Middle Japan

Shiga Prefecture / Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

June 24 – 25 and 28 -30, 2009

This is the last entry in my Japan 2009 series. I had mostly written about historical landmarks and megapolises I visited. They were all amazingly memorable experiences; however, they merely touched on extreme points on the Japanese continuum: its rich historical heritage and its modern urban present. I felt there was a missing link between these polar opposites, and on my last day I realized the bridge for this gap was right under my nose.

Tunneling Through Shiga Prefecture

My stay in Shiga Prefecture completed my Japan experience. When I first learned that I’d be staying in this place, I was rather dismayed. I dreamed of the hyper-stimulation of Tokyo and Osaka, the Zen-like delights of Kyoto and Nara…but Shiga – where is that and what’s there? I hadn’t heard of the place. A quick Google search revealed it was in the middle of…um, nowhere. Sure it was in the vicinity of Osaka in the Kansai region – but it seemed out of the way. True enough, my Japanese host picked us up at a bus station in Kyoto and drove us through what seemed like remote mountainous terrain.

Lost in Time

Kyoto, Japan

June 28, 2009

Some pleasant discoveries are made, not by getting there, but by getting lost. The irony was that my Japanese host’s rusty sense of direction got me exactly where I had envisioned myself to be in Kyoto.

Kimono Korner: Teapot Lane in Kyoto

We had just left Kiyomizu Temple, our last UNESCO World Heritage Site visit for the day (there are 17 such sites in Kyoto, by the way). It was quite late; my Japanese companions were in a huddle, presumably planning where to go next. I was hoping it involved dinner and a jigger or two of sake. I just left them to their own devices, language barrier to blame. Then they started down Chawan-zaka. I trailed behind.

Three Wishes at Kiyomizu

Kyoto, Japan

June 28, 2009

Kiyomizu-dera is a temple for wishing. In fact, I had to wish I could still go and see it.

This would be the last stop in the whirlwind tour of Kyoto with my Japanese host. It was almost 5. By then, we were all overwhelmed by the city’s scenic views and rich history, exhausted from day-long walking under the summer sun, and hungry – practically running on “low-batt”, just as my camera battery was. I was with a group of mostly strangers – most of us had just met for the first time that morning. A tentative awkwardness still pervaded our collective air. Plus, we had just come from Kinkaku-ji, a golden Zen temple I proclaimed as the loveliest spot on earth. Seriously, what could top that? Certainly not another temple in the same city.

A Diva at the Deva Gate of Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto

Heaven and Hell on Earth

Kyoto, Japan

June 28, 2009

Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) is, by far, the loveliest spot on earth I have ever seen. My first glimpse of the imperial yellow temple, gleaming in the summer sun with its reflection shimmering on the placid pond, was a poetic vision – a scene of exquisite beauty that I could only describe as heavenly. Belinda Carlisle nailed it – heaven is a place on earth. And it is in Kyoto. But one man’s heaven is another man’s hell.

Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion): Heaven on Earth

A Nightingale Sings in Nijo-jo

Kyoto, Japan

June 28, 2009

Enter the Edo Era: Nijo Castle

A nightingale sings in Nijo-jo (Nijo Castle) – with every step you take. Centuries before the Twitter age, the Tokugawa shogunate already used tweets. This castle, built in the 17th century in Kyoto, is famous for its wooden floors that tweet – the uguisu bari (nightingale floor). So when I got to Kyoto, it was the first place to wanted to see – and hear.

Found in Translation

Osaka / Tokyo, Japan

June 24 and 27, 2009

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Towel. No, it’s not a cloth to cover your nakedness as you emerge from an onsen (a public hot bath). Just an example of the Japanese quirk of rolling the hard /r/ to a loopy /l/, as in that hilarious scene in Lost in Translation involving a befuddled Bill Murray and a demanding dominatrix. In my case, I got befuddled looks because I look Japanese but couldn’t speak Nihonggo.

Before I got to Tokyo, I had been warned that asking for directions could be a linguistic challenge. Even the Japanese who speak some English may be bashful in using the language. Given my on-the-fritz sense of direction and illiteracy in hiragana, and throw in Tokyo’s multiple metro lines – I might as well have been blindfolded. But if there’s one thing I love doing in a foreign city, it’s walking aimlessly. And that’s how you get to know a city – by getting lost.

The Morning After

Yokohama, Japan

June 27, 2009

I survived Tokyo. Its crowds, its convoluted metro lines, its punishing summer heat. “There’s got to be a morning after,” goes the cheesiest song ever from a disaster movie. After a full day traversing Tokyo, I found that perfect morning after in Yokohama. Not that the day, or night, before was a disaster. It was just the most gruelling city tour I had ever done.

Old World Elegance of New Grand Hotel in Yokohama

Yokohama is Japan’s second largest city (and I had always thought Osaka held that place). Perhaps Yokohama is not as high-profile as Osaka because it is an incorporated city. It is now part of the Greater Tokyo Area. In fact, it is just 30 minutes away by train and seems part of Tokyo. No countryside separates them; they’re just one big urban sprawl. Its claim to fame is that it strategically fronts Tokyo Bay.

