Travel on dennogumi.org

Japan - Day 6

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:54:24 +0000

Today we went to Nar, site of the first capital of Japan, especially to see the Todaiji Temple, designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. We used an express train to get to Nara and then a bus to get to the Todaiji itself (actually it’s a quick walk, I just didn’t know the distance was so short). The temple lies inside the Nara-koen, or Nara park, which is famous for its 1200 tame sacred deers.

Japan - Day 5

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:51:28 +0000

It’s been a hot day here in Kyoto. And I don’t mean lame second meanings, just that the temperature was really over the top. As a consequence, we changed our plans: we were supposed to visit the so-called “path of the philosophy” but instead we set for Nijo Castle. Nijo Castle was the Kyoto residence of Ieyasu Tokugawa (I suspect to tell the emperor who was the real person in power) and it can be visited. The palace and its surroundings are truly magnificient.

Japan - Day 3 and 4

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:14:28 +0000

I was too tired to write an entry yesterday, so I’ll just sum things up here. Yesterday we went to Nikko, home of the Rinnoji Temple, the Toshogu Shrine and the Futarasan Shrine. We decided to visit it to see the tomb of Ieyasu Tokugawa. We took the Tobu Railways SPACIA train to Nikko then used a special pass I had bought beforehand online (the World Heritage Pass) to see the places. Nice nature and architecture, and I saw three large statues of Buddha (three BIG BUDDHA, right NRK?) in the Rinnoji temple. The Toshogu shrine was also magnificient, although the famous _Nemuri-neko _(sleeping cat) was extremely small, almost unnoticeable. Rain caught us in the afternoon so we went back to Tokyo.

Japan - Day 2

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:44:53 +0000

I’m aching all over but I managed to write this entry. Today I went to the Ueno area first, hoping to go to the National Museum: however I forgot it was closed on Mondays, so I had to go to the National Science Museum instead. It turned out that it wasn’t a bad choice after all, as the museum is rich with exhibits and has a very good presentation.

After that we moved to the Toshogu Shrine in Ueno Park, a shrine that was dedicated to the shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa. It’s not an “active” shrine anymore, but you can visit it for 200 yen. As the heat was killling us, we went back to Tokyo Station for lunch.

Japan - day 1

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:00:33 +0000

I didn’t get time to write before about it, but I and my brother went to Japan for a 10-day holiday there, starting on yesterday. After a 12 hour trip, we arrived in Narita Airport and I took the chance of getting an IC card (prepaid subway/bus card) plus a shinkansen reservation I could only make in Japan (and that cost me “just” 27,000 yen).

Once that was settled, we boarded the Japan Rail (JR) Narita Express and arrived in Tokyo. From there it was a matter of finding the right subway line to get to our hotel. Said hotel is pretty clean but rooms are quite small, and for two of us even a double room is small (not mentioning we have large luggages!). After some good sleep (we arrived at around 21.00), we spent the next day going to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace.