Japan 2012 - Kyoto

Kyoto - formerly the imperial capital of Japan, now it is the capital of Kyoto Prefecture. Kyoto is about 500km from Tokyo, but due to shinkansen journey  from Tokyo to Kyoto took 2 hours. It is interesting that such train on Tokyo-Kyoto route has 16 cars and 1320 seats, departure is every 4 minutes and speed is 265 km/h – unbelievable :)

Kyoto’s low buildings, narrow streets make this town more interesting than Tokyo – certainly worth seeing. 

Nijo Castle (Nijo-jo) – the castle was originally built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu. It was completed in 1626 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu. Nijo Castle is one of the finest example of early Edo period and Momoyama culture in Japan. It was donated to the City of Kyoto and renamed Nijo Castle in 1939.

Around the Castle there is beautiful garden – unfortunately March is not the best  month to visit Kyoto – all day it was raining.

Golden Pavilion – Rokuon-Ji Temple. Kinkaku (Golden Pavilion) is a popular name for one of the main buildings of the Temple, which is properly called Rokuon-ji Temple. In 1220 it was the comfortable villa of Kintsune Saionji.

Each floor of the Kinkaku uses a different architectural style. The first floor, called The Chamber of Dharma Waters, is rendered in shinden-zukuri style, reminiscent of the residential style of the 11th century Heian imperial aristocracy. The second floor, called The Tower of Sound Waves,[is built in the style of warrior aristocrats, or buke-zukuri. The third floor is built in traditional Chinese chán (Jap. zen) style, also known as zenshū-butsuden-zukuri. The building is topped with a bronze phoenix ornament Both 2^nd and 3^rd floors are covered with gold-leaf on Japanese lacquer. 

Kiyomizu-dera - an independent Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto.

Located halfway up Otowa Mountain in the eastern part of Kyoto City, Kiyomizu-dera is a historic temple that was established in 778, even before Kyoto became the capital of Japan. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have wish-granting powers. Contrary to popular misconceptions, the three streams of water do not differ in powers; people do however hold their own interpretations of what the three streams represent.

On street leading to Temple you can find a lot of shops with different stuffs – from green tee, Japanese fans, porcelain to cakes. Around the temple you can find women dressed in traditional Japanese outfit. It is very popular to rent such outfits from rental office and walking through narrow streets around temple.

Dinner in Kanga-An Zen temple. It is located in Kuramaguchi, which is known as one of the seven roads to Kyoto.  Originally this was the house of the Imperial family. The emperor named this place Kanga-An by himself and this place had been the praying spot for the Imperial family. Near the Temple (actually inside) there is restaurant, which serves vegetarian-vegan cuisine only. Dinner consisted of 13 dishes – all was based only on vegetables – I have to say it was an interesting experience J

To sum up – I would like to return to Japan and have an opportunity to feel again Japanese atmosphere, taste Japanese food and travel by shinkansen …

Japan 2012 - Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park

Trip to Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park (Mt. Fuji, Hakone and Fuji Five Lakes area). It is about 2 hours by bus from Tokyo. Due to bad weather condition bus could achieve only 4^th station (2020 m) – during season bus could go to 5^th station (2305m). From 5^th station there are routes to the summit (3776m) and from 1 July to 26^th August you can climb to the Mt Fuji.

Next step – Lake Ashi and boat trip. Lake Ashi is a volcanic lake formed during volcanic activity 4000 years ago. The lake covers an area of 7km², has a circumference of 20km and reaches a depth of 43m at its deepest point. The trips took us 40 minutes – from time to time you could see Fuji Mountain.

Our boat

Hakone is very fames and popular place (www.hakoneropeway.co.jp), known as holiday resort, which attracts both Japanese and international visitors due to its proximity to the Tokyo and to Mount Fuji.

Near Hakone is Ōwakudani. It is a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs. It is a popular tourist site for its scenic views, volcanic activity and especially, Kuro-tamago ("black egg") — a local specialty of eggs hard-boiled in the hot springs. The boiled eggs turn black and smell slightly sulphuric; consuming the eggs is said to increase longevity. Eating one is said to add seven years to your life :)

Return to Tokyo took 2 hours. The dinner was in the marvellous restaurant

Teppanyaki Miyako. The word “teppanyaki” is derived from teppan, which means iron plate, and yaki, which means grilled. During dinner you could watch the skilled maneuvers of the chefs preparing and cooking the food ahead of you. Very good food connected with visual feelings.

