Japan - Tokyo

With only a few days left in Japan we had to make the most of our time, so we took a very early train from Takayama to arrive in Tokyo by the early afternoon. First up was lunch and a couple of icy cold beers at the Ginza Lion, a 1930’s-era German-style beer hall with gorgeous art deco mosaic murals on the walls.

We then spent a few hours wandering the halls of the Tokyo National Museum before heading over to the Akihabara Electric Town area. This is a true nerd paradise, with shop after shop of comic books, video games, electronics, manga/anime costumes, and maid cafes. We went into this Sega video arcade were amazed by the size and scope. Each floor had a theme – prize games, music games, classic videogames, snapchat-filter-style photobooths, and virtual reality games. Very cool!

Our plan for Tokyo was to stay two nights at a hotel in Ginza, then two nights at one in Shinjuku so that we could explore each area without spending too much time on public transit. Since the Ginza hotel was within walking distance of the famous Tsukiji fish market, we made sure to head over there for lunch on our second morning. We had a delicious meal at the counter at Sushi Zanmai, then wandered through the market area to check out what else was on offer – tuna head or sea urchin, anyone?

After lunch we took the subway to Senso-ji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo. It is also one of the best places to people watch, because – believe me – there are a LOT of people to watch.

Throughout our time in Japan, we saw lots of tourists wearing brightly-colored kimonos and having their poor boyfriends take multiple photos of them for their Instagram.  These clever ladies went a step beyond and had what appeared to be a professional photographer taking multiple shots of all of them with the temple in the background.

The next morning we got an early check-in at our final hotel in Japan, the Park Hyatt. This is the same hotel that was featured in the Bill Murray movie “Lost in Translation”. It was a classy place. The mini-bar in our room was like a work of art…”for relaxing times, make it Suntory time”.

From the hotel, it was a quick walk through Yoyogi Park to get to the Harajuku district, which is known as a lively place where all the cool teenage kids hang out. The main attraction is the colorful and pedestrian-friendly Takeshita-dori street.

We braved the long lines to get ourselves one of these yummy crepes. They had so many options on the menu, you had to order what you wanted by number.

In the evening we took a guided walking tour through the Golden Gai nightlife area. Over 200 tiny ramshackle bars and pubs are crammed into an area the size of a soccer field. Some pubs had only enough seats for five people, but our guide took our group to one that had a luxurious 25 seats and a restroom – fancy!

On our last full day in Tokyo we headed to the coolest…museum? ...art exhibit? I’m not really sure how to categorize it, but teamLab Borderless was quite the experience.

The artists have created a multi-room space where guests can interact with the digital art. Some of the rooms had moving light projections, others had mazes with brightly lit features, giant balloons, mirrored reflections, or a combination of all of the above. It was definitely a colorful and surreal experience.

For our final evening in Japan we went for a nightcap and some jazz at the iconic New York Bar. The music was wonderful and the city views in the background were just spectacular. A great way to end the trip!

Japan - Traditional Takayama

We took the very scenic Hida Wide Express train from Kyoto to the mountain town of Takayama. We had booked two nights at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Ryokans typically provide one or two meals, and usually have an onsen-style bath onsite. We thought it would be a good way to immerse ourselves in Japanese culture. At the main entrance to the inn, we exchanged our street shoes for house slippers and we were shown to our room.

As you can see, there was not much decoration in the room – the floor was covered with finely-woven straw tatami mats, there was a low table and some cushions to sit on, and not much else.  (In the alcove there were two western-style chairs and a mini-fridge. We ended up spending a surprising amount of time sitting in that tiny room). You might be wondering, where is the bed?  Yeah, we wondered that too. It turns out the bedding was all folded up in a cupboard near the room entrance. A two-person turndown team came around each night after dinner to set up the thin futon mattress on the floor. Then they came and put it away again each morning!

So the comfort level of the room itself left a little bit to be desired. But our primary reason for booking a ryokan was to try a traditional kaiseki dinner. The dinner is served in your room by your own personal maid/waitress who sets the table and brings the dishes in multiple courses, all very artistically arranged.

On its website, our ryokan boasts (proudly and repeatedly) that they "specialize in the local Hida beef”. Like Kobe beef, Hida beef comes from Japanese Wagyu cattle that are specifically bred for the fine quality of fat marbling throughout each cut.

