japanographia.com » kyoto

Wrap up

John Noel — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:39:43 +0000

The missing Kyoto photos are retrieved! All things told there weren’t that many good photos on the iffy card, mostly blurry geisha photos (geisha ghosts?) and some lamentably blurry night shots – one of the great problems of my D50 screen and chimping is that slightly blurry photos tend to be missed and only visible upon more detailed examination.

I have been awake since 0330 local time which is annoying as I was asleep 2300 local time and up for lord knows how long before that, jet lag is a real pain and I don’t remember ever suffering from it to this extent beforehand. Anyways, some thoughts on travelling around Japan:

Get used to train stations: where to look for times and what to look for (rapid, limited rapid express etc.); always note which exit you use and entrance you want, they may not be one in the same and orientation is easier if you’ve done the route before; get familiar with the ticket machines as you’ll either be ticketing, SUICA’ing or PASMO’ing and they all involve adjustment machines at some point
Improve your train sleeping: this is a necessity if you are jetlagged or have a full schedule as you’ll be able to hit the town at night and still have energy for the important parts during the day, even an half an hours nap can improve things; just make sure you’re the last stop or have people around you who can wake you up if you get overzealous with the napping
Learn your landmarks: if you’re like me and can’t read Japanese fluently then navigation can be tricky so instead of recognising stores / pubs, go for colours or tall buildings or quirky objects outside, there are plenty of all three kicking about and makes exploring a hell of a lot simpler
Be prepared to be scrutinised: if you’re European or American then you will naturally stand out in most areas of Japan, Tokyo not so much but other areas you will be glanced at more often than not, a friendly smile and a nod is usually all it takes to make everyone feel at ease; there will also be a natural radius around you on trains and local transport, you can mitigate this by plonking yourself in between two current passengers but otherwise there is a general reluctance to sit next to you if it can be at all helped.
Don’t expect high technology everywhere: Tokyo is privileged in its use of wireless internet, modern transport methods and so forth but other areas of Japan can be just as rural and disconnected as your home country – downloading TV to your mobile phone is a nicety, not provided as standard
Get good shoes: or tough feet (general life advice but especially relevant)

I know have a plethora of bits of paper (receipts, ticket stubs, reservation tickets, leaflets etc.) and photos to organise. Last count for photos was just a hair under 700 and unlike my last trip there are very few duplicates and the overall quality of the photos has surprised even me – helped of course by the stellar weather that held for all but a single day. One thing I do regret is not taking my lens hood for my 18-200, with the 18-55 there’s little need for one but looking through some of the photos there was definitely a need for one (and me holding the lens cap in conspicuous positions was not a good interim solution) – here was me thinking lens hoods were just for camera pimping.

Other random thoughts include my choice of clothing – definitely took too many warmer tops although I was expecting the weather to be 6-8 degrees less than it was, unseasonable warmth indeed. No matter how much you cram into a backpack, it can always hold more with judicious application of body weight and zip moulding. Do not trust hotel bedside clocks – their alarms oscillate between weedy and useless to sonic sleep destroyers. Hotel wake up calls are surprisingly sinister at 6am.

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I was rolling down Odeo with my…

John Noel — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:36:08 +0000

Back in Tokyo! Where people have actually heard of the internet rather than having to walk 20+ minutes to the nearest ‘net cafe or in Hakone where people just scratched their heads and shrugged their shoulders.

Had some good times in Kyoto, day tripped out to Osaka and then bullet trained it to Hakone which was deep in the mountains but the weather held thankfully. Now back in Tokyo where I’ve already done some shopping and aiming to do more tomorrow. The hotel is awesome but I’ve just seen a sign that limits me to 20 minutes on this PC so better skidaddle. A few photos for you. More tomorrow likely.

Not long before I’m back to normality now!

In Kyoto

John Noel — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:23:48 +0000

So I’m sitting in an internet cafe in Kyoto and this is perhaps the first chance I’ve had to upload photos or use the internet in a decent form. All the computers so far have been non-existent or so antiquated as to be unusable. But that is an aside! Takayama, Matsumoto and Kanazawa all down and now in Kyoto for the second day, much train sleeping and photo taking has been had. Takayama was a great little town with sake tasting and little handycraft stalls aplenty. Kanazawa was this hugely bustling city with busy traffic and all that nonsense, but did end up under the cherry blossoms at night drinking sake and having a merry old time.

