I’m finally back after spending two weeks in Japan. The main purpose of the trip was to visit family, and of course relax a bit and do sightseeing. Japan was a blast and I really didn’t want to come back home, but eventually my money supply was near empty. Things like that make you appreciate Hawaii, because things here are really much cheaper than in Japan. After a while I felt like I was paying for everything in Japan – things we take for granted here in Hawaii such as not having to pay toll when using a freeway, or paying to use the bathroom (well actually this was rare, I only encountered this when I was at Mount Fuji – there was a 50 – 100 yen charge to use the restroom). But other than that I loved being in Japan. This trip I was able to do a little bit of everything. I got to see Amusement parks, a zoo, many temples and shrines, an onsen, gardens, movies, Mount Fuji… The first leg of my trip was spent in Tokyo. Since I’ve already been to Tokyo many times, it wasn’t that much of a priority to see everthing here, plus I had the unfortunate luck of coming to Japan during the rainy season – most of the trip here was spent in doors or under an umbrella. Some of the highlights of the trip was going to Tama zoo (I was inspired to go to a zoo in Japan after reading Ryan’s posts). The zoo was okay. There was a safari like activity you could do in which you ride a bus so that you could see the lions in their den up close. In Tokyo we also visited the Imperial palace. I rented an apartment in Yotsuya, so the palace was actually in walking distance. The palace itself was of course closed to the public at this time. I believe the public is allowed to visit only twice a year but you are allowed to tour the grounds around it and view the beautiful gardens. Went to Toshimaen Amusement Park – although just to view the beautiful Ajisai flowers, the rides were closed that day. Got to visit Mount Fuji, we didn’t do the hike up however. We only went to the mountain base which was level 5. It was cold, and there was actually snow there.
Most of the main sightseeing was spent in the Kansai area. We visited both Kyoto and Osaka. Kyoto was a city rich in culture and history, and it was hot! The weather there actually reminded me of Hawaii! There we visited many temples and Shrines. We stayed at the Tokyu Kyoto Hotel (sorry, I forgot the name Shuzo!). The hotel was situated perfectly where we could actually walk to many of the famous shrines there. Directly next door to our hotel was Nishi Hongwanji. It was a grand big temple, but unfortunately when we were there, it was under construction. Most of the temples in Kyoto were the biggest I’ve seen in my experience in Japan. Close by to the Nishi Hongwanji was Higashi Hongwanji. This temple was also huge, and also under construction! We also visited the Shosei-en Garden which was created in relation to the Higashi Hongwanji. Next temple in line was Sanjusangen-do. This was also a grand temple famous for its 1001 statues of the Buddhist God Kannon. Lined in front of statues were it’s 28 guardian dieties. And finally for that day we ended it with visiting Toji Temple. It’s recognizable 5 tiered pagoda I’m told is usually identied with the city of Kyoto. What an exhausting day that was, but it was all worth it. The next days were spend visiting other temples such as Nomiya jinja, Kiyomizu temple, and Kinkaku ji. Kinkaku ji temple stood out the most because of its unique golden pavilion that adorns the grounds there. The pavilion itself is literally covered in gold, well at least the upper two tiers are covered in gold leaf from what I was told. In Osaka, unfortunately most all of our time was spent at the Universal Studios there, and doing all the rides. It was cool because the lines were not that long at all, so we were able to do most of the rides. At the T3 activity at Universal Studios, there was little bit of interplay between audience, and I was asked by the lady conducting the activity where I was from. I yelled “Hawaii” at first but she didn’t understand probably because of my American intonation. When I yelled “Hawaii” a second time she understood and asked the audience to give an applause for the lone foreigner in the crowd so that was kind of nice. But anyway, in retrospect the trip was both fun and exhausting. I got to see a lot of places and eat a lot of good food. I definitely can’t wait until my next trip back.