My train trip through Japan part 1/?
Finally got around to start sorting my photos from my trip to Japan. Here's a selection of the first two days of my 10 day tip. Not even a whole day in Tokyo yet, and I already made a ton of photos, heh. Saved me from having to write everything down;) Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Day 1: Flying from Amsterdam to Japan
Sunday October 6, 2019
Took the train to the Schiphol airport.
Custom and carry-on bag check went smoothly. Had been sitting in the boarding area for a while when suddenly my name popped up on the big monitor, eep. Turned out my passport needed a scan I missed by not checking in any luggage;) Ready for the plane!
Had pork cutlets for dinner, which gave me the Yuri on Ice fangirl giggles.
Saw a marvelous sunset, watched a movie (Shape of Water) and slept.
Day 2: Arrival in Tokyo: first train & temple
Monday October 7, 2019
First glimpse of Japan from the plane and.... tadaah!
Got my visitor's visa at customs and then went to the Japan Rail (JR) office to get my Japan Rail Pass!
Walked to station, bought an IC public transport card from the machine (not nervewracking at all;) and got on the train to Tokyo
Had to change from train to subway at Ueno station.
Took subway from Ueno to Tawaramachi to get to hotel in the Asakusa neighbourhood.
Left my backpack at hotel and walked down Kaminarimon Avenue towards the Tokyo Sky Tree (that big tower in the distance;)
Across the street is Kaminari-mon, the entrance to the Senso-Ji temple complex, where I will go later.
Oh, in my top 3 of things I love in Japan already: no smoking in the streets \o/
The end of Kaminarimon Avenue: me and the lucky cat:)
View of Tokyo Sky Tree across Sumida river.
Beautiful ceramics art in the little park near the river.
The manhole covers are also pretty;)
Loved the front of this restaurant.
Another picture of my shoes :-p
Back at the hotel I check into my room and experiment with that (in)famous Japanese toilet. Yes, I did try ALL the buttons. Niiiiiiiiiice.
After freshening up, I walk down Kaminarimon Avenue again. This time to get to the Sensō-Ji temple complex at the end of Nakamise-dōri. It's quite crowded there, but I see so many awesome things all over, I don't mind:)
Nakamise-dōri is full of shops where they sell souvenirs, food and also all sorts of charms for offerings and leads to
the big Hōzōmon gate.
The Five-Story Pagoda is 53m high (second highest in Japan).
The chōcin lantern in the centre of the gate is huge too.
On either side of the back of the gate are a pair of waraji (straw sandals) made by 800 villagers to scare off evil spirits.
Incense is burning in the big cauldron. You can cleanse yourself for prayer at this cool dragon temizuya (font).
Details of the Hondō (Main Hall)
I have changed shoes for this walk:) I did bring my guide book of course, but there's plenty of extra information given at the site. This is a statue of Uryu Iwako, a social worker at the end of the Edo Era and the beginning of the Meiji era(1829-1897)
Intriguing grave and sculpture.
When it gets darker, the lights go on in the Sensō-Ji; pretty!
There are also spotlights on the sandals on Hōzōmon gate.
With the lights on, the fierce Nio guardians on the front sides of the gate are even more impressive than by day! Nio always come in pairs and one will have an open mouth, the other closed.
The open-mouthed one is making the "a" sound and is known as "agyo" and the closed-mouth is making the "n" sound and is called "ungyo". These are the first and last syllables in Japanese and symbolize beginning and end, birth and death, equivalent to the alpha and omega in Greco-European culture.
[Source: JapanVisitor.com]
Close mouth style guardian by sculptor Muraoka Kyusaku (1964), made of cypress it is 5.45 m high and weighs almost 1000 kilograms!
Kaminarimon Avenue is also lit up; on my way back I pop into a department store to look for Yuri on Ice merch. I find some in the bargain bin, ahem.
I have dinner in a small diner, that has all the meals on display in a big cabinet. I choose "Ramen with oil sauce", which is served with pork, bamboo and a cold soft boiled egg.
Later I learned I should have stirred the egg into my ramen, like a sauce. Only thing I couldn't figure out how to eat were the strips of bamboo(?) They were too tough to chew. I loved all the other things:)
After one last look at the Kaminari-mon gate, I walk back to the hotel to sleep off my jet-lag:)
Good night.