Travelled to Kyoto yesterday and went to the Miyako Odori – the Spring Geisha Dances. Words cannot describe how brilliant they were, such grace and beauty in motion. Was difficult to see them as anything other than art except if you caught a fleeting moment of them doing something pedestrian like turning a page or shifting their seat. Certainly an unforgettable experience, especially as they didn’t allow photos in there – not that they would have done them justice.

Today visited the temple of 1001 kanon which was another brilliant visit, very holy and utterly unique and again, no photos allowed. I was just on the way to the Kyoto International Manga Museum when I spotted this place.

I’m going to forgo uploading my latest set as my camera has just thrown a hissy fit with the card which has me worried so my blurry geisha walk photos will have to wait.

Day 9

John Noel — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:00:06 +0000

N.B. This was written shortly after I returned and will be rewritten as and when I get time.

For the excursion day, a lot of us had decided to head out to Hiroshima and make use of our JR Rail Pass and to use the Shinkansen again. This was mainly on the advice of Gemma who had visited before and said that Hiroshima was spectacular, so it was pretty much decided.

I managed to snap some photos of the awe-inspiring Kyoto station before we headed out.

At 11 stories high it’s this amazing space filled with shops and people and restaurants. The train to Hiroshima was a couple of hours, but on the way a few of us decided to go to Miyajima island just outside of Hiroshima first, and then do the peace museum and park afterwards.

A quick ferry journey (covered on the Rail Pass again) and we landed on the sacred island of Miyajima with one of the most photographed spots in Japan, the so-called “floating” Tori gate.

The entire island is designated a sacred island, meaning that no one is allowed to be born there or die there (or interned), so there are no maternity wards or morgues / cemeteries. This also means that the animals and trees are sacred and not allowed to be harmed or killed / felled.

The most surprising thing about this is the tame deer which wander the lower part of the island. Signs tell you to stay away from the ones with antlers (no arguments here), but otherwise they just sleep and wander about to be petted. The island is so picturesque, especially in the bright sunshine. After wandering the port for a while, we headed up the cable car to the top of the main mountain where there was a monkey sanctuary. The monkeys all had bright red bums, and the males had huge bright red testicles. We had to leave our bags in some free lockers otherwise the monkeys apparently pinch stuff from your bag.

The views from the top of the mountain were just breathtaking, as my (lame) panorama shows.

Heading back down the mountain we had a look around one of the local shrines before catching the ferry back to Hiroshima for the afternoon.

Hiroshima is a lovely city and like Kyoto, manages to have a very good “village” type feel to it without feeling too urbanised. The Peace Park houses the A-Bomb dome, the preserved remainder of the bomb that was dropped.

The next monument was to a little girl who suffered radiation poisoning and believed in the old tale of making a thousand cranes would make your wish come true. Unfortunately she died, but every year, hundreds of thousands of cranes are sent into the memorial, all of them displayed in huge racks near the monument.

The next two memorials are the Eternal Flame and the Cenotaph. The Eternal Flame will burn until all nuclear weapons are dismantled, while the Cenotaph covers the book which, updated yearly, contains a list of all the people who died because the A-Bomb, regardless of nationality.

The Peace Museum I didn’t take any photos of because it really wasn’t worth it. It is one of the most moving places I’ve ever been to, and I get a bit teary just writing about it. It’s completely unbiased and explains about Hiroshima before, after and during the bomb, all about the bomb itself and nuclear weapons as well as who has them, who’s tested them. The final part of the museum is a collection of memorabilia from the bomb site, things like a tricycle or a lunch box, even to things like the skin and fingernails of a child, kept by the mother.

It’s such a moving place, and at the end of it you can’t help but be certain that nuclear weapons should never, ever be used anywhere else again. I just kept thinking that if world leaders saw this place that we’d get some progress, unfortunately a lot of them have been there, and still nuclear weapons are being made. I really can’t recommend enough that if you get a chance to go there and experience it, it doesn’t point fingers or feel false. After leaving the museum and seeing the devastation, you really get a better outlook on the city and why it feels the way it does, simply because they built it up from nothing.

Heading back to Kyoto, a few of us had some beers and talked for a bit before heading off to bed.

Day 8

John Noel — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:00:59 +0000

N.B. This was written shortly after I returned and will be rewritten as and when I get time.

