PAPA'S BRAND NEW COAT

One of Lee's usual goals when he leads Smithsonian tours is to so engineer the trip so that participants eventually feel comfortable enough to strike out on their own, at least some self-guided exploration.  This despite the language barrier, the sense of being illiterate in the face of all those Japanese characters and the general uneasiness that comes from roaming around in an unfamiliar culture / location.


Well, we're way ahead of the game this time around!  Ted just now returned from a battery-assisted bike ride to a local coin laundry several blocks away from our hotel here in Kurashiki.  He managed to find the place on his own (with the aid of a Japanese language map marked up by a helpful hotel clerk), to get himself there with help from some friendly locals and to return safely, clean and folded clothes in hand!

Furthermore, this morning, in big city Fukuoka, Sean and Ted explored Canal City all on their own for over an hour, giving Lee enough time to hunt down and purchase a BEAUTIFUL coat he'd seen on display in a shop in the same shopping center (the very one he's wearing in today's shots below from Kurashiki).

Later, towards noon, they even went off by themselves in Hakata station in search of some "frozen chicken wings" (recommended by Greg) while Lee made seat reservations for our 128 minute  shinkansen  trek to Okayama and beyond to Kurashiki.  The initial foray was unsuccessful, but persistent Ted set off again and returned with a full dozen -- which promptly disappeared, delicious as they were!

Dinner this evening was at Lee's favorite local restaurant, one specializing in misokatsu, a pork cutlet served with a lip-smacking miso dipping sauce.  Mm, mm, mm!  Aside from a leisurely stroll around Kurashiki's historic district and some local shop browsing, that's how we spent another bright, fairly warm and enjoyable day here in the Land of the Rising Sun.

INTO THE COUNTRYSIDE

Our Sunday with Greg and Yoko took us, together with Greg's mother and sister, into the mountains to the east of Fukuoka.  We drove our rented van up to the edge of the Mt. Aso caldera (from which we could see the steam escaping from the active crater of the volcano itself), then down into the caldera itself where we eventually stopped for a "country fare" lunch of the highest order -- the restaurant was rated among the best in Japan in 2010.  Then it was on to a suspension bridge that for years held the record as the longest suspended footbridge in the country.

The weather stayed bright, cold and sunny all day.  We did see evidence of the emerging cherry blossoms several places, however, especially around the warmer environs of Fukuoka.itself.  All in all, this proved to be a relaxing and fun travel day, one ending with a second fantastic meal at an isakaya (a style of restaurant specializing in tapas-like small plates) in the neighborhood near Greg and Yoko's apartment in Fukuoka.

A memorable time was had by all!

WAY OUT WEST IN FUKUOKA

Actually we began the day in Hiroshima and didn't arrive here in Fukuoka until 5:00 p.m. - just in time to meet Ted's cousin Greg and the rest of the gang for dinner, desert and a stroll around a city much more cosmopolitan, lively and sophisticated than Lee recalls from prior visits.  

Here's what our initial visual impressions provided as we had some of the best ramen noodles in Japan, snarfed up some yummy deserts at Cafe Otto overlooking Canal City and walked along the river drinking in the sights (and some newly blossoming cherry blossoms).  By the end of the day, Sean had adapted fully to the Japanese lifestyle as attested to by his yukata sleeping attire:

Earlier in the day, Ted and I were both impressed by the sustained interest Sean took in all the exhibits at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  We spent nearly two hours in the museum itself plus another thirty minutes or so visiting the other monuments in Peace Memorial Park.  He was clearly absorbed in the entire experience and hopefully emerged from it as changed a young man as one might hope.

We spent the early afternoon on nearby Miyajima admiring the famous red torii, catching glimpses of two wedding couples and climbing up the stairs at Daishoin to visit the hidden room full of flickering lanterns. 
 

Lee didn't make the latter climb -- too many steps, not enough stamina -- but did spend his time profitably snapping images of various jizo images scattered about the temple entrance gate ... great fun!

Back in Hiroshima, we hopped a (delayed!) shinkansen, debarking at Hakata (Fukuoka)-- and walking right into the future!

More tomorrow on what the future holds.

