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JuergenS

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Trips:

Two month of Japan

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Left and right of Shibuya

Tokyo, Japan


Harajuku girls

Covered the area around Shibuya (meaning train stations nearby) today, more precisely Harajuku, Yoyogi, Ikebukuro and Roppongi.

I started at Harajuku, where the "Harajuku girls" are probably themost popular "sights" on weekends. Cosplayers, lolitas (cute/goth) and kimono/yukata clad people meet here to pose for hordes of (wannabe)photographers and to confuse some tourists.
Today some kind of official shooting was going on as well, as there were guys with TV cameras taking interviews.
Harajuku girls and co:


Passing harajuku girls

TV interview

Harajuku girls

Group picture

Harajuku girls

?

The madness from above

=========

Right behind the gathering area lies the Yoyogi park, a popular area for cycling, relaxing, walking, jogging and all kind of social events. There were groups rehearsing for performances, training their moves (martial art and other) or just picnicking and sunbathing.


Yoyogi park

Yoyogi park

Yoyogi park

Yoyogi park

Yoyogi park

Yoyogi park entrance

Yoyogi park map

Yoyogi park

Yoyogi park

There were all kinds of musicians around as well:


Yoyogi musician

Yoyogi musician

Yoyogi musician

From the entrance you can see this stadium for sporting activities.

=========

Next to this park is the Meiji shrine, dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his companion, the Empress. They played a very important role in Japanese history, but I won't give you a lesson on that now, there are enough sources out there. Lets just say they worked towards an Japan open to the world and established the mentality of "learning from the best without loosing the Japanese spirit". Basically Japans trait of picking something up from the market, enhancing/altering it and turning it Japanese.
The Emperor seemed to have a thing for the French, thus the wine he received as a sign of goodwill (on the other side of the road are the classical sake barrels you see at shrines).


Meiji shrine

Meiji shrine wine

Meiji shrine

Meiji shrine

=========

Did a quick sidestep to Ikebukuro but wasn't in a shopping mood. Otherwise the Sunshine 60 might have tempted me, a 60-storeyed building of shopping malls and offices.


Sunshine 60

Ikebukuro

Animate

Ikebukuro

=========

Roppongi is probably the most popular nightlife area of Tokyo, with restaurants, bars and clubs for every taste.

Also, there is a Hard Rock Cafe with an ape hanging from its side.


Hard Rock Cafe Roppongi

King Kong@HRC

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on August 7, 2010 from Tokyo, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Cultural: The call of nature

Tokyo, Japan


Toilet sign at a shrine

Japanese toilets have a certain reputation in the West for being high-tech and sporting lots of buttons and a whole range of functions, from pre-warmed seats to blow-drying. But that's not the type you will find in your average station stall, the truth looks like this:

Japanese toilet

These are the classic Japanese toilets and you can find them pretty much everywhere. No technology, no seat. Found a site explaining the processes involved: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~AD8Y-HYS/movie.htm .
Basically, crouch down, do you business, don't fall down and look out for cramps in your calves.

Now, that being said, Western-style toilets are getting more and more popular and you can often see toilets with some separately labeled stalls. Due to this, you can experience the following phenomenon in department stores: There is a line in front of the Western-toilet, the Japanese ones are pretty much deserted. So sometimes it's better to just go with the local version.


Western-style toilet

Western-style is pretty much just a name, by the way, as about the only fact the average European toilet has in common with those here is the fact that you sit down to use them. As I said before, the seats are heated, you can have fountains if you want, you can have them play music, you can have yourself blow-dried and there are different flushing-programs. Of course there are "normal" ones as well, the form and functionality always depends on where you are at the moment.

Trail toilet

"normal" toilet

Another thing one should remember is the topic of paper: Many public toilets don't have it, so bring it. I am talking both toilet paper and paper for drying your hands here. For this, there are these vending machines, where you can buy two packets of tissues for 100yen. The use in public toilets and wiping your face of sweat is by the way pretty much the only use paper towels have in Japan, as cleaning your nose in public is considered rude. Also there are always some people in crowded areas handing out tissue packets with ads on them, it's a popular form of advertising.
Get some of these, just to be on the save side and avoiding unpleasant surprises.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS


permalink written by  JuergenS on August 6, 2010 from Tokyo, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Nikko

Nikko, Japan


Akechi-daira ropeway

I am back from Nikko where I stayed at an really nice place called the Turtle Inn for a night, which gave me enough time to get a good look at the place and its sights.

Hopping off the bus I first saw the Shin-Kyo, a famous and loved bridge of the area, build where supposedly a saint was carried over the river by two giant snakes.


