Tokyo - Edo Museum, Ueno, Shopping

OK, so my blog has turned into a recap. I'm finishing up my Japan trip AFTER I'm home. Finding free internet in Tokyo was pretty much impossible. At 1050 yen (over $10) per day, paying for internet in my room was pretty much out of the question.

So our first day in Tokyo was spent at museums. The Edo Museum is all about the beginning of Tokyo. We had a tour guide for the museum. Tokyo's original name was Edo. It was entirely planned city. The Shogunate created Edo as a place where the families of the lords of the prefects came to live. This ensured their loyalty to the Shogun. Each lord had an elaborate castle built where there family resided. A fire destroyed all of Edo, and the elaborate castles. The famous Tsukiji fist market was created at this time, as well as the famed department stores. After the fall of the Shogunate, the emperor Mejii moved the capital to Edo and renamed it Tokyo.

You can check out the museum online at: http://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/english/index.html

As you can tell, I was totally enthralled by the history. I learned lots of amazing things about Tokyo and about Japan in general. The Edo Museum was right next to is Ryogoku Kokugikan, an arena used mainly for Sumo tournaments. I found out after our trip, there is also a museum about Sumo there, but we didn't stop to see that. That is why there were pictures of famous Sumo wrestlers in the train station.

The next museum was in Ueno park. Ueno is large city park. It has a zoo, a european style park, and several museums. There were several groups of street performers. We went to the Tokyo National Museum. The current special exhibit was about buddhism and representations of Buddha. They had activites for visitors and we were able to make some post cards of fans and kimono using stamps. We had a snack at small outdoor cafe before we left the park. There was also a museum of European art, which included several Rodan sculptures in the courtyard. It was all very beautiful. Oh yeah, except for the monkey picking his nose sign.....

Across the street from Ueno station was the Ameyayokocho, a huge shopping district.I spent way too much money on tea there (they took credit cards!!) Here is a picture of our very helpful tea shop owner. You could find most anything in Ameyayokocho. One place popular with some of our group was a store selling used kimono and yukata. There were not only merchandise, there were also all type of food shops, including fresh fish. We picked up a fresh pineapple-on-a-stick snack.

Janet announced we could take an optional trip to Tokyo Disney if we wanted. Mom, Aunt Angie and I decided to go. We will probably never be in Japan again, so we should do everything we can!

I have to give some credit to my Mom and Aunt Angie for some of the photos. Thanks for letting me use your pictures!

Miyajima

After leaving Kyoto, we stopped in Hiroshima on our way to Miyajima Island. We went to the peace park in Hiroshima, where our group left 1000 paper cranes for world peace. After that, we went through the atomic bomb museum.

Miyajima Island was wonderful and relaxing. The Ryokan we stayed in on the island, Ryoso Kawaguchi, was beautiful and the hostess and host were really nice and helpful. We had four people in a room, which was little crowded, but we made it through. We did have our own toilet in the room, but had to go down stairs to take a shower.

The first morning, I was up and out before everyone else, so I walked up the street to the five storied pagoda and the Senjokaku temple. It was very peaceful. I just sat and looked out at the ocean for a while. The sound of the waves and chirping birds was very relaxing. The temple was unfinished, so it was not very elaborate, but it did have several beautiful paintings, mostly of horses.




The first organized outing was to Itsukushima shrine. It was built out in the ocean, so that at high tide it is completely surrounded. The huge red Otorii gate can be seen from the mainland because it is so big. We were lucky enough to see part of a Shinto wedding while we were there. We were trying very hard not to impose on the wedding party and be rude tourist. However, the Japanese tourist at the shrine had no qualms with getting right up in the wedding pary to take pictures!

After we got through the shrine, it started raining. We ducked into a little udon noodle shop for a bite to eat. Miyajima is known for its oysters. There are huge oyster beds all around the island. We had oyster udon and mussel udon. It was all really delicious. The udon shop had pictures and signatures of sumo wrestlers, like we would have autographed pictures of movie stars or musicians who had been in a resturant. It was all pretty cool.

The next day we climed Mt. Mizen. Well, not the entire mountain. You can take a gondola (ropeway) up to within a few hundred feet (vertical) of the summit. You have to hike the rest of the way, about a half hour. At the summit is a buddhist temple and the Reikado, or eternal flame. It is said the flame has been burning continuously for more than 1,200 years.


Our last night we spent at a resort ryokan. It was beautiful. We had a traditional Japanese dinner in a banquet hall that night. As you can see, the goofy students on the trip wore their yukata to dinner. After dinner there was a tyco drum demonstration. Most of the other ryokan guests also had their yukata on, so I guess that is traditional. I personally did not feel comfortable roaming around the inn in my bathrobe!











On the last morning, we were to meet early and catch the ferry back to the mainland. Aunt Angie and I decided to go to the Daishoin Temple before we left. It was quite a sprint to get there and back in time, but I am glad we went. The temple grounds were lovely. The landscaping was beautiful and the grounds were filled with all sorts of stone figures, like this cute round little Buddha figure.

We were very sad to have to leave Miyajima. We are now off to Tokyo!

Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is one of the few (if not the only) castle left that is all original construction. Most of the castles were destroyed or so badly damaged during World War II that very little of the castles today are original. Of course the restorations have been carried out using traditional materials and techniques, but Himeji is almost completely original.

The castle is beautiful. The entire building is made of wood (cedar I believe.) It has a great open floorplan, which originally had sliding screens that could be used to make rooms. Being fortified, there are also areas for the troops to stay and openings in the walls for the troops to drop rocks or hot oil on the enemy.

There is a Japanese style garden there also, but unfortunately we didn't have time to see it.

After Hemeji, we went to Gion, which is where the geisha are trained. We went to Gion Corner which has a show of traditional arts of Kyoto. They had the tea ceremony, ikibana (flower arranging,) court music, a comic play (about servant stealing sake from their master,) traditional dance (by maiko, geisha in training) and traditional puppets.

Finally, temples

We were finally able to get out and see some temples today. First we went to the Golden Pavilion, also known as Rokoun-Ji Temple. It is one of the most well known temples. They are also known for their macha green tea. It is a special used for tea ceremonies and is powdered green tea leaves which is whisked into the water with a special bamboo whisk. It is quite bitter. The green tea we had a the temple came with a tea cake, which was sweet to counteract the very bitter tea.

There was a market area outside the temple. There is a special book you can get that the monks (at Buddhist temples) or priests (at Shinto shrines) stamp with the seal of the temple or shrine and write a good luck saying in calligraphy. They are very beautiful. At this temple you watch as the monk writes in your book. There were also many green tea related items. Actual macha powder, items to make macha (like the bamboo whisk and measuring spoons,) and macha flavored foods of all sorts. We bought some green tea with gold leaf in it and some spicy rice crackers. There was also a stand selling Japanese shaved ice (which we would call a sno-cone) which came in lemon, strawberry or (of course) green tea.

Next we took a very scenic walk to another temple, Ryoan-Ji temple. The walk was through a mostly residential area. It was obviously an up-scale neighborhood. Most all of the houses had gates along the street with beautiful gardens inside. Some of the and front doors were very elaborate. We also stopped at an art gallery which specialized in wood block prints. You could even make your very own print from an already carved block.

The Ryoan-Ji temple has one of the most famous zen rock gardens. In addition to the temple and rock garden, there is a beautiful Japanese style garden. Again, we had the monks stamp and sign our temple book. Here though, you drop them off and then pick them back up before you leave.

We were supposed to go to a shrine later today, but we were rained out. It is evidently monsoon season here. Tomorrow our first castle if first on the list.

Oh My Gosh!!

Ok, this trip has not started out so well. So, the volcano changed our flight plans and we spent 16 hours on the plane, rather than just 11 hours. Flying on those big planes (this was a 747) is not my cup of tea anyway. The stewardesses were not that great. The food was pretty good, though. At least we finally made it to the Japan.

