Day 10: Exploring Miyajima and Cherry Blossoms
Miyajima is one of the most beautiful places we have visited since leaving Hakone. It lies just a ferry ride from Hiroshima's Hiroden-Miyajima-guchi. There are lots of deer walking freely between tourists and local people. They almost seem domesticated in the sense that they don't fear people but they go where they want to. They also don't mind people touching them however for the unwary they may walk up to you and nibble on your shirt (like they did to Jose!)
You can read Jose's thoughts on today here.
We were out exploring for around ten hours walking through the shopping areas, along the beach, up stairs to the various temples across nature trails and finally up the mountain using the ropeway. By the time we got to the top I was exhausted.
Daisho-in Temple
Daisho-in is not just one building but several buildings serving various purposes. It is also within the world heritage area that covers the mount mizen and Ikutsushima shrine.
Shishiiwa Station is at the top of mount Misen and despite being so high I didn't feel worried at all.
Whilst I have tonnes more to say, we'll be leaving for Kyoto in the next 2 hours so time to start packing once more! I'll try and update this a bit more later. For now here is one of the night shots for you to enjoy.
Day 8: Osaka and rain
We decided to rest this morning to try and recover from all the travelling we have been doing. At 11:30 we met up with Tsuyoshi who I had been trying to exchange English for Japanese with a few months back through My Language Exchange. He had kindly agreed to meet up with me and Jose and show us around Osaka for the day though the rain meant that we were more limited to what we could do today.
Our first stop was to a famous udon restaurant called Tsurutontan. I had ebi tempura with udon and the food was delicious! The atmosphere was peaceful and quiet and it felt very traditional. I enjoyed going there and would go there again if there was time!
Osaka Castle
Despite the rain we decided to go see Osaka castle, you can see more images of the castle on Jose's post. The scale of it is huge with stone blocks taller than myself and wider than I am tall! I also learned that this castle had been destroyed and rebuilt so many times and the current version of the castle is a concrete reproduction and the interior designed as a museum.
The model exhibits are absolutely beautiful with painstaking detail and several scaled master planning models of the 15 acre site (sadly we are not allowed to take photos of those!)
Osaka at Night
After leaving the castle we headed back to Namba. The difference between Hakone and Osaka is vast; akin to comparing water and oil. Osaka is split into two districts from what I understand so far, the quiet business district to the north which also has Osaka Castle and the noisy vibrant entertainment district to the south. We are based in the Southern part of the city and when we arrived it was an assault on the senses. Bright lights turned the night to day descended on by swamps of people who looked like they had walked out of a manga.
We will be taking the Shinkansen to Hiroshima soon. Time to start packing!
Day 7: Hakone to Osaka with a bit of manga
Today we said goodbye to Ichinoyu Honkan and the delicious food as well as great people at the Kamikaya restaurant.
From Hakone we took the bus back to Odawara and it was very crowded during the 30 minute journey. Once we reached Odawara we reserved tickets for the 12:08pm Shinkansen (Bullet train) to Shin-Osaka and then went to go find Odawara castle. The journey from the station to the castle took about 15 minutes (with luggage) so once we had reached the castle we could only spare about 10 minutes or so before we had to head back to the station again to catch our train. Still it was the first castle seen so far and there are many more to come!
On reaching Shin-Osaka we went to go visit the manga museum in Takarazuka before it shut as today was the only day we could do it. Takarazuka is a really interesting place as they have what could be described as a European Quarter which has Japanese ideals of Europe (I prefer it to the real thing!) It was very pretty with a mix of Spanish and English concepts (whilst having American words everywhere like "avenue").
Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum
The manga museum was very interesting to visit although we only had an hour and a bit to spare in it. The way everything was displayed reminded me of what people in the 70's thought the future would look like. Below are a few images showing some of the cool things inside.
Tomorrow will be a very long day exploring Osaka. Will talk about the Dotonburi Hotel as well as the huge difference between Osaka and Hakone.
