Japan...again it was the contrasts that provoked thoughts: modern yet traditional; simple yet comfortable; fluid yet steadfast; and relaxing yet stressful! We learned to bow to express thanks, apologies, greetings, departures, and whenever else it seemed appropriate. I will certainly miss this respectful gesture...oh and the ritualistic bathing in onsens!
Japanese script...after these days, I have a new found respect for people who can read these characters. They appear to be an art form and often fall like willow branches on signs and in books.
A look down on the largest metropolitan area in the world with over 30 million residents: Tokyo.
A Tokyo street from one of the many times we were lost. Curiously not all streets are identified at intersections and addresses are based on the date the structure was built, rather than the location. All this on top of the fact that most retail is transacted through shops and restaurants that are quite small by U.S. standards and thereby, often unknown by residents.
A somewhat revolting photo from our early morning foray to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. This is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world, handling more than 400 different types of seafood from tiny sardines to 300 kg tuna and from cheap seaweed to the most expensive caviar. 15.1 billion yen are exchanged here every day. It is no small marvel that more tourists are not injured (or worse) by the mechanized moving carts!
Giddy and perhaps a litte too gleeful about water, tea, and juice vending machines on every-other street corner.
Another Japanese garden...restful, thought-provoking, and plentiful.
Purchasing a melon flavored snow cone on the touristy entrance to the Sensoji temple in Asakusa, Tokyo...200 yen was never better spent! Hmmm...commercialization and religion...a logical yet perverse combination.
A pagota...I could likely fill an entire blog space with pictures of the pagotas, gates, bells, lecture halls, and main halls of the Buddhist temples or the torii, kamainu (guardian dogs or lions), purification troughs, halls, and stages of the Shinto shrines we visited.
"Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company." Zen Haiku
One of the hazards of not being able to read Kanji script is determining exactly what you are purchasing. In any regard, some of the small markets were works of arts themselves.
A trip to the Ueno Park zoo in Tokyo (for a panda viewing) redefined my symbol for obesity. Just don't ask about the penguins.
How could we not take the opportunity to paddle a swan boat around Ueno Park...reminiscent of Sun Lakes exploits when we were younger (and could steer better)!
Before departing for Kamakura, we enjoyed a kabuki play...somewhat bizarre theater...perhaps an English interpretation could have been useful?!
Kamakura is a small beach town surrounded by mountains on three sides and Sagami bay on the fourth. I would have loved to have time to learn to surf the friendly waves here!
Japanese cemetary...crowded yet elegant.
Great Buddha at Kotoku-in located in Kamkura. Curiously, visitors are allowed to take pictures of his hollow innards.
Amy negotiating the Kanji symbols with the clerk in Hakone on our staple of onigiri (rice triangle wrapped in dried seaweed, filled with ume, kelp, or bits of meat). Mini-marts (yes, 7-11 and am/pm) are a source of quality food there...and chocolate...another staple!
Mt. Fujiya hotel in Hakone by Miyanoshita built in 1878 describes itself as "the first and finest in resort hotels in Japan". The onsen was grand, though it is hard to beat a good futon and buckwheat-hull-filled-pillow in a simple ryokan.
Umbrella locks in Hakone-Yumoto...what a novelty!
These vermillion torii line the hiking paths through the bamboo forest on the hill leading to the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. This is one of the better-known shrines in Kyoto, and because of such was featured in Memoirs of a Geisha.
Sushi via conveyor belt in the heart of a sushi-loving country...delectable!
Warm evening in Kyoto on the river.
The Tabohashi family...being in their home on Sunday in Kyoto was both special and an experience!
After jogging to make the the bullet train from Kyoto and successfully navigating the Tokyo station in the allowed 10 minutes (seemingly record-breaking for a foreigner) for the connection to Chiba, Lucile and Sumako met me for lunch. Lovely...though I would have loved to spend more time with them!
Documentation that we are still smiling after 10 days together, a multitude of curious experiences, 12 hours of travel, and 20 hours without sleep of any quality (another smile).And so...here is my respectable bow to you for reading this far...
+of+room+040.jpg)