Seated awkwardly on the floor, we actually cooked the beef course of each meal ourselves. (I guess we are the true Hida beef specialists now!) The first night it was shabu-shabu style -- thin strips of beef cooked quickly in boiling broth. The second night it was thicker slabs of beef barbecued on a tiny hibachi grill. Both meals were truly delicious. Kanpai to the chef!

However, the breakfast was not so delicious, to be honest. We both consider ourselves to be pretty adventurous eaters, and will try anything once. But rubbery seaweed and salted fish is just not what I typically crave when I think of breakfast food. It was a bit of an ordeal to get through all the dishes they served at breakfast. Hey, at least we got to sit in normal chairs though!

With our bellies full, we then set about exploring the town despite the rain. At least we didn't have to fight any crowds.

Takayama has a beautiful old town area, with traditional wooden buildings lining the main street and lots of boutique shops selling handicrafts, local foods, and even several sake vendors. Even in the rain it was a charming place.

On our second day in town, we explored the morning market followed by a walk to the Sakurayama Hachimangu shrine, the oldest shrine in Takayama.

Then we headed inside the Festival Float Exhibition Hall. Takayama is particularly famous for its Matsuri, a festival that takes place twice a year – in April and October.  They have held this festival for the past 350 years, culminating in a parade of gilded wooden floats that are manually carried or pulled through the streets.  (Some have wheels and some do not). Several of the floats have moveable marionettes that perform for the crowds.  Unfortunately we were visiting about a week too early to be able to see the Spring Festival, but we were happy to be able to see the floats on display at this excellent little museum.

Our final stop in Takayama was the Hida Folk Village (Hida No Sato). This is an outdoor museum displaying various regional architectural styles. More than 30 historical and culturally important buildings were moved to this location to preserve them for future generations.

Traditional architecture in the area includes farmhouses built in the Gassho style, having thick thatched roofs that are steeply pitched to withstand the weight of snowfall in this part of Japan. Inside, a large open hearth sunk into the middle of the floor provides heat and a space for cooking. Considering how chilly and rainy it was during this part of our trip, I can see why the farmers of this area would want a cozy thatched-roof cottage when the winter snows hit.

Japan - Sakura in Kyoto

Due to a stroke of luck, we managed to arrive in Kyoto at the height of cherry blossom season. Kyoto was the Imperial capital of Japan for over a thousand years, and has so many impressive cultural sights to see. Three days wasn’t really enough time to explore all of the wonders of the city, but we did our best!

Our first stop was the famous temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji. Although the original temple was burned down by a deranged monk in the 1950’s, the rebuilt temple is faithful to the original and covered in gold leaf. Unfortunately, visitors can’t enter the structure, but I think the main attraction is catching a glimpse of the golden reflection in the adjacent pond.

In the afternoon, we took a bus to the Arashiyama district in the northwest part of Kyoto. There are many cherry trees planted along the banks of the Katsura River, so it was a very popular area for people watching. We took a long steep hike up the side of Mount Arashi and were rewarded with great views of the western side of Kyoto…

…and monkeys, hundreds of angry-looking monkeys! Our tickets for the Monkey Park had some ominous warnings written on them: “Don’t touch the monkeys. Don’t feed the monkeys. Don’t stare at the monkeys in the eye.” Uh, okay. There was a structure where you could feed the monkeys (you go inside the structure and feed the monkeys through a protective chain-link barrier). But instead we opted to catch our breath on a bench (it was a strenuous hike) and just enjoy watching the monkeys from a safe distance.

Just across the river from the monkey park is the old town section of Arashiyama. We walked down a crowded shopping street and followed the crowds to the Bamboo Forest, which was listed as a “must-see” in all the guidebooks. It was pretty, but the crush of people did detract from the beauty a bit.

We took the subway back to our hotel and wandered around the historic Pontocho district in the evening. This area is home to many geiko/geishas and traditional tea houses. It’s a lovely and atmospheric place to walk around at night, because the narrow pedestrian-friendly streets are packed with bars and restaurants in a traditional architecture style. We went for a fabulous udon and tempura meal at Omen Shijo.

The next day we focused on Japanese culture and history. We started the day with a stroll through the Nishiki Market before arriving at the Samurai & Ninja museum.

We had a tour guide who instructed us in the ways of the Ninja, as well as giving us a great lecture on the history of the Samurai culture in Japan. I really enjoyed the lecture because I was reading “Shogun” at the time, and it helped me to understand a lot more about the historical context of the epic novel.

We then took a beautiful stroll through the Kiyomizu-dera temple and Higashiyama historical district. The winding lanes of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka streets in particular were charming.

