Feeding the deers at Nara Park has become a traveler's favorite, with crackers easily purchased on the side of the street. Funny note, if you bow to a deer, the deer will most likely bow back to you. Well, they might bow to you even if you don't. When they do, you are expected to feed them. That is the unwritten contract formed between the deers and the throngs of visitors that came before you.
(You're surrounded! Give it up and back away!)
The deers gained their sacred status after a visit from Takemikazuchi-No-Mikoto, the god of warriors (among other traits) and one of the four gods of the Kasuga Shrine, when he came riding on a white deer. From that moment on it was considered a capital offense punishable by death to kill one of those deers - the last such offense was recorded in 1637. The sacred status of the deers was stripped away after the Second World War, but they officially gained the National Treasure designation.
(Some of the many deers of this park)
When you are done feeding the deers - or being assaulted by them, depending on how you see it - you will most likely want to go have a look at the Buddhist Temple Todai-ji (listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site) and the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Your walk will take you along beautiful sceneries and, if you are feeling up to it, 3422 meters above sea level to the top of Mt. Wakakusa-yama for a magnificent view of your surroundings.
(The gates of the shrine)
(Lion guarding the site)
(Sacred lanterns lining the way)
Nara Park is located in the center of Nara, which makes it easily accessible by public transport.
The Gion district of Kyoto, a.k.a. the geisha district, is
where you have the most chances to see a real geisha – a disappearing cultural
phenomenon in Japan. Even if your chances of seeing one in the flesh here
are higher there, seeing one of those mythical entertainers remain a rare occurrence.
Many tourists often mistake fellow tourists dressed up as geisha for the real
thing. If these false sightings become a highlight of their trip, I see no
wrong in that.
The prevalence of geisha pictures on the Internet might lead
you to mistakenly believe that it is easy to hunt down these nearly extinct
individuals. It is not. This being said, you are most likely to be able to
spot one in Gion later at night, when they tend to come out. Sadly for us, we were to
come back empty handed as far as geishas went.
However, we did see many Japanese, both men and women, dressed
in traditional clothing and going about their days. This, in itself, made this
stop a success. As I stood there marveling at the beautiful kimonos, I really
wished Japanese people had not adopted the Western garments. Why would you go
for Western clothes when your traditional clothing look so dignified?
Finally, the Gion district really does come alive at night
and is a pleasure to wander around. It is here that we found the birthday gift
for Mister’s mother, after searching high and low in Tokyo. We found a silk
banner painted with swallows in the distinctive ink strokes of Japanese art. I
hear she was very happy about it and that makes me happy as well.
I loved Gion, but I almost didn’t make it here as finding
the right place turned out to be quite an adventure for us. It all started when
we disembarked at the wrong metro station. After quite some time wandering
aimlessly, not knowing where we were going, we finally gave up and entrusted
our fates to Google Maps. It became pretty straight forward from there. We did make a quick visit to Yasaka Shrine, which I appreciated quite a bit!
If you want to go to Gion-machi (which is where you might want to
be), you should make your way to Shijō Station on the Keihan line.
Traditional Japanese accomodations with tatami, futon on the floor, sliding doors, porch, garden and tea setting. Depending on the installations, bathroom can be communal or not.
We traveled to Kyoto via night bus with Willer Express. I will admit straight away that this was the most comfortable bus I ever had the chance to travel in. Admittedly, it was on the expensive side. We had plushy seats, almost fully reclinable. Each seat was equipped with drapes for some privacy. We had more space than you would think possible on an intercity bus. It seems the company really went out of its way to ensure you could sleep the entire way. This made the travel from Tokyo to Kyoto really easy.
(Our private zen garden)
Upon arriving in Kyoto, we first set out to find our ryokan. We had picked Yamazaki (11 Takahana-cho, Umegahata, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto), which had good reviews and seemed to offer good value. It was a bit out of the way, but our room was surprisingly spacious and the ryokan itself was quite charming. It was easily accessible by public bus. The mattresses were set out on the tatami floor and a tea table was facing large windows, offering a nice view of our personal zen garden. Yukatas (informal summer kimonos) and haoris (mid-length coats to be worn over kimonos) were provided and they did prove useful early in the morning to beat the cold.
(Mattresses set on the tatami. Surprisingly comfortable!)
Before setting out for Osaka, we stopped by the ryokan's restaurant for some delicious udon soup. It was a nice stay, which gave us more breathing room than our closet-sized room in Tokyo.
