Japan 2014 : Yoyogi Park and Meiji-jingu

Last day in Tokyo - where should I go? After considering the options, I went with Doraemon Museum and Meiji-jingu (Meiji Shrine). However, on my way to the shrine, I stumbled upon Yoyogi Park because I stopped at the wrong stop.

Yoyogi Park is one of the largest city parks in Tokyo and clearly with the crowds around, it is one of the best place to spend your free time with friends in a lush green environment, surrounded by ponds and wide lawns. 

That weekend also happened to be a celebration before the national stadium in Tokyo is demolished to make way for the new stadium. It also coincides with South American festival, and there were loads of foreigners and little kiosks selling food from those countries. There were a lot of locals who join in the fun too! 

There were a lot of people at the park as well. Most of them were families with small kids so they're out playing frisbee or any games with balls, and some were youths playing guitar and singing along in the park. The whole environment is just so warm and friendly. 

Yoyogi Park is located just next to Meiji Shrine so if you're on a visit to the shrine, just stop by and enjoy the greenery in this busy city! 

At the shrine at long last! This is a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his consort.  

Just like most shrines, there were sake displayed but at Meiji Shrine, I noticed that there's also wine on display. I wonder if it's a contribution from foreign dignitaries to the Japanese. 

There are also some exhibits along the way to the main complex of the shrine from the main torri gate to educate visitors about the emperor, his consort and also some details on the shrine itself. 

This shrine was destroyed during WWII but was rebuild shortly after that. The architecture and the structure of the main complex is really pretty, and carries along this vintage-elegant feeling. 

As with the many other shrines in Japan, many visitors will purchase the little tablets to write their wishes and to hang near the rack provided. 

Meiji Shrine is also a favourite place among the locals to hold their traditional Shinto wedding ceremony. Other occasion where the shrine is a favourite is during new year for the locals to perform their first prayers (hatsumode). 

Meiji Shrine is only about 5-10 minutes walk from JR Harajuku station. Do not miss out this place!

Japan 2014 : Fujiko.F.Fuji Museum (Doraemon Museum)

A shoutout to Doraemon fans out there! Do you know that there's a special museum dedicated to the creator of Doraemon in Japan? If you don't already know this, then sit up and read on!  

This museum is located in Kawasaki city, approximately 40 minutes from Tokyo city. You can take a train to either JR Shukugawara or JR Noborito station and walk there. It takes about 15-20 minutes walk and you'll be guided by road signs like the picture above to get you there.

Along the way, you'll also be accompanied by the characters in Doraemon's manga, especially when you're quite near to the museum.

Alternatively, board the shuttle bus from Noborito station for 210Y per trip. It is about 5 minutes ride to the museum. Most of the city buses are designed with Doraemon or characters that Mr Fujiko drew in the past. 

One thing to note is to buy your tickets in advance. The museum does not sell tickets so you've gotta purchase it in advance from Lawson convenience stores. The entrance times are 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm on a daily basis and it costs 1000Y to get in for adult.

Before you enter the museum itself, there will be some rule and guidance that you'll need to observe. For one, photography is absolutely not allowed in most of the exhibition halls except for the children's area and the outdoor playground. Secondly, you're to keep quiet when you're in the museum but this is hardly observed especially when there are many children in your group.

Each visitor will be provided with this audio guide (there are English ones) and also a short movie ticket for a preview of the upcoming movie in Japanese in exchange with the entrance ticket stub.

This is part of the children's area where photography is allowed. There is also a reading section where there are many manga produced by Mr Fujiko on the shelves for visitors to read. Unfortunately they're all in Japanese.

The outdoor playground has 3 main areas for photography with the characters and it would be unsurprising to see a queue especially on weekends. However, there are not many characters that are available for photography, unlike say the 100 Years to Doraemon's birth exhibition that has been carried out worldwide.

And just like any other theme based museum, there will be souvenir shops where you can buy the merchandise or the characters that you like best. Since it's Japan, these products which nicely packaged will not fail to impress visitors.

If you're an avid fan and you can read Japanese, I think you should visit to have an appreciation of the original work that was drawn in the past. The museum does some conservation work by having duplicates of the original drawing so that they can rotate the exhibits to avoid them from degrading. The original artworks are generally done using watercolour so if it is put out for a long time, it will fade. In this regard, the lights in the exhibition halls are also dimmed to avoid the colours from fading too fast.

Do hop by for a visit if you're in Tokyo, particularly if you're interested in knowing the works of Mr Fujiko!

Japan 2014 : Takayama and Shirakawa-go

Have you been to this part of paradise on earth? I've only learned about Shirakawa-go just before I left for Japan. It feels a little like the hobbit of Japan. This historic village was declared as UNESCO world heritage site in 1995 and it boasts of its beautiful Gassho houses that are over 2 centuries old.

To get there, you could either take a public bus or a tour from Takayama or a direct coach from Nagoya. We went with option 2, since we could get a train to Takayama on JR Pass and pay only half the cost to get to the gassho houses.  

Upon arrival at JR Takayama station, you'll be greeted by a tourist information kiosk and Sarubobo. Sarubobo is actually a Japanese amulet, which is in a human shape and has no facial expression. In the past, it was given by the grandmothers to the grandchildren as dolls, or as a good luck charm to the daughters who are looking for partner to settle down.

Right opposite the station, you can see a few souvenir shops which sell the local produce. In Japan, most places sell local produce which you can hardly get at other shops - even at the airport - unless it is some big chain names. 

This is a homemade matcha red bean ice cream. The weather was really hot as we roam about the little town of Takayama while waiting for the time to start our tour to Shirakawa-go.

