Last entry from Japan?
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2004
1
13
Trip End
Apr 16, 2005
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Kyoto, Inuyama, Hiroshima, and so on ..., Japan
Friday, April 1, 2005
There are a couple of countdowns going on right now - the cherry blossom countdown (radio reports tell us that we are just days away from the big event) and the pack-up-and-leave countdown (15 more days before we set off for Thailand). Naturally, we're driving ourselves crazy with anticipation for the cherry blossoms. Can't wait to sit under those magical blossoms and, in a haze of drunkenness, become melancholy about the beauty of something that can only last but a few short weeks. Ahhhh. Gotta love Japanese thinking.
Since the last update we've been keeping ourselves busy working like mad and squeezing in some really neat sights between. Don't worry - this time I'm really going to try and keep it brief.
In February a friend of mine (Sandy) came for a visit. It was really nice to see a familiar face and we thoroughly enjoyed her analysis of the accuracy of western stereotypes about Japan. We did our best to experience as many of Japan's cultural hot points as we could (chopsticks, kimono, fans, sake, hot springs, temples, shrines ... Japan must be famous for a hundred different things). Perhaps the most monumental achievement resulting from Sandy's visit occurred moments after a short tour of the Hilton's all-you-can-drink Happy-two-Hours, when we decided to visit the karaoke establishment next door. There for the first (and probably last) time I actually picked up a mike and proved to everyone (i.e. Sandy and Kyle) I cannot sing ... at all. Sandy and I subjected poor Kyle to a horrendous rendition of "Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto" (he returned the favour with "Return to Sender" - twice). And it went on and on until we couldn't take ourselves any longer and we left to go eat sushi. The following morning we ventured off to Kyoto for a two day trip, where we hopped from one amazing sight to another:
Kinkakuji, a gold-plated pavilion, is set amidst a beautiful pond and moss-covered forest. (I still can't get over all that moss Sandy! You should have taken a picture.) The pavilion itself is a bit of a golden overload, but it's very famous and was interesting to see.
Ryoanji Temple, famous for its Zen rock garden. Thus began my fascination with these elusive gardens. This particular garden features 15 stones, expertly placed by a famous Zen master, lying in a rectangular bed of raked pebbles. The idea is that you're supposed to create the image and meaning for yourself. No spoon feeding here, kids. And that can be so frustrating! I have since spent many hours asking students why they like these types of gardens and what it all means, and have concluded that my information was correct - the meaning and beauty totally depends on who you ask. The only consistent idea is that usually while meditating on the garden one can visualize a stream, pasture, ocean, or fish from the rocks and the raking. In contrast to European-style gardens that seek to smash your senses with colours, textures, smells, and so on, a Zen garden is meant to relax viewers, and provoke creative thought - they are designed to appear two dimensional but evoke three dimensional ideas. Huh?!
Gion. We skulked around the famous Geisha quarters at night to see if we could spot these mysterious ladies. Alas, they are too quick and too wily for the likes of the average tourist.
Kiyomizu Temple, a beautifully preserved temple with a very tilted and unstable-looking balcony that overlooks Kyoto city. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves here. To all the SurveySite people out there - remember the Japanese restaurant we love so much? It's named after this place.
Fushimi Inari Shrine, featuring 40,000 red torii gates that form a twisty path around a small mountain. "It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call 'The Twilight Zone'" This place is ... unusual. Before visiting I had an appreciation for these striking gates. But, after walking around for an hour in a maze of them I slowly started to go crazy, and (unfortunately) have never looked at them the same again. Periodically the gates would part to make room for massive torii gate dumping grounds, where visitors could leave their mini torii gates in honour of this or that. Very strange place.
After returning to Nagoya Sandy impressed us all by venturing out by herself to do a hot spring tour. The next day she left in a blaze of chopstick shopping glory. Thanks for visiting Sandy!
