Tag Archives: Shogunate

21st June 2013: Ueno and Ebisu {Japan, summer 2013}

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As last year, 2013 visiting started on Ueno Kōen [上野公園], as it is an easy-enough place to reach and has a few museums that offer indoors entertainment. It was raining cats and dogs, which should have made me cranky. Nevertheless I was paroling around with this stupid grin on my face as the general tourists bitched about weather XD

You might remember Hanazono Inari Jinja [花園稲荷神社] from last year:

Unfortunately the Sakurazukamori was nowhere to be found again – although I have to admit that the atmosphere changes quite a bit in the rain. Thus, I headed into the Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsukan [国立科学博物館], Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science, after being thoroughly confused by the Japanese arrow system once again.

The museum has two buildings, and an impressive collection of preserved animals, along with a very cool evolutionary tree, a collection of dinosaur fossils, an exhibition on human evolution and some repeated casts that they hope really hard nobody notices.

The animal life exhibition gave me a glimpse of how biased I can actually be, as I rather felt like “monkey, cat, human… FISHY =D”. Most of my pictures are sea-life related XD

Like ever other Science Museum there was Foucault pendulum hidden in a corner:

And the last exhibition was about methods of science, units, and had an amazing periodic table with samples. Whomever designed the exhibition deserves a lot of kudos.

Later I headed to Ebisu [恵比寿] where D****e and I were meeting with some of her Japanese friends for drink and food. All in good fun. It was raining when I checked out Ebisu Garden Place [恵比寿ガーデンプレイスタワー], so I could sympathise with MatsuJun’s mysery XD”

14th July 2012: Kamakura & Yokosuka {Japan, summer 2012}

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On Saturday the 14th we headed off to Kamakura [鎌倉], home of the second largest Buddha in the country and birthplace of the samurai. There was some “glassed” coffee for breakfast, then we set off on the train.

A can of coffee reading caffè latte 240 ml

Once in Kamajura, we first off we headed to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu [鶴岡八幡宮], where we were lucky enough to see a couple about to get married.

A Shinto gate, in dark red with golden decoration

A traditional wedding, with the bride and groom dressed in kimono and hakama

Second, we headed off to Kamakuragu [鎌倉宮], a shrine which has an awesome bamboo forest which we did not burn down. This is important because we had a small accident with an incense burner while we had some matcha (green tea) in said bamboo forest.

Religious stone markings in a bamboo forest

A bowl of foamy green tea, with sweets on the side

A few hills up and down we finally made it to Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Jinja [銭洗弁財天宇賀福神社] where you can legally launder money. In the literal sense – if you wash your money there it is supposed to multiply. Knowing fairly well that as long as I am here my money will only diminish, I did not really try, but the temple itself was awesome. And there was ice-cream.

Stone markings and torii gate that mark the entrance to a shrine. Right behind the torii, a dark cave mouth opens

A torii gate leading to a small sanctuary. There's a tree standing right in front of the torii, and it has been marked with sacred paper to protect it

Soft vanilla ice cream in a cone

Our last spiritual stop was the Kamakura Daibutsu [鎌倉大仏] in Kotoku-in [高徳院], which is another of those things that everybody tells you that you should visit and you do because you think you should and still manage to amaze you. For the outrageous amount of 20 yen, you can even go inside.

The great Buddha, sitting cross-legged with a peaceful expression

The inside of the Buddha, with reinforced steel around a black hole that is probably the neck

We made a stop for food by the beach, too:

The beach, with foamy waves coming in

We had a snack, in particular a koroke:

A big croquette, breaded with big panko flakes

Finally we wrapped up the night heading over to Yokosuka [横須賀] to watch the summer’s fireworks by the powerplant!! =D sea.

Fireworks in the dark

Fireworks in the dark, reflected on the water

I was super-thirsty on the way back and I discovered that cocoa-in-a-can makes more giddy than coffee… Sheesh that’s some sugar rush!