Some of the local delicacies include skewers and also this pao looking thing. I never get a chance to try since I was looking for a proper lunch. 

In Takayama, most of the old streets are still very well maintain. You can also chance upon art galleries where the local artists gather their art work for display. They are usually the older generation who still remain in this quaint little town.

To get to Shirakawa-go, you could take the Nohi public bus or join a tour with iSite. The tour with iSite costs 4000Y per person for a 2-hour return trip to Shirakawa-go. The journey to Shirakawa-go takes about an hour and the tour is about 2 hours before they depart from Shirakawa-go back to Takayama. We chose to go with iSite, mainly because it was a lot easier to get to the observatory site to view the village from afar. Only tour operated buses can get to the observatory site while the rest of the tourist can get there on foot.

It turns out to be a blessing in disguise because just as many of the less touristy places in Japan, there are not many signage in English which explains about the Gassho houses. Joining a tour helps to understand a little better before we reach the village since we were provided with some cards on the history and the details of those Gassho houses. 

The overview of the village from the observatory site. It was quite a view indeed, with the remaining 100 or so Gassho houses in sight.

After that, the tour bus will bring us to the main bus stop where we will cross a suspension bridge to get across to the village. 

Most of the Gassho houses are still resided by the local. It appears to be a self-sustaining village with agricultural activities in place. Further, I think the location of the village is quite far from town, so it is difficult to get some basic needs if they're not self-sufficient. We were also told that the village only has a primary school. Therefore, children who intend to continue their studies will have to travel 2 hours to and fro Takayama on a daily basis to attend the secondary school there. This could also be the reason why there are lesser younger generation staying on in the village. 

It doesn't come by surprise that the houses are highly flammable. The roofs are generally made of dried leaves and hays and so if the weather is too hot, it can get dangerous for the villagers. We do notice that some of the houses have their traditional roofs replaced with a modern ones. According to the tour guide, the roof replacement activities usually happen once in every 3 decades. It takes about 2 weeks to prepare one side of the traditional roof and another 2 weeks for the other side. 

There are 3 main Gassho houses that are popular among the tourists. Our tour guide suggested that we visit Kanda house, mainly because most of the houses are the same and there are English signage for the exhibits in Kanda house.  

There's a fee to pay for each house and typically it's 300Y. For Kanda house, the only exception is that you can drink free flow of tea if you want, as it is served on the ground floor. Kanda house is about 4-storey high and each storey, you'll see the exhibits of the tools that are used in their daily activities such as agricultural activities or even weaving for the ones at home. 

Some of these exhibits are still in good condition. It does feel very nostalgic as most of the tools used are wooden tools which are probably harder to get these days. 

The Gassho houses are very popular especially in documentaries. Here is a plate that shows how frequent Kanda house has featured in the local documentary. 

If you're up to view another part of Japan altogether, apart from the big and bright cities, do plan a visit to Shirakawa-go and enjoy the train trip on the way to Takayama. I truly enjoyed all the scenery along the way from Nagoya to Takayama and trust that you will feel the same! 

Japan 2014 : Central Kyoto - captivating place

Having visited the western and southern part of Kyoto, I went back to Central Kyoto again after 6 years. For first time travelers, it would be a good idea to get the Kyoto City Bus day pass. Basically in Kyoto, the fare is a flat 200Y for each time you board the bus. If you were to buy the day pass where you can board unlimited times during the day for 500Y, it'll be all the more worth while. Now, even Arashiyama is covered! The link to the city bus coverage can be found here.

This is one of the gates that will bring you to the Kyoto Imperial Park. There's a bus stop on the sight seeing route which will stop near this gate so it's probably going to be on your to-do list. Do note that you can only visit the grounds of the palace if you're booked on the tour and the only English tour is available twice a day. Check out the timing before you go so you don't feel disappointed!

From there, we took the sight seeing city bus again and we passed by this beautiful scenery enroute to Shimogamo shrine. One thing good about the bus is that it is a pretty comprehensive network such that there are at least 2 buses that will head to the touristy location so you don't have to worry about missing the only bus. 

A word of caution though - the above map does not tell you the exact bus stop. Some bus stops share the same name so you'll need to observe for a map near the bus stop to know if you're actually at the right stop to transit to another bus, if that is your plan. 

Shimogamo Shrine (下鴨神社) is another Shinto shrine. Its formal name is Kamo-mioya-jinja (賀茂御祖神社).

The shrine is located at the junction of the Takano and Kamo rivers. If I get the information right, there are 53 buildings in total and they're all part of the important cultural buildings.

It is a reminiscent of the historical and dynastic culture of Kyoto. The outer part of the temple is free for anyone to access but if you want to further explore the grounds of the shrine, you'll have to pay an admission fee of 500Y. 

The next place we visited was the Yasaka Shrine. It is right at Gion, and it was once called the Gion shrine. 

Remember in my previous posts, I mention that you can shake a bottle and then get the number interpreted? This is how it looks like and apparently you can choose based on the subject that you're asking for. It could be studies, relationship or work etc. 

This shrine is actually very famous for its summer activities. If you're planning to visit in July, be sure not to miss out the Gion Matsuri celebration. It involves a grand procession with many participants. 

We visited the Higashiyama area next. Higashiyama is an old part of Kyoto where most parts of its aisle and streets are still in cobblestones. It reminded me a little of Bukchon Hanok in Seoul as there are still local residents living there although there dare curious visitors and tourists looking around on a daily basis.

As you explore, you're bound to find a few more smaller shrines and temples along the way. 

This would be the old Higashiyama street which you'll see in several web pages that introduces Kyoto to you. It is very near the Yasaka Pagