a new town, and it was very calm for what was about to happen. The next day, the most important yakuza gang in the country, based in Kobe, was about to split into different syndicates.
I wandered Kobe for a while, saw the clock flower and the eternal flame to commemorate the deaths from the quake and eventually made my way back to the harbour and Meriken Park. A part of it has been left as a memorial, never to forget the destruction caused – the Memorial in Meriken Park [メリケンパーク]. The Meriken Park Earthquake Memorial is eerie somehow.
After seeing the memorial, I could already scout the Kobe Port Tower. I got a combined ticket to see the Tower and the adjoined museum – Maritime Museum and Kawasaki Museum. From the Tower I got quite a good view of the whole city and the harbour. It is quite humbling to think about that nature did to the city, and what could happen again any time. No pictures allowed in the Maritime Museum though, so I just bring you some pictures from the top of the tower.
After Kobe Tower, I made a stop in Sannomiya Jinja [三宮神社].
Then I headed off to have a look at the local Chinatown and the local shopping street/gallery – Motomachi Shopping street [神戸元町商店街].
Chinatown had mostly food stalls, and I was not hungry – and I have already tried Kobe beef and know that I can’t afford the real good stuff, so after wandering around for a bit, I decided to head off to Ikuta Jinja [生田神社], the most important shrine in downtown Kobe, and quite in the lovey-dovey date couply future prayer. Not for me, but very very beautiful shrine.
And then I headed to check in the hotel and start a bit of a train nightmare that I won’t write about in hopes to forget eventually. Thus tomorrow we shall start with the arrival in Sendai.
25th August 2015: Arashiyama & Nara {Japan, summer 2015}
Today was a delayed day, actually, as I apparently took over the plans I made last year when VAMPS had the secret live and I skipped back to Tokyo to attend to it. Then again, as I had changed plans from yesterday to today, everything came a little jumbled.
After a nice chat with the Tourism Office lady – in broken Japanese, as I did my best, the fist thing I set off to do was visit the Arashiyama bamboo grove in Arashiyama Chikurin no Shōkei [嵐山 竹林の小径], which is a nice little town adjacent to Kyoto (yep, not a neighbourhood. A town all on its own. That’s Japanese urban planning for you). I had been wanting to visit the area for a while now, and finally made it there. After a nice detour – because taking the wrong turn in Japan always yields to something interesting (then again, people, placing sings of ‘bamboo grove this way’ right behind the map is not helpful, Japan) – and a couple of temples I ended up where I wanted to be, and boy was it impressive.
In the middle of the bamboo grove we find Nonomiya Jinja [野宮神社], a nice little shrine which was at the time overridden by Chinese tourists (that happens, apparently, when you visit a shrine dedicated to marriage).
After a couple of hours wandering the bamboo grove I head back to Kyoto station and once again took the Nara line, only this time I would not be stopping in Inari as I have done before, but took the express to Nara [奈良] itself, which was something else that had been on my list for a while.
Yet another nice Tourism office lady, and way too many Spanish tourists later, I was on my way towards Nara Kōen [奈良公園], Nara Park, where my first impression was one of the things that makes Nara famous… deer. Hundreds of ‘wild’ deer which chase after tourists to get shika senbei (deer crackers) and eat maps when said crackers are not available. Very cute, very… adamant XD
But not my main visiting goal, never mind the creepy American dude who wanted to take a picture of me with them. My goal was visiting the to visit Todai-ji [東大寺] temple, and Daibutsu [大仏] (Giant Buddha) it hosts. Todai-ji did not disappoint me at all. It is a very solemn, very special temple and I enjoyed it.
I wandered around the Nara complex for a while and visited Kofuku-ji [興福寺] on my way back. They have a very famous Ashura sculpture, and a thousand-arm Buddha statue, but no pictures allowed, so I can only show you the exterior.
After some dinner on my way back, I headed off for Kyoto and the hotel which I was to leave the next day to head off to Kobe.
24th August 2015: Up and down Fushimi Inari Taisha (Kyoto) {Japan, summer 2015}
Still sore and a little sunburnt from the Beast Party, I woke up early-ish on Monday to make use of my JR Pass and head off to Kansai, namely Kyoto [京都]. It was as always both a short and long ride and for the first time I did it with a reserved seat, as I gave myself the exercise of trying to talk to the reservation people. It did not go too well, but I managed my reservation.
Upon arrival in Kyoto I changed my original plans – again – due to – again – rain forecast. So instead of what I had planned, I changed into shorts, put on my cap, and armed with onigiri and coke, I set up to top Inari-san [稲荷山], Mount Inari. You see, I have been to Fushimi Inari Taisha [伏見稲荷大社] before, twice, and both times I had to give up halfway because heat. Both times I tried to stick with healthy stuff – isotonic drinks and so, rest, and do things correctly. This time, I bought water, coke, snacks and onigiri, allowed myself to rest, but not to sit down and finally managed to do the whole thing, snacking on onigiri and crisps as necessary and pushing forward. I am quite surprised my clothing survived, too.
I started down at the big torii and the honden.
This is the pond where I usually kinda collapse XD but this time I made it through.
Kyoto view from Yotsu-tsuji, halfway up.
Itchinomine (First Summit)
Proof, in case you doubted me…
Fox temizuya (purifying fountain):
Down the other side:
By the time I was done, I may have been able to head off to another shrine, as I took less time than I had expected, but I decided that I’d better get some rest and get ready for the next day. After all, this was supposed to be ‘relaxing vacation’.
… Yeah, I don’t believe that either.
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