Can of cocoa or chocolate milkshake

11th July 2012: Kyoto in 9.5 hours: Mission Impossible {Japan, summer 2012}

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My express visit to Kyoto [京都] on the 11th was fueled by a jump into a rabbit hole – the first time I drank canned coffee. It would not be the last, definitely.

A can of Georgia Café au Lait

I started off with Fushimi Inari Taisha [伏見稲荷大社] and is dedicated to Inari, the God of Rice, whose messengers are considered to be the foxes or kitsune [狐]. It is a temple with a gazillion plus one torii, since in early Japan Inari was seen as the patron of business. Thus each of the torii is donated by a Japanese business. Sorry for the sun reflection, this was the best picture of the main building I could take:

A shrine building, in powerful orange. The sun is shining at the rim of the roof, and there are two sculptures of foxes sitting on the sides.

A line of torii (have I mentioned that I looove torii?) the Senbon Torii [千本鳥居], or line of a thousand torii:

A torii in the foreground. Beyond it, so many others that you cannot tell them apart. All of them are orange, but the outermost ones have been burnt by the sun and are less bright

After Inari, I crossed the whole of Kyoto via bus and train and visited the Kinkaku-ji [金閣寺], the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. While I went to visit it because it was a must-see I found it amazing, and liked it more than I wanted to admit.

A pond with a pine tree at the centre. To the side, a three-story pavillion that looks similar to a pagoda. The first floor is built in wood and plaster, the upper ones have been covered in gold

Bus again, towards the Imperial Palace, Kyōto-gosho [京都御所], of which you see… the outer wall and the cops that guard the door XD

The entrance to the Imperial palace - a gate through the walls. Two police officers in blue are chatting at the fence

And a thirty-minute walk after that, I found myself entering the castle Nijō Jō [二条城]. Can you feel the rush? XD

The main building to the old castle. Is is built in dark wood with gold ornaments and carved details showing animals and plants, painted in bright colours

A view of the moat. The water is green.

Two buses later I was in Chion-in [知恩院] which was being repaired, so you can only see park entrance gate, which technically might belong to a nearby temple. I mean… there are too many temples to keep track of them! (Edit: after a bit of processing, that’s actually the entrance to the Yasaka Jinja [八坂神社] complex.)

A bright orange and white building at the top of some some stone stairs.

And going down those stairs to the left there was… Gion [祇園], the traditional geisha district. Found no geisha though D:

Traditional Japanese houses in dark wood, burnt by the sun. The entrance has a paper lanter and a menu

Finally, after another temple or twenty, or among them, I managed to sneak into Kennin-ji [建仁寺] just before it closed to see the twin dragons:

A ceiling painting of two dragons. The background is dark and the dragons are coloured in light shades, gold, white and red

By then I was so dead that I headed back to the station and was catatonic for the Shinkansen ride to Tokyo. This is not by far all I saw, but I lost track of the names for a bit. By the end of the day I was exhausted, but this is the gist of what I did that day. I would need more time to sort out the pictures, and I am trying to keep you guys generally updated, not write a thesis on ancient Japan XD (ETA 2017: Wow, that frame of mind changed a lot)

9th July 2012: Osaka, day 1 {Japan, summer 2012}

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Monday 9th had me doing something I never thought I would do – riding a Tokyo train during rush hour, and survived too!

My first destination was Shinagawa station to catch the Hikari Shinkansen bound to Osaka [大阪]. With a speed of almost 300 km/h, the Hikari Shinkansen covered the 454 km between Tokyo and Osaka in abuout three hours, with some stops in between, Nagoya being one of them.

A train station platform with the train arriving in the background. The train locomotive is white and looks like a duck bill

Upon arriving I headed towards the city’s Castle, Osaka-jō [大阪城]. There are no words to describe Osaka-jō, and no picture would make it justice. Have some that try anyway:

Osaka Castle. It stands on a rock base, and it has four floors. The roofs are green/grey and the main walls are white with golden decoration

Osaka castle from the side, showing the accessible lift for wheelchair users

View from the top of Osaka Castle. In the foreground there's the roof decoration, a gold fish-monster. In the background, Osaka highrises. In between the park and the moat

Next to the castle is the Hōkoku Jinja [豊國神社], which I visited too.

A severe grey torii in front of a white and green shrine building

Then I walked back to the castle to undo all the way towards the station – as some monuments close at 3pm I wanted to make sure to go in the tower museum. Now I had the chance to take pictures and explore. By chance I noticed some stairs by the edge of the park surrounding the tower so I climbed up to discover a mini temple to one side of the castle. The small statues symbolize dead or stillborn babies, and I find them incredibly creepy.

Inside a shrine grounds - a little fountain, a stone torii, and a number of small human-like statues wearing red bibs

I explored the area and went back to the main path to find the station and head off to Namba, where my hotel was. Now, Osaka has two main entertainment districts: Namba and Shin Sekai. Namba [難波], where I went, has the Glico man (which somehow I missed, mistaking it for this little shop) and the giant blowfish and crabs.

Giant snow crab adverstisement for a restaurant

Giant dragon advertisement for a ramen restaurant

A billboard of a man reaching the end line of an athletic course, raising his arms in victory. His shirt reads グルコ

In Namba I bought myself some takoyaki – octopus dumplins – for dinner from one of the street stands. This was one of my first interactions completely in Japanese, and I felt stupidly proud of it. And of course, the takoyaki were delicous, albeit scorching hot.

A box of six round dumplins covered with brown sauce

7th July 2012: Nikkō {Japan, summer 2012}

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Nikkō [日光市] is about 140 km north of Tokyo, a couple of hours train ride. While the town itself might not seem much, close to it there is lies the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō Unesco World Heritage Site, and here we headed off on Saturday.

The area holds a whooping 103 buildings or structures, though the natural setting around them is also considered heritage. The buildings belong to two Shinto shrines: Futarasan Jinja [二荒山神社] and Tōshō-gū [東照宮], and one Buddhist temple Rinnō-ji [輪王寺]. Nine of the structures are designated National Treasures of Japan while the remaining 94 are Important Cultural Properties. Unesco listed the site as World Heritage in 1999.

A rock reading World Heritage Shrines and Temples of Nikko in English and Japanese

As you might be able to tell, it was raining. Like magic. Like hell. Cats and dogs. And then some.

Highlights include the Three wise monkeys, “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil”:

Wooden carvings of three monkeys: one is covering its ears, another is covering its mouth and the other is covering its eyes

The mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu:

A torii in black and gold. It's raining

A small one-story pagoda, the mausoleum itself

A five-storey pagoda (gojūnōto) belonging to Tōshō-gū:

A five-story pagoda, in red, green and gold. It's still raining.

The inner buildings of Furata-san Jinja:

Dark wood buildings decorated in green and gold. It's still raining

The entrance to Tōshō-gū:

Shrine entrance. The entrance is completely golden. It's still raining

However, since I would not be me without finding (and falling in love with) something obscure and creepy, have a small shrine to the side of the road nobody was paying attention to:

A forlorne stone torii forgotten in the middle of the forest

Did I mention it was raining? Because it was. All the damn day XD

4th July 2012: Multitasking Day {Japan, summer 2012}

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4th of July is the USA’s Independence Day, and Gackt’s brithday and Akanishi Jin’s birthday and Massu’s birthday, so I renamed it multitasking day.

The day started with getting on the public transport and into the Yamanote Line towards Ueno Kōen [上野公園], Ueno Park, obviously in the Ueno [上野] area. In case anyone has missed this, I am a big CLAMP fan, and the Tokyo Babylon / X arch has a very important plot device in Ueno Park – it is the place where the Sakurazukamori can be found.

The Sakurazukamori is a cursed sakura (cherry) tree which grows on the human blood the Sakurazuka mystic assassin clan feeds them, the blood of their victims. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the Sakurazukamori, but I was creepily amused to notice how many crows there were in the area. However with that many people around, I think Seishirou would have trouble hiding his kills in there XD I was wandering around for about an hour and a half.

