Buddhist temples - Senso-ji

The first sight we saw while we were in Japan was the Buddhist temple Senso-ji. It would be commonplace in the coming two weeks that we would be seeing a fair few Buddhist temples!

Senso-ji is Tokyo's oldest temple and one of the most significant temples in Tokyo. The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon - the godess of mercy. Legend tells that two fishermen found a statue of the Kannon in the Sumida River, recognising the sanctity of the statue the chief of the village remodelled his house into a small temple so that the villagers could worship the Kannon.

Unfortunately the temple was covered in scaffolding due to renovations - something that was quite common at the time we were travelling! Although many of the renovations will be finished within the year!! Luckily for us access to the interior of the temple was still allowed!

Inside the temple..

Inside the temple the mood changed somewhat from the hustle and bustle of nakamise-dori. There was an calming peace in the room, even with all the tourists and believers shuffling for a good view of the shrine, or to make a prayer or blessing.

Another recognisable sight and part of the temple complex is the temples five story pagoda:


The temple also houses a garden kept in the traditional Japanese style!

Asakusa - Part 1

We woke up bleary eyed but excited after our flight arrive 10pm the night before. Today was going to be a nice easy going day, our hotel is in the same district as we are visiting - Asakusa. Located on the north eastern fringe of central Tokyo Asakusa provides a suprisingly calm (by Tokyo standards) location for those wishing to soak up a bit of the Tokyo culture.

The main attraction is the temple Senso-ji - Tokyo's oldest temple. The temple grounds are best approached from Kaminarimon ('thunder gate'), one of two main gates leading to the temple. Since we decided to take our first day easy, a visit to Senso-ji was the main attraction.

Kaminarimon gate

Originally uploaded by aDrunis_84

And as soon as we got there - PEOPLE EVERYWHERE!!!!

Although quite a quiet district (in terms of Tokyo), the crowds here were bustling!! To reach Senso-ji we walked through the gate and found ourselves on a quaint and somewhat hectic shopping street known as Nakamise-dori. This shopping street is lined with various streets selling all sorts of tourist trinkets, food and wares and is part of an old tradition of selling to pilgrims (mostly tourists these days!).

Nakamise-dori

At the other other end of Nakamise-dori sits the entrance to the main complex. Also known as the 'Treasure gate', Hōzōmon is the second of two gates leading to Senso-ji (the first being Kaminarimon). Housed in the second floor of the temple are many of the treasures of Senso-ji. The crowd was thickest here where pilgrims were able to light incense in a small couldron sitting at the base of the gate. It was here that pilgrims were also able to leave small woodem plaques known as 'Ema'containing wishes or prayers.

As we visited Japan in late spring, rows of lanterns were set up either side of the path leading up to the inner gate. We returned to the temple one night and they were lit up, making the gate look beautiful at night! These lanterns were set up as part of sanja matsuri - a Shinto festival.

More to come soon!!

Part I - Tokyo

Our Journey started with a four day stay in Tokyo - A bustling metropolis of over 12 million people. A city of bustling subways, electric neon lights and fine cuisine!

We flew into Tokyo late in the evening on the 29th, after a somewhat arduous flight - we chose to fly with Korean Air (Our flight did not include a TV!!). The journey from the airport took little over half an hour by Japan Rail and was suprisingly easy considering we were in a foreign country!!

You may hear alot of people boasting about the quality of the metro system in Tokyo, i will discuss this at another time, but by all means it is one of the best in the world!

Our chosen accomodation was the Chisun Inn located a 2m walk south of Central Asakusa. For the majority of the holiday we stuck with this same line of Hotels/Inn's as they offered really nice accomodation at a reasonable price, generally around $30-$50 pp/pn. We had also chosen to spend one night in the Hotel 'B' in Ikebekuro for our last night - this was a VERY nice budget hotel!!!

Since our accomodation was located in Asakusa it made sense to spend our first day visiting the sights in this district. Day two saw a trip to Shibuya - location of the worlds busiest intersection and Harajuku - one of the many fashion capitals of the world. Following this was a planned trip to Disneyland, but due to unforseen circumstances our plans changed and we instead found ourselves exploring the maze of shops and restaurants that is sunshine city! To finish our stay in Tokyo we visited Ueno & the electric suburb of Ikebekuro.

While this sums up our stay in Tokyo in a nutshell - we also found time to visit the Imperial palace - home to the Emperor of Japan and Ginza and Shinjuku - two of the most vibrant and electric districts in Tokyo!

All of this and much more will be described in more detail as i post about each district/day!

The destroyer of worlds!!

Originally uploaded by aDrunis_84

The Itinerary

Ok, so here is a taste of things to come. I will attempt to cover each locale in order with some extra post's inbetween!

Tokyo - 29th March - 1st April



Day 1 - Asakusa & Ueno
Day 2 - Shibuya & Harajuku
Day 3 - Sunshine city, Central Tokyo & Shinjuku/Ginza
Day 4 - Ueno & Ikebukuro


Nagoya - 2nd April

Nagoya Castle


Osaka - 3rd April




Osaka Castle & Dotombori by night


Kobe - 4th April

Kobe harbourland, Merikan park & Kitano Cho


Nara - 5th April

Nara-Koen (including Todai-ji, Nandai-Mon & Kofuku-ji)


Kyoto - 6th April - 8th April



Day 1 - Fushimi-inari Taisha, Kyoto Central
Day 2 - Nijo-jo, Daitoku-ji & Kinkaku-ji
Day 3 - Southern Higashiyama, Gion and Nishiki Koji (Nishiki market)


Osaka - 9th April - 10th April



Day 1 - Universal Studios Osaka
Day 2 - Doguya-suji arcade, Dotombori

Introduction - Project Japan

Project Japan represents the work that went into capturing all the various locations and sights visited during my two week visit to Japan (28th March - 12th April 2010). During these two weeks Kat and myself travelled hundreds of kilometers by plane, rail and bus to visit and explore some of the most historic and vibrant attractions Japan has to offer.

Along the way we learned alot about the Japanese culture and way of life and the uniqueness of the Japanese people. From the hustle and bustle of the electric streets of Shibuya and Shinjuku in Tokyo to the rural laneways of Nara, or the quaint streets of Kyoto's (Notice Tokyo is an anagram of Kyoto..) Gion district, Japan is a country that will inspire and amaze you.

Over the duration of the next (few months?!) i will be blogging about the cities and sights we visited and what its like to travel in Japan, mixing in a bit of factual information to provide my definative experience of Japan. I hope that others wishing to visit Japan may find this blog a useful guide, if not an enjoyable read.