Japan 2012 - Tokyo

I had an opportunity to visit Japan – first time in my life :) - for me it was meeting with completely different culture. New experience – totally different than visit to the US or any European country I saw. It is very tough to describe Japan – I was impressed by cleanliness around me, and politeness of people.  

First place in Japan was Narita International Airport in Tokyo.

Tokyo – 8 500km from Warsaw, capital city of Japan, the largest city of Japan with mainly 9 millions people living there.

During this trip to Japan I took some photos, but honestly speaking March is not preferred month for this – you could feel the spring around the corner, but mainly was cloudy and rainy.  April, with cherry blossom (sakura) is better time to visit this beautiful country.

First day in Tokyo was rainy, time difference (8 hours) caused I was totally exhausted and felt sleepy and instead of visiting Tokyo I went to bed. Btw - I had beautiful view from my hotel’s windows. 

The evening dinner was at Gompachi Nishi-Azabu restaurant, which is rumored to have inspired Quentin Tarantino for the scenes in the Kill Bill 1 movie. The food was very good – mainly shrimps and grilled see food.

I had an opportunity to visit Odawara Castle, which is located in Kanagawa Prefecture.

First contact with shinkansen - also known as the "Bullet Train". Marvellous – trains capable of up to 320 km/h, based on reports average arrival time is within six seconds of the scheduled time, during a year shinkansen has 35 s delay. To enable high-speed operation, shinkansen uses advanced technologies compared with conventional rail, and it achieved not only high speed but also a high standard of safety and comfort. It’s fast and very comfortable way of travelling. Chairs in the car are heated – it’s normal, the Japanese like warmth. Compared with air transport, the shinkansen has some advantages - scheduling frequency, flexibility, punctual operation, comfortable seats  and convenient city-center terminals.

The shinkansen system and airlines often compete with each other for the business of city-to-city domestic travelers. If the shinkansen connects two cities in less than three hours, most passengers choose the shinkansen, but if it takes more than four hours the majority choose traveling by plane.

Sightseeing of Tokyo. I went to Asakusa and Akhiabara districts. Asakusa is known for Sensō-ji an ancient Buddhist temple. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon, also known as Guan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy.

The Nakamise-dōri  is a street leading to the temple. The length of the street is approximately 250 meters and contains around 100 shops with different staffs.

Pilgrims and tourists before temple – number of photo cameras per square meter is one of the highest in the world.

Akihabara, also known as Akihabara Electric Town, is a major shopping area for electronic and computers. Definitely, Japan is not cheap country – what surprise me even photo cameras (Canon, Nikon etc.) produced in Japan are very expensive compared to other countries.

To meet some spiritual experience I took part in traditional Japanese tea ceremony – the way of tea – in The Chayu Club Koomon (www.koomon.com). The original form of drinking a cup of green tea was brought from China in the 12^th century by Buddhist priest. The green tea was regarded as a medicine against diseases and hangovers. Nowadays there are many schools for the way of tea and it is said that 7 million people in Japan enjoy the way of tea – very often after work in special place, with switched off mobiles and laptops, to meet and talk to other people.  The most important aspect of the way of tea is the spiritual one.

Evening dinner in Roppongi Kaguwa (www.kaguwa.com) – entertainment show restaurant. For many reasons it is an interesting place and worth seeing. Why ? Hmm…Japanese culture and food, but not only :)

Fish market in Tokyo – commonly know as Tsukiji Market - is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. The market is the busiest between 5:30 and 8:00 a.m., and the activity declines significantly afterward. Many shops start to close around 11:00 a.m., and the market closes for cleaning around 1:00 p.m. The most exciting moment is the tuna auctions at 5.00 am – unfortunately due to restrictions and limits for visitors I didn’t participate in auction. All Tokyo’s restaurants are supplied here with fresh and raw fish.