mit_souko

: mit_souko; May 10th, 17:02

My last stop on Shikoku was Takamatsu, where I unfortunately had only one afternoon. I was planning to visit Ritsurin Koen, one of the best gardens in Japan. I was staying at a hotel by the station. From there, it is about 2.5km to Ritsurin. One has the choice of taking a local train, or walking. In the latter case, I suggest going down the shopping arcades, which start near the castle [not far from the station] and finish near the garden. They are over 2km long, and supposed to be the longest in Japan.

I truly liked this garden. Of course, it didn't hurt that it was a nice sunny day!

near the entrance, cypresses and cherry trees

a mass of irises

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a view of the hills

part of the tea house

a couple of bridges nearby

Another bridge. The lake is quite large and free form, so there are a number of bridges.

irises in a stream, which has wonderfully clear water

an unexpected group of sago palms [at least, I think that's what they are]

one more bridge.

This is a really beautiful garden, but it is huge. In addition, I got lost at some point and had to retrace my steps. So, after wandering about for a long time, I was completely exhausted and opted to just take a taxi back. There is a lovely pastry shop in the lobby of the hotel, where I purchased the delicious cakes necessary to recover.

The next day I had the long train ride back to Tokyo, and one last day of shopping before heading home.

Uwajima and Kotohira

: mit_souko; May 7th, 20:34

I still had some time in Uwajima, so I decided to go visit Taga-jinja. This is a very ancient Shinto fertility shrine. On the way there I passed on a bridge over the little river, and saw one of those ever present egrets:

Here is the courtyard of the shrine

slightly peculiar statues...

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And then, the main shrine, which is a rather small building with a very noticeable symbol.

I will spare you the view of other rather err, obvious statues. Next door is the sex museum. I confess abstaining from a visit. For those interested, the entry fee is Y800, and it costs Y20,000 [!!!] if you want to take pictures.

I stayed overnight in Matsuyama, but, as I reported on it on another occasion, I will skip it this time. So next stop was Kotohira. I was lucky with the weather there. The sky was promising that evening

and indeed, the next day was lovely, clear, not too warm, and with a light breeze. This encouraged me to climb the 785 steps to the main shrine of Kompira-san. [It is another 1000 to the inner shrine, where I didn't go]. I had posted pictures of my last visit, but here are a few more

a fountain, on the way up

the main shrine

side view of the shrine

I was staying at a truly wonderful ryokan, the Sakura-no-Sho. It has one of the best onsen baths I have been to. There is not only a large main pool, but also two outside small ones. The first had bags of oranges floating in it for the scent

the other has lovely roses, with the nicest perfume

I really hated to leave. The rooms are super comfortable and the food delicious, as you might expect.

But I was a traveler on a schedule, so I left for my next and last stop on Shikoku, Takamatsu. I will report on it in my next post.

Tosa Kure and Uwajima

: mit_souko; May 5th, 20:42

The next stop after Kochi was Tosa Kure. The train I boarded to get there was the shortest I have ever been on: only one car! Unfortunately, it was raining lightly all the way there, and the clouds were so low I saw little of the scenery.

Here is the view from my window at the ryokan:

and on the other side, Tosa Kure harbor

The next morning, it was still raining, and I left with few regrets for Uwajima.

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I arrived there with pouring rain, and was very grateful for my hotel being just above the station. The next day, while it was overcast, at least it didn't rain, so I set off to visit sites. First was the smallish Uwajima castle, which is the original one.

From the castle, there is a pretty good view of the surrounding countryside.

I went on to the Date Museum, Date being the family that ruled the area from the early 17th century to the Meiji Restoration. It has an interesting collection. There is a small garden outside, where some wisteria was blooming.

From there, it was a short walk to a beautiful garden, Tensha-en. It was designed in the mid 19th century. The Date lord who designed it loved wisteria and bamboo, so they are much in evidence. The wisteria smelled delicious!

the lake seen through some bamboo

a white wisteria bridge

a path by the bamboo grove.

To be continued!

