Jigokudani, Matsumoto & Nagoya

This is the last post from our 4-month stay in Japan. We had an amazing trip to Jigokudani Monkey Park. There are a lot of Japanese macaques who roam free and take advantage of the large onsens (hot springs baths) that have been built for them.


We stayed at this ryokan, directly opposite the park. In the winter, the monkeys travel to the ryokan to the outside baths -- so you can take a bath with them! The ryokan had a very large dinner, including crickets, a local specialty. Russ and I both tried them, but Laurea wouldn't have anything to do with it.
Our next-to-last stop was Matsumoto. Matsumoto is famous for its castle (see 4th picture below) and elaborate string balls. We found a mechanical clock, which looks like one of those string balls, that opens to show dancers on top ... then again to show an orchestra on the bottom.



Our last stop was Nagoya, where we stayed in a very nice ryokan and then headed off to the airport for home.

Sayonara

As we end our amazing 4-month trip to Japan, we thought it good to review the highlights through Japan's most beloved, ubiquitous character, Hello Kitty (and some others thrown in as well).

We began our trip with a stay in Tokyo, then moved to our "Green House" in Yokohama:


We took side trips to Nikko and Kamakura (we love this one where Kitty is sitting on the Buddha's lap):

as well as Mt. Koya and Hakane. (Below, Ms. Kitty is dressed as a sulphorous egg from the hot volcanic springs of Hakone.)


Outside of Japan, we also travelled to Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea. On our way back from South Korea, we stopped in Fukuoka. (Here H. Kitty is embracing marinated cod roe (mentaiko), a specialty of the area.)

On Friday, we will be leaving Yokohama to to the airport, with a few stops along the way - Jigokudani National Park (see the livecam by clicking here), Matsumoto, and finally, our last stop of Nagoya:


We hope to make one last post to show these pictures.

Off we go!

Showa Kinen Park

Today we took a long subway ride out to the west of Tokyo to vist Showa Kinen Park. There was a 90% chance of thunderstorms, but we decided to risk it. Despite ominous skies all day, we were very fortunate that it didn't rain a drop.

Showa Kinen used to be a U.S. Air Force base; when vacated, it was turned into an enormous park, with more activities than you could do in one day. Walking through this park is much like visiting Japan - you really don't find anything, you just happen upon it. But what you happen upon is usually quite worthwhile, often better than what you were looking for in the first place. Below is what came across our paths:

We were welcomed by giant mosaic dragons. Laurea kept telling us, "Be quiet, so they won't wake up!" and to humor her, we went along. Boy, were we all scared when we walked into one dragon that actually roared! Little did we know that some are equipped with motion sensors to make noises. It took some pursuding to get her to walk through the playground again.


The snake was a bit more docile, holding only a sandbox in its large mouth.

We moved onto the elastic hammocks, which are nets that you could hang from, jump on, or otherwise scare your parents to death on.


We found a gigantic bouncy protoplasmic-shaped trampoline. Laurea was in heaven, since it was "the biggest bouncy castle ever!" Some kids could jump sky high on this thing.

Next was the "Sun Pyramid," which had a beautiful mosaic sun up top and a view of the park.
From the top of the pyramid, you can see the mists, where kids can play being ninjas or various otherwordly characters.
We ran across a very long roller slide, the experience of which was sort of like a very bad massage.
Our penultimate stop was a log cabin-type house that had a place to rest, stories, and craft areas, including woodworking. Nearby, there was a "grass flute" (i.e., a piece of grass) playing group. Some people were quite good, and we even caught an "Oh, Susannah."

We ended up by taking the park train to the front, where Russ and Laurea went swimming in the "rainbow pool," which included a wave pool, a woodland stream, fountains, and water slides.

We missed the tea pavilion (which the brochure notes we can utilize to recite our haiku or Chinese poetry), boats, mini golf, bicycling, dragonfly marsh, and Japanese garden. In any case, it was a very fun way to spend our last weekend in Yokohama.

Kamakura - Part 2

Today, Russ turned 38. To celebrate the day, we decided to make a return trip to Kamakura (see our mid-May posting for the first trip). We saw only a few of the attractions during the first visit, and since it is only about 30 minutes away, we took a quick return trip.

Our first stop was Zeniarai-Benten Shrine, dedicated to the goddess of good fortune (an auspicious place to visit on your birthday). The shrine is entered through a rock tunnel, then a series of torii gates.
At the back of the shrine, you are supposed to wash your money in a cave spring. Any money you wash is supposed to come back to you in duplicate or triplicate. The picture below shows Russ engaged in a bit of money laundering.


The rest of the shrine was quite lush, with lots of mossy rocks, a waterfall, and smaller shrines.


We then moved on to Kita-Kamakura, where we saw Engakuji Temple. It is one of the 5 main rinzai temples, a sect of Buddhism, and it was founded in 1282.

We entered and saw a heron in a koi pond....


and then, later, saw him again, perched on top of a temple building.


As we entered the temple, a monk was chanting. He stopped, asked us where we were from, and then talked to us about the Detroit Tigers for a bit.

At night, we went to a Brazilian restaurant for dinner and ran into a famous Brazilian soccer player who had played for the Japanese team.

Typhoon

If you remember our last post, we took the ferry over from Korea on Monday, and we flew out of Kyushu on Tuesday. Well, we were very fortunate since Typhoon Man-Yi hit Kyushu on Friday. It was supposed to head up the coast to hit Tokyo late today (Sunday), but it appears to have headed off to sea. We had a lot of heavy rain over the last few days, so that may be the extent of our brief, steamy relationship with Man-Yi. Except for a trip to have lunch over at Russ's colleague's house in western Tokyo, we have stayed inside a lot and have been kind of boring the past few days.