Asakusa is mostly known for its temples. This district hosts Sensoji, also known as Asakusa Kannon, the biggest Buddhist temple of the city. There you will be able to see the well known Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) as well as representations of the wind god Fujin and the thunder god Raijin - the two guardians of the site.
This being said, you might remember I first mentioned the Asakusa District when I mentioned our favorites sakura locations. More than the temples themselves, J and I loved walking around the area and by the Sumida river, where we ended up going on a boat for a little ride up the river. The river cruises are operated by Tokyo Cruise Ship Co. and cover sightseeing along the Sumida River and Tokyo Bay. We boarded at the Asakusa terminal located by the Sumida park.
Sometimes, it just pays off not to make things too complicated. If you come by this district, do yourself a favor and allow yourself a nice leisurely walk to simply take in your surroundings.
J saw the golden M of the McDonald's and had a question that would leave no rest to his curiosity. That was, how exactly are McDonald's different in Japan than in Canada? Surprising coming from him, considering we rarely go to fast-food joints in Canada, but a worthy question nonetheless. This is how we found ourselves pushing the door of one of these temples of fast-food.
McDonald's, and this might sound surprising coming from me, are really useful to the traveler. Some travelers like it because it offers food that is relatively the same everywhere, if you don't take into account the few variants. This can be oddly comforting when everything around you is moving too fast or oddly.
For me, McDonald's holds an appeal mainly for its promise of wifi which, depending where you are, can border on a luxury.
Theaters were another slice of home. A comforting one at that: once the lights are off, the room turns quiet and the movie comes on, it's easy to forget the bustle of the streets. It is also the perfect place to kill away the downtime and let's say that when you stay a few days in one city, you are bound to have
some downtime. J and I were no exceptions.
As such, we found
ourselves wandering the street of Tokyo waiting for time to pass until an appointed hour. In our aimless drifting, we stumbled on a movie theater. We had
a few options: watch a subtitled movie, a Japanese movie we had previously seen
in its original English version or venture into a full Japanese production
devoid of subtitles and other aids.
This is how we sat down to watch a movie depicting the
complex exchanges between a Yakuza clan, a biker gang and a crooked cop in a
turf war over a desolated post-apocalyptic world. Well, that was what we got
from it, not actually understanding what was being said. When actually reading the summary afterward, we were surprised to find that it was rather the story of school dynamics as people fight to become the school's number one. You can read a good analysis of the genre here.
We tried the same experiment again, with a second movie
centered on a heist. As the many groups tried to outsmart each others, it was
slightly harder to keep up. Yet, being closer to a typical American plot, it
wasn’t that difficult to connect the dots at the end. Some of the film elements
did have us cringing and went into topics that were rather disturbing.
Our visit to the movies was followed by a stop at a Krispy Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts for a coffee and a sweet treat. Made easier by the fact the theater and the shop were side by side.
This being said, there are a lot more posts coming as my adventures took me much further than Japan... I just couldn't write fast enough for all the posts to come out before my return!
J and I had planned to have a nice evening out during his visit to celebrate our 4 years anniversary. We ended up getting tickets for Carmina Burana at the New National Theater of Tokyo. The main dancer was especially talented, all the more when it came to dancing the part of the Fortuna. The music was great. The only thing I question is the pairing of the opening act, Faster, which was quite modern and dynamic, to the very dramatic Carmina Burana.
One thing that surprised me was how over dressed we were. Considering Japaneses seem to always dress impeccably for work, I was taken aback when I realized how casual they were at the Opera. I had expected full evening gowns! You can't win, you feel awkward when under dressed and uncomfortable when over dressed.
This was a nice evening, despite having trouble finding our way around this area both on arrival and upon leaving. Forget about finding a nice restaurant around there, we failed miserably. We ended up scouring the neighborhood of our hotel without much inspiration for anything we found. My feet hurting terribly from the walking in high heels, we were about to give up and buy sandwiches from a nearby 7/11 when we finally found a place where we could sit for dinner.
It was a nice cozy Japanese BBQ place very close to our hotel - of course Faith would make it so that only discovered it toward the end of our stay in Tokyo. I'm sure we would have gone there a few times had we discovered it earlier.
If you are ever around the Kodemmacho metro station, I recommend you stop by. I do believe the name of the place was Sumibi Shichirin Sakaba (phone: 03-56232202).
Here is a map to help you find the place if you were to want to go:
As we were fans of traditional arcades, my friend Y took J and me to an arcade located in Odaiba, a district of Tokyo. Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay that
was first used for defence purposes. It had a few phases of development
and his now mainly used for offices, commercial centers, restaurants and the likes.