We arrived back in the Gion district just in time to watch the Miyako-Odori dance performance by the Geiko and Maiko (geisha and apprentice geisha) at the Minami-za theater. Unfortunately photography wasn’t permitted, but I was mesmerized by the slow, shuffling dance steps and high-pitched tonal singing. It was very different from the musical theater we have in America – and I was glad we had rented the English-language headsets to explain the significance of each musical number. After the early evening performance, we headed over to Maruyama Koen park to view the Yasaka Shrine with its brightly lit lanterns and illuminated weeping cherry tree.

Maruyama Park is one of the best hanami spots in Kyoto, and the party continues well into the evening. The beer garden/picnic area was very popular with the locals and tourists alike.

On our final day in Kyoto, we took a train down to the Fushimi Inari shrine, one of the most-photographed shrines in all of Japan.

The endless rows of bright red torii gates are dedicated to the rice goddess Inari, and each gate is donated by a local business. There are thousands of torii lining the 2½ miles of trails that lead to the top of the mountain.

We saved the very best spot in Kyoto for last, taking a bus up to the Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion Temple) area so that we could have a leisurely stroll down the Philosopher’s Path. This pathway, along a canal lined with cherry trees, is named for a Philosophy professor who used to meditate while walking between his home and his job at Kyoto University. The cherry blossoms along the path were truly spectacular.

We felt so lucky to have visited Kyoto while the cherry trees were in bloom. One of the reasons that cherry blossom season resonates so much with the people of Japan is because it is so fleeting. The blooms are only at their peak for a brief time, and we were already seeing evidence that the season would soon be coming to an end – with each gust of wind, pale pink petals would drift to the ground like snowflakes. The fragile beauty of the ethereal trees reminds you that life is short and to make the most of each day you are given.

Japan - Daytrips to Himeji and Nara

Basing ourselves in Osaka allowed us to do a couple of daytrips to two of the most important historical areas in Japan – Himeji Castle and the ancient city of Nara. A quick one-hour train ride and a short walk brought us to Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The current castle was built in feudal-era Japan during the 1600’s. It survived bombings in WWII and was repaired in the 1950’s. They only let so many people in at a time, so there is usually a bit of a wait to get inside.

To tour inside the castle, you have to remove your shoes (you carry them in a little bag); this helps protect the wood floor and wooden staircases. Staff members really “herd” you through – it’s a one-way procession up and around several flights of stairs to the top floor. Then they urge you to keep moving and go back down so more people can come inside. Considering the wait to get in, we were a bit disappointed at the interior. There wasn’t really any furniture, and there was no explanation (at least not in English) of what daily life in a feudal Japanese castle would have been like.

Outside the castle is a defensive wall surrounded by a moat. Originally the castle had three moats but only the innermost one remains today. After waiting so long in line touring the castle, we did not want to wait in another line to go for the sampan boat ride.

So after the tourist crush of the castle, we took a leisurely walk through the series of nine tranquil gardens nearby instead. It was nice to get away from the throngs of people. Kokoen Gardens is actually a sister garden to the Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. (Phoenix and Himeji are Sister Cities).

The next day we packed up and headed to Nara, another short one-hour train ride from Osaka. Nara is an ancient capital of Japan; the Emperor lived here during most of the 8^th century AD before moving to Kyoto and then Tokyo. The area is also a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the many temples and shrines located here. The most important temple is the Todai-ji Buddhist Temple.

This massive building shelters the Daibutsu, a 1200-year-old bronze statue of the seated Buddha that is almost 50 feet tall.

In order to get into the temple area, you must walk past Komokuten, one of two enormous and fierce-looking wooden statues that stand guard near the Buddha.

Todai-ji is just one of several important temples and shrines in Nara. We did not have time to visit them all, but we did make sure to walk over to the Kasuga Taisha Shinto shrine, where we saw these beautiful bronze hanging lanterns.

Lanterns seem to be a theme at the Kasuga Taisha shrine. There are 3000 stone lanterns and each one is dedicated to a deity by a local citizen. The lanterns are set alight only during certain festivals in February and August each year.

Although the historical sites are a major attraction in Nara, many tourists also come here to feed the tame(-ish) sika deer. They roam freely throughout town.

The town sells special “deer crackers” that you can feed to them. Some of the deer have actually learned (or been trained) to bow their heads reverently in order to get a handout. They are protected by law, and there are more than 1200 deer scattered throughout the Nara complex; they are truly everywhere!