We took the above photo from our Yokohama spaceship (with real thanks to NASA).

South Korea and Fukuoka: Stirred but Not Shaken

Last week, we flew to Fukuoka , in the south of Japan. We flew Skymark, which is called a discount airline in Japan. However, they passed out fans (indicating the names of different types of sushi), blankets and soy bars, which is a lot more service than we tend to get on Northwest airlines.

Early the next day, we caught a ferry to Pusan, South Korea. Since we used the hydrofoil (the boat takes 14 hours), the trip was quick - only about 3 hours - and they even broadcasted a Red Sox game for entertainment. Pusan is a port city with a lot of activity, and as we sailed in, there were several other container ships.

In our search for a lunch spot, we found a place to eat and not being able to read the menu, asked for bibimbap, which was the food that we remembered at the time. Fortunately, this restaurant did serve bibimbap, and it was quite tasty. (However, Mary was scolded twice for not stirring up her bibimbap enough.)

We stayed at a hotel on Heundae Beach, which is one of the most famous beaches in South Korea. As you can see from the picture below, we arrived in the midst of the rainy season.
It was a bit difficult to adjust to a new language and a new currency, but fortunately, people were very helpful. Additionally, travelling with Laurea was like travelling with Madonna - quite a celebrity. Everywhere we went, people wanted to talk to her, touch her hair and give her candy. She played shy, but I think she enjoyed the attention.

The next day, we took a one-hour bus ride to Gyeongju, an ancient capital of the Silla kingdom (57 BC - 935 AD). All over the city are burial mounds of the Silla kings (see picture below), hill-like features that are now covered in grass.

Our next stop was Cheomseongdae observatory. Made out of 362-366 blocks (estimates differ), the observatory sits on 12 blocks, perhaps one for each month.


We were getting hungry, but in our search for a restaurant, we wandered across this vast lotus blossom park. Laurea enjoyed dancing in the covered area in the center of the park and even got some kids to share their snacks with her.
We stayed near Bomun Lake, which was pretty touristy but a fun place to stay. In the evening, many kids rent electric cars/ATVs, which they ride all over parks and trails along the lake. We opted for a more old-fashioned bike ride around the lake.
The next day, we took a bus out to Bulguksa, a large temple. The picture below shows one of the two pagodas that sit inside the temple grounds.

In nearly every building, there were monks chanting and visitors praying, so it was certainly a very active temple and quite peaceful.
To get to the next site, we took a short bus on a very, very windy road. For the pilgrimage (representing the path to Nirvana), we should have walked about an hour up hill, but after trying this for about 10 minutes, we got lazy and opted for the motorized route. Can you get to Nirvana by bus?

The entrance to the Seokguram Grotto site begins with a large bell house.
We arrived at noon and saw the bell being rung by an older man, who would take a running start before each strike and then negotiate a huge wooden pole.
In back of the bell tower is a wooded path that leads up the mountain. On sunnier days, I believe you can see the Sea of Japan from the top.

The final stop is a wooden room that holds a stone-carved Buddha, as well as other statues representing Buddhist figures and principles. It was quite crowded inside, and of course, photos were forbidden, but those who are interested can see a picture at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seokguram_Buddha.JPG.

At the grotto, one can buy a temple tile and write a prayer on it. It was interesting to see the tiles inscribed by tourists from around the world.
We took the bus back and then had panchan, which is basically a meal made of about 20 side dishes, such as kimchi, fish and cucumbers.

The next day, we took the bus back to Pusan and then had lunch at the great food floor of Lotte Department store. Russ had pajeon, a sort of scallion pancake, Laurea had mul naengmyeon (cold noodles in sort of a sweet watery broth, with some accompaniments like a slice of pear, cucumbers and a hard boiled egg) and Mary had bibim nengmyeon (the same noodles but in a spicy sauce). Again, Mary wasn't a good mixer, and the staff came to mix up her noodles for her.

Since there was also a Krispy Kreme donut store, Russ wanted to buy up a stack, then bring them back to Japan, where there are over 2-hour hour waits (and 4 lines) for Krispy Kreme donuts at the new store in Tokyo. However, given that Krispy Kremes have a shelf life of 20 minutes, the brilliant Seinfeld-inspired plan needed to be abandoned.

We then caught the ferry back to Fukuoka. This time, The Yearling played on TV, followed by sumo.

In Fukuoka, we were on the cusp of the Yamakasa festival, where teams of men race while carrying very heavy (about a ton) floats...and while wearing loincloths. There are also decorative floats set up in different neighborhoods that you can see while driving around. The picture below shows one of them, set up in a mall by our hotel.We ended the trip with a visit to the Fukuoka Art Museum, a small but very nice collection. Then back to Yokohama!

Yes, we take requests: Small Spaces

We've received a request to document the "use of small spaces." As many of you know, space is at a premium, especially in cities. This leads to creative use of small spaces, especially outside the house. Here are some of our favorites: home, commercial and construction.

(1) If you take a train in Japan (which is generally inevitable!), you often pass by expansive rice fields in rural areas. Not having the space to add a rice field in the front yard, this creative person planted rice outside in small planters.
(2) This shop owner in the Yamate area created a Godzilla scene in the nook above his store. There are also several fish tanks, and Okinawan fishing ball, and other decorations hanging around the entryway.


(3) This construction site illustrates how the machinery (even though it already is teeny) is often as big as the plot of land itself.


If you have any other requests, just send them along!

We will be heading to S. Korea tomorrow for a few days, so there may be a lag in blog posting.