Shin-Kyo entrance

Shin-Kyo

Was on my way west from there, towards the inn. As I still had some time before check-in, I visited the Imperial Villa first, the past residence of the Emperor. Seems like they enjoyed a game of four-ball there, at least that's what the sign on the billiard table said.


Nikko Imperial Villa

Imperial Villa billiard room

Imperial Villa garden

Checked in after that at the Turtle Inn, got a handy map of the area and some info and was shown my room. The rooms are named after months here (I am assuming that there are twelve rooms, accordingly), and I got July. This inn got two onsen-baths for private use, which I really enjoyed later that day.

I still had a lot of daylight left then and decided to walk up to the temple and shrine complexes with its World Heritage Sites. First up was Taiyuin-Byo, essentially a more petite version of the main sight of the complex, the Tosho-gu.


Taiyuin-Byo entrance

Taiyuin-Byo

Taiyuin-Byo

Taiyuin-Byo

Its gates are protected by several guardians:


Fujin

Raijin

Guardian deity

Guardian deity

Taiyuin-Byo guardians

Taiyuin-Byo guardians

Taiyuin-Byo guardians

Taiyuin-Byo guardians

Inside the main hall photographing was prohibited, but there are a great many dragons painted on the ceiling, said to carry the prayers of the believers to the heavens. Some are holding crystals (prayers) and are on their way up, others are without and on their way back to collect more.

Nearby is the Futarasan-jinja, a very old structure with a lovely spring.


Futarasan-jinja torii

Futarasan-jinja

Futarasan-jinja sacred spring

As most of the sites close at 17h that was it for day one, I soaked in the onsen, enjoyed a beautiful dinner of sukiyaki and fish and relaxed. After a good sleep and a "western style" breakfast I checked out and was on my way.

First up was the Gamman-Ga-Fuchi Abyss, an area with a great many of Jizo statues, the guardians of travelers. Halfway through their line is the Bake-Jizo, said to mock traveler who try to count them all.


Gamman-Ga-Fuchi Abyss

Jizos

Bake-Jizo, I guess

They are in different states of corrosion at some places:


Complete Jizo

Jizo w/o head

Gone Jinzo

Got on a bus and was on my way to the next point of interest, the Chuzenji-ko area with its lake and waterfall.
I got off one stop early and took the Akechi-daira ropeway up, from where you have a fantastic view.


Ropeway-station from above

View to the lake and fall

It's supposed to be a round-trip, but I left from the ropeway station and followed an old hiking/walking path through the surrounding hills and the forest to the lake itself.
A really nice tour, but I kinda seem to attract shoe-related problems, as my hiking boots decided to fail on my way. I took two pairs of footwear with me to Japan, one for hiking, one for everything else, and both managed to start looking their soles. One of my boots just barley hung there by the end of the hike, kept it up by tying it to the rest of the book with the laces. This really is a problem, as I was planning to wear them on my trip up the Fuji, an endeavor now in danger of being canceled (I am not going up my first mountain with loose soles and a new pair is not really an option). Anyway, after being lost for a moment and ending up a bit off the way I wanted to go, I reached the lake area.

Chuzenji-ko lake

Chuzenji-ko swans

The Kegon-no-taki is right next to it, 95m of falling water. There is an elevator down to its base, which I did not take.

Back to central Nikko, I finally entered the grand Tosho-gu:


Tosho-gu entrance

Tosho-gu gate

Tosho-gu

Tosho-gu

Tosho-gu

It is famous for its many carvings all around, especially for those of the three monkeys (see below), the Kirin (a mythical beast somewhere between a giraffe and a dragon) and the portraits of elephants by an artist who never saw the real thing.


Tosho-gu carvings

Tosho-gu elephants, I think

Tosho-gu elephant?

The three monkeys, depicting that a child should "see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil". There are many other carvings of monkeys on that building, I am sure the interested will find info on them by themselves.


Tosho-gu monkeys

Famous three monkeys

More monkeys

Also,Ieyasu's tomb is there, located up steep stairs right next to the main area and surrounded by the forest.


Way to Ieyasu's tomb

Ieyasu's tomb

Went back after that, the travel from Nikko to Tokyo takes some time after all. In Utsuomiya I had some time to spare, waiting for the next Shinkansen to arrive, so I tried the gyoza (chinese dumplings) the area is known for.
Reached "home" in the evening.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on August 5, 2010 from Nikko, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Asakusa

Tokyo, Japan


Food imitations shop

Went to Asakusa today for the temple, the market and the shopping. Going around Tokyo is really easy, as the Yamanote loop line connects you to pretty much anything you might want to visit, perhaps with the addition of riding for a few stops on a different line.
Got off the station, a guy collecting donations for typhoon and quake victims talked to me and after that I explored the area.