Mata ne!
Day 6: Mount Fuji, Lake Ashi and Black Eggs
Today we did a circuit of Hakone which took us through and over mountains, across lakes and down meandering roads. I could live in a place like here it's just so very peaceful and soothing. Saying that though a lot of the transport was crowded today with tourists from across everywhere including Japan.
Our circuit route was Tonosawa - Gora - Souenzan - Owakudani - Togendai - Hakone Machi - Moto Hakone - Hakone Yumoto.
Just to clarify this area is huge and spans several different transport links. We took the mountain railway, cable car, ropeway, pirate ship and finally bus which was all covered by the Hakone Free Pass.
Mount Fuji
The best views of Mount Fuji (short of going to the top of Mount Komaga-take) were taken at Owakudani on a clear day. We were really lucky that the day was so beautiful, clear and warm as the top of the mountain and at the lake the wind tends to blow a lot fiercer. Thank you Cotsworld for my wonderful mountain jumper!
The mysterious Black Egg is said to increase your life span by 7 years. I'm not an egg person but I had a nibble and it was really yummy! You can find out more about the eggs here.
Vince was the really nice lady who offered us the eggs as the place that sold them only sold them in batches of five. Thank you Vince! It's also unwise to eat more than two by yourself! I wonder what she will do with the last egg...
Lake Ashi
When I first heard we would be taking a pirate ship I was wondering why there is a pirate ship on Lake Ashi. Then I saw it and I thought "this is really cool!' and so it didn't matter why so much. I always like to see fun stuff anyway!
The view across Lake Ashi is really stunning. That postcard photo of Mount Fuji, Lake Ashi and Hakone Jinja can be taken as the pirate ship goes from Hakone-machi to Motohakone. The wind was really cold though despite the warm sun and high temperatures. In winter it must truly be freezing!
At Motohakone we walked to Hakone Jinja and Hakone Torii where we climbed several flights of stairs (reminded me a bit of Kung Fu Panda) and had a look at the huge cedar trees, temple and dragon fountains.
This section of the trip was truly amazing though, I thought it would be and I definitely wasn't disappointed. We'll will be heading out to Osaka in a few hours time where we should hopefully be reunited with our couriered luggage.
Read Jose's post about the day here
Day 5: Arrival in Hakone and Ichinoyu Honkan
This morning we left Asakusa and Tokyo to begin our journey travelling to other places around Japan. Our first stop is Hakone! We used the Takuhaibin (luggage forwarding) to courier one of our bags from Asakusa to our hotel in Osaka which cost 1470 yen which is about £8.68. From the hotel we headed to Shinjuku to visit the Hanazono Jinja Antique Market.
Hanazono Jinja Antique Market
Here I came with the intention of getting a kimono and I did. The lady was so surprised and happy that she gave me a gift of a bag. She got them from Kyoto. The kimonos are second hand which means they are a lot cheaper. These particular ones are not antiques either. All in all a kimono was about £11.82 and with the obi came up to £17.74 which I wouldn't be able to get on ebay! Brand new kimonos cost between £150 - £300 normally off the shelves. Custom kimonos can range into the thousands! Still my kimono and obi is beautiful and i'll post a photo of it later.
I also saw another seller selling various furosoide that was about £100 (17000 yen). They were beautiful and also looked very new. Other than the fact they were too big to carry home, as well as more for a bride, I could never wear it anywhere in London casually. I also felt a little cautious on things designed for tourists especially as I suspect many of these are probably sourced in Kyoto where we will be going later on. The lady who I bought my kimono from looked more authentic and her behaviour was more what I expected as well as seeing more locals flocking around her, where as tourists flocked to the other places.
Shinjuku
Shinjuku is a very busy place, filled with lots of people, so many of them shopping and hanging out. We wandered the back streets of Shinjuku whilst we waited for our train.
The Journey to Hakone
We took the Hakone 31 on the Odakyu line which sped from Shinjuku through the west of Tokyo down to Odawara and Hakone Yumoto. It was beautiful to see the suburbs and the small towns in-between.