A path in the middle of a park. Bright green trees close over it

Thus started my torii obsesion, looking at the entrance of Hanazono Inari Jinja [花園稲荷神社]. Torii [鳥居] are symbolic gates that separate holy grounds in Shinto – they are made out of stone or wood, in this case they tend to be painted bright orange or vermillion. They usually have two columns and two horizontal boards on top, the upper one is a bit curved upwards, and there is a plaque showing the name of the shrine. They sometimes have some writing on the back of the columns.

The entrance of a shrine, with a row of torii heading down some stairs

There are a lot of Museums in Ueno Park, and I chose the Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan [東京国立博物館], Tokyo National Museum, for a visit when the heat became too much. Yesterday it was supposed to thunderstorm, so I decided to go walk the park first and go to the Museum if / when it rained. In the end I went into the Museum when it did not rain XD. It was a tadbit too hot to wander around…

The Tokyo National Museum of Art is focused on Japanese culture and art (there’s a Western Museum of Art not that far away, also in Ueno) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art in the next corner.

The entrance of the National Museum of Art, a light grey building with a brick roof

I am not going to bluff and tell you how I appreciated the sliding doors art of the china art. I did, but let me be honest. The katana collections are the ones that made me flail:

A katana

After I was done with the Museum I needed to hunt down some food. I had two options, stay in Ueno and give a try to the Metropolitan or go somewhere else. In the end I decided to head off to the station, get food there and get into the Yamanote line [山手線] again until Hamamatsuchō [浜松町] where I sat on a park to eat my onigiri and get some rest. After that, I visited the San’en-zan Zōjō-ji [三縁山増上寺] Chief Temple of Jodo-Buddhist, which kind of was in my way.

A vermillion Buddhist temple which you need to access going up the stairs. A few people come and go

A wooden Buddhist temple building

Very, very pretty. But the actual reason I was in the area was the metallic structure you can guess to the right in the first picture. This is the area where Tokyo Tower [東京タワー]. Insert a huge fangirl squeal here. Aloud. just after coming out the station, when the tower was barely visible against the sky. Of course, however, I could not stay away XD.

As I mentioned before, there was supposed to be bad weather, so originally I did not have plans to climb it up yesterday but… I did anyway because there was good weather. I had decided to only go up to the main observatory (150 m high), but in the end I found myself asking for the special observatory combo ticket, which lets you go to the special observatory 250 m high (total height of tower is 333 m).

A view of Tokyo Tower from the ground. It is not a good picture, a bit burnt, but it shows the whole tower from afar

Tokyo Tower - a picture from the base upwards

Lots of CLAMP manga have important stuff happening in Tokyo Tower: in Tokyo Babylon, Subaru banishes a restless spirit, in X Kamui and Fuuma fight there as it is one of the Tokyo kekkai, in Clamp Gakuen Noboru wants to celebrate his birthday party there and in Magic Knight Rayearth, the three main characters meet there. Though let me tell you, I don’t know how three classrooms fit in here so they see each other when Emmeraude calls upon them:

A view of the observatory of Tokyo Tower

Yes, I took pictures inside the observatory, I took pictures from the view too, of course. Note Tokyo Bay and Rainbow Bridge, another of the kekkai.

Tokyo buildings from above, with a huge park in the foreground

Tokyo highrises

Tokyo Bay inlet and buildings around it

I even looked down

A glass floor shows the view of the streets below and Tokyo Tower structure underneath.

The day ended with a quick visit to Ebisu [ヱビス] Place (where MatsuJun gets stood up in Hana Yori Dango), a quick once-over Shibuya, katsukare for dinner and then falling kinda dead.

A square. A covered gallery is int he background

I made friends with a Shiba Inu who wanted petting and totally pwned jet lag. I also was misled into trying a horribly ocha (tea) drink that Tackey promoted on TV, which was… horrid. Lesson learnt. We don’t trust Tackey on drinks…

A bottle of tea soda