Nijo Castle

This summer I spent four days touring around the city of Kyoto, a city renowned for its history, culture, and architecture. Each day I spent 7-12 hours on my feet and tried to see as much of the city as I possibly could. My destination goals were the result of online suggestions, tour books, and information centers; so, as a result I have hundreds of pictures and sore feet and lots to talk about so that you can enjoy my trip with me and maybe learn from me in case you ever visit.

So, let's start with Nijo Castle.

         Nijo Castle is in the North-Eastern corner of the city valley of Kyoto. It is a stunning structure, huge walls and a medieval style moat built over 400 years ago to protect the feudal lord (shogun) and his knights errant (shogunate).  Within the walls is a castle which is genuinely impressive for its sheer size alone. The artwork on the inside of the castle is no longer exposed to artificial light and so is illuminated only with the remnants of light that filter through the translucent paper windows which run floor to ceiling on the sliding doors that encompass the building.  

        With a little imagination, the artwork on the castle walls, ceiling, and doors is genuinely stunning as most of it is pained on gold leaf or with gold filigree - I can only imagine the wonder of those rooms with the sliding doors thrown open to expose the golden paintings to a setting sun.  On the Lintels and unpainted walls are heavy but elaborate wooden, latticework carvings of natural scenes, the most famous of which appears to be two entirely different scenes when viewed from different directions. This ostentatious display made the intentional simplicity of the Shogun's room, composed of peaceful, watercolor scenes, shocking in contrast.

 Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos from within the building. Instead, here is a link to a website which discusses the creation of the paintings with examples from the palace.

http://www.hibiki-an.com/contents.php/cnID/62

The pictures above show the gate you must pass under in order to pass from the fortress grounds to the palace itself. You can also see that I am wearing headphones, since the sight offers an audio tour in various languages for visitors to rent and peruse at their leisure.  

Since information about Nijo Castle has already been compiled, I see no need for me to repeat the general facts. Instead I am attaching links to some of the most helpful websites for you to view or ignore as time allows. 

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3918.html

http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-city-guides/japanese-castles/nijo-castle#hist

Outside the palace are beautiful gardens surrounded by towering stone walls. Of course, I visited the castle during rainy season and there was nowhere to hide from the weather. At some point during my tour it occurred to me that climbing to the top of the watch tower with an umbrella in a thunder storm was not my brightest idea. Fortunately, that occurred to me before I went to the top.

So, that is Nijo Castle:  peaceful gardens, a mysterious palace, and feudal stone walls. 

Dragon Bridge 竜

Recently I visited a the Red Dragon suspension bridge. 

The bridge is in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. You drive to the top of a mountain and park the car, take a flier from the unattended booth, and approach the bridge. On either side for the bridge are the high, blue, spiked towers that look like dragon tales. After paying admission you can walk across the bridge and look through some of the glass floor panels at the river hundreds of feet below. 

You could also bungee jump. If you look closely, you can see the bungee cord hanging from the middle of the bridge. When I took this picture, someone was dangling from it. The river below has a snake-dragon like shape, which is  how the bridge got its name.

This image above is a metal idol of the dragon/god for which the bridge was named.

Below is a golden dragon head on the far edge of he bridge. The white pagoda below the golden dragon lights up (red, yellow, or green; your choice) for one hundred yen. It is apparently very impressive at night.

Once you cross the bridge, there are several hiking trails which (in theory) lead to the dragon village and such. I never made it far enough down the trail to find out. The stairs are surprisingly steep. 

The rock below (behind the sign) is suppose to grant youth if you rub it. When my friend was rubbing it, a very old gentleman came by and told us that it wouldn't work for us because we have to be old first.  When we finished our sightseeing on the bridge and watching other people jump off, we went to the souvenir shop by the parked cars. The shop was filled with the usual omiyage (food gifts) but it also had festive fall squash. Why? I do not know, but I bought one. 

When we left the bridge we continued our road trip to the Fukuroda Waterfalls, which I will save for another post. 

I don't know what the fox/snake statue below is, but it looked cool. 

Money Money Money 円

      So, something that I have mentioned in an earlier post is the fact that Japan is still a cash based society. Credit cards exist, but with much less popularity than in the West because most stores, including large chain stores, still do not accept credit cards. Therefore, the machine in the photo above becomes a familiar part of my life - the ATM. The screen in the photo above is asking what kind of transaction is required (withdrawl, deposit, etc...)  Thankfully most machines have an English option. I am all about adventures in a foreign language, but not when money is on the line.

Speaking of money, this is what Japanese money looks like. 

The dark brown coin is the ten yen piece (one yen is roughly equivalent to a penny). The yellow one is five yen, the fifty yen piece has 50 written on it. The hundred yen piece is silver with cherry blossoms on it. The one yen piece is in the middle. The five hundred yen piece is the largest coin on the top right. The smallest bill is one thousand yen (or ten dollars). There is a 2000 yen bill, but it is not pictured here because it is very uncommon (like coin dollars in america). Then the 5000 ($50) and ten thousand (pronounced ee-chee-man). Interesting fact, although you cannot tell from this photo, each of the bills are different lengths.

The photo below are complimentary glasses at the bank for nearsightedness with weak, middle, and strong proscriptions. One more example of Japan's great customer service. 

Natto Man (nebaru)

So, one of my city's mascots is this weird natto man. I know I have mentioned him before, but bear with me. He grosses me out enough to get his own post. He is an anthropomorphised piece of natto or fermented soybeans (the result of leaving moist beans wrapped in dried reeds in the summer heat). His name, Nebaru, comes from the Japanese onomatopoetic sound for stickiness. In his natural state he is a short, fat, round character, but he stretches taller at will. Unlike almost every other mascot in Japan, he has the ability to speak Japanese (most other mascots have to communicate through writing...I don't know the rationale behind that) and it is because of this special skill that he is somehow more popular than my darling Mito-chan.

Why?

           By the way, the first picture (with Nebaru making an "ew" face) has a pun on his name. He is saying, "Eat the natto-rice cracker. Never give up. Never." But never is spelled like neba, the sticky sound of natto (neba give up, neba).

On the Road Again

One of my good friends here in Japan has a car. 

          She likes to go on adventures to see different places in Japan, and often is kind enough to invite me along. The trips we have taken are a blast, even if they do not always go according to plan. So I go every chance I get.  

       Back in the states I have been on my share of road trips so my mind cannot help but compare there to here, with a few stark contrasts coming immediately to mind.  First of all, the cars are all smaller. That means that there is a little less leg room in the vehicle - but that does not bother me much because I have never been one to take much foot space. However, smaller cars also use smaller roads and the whole highway feels like it is miniature sized. I particularly thought so the time we saw this little red car (below). The driver thought that he was so cool, but his car is barely a meter high and only about two meters long. It is a toy. I am convinced, and I have no clue what it is doing on the highway. 

     
          Secondly, like in America there are express-highways and standard roads. Nowadays in America it is uncommon to take anything but highways. In America I prefer highways because I do not take the time for the scenic route. Let's be real, we all have places to be. However, in Japan my favorite trips have been on the non-highways because they go through small towns and residential areas of Japan, giving me a better perspective on Japan and that locale. In some ways it reminds me of route 66: it is cute, it is slower, and there are a lot of run down and outdated (but adorable) stops along the way.
       
          I also love the scenery of the road trips, and I still do not know what part of America  to compare it to. The greenery grows like the Smokey Mountains (although the species here and there varies). The terrain looks somewhat like the Rocky Mountains and opens to a sky that is almost as big as Montana. The sides of the mountains are coated alternately with pine trees and kudzu coated ferns. The crops in the fields, which occupy every available inch of flat land, is rice or occasionally onions or water chestnuts. Houses and their gardens are beautifully built and maintained. Or else old and outdated but still charming, like route 66.  I do not know exactly what to compare it to, but it is breathtaking.

Finally for now, on our road trip today I realized another difference: 

how do you play the alphabet game in Japan?

Bloom and Grow Forever 花

There is a peculiarly strong emphasis on flowers in Japan. 

Of course, people around the world love flowers 

- particularly girls if they come in a bouquet with a note - 

but in Japan they are omnipresent and take center stage in so many aspects of life.

For example, one way that flowers take center stage is through festivals. Festivals bring people together to celebrate, wear beautiful clothing, eat festival foods, enjoy the afternoon, and maybe watch fireworks. Festivals bring communities together all throughout the spring and summer here in Japan and it is common for a flower to be in the center of the hubub. 

Flower festivals can celebrate the beginning of the bloom, the changing of leaves, or the quiet passing of the petals. Some of the flowers with festivals in my area are: hydrangea, sunflowers, plum blossoms, cherry blossoms, roses, dahlias, and  azaleas.

In addition to festivals, flowers are interwoven into daily life. Historically they were painted onto walls as wallpaper with a different flower theme for every room - particularly in royal houses. They also are a flavor for seasonal foods, appear on serving dishes (which is usually changed with the season), on paintings, in the ever-present flower arrangements, and in the windows of the many flower shops in each city. In my city they will usually have a small segment of the train station floor devoted to the seasonal flower of choice. 

It seems odd to see the seasonal flowers as an american, but it is so beautiful. 

I love flowers, even more so now that I frequently see them, and I am learning to associate each flower with its season. 

Benediction

So this post is not really about Japan. 

I was listening to May it Be by Enya the other day and it made me consider the hopes I would have for anyone and everyone. 

So here it is. 

Here is what I hope for you. 

May you remember those moments which have made you who you are,
the blissful, the uncomfortable, and the satisfying.
May you find comfort in gripping a warm cup of coffee on a crisp day.
May you be vulnerable to someone who does not betray you. 

May your spirit be still like a winter's night, going before God in silence.
May you know how insignificantly small and yet how loved you are.

May you be filled with desire so that it can be satiated.

May your soul burst into song with the tulips in spring.

May you delight in the little miracles of nature.

May you hear the chorus of voices
 --every pitch and language from all ages made by man and beast and all of creation--
 joining together to praise God.

May you find a place that fills up your senses.
May you experience the fierce joy and rapture of the ocean. 

May you feel the silence of the milky way and the music of the spheres.
May you feel alive.

May you be shielded in your fiercest battles, especially against yourself. 

May you be adopted by someone you could never repay.
May you find community whenever you forget who your friends are.

May you love individual tasks because of they are part of the larger narrative.
May you have the courage to face fears and regrets because they do not define you.
May you never be crushed by failure.
May you always hope.
May you spend your life worshiping the true God. 

p.s. (I would love to read/hear what you think.)

Cuteness かわいいね

On one of my trips to Tokyo I went window shopping, and I want to share some of my favorite cute finds. 

Who can remember Tamagotchi (from the Japanese word tomodachi which means friend)? 

Well here is an entire store devoted to plush and plastic paraphernalia.

Then next three are self-explanatory shirts...

\

Finally, Line. Basically it is an app for phone calling and texting. 

It enables me to stay in contact with people in Japan without paying for cell phone service.

On line you can buy "stickers" which are little animal emoji. 

This store sells cute, 3D, stuffed "stickers".

Farmer's Market

On the South-East corner of Senba Lake there is an empty field. 

In the winter it is the dead-brown color of grass as you can see in the above photo.

In the summer it is a lush, humid green like the rest of the city, and almost every Sunday as I pass by on my way to church there is a small gathering of booths with games and prizes and fresh fruit and festival food and snow cones and potted plants. 

The sign below says "Mito-chan's (the character/mascot) city morning." I am not sure why it is there, but it is like a farmers market, and I love stopping by for just a few minutes on my way.