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Two month of Japan

a travel blog by JuergenS

Hello to all of you!

I am going to travel through Japan for two months, starting July 10, and hope to create a blog that can represent my experiences, at least at a basic level. I plan to do this quite like a diary.

Having long since honed a desire for seeing the world, especially Japan, and being in the lucky position of having time and money align now, I am quite excited to set off!

One crucial part of this journey will be the language, and it will be interesting to see how far my Japanese will get me.
Oh, and don't forget the Japanese cuisine!
view all 931 photos for this trip

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Hiroshima - Miajima

Hiroshima, Japan


Floating Torii

It rained when I got up today, at least I slept quite well. Made my way to Miajima station and took the JR ferry to the island itself.
Turns out to be the site of some kind of Detective Conan event --> His voice did the introduction on the ferry and posters where everywhere to be seen.
After getting off, I saw this sign:


Deer sign

I head heard of the deer there and was eager to see some of them. Turned out to be rather easy, a 90° turn did the trick. They. Are. Everywhere.

Stag

Deer

Deer


Guy teasing deer
Oh, and this guy was teasing the deer, tapping and poking it with his umbrella. It didn't seem to mind. Watched them for a while and carried on the the main sight of this island: The floating Torii.


Itsukushima Shrine
Unfortunately the tide was already changing when I arrived, so the the shrine and temple, seeming to float at high tide, were not as impressive as on the promotional pictures, but still a nice sight.
Some even went down and walked through the mud the shrine actually stands on.

Took a look at the five-storey pagoda opposite the shrine and tried the other specialty of Hiroshima: Oysters. Even got one free ^^. They where good, wished there had been some lemon though.

Shopped for souvenirs and realized that I had still no idea what to bring back home. Suggestions?

Originally I had planned to visit the top of the local mountain, as the view from there is supposed to be great (also: more deer, some monkeys too), the weather prevented this.

Back in Hiroshima itself if confirmed something I suspected since yesterday. They love Mozart here. Proof:


Made my way back to Kyoto, using my first JRP for the last time (expires today). Will be staying at Kyoto for some time now, there is really enough to view here.

So long, and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 11, 2010 from Hiroshima, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Preview: Next Week

Kyoto, Japan


Planning

As I said before, I will stay in Kyoto for a while now. This first week got me pretty tired, to be honest, and constantly hearing, reading and talking Japanese is straining too.
Well, this week is the Gion Matsuri anyway (starting Wednesday, lasting four days) with gigantic floats being pulled through the streets and lots of stalls left and right to try some food or your hand at traditional games. The festial actually spans the whole month of July, but those four days are the main part.

Also, I plan to do some cultural and culinary posts in the future too. Most probably there won't be a post from me everyday, but I will still keep you updated.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 12, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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The Path of Philosophy and beyond

Kyoto, Japan


Singpost for the Path of Philosophy

Last week I decided to walk the Path of Philosophy and visit some temples and shrines on the way, before going back to Gion for the matsuri. I didn't have the time to write about this before, I will however post it with the original date of this tour.

I started off at the northern end of the Path of Philosophy, a walking trail connecting the Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) and the Nanzen-ji.


Ginkaku-ji

So Ginkaku-ji was first. I read quite often that a visit here is more rewarding than visiting the famed Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), but I will take a look at both.
Even through being named the Silver Pavilion, it is not actually coated with silver (the Kinkaku-ji is, in fact, coated in gold), making it a rather grey structure. The tiles of the roofs are made of lead, so that they could be melted into bullets in case of emergency.
The pavilion itself was not that spectacular to be honest, but the surrounding garden was great.
Here are some pictures:

Entrance to Ginkaku-ji

Ginkaku-ji Garden

Ginkaku-ji

I then proceeded to ignore the riksha guys and start the walk down the Path of Philosophy. It's dotted with surrounding temples and shrines and leads to the Nanzen-ji, a massive temple complex with many sub-temples and a famous garden.


Along the way I stopped at this shrine:


Torii

Shrine

Old shrine

Shrine

It contains many statues of animals and was a beautiful sight.


Oh, and I passed this ancient kimono shop.