BEYOND SURPRISED

The reason most travelers visit Himeji is to visit Himeji Castle, a World Heritage Site and one of Japan's most beautiful (and beautifully preserved) seventeenth century castles.  Imagine Lee's surprise, then, when -- having arrived in Himeji by shinkansen from Kyoto -- he looked down the street and saw that the entire main turret was encased in cloth!

Clearly, the computer-generated black-and-white image just wouldn't do as a substitute for "the real thing" we had come all this way to see.


Interestingly, however, it did "do" and quite nicely at that.


We still were able to visit and appreciate aspects of the castle not under restoration.  The outer walls and numerous smaller structures were still intact; many had recently been repainted.
 

To keep visitors coming, a room that had not been seen by the public since castle construction was completed in the sixteen hundreds was also open for public viewing and housed a collection of recently uncovered artifacts and a nicely-lit selection from the castle's collection of traditional Japanese armor.

The best feature, however, was the completely new structure incorporated into the restoration process (which won't be completed until 2015) of an external elevator and viewing platform allowing visitors to view the restoration process "up close and personal"!  A glass window looks out at the work in progress as one assends in the elevator; and, from the viewing level, one can look out over the city without having to climb six flights of ladder-like stairs as usually has been the case in the past.  

There's lots of explanatory material on display as well, explaining the process behind the roof replacement and the re-plastering of the exterior.  

Sean, Ted and Lee all found the entire experience a real highlight of the entire trip to date.

After spending nearly three hours at the castle(!), we ate a quick lunch (local specialties, including squid and octopus), then caught a second shinkansen for the one hour trip further south to Hiroshima where (after a brief hassle over an erroneous reservation) we settled into two (rather than one) rooms at the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel Hiroshima for our one night stay.


The hotel is almost adjacent to Peace Park (which we'll visit tomorrow) and within easy walking distance of the okonomiyaki restaurant palace Lee discovered when last in Hiroshima with Friends of Lee in 2007.  We ate there again this evening, then added desert at a nearby Starbucks.  

What surprises Lee most about Hiroshima 2012 is how transformed it seems from just four years ago -- the place is strikingly up-to-date and sophisticated, so much so that Ted wondered if the atomic bombing had done any damage at all!

THE MORNING AFTER

[Lee usually manages to post these entries BEFORE hitting the futon after each days adventures.  However yesterday (Thursday) a brief "lay down" led to several hours of blissful snoozing and left this summary until this morning.]


Nara, Japan's first permanent capital (710 - 784), lies only about an hour by train from Kyoto.  Our trip to visit some of its historic attractions there, however, began with a brief stop at Fushimi Inari Taisha, a Shinto shrine on the outskirts of Kyoto itself.  The shrine is famous throughout Japan for its efficacy in responding favorably to prayers for commercial economic success.  Once requests for aid and support have been answered, the petitioner erects a torii (shrine entrance gate) to acknowledge the divine support received.  The result is a riot of color along pathways that extend all over the mountainside behind the shrine itself.

Our second stop of the day was at Todaiji, a World Heritage site, an eighth century Buddhist temple and the largest wooden building in the world.  But first we stopped in a nearby arcade for lunch at a local Nara McDonald's (just to say we'd eaten there, don't you know...)

During our temple visit, Sean completed his only real assignment for the entire Japan trip: he successfully crawled through a hole in a pillar located at the rear of the temple building.  Doing so (the hole is the size nostril on the temple's image of the Buddha) guarantees good luck and prosperity throughout one's life.  Sean thus extends the completion of this task into the third generation - Lee accomplished the feat fifty years ago; Heidi, Alissa, Evan and Jon all did as well during their various visits to Japan.  A cool tradition thus extended itself into the twenty-first century!

Sean, Ted and Lee then strolled up to Kasuga Jinja, the Shinto shrine honoring the titular deity of the powerful aristocratic Fujiwara family.  The shrine, also a World Heritage site, is well known for its stone and hanging bronze lanterns.

The Fujiwara family also had a pleasure pavilion built in the eleventh century within the confines of their residential compound in nearby Uji, a town renown for its green tea plantations.  So, once we left Nara behind, we stopped off to visit Byodoin in Uji, the original pavilion having been transformed later in the eleventh century into an architectural evocation of the Buddhist Western Paradise.   The building also appears today on the Japanese ten yen coin.

