This was a wonderful trip but what would it be with out a series of interesting photos. They are in no particular order. Some I found funny, some I found interesting (usually from a cultural standpoint). At the end of this post I have a very important request.
We were given these at one meal but help me here, why are they needed?If you are not interested in bread or yogurt for breakfast, how about some “serial” at the Gate Hotel in TokyoIn Nara, beware of deer. Fashion statement in Kyoto.If your wheelchair can’t handle stairs how about a ramp at about a 60° slope?Tired from too much walking in Nara? Try this rest area.We saw these things EVERYWHERE.Sorry, this has me speechless.We were told laundry drying machines are not seen in Japan. Instead you see this.If the lightning fast elevators in our Hakone hotel are too slow for you, have a seat.Would you like some water?Or would you prefer detox water?If you want to used the public baths in Hakone you better not have any tattoos. Again I am speechless.The Gate Hotel in Tokyo watches you when you are in the elevator. Look at this balding guy taking a picture of himself.I have no clue how this works. If you are looking for a “bathroom” you will get a blank stare. If you ask for the “toilet” they will lead you here. They might open the door for you as well but luckily after that you are on your own.Many of the hotels have a small bedside flashlight. Very convenient.2 in 1? Get a haircut while you have your teeth cleaned?That does it, it is time to go home!I leave you with this photo of Kyoto Tower. Quite an amazing picture if I do say so myself.
We are now home but I need your help. Please send me your recommendations of where to travel to next. We are thinking about Norway, Sweden, and or Finland. If you have been to these locations please send me your “Must See” list.
I won’t bore you about breakfast again today (although it was quite wonderful) but rather discuss the cultural experience we have had on this trip. I am not talking about shrines, Buddhas, or castles but rather just everyday people. I also want to add some random thoughts and experiences. Sorry if they don’t all tie together but neither do I.
One thing that has been quite evident in our travels has been that the Japanese culture is very distinct from what we are used to in the USA. I am not saying it is better (although many would say it is) I am just saying it is different.
For example in general the people are incredibly polite. We were at a train station and I saw a young girl drop something. At first I thought it was a candy bar so I instinctively called out to her. “Excuse me, excuse me!” (Sorry, my Japanese is a bit underdeveloped). Luckily, this got her attention and she turned around. I pointed out the item to her. She looked at me first then at the item then returned her glance to me with a look of horror. She rushed to pick up what turned out to be a piece of trash and not a candy bar. On her way to pick it up she said “Thank you, thank you” in English, realizing that I was not Japanese (Hmmm, I wonder what tipped her off?). She returned to her friends and again thanked me, as did all three of her friends. Since murder is rare in Japan I assume they treat littering as a heinous crime and I had just saved this young thing from a life of shame and despair. I wonder how this same interaction would have played out in the United States? Possibly she would have said, “Kiss my A!”. Or maybe, “What do you want old man?”
Another curious activity that has repeatedly happened revolves around asking for directions. In yesterday’s blog I told you about the two young women and a security guard who escorted us down the street looking for our restaurant. A similar thing happened yesterday. When we returned to Kyoto Station from our outing in Nara I suggested we locate the place we planned to have dinner so we would be more relaxed when it came time to go. First we needed to locate an elevator. We asked a woman where we could find the elevator and instead of pointing us in the correct direction she reversed the way she was walking and took us to the elevator. Later we found a bunch of restaurants but their names were not readily apparent. So we went into one and asked a host if this was the place we were looking for and he shook his head no. He then walked out of his restaurant looked back at us making me think we were supposed to follow him. He looked back at us one more time then made a turn, pointed to a restaurant and bowed his head. I don’t think you would find either of these behaviors in the USA. A person could get used to being treated this way. They could also pay it forward and treat someone else in this manner. Who knows what might develop. Possibly people would stop disparaging others because of their race or religion. Possibly people would stop inflicting physical harm on others. Possibly people would stop stealing or cheating others. Possibly we could have a kinder and gentler America (That’s from George H.W. Bush. I was not a big fan of his but I really love that concept).
Speaking of being kinder and gentler it was my idea to look for the restaurant while we were at the train station last night. Since it was difficult to find the place and we were able to make a reservation while we were there, Patrice said, “That was a good idea. You are full of good ideas. Yes, Robert you really are full of it”. Hmmm, I think that was a compliment. Or maybe she needs some more time in Japan?
We had one other interesting interaction with a local. It involves Patrice and her attempt to use some Japanese phrases. When we came through airport security on arrival she tried to say thank you to the agent. He looked at us somewhat confused so I instinctively uttered, “Gracias” to which he immediately replied “¿Como estas?”