More about Kochi

: mit_souko; May 3rd, 17:40

Of course the nice weather helped, but I quite liked Kochi. Here are some more pictures of the castle and some of the city.

roof detail

a curious bird adorning another roof

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clipped cypresses and a distant view of the mountains over the wall

last cherry blossoms, Kochi

visitors at the top of Kochi castle

irises near the gate

hanamizuki [pink dogwood] in town, Kochi

a "pocket park" , near a famous old bridge.

This is katsuo tataki, or lightly seared bonito, a delicious specialty of the Kochi area. Worth the trip!

I will post some more about Shikoku in a day or two.

Japan April 2012

: mit_souko; May 3rd, 11:36

I was in Japan again the second half of April. Just a couple of days in Tokyo, and then I headed down to Shikoku. I had a glimpse of the latter 4 years ago, but had only visited the northern part, so this time I wanted to see the south of the island as well.

The first day it was cold, with pouring rain and wind. It was spent doing duty errands: ATM, JR station to reserve seats for my trip, and then refuge at the Times Square shopping area. Found a great sushi restaurant on the 13th floor, Tsukuji Tama Zushi. It's part of a chain, very friendly and I found the sushi excellent. It is quite popular.

The next day I took the train at Shinjuku to Kamakura in the hope of attending the yabusame competition [horseback archery]. The train got progressively more crowded, and when we got to Kamakura, all these people got off with me and we marched towards Hachiman Shrine, where the competition takes place. Of course, I knew it would be well attended. The bad part was that up arrival, we found an even bigger crowd was already there.

People trying to circulate...

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I managed to make my way to the track. There were already a number of people firmly encamped there.

Too late!

I realized that a group of the chosen few had tickets which gave them access to seats near the track.

The privileged are over on the right. You can glimpse a still blooming sakura above.

Another sakura, with half its blooms floating on the pond...

At least I saw an archer, who was obligingly posing for photos.

He is in the requisite regalia.

You have to know when to admit defeat. It was almost noon, and more people kept arriving, though now a certain number were giving up and trying to head to the exit. I did the same, and decided to go eat lunch at a pleasant looking soba place I had noticed on the way in. I got there just in time! Minutes after my arrival, the place was packed, with a line waiting. I enjoyed my zaru soba, got back on the train to Shinjuku, and just spent the afternoon shopping. at Takashimaya, Uniqlo, Tokyu Hands, etc., etc.

The next day was Shinkansen to Kobe, where I boarded a bus for Tokushima. I had opted for the bus as it goes over the long bridge to Shikoku and I was hoping for beautiful views of the Inland Sea. Alas, low clouds and drizzle, visibility nil. I had been to Tokushima before, so it didn't matter too much. Just stayed overnight and headed south to Kochi.

I was much luckier there as the clouds lifted and I had a bright sunny day. Kochi is quite an agreable city. I headed to the castle, which is, naturally on a hill with a fair number of steps leading to it.

It is a fairly imposing castle. One interesting item is that it is the only castle in Japan where the lord's apartments have been preserved.

More to come soon!

Tarte aux poires

: mit_souko; March 15th, 14:12

For once, I remembered to photograph a dessert before it got eaten! So here is my pear almond tart:

This is a very traditional French recipe. It did turn out pretty tasty.

Kyoto [continued], Tokyo

: mit_souko; November 3rd, 2011

On my last day in Kyoto, I decided to go back to Sanjusangendo and to Shôsei-en. I will not post pictures of Sanjusangendo because I have before. Shôsei-en is a rather large strolling garden about 8 blocks north east of Kyoto Station.

That morning started off fairly sunny:

View of the roof of Kyoto Station [and a fragment of Kyoto Tower] as seen from my hotel window.

But of course, by the time I got to Shôsei-en it had clouded over, though the air was warm.

a covered bridge

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another bridge

a resident heron

stone bridge

This is probably not the best time to visit the garden, as later it has colorful maples, sakura in the spring, and waterlilies in the summer. But I think it is always lovely.

I then returned to Tokyo and found time to walk over to Shinjuku Gyoen, a large park an easy walk from Shinjuku Station's South Exit.

one of the ponds

Kindergarten kids having a picnic. Actually I saw many people having lunches on benches or on the grass

the skyscrapers are close by!

a Chinese style tea house

I saw several early camellias in bloom [the single-flowered sassanquas]

pink camellia [with visitor]

Last view of Tokyo from my 31rst floor window [the large dark mass is Meiji Park]

As usual, I was sorry to leave, but I shall return!

