Extraordinary Ordinary Guy In Japan

Railway to Kyoto

I'm writing this in a hotel room in Kyoto. In these few month, I'm taking a trip from Tokyo to Kyoto once a week for work. It takes a little more than two hours by SHINKANSEN, the super express train, per one way trip. Since my home is far from the Tokyo station, the total time required for the round trip is about 7 hours and this is stealing my time to sleep. I really hope SOHO becomes more popular in Japan.
But, crawling around the ground at speeds of over 200km/h is not a bad experience. Due to the complex landform, the weather of Japan changes very often. It shows various sceneries from the train window for the couple of hours. You would not be boring it.

This shining bullet train fascinates not only train enthusiasts.

Leaving crowded Tokyo. It was fine weather for a short trip. (It would be better if this wasn't a work)

Every suburban area is covered with this kind of ready-built houses.

You can view Mt Fuji from various angle in this trip.

Sanyo Solar Ark is a huge solar power generation facility. I missed the best shot.

A creepy cloud started chasing us.

When we reached at Kyoto, it had been snowing heavily.

The next day morning. a deadly cold waited for us.

Other random shots of the trip are here.

KYOTO #2

I felt a strange feeling when I was walking in the town of Kyoto.
Many old historical buildings which have been built over hundreds of years remain in Kyoto. Kiyomizu Temple was built about 1200 years ago. (Since its main buildings were burned down, they were rebuilt in 1633) Many other temples of Kyoto were also built about 1000-1200 years ago. Kinkakuji (Rokuon-ji) Temple was built in 1397. It was about 300 years ago that Gion became an amusement center and the geishas have come to walk around there. Many of the townhouses called "machiya" were made about 70-200 years ago. Heian Jingu commemorated the 1100th anniversary of the transfer-of-the-capital to Kyoto, and was built in 1895. Minamiza Theatre, the theater of kabuki was built in 1929, and the concert hall, Yasaka Kaikan was built in 1936.

It is too rough to describe these things made for 1000 years or more in one word "traditional", because the styles and the circumstances of birth of these buildings are all different depending on their age. But, it is difficult to recognize them clearly for me who had often dozed in history class. Realizing history for 1000 years at once is beyond my small brain, and it would cause the strange feeling over Kyoto.

Why do such many old things remain in Kyoto? In other words, why do historical buildings disappear in any places other than Kyoto?
Almost all the big cities in Japan had burned out during the Second World War. Many old houses, castles, shrines and temples were lost at that time. The Japanese people in those days did their best to remake all things newly. At the same time, the temptation of getting new things came to exceed the motivation to maintain old things. Even the old buildings which remained slightly had been destroyed in order to get the land for new buildings.

Then, why did Kyoto suffer only small losses from war? Some people are saying that the Allied Forces kept away from the historic relics not to destroy them, but it must be wrong. Kyoto was planned as a target of the third atomic bomb following Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is said that a big attack was not delivered on Kyoto in order to investigate the effect of the atomic bomb correctly.
I cannot judge whether this story is true or not. However, if Kyoto was bombed, the Japanese people might have thought little of old things and have loved new things blindly rather than now.

See also my other photos of Kyoto.

KYOTO #1

A week or more passed from my last post. During these ten days, the typhoon No.23 inflicted serious damage on Japan and 83 persons died. 23 persons were killed in the earthquake which occurred on Saturday in Niigata Prefecture.

As for me, I caught cold and had felt sick for a week. To make worse, my dentist extracted three of my bad teeth!

OK, we've had enough of gloomy things. I went to a trip to Kyoto for a change on Friday, and it made me feel better.

Please see the photos which I have taken.

ASAKUSA

I spent the evening of the last Saturday in Asakusa. Asakusa is a typical downtown area in Tokyo consisting mainly of a huge temple, Senso-ji. ...No, it's not true. Asakusa is no longer a Japanese "typical" town. It has been too well-known by all the tourists especially foreign visitors. The devoted local people are trying the town to be like what foreigners imagine about this country.

The buildings of the temple are lit up by some lighting artist. The souvenir shops on the street are displaying kimonos, paper lanterns, and fake samurai swords. And "rikisha" (human-powered vehicles) are running around there. These things are rarely seen in other places in Japan since they are unnatural for us.

Even so, I don't dislike Asakusa. While walking there, I felt like getting lost in some another Asian city or flashy movie sets.

See also my photos of Asakusa.

Trip to ISE #4 'NAIKU'

When we arrived at NAIKU, many worshippers had already gathered there. And the elementary school kids on their school trip just began the tour of the shrine.

At the entrance of NAIKU, the wooden big bridge 'UZI-BASHI' was across ISUZU river. This bridge is rebuild every 20 years like the main sanctuaries of GEKU and NAIKU. There were big TORII gates with heights of up to 7 meter in the both ends of the bridge. These TORII are made from the woods that were used for the pillars of the main sanctuary. And 20 years later, each of these is reborn into the TORII of another shrine. Yes, these woods are recycled.

There was a garden well cared for on the side of an approach, and we could see the beautiful pines with vivid green leaves. When we walked for a while, the large river could be seen. The wide, loose slope which covered with stones continued to ISUZU river. It is 'MITARASHI', and is the place for worshippers to wash their hand with the water of the river and purify their body. At the bank, a carp with a length about 60 centimeter swam very close to us.