Sanmon


Nanzen-ji Oku-no-in

Aqueduct

Further south I reached the Nanzen-ji and was greeted by its massive sanmon (the main gate). I strolled on the premises for a while, decided not to enter the garden but go for a more hidden treasure of this temple, one which is overlooked by most visitors, the Nanzen-ji Oku-no-in.

Nanzen-ji Oku-no-in
It is a small sub-temple/shrine in the hills surrounding the main temple. It is a bit of a hike up there, along an aqueduct and through the forest, but once you have cleared the stone steps you reach a small shrine just in front of a beautiful waterfall. If one continues to climb up there is a small cave above the shrine, containing offerings and mourning tablets. The air there is thick with the smell of incense and the smoke combined with the mist form the waterfall create an unique atmosphere.



I really enjoyed it there.

After leaving I decided to walk back to Gion (public transit would of course have been easier, but I had the time, so walk it was). On my way I noticed how near I was to the Heian-shrine with its massive Torii (24m high, if the info on the flyer is correct). As mentioned before, I wasn't in a hurry, so I explored this shrine as well.


Heian-ji Torii

The buildings where pretty much what I expected, the stroll through the massive gardens was nice and cool though.
Pictures:

Heian-ji entrance

Heian-ji Garden

Heian-ji Garden

Heian-ji Garden

Heian-ji Garden

Why is that here?

After that I was on my way back to Gion, the Yasaka shrine and the matsuri.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 15, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Preview: Gion Matsuri

Kyoto, Japan


Planning

Spent the last few days exploring the area of Gion in Kyoto and the Gion Matsuri held there. Will do a post about that soon, wanted to wait till I had all the pictures I needed. The festival is over tomorrow and I am pretty tired from walking the Path of Philosophy and standing for three hours while watching the Katsura performance at Yasaka shrine, so I will relax tomorrow and do some posts.
Got lots of pictures that need some editing before I can upload them.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 16, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Gion Matsuri

Kyoto, Japan


Yasaka shrine

The Gion Matsuri spans the whole month of July and various events take place during this time in Kyoto. The main base for most activities is the Yasaka shrine.

==============


Float


Float
The floats: These are the trademark of the Gion Matsuri. Lots of floats are build every year and open for visiting in the streets. There are two types of floats, Yama and Boko, differing in weight and layout. They are up to 25m tall, from the ground to the tip of the tree in their center. The carpets they are adorned with are often very old and from all over the world. They are sometimes called moving museums for their historical value.


At night the lanterns all over them are lit, the traditional musicians take their place and play to the masses visiting.
On the morning of the 17th the floats align in an order decided by lottery, are carried or pulled through the streets of Gion by the local men. After that they return to the place they were built at and quickly disassembled, dispelling all the evil they absorbed on their way.

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Chimaki

Chimaki: These are charms that are sold only during the matsuri. People buy them, hang well visible over their entrances and keep them there until they get a new one next year.

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Matsuri stalls

Matsuri stalls: Probably THE characteristic element of all matsuri. Tons of stalls line the streets and the area of the shrine, selling all that special foodstuff I wanted to try and more.
I am currently working on a follow-up post about the food sold at such festivals.
Also, there were lots of these guys. They sell a ticket for 300yen with the outlook to win video games and even consoles. Of course there is all that cheap plastic stuff around as well. You buy a ticket, it's either a fluke or a win and you won't get the thing you wanted anyways. Yes, it's the type of thing young boys spend their allowance on. Seemed quite popular.


There are also masks for kids and all kinds of sparkly stuff on sale, from light sabers over kitten ears to necklaces.
The mayor streets where the stalls were where closed on the nights of the 14th, 15th and 16th, which meant lots of pedestrians, lots and lots of stalls and lots of walking.

==============


Byobu Matsuri

The folding screen festival: A part of the Matsuri where one can get a precious glimpse inside a Japanese home. Here, the residents open their houses and put their family heirlooms on display, to be viewed by everyone interested.

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The dance of the snake

Kagura: On the evening of the 16th, the Kagura are performed at the Yasaka shrine. Kagura are dances/performances depicting a story or pleasing the gods.
Before the main event started, there was the blessing of the shinsengumi (I really have no idea where they came from or there they went after the 5min ceremony and neither had the Japanese around me) and the crane dance, performed by children.

Shinsengumi?

The crane dance


The musicians
There are traditional instruments used (Flute, drums, ...) and the dancers/actors are adorned with colorful and rich costumes. I will now give a short description of the Kagura I witnessed on that evening. Taking pictures was quite hard with the light and all those people, they are not really good for the most part, but bear with me.


The bell dance

The bell Kagura is a dance to please the gods and started performance. The moves with the fan and the bells were impressive.


The dancing god

Fighting the demon

Next up was a story I did not quite get, to be honest. A young man angered a god who called forth lightning and set the man to fight a demon for his live, or something along those lines.


The deceiving fox

Destroying the demon

Then the story of a monk and a man of herculean strength travelling together and meeting a beautiful woman who charmed the monks companion. She turned out to be a demon, fooling humans by disguising herself as a girl and eating her victims alive. The monk was able to prevent the worst at first, but they were not able to kill the demon, the nine-tailed fox. Two warriors appeared, however, a master archer and a swordsman, sent out to exterminate the fox, and ultimately prevailed.
The whole thing was more of a comedy and quite entertaining.


Exorcism

The dance of exorcism was next, depicting the story of a ruler who fell very ill until a god appeared in his dream and fought a demon there. After the gods victory the ruler/king woke up and was healed. This one dragged on for some time.


The god of prosperity

The penultimate Kagura was easier to enjoy, it was an homage to the god of fishing, prosperity and commerce, pictured as an fat man who loves to fish.


Fire elements of the snake

The finale was great, a story originally from China: The extermination of Yamato-no-Orochi. The story is as follows. Yamato-no-Orochi is a snake demon, taxing a village with one maiden/princess every year. There were eight princesses originally, but only one remained, and the old folk of the village became really desperate and cried to the gods not to take her away. Susanoo-no-mikoto, the brother of the sun goddess appeared in the village and prepared a poisoned wine, ready to slay the monster.
When the last princess was presented to Yamato-no-Orochi, it drank the wine and fell asleep, enabling the god to cut off its heads (of which is has eight in the version I know, on stage there were four). Of course this couldn't happen without a proper fight, but the good prevailed and the princess was saved. Here some pictures:

The maiden struggles


Yamata no Orochi devours the maiden


The dance of the snake


The dance of the snake


The poison in effect


Fighting Yamata no Orochi


Yamata no Orochi's defeat

The whole thing lasted for three hours and was a great watch. With me standing directly behind the rows of seats (no, I didn't get one, had to stand), the view was good as well.
I was glad to be under the roof, however, others didn't have that luck.

==============

Also, many things to be seen at this matsuri have some special stamps outside and people compete to get all of them. I also saw such stamps at the Eihei-ji temple and the Silver Pavilion. Probably some kind of proof that you where there. Took some of those in my notebook.

That was the matsuri as I experienced it.

Unfortunately it rained quite a lot during this week, but it was bearable. The folks at the shrine where well prepared and had shelters put up really fast as soon as it looked like it would start. The main sidewalks had roofs as well, no problem there.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 17, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
tagged Performance and Matsuri
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Higashi Hongan-ji, Nishi Hongan-ji, Nijo Castle

Kyoto, Japan


Higashi Hongan-ji

Today I started off at Kyoto Station and headed north. Just a few minutes of walking brought me to the Higashi Hongan-ji (Eastern Temple of the Original Vow), the name and at the same time head temple of one of the dominating sub sects of the Shin sects of Buddhism in Japan, the other being the Nishi Hongan-ji (Western Temple of the Original Vow). There originally was only one sect, but the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu split it two to reduce its power and influence.


Higashi Hongan-ji

The temple had a great gate and large, heavily decorated halls which also contain sacred heirlooms of the sect. Taking pictures is prohibited inside the halls and at the entrance of the main building you have to take off your shoes.
Went through the gates and explored the area for a bit before continuing on.

Hair rope
Found this hair rope (yes, made of hair from the followers of the sect). As the quality of ropes back at the construction of the temple was still lacking, hair was preferred. These ropes and the sleigh (below) were used to move and place the timber for the temple.


Nishi Hongan-ji entrance

Next up was the Nishi Hongan-ji, a litte walk west of the Higashi Hongan-ji. The premises seemed bigger to me, but where essentially the same. A prayer was going on there, however, the chanting of the monks was interesting to hear.

Nishi Hongan-ji bell

Nishi Hongan-ji

Both temples had the stamp areas again, one creating "check points" throughout the area to guide those collecting them.


Inner castle of Nijo-jo

I took a bus bound north to reach the Nijo Castle after the temples. I drive by this castle every day and I decided that it was time I finally saw its interior. There are two concentric lines of defence, each with a tall wall and a moat, surrounded by large gardens. Again, no taking pictures inside.
There were impressive screen-paintings in all the halls and you could take a look at the major rooms of the castle, from the Shogun's private chambers to the room he met with his subordinates.
Another interesting part of the castle is the Nightingale Floor, which is build to squeak, creak and make musical noises when stepped on, in order to detect anyone trying of infiltrate the castle. It still works!
Left the castle and strolled through the gardens.
Some pictures of Nijo-jo:

Nijo-jo entrance

Carvings on Nijo-jo

Nijo-jo garden

Nijo-jo garden

Nijo-jo garden

Nijo-jo inner fortifications

Nijo-jo garden

View from Nijo-jo fortifications

Came by this pond, there are turtles in there!

It was really hot today and I was glad when I came back to my air conditioned room.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 18, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Temple hopping

Kyoto, Japan


Kinkaku-ji

Went temple hopping today and topped it of with a visit at an onsen/sento.


Ninna-ji

I started at Ninna-ji in the northwestern part of Kyoto. The temple is guarded by four statues, two lions on the inside, two gods(?) on the outside. Had a nice garden and some screen paintings on display. I couldn't show the ones at Nijo-jo, so here you go:

Satisfied? Good.

The whole thing consists of several buildings and a spacious garden, Torii and pagoda inclusive.


Ninna-ji garden

Ninna-ji garden

Torii@Ninna-ji

Ninna-ji pagoda

I planned this trip as a walking tour, so off I went to my next target: the Ryoan-ji.


Dry garden of Ryoan-ji


Garden of Ryoan-ji
This temple is famous for its dry garden. It lies within a spacious garden (free of charge to visit) and is placed in a separate building (500yen admittance). As most dry gardens it consists of white pebbles, representing water and larger stones, in this case 15. I could only make out 14 of them, and a small girl visiting with her father came to the same conclusion. There are two explanations. One: My arithmetical abilities are barely on par with those of a grade school kid. And two: the last one really hard to make out.
A miniature of the garden was also available.
Well, the whole thing wasn't really to my liking, to be honest. I much more enjoyed the walk through the surrounding garden/forest. Lots of greenery, a beautiful pond and way fewer people.

Was on my way again, this time to the main part of my visit in this area.

There are some useful signs around this area by the way.

Came by this university on my way, interesting exterior.


Kinkaku-ji

Reached the Kinkaku-ji then, the famous Golden Pavilion.
It was a hot day and the sun burned down, but that only enhanced the beauty of the pavilion with its upper level coated in gold. Placed in a lake, surrounded by nature, it was a astonishing sight.
Some pictures:

Kinkaku-ji

Kinkaku-ji

Wishing well or bad aim?

Kinkaku-ji garden

The pond had cranes surrounding it and lots of crane and turtles in it.
I wandered through the gardens of the Kinwaku-ji, shopped for some souvenirs and rested a bit.
Regarding the Ginkaku-ji vs Kinkaku-ji discussion: I can't rea lly tell you which one is superior, the Kinkaku-ji is definitively flashier, but the Ginkaku-ji has its own charm. If the chance arises, visit both.


Funaoka-onsen entrance

Funaoka-onsen was my last stop today, a public bath well liked for its traditional setting.
Upton entering you pay the fee and can borrow towels and buy soap. Then you enter the changing area (separated by gender, the baths as well), undress and put you stuff in a locker. The keys have bands on them to wear around hour wrist or neck. Taking only the soap and the small towel (yes, there is a big one as well) with you, you enter the bathing area. There is a section for washing yourself, featuring plastic stools to sit on. There you clean yourself. Thoroughly. I saw several people taking care of other sanitary issues there as well, inclusive brushing your teeth and shaving. When you are clean (no bubbles left, any soap gone, just you in a clean state), you enter the bath. There are usually several kinds of bath available: Different tubs (wooden, stone, normal), different temperatures, bubble baths and special kinds like electric baths and bath with supposedly medical effect. You can stay as long as you like and enter all of them.
The Funaoka-onsen also has two outdoor-baths, cast in natural stone and featuring small waterfalls. One of them is hot and the other cold, to be enjoyed after leaving the nearby sauna.
It was a hot day, as I mentioned before, so the sauna and the hottest of the bath were quite hard to bear.
There were also lots of carvings on the wooden surfaces, especially in the changing area.
Refreshed and clean I left.


Pontocho

It was 4p.m. by then and I took a stroll through Pontocho, the nightlife and restaurant district of Gion, before returning home.

A phenomenon I quite like is that whenever a shrine is in the way of new buildings or structures, the thing is just build around the shrine. Like in this picture, in the middle of a busy and noisy shopping arcade, several shrines can be found.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 19, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Arashiyama

Kyoto, Japan


Arashiyama

Went to Arashiyama today, a great area for walking around and a half-day hike. Took the bus to Arashiyama and first entered the Tenryu-ji (lit. Sky Dragon Temple), 500yen for the garden, another 100yen for the temple itself. Seemed about right in proportion, the most interesting part was probably the room with sliding screen paintings.

Tenryu-ji

Tenryu-ji screen paintings

Tenryu-ji dry garden

I exited the temple garden by its north exit and reached the main reason for my visit here, the bamboo forest.
Pictures:


Adopted child?

Arashiyama bamboo forest

Arashiyama bamboo forest

Bamboo grafiti?

Arashiyama bamboo forest

As I still had time, I decided to add a hike to the Monkey Mountain.


Monkey Mountain map

Took some time and left me pretty drenched (well, it was a hot day after all), but it is not a hard track to reach the top.


Monkey quiz

Danger sign

Hand print

Emergeny button

Yeah...right

And then there were the monkeys:


My first monkey

Monkey on a slide

Snack time

Monkeys drinking

And it is the time of year where the young monkeys are around:

Monkey kid

Monkey kid

Monkey kids

Monkey kids

The view on there was really great, overlooking Kyoto and the surrounding mountains. Also, there is a rest place up there where you can feed the monkeys through a wire fence. Yes, you are in a cage, not the monkeys.

Gret view

Took quite a lot of pictures of monkeys and bamboo today.
Went back after that and did some souvenir shopping. Tomorrow I will be taking a look at Gion some more, lots to see there.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 20, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Gion again

Kyoto, Japan


Sanjusangendo


Surrounding wall of Sanjusangendo
Visited the Sanjusangendo today, a temple basically consisting of a great hall featuring 24 statues of the Heavenly Guardians and 1001 statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon. These statues are nearly life size, 500 Kannons placed right of the great statue in the middle (oh, and this one is enormous, a truly great view) , 500 left and the 24 Guardians lined up before them. Oh, and the Thousand Armed Kannons here don't actually have 1000 arms, but 40. As it is believed that one arm of the Kannon can save 25 worlds, that makes a thousand per statue. Still a whole lot of arms in one hall. Picture taking is strictly prohibited inside.


Nishiki market

Went to the Nishiki-market then, a street lines with stalls and shops dedicated to food. Fresh seafood, cooking utensils, vegetables, all you want.
Went into a shop purely for cooking knives and bought some stuff (these utensils where pretty much on top of the things I want to bring home from Japan after all). Really nice merchandise and staff there, got my name in Katakana engraved into the knives (free service).

Oh, and I entered one of those:


100yen shop
Nice place to get some cheap stuff (there are some useful things on sale as well).


Geisha district

Wandered through Gion and reached the Geisha street. And there she was, on her way to the taxi bringing her to her appointment:

Maiko/Geisha

Stopped by the sake bar Yoramu on my way back.


Yurakuso sake bar

Really nice atmosphere and the barkeeper (came to Japan half his live ago by chance and never left) knows just about everything there is to know about his business. Oh, and he speaks English by the way.
He offers sake samplers, consisting of three different sake types which are different for every costumer. You tell him what kind of taste you like or dislike (not in liquor, in general) and he gives you a range of taste to get a feeling for sake. Mine consisted of a dry one, tasting like a dry white wine with high alcohol content, a foggy white one, dry with a bit of sweetness and a fruity one with lots of flavor. I didn't like the white one very much, the others were good. I ordered a sweet one for finishing up, something like a desert wine, I told him. What I got was a really unusual sake, one make from completely unpolished rice (meaning the rice still has its outer shell, its not rubbed away), which is really rare, I was told. It was sweet, it was good, it was a great wrap for the day.

Oh, and I saw this woman walking her dog...Or something. Anyone got an idea why she is driving it around like that?

On my way back I noticed this Torii from the bridge I was standing on. Interesting placement, to say the least.

Another hot day, and I spent quite some money today.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 21, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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Nara

Nara, Japan


Me with deer

Went to Nara today, famous for its many deer (about 1200, they were worshiped as messengers of the gods before Buddhism spread in Japan and since then held dearly), the largest wooden building of the world and its massive bronze Buddha (Daibutsu). Activated my JRP and withdrew some money beforehand and had a great breakfast (sushi ekiben).

After arriving I picked up a map and started my tour, the Nara-koen makes a great half-day hike from sight to sight.

Oh, and the mascot of Nara, Sento-kun, is omnipresent, you literally see him everywhere.


Isui-en

Started off at the Isui-en garden, pretty big and truly beautiful.
Pictures:

Isui-en

Isui-en

Isui-en

Isui-en

Continued to the Daibutsu-den then, the huge wooden building containing the great Daibutsu.


Nandai-mon

You enter the area trough the massive Nandai-mon, containing two fierce looking guardians, said to be two of the finest statues of all Japan. One could actually expect them to spring to life.
Trough the gate and you are near the main hall:

Daibutsu-den Hall

The building was rebuild in 1709 and is now a mere two thirds of its original size. That two thirds still make it the biggest wooden building of the world, though.

Daibutsu

The Daibutsu itself is made of 437 tonnes of bronze and 130kg of gold and of course dominating the hall.

Pictures can't really be used to represent the dimensions we are dealing with here, and spamming superlatives probably won't help.

Behind the Daibutsu is a pillar with a hole in it, exactly the size of one of the nostrils of the great Buddha. It is said that those who fit through there are definitively going to reach enlightenment. Its the perfect size for kids. (Read as: There are lines of kids waiting to try their luck and lines of parents waiting to snap their pictures.)

The temples and shrines of Japan rely heavily on donations and sell good luck charms and the such. Also you can buy a wooden plate or a great candle on which you write your wish. These are burned by the monks in order for the wishes to be fulfilled. There are many different versions of this, the Daibutsu-den is selling roof tiles to be used in reconstruction.

Wandered the premises after leaving the hall. There are a great many temples, shrines and gardens in the area, I won't bore you with those.
Some pictures of the park though:


Nara-koen

Nara-koen

One hall had this warning, pretty interesting way of putting things, no?

Well, by now you probably ask yourself: "Where are the deer?". Here you go:


Stag with twisted horns

Many deer, many droppings

Deer

Stalking stag

Deer and senbei-seller

Moveset of the common deer

There are special deer-crackers on sale for 150yen to feed them with. Got stalked by one after buying a pack. That's by the way the only thing that will attract them like in the headline-picture, once they know you got no more, they are gone.

Nara is a must-see on every trip in the Kansai-area and is thus frequented by tourist groups and school classes. There were many groups like that, but the hall is enormous and if you wait for a few minutes you can enjoy the sight in peace. If you don't happen to carry anything resembling deer food, that is.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

permalink written by  JuergenS on July 22, 2010 from Nara, Japan
from the travel blog: Two month of Japan
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