Yes, it's a brewey

Nakamise-dori was my first stop, it's right through the Kaminari-mon (see below) and basically the street leading to the Senso-ji, the prominent temple of the area. It is a market and souvenir street with pretty much anything you might want to buy and way more. Seriously, if you ever feel the need to buy a last-minute-present before going home, this is the place. Real weapons (swords, spears, sai, ...) on sale as well.


Nakamise-dori

Nakamise-dori

Swords for sale

After browsing this madness I continued to the Senso-ji itself...


Kaminarimon


Senso-ji

Senso-ji

Senso-ji

Senso-ji

Temples need public phones too, apparently

Temple construction going on

Giant sandal

...and the shrine right next to it


Nearby shrine

There was this pigeon sculpture and many signs to not feed them. You remember the deer on the island in Hiroshima? Same principle, way more specimen expected.


Pigeon statue

Anyone got an okarina handy?

Loving to cook myself I really looked forward to my next stop: Kappabashi-dori, the Kitchen Town of Tokyo. Its a street lined with pretty much everything to do with selling, preparing, presenting, storing, ... food. You can buy quality knives, cheap bowls and as many plastic food imitations as you can fit in you window. Oh, and a Kappa is a mystical creature living in rivers --> The mascots of the street.


Kappa tile

Coffee equipment

Food imitations

Pans and woks

Giant bug on the wall

Anyone wants to create their own Chinatown?

Furniture

Bowls

Kappa doll

Going to Nikko for two days tomorrow for its oh-so-many World Heritage Sites and the National Park.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on August 3, 2010 from Tokyo, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Hakone

Hakone, Japan


Owakudani

Visited Hakone today for a dayhike in its rich nature. There is a lot you can do around there without actually doing much more than strolling around, maybe I will do that later.

One point of interest, aside from the obvious hiking trails through forests and up mountains, is the pure variety of means of transport available. You start off "at home" by Shinkansen, reach Hakone Yumoto by local train, switch to the switchback train to Gora, take the cable car (funicular) up Soun-zan and either hike or change to the gondola from there. Also you can do boat-trips on the famous lake of the area or take buses around.

After reaching Gora I continued up to Soun-zan by mentioned funicular.

From there I started my hike up the Owakudani mountain, an 80min affair through a dense forest and of course uphill (it's a mountain climb after all). Pictures:


Warning sign

Hiking up

Hiking up

Hiking up

Hiking up

Hiking up

Hiking up

Gondola station

Reached the top

Reached the crossroads where you can either go further up to a different mountain top or walk another 15min to the gondola station and the tourist spot of Owakudani.

On this mountain a lot of volcanic gas is breaking through the surface or bubbling up from sulphurous ponds.


Owakudani

Owakudani

Owakudani

Owakudani

Owakudani

Owakudani

They sell Kurotamago (back eggs) here, eggs cooked in the "hot springs" --> their outer layer turns black. They became the trademark of the area and there are lots of souvenirs designed after them. Got a pack of them, aside from the color they are pretty normal, maybe a slightly different taste.


Kurotamago - Inside

Kurotamago kitty

The mass of people was kinda uncomfortable after the hike alone (only met a pair of hikers on their way down once) but it is a popular tourist spot after all.

Found another item that will stay in Japan when I return home by the way: My shoes, they suffered quite a bit already. Will fix them for my remaining time here and get rid of them in the end. But hey: More space for souvenirs!

After my visit of the ponds and the kinda apocalyptic volcano landscape I made my way back. The weather grew worse and colder (it was raining a bit on my way up and lots of fog mixed with the volcanic gasses, but inside the forest you really didn't feel it). Took the gondola back to Soun-zan and the funicular to Gora from there the switchback train to Hakone Yumoto.

There is an onsen called Kappa Yukuraku right next to the station: My last stop before returning to Tokyo. Hakone got a lot of onsen with all that volcanic activity going on, they even created some by using excess volcanic gas that would otherwise have posed a danger of explosions). Dipped for a while and relaxed and went back "home".

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on August 2, 2010 from Hakone, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Shibuya and Akihabara

Tokyo, Japan


Shibuya

After moving to Tama Plaza I took some days to settle in and get some orientation. As I noted before, Shibuya is the station on the Yamanote Line that's nearest to me, so I decided to explore the area first.

Well, that was the original plan, until I entered the station: Seemingly an accident of some sort occurred and the trains didn't move for another hour. Used the time to walk through the station area. Multiple storeys, lotsa shops and some eateries.

