Travels in Japan – Part 2 – Hakone and Kyoto

Christina here, continuing the tale of my recent travels in Japan. While Tokyo is great, we wanted to see a few other places as well. Travelling around is easiest by train and the famous Shinkansen high-speed railway runs very efficiently and quickly.

I love the way it looks a bit like a haughty snake at the front! (See also this little cartoon). There are quite a few different routes now and they all run exactly on time. Very well organised, as is everything in Japan.

First, we headed to Hakone, which is about an hour south of Tokyo up in the mountains. It’s a place famous for its natural hot springs and it was a very pretty area. We stayed in a ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn) that dated from 1630, a great joy to a history buff like me. When we arrived, our name had been written on a board hanging outside, along with those of other guests for that evening. It looked very odd as everyone else’s name was in Japanese writing.

We were allocated a wonderful big room with tatami mats (made of woven rice stalks) that smelled like fresh hay, and we slept on futons that we had to retrieve ourselves from large cupboards. Extremely comfortable and I had the best night’s sleep of the whole trip.

Outside the inn was a river that rushed by all night long, a very restful sound.

The inn had hot baths – onsen – fed by the local spring and we had a private one although there are many public baths in the area too. The water in these is very hot and it’s a bit like having a wet sauna. There is a special bathing ritual as the water in the onsen is only meant for relaxation, not washing. You have to wash yourself all over before entering the bath, and it can take a while to get used to the temperature so you have to enter slowly. It’s well worth it and you feel extremely relaxed afterwards.

While at the inn, we enjoyed some fairly exotic meals with authentic Japanese cuisine, which was quite an experience! We tried every dish, and most of it was very tasty and, as always, artistically arranged and served on pretty plates.

On the way back to Tokyo we stopped in the little town of Odawara. Its main attraction is a samurai castle which we visited, and even though it was a cold and rainy day, it was still impressive.

There was a lovely moat surrounding it and a beautiful old bridge leading to the gatehouse. I love Japanese castles, they are so pretty even when they’re formidable!

This one was unfortunately modern on the inside, as the interiors have not survived, but I’ve been to another one in Himeji which is still intact so I was able to picture it in my mind. There were some interesting things displayed inside the castle, among them a letter written by a famous warlord called Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the early 17^th century. Again, the history buff in me was delighted.

Our second outing was to Kyoto, which is one of Japan’s ten largest cities and used to be where the Emperor lived. I’d been there before and it’s my favourite Japanese city. The pace of life seems much more relaxed compared to Tokyo, and it’s not quite as modern either.

In the centre is the famous Gion district, where you can spot geisha ladies if you’re lucky. At night, this area is lit by lots of lanterns that hang outside every house so it’s fun to walk around and look.

 

The city contains a multitude of temples and with the cherry blossom in full bloom they were all magnificent. I particularly loved the Kiyomizu-dera temple situated high up on a hill overlooking Kyoto. You reach it via lots of steep and narrow winding lanes, flanked by interesting little shops and restaurants. Once at the top you have a fabulous view over the town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the temples people will leave wishes for the gods. Sometimes they are in the form of little wooden tablets/staves, and sometimes twists of paper.

 

 

 

 

 

Near the centre of town is Nijo Castle which is more like a huge sprawling villa complex surrounded by a moat. It used to belong to the Shogun (ruler) and is now the Emperor’s. One of the buildings there had the famous so-called nightingale floor which squeaks as you walk on it to warn the inhabitants of intruders – fascinating! It’s a World Heritage site and rightly so.

 

 

 

In the northern part of town is another very famous building, the so-called Golden Pavilion – Kinkaku-ji. It is part of a Zen Buddhist temple and is actually a reliquary. The top floors are coated in gold leaf so it gleams in the sunlight, an amazing sight! It sits on the edge of a little lake and is reflected in the water. It’s also surrounded by beautifully tended gardens and whichever side you approach it from, it is simply stunning. Unfortunately, it is a very popular tourist destination so there were way too many people for my liking, but luckily it was still possible to get some good photos.

Finally, there was the temple of Fushimi Inari, on a mountain on the outskirts of Kyoto. Behind it there are literally thousands of big temple gates (torii) along trails leading up to the top of the mountain.

They are all painted a vivid orangey red (although some have faded with time) and are an awe-inspiring sight. The hill is rather steep though so I only made it about two thirds of the way up which I considered quite a feat for me.

All Japanese temples sell omamori, little amulets that are supposed to give you good luck and protection. There are various different ones depending on what you need them for, like good health, luck in finding a great partner, childbirth, studies and even things like driving, as well as good fortune in general. Each shrine or temple have their own unique ones. They are usually made of silk and what they all have in common is that they are exceedingly pretty and some are very colourful. I’m afraid I bought quite a few and I intend to use them for a display, although hopefully they will also bring me the promised luck.

All in all, I had a wonderful time in Japan and if you haven’t been there, I would definitely recommend a visit if you get the chance!

 

 

Would you buy a charm or amulet for luck and do you believe in such things? I feel they can’t hurt in any case!