Tokyo / Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

June 26, 2009

Tokyo has two faces. Yamanote and Shitamachi: uptown and downtown, mod and trad, respectively.

The dichotomy is not as physically striking as, say, Pudong and Puxi in Shanghai, which are geographically distinct. In Tokyo, the separation is more subtle, with one side bleeding into the other. They are not districts of the city, but a subcultural distinction. Nevertheless, the two areas’ antithesis was palpable as soon as I met my friend-cum-guide, Mr. A.

High Fashion and High Jinks in Yamanote

A City of Superlatives

Tokyo, Japan

June 26 – 27, 2009

Super-duper. That pretty much sums up this Godzilla of a city: Tokyo, the monster metropolis.

Cindy and I got off the bus from Kansai right at the heart of the monster – the Marunouchi district, Japan’s financial vortex. But the grind of the economy was still a faint buzz at 6AM. I caught a glimpse of the city before it stirred from slumber: its avenues still widely empty, its sidewalks lazy promenades.

On the Most Expensive Kilometer in the World: Marunouchi, Tokyo

And the Loyalty Award Goes to…

Tokyo, Japan

June 26, 2009

The world’s most faithful dog and the last samurai. Two stories. Two statues. Two symbols of loyalty. Two sides of one city. I saw the dog statue first thing in the morning, the samurai one before I ended my first day in Tokyo. One devoted his life to loyalty, the other sacrificed his for it.

Hachiko: Waiting for Godot

Hachiko and Me: Shibuya Station, Tokyo

Hachiko was an Akita, a Japanese breed known for their thick coats and tremendous loyalty. He was born in 1923 in northern Japan and was taken by his owner, Eisaburo Ueno, a university professor, to Tokyo the following year.

Canine and human quickly formed a tight bond. Hachiko would see the professor off at Shibuya Station, and meet him again when he returned from work. Fate attempted to cut short this daily routine in 1925 when the professor fell ill at work and died. Hachiko waited at the station for his master who never came. But fate was no match to the dog’s clockwork devotion; he never wavered, waiting for the next ten years in the same spot, the same time, everyday.

Memoirs of a Genji

Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

June 25, 2009

A long long time ago…in a land far far away…there was a lady with powdery-white face, blackened teeth, and brows in the middle of her forehead. She allegedly retreated to a mountain temple and came up with an epic tale “on the night of the full moon.”

That was a thousand years ago – August 1004 to be exact.

The land is now Shiga Prefecture, just an hour away from Kyoto but fairly remote in most travelers’ itinerary.

The lady was Murasaki Shikibu, a courtier who may have looked as the aforementioned description, which was the standard of beauty during the Heian era.

Lady Murasaki in Ishiyama-dera

The story is called The Tale of Genji, generally regarded as the world’s first modern novel.

And the temple is the astonishingly lovely Ishiyama-dera.

The Land of the Setting Sun

Osaka, Japan

June 24, 2009

I’ve just accorded Japan omnipresent status. The Land of the Rising Sun may well be the Land of the Setting Sun as well. Japan bookends the day!

Osaka Castle at Twilight

It was a dramatic sunset. A tinge of atomic tangerine, a swathe of mauve, and splashes of crimson and scarlet set the sky aflame (primary colors fail miserably in describing heavenly hues). The cinematic combination of castles and colors was as dreamy as Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams. Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle) and its shachihoko (a mythical creature with the body of a fish and the head of dragon) architectural accents cast a mystical silhouette against the psychedelic sky.

For the Sake of Sake

Kobe / Osaka, Japan

June 24, 2009

Kissed? Check. Touched? Check. Drunk? Not until I turned 40! I had to go all the way to Osaka to get sloshed. All for the sake of sake!

O, sa-ke! Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum in Kobe

It all began innocently enough in Kobe. My host couldn’t decide what place to show me. So with a little help from my trusty Lonely Planet, I suggested the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum. Being a culture vulture, I was elated by a museum visit. Plus, admission was free!

The View with a View

Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

June 24, 2009

Part of what made visiting Himeji Castle truly exhilarating – and exhausting – was the fact that the donjon could be scaled up to its top, treating visitors with a panoramic view of Himeji City from its famous castle.

A View to a Hill: Himeji City from Himeji Castle

However, the interior of the castle was rather spartan. No grand halls, opulent quarters, and gleaming artifacts usually associated with such an elegant and imposing facade. Instead, the castle seemed hollow – lots of empty corridors and dark nooks inside. You might think the samurai lords were concerned more with making a strong impression on the outside than they were with their personal lifestyles.

Sadako, Seppuku, and Scary Stories

Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

June 24, 2009

I had been in Japan barely 24 hours, and I already stumbled upon Sadako’s well! I found the horrific well within the complex of Himeji Castle.

Okiku's Well and Sadako in Pink

Well, the well actually looked unremarkable in broad daylight. There was none of the giddy creepiness of its movie version. Stone columns had been erected around the well; it was hardly visible from a short distance.