April 11, 2014
April 11, 2014
We meet up with a guide in the lobby of our Osaka Hotel and take the train to nearby Kyoto. Kyoto was the capital of Japan and the home of the Emperor for over 1000 years. For being a major tourist attraction, Kyoto doesn’t have a very good transportation system. We take a long city bus ride across town to Kinkaku-ji “Temple of the Golden Pavilion”. This beautiful structure was first built by a Shogun around 1400 AD and later turned into a Buddhist temple. Since it is a sunny day we enjoy walking the nice gardens that surround it.
We have an early lunch at what would pass as a Denny’s at home. Aimee and I both have the Friday Special of tempura with rice and noodles. My stomach is doing pretty good to be eating Japanese food again.
After lunch we took another bus to Nijo Castle. This was the Kyoto home of the Tokugawa Shogun who governed from Edo. While double-moated, this primarily wooden structure’s main purpose wasn’t defensive. Its lavish decorations were designed to intimidate and awe the feudal lords who came to pay homage to the Shogun. It is filled with large tatami-matted rooms for meetings. A couple of the rooms were filled with Samurai mannequins that make me think of the Shogun TV mini series of my youth. The most amusing part of the “castle” was the wooden flooring. It creaked terribly, like a flock of chirping birds, on purpose. It is called the nightingale floor and it creaked to warn of intruders (think ninjas in the night). The medieval version of a burglar alarm.
From Nijo Castle, we walked thru a shopping area and then on to a tea ceremony. Apparently how you brew and pour the tea is important in Japan, especially for a geisha. It was cute but not my cup of tea (pun intended).
From Kyoto, we took the Shinkansen bullet train to Hiroshima. At the train station, we looked around for some snacks to buy. We are a little hesitant as most items were fish-flavored or had fish in them. We bought something green hoping it was wasabi flavored. It turned out to be pea or asparagus flavored instead. While not good it did go well with the beers we bought for the ride.
As we shoot past the countryside on the bullet train, I am shocked at how little living space the Japanese have. Japan is the size of California, but with three times its population. 75% of the terrain is mountainous, so everybody is squeezed into the little bit of flat land available. Urban areas are mostly apartment buildings while rural areas consist of small houses built right on top of each other. This may be the reason the Japanese are so polite. It is the only way to survive crowded together.
In Hiroshima, we have a dinner of teppanyaki. Yaki means grilled, so we are safe whenever we see that word.
We have an early lunch at what would pass as a Denny’s at home. Aimee and I both have the Friday Special of tempura with rice and noodles. My stomach is doing pretty good to be eating Japanese food again.
After lunch we took another bus to Nijo Castle. This was the Kyoto home of the Tokugawa Shogun who governed from Edo. While double-moated, this primarily wooden structure’s main purpose wasn’t defensive. Its lavish decorations were designed to intimidate and awe the feudal lords who came to pay homage to the Shogun. It is filled with large tatami-matted rooms for meetings. A couple of the rooms were filled with Samurai mannequins that make me think of the Shogun TV mini series of my youth. The most amusing part of the “castle” was the wooden flooring. It creaked terribly, like a flock of chirping birds, on purpose. It is called the nightingale floor and it creaked to warn of intruders (think ninjas in the night). The medieval version of a burglar alarm.
From Kyoto, we took the Shinkansen bullet train to Hiroshima. At the train station, we looked around for some snacks to buy. We are a little hesitant as most items were fish-flavored or had fish in them. We bought something green hoping it was wasabi flavored. It turned out to be pea or asparagus flavored instead. While not good it did go well with the beers we bought for the ride.
As we shoot past the countryside on the bullet train, I am shocked at how little living space the Japanese have. Japan is the size of California, but with three times its population. 75% of the terrain is mountainous, so everybody is squeezed into the little bit of flat land available. Urban areas are mostly apartment buildings while rural areas consist of small houses built right on top of each other. This may be the reason the Japanese are so polite. It is the only way to survive crowded together.
In Hiroshima, we have a dinner of teppanyaki. Yaki means grilled, so we are safe whenever we see that word.
posted by Mike and Aimee at 4:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home