JAPAN: OCTOBER 2023

Written By Michael Cordier

OCTOBER 10 - 11, 2023

  • Left SFO bound for NRT

    • ANA (All Nippon Airways)

  • Arrived in NRT

    • Off plane, through immigration, obtained suitcase and through customs within 25 minutes or so

  • Checked into Hotel Sun Route Shinjuku Plaza

October 12, 2023 - Tokyo Sight Seeing

  • Met at “Love” statue/object

  • Passed by a building with Godzilla on top of it

  • Meiji-Jingu Shrine

    • Man-made forest (about 70 hectares in size)

    • Torii Gate

    • Sake Barrels

    • Shrine

  • Imperial Palace

    • Can’t go inside the palace

    • Samurai statue from Kamakura Period (before the Edo Period)

    • Stone wall is left over from when Edo Castel stood here (it was destroyed in WWII)

    • There was a VIP from Norway who was visiting and they arrive from Tokyo Station in a horse-drawn carriage

    • The grounds are surrounded by gravel so that at night the guards can hear if someone is approaching

  • Asakusa

    • Matcha tasting experience – I tried the beer. It was grassy but not bad

    • Lunch which was Japanese Fried Chicken

    • Senso-ji Temple is about 1,300 years old

  • Tokyo Sky Tree

    • Tallest BROADCAST tower in the world

    • Took the autumn elevator up (went up so fast I felt my ears pop)

    • Took the winter elevator down

  • Odaiba

    • Man-made land

    • Statue of Liberty was given by France in 2000 to mark friendship

    • Cruise of Tokyo Harbor

October 13, 2023 - Tokyo to Kyoto

  • Tokyo to Kyoto

    • Took the Shinkansen

  • Kyoto Railway Museum

    • Saw various trains from throughout Japan’s railway history

    • Walked back to the hotel through Kyoto

    • At Ramen and a cream puff from 7-11, quite good!

  • Stayed at Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto-Kiyomizu Gojo

October 14, 2023 - Kyoto and Nara Sight Seeing Day 1: Golden Pavillion and Todai-ji Temple from Kyoto

  • Downloaded DiDi App for taxi service and used it to go to JTB Sunrise Tours Desk near Kyoto Station

    • Kyoto Station building was rebuilt in 1997

    • Took a bus painted with Ninjas on it

  • Nijo-jo Castle

    • Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 1,000 years

    • Completed by Tokugawa Shogun in 1603

      • Tokugawa Shogun ruled Japan for over 200 years and instilled an isolationist policy to prevent the spread of Christianity because it would threaten the Shogun’s power

    • Able to entre the original building

    • Had to take off shoes to enter castle and no pictures were allowed

    • In part of the building, the floor made sounds like a Nightingale in order to alert guards if someone was entering

      • This was done by placing wooden boards beneath the floor that were a small distance apart and the sound was created by the friction of the wood against the metal nails

  • The Golden Pavilion and Kinkakuji Temple

    • Not the original because in 1950 a Buddhist monk set it on fire, but it was rebuilt in 1955

    • Has a 600-year-old Bonsai

    • Used over 200,000 squares of gold leaf with a total weight of 20 kilos

    • Phoenix is at the top of the temple

    • There is a waterfall with a rock under it and it’s said that if a carp is able to jump up from the pond to the top of the waterfall, it will turn into a dragon – the most powerful animal in Asia

  • Kyoto Imperial Palace

    • The gate through which we entered was used for Samurai

    • Orange is a lucky color which is why the Joimemon Gate was orange

  • Lunch at Octavar

    • Western-style lunch consisting of minestrone soup, chicken and fish, bread, a salad and a fruit cup

  • Todai-ji Temple

    • Had to walk 10 minutes from Nara Bus Terminal

    • Huge bronze Buddha statue

      • Height is 15 meters and weight is 250 tons

      • Each curl on the head of the statue is the size of my head

    • Largest wooden structure in the world

    • Built for the repose of the soul of the Crown Prince of Emperor Shomu during the 8th century

    • Original was destroyed by fire in the 12th and again in the 16th century, current one was built in the early 18th century

  • Nara

    • Deer in Nara are sacred because they are the messengers of the Shinto gods

    • Pet a few deer but did not feed them

  • Kasuga Shinto Shrine

    • Built in the 8th century

    • Deer here are believed to be descendants of deer ridden by the Shinto Thunder god

    • Today the Shrine was closed at 1700 so the Shinto gods could go to bed early (it was actually due to a special ceremony)

    • Torii gates represent border between the human world and the spiritual world of the Shinto gods

    • Wisteria trees are a marker at Shinto Shrines

    • There are over 1,000,000 Shinto gods and they do not fight against each other; they harmonize with each other.

October 15, 2023 -Kyoto Sight Seeing Day 2: Kyoto and Arashiyama

  • Kiyomizu-dera Temple

    • Buddhist Temple

    • Name means “pure water” and there is a waterfall here from which the name comes

    • Drinking from each side means something different

      • Right side is for health and long life

      • Middle is for love

      • Left is for success with studies

  • Sanjusan-gen-do Temple

    • No photography allowed and needed to take shoes off

    • “Sanjusan” means 33 and “1 gen” means 1.8 meters

    • Inside there are over 1,000 statues of Buddha

    • Each statue has a different face and name

  • Arashiyama

    • Used to be very remote but now it’s always crowded

    • Bamboo was very practical for architecture, furniture, and also as a water bottle because it has anti-bacterial properties

    • Had a buffet-style lunch with different foods typical of Kyoto

    • Saw a traditional festival parade on the way to the bamboo grove

    • The grove was a disappointment

    • Very crowded and pretty short walk

  • Tenryu-ji Temple

    • Means “heaven dragon”

    • Inside the temple there is a big picture of a dragon

    • One of the most influential temples for Zen meditation and many monks are trained to conduct meditation every morning

    • There are many small temples in which monks are trained everyday

    • The garden was designed by a monk

  • Kinkakuji Temple (again)

    • It rained but the light was different, so the colors seemed more intense, especially the greens

  • Fushimi Inari Shrine

    • Famous for 1,000 Torii gates

    • Foxes guard the Torii because they are viewed as messengers of the gods

October 16, 2023 - Kyoto to Hiroshima

  • Took Taxi to Kyoto station

    • Drive was super nice and talkative and kept on talking about his visit to the USA when he was 20

    • Like dad he rode the Greyhound Bus and took it from SF to LA to Vegas to NY to Seattle

    • Also loved talking about food and how much he loved Roast Beef when he went to SF

  • Took the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima

    • Arrived in Hiroshima and Hotel is just a 5-minute walk from the station

    • Sotetsu Fresa Inn Hiroshima Station

  • Walked from hotel to Hiroshima Castle

    • About a 30-minute walk

    • Saw various displays about the castle and a number of swords and examples of Samurai Armor as well as some artwork

  • Walked from Hiroshima Castle to Peace Memorial Park and saw the Atomic Bomb Dome

    • Walked back to the hotel and checked in

    • Ate dinner which was a hamburger that was delicious

October 17, 2023 - Hiroshima and Miyajima Island

  • Met near the Shinkansen ticket gate at Hiroshima station

  • Peace Memorial Park

    • Atomic Bomb Dome

    • The Atomic Bomb Dome was an administrative building prior to the bomb being dropped

    • Prior to the bombing, the area was a residential area

    • Every year on the anniversary of the dropping of the bomb, there is a lantern ceremony in which colorful lanterns are floated down the river

    • Children’s Peace Memorial

    • Flame of Peace will continue to burn until there are no more nuclear weapons anywhere in the world

    • Pond of Peace is dedicated to the people who died asking for water in the heat after the bombing

  • Peace Memorial Museum

  • Okonomiyaki lunch which is a typical dish in Hiroshima

  • Miyajima Island

    • Worshiped as a divine Island since the ancient past

    • Took a 10 minute ferry trip to the island

    • Went to Itsukushima Shrine

    • The Torii in the sea was built in the 12th century

    • The vermillion color is considered to ward off evil spirits

    • There was a wedding ceremony taking place

    • Five Story Pagoda

      • Combines Japanese and Chinese styles of architecture

        • The entrance is in the Japanese style

        • The roof is in the Chinese style

October 18, 2023

  • Took the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Shin-Osaka station

  • Arrive in Osaka around 0930 and left suit cases at the Hotel, which was about a 5 minute walk from the station

  • Osaka Castle

    • Took a taxi to the castle

    • Visited inside the castle which had displays about the history of Osaka and Osaka Castle

    • 8th floor is an observation deck and was able to see all around Osaka

    • Walked around the castle perimeter

October 19, 2023

  • Checked out of hotel at 1000 and was picked up from the hotel at 1130

  • Lost my wallet in the bathroom but was able to reclaim it about 20 minutes later at the lost and found

  • Flight number UA34 from Osaka to San Francisco on United Airlines in a Boeing 777-200ER

Michael Cordier
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Costa Rica: July to August 2021