A full day for wandering around Kyoto however we started with a boat journey down the Hozugawa river. We all piled into a large gondola and had three staff in the boat as well, one who punted, the other steered and another paddled / steered (I couldn’t work it out, I guess both).

The journey took a good 3 hours but was absolutely spectacular. We cruised down rapids and got stuck on a reef at one point, but the weather and the countryside were just awesome. We were also made to walk a short distance of the journey as a rock slide had happened, so people in hard hats drove our boat down the treacherous part while we walked. As we approached the end of the journey, a small motor boat came up alongside us.

It was a snack boat, replete with little cooking stove (squid!) and snacks. The three staff on our boat tied the motor boat to ours then proceeded to have a can of coke and a packet of peanuts while the motor boat steered us.

Now in Arashiyama on the outskirts of Kyoto, we grabbed lunch and had a wander around the Zen gardens nearby.

The gardens were exactly what I was expecting: ordered, calm and relaxing. A small monk came out at one point to neaten up the gravel however he was too swift for me to nab a photo of him.

After that we headed towards Kinkaku-ji, or the more common name of “The Golden Pavilion”. Originally the pavilion was covered in gold leaf by an opulent warlord, however WWII saw the gold leaf get picked off for the war effort. The current pavilion had been renovated in the 1960’s and you can no longer go in or even touch the pavilion.

After that, a few of us headed to the sister site of Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji or “The Silver Pavilion”. Unlike the golden pavilion, it never actually got covered in silver as the warlord who owned it ran out of money, however the pavilion is original so it’s about 400 years old.

Joel managed to drop his sunglasses in the Koi pond, he managed to get a gardener to fish them out for him; however he joked the sunglasses were now blessed, and if worn would give him sight beyond sight.

Day 7

John Noel — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:00:16 +0000

N.B. This was written shortly after I returned and will be rewritten as and when I get time.

The typhoon had passed by and the weather was glorious and stayed that way for the rest of the trip.

Leaving the guest house, we went to the main Hakone station for our first ride on the Bullet Train (which is a translation of the old project name and is actually called the Shinkansen).

The train is stunning and zips by at 270kmh (~160mph), the entire train is air cushioned meaning it’s quiet and smooth. The second picture doesn’t really show you the amount of leg room you get on these, you can pretty much stretch your legs out and only just touch the seat in front of you. For being 40 year old technology, the Shinkansen just blows away anything we have here in the UK.

The hour and half journey to Kyoto went by swiftly and our first port of call after dropping our bags in the gorgeous ryokan was Kyomizu-ji, one of the oldest and most visited temples in Kyoto (which avoided the bombing of WWII so a lot of the temples are original).

Kyomizu-ji managed to be uniquely different to all the other temples we’d yet been to, with it’s signature temple on 400 year old camphor-wood stilts and various other attractions. The main one being the “Love Rock”, which is two stones separated by about 4 metres, and couples start at each stone and walk towards each other with eyes closed; if they meet in the middle without falling over or bumping into people then they’re “meant to be”. I saw two school-boys doing it (numerous times), as well as a single woman doing it (a different kind of love, a forbidden love).

Moving on we walked through Hagashiyama park on towards our meeting with another tour guide.

We met up with Peter Macintosh, basically a world reknowned expert on Geisha. He was recently hired by a Hollywood studio to do research and location scouting for “Memoirs of a Geisha”. He’s been in Japan for 13 years, owns his own bar and is married to an ex-geisha so he knows his stuff, he also seems to know half the people in the Geisha districts.

The first picture is of a 14 year old maiko we met who Peter asked about her mother and so forth so evidently they knew each other. The second is of a typical geisha residence, the latern above the door has three circles which (I think) denotes the Miyagawa-cho geisha district (the other two being Gion-cho and Ponto-cho). The only good photo of a full geisha is there, they may have wooden sandals and can’t move their legs much but boy, they can really book it. All my other photos were of geisha blurs. The lighting at this time was absolutely stunning and my Gion photos are some of my favourites.

The last image is taken from a bridge which is apparently where the protagonist of MoaG meets the love of her life and is an awesome picture if it wasn’t for that annoying bit of foliage in front of the lens. After the tour we all had food at a local restaurant (geisha-free unfortunately). Peter also said that if we wanted to (as a group) we could hire a geisha for the evening, however some people were against it which meant the price for the people who wanted to do it was prohibitive.

Places visited:

Hakone
Kyoto
Kiyomizu
Higashiyama
Gion
Shirakara Canal