On March 15 Kyle and I attended the annual Hounen Matsuri (Fertility Festival) in Inuyama. Otherwise known as the "Penis Festival", the event features a parade of numerous penises from one shrine to another (with free sake handed out to the crowd along the way), and rice cake tossing. Events like this make me wonder how Westerners get the nerve to accuse Asians of being repressed. During the day people were laughing and parading around with giant phalluses, fully realizing how bizarre the whole thing is, but having fun with it. I just about died of embarrassment as an elderly man assured me that it would be ok for me to touch the wooden penis when it made its way by, and was horrified when he insisted that I pose with one in my arms for a picture.
A few days later we had a four day weekend and headed to the Hiroshima area for our final excursion in Japan. In our usual way, Kyle and I stormed the area in a flurry ...
Kurashiki Bikan Chiku Music Festival (Okayama). We were lucky to be in the area to experience this little festival that took place along quaint Kurashiki canal. The day was lovely, the mood was cheerful, and the street was animated with musicians and families strolling around admiring the 17th century granaries.
Takahashi Raikyuji Temple (Okayama). This out of the way Zen garden caused us to miss the last ferry that would have taken us to our island hotel, but it was well worth it. Built in the Horai style (which means spiritual peacefulness and harmony), this garden is absolutely fantastic. Not only were the rocks raked to perfection, surrounding it were amazingly landscaped bushes, trimmed to simulate waves.
Hiroshima City. Ever since being there I've struggled a bit when I tell people that Hiroshima is a really nice place. But, it is. Despite everything, Hiroshima was rebuilt and is thriving again, and is using its terrible experience as source of inspiration and leverage in its fight to rid the world of nuclear weapons (I sound like a brochure!). Our hotel was just a five minute walk from the A-Bomb Dome and T-Bridge (target for the bomb), so we spent a couple of nights and days strolling around Peace Memorial Park between side trips elsewhere. I guess I'll just have to let the pictures do the talking because I'm sure everyone has similar feelings of sadness and disgust about what happened. But most of all, it made me realize how lucky I am to have never had to live through something like that myself - I lack the capacity to even fully imagine how bad things could have actually been. Oh - if you haven't seen the movie Atomic Café, I recommend it.
Miyajima Island and Seto Inland Sea (Hiroshima). Just a short train and ferry ride away from the city, Miyajima Island is famous for it's giant floating torii gate. While there we also went to the top of Mt. Misen to view for ourselves one of Japan's three famous views - the Seto Inland Sea. At the top of the mountain is a group of semi-wild monkeys. It was our first monkey experience and it was pretty cool ... they are just like us! Kyle has some really good pictures, which I'm sure he'll put on his site. Oh yeah - and we were treated to a pretty big earthquake while on the train to get to the island. Our first train earthquake experience.
Iwakuni Kintai Bridge (Yamaguchi). This famous ribbon bridge used to be used by Samurai back in the day. Like many sights in Japan, this one is best viewed during cherry blossom season, since the river is lined with dozens of trees. Nevertheless, the bridge is really neat.
Night bus. To save money we took a nine hour night bus from Hiroshima to Nagoya. Night busses are very reasonable - the seats are arranged seat-aisle-seat-aisle-seat, and recline really far, you get a blanket, and a pair of slippers, and the lights are out. It would have been alright if the man beside me would have stopped snoring for five seconds to let me fall asleep. It was shocking how sloppy of a snorer this man was. Every bump and turn would elicit an extended, stuttery, snorty sound from his throat and nasal cavity. I kept turning to him to say "shhhh" and "for the love of God please be quite" but he didn't flinch. I even rustled papers two inches from his ear and would turn to him and cough in his face as loudly as possible, but nothing would work. At the end, all we could do was sit back and laugh at the situation. We arrived at Nagoya Station feeling totally jet lagged - he woke up perky as a fresh cup of coffee.
Well - that's it! I'm finished. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to be interested in our little trip to Japan. And despite what you may think, I've left lots of stories out of these updates - you'll just have to hear them directly from us when we get back. We'll see you in August!
Sayonara!
Love Joanne and Kyle
PS I might have a few things to say before we leave!
