Niisan was supposed to leave Japan today - but his flight was cancelled so now both of us are returning to the UK on the 28th of April - assuming that that doesn't get delayed as well. So thats 6 extra days in Japan, but its still a bit unclear who is going to be paying for it...

Like a true Uchiha sibling, I currently have the eyes of eyes only for my Nii-san, therefore I will not be updating until he leaves again in three weeks time.

I am sure you are devastated and will swear a bloody veneance, ^__*

For the final part of Mike Japanese adventure we took the Shinkansen to Sendai and hired a car for 5 days, to explore the northern part of Honshu, Tohoku. I have to say I think this is my favorite part of Japan, with the Wakayama prefecture coming in close second.  That said I haven't been to large portions of the South (like Shikoku or Kyushu or ( Read more... )

The next part of Mike trip to Japan was to walk a section of the Nakasendo, in the Kiso Valley - this is the old highway that used to link Kyoto and Edo (now Tokyo). A section of think still remains, with to towns at either end that have been restored to how they would of been during that time. The first stop was Magomes where we stayed in a ( Read more... )

Right, sorry posting has been a bit failiant since Mike arrive in Japan, but he left today and I have a lot to cover and I will try my best to catch up in the next 36 hours before Nii-san arrives and then well theres practically no chance I will even get dressed let alone turn on my laptop. ^__^ (and ^/_\^ I should think...)

First was the 4th day of ( Read more... )

For our third day in Kyoto we again headed out for a day trip to the nearby town on Uji, on our way to Nara. Uji is the home of Byodo-in which is low wooden building shaped like a bird, which is shown on the 10 Yen coin, and houses a very ornate Buddha surrounded by lots of bodhisattvas playing instruments and dancing etc. These are amazing ( Read more... )

The next day we headed over to the North West side of Kyoto, where a large number of temples set in gardens are scattered about the quiet, hilly streets of the outskirts of town.  We visited Ryoan ji which has a famous Zen garden, and Gingaku-ji aka the golden pavilion which is a blinding shiny temple set on large pond that is also a very well ( Read more... )

Right; sorry I have not been updating very much recently, but since Mike got here it has been pretty hectic and I haven’t had my laptop with me so much.

Mike arrived on Sunday morning two weeks ago, and on his couple of days we stayed in Toyko and went around a few places in Shinjuku, and the Happoen Park and Ebisu.

Then we took the Shinkansen ( Read more... )

Today, I travelled to Ise to visit the most important Shinto temple in Japan, that of Amaterasu. Again, not the unquenchable black flames of the Uchiha brothers, but one of the primary deity, or omi-kami, of Shintoism, the sun Goddess.  She is said to dwell here, after requesting that her shrine be moved from Kyoto to a more secluded location. The ( Read more... )

Koya-san is the home of Shingon Buddhism within Japan, read my Atheists’ Guide to Buddhism for an explanation of what that means.

Kobo Daishi formed a monastery here in the in the 9th century and the sect is still doing strong which there now being a fast number of temples that have developed into a small town. Even to getting to Koya san is ( Read more... )