March Adventure Day 2: March 6th, 2013 – Nara and Fushimi Inari

After having travelled Vietnam, Thailand and a stop in Hong Kong, Mom and Donna were a little tired when they arrived in Japan. That was why for our first adventure we decided to have a late start and do something fairly close to Osaka and I told them that Nara and Inari would be a more relaxing day than going to Hiroshima or Kyoto for the day.

We caught the train and made our way to Nara.

A deer taking a break in the shade

I think I mentioned in an earlier blog post that Nara is my favourite place in Japan. So I was very excited to share this place with Mom and Donna. On my last visit with Dad it was pouring rain so we didn't do much exploring of the park grounds, this time just like the first one 3 years ago we had brilliant sunny weather.

5-Storied Pagoda

Getting off from the train we headed in the direction of the park and Todaiji. The first stop was Kofuku-ji and taking a look at the Five-Storied Pagoda. This was something that I hadn’t seen at the park, so I quite enjoyed walking around there. It was also the first spotting deer of the day.

From there we walked through the park and made our to Todaiji. One of the things that Mom and Donna noticed were all the peace signs that people were doing in the photos so on our way to the main building they stopped and took a Japanese style photo.

With the bright sun seeing the main building was again awe-inspiring. The largest wooden building against the blue of the sky reminded me of my first visit and I was immediately reminded why Nara was my favourite place. It was once again great to be standing in from of the Daibutsu, I don't think I will ever get over the awe of being so small in comparison to the size of the statue.

After spending time at the temple we made our way back to the train station. We took a quick stop in a rest house because I saw a statue of the mascot of Nara – which is a Buddha with deer antlers – and I wanted a photo. [I personally think it looks like a creepy Buddha baby with horns, but whatever.]

At the rest house they had a earthquake simulator so I decided to have a go. They simulate three earthquakes, one I can’t remember, the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and the one from 2011 the Tohoku Earthquake (the machine though doesn’t have a full impact simulation of this quake only about ¼ of it because the scale of it was too high). After experiencing the 3 quakes they then simulate what the quake feels like with rollers designed to be under buildings to stop the rough shaking. It does make quite a difference.

From Nara I wanted to show my Mom and Donna the tunnels of Torii at Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Guarding the entrance to the Shrine.

This was another place that I had visited 3 years ago and I thought it quite beautiful. The vibrancy of the vermillion torii against the blue sky is something that I now associate with Japan. It’s also an amazing sight to see these bright gates standing in amongst the greenery of the forest that they are found in. The sight can also be seen in the film Memoirs of Geisha.

After what turned out to be not that relaxing of a day we headed back to Osaka. Where we had a delicious sushi dinner – the first of our Japanese meals. Over all it was a great day and a great week of sunshine and seeing Japan.

Up Next: Day 3 – Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Pictures up on Facebook and my Tumblr.

Kyoto, Nara and Osaka – Decemeber 29th/30th/31st, 2012

After a long drive from Nagano we made it into Kyoto. Kyoto is my favourite city in all of Japan; I fell in love with it during my previous trip to Japan. This time however we didn’t get to see as much of the city or the surrounding castles or other historical sites. This was because we got into the city later in the evening and the next day we were leaving to visit Nara.

Our evening in Kyoto was nice. We were very close to the famous Gion district where you may be lucky enough to spot a geisha, so we took a nice walk in the area and had a delicious dinner. We then walked on to the main shrine of the area. The Yasaka Shrine sits at the end of Gion and the busy street leading up to it was built up to accommodate the many visitors to the shrine. Inside the shrine grounds there is a centre building that is surrounded by three levels of paper lanterns. After our evening walk we headed back to the hotel.

Green Tea Mousse

The next day we woke to rainy weather, which continued all the way to Osaka. Before leaving Kyoto we went back to Gion to do a bit more shopping. After finishing with the shopping we got into the car and headed an hour south for the city of Nara.

On my trip to Japan 3 years ago the best day that I had was the day trip out to Nara with my friend Alex. It had been something that I had wanted to see after learning about Japanese Buddhism in school. Nara was once a capital of Japan and a major centre of Buddhism. So on this trip we made another stop there.