After that I got to Shibuya, the view from the station area down to the Shibuya crossing is something like that:


Shibuya crossing

This crossing is famous for its never-ending masses of people walking in all of its five directions.


Shibuya station

After leaving the station through the Hachiko exit I took a look at Hachiko himself (a famous extremly faithful dog who waited here for his owner who had already passed away, google or wikipedia for further info) and the area surrounding him.

Found this train car put there as a memorial of the "old" Shibuya and its way to its modern status. Some pictures, some info, some seats to rest and an AC.

Some other pictures of the area:


Shibuya

Shibuya

Shibuya 109

Disney store

Oh, and I found these guys, handing out free grapefruit drinks to everyone passing. Not bad.

Left Shibuya of the day.

=======

Another thing I noticed is the fact that there are Pokémon stations at every station around and lots of kids dragging their parents towards them. Seems like you can collect stamps of different Pokémon and exchange them for prizes.

=======

Akihabara was next and I did pretty much all of the standard Akihabara stuff in an afternoon.


Radio Kaikan

Radio Kaikan is located directly in front of the Electric Town exit of the station and offers everything to satisfy your otaku-needs, from manga to doujins to games to model guns to trading cards to character goods ... The list goes on.
Some pics:

Lifesize Rei in yukata

Manga

F*ck ad (yes, it's a magazine)

The last poster shows a book that is supposed to translate expressions of Marines and American slang into Japanese. Motto = "Cuss like a Marine". Kinda hard to pass by, maybe I will get a copy later.

This line marks the border between the normal Manga and the 18+ stuff. Lots of people on both sides.

Other buildings:


Akihabara

Akihabara

Maid café ad

Game store

Maid cafés: One part of the Akihabara-experience that is known all over the world are these cafés where all waitresses are cute girls in maid outfits and addressing you as "Goshujin-sama" (=Master) or "Ojou-sama" (=Lady or Mistress).
You can play games with them for discounts or prices and many have musical performances, cute rituals and dancing. The one I went to had *g*
Inside you have to follow some rules like don't ask the maids about personal things and don't take pictures inside (pictures of the food are allowed though).


Maids

Iced coffee@Maid café

Another maid

Other pictures:


Gashopons

Mouse pads

Cosplay in front of a sex shop

Way to save money...

The last one explains a way for women to get discounts at a seven storey sex shop (there are some of those around): Buy a costume or lingerie, let an employee take a picture of you and hang in inside the shop. 20% for a costume, 30% for lingerie.

That was a quite interesting experience, all things considered ^^

So long an stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on August 1, 2010 from Tokyo, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Moving - Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan


Quiet neighborhood

Moved to Tokyo today, of course it had to be the only rain day of the week so far. Well, I am just glad that it was dry for my last few days in Kyoto, so it's fine.
Due to me doing the checking-out-process yesterday already, I arrived waaaay before the specified time at the Tama Plaza station, meaning the landlord was not yet in. Took a cab to the Guest House, cost me 710yen.
Tama Plaza itself is a nice little town in Yokohama which is incredibly close to Shibuya and thus Tokyo (20min train ride). Its a quiet neighborhood with a little nightlife around the station area and the usual shops. I will do further posts as if I was staying in Tokyo for reasons of simplicity.


Chanel House - Front (nightview)

Took some time to sort things out and get to the room but I finally had the time to unpack. This moving was probably the hardest of my journey in terms of getting everything in the trunk, as I carried various things I will not take back home, but still need here with me. A really tight fit. Will sort things out before leaving the Chanel House for one last week in Kyoto with my girlfriend at the end of August.
For now, I settled in and took a stroll around the area to the station (about a 10min walk I guess, didn't take the exact time).

There is an Tokyu department store around, have yet to find a decent nearby conbini, however.

Some pictures:


The corridor (floor 1)

My new room - Front

My new room - Fridge and table

My new room - Side

My new room - Back

My new room - Bedding

I really grew to love the Yurakuso in Kyoto, the room was small but cozy and ideal for my purposes. The Chanel House is something completely different, the room being bigger (well, two people will stay there eventually), the floor w/o tatami-mats, the building big and lots of non-Japanese residents. Talked with my room-neighbor Gary for a while and got some info.
Will probably get used to here as well, but i would have loved to stay in Kyoto for a while longer.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 29, 2010 from Tokyo, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Kyoto - Cleanup

Kyoto, Japan

Well, as it is my last week in Kyoto for a while, I still had some things I wanted to do, some restaurants I wanted to try and some places I wanted to visit.
Especially the places the bus I take every day drives by and I had not seen were on my list.
Here a short description (and picture dump) of the things I did when I was not away from Kyoto.