Kyoto and Nara

: mit_souko; November 1st, 2011

I had a few days in Kyoto after visiting Izu. I met my friend Aya-san, and we went to discover Chishaku-in temple. I had seen it mentioned somewhere, and her mother highly recommended we visit it. She was right! I was awed by the beautiful garden and the gorgeous paintings inside.

They are actually in the residential areas of the temple. These paintings, by Hasegawa Tohaku and his son, are of the 16th century and were originally in a temple built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. That temple was destroyed in 1615 and the paintings moved to Chishaku-in. Unfortunately, the sliding screen areas were smaller, so several were cut, and sometimes the design is interrupted.

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There are also some panels done in delicate pen and ink, but photos of them were not allowed.

Then we strolled through the garden.

There is even a little Zen area.

We had lunch at a very pleasant little restaurant, and then went on to Nara. Aya-san took me to see Hannya-ji, which is rather unique in having a garden filled withe cosmos flowers.

Then we walked over to Isuien, one of the most beautiful gardens in Nara. It is unfortunate that it had gotten cloudy, and that spoiled some of the pictures. Along the way we met a couple of deer standing on the sidewalk.

a tea house

mossy carpet

pond crossing

hint of fall

The next day I went to Shôsei-en, then returned to Tokyo the following day. I will post these last photos soon.

More about Shuzenji

: mit_souko; October 31st, 2011

I had several agreeable walks around Shuzenji. The shrine is fairly attractive.

purification fountain

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I rather liked several stone statues near the building.

A version of Hotei [the "laughing Buddha].

Then I went to Yoriie's grave.

this is Shigetsuden, a library for Buddhist sutras that Hojo Masako, Yoriie's mother, had built in prayer for the repose of her son's soul. It is the oldest wooden structure in Izu [early 1200s]

From there, I went to look at Tokko no yu, next to the Katsura river. It's the oldest hot spring in Izu and a symbol of Shuzenji. The name derives from the legend of it springing after Kobo Dashi hit a rock with a stick. Unfortunately, nowadays it can only be used for a foot bath.

the footbath is under the little wooden structure near the building

One goes walking along the Katsura river on the Chikunin no Komichi. There is a pretty bamboo grove.

one of the bridges seen through the bamboo

blooming camellia shrubs

and tricyrtis [toad lily]. Those are fall blooming a bit orchid like flowers, very easy to grow.

Next, Kyoto and Nara!

Izu

: mit_souko; October 31st, 2011

Shimoda seemed a relatively quiet town. They have a helpful Tourist Information office, where I got lots of brochures, bus schedules and maps. I took the recommended walk through town and saw the usual temples and shrines, but nothing remarkable. It has a busy harbor.

Of course, the bay has totally changed since the days of commodore Perry.

I took a cross country bus from Shimoda to Dogashima on the western Izu coast. It was a nice ride, as the mountains and forests of Izu are very pretty. Unfortunately, public buses do not stop for photo ops!

In Dogashima, you can take an excursion boat to sight see along the coast, which I duly did. It was a fun and interesting trip. The coast is attractive, with lots of little islands [slightly reminiscent of Matsushima], and many natural caves.

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cave entrances

a low arch

the interior of a cave

Next, I traveled to Shuzenji up in the interior. It is where Yoritomo and Masoko escaped to when her father opposed their marriage. It is the site of a old temple founded by Kobo Dashi. It also has the grave of Minamoto no Noriyori, a younger brother of Yoritomo's, obliged in 1194 to commit suicide, and of Yoritomo's son Yoriie. The latter was poisoned by order of his Hojo grandfather for showing too much independence as a young shogun. Clearly, being a brother of Yoritomo's and possible rival was dangerous. Yoshitsune had already died because of it. And then later the Hojo clan was avid for power and ruthless.

This is the view to the right from my balcony at the ryokan, overlooking the Katsura river/

and looking to the left. There is a small bamboo grove across the river.

The Arai ryokan where I stayed dates to the Meiji era and is very traditional. It has lovely buildings connected by bridges and galleries, with pretty gardens.

I will continue soon with Shuzenji.

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