At Y’s
suggestion, we sat at a strategic location at the front of the monorail AGT train that would
take us there. The front seat of this driverless train faces a window giving
you a driver’s perspective of the ride. We had the best view of the city as the
train sped us along toward our destination. Tokyo is quite spectacular at night
with all its lights – a very busy type of spectacular.
I was first surprised by the biting cold and the scorching
wind that welcomed us at the end of our relatively short train ride. Y
explained this was due to the fact that Odaiba was an island. Despite this
explanation, the temperature difference with the mainland remained surprising.
As we walked toward our arcade destination, we passed in
front of a giant sculpture of a Gundam Wing robot. It was illuminated by a
light show and accompanied with screen displaying extracts from the anime. I
can tell you this thing was huge, maybe as high as the complex behind it. Y,
J and I spent a few minutes looking at it in wonder, as such a structure
would warrant. As J said: Only in Japan!
We then continued on our way to the arcade. We waited in
front of the ticket office for about 30 minutes waiting for the time when the
price of the tickets would go down drastically. If I remember correctly, that was at
8 pm, but don’t take my word for it.I
will admit that I was a bit surprised at the high price for the pass at Sega Joypolis, but it is not your good old arcade, it is more like an
amusement park in its own right.
Naively perhaps, I was expecting something like this:
You do find your good old Dance Dance Revolution and the
drum game (like Rock Band with traditional drums). Then, there are the more impressive rides, like
the skateboard ride where you are strapped in this contraption that takes you
up and down this ring and you must maneuver your board according to the
directives of the game - which I did not understand. Another impressive game was a driving one, where you
get in an actual car and must drive along the race course while the car jerks
to all your movements. I really liked that one.
There were also some 3D rides, where you get in a “vehicle”,
be it boat or jeep, and you are taken for a ride by a crazy driver on screen
that most likely got his license in a box of Cracker Jack. Depending on the
ride, you fall from the sky, off a waterfall or through some ancient ruins.
Another good one was the haunted house, reminiscent of the
ones you can find around Niagara Falls in Canada, this one with a Japanese
horror movie thematic, not unlike the Ring. As we followed our guide lighting
the way with her flashlight, actors dressed in white dresses and with long
black wig covering their features would jump out from behind doors and holes in
the walls and run at us. We were supposed to take pictures of certain elements
of the set, but my picture of a hand holding a cellphone was deemed of too poor
quality as I had not gotten close enough.
After a fun and eventful evening, it was time for our trio
to head back and part ways for the night.
To get to Odaiba by train, take JR Saikyo to Tokyo Teleport Station or Yurikamome to Daiba.
When I was in Japan, I found many things strange and other things quite surprisingly in their normality. I did find strange how little English was used there and how hard it was to find someone who spoke it. However, qualifying this as strange would be a bit presumptuous of me, since I don't speak Japanese. I just expected a country that is so prominent on the global scene to be more geared toward English.
As with most countries, the list of strange things could go on forever. Yet, I have restricted this to the ones I witnessed most often.
1. High-Tech Bathrooms
You know you are in a strange land when you need a user manual to use the toilet (not to install it, just to use it). I have needed explanations before with some really rudimentary installations, but not the other way around. This being said, there was something nice about heating seats and self cleaning toilets. We might just import our next one from Japan.
2. The Vanilla Truck
This one made J laugh so much upon hearing it and, for the week that followed, I was treated to an interpretation that managed to be both high-pitched and hoarse. It was some sort of truck that drove down around Shibuya with speakers screaming a song worthy of Dance Dance Revolution, which only discernible lyrics sounded like "Vanilla, Vanilla!" From what I remember the truck looked somewhat like the one below, but not quite.
Well, I suppose for some this won't come as a surprise, but with Canadian drinking laws being what they are, I am always surprised when people drink in the street. With travel, I have gotten used to it more, but I was still taken aback when beer was offered in movie theaters.
4. Umbrella Lockers
Well, this was actually pretty cool. Imagine walking in a place with your wet umbrella and being able to leave it to dry at the entrance in a locker designed just for this very purpose. Forget the trail of water behind you after a storm and forget about someone making a run with it. 5. Vending machine
I was surprised at the number of vending machines we could spot in a day as well as their locations, all the way into small alleyways. Their varied content was a sight in itself, behold here the hard earned sweat of a pocari (everytime I saw this, I couldn't help but imagine a Pokemon specie called pocari).
6. Bonus Picture that Speaks for Itself
7. Bonus Video
I saw this video for the first time when Y chose it at the karaoke and gave a pretty good interpretation of it. The fashion choices here are qualified as Visual Kei. Judge for yourself!