After looking at the slow flow of the river for a while, we returned to the road to the main sanctuary with the schoolkids again. Old huge trees were conspicuous like GEKU. NAIKU is older than GEKU and it has been here for about 2000 years. The main sanctuary of NAIKU was on the top of the long stone stairway. And worshippers can only enter to the outermost fence of sanctuary like GEKU. We prayed being watched by the guard at here too. The kids seemed to be interested in the Shinto priest who was writing talisman, and they crowded around him. One kid asked the priest loudly, "Please give me your signature!" That made us laugh. The kid may not be able to tell a celebrity from an unfamiliar kind of person for him.

In EDO period (about 400~160 years ago), OISE-MAIRI (Pilgrimage to ISE Shrine) came to be popular in the whole Japan periodically. In the most extreme case, one of every six people went to ISE at the same time! It was not only because of religious reason, but also there were some recreational factors in OISE-MAIRI. Actually, there are many shops of food and souvenir in the street called 'OHARAI-CHO' next to NAIKU. The buildings in the street still have the atmosphere of traditional Japanese houses. And every food we ate there (the UDON noodles, the cucumber pickles and the shaved ice with syrup...) was very good.

See also my photos of 'NAIKU'

Trip to ISE #3 'GEKU'

ISE Shrine is composed of two sanctuaries, NAIKU (inner sanctuary) and GEKU (outer sanctuary). GEKU was built about 1500 years ago and 'TOYOUKE', the guardian god of industry, is deified.

If you are going to visit GEKU, I recommend early morning. It's because you will be able to feel the solemn silence which the place has. We visited GEKU in the next morning of rainy day. The precincts of the shrine got wet and the cool air felt quiet and relaxed us. At first we were surprised of the oldness and beauty of the trees of the shrine. Since it was said that God dwelt in these trees, they have never been cut down after the shrine was made. Some of these huge trees are over 1000 years old, and each trunk is covered by moss. We walked along the approach where the white gravel was scattered between the trees. The precincts are cleaned very well, and we could not find any trash at all. Sometimes, Shinto priests who wore blinding white KIMONO passed by us.

There are a main sanctuary and several sub sanctuaries in GEKU. The main sanctuary is a huge wooden buildings, and is rebuilt every 20 years according to the form that has been handed down from the ancient times.
Since the inside of the main sanctuary is an area of God, worshippers can only look there from outside of the fence. (Even taking picture is forbidden!)
If you will have an opportunity to see the main building of ISE Shrine, pay attention to its roof. It has huge thatched roof and two sets of pair lumbers which shape like the letter 'V' are sticking out from the top of the roof. They are CHIGI. The tip of the CHIGI of GEKU was cut vertically. This indicates that the male God (TOYOUKE) is deified at GEKU. On the other hand, because the goddess (AMATERASU) is deified at NAIKU, the tip of CHIGI was cut horizontally in there.

We prayed at the altar outside of the fence. A small building was on the left side of the altar, and a priest was writing some talisman in there. And on the right side, a guard was standing and watching us so that we might not do any mischief in that holy place.
While taking a walk in the shrine, we arrived at the pond where flowers of SHOBU (Japanese iris) are in bloom. White and purple flowers, green leaves, and the vermillion bridge were providing a brilliant contrast.

See also my photos of 'GEKU'

Trip to ISE #2 'AMA-NO-IWATO'

I think that the myth of Japan resembles Greek mythology, because both of them tell that there were many gods, and each god managed various things.
AMATERASU was the goddess who managed the sun and at the top of hierarchy of gods in the myth of Japan. At a certain time, AMATERASU got angry at her brother SUSANOO for his violent behaviour, and hid into a cave 'AMA-NO-IWATO'. Because of the absence of the solar goddess, the world was wrapped in darkness, crops withered and the animals died one after another. Then, gods gathered and held a party in front of the cave. AMATERASU wondered at the noise of them singing and dancing, and went out the cave. Since she appeared again, the brightness and warmness returned to the world.

We visited that cave, AMA-NO-IWATO, in ISOBE town near ISE Shrine. We got off the car at a parking lot in the middle of the mountain, and climbed up a small mountain path. It was gloomy with light rain. Soon, Beyond a brook by the path, we could see a small waterfall with a height of about 3 meter. The spring water was flowing out of the cave in which AMATERASU hid. This water is chosen as one of the finest 100 waters in Japan. Furthermore, we kept going along the narrow mountain path. Every tree was covered with moss. The moss and the leaves that got wet by rain sometimes reflected the light shining through the trees, and were creating a mystical atmosphere. And we arrived at the rock face with a windhole that had about 50 centimeter width. We heard that this hole follows some limestone cave. When I brought my face close to the hole, I felt the cool wind blowing out from it.
I thought it was natural that this mystical and solemn place reminded the ancient people of the myth.

See also my photos of 'AMA-NO-IWATO'

Trip to ISE #1 'ZANKOKU-YAKI'

Along with my wife's proposal, our trip began from TOBA. TOBA is the city along the sea and famous for its breeding of pearl oysters and seafood. We enjoyed the shellfish barbecue in there. Near the TOBA station, there were some barbecue shops that each of them had a tank in the side of their entrance and many live shellfish were put into the tank. We went into one of the shops. A lady took up some shellfish from the tank and put them on the grill.
Since living shellfish and shrimp are roasted on fire, this recipe is called 'ZANKOKU-YAKI' (cruel barbecue)! So we made ourselves be cruel and had our full of hard clams, short-necked clams, turban shells and othes. Every shellfish was very fresh and delicious. We didn't need any seasonings since they salted by native seawater.

See also my photos of 'ZANKOKU-YAKI'