I also got to see rivers and mountains again which was great. Sitting on the train with the warm sun bearing down on you is a wonderful experience.
Once we reached Hakone Yumoto we switched onto the mountain railway towards Gora and got off at Tonasawa. It really was beautiful, once more with the sun beaming down, and I can see this place being extraordinary during autumn when the leaves turn yellow.
Ichinoyu Honkan
This place is Amazing! I was so happy and excited, running around in my joy and took a lot of photos. The sound of the river eases me even now. I am going to write a post just about this place and have been taking notes! Will post a link here once the post is up. Also you can read about Jose's view on our journey here.
Day 4: Anime Japan - Tokyo Anime Fair 2014
Today we went to Anime Japan in Tokyo's Big Sight, Odaiba which is located in southern Tokyo. This place is huge! The scale of it is incredible.
Anime Japan was completely not what I expected. There were so many animes I had never heard of and also my limited knowledge of Japanese meant that it was hard to find out the names of some of them. However from what I saw there are so many amazing animes to watch that just aren't available in the UK or the US.
They also had a 50 years of anime theatre section showing early anime like Astro Boy and others I'd never encountered (Dragonball will be showing tomorrow but alas can't go and watch it!)
Also after a great first series, Sword Art Online 2 will be making a return. This I'm looking forward to watching!
I was really impressed with the Saint Seiya trailer for Legend of Sanctuary. I've not watched the series but the trailer looked really amazing and I look forward to watching the full version.
There was a huge crowd of people here and at first I didn't know why... until I saw the image below.
GIANT ROBOT! I finally got to see one! :D True it wasn't moving or anything (yet) but it was still good to see.
These professional cosplayers really do outdo themselves. I've put in a few more images below showing some more stuff. Tomorrow we are heading over to a antique market and then to Hakone and more mountains. We will be staying in a ryokan. Not sure if we will have internet, if there is I'll post something, if not my next post will be on Tuesday 25th March.
Day 3: Day trip to Nikko
Today left Asakusa to go to Nikko, a 2 hour journey from Tokyo into the mountains by the Tobu Skytree line. As we intended to go see the Kegon no taki (one of Nikko's most beautiful waterfalls) we decided to get the discount travel pass which worked out a lot cheaper than buying the individual fares.
We got the 9:10 rapid line and it was packed the entire journey (we arrived at the station ten minutes before the train was due to leave and there was already a long queue). For most of it we had to stand in the crowded car which was reminiscent of London and not my favourite part of the journey!
When we arrived in Nikko at around 11:20 I was really excited. One thing I wanted to see was mountains and what I hadn't realised was Nikko was the gate city to the mountains. At 530m above sea level it was a lot cooler than Tokyo. We took the bus 2b towards Chizuenji and thats when I realised that unlike the map that is flat, our destination was not. Chizuenji is high up in the mountains, 1270m above sea level and sitting in what is known as the Okunikko region. We took the Irohazaka winding road going up and the photo does not do the height justice. If you have a fear of heights I would suggest not to sit by the window as the bus goes right to the edge of the cliff face with just a small metal barrier between it and the drop. I found it exciting and a thrilling (slightly scary) surprise. As we climbed it got colder and started to snow and by the time we got off the coach I was freezing and so grateful for my mountain fleece (I should have bought two!)
Whilst here we headed over to Kegon no Taki falls. This place is what places like Skyrim and Final Fantasy is based on. It's beautiful, and somewhat otherworldly as it is so different from anything you would find in England.
As it's quite early (5.30am) I need to get a little more sleep before we head to the anime fair today. So here are a few more images from Nikko. I'll try and fill it out more later.