All this running around was accomplished by train and on foot (although we did hop a taxi at the end of our time in Nara), a first for Lee who usually moves from place to place on this itinerary by comfy tour bus.  No wonder fatigue set in with such a vengeance!

We ended the evening at Pronto (for Italian pasta) and Mister Donuts before stopping in to pick up a 4 gig SD memory card for Sean's camera.  The Big Camera emporium where we shopped quite blew Ted's mind, yet another overwhelming illustration of the Japanese quest for "endless choice" gone mad!

RE-IMAGINING KYOTO

It suddenly occurred to Lee that many of the places discussed in this series of blog posts are unfamiliar to some of our readers.  So, before we head off to Nara this morning, he has looked back through Ted's images and picked out some of the more iconic to give everyone a glimpse of what these places actually "look" like.  Here's a labeled visual catalog,then,  of many of those places where we've spent our last three days in Kyoto.  Enjoy!

KYOTO TRAIN STATION

SANJUSANGENDO (TEMPLE OF ONE THOUSAND AND ONE BUDDHAS)

KIYOMIZUDERA (PURE WATER TEMPLE)

SANNENZAKA (TRADITIONAL SHOPPING STREET)

NIJO CASTLE

NIJO CASTLE GARDEN

KINKAKUJI (THE TEMPLE OF THE GOLDEN PAVILION)

RYOANJI (ZEN TEMPLE ROCK GARDEN AND POND)

OHARA (RURAL AREA OUTSIDE KYOTO)

JAKKO IN (BUDDHIST TEMPLE RETREAT)

SANZENIN (BUDDHIST TEMPLE GARDEN AND WORSHIP HALL)

VARIABLE WEATHER, BUT A BRILLIANT DAY FOR A WALK

Some things around here change ever so quickly and catch the unwary completely off guard.  This morning Lee, Sean and Ted set off for a country walk but seemingly arrived at the bus stop just a moment too late to catch our ride out to Ohara -- a number 17 bus pulled away just as we approached the departure point.  The nearby schedule indicated another wouldn't appear for another thirty minutes.  Bummer!


We waited patiently, but the scheduled bus never appeared.  Finally, fifty minutes of waiting later, a bus pulled up -- but the driver indicated we needed to be waiting in a completely different place, across the road and down the block!


Turns out that Lee hadn't taken a local bus out to Ohara since the Sanjo Keihan bus terminal (which he remembers as a cavernous lot full of an exhaust-spewing bus fleet) had been replaced by a set of restaurants and a car park.  In the process the bus stop map naturally had changed -- but the "new" one indicated the stopping point only for the buses headed downtown, not those running into the countryside.


We did finally manage to find the right stop, but that didn't end the surprises.  Lee wanted Sean and Ted to see, among other sights, a huge pine in the (groomed) shape of Mt. Fuji just down the road from Sanzenin, our second objective for the day -- but, that huge pine, too, had disappeared!


Jakko In, our first stop, a small Buddhist temple retreat that once housed an exiled empress who had taken vows as a nun, also was altered beyond recognition.  The temple had burned to the ground in May of 2000.  Its rebuilding had taken until 2006, but the original Buddhist image couldn't be reclaimed.  The replacement was carved as a faithful representation of the original but too brightly painted to capture the aura of the original.  Likewise only a fraction of the thousand miniature images of the Buddha once displayed behind the larger icon had been replaced.  In time, the patina of age will return and the image collection recreated, but right now only the beautiful garden holds attention.

And that, too, has changed -- a thousand year old tree at its center suffered severe damage in the fire and eventually died, only its trunk remaining as a (deified) reminder of what once was there.


Still and all, it was a great way to spend a leisurely day outside, despite the occasional shower, one allowing us all to polish our photographic skills while still catching our collective breath just a bit.  

An extended gallery of our results can be found below.  The initial collage is from Ted; the next two are the work of both Sean and Ted; the following six individual images are Sean's; and the final collage comes from Lee's still independent-minded camera.  Enjoy!

And here's another of Ted's image sets, capturing our first encounter with dango (pounded rice balls drenched in miso soy sauce), a great -- if sticky -- mid-afternoon snack: