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Published: March 28th 2006
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The first day... I felt like a very important person when we were picked up at our hotel in Hakone by a tour guide and a cab. We were driven for about 35 minutes through picture perfect rolling hills on a beautiful sunny morning, and led straight to our seats on the Shinkansen. Normally I travel on an extreme budget, so I really enjoyed the preferential treatment! We traveled through the most bizarre weather changes...sunshine, light rain, heavy rain, light snow, heavy snow...we hit it all! Our next two days were spent in the cultural capitals of Japan, Kyoto and Nara. Nara was the first permanent capital of Japan for 75 years before it was moved to Kyoto. There are 17 World Heritage Sites in Kyoto and 8 in Nara....so our days were filled with much Japanese history and culture. We visited so many shrines, temples and gardens it was hard to keep them all straight!
Nara We had an afternoon in Nara, and got to two World Heritage Sites....both dating back to the 8th century.
Todaiji Temple is considered to be the world's largest wooden building. Inside of it there is one of the world's largest bronze Buddha statues.
These distinctions (and more) make it one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples. Around the temple grounds there are wild, tame deer roaming around looking for handouts. These deer are protected by the city...there's a story as to why, but I don't really remember. My Aunt Sue bought some cookies to feed them...only to learn that they are aggressive little guys that will chase you down until you've handed out the last one. Even then, they'll nip at your clothes just to make sure you don't have any more hidden!! Aunt Sue had a few bits at her jacket...and my bum was the next target! Ouch!
Kasuga Shrine was our next stop...it's considered the most famous and beautiful Shinto Shrine in Nara. The paths leading to shrine are lined with hundreds of lanterns. There are hundreds more in the shrine itself. If you're into history, Nara is a good place to go.
Kyoto The second day... Kyoto is one of the 'must see' cities in Japan. You can spend days and days there looking at new sites. You can imagine how packed our single days was! 3 temples, 1 castle, 1 shrine, 1 Imperial Palace and 6
accompanying gardens was the count of the day. So here we go....
Nijo Castle was first place, and it was the residence of the Tokugawa Shogun in 1603. The best part about it was the squeaking floor....the walkway beams were made with nightingale nails, which make the floors sound like nightingale birds when they are walked on. This was to keep intruders away! (and they still work now!) We stopped at the
Golden Pavilion second, which is what I was the most excited about seeing. It was beautiful....I loved the reflection of the building on the lake (called Mirror Lake). The garden was wonderful to walk through, and is considered to be the world's most authentic Japanese garden. We had a very strict appoinment to visit the
Kyoto Imperial Palace. We had to line up in groups of three at the gate, at precisely 11:25a.m., while they counted us and looked at our applications to enter the grounds. It was the residence of the Imperial family until the capital was moved to Tokyo in 1868. The Shishinden Imperial state chamber is where all the enthronements took place (until the most recent one). In the afternoon we visited
Heian Shrine which had
beautiful gardens and pond. At
Sanjusangendo, a 13th century temple, we saw 1001 identical statues of Kannon (a Buddhist figure) which were truly spectacular. Our last stop of the day was
Kiyomizu Temple, a temple at the top of a hill overlooking the whole city. You can go there to drink sacred water, or visit a temple to ensure success in love! I didn't try either because of the lineups...so I'll have to take my chances that things will work out on their own! At the end of the day I was still craving more. I got my Mom, hopped in a cab and headed for
Gion. Some of you will be familiar with this district because it is the setting for the book and movie 'Memoirs of Geisha'. We walked along the dimmly lit, cobblestone streets, lined with tea houses and small restaurants. It's a popular thing for tourists and Japanese alike to walk the streets looking for a brief sighting of a Geisha of Maiko (apprentice Geisha). I was surprised to see only a few others with their cameras ready to snap away. We were lucky to see 4 maiko with their advisors pop out of one tea
house before running into the next. I had great opportunities to get some really awesome photos; however, I didn't want to be like an annoying paparazzi and stick my camera in their faces! (which is what I would have had to do because I was so close!) It was cool just to see them in person. I'm definetely coming back to Kyoto again sometime before I leave. To my hood tomorrow...Hiroshima!
(if you've read this far...I'm sorry I was so long-winded...we just saw so much that I had to mention so I remember at the end of the year!)
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