8th of November 2024 – Nara Park and Osaka

Today we started with a visit to Todaiji Temple in Nara Park which is a public park located in the city of Nara.  Nara Park is one of the oldest parks in Japan and was established in 1880.  Over 1,200 wild sika deer roam free around in the park and there were vendors in the park selling food for the deer.  I wasn't too keen to get close to the deer as they have ticks.

In the afternoon we went to Osaka and visited the first going up the Umeda Sky Building which is a spectacular building made up of two towers connected on the 39th floor by the Floating Garden Observatory.  The Floating Garden Observatory offers panoramic views of Osaka,  Umeda Floating Garden, a. is home to the Floating Garden Observatory at 173 meters high.  The design of the Floating Garden Observatory is unusual with a see through glass elevator from floors 3F to 37F and the two floating escalator shafts that run directly to the main floors of the Floating Garden Observatory.

We then stopped to take photographs of Osaka Castle but were unable to visit the interior.

Our visit to Osaka ended with shopping in the Dōtonbori district.  Dōtonbori is known as one of Osaka's principal tourist and nightlife areas characterized by its eccentric atmosphere and large illuminated signboards.  It is absolutely heaving with people.

We had a yakatori evening meal in one of the restaurants in Dōtonbori decorated outside with a large baby.  Yakatori is Japanese skewered chicken cooked on a charcoal grill with sauce and can be delicious however this was truly one of the most awful meals I have ever had.  This was a view shared by most other members of the group.

7th of November 2024 – Kiyomizu Temple and Fushimi Inari

Today's first visited was to the Kiyomizu Temple, built into the side of a mountain and supported by pillars.  It takes its name, which means 'clear water', from a waterfall within the temple complex.  Sadly I made the decision to pass on visiting the Kiyomizu Temple as the time given for us to visit this temple was beyond my capabilities.  I did however take a picture of the traditional housing below the temple complex.

 

The morning was rounded off with a traditional Uji tea drinking ceremony.  The tea was made by whisking matcha, green tea leaves ground to a powder, in hot water with a bamboo whisk.  Although I like green tea matcha is somewhat of an acquired taste.

 

Sake is Japan's traditional fermented rice drink.  We visited the Kizakura brewery in Fushimi which is a traditional sake brewing district in southern Kyoto known for its nearly 40 sake breweries.  Kizakura sake is made from select rice and the underground water of Fushimi springs.  I had no idea before today about what was involved in the brewing of sake until watching a film shown at the brewery.  We were given a tasting of two different sakes made at the Kizakura brewery and I also had a taste of their pumpkin beer which was quite palatable.

Our last visit of the day was to Fushimi Inari, a vast shrine to the gods of rice and sake with winding mountain trails leading to a series of individual shrines.  Inari was originally and remains primarily the object of workshop for rice and agriculture, but merchants also worship Inari as the patron of business.

Fushimi Inari has of the order of 10,000 torii donated by a Japanese business.  A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred; these gates are where spirits, gods and deities of Japan's Shinto religion are welcomed and thought to travel through.

Approximately 800 of these are set in a row to form the Senbon Torii creating the impression of a tunnel.

Fushimi Inari has many stone fox statues in the shrine compound.  These foxes are the messengers of Inari, the god of rice, and said to keep the rice free of vermin.

6th of November 2024 – Bullet Train to Kyoto

I woke in Atami to the sound of the sea.  It had been dark when we arrived in Atami so I didn't realise that only a road separated my hotel bedroom and the sea.  It was lovely just standing on the balcony for a while appreciating the sea view.

Japan's main islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Hokkaido are served by a network of high speed train lines called shinkansen that connect Tokyo with most of the country's major cities.  The trains were known to me as the bullet trains before I arrived in Japan and are known for their punctuality.  Tokyo bullet train platforms have two lanes painted on the platform in front of each door location; one lane is for passengers alighting the train and the other lane for passengers boarding the train.  The trains have a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour yet the ride is extremely comfortable and always with forward facing seats.

Mount Fuji is famous for its cap of snow which usually begins to form in early October.  Warm weather this year led to the Mount Fuji's longest ever stint with bare slopes and indeed there was no cap of snow when we visited.  On leaving Tokyo on the bullet train there was a view of Mount Fuji capped with snow.

Kyoto is nicknamed 'the city of ten thousand shrines' and on arrival we visited Kinkakuji, also known as the Golden Pavilion, a stunning temple covered with pure gold leaf.  The temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and, according to his will, became a Zen temple after his death in 1408.

 

The two main religious faiths of Japan are Shinto and in Buddhism.  Shinto rituals involve worshiping ancestors and spirits at domestic altars and public shrines.  Buddhism is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha.  We visited the Shinto Heian Shrine in Kyoto where we wandered round its beautiful and peaceful Japanese gardens. 

 

Our final visit of the day was to the Gion area which is Kyoto's most famous Geisha district and is filled with teahouses where Geishas entertain.  We didn't see any Geishas however there were some Japanese ladies wearing traditional kimonos.