Big in Japan

There are so many aspects of this country we were impatient to experience: the food (you haven't eaten sushi until you tasted them in Japan!), the green tea, the culture, the history, the arts. We were fortunate to see most of it but so may other aspects remained mysterious. Today's society in Japan is torn between he traditions and rituals and the hyper modernity (they watch television on their mobile phone on the metro and drink Fanta gel - delicious by the way!!) and the young generation doesn't quite know where to stand, leading to the most peculiar excesses. They love to dress up (mainly women as dolls, manga characters or geishas), to play video games or "pachinko", a mix between a video game and a slot machine, basically extremely loud, colourful and expensive and... to drink, preferably in karaoke bars. There are many things we couldn't grasp because of the language and the codes that need to be deciphered. We visited Tokyo which is indeed a very large and very modern city, stopped in Nagoya where I visited the museum and the castle while Miguel was at Toyota and finally the beautiful Kyoto which is alone worth a visit to Japan.

In Tokyo. The controversial Yasukuni Shrine, dedicated to Japanese war dead, including 14 war criminals since 1978 and some consider it as the symbol of Japanese militarism and ultra-nationalism, especially China and Korea.

The Sensoji Temple, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the goddess of mercy Kannon (where the name of the camera brand Canon comes from because the founder of the company belonged to that temple) which was built in 645. After the destructions of WWII it was reconstructed and is still a worship place.

In Nagoya Miguel and his students visited Toyota while I had time to see the Tokugawa Art Museum and the castle. 

Most of the city has been destroyed by bombing raids during WWII but the Japanese reconstructed buildings identical to the originals, transporting the visitor centuries back. The Tokugawa Museum shows pieces collected by the Tokugawa shogun while the castle is nested in yet another beautiful garden. 

The Nagoya visit didn't last too long and we rode the Shinkansen again towards Kyoto, the Japanese jewel.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit all of the temples and palaces and even more unfortunately, Miguel was sick so had to stay behind. Nonetheless is Kyoto the only city we visited which still has authentic old buildings (Kyotot has not been bombed) and  is an enchantment. 

We started with the Nijo castle and the Nijo Jinya, respectively the residence of the shogun and for his guests, both nested in a magnificent landscape garden. The floor in the castle was very interesting: the planks of wood are arranged and tuned in a fashion which imitates the song of a nightingale to warn the guards when somebody walks in: very poetic and yet extremely efficient!

We also visited Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion: everything about this place is overwhelming. The setting is beyond poetic since the castle is built on a little lake and a forest with golden-blossoming trees as a backdrop, the castle itself is a small delicate and fine construction on the water, surrounded by trees and flowers. The whole experience is unbelievable.

The Kiyomizudera temple is located on the slope of a mountain overlooking the city. This medieval temple complex is characterised by a large terrace over a 50 meter drop: in the Middle Ages visitors believed that if you jumped and survived (still 20% of the candidates), your wish would come true... I didn't feel like trying. This is also the temple the main character in Memoirs of a Geisha visits. 

Finally we visited the Sanjusandendo temple with 1001 human sized statues of the goddess Kannon. It's a lot of statues! Very impressive.

Unfortunately Miguel couldn't be there so I hope we have the opportunity to go back some day.