This has been a great trip with all sorts of fun things happening. Yesterday in Nara Park a deer nosed up to Patrice’s butt. She said “Robert, not here!” and started to swat me away when she realized the culprit walked on four legs not two.
I mentioned in one of my early Japan blog posts that part of our trip preparation was to read “Learning to Bow” (lent to us by our friends Ginger and Don). The book presents this interesting thought: “If you dream of a snake, it’s bad luck. A fish without scales is worse. But the best dream of all, is to catch sight of Mount Fuji.” I am happy to say we have done that.
The book also states that 80% of the Japanese are Shinto, 80% are Buddhist, and 80% have no religious affiliation. Please tell this to those idiots who assume someone is good in math just because they are Japanese.
Today we were driven to the Miho Museum. It is about 27 miles south of Kyoto but because much of the ride is on a long and narrow rode it took us close to an hour to get there. The museum is gorgeous. It was designed by I.M. Pei and is named after the founder of the museum, Mihoko Koyama. I was not able to find out much about the benefactor and our guide (Nobu) was either not knowledgeable about her or just hesitant to talk. I got the impression it was the latter because he seemed to imply that the money behind the facility was not hers and that she was not married to the man who was the donor.
The museum exhibits were okay. Nothing all that impressive to me. I am sure others who are into ancient art would have been jumping up and down but that just isn’t my thing. Below you will see the most interesting thing I saw at the museum.
In this country famous for its safety and honesty we have found numerous examples of these structures in which people lock their umbrellas. Are you saying I will return your lost wallet but be careful because I will grab your umbrella 5 minutes later?
Before I sign off I want to send my food lovers a picture of what I had to eat tonight. A traditional Japanese meal.
When we left you yesterday we were about to venture out to dinner. You might recall that Patrice got us a useless map from the hotel. I said, “How hard could it be to find this place? We will make a left out of the hotel and walk until we find the restaurant”. Unfortunately we were a significant distance from our hotel when I realized I had forgotten our portable wifi and could not get cell service. We were lost and in trouble.
I saw two women and I hoped since they were young they spoke English. They did, but very little. They didn’t know where the restaurant was located but found it on their cell phones and started to lead us to the location (Yes, lead us. Not just point and say goodbye, actually take us to our destination). After a short time they seemed a little confused on how to proceed. I saw a security guard and pointed him out to the ladies as a possible source of information. The guard said something to the young girls and started walking with us. We now had 3 escorts on our journey. Shortly after that, Patrice spotted the restaurant across the street and we could dismiss our entourage with our deepest gratitude. (The Loin Restaurant in the New Hankyu Hotel at 579 Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8216. Now do you see why we had trouble finding it?)
The restaurant was recommended by our new friend, Tomoko. The meal was expensive but excellent. All the cooked items were made on the skillet in front of our seats, not quite the Benihana-like show but you get the idea. The staff members were great. In addition to the chef there were two others who helped fill our needs, for example trying to help us find the English words for what we were eating. At the time I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. For example what do you think of this tidbit?
Any thoughts what the rectangle with the cute little cow shape cut out might be?
Today we decided to try the Western style breakfast. Similar to yesterday the food and service were excellent. The one main difference was the sound volume. Yesterday was quiet, serene and relaxing. Today was as noisy as your typical New York City diner. Yesterday after breakfast we just chatted and enjoyed the surroundings. Today we said, “I am done eating, let’s go”. Maybe we Westerners should try some of the Zen principles?
After breakfast our first activity was planned by our tour company. We went to a small shop to learn how to dye clothes. The shop was a $20 cab ride from our hotel (I was already not excited). The people there were INCREDIBLY nice but only spoke a modest amount of English. So what was supposed to be a lesson in the art of dyeing cloth was more like a children’s ceramic class where you make a piece of “art” for your parents to enjoy. My parents have both passed away so I made something for my son-in-law, Robby. I hope he likes it. There were about 6-8 others in the “class” and the owner (a jewel of a man, named Jun) was hustling around to make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to do. When it came time for us to leave he called a cab and had us sit until it arrived. He saw on his phone that it was approaching and he then took us outside and made sure the taxi driver knew where we wanted to go. Like I said, a jewel of a man.
That was the end of the activities planned by our travel agent (pretty sparse, no?) but Patrice and I were not finished. We had been told that the town of Nara, with its large Buddha, was a must see attraction. We were also told that there were some deer in the town that might interest us. Last night Patrice contacted the famous travel blogger Robert Reiss and asked him to arrange this excursion. I got busy on the internet and figured out how to get to our destination. I also developed a plan for the afternoon.
We took the taxi from the dyeing class to Kyoto Station and got tickets for our trip to Nara (many thanks to our guide from yesterday, Kiyoko, who showed us where to go to buy the tickets and which trains would be best for us to use (even famous travel bloggers need help sometime). We boarded our train and 35 minutes later we exited at the Nara Station.
Our first stop in town was the Todaiji Temple which houses a very impressive Buddha (larger than the one we saw in Kamakura). The temple was built in the 8th century under the direction of Emperor Shamu. Oops, I mean Shomu (I think Shamu was a whale). Apparently using x-rays some relics were found in the right knee. Among these artifacts was a tooth presumed to have belonged to Emperor Shomu. See the Great Buddha below.
Notice the right hand is up signifying don’t get too close. Apparently there weren’t a lot of showers in the 8th century and Buddha was very sensitive to body odor. Also note the left hand is extended with the palm up. From what I understand Buddha, like pretty much every God, was not a good money manager and always needed more. So his palm is up so you can give him a donation.
As I said, we didn’t have a guide today so all of that last caption information was totally made up. But it sounded good didn’t it?
On our way to visit Buddha we saw a few deer in town. As I said before we were told we might see some. As we walked we saw more and more. It was unbelievable how many deer we saw. With so many deer you need to tread carefully because they left samples EVERYWHERE. Here are some pictures of the lovely creatures.
Two cute little deer, just hanging out.Patrons buy cookies so they can feed the deer. They can quite aggressive looking for the cookies (the deer, not the patrons). This stag seems to be saying, “You know what you can do with your damn cookies!”
Following that we headed to the Nigatsudo Hall. This is a Buddhist temple also built in the 8th century. The view from the hill at which it stands was nice but there was not much to see at the temple. We also visited Kasuga Taisha Shrine which is a Shinto structure similar to others we have seen. After that is was back on the train to get to the hotel.
Tomorrow we will have another day trip. I am not sure where we are going so no spoilers are possible.
Last night we had the kind of experience I love when we travel. We had an interaction with the local people. We were introduced to Tomoko, a friend of one of Patrice’s biking buddies. We simply met for dinner at a local restaurant and it was delightful. I could tell immediately that this was my kind of experience. When we walked in I didn’t see anyone who looked like a tourist (except us of course) and they didn’t have any menus in English. If we were alone it would have been a nightmare but with Tomoko’s assistance we were able to order a delicious meal at an incredibly inexpensive cost. When I think back to the meal we had at the Sky Tree restaurant that was EXTREMELY expensive and not nearly as good it makes me a bit nutty.
At the restaurant with our new friend. Tomoko is the one in the middle.
This morning we decided to start with my favorite activity of the trip…. Breakfast. The hotel offers a choice between a restaurant serving a traditional Japanese breakfast or another with a Western breakfast. Today (at the urging of my friend Fred) we decided to try the Japanese style. See below.
We were told what each item was but please don’t ask me what is what. I know the words tofu, seaweed, miso soup, were spoken. One thing is clear, nothing was said that I associated with breakfast or any other meals.
The breakfast was good but I certainly recognize why there are not many (if any) obese people in Japan. The Japanese diet is one of very lean foods. This reminds me of one of our earlier guides who compared the geography of Japan and the USA. “Japan is a very thin country and America is a very wide country” she said. I told her that Japanese are very thin and Americans are very wide as well. We have only seen two overweight Japanese people here. One was from Seattle the other from San Jose. We did see one rather obese boy in a group of school children today. The only possible explanation would be that his father moved here from the USA for work.
Today’s guide, Kiyoko, was supposed to meet us in the hotel lobby at 9:00. We were in the lobby at 8:55 when we found out she was going to be late since her train was delayed. Hey, I thought Hiro told us the trains might be about 15 seconds late? No matter, she arrived and we were on our way. Our first stop was the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kinkaku Ji Temple. The building was constructed in the 14th century and was burned down by a novice monk on July 2, 1950. It was subsequently rebuilt (obviously, otherwise we wouldn’t be here) in 1955 and the gold leaf was replaced from 1986-1987 at 5 times the original thickness. I am sure you will agree it is a fantastic sight.
I asked Patrice to look at this great photo I took. She thought I was joking and it was a stock photo which I downloaded. Maybe I missed my calling in life?
Here are pictures of two famous couples who have visited the temple.
My brother Stephen and his wife Fayla circa 2015 (we lost Stephen in 2016).Patrice and I tried to recreate the photo but unfortunately we can’t recreate him. He is missed by many.
Sorry if that was a downer moment for what I typically like to make a funny experience for my readers. I suppose I can be forgiven because after all we have been taught that Buddhist temples are typically used for funerals since the Zen Buddhist philosophy deals with the hereafter as opposed to Shinto shrines which deal with happy occasions such as weddings and birthdays.
Our next stop was Ryoan-Ji Temple which houses another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rock Garden. I have to admit this didn’t do much for me. I don’t want to be disrespectful but playing with rocks never appealed to me. What do you think? See below.
The Rock Garden.
Our third stop was at the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. This place was really cool. I mean temperature wise. Today was a very hot day and the bamboo provided a lot of shade to cool us off. See below.
We were told that bamboo can grow close to 3 feet per day maxing out at about 65 feet when fully mature (Hmmm, 22 days to reach full height?)
Our final stop of the day was the Inari Shrine. This is a Shinto shrine which boasts of having thousands of torii gates. It was explained to us that torii gates are at the entrances of all Shinto shrines but this one takes it to an extreme.
Main entrance, oops I mean Torii, of the Inari shrine.Patrice and me in front of a long line of toriis. We were told that companies pay to have information written on the toriis. I have no clue what any of these say. We saw a woman posing along side of one. Do you think her loving look was next to a post that said, “Eat at Burger King”?
Then it was back to the hotel. The front desk made reservations for us at a restaurant recommended by Tomoko. I am excited to go but a bit concerned because we won’t have Tomoko to order for us like she did last night. The front desk printed a map for us which includes directions on how to get there. They just delivered it to our room. See below.
Can you help us get to the Loin Restaurant in the Hotel New Hankyu Kyoto?
Maybe you need a closer look at the instructions?
Is that better? Maybe this will help (see below).
ホテルを出たら左に進みます。 300メートルほど歩くと左手にレストランがあります。
Now do you have it? We better leave early since I think this will be an adventure.
Today we are off to Kyoto. Our train was scheduled for a 10:07 departure. Hiro (our guide from yesterday) alerted us that it might be early or late by 15 seconds. You don’t mess around with the Japanese when it comes to their trains. Hiro warned us to be sure not to board the 10:02 train by mistake and be ready to board at 10:07 otherwise we might be staying another day in Hakone.
It’s with much regret that we leave the Ten-Yu hotel and bid farewell to their Onsen, their foot baths, but most of all their breakfast.
Arrival at the train station was uneventful. We headed to the Starbucks for a place to sit and some air conditioning. I then pulled out the station map that Hiro drew for us. See below.
He drew this while we were having lunch. Note that he drew the locations of the Starbucks, the Ticket Counter, and track 13 (from which our train would leave). The map was incrediby valuable since it oriented us and let us know exactly where we needed to go.
We found our boarding area and were overwhelmed by the speed of the trains whipping by. Since we were early we decided to wait in the air conditioned waiting room below the tracks. Everytime a train would zoom by without stopping the entire building would shake. Our train arrived on time as predicted and boarding was not a problem. The seats were very comfortable (see below)
Just getting ready to head to Kyoto.
Shortly after the train left Hakone we were offered treats for purchase.
No thank you, I am still stuffed from breakfast. Check back with me in another day or two.
The trip took about 2 hours and was very smooth. We had three stops prior to reaching Kyoto. It was easy to follow our course because Hiro made a train schedule for us. See below.
His drawing included times of departure and arrival, the stops prior to arrival in Kyoto, and even a seating chart.
We learned yesterday that Kyoto served as the capital of Japan for over a thousand years and is known for its temples, shrines, and beautiful gardens. Sounds like some long walks, a lot of standing, and a lot back pain are in my future.
According to Hiro, and further explained to me by my friend Fred, the Japanese use a series of about 2,000 characters in their written language. These characters are called Kanji. In Kanji “To” means eastern and “Kyo” refers to the previous capital of Kyoto. So when the capital was moved to the eastern city of Edo it was renamed Tokyo. Kyoto is a UNESCO world heritage site and apparently is famous for many things including its tea ceremonies.
We again arrived too early to check into the hotel but we had a tea ceremony scheduled to take up the time. This was a quaint activity where we were instructed in the history and significance of making and drinking tea. The people were nice but I wasn’t all that interested in the activity.
Here is our tea master giving us our lesson.
After our tea lesson we returned to the hotel. Unfortunately there was a long line to check in but we finally got that accomplished and made it to our room. This looks like another wonderful place for us to rest. I haven’t checked everything out yet so please let me fill you in on the details later. One thing is evident and very much appreciated is that we again have a toilet that salutes you upon arrival. I will spare you a video this time.
Tonight we have dinner plans with a friend of one of Patrice’s biking chums. More about that tomorrow.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 