As I mentioned in my past two posts had the opportunity to spend 10 days traveling around mainland over the past two weeks. Without my computer I didn't have much of a chance to write and look at pictures but I just started going through everything and am realizing we really made tracks while we were there (made possible by Japan's awesome transportation).
So I'm not exactly the biggest "city" person. Some part of me thinks that a city is a city... its a place with a lot of people who share the same needs as people in all other cities and thus all cities some have some amount of "sameness". Tokyo is a huge city...but Tokyo won me over. First of all the shear number of people. If your in an area that is
not very crowded it is still as crowded as NYC or parts of Boston but turn a corner and you are suddenly in a crosswalk with a sea of people moving in every direction. We stayed in the neighborhood of Shibuya--home of Shibuya crossing (rumored to be the busiest crosswalk in the world). That title has probably brought even more people to the congestion (estimated by the number of selfie sticks being held above the crowd), and it was insane, it felt like you were trying to make your way through to the front of a concert at every cross signal.
 |
| Shibuya crossing |
Our first morning in Tokyo we got up early and made our way to the Tokyo fish market. We didn't make it up in time (needed eta 4am) to view the famed tuna auction but we did have the chance to wander the isles of fresh catch...the shear volume of seafood in the one lot was jaw dropping.
We spent the next few days exploring the different neighborhoods of Tokyo and eating delicious sushi and ramen.
Our next stop was Hakone. Nestled in the mountains along the train route between Tokyo and Kyoto this small town has an awesome view of Mt. Fuji. While I have loved being in Okinawa, the New Englander in me has been craving a little bit of Autumn, and I definitely got it here. The maples were still changing colors and driving through the hills to get a view of snow capped Fuji was definitely a needed change of pace.
A short bullet train later we arrived in Kyoto. Kyoto is definitely another city that took me by surprise. You could be walking down a relatively busy street, turn a corner and end up in a 1000+ year old temple. With 17 Unesco world heritage sites and over 2000 (YES let me spell that out...two thousand!) temples and shrines, I am glad we had a number of days to spend in this awesome city.
We spent the first few days hitting the major sites. We crisscrossed the city to see Kinkaku-ji (the Golden temple), walk through the bamboo forest, and hike Mount Inari whose trails are lined with thousands of torii gates.
 |
| Kinkaku-ji |
 |
| Candles at Kinkaku-ji |
We got up early and hiked Mt. Inari before the crowds hit. The shear number of gates was astounding and we found a couple of stops with awesome views of the city from above.
 |
| Morning hike Mt. Inari |
 |
| Mt. Inari Trail |
We saw a ton of temples! But Kennin-ji was one of my favorites. Holding the title of
oldest zen temple in Kyoto (founded in 1202), walking on the tatami mats just after opening in the morning sunlight was ...we are going to go with...peaceful.
 |
| Looking through the temple onto the "garden of the sound of tide" --the three central rocks represent the Buddha and two Zen monks |
 |
| The "Circle, Triangle, Square" garden |
 |
The Daio-en -- a zen stone garden
After a couple days of touring temples we wanted to try to get to some of nearby cities. Again, thanks to the trains which run all the time at relatively low cost, we were able to spontaneously city hop to Nara and Osaka.
Nara --Known for the dear which wander its streets and Todaiji temple was our first stop. Getting off the train, we walked five minutes and were immediately surrounded by "wild" dear. The dear have become a tourist attraction in themselves and will come right up to you wanting a hand out.
Off limits to the dear, we wandered over to Todaji temple. The temple boasts the title of being the largest wooden structure in the world was originally constructed in 752 and hosts a giant (15m) buddha! I would also like to note, that I successfully made it through one of the building's pillars which has a hole (supposedly the size of the Daibutsu's nostril) that is said those who can crawl through will be granted enlightenment in their next life, so I guess I'm doing okay.
After spending the morning in Nara we hopped on another train over to Osaka where we toured Osaka castle and made our way through the busy streets of Dontonbori.
Osaka castle
Finally, we couldn't leave without saying hello to the snow monkeys of Kyoto. I will leave you with this...
|
