It’s been a fun and interesting almost three weeks, but it’s time to head back home and I’m ready to leave. Walking on average about 5 miles a day is part of it (which tbh is a personal choice), and navigating the language/culture challenge daily also leades to some fatigue. Dinner is usually the biggest …
Author Archives: fremontrambler
The world of the Geiko
The trip is starting to draw to a close, but one quintessential Kyoto experience remains. As part of a tour of the Geisha districts of Kyoto, we were able to have lunch with a performance by an apprentice geisha. In Kyoto, geisha are called geiko, or “arts woman”, and the apprentice is a maiko or …
The many gates of Fushimi
Today we did a bit of wandering around the neighborhood, and a little shopping, before heading to the Fushimi Inari Taisha grand shrine. Out hotel is in more of a business district of Kyoto, and while the city is treasured for the temples and shrines and machiya (townhouses) in Edo-period style, there are some hidden …
A funny thing happened on the way to Kiyomizudera
One of the top tourist attractions in a city full of them is Kiyomizudera temple. Situated in the hills to the east of the city it’s a large and important temple complex with a good view of the city, and historic and charming shopping streets lead to and from the temple. All of this adds …
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Himeji Joe
Today can be summed up in one word: Himejijo. Himeji castle is known as the White Heron castle for it’s color and beauty, and is a UNESCO world heritage site. The original castle was built in the 1400s, but it was greatly expanded on beginning with Toyotomi Hideyoshi and continuing with a series of post-Sekigahara …
Moto spotting
Catching up on some interesting motorbikes spotted around Japan…
City of Temples and Shrines
As I mentioned, there are temples and shrines all around Kyoto. Today involved visiting three of the more well-known ones. Nanzen-ji is the head of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. It’s located in the Higashiyama or “easteen mountains” side of Kyoto, as are many other temples. It’s known for its immense entry gate, as …
On to Kyoto
Another travel day, this time from Nagoya to Kyoto via shinkansen. There are 3 levels of shinkansen on the Tokaido line – expess (Nozomi), semi-express (Hikari), and Kodama (makes all stops). JR pass only gets you on the slower two, and setting aside the fact that we’re taking a high-soeed train, we weren’t in a …
At the Crossroads
Todays main activity is the battlefield of Sekigahara, but in the morning I took a quick trip to Nagoya’s biggest shrine, Atsuta Jingu. As the shrine’s website says, “The enshrined deity Atsuta-no-Ookami is Amaterasu-Oomikami as represented by the sacred sword Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, one of the three sacred treasures that symbolize the Imperial throne.” Now, one of …
Not everything goes smoothly, but it goes.
Generally I do pretty well navigating the trains in Japan, but today, well, was not a banner day. According to google directions, to get to Ogaki from Nagoya you take the Tokaido line. It’s a major line, and Ogaki isn’t far, so I nonchalantly figured I’d just jump on a local on that line, no …
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Out and About 