Mani & I took the train to Kobe to check out the stunning illuminated harbor but we were sucked into the Bon Odori festivities happening on the same day. Food and beer stalls were everywhere. Surrounded by a sea of Kimono clad couples, on a small wooden stage, a group of lovely ladies were dancing to traditional music. It was great fun watching this 500-year-old tradition that is celebrated yearly to honor the spirits of their ancestors.
Suizen-ji Jōju-en is a traditional Japanese garden landscaped around a natural spring pond. It was built by the Hosokawa family in the 17th century. The most interesting aspect of the garden is that it reproduces the 53 post stations of the Tokaido, the road, which connected Tokyo with Kyoto during the Edo Period, in miniature form, including a small Mt. Fuji.
I love walking around Osaka Castle in the evenings. The castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who ruled Japan in the latter half of the 16th century. The stone walls and moats surround the castle separating it from the bustling city. As dusk sets in, the sodium lamps light up the pathways surrounding the castle. The weeping sakura leaves along the wide moat briskly sway in the wind and the castle itself looks like a fantasy structure from the mythical age of dragons.
Today we visit the Matsumoto Castle, one of four castles designated as ‘National Treasures’ of Japan with over 400 years of history. With the Japanese Alps in the the background and a red bridge connecting the surrounding moat, it is one of the most picturesque castles in all of Japan.
Today we head out to the Syorinzan Darumaji Temple in the Takasaki countryside. Constructed in 1697, the Zen temple is the birthplace of “Takasaki Daruma” dolls used as a talisman for good luck.
Today Mani & I visit the temples of Nikko in Tochigi. The vibrant temples at this World Heritage site are strikingly different in appearance from other temples I have witnessed in Japan. The lavishly decorated pillars and other structures are covered in a gold leaves and multitude carvings conveying expressions of religious belief as well as scholarship and philosophy.
Today, we arrived in Iwatsuki to explore the remarkable Togyoku dolls at the Tougyoku Dolls Museum. The town is renowned for its rich doll-making heritage, boasting over 300 skilled doll-makers. This tradition dates back to the 1700s when the town’s Paulownia trees were discovered to be ideal for woodcarving. Soon the town became a center for the production of hina dolls, and the tradition continues to this day.
While we were in Kanto, I went down to see the Saitama Railway Museum that recounts the history of railway in japan. Operated by the East Japan Railway Culture Foundation, the museum features about 30 railway cars from different years as they have evolved to the enigmatic Shinkansen of today.
Today we head up to the picturesque castle on a hilltop in downtown Chiba. The ruins of the Inohana Castle go back to early 1100’s when it was created by Chiba Tsuneshige, however the replica that stands today is from sketches of a late 16th century design that somewhat reduces the authenticity of the castle.
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