The city is famous for the deer park in which shrines and one of the world’s most famous buildings. The central thing to visit at the park is Todaiji Temple. This temple is the world’s largest wooden structure and within the structures is a giant seated Buddha statue. This statue is larger than the one in Kamakura and unlike Kamakura you cannot enter the body – they do though have a pillar with a hole carved in it with the exact size of the statues nostril. Seeing this Buddha was just as awe inspiring as it was the first time and I was happy that I made another trip here. The one thing that I hope is on my next visit it won’t be raining.

From Nara we made tracks to Osaka. Osaka has quickly become a favourite place of mine in Japan (the train station at Umeda is my favourite place to be). We got into Osaka later in the evening and checked into what has been the nicest hotel during our trip. If you ever get to Osaka I recommend staying at the Hotel Monterey Osaka-Umeda. Being in the Umeda area we went into the Osaka Station City and had dinner at one of the department stores there. I wish that we had had more time in Osaka, but seeing as I will be here for at least 6 more months I know I will be going back to explore more of the city.

Check back for the next update when we see a little bit of Hiroshima and maybe some New Year’s Eve Festivities.

Kamakura and Shibuya - December 24th, 2012

 The first excursion on my Christmas break with Dad was out to Kamakura. The city is about an hour train ride outside of Tokyo.

It was a spur of the moment decision to visit this place and I am glad that I made it.

Kamakura lends its name to a historical period of Japan. During this time the capital was centered in the city and shogunate rule started. This period was the beginnings of samurai culture and feudalism in Japan. It is also known for the flourishing and establishment of new Buddhist sects, that rose up during this period of disunity.

The city is also very well known for it’s Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. The most iconic and famous being the sitting Amida Buddha statue.

This statue is the reason that I chose coming to Kamakura. It is one of the largest icons of Amida Buddha and one of the most well known images of Japan. The statue is 13.35m and weighs 121 tonnes, it is also hollow inside so you can go in and just stand inside this gigantic statue.

Inside the statue

Amida's sandals

The statue was initially constructed around 1252 – during the Kamakura period. It and the temple that it used to be housed in are part of the Jodo-shu sect of Buddhism. As for the temple hall that used to house this Buddha it was destroyed three times, and after the 3^rd destruction in 1498 by a tsunami the statue has sat in the open air.

From seeing the statue it was a quick walk to Hasedera temple, a temple dedicated to Kannon – who is a bodhisattva and known to be one of mercy. It is believed that Kannon can hear everybody’s thoughts and wishes and carry them out; that is why it has 11 faces to heed all peoples wishes.

I also bought my first ever fortune. The thing is I got a bad fortune, that is why I tied it up and left it at the temple. Leaving it shows that you are not taking the bad fortune with you.

According to a legend there once was a tree in Nara, Japan that was so large two full statues of Kannon could be carved out of it. The smaller of the two once completed was enshrined in Hasedera Temple of Nara and the larger one thrown out to sea with a prayer that it return to save the people. 15 years later it is said to have washed up on the shores near Kamakura and a temple was built to enshrine it.

Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take photos of the giant gold statue, but I can describe it. The statue stands at just over 9m and is covered in gold. On top of the head of the statue are the 11 other faces of Kannon. It also holds a tin cane representative of the Bodhisattva Jizo.

After seeing the statue of Kannon, we went into a cave where Kobo Daishi was rumored to have carved a statue when being influenced and inspired by Buddha.

Then it was down to the hall of Jizo. This hall holds the image of “Happy” Jizo and is surrounded by miniature statues of Jizo. These statues can sometimes have red bibs or trinkets. These statues are meant to comfort the souls of unborn children – most images of Jizo are for this purpose.

The beach

After a long day of seeing the sites of Kamakura it was back to Tokyo. We decided to go to Shibuya for dinner. This is one of the main shopping areas in Tokyo.

What it’s known for is it’s main pedestrian crossing, which allows people to flood the street as they make their way across. This is the second time I have been to this crossing. The first was in 2009 when I went to Shibuya to get a tattoo.

The Colonel dressed as Santa at KFC

Motorcycle Santa

Christmas Eve was spent as a busy and tiring day!