To be continued...
Crossposted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/551244.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)
Day 1: Flying from Amsterdam to Japan
Sunday October 6, 2019
Took the train to the Schiphol airport.
Custom and carry-on bag check went smoothly. Had been sitting in the boarding area for a while when suddenly my name popped up on the big monitor, eep. Turned out my passport needed a scan I missed by not checking in any luggage;) Ready for the plane!
Had pork cutlets for dinner, which gave me the Yuri on Ice fangirl giggles.
Saw a marvelous sunset, watched a movie (Shape of Water) and slept.
Day 2: Arrival in Tokyo: first train & temple
Monday October 7, 2019
First glimpse of Japan from the plane and.... tadaah!
Got my visitor's visa at customs and then went to the Japan Rail (JR) office to get my Japan Rail Pass!
Walked to station, bought an IC public transport card from the machine (not nervewracking at all;) and got on the train to Tokyo
Had to change from train to subway at Ueno station.
Took subway from Ueno to Tawaramachi to get to hotel in the Asakusa neighbourhood.
Left my backpack at hotel and walked down Kaminarimon Avenue towards the Tokyo Sky Tree (that big tower in the distance;)
Across the street is Kaminari-mon, the entrance to the Senso-Ji temple complex, where I will go later.
Oh, in my top 3 of things I love in Japan already: no smoking in the streets \o/
The end of Kaminarimon Avenue: me and the lucky cat:)
View of Tokyo Sky Tree across Sumida river.
Beautiful ceramics art in the little park near the river.
The manhole covers are also pretty;)
Loved the front of this restaurant.
Another picture of my shoes :-p
Back at the hotel I check into my room and experiment with that (in)famous Japanese toilet. Yes, I did try ALL the buttons. Niiiiiiiiiice.
After freshening up, I walk down Kaminarimon Avenue again. This time to get to the Sensō-Ji temple complex at the end of Nakamise-dōri. It's quite crowded there, but I see so many awesome things all over, I don't mind:)
Nakamise-dōri is full of shops where they sell souvenirs, food and also all sorts of charms for offerings and leads to
the big Hōzōmon gate.
The Five-Story Pagoda is 53m high (second highest in Japan).
The chōcin lantern in the centre of the gate is huge too.
On either side of the back of the gate are a pair of waraji (straw sandals) made by 800 villagers to scare off evil spirits.
Incense is burning in the big cauldron. You can cleanse yourself for prayer at this cool dragon temizuya (font).
Details of the Hondō (Main Hall)
I have changed shoes for this walk:) I did bring my guide book of course, but there's plenty of extra information given at the site. This is a statue of Uryu Iwako, a social worker at the end of the Edo Era and the beginning of the Meiji era(1829-1897)
Intriguing grave and sculpture.
When it gets darker, the lights go on in the Sensō-Ji; pretty!
There are also spotlights on the sandals on Hōzōmon gate.
With the lights on, the fierce Nio guardians on the front sides of the gate are even more impressive than by day! Nio always come in pairs and one will have an open mouth, the other closed.
The open-mouthed one is making the "a" sound and is known as "agyo" and the closed-mouth is making the "n" sound and is called "ungyo". These are the first and last syllables in Japanese and symbolize beginning and end, birth and death, equivalent to the alpha and omega in Greco-European culture.
[Source: JapanVisitor.com]
Close mouth style guardian by sculptor Muraoka Kyusaku (1964), made of cypress it is 5.45 m high and weighs almost 1000 kilograms!
Kaminarimon Avenue is also lit up; on my way back I pop into a department store to look for Yuri on Ice merch. I find some in the bargain bin, ahem.
I have dinner in a small diner, that has all the meals on display in a big cabinet. I choose "Ramen with oil sauce", which is served with pork, bamboo and a cold soft boiled egg.
Later I learned I should have stirred the egg into my ramen, like a sauce. Only thing I couldn't figure out how to eat were the strips of bamboo(?) They were too tough to chew. I loved all the other things:)
After one last look at the Kaminari-mon gate, I walk back to the hotel to sleep off my jet-lag:)
Good night.
To be continued...
Crossposted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/551244.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)