Kitano Tenman-gu market

Kitano-Tenmangu: A prominent shrine and on every 25th of the month venue for an enormous market held by the locals. You can buy all the typical flea-market things (Japanese style of course), lots of clothes and there are the food stalls I know from the matsuris as well. Good times.
Of course the shrine does not stop operating because of this.

Kitano Tenman-gu market- Armor and weapons

Kitano Tenman-gu market- Games

Kitano Tenman-gu

Kitano Tenman-gu

Kitano Tenman-gu - Umeboshi

Kitano Tenman-gu

Kitano Tenman-gu

==========

Kamigamo shrine
Just one bus stop north of Yurakuso (meaning: walking distance from where I stay), is the Kamigamo shrine, one of the oldest shrines around. It's dedicated to Raijin, the god of thunder. The two cones represent mountains for the gods to decent upon.


Kamigamo - Great Torii

Kamigamo - Mountains

Kamigamo park

Kamigamo - Construction

Located in an open park with lots of space and open to the public as an relaxation area it is a really nice place. Some kind of event seemed to be about to begin that evening as there were decorations everywhere, no idea what it was about.

Kamigamo - Foxes

Kamigamo - Statues

Kamigamo - Dragon

Kamigamo deko - Water children?

Kamigamo deko

I visited here on the same day as I visited Inari, so the following sight kinda seemed familiar:


Kamigamo - Torii

Kamigamo is on the foot of a forest on a mountain/hill and there are supposedly monkeys around.

==========

Some other pictues I took while going around in Kyoto. Visited some temples/shrines and the park surrounding the Kyoto Imperial Palace:


Seimei shrine

Seimei shrine

Seimei shrine - Golden peach

Pagoda

Horikawa - Strolling and relaxation area


Imperial Palace Garden

Imperial Palace Park

Imperial Palace Map

Old Government Building

Temple

That's it for Kyoto for now, tomorrow I move to Tokyo.
Moving and Kyoto-flashback posts tomorrow.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 28, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Inari

Inari, Japan


Torii of Inari

Went to Inari today, to visit the Fushimi-Inari Taisha, the famous shrine trademarked by its hundreds of Torii, lined up along the path.
Just a short distance from the Inari station the shrine area begins and it looks just like other shrines at first. This changes, however, once you start you tour around the mountain. Literally hundreds of Torii are lined up, marking the path you take.

More torii

The beginning is easy enough and you soon reach another shrine site:

Light at the end of the tunnel

Inari map

These stones (the ones on the lanterns) where there as well. They are called the Heavy-light stones and after you make you wish you lift them. If they are light the wish will be granted. They are of medium weight, a divine shrug, I guess.
And off you go, following the path marked in the map above (but really, just follow the red gates). As you goal is on top of a mountain, the usual sight will be something like this:

And torii again

Oh and there are lots of steps, believe me.
From time to time you come across a rest place or a spiritual site with lots of Toriis and statues.
Pictures:

Lots of torii and statues

Climbing up

Torii in the forest

Small torii on sale

Inari

Inari

Remains of torii

Well, water's hard to come by on top of a mountain...

The drink above (water) is usually 110yen.

There are also dozens of fox statues along the way:


Fox statue

Fox with questionable fashion sense

Halfway through:


Reached the top


And down we go again

Outlook from halfway up

Its only a 4-5km walk/hike, but all those stairs kinda get to you after a while.

Went down a different way than I walked up, naturally, and came by an area with lots of small house-shrines and statues.

Oh, and it seems that the typical Japanese pond is the home to lots of koi, some ducks and lots of turtles.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 27, 2010 from Inari, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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About temples, shrines, pavilions and castles

Kyoto, Japan


Torii@Ninna-ji

I have been going around quite a lot now, visiting temples, shrines, pavilions and castles and I have to say the clear winners are the shrines for me.
True, temples often have astonishing and really massive gates and halls and beautiful screen paintings and of course exploring a castle has its own thrill, but in the end I am just more interested in finding a small shrine somewhere amidst lots of greenery, moss growing everywhere and few to no other visitors around. It is there that I can feel really at peace and like I can esteem the beauty surrounding me. The same with gardens, the great and well visited Heian shrine itself was less interesting for me than the gardens surrounding it.
Seems like I am more of a nature-type than expected.

That is of course only my personal view and temple-hopping is fine as well, I just want everyone to consider visiting some off-the-beaten-path shrines if the chance arises.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 26, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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