We did not get into the Tokyo airport until it has already closed. There were police standing at the doors to make sure no one went anywhere but to the exits. It seems the custom across Asia is for the airports to close at 11:00 pm. So we missed any connecting flight and we have to wait till tomorrow for a flight to Osaka. So we have basically missed a whole day of our trip.

Anyway, the AIRPORT (not Northwest) put us up in a hotel for the night. The hotel is a "business man's" type hotel. Very small rooms. The bathroom reminds me a lot of the bathrooms on cruises. You step up into the bathroom, which is all one piece, like an acrylic tub surround, but it's the whole room. There is a very small shower/tub combo. The toilet was a bidet, the sign on the wall called it a "shower toilet." Oh, and the mirror in the bathroom was heated so that it does not fog up. The also supply a yucata, which is like a bathrobe, and slippers. Oh course the slippers are really for men, so they were way too big for me.

We also went to our first convenience store and waded through all the Japanese to find something to eat and drink. Luckily some of the girls on our trip speak and read Japanese, so they helped us out. I played it safe and just had some juice and a pastry. The pastry was like thin slices of pound cake wrapped around whipped cream. It was very yummy.

Hopefully, tomorrow goes smoother!

On the road

My girls made it to the beach. I'm sure they're running through the surf right now. It looks like Al is having trouble getting my ancient laptop to work for him.

I, on the other hand, am in travel limbo. We got to the brand spankin' new Springfield airport EARLY this morning (4:30 in the blessed AM) and had a little of a wait there. The flight to Minneapolis wasn't bad (about an hour.) Now comes the wait. We have about 6 hours till our flight to Tokyo leaves. Luckily I have my computer with internet access as well as movies downloaded on my computer.

Check out the fish hanging from the ceiling at the Springfield airport. I guess Bass Pro had something to do with this? Of course the little gift shop in the airport was full of Bass Pro stuff. As well a lot of John Deere stuff, too. I don't think John Deere has a factory there. I guess it's just one of those "country" things.

Wish me luck with my wait....

Off to the Beach

Well, the girls are gone... (sniff, sniff.) They are so excited about the beach! I hope they're not disappointed that it takes so long to get there (2 days.) My girls usually require instant gratification, so spending 2 days in a car will be really hard for them. They will be there for 3 weeks, including the 4th of July. The 4th at the beach is awesome, they shoot fireworks off the pier over the ocean. It is spectacular!

Their cousin Sammie is also going to be at the beach this week, too. Isabelle and Sammie are "best buds," as you can see in this picture. They actually work out great together, Isabelle never stops talking and Sammie rarely says a thing. Isabelle loves talking for everyone else, too.

Now that the family is gone, I get to pack. I'm sure I'm taking too much stuff, but it's hard to resist the "what if" temptation. Of course, I guess I could take nothing and buy everything there. Not that I need an excuse to spend money. (Good thing I've been working! I just paid myself, so I actually have money to spend.)

A little bit about my trip:

My Aunt Angie, my Mom and I are going to Japan. My Aunt's friend, Janet, is organizing and heading up our trip. She is a Japanese language teacher and is taking a group of high school and college students, and the three of us are tagging along. It is going to be a VERY LARGE group, 32 of us in all.

We are going to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Tokyo. It is a cultural trip, so we will be seeing lots of castles, shrines and temples. Janet has been taking student groups for 20 years or more, so she knows all the really good places to go and the most interesting stuff to see. She has lots of pretty cool stories of past trips.

I pick up my Mom at the airport this afternoon, but I think we'll hang around here tonight. Then tomorrow we'll head off to Springfield. We get up bright and early Monday morning to get to the Springfield airport by 5:30 am. Luckily, it is very easy for me to sleep on any type of moving vehicle (cars, trains, boats, planes.... if it moves, I'm asleep!) I'll be able to nap on the plane.

I've been looking at options for downloading movies onto my netbook for the long trip over. We have a 5 hour layover in Minneapolis and then a 12 hour flight to Tokyo. I think I'm going with StarzPlay download service. Wish me luck with getting that set up!