Day 2: Tour of Tokyo - Ueno
Today we had a guide named Michiko give us a tour (a big thank you to her for taking her time with us!) It rained so much that many of the places we wanted to go we couldn't today as the weather meant we wouldn't be able to see much. Even with my raincoat the bottom of my dress got soaked! Still I loved walking around exploring. We visited various places including Ueno and Akihabara. This post will focus mainly on Ueno and we will revisit Akihabara later.
Ueno
We went to Ueno and exchanged our Japan Rail passes so we can ride the Shinkansen starting from next Tuesday. Afterwards we visited the shrine of the first Shogun, a really atmospheric place when combined with the rain and smell of the wet wood.
From here we continued on to the Tokyo National Museum which had the history of Japan. This building is immense in size and the grounds belonged to the last shogun before he peacefully gave it over to the new Meiji government. Inside the exhibits there are beautiful historical objects dating back from thousands of years to the last hundred.
Here are a few cool objects that we saw:
I found the artwork here so beautiful and inspiring and I would love to try and create some. The techniques used here are so different from what I normally encounter.
We bought some souvenirs at the museum, mainly postcards and memo pads.
Tomorrow we go to Nikko!
Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo
After a long 11 hour flight we landed around 8:42am local time. The flight was ok, we flew over Russia (I think it may have to do with arctic winds speeding the journey) and I ended up watching Frozen, part of Wolverine and the Escape Plan.
When we were about to land I could feel the excitement kicking in, seeing all the mountains from the air including Mount Fuji and the beach with the sun blazing bright made me feel like I had truly begun an adventure. I was all wide eyed like a kid in the greatest candy store in the world when I arrived. That lasted for an hour or so and that's when the jet lag kicked in and I became SUPER exhausted during the course of travelling from Narita to Tokyo. By the time we arrived in Tokyo at the hotel I just wanted to lay down and sleep. However checkin wasn't for another 3 hours. So we decided to explore the local area. We found tonnes of souvenir shops, places that sold yukata, swords, trinkets and other stuff. I itched to buy stuff!
Seeing some of the prices though I was very aware that we should save that souvenir shopping trip until we are back in Tokyo in April. Last thing I want to do is run out of money on day one!
However I did notice somethings!
First Impressions
There are tiny trucks! Everywhere is full of these tiny little vehicles that we are used to seeing a lot bigger.
The landscape also reminded me of England somewhat especially on the approach to Tokyo we encountered these huge apartment blocks which reminded me a lot of council estates.
It was really busy during the day, less so at night.
Thats it for now, long day ahead tomorrow! Make sure to check out Jose's view of today.
The Night before Japan
It's the evening and the sun sets and I have tingles in my shoulders. It's the night before I fly out and I'm prepping for tomorrow's flight.
I haven't started packing yet (crazy I know) and there are several things I need to charge and prep for the long journey ahead. So far today I have got my hair done just a wash and trim so it's more presentable and hopefully easier to manage. Then I ran around the shops looking for cheap tops and leggings to take with me (£3 Primark for some capris). Finally I came back home and had a two hour nap at around 2pm to try and get me used to sleeping during the day.
I also made a little Yen Sheet for me to reference the cost of things (I used XE.com as a basis)
100円 - 59p
200円 - £1.18
250円 - £1.48
500円 - £2.96
750円 - £4.45
1000円 - £5.91
1500円 - £8.87
2000円 - £11.82
3000円 - £17.74
4000円 - £23.65
5000円 - £29.57
7500円 - £44.34
10000円 - £59.12
20000円 - £118.23
30000円 - £177.31
40000円 - £236.40
50000円 - £295.50
100000円 - £591
I'm hoping that should cover the most of it. I'll try and do an update later this evening.
UPDATE:
So it's 11:40pm and I'm finally packed. It's very difficult trying to travel light but have enough stuff to wear. Still I've had a good British dinner of chicken and ham pie with carrots, chips and gravy. Yummy.
I'm tired and I'm going to get a few hours sleep. The plan for tomorrow is to get up around 5am have a bath, eat breakfast, finish the last of the packing and double check documents.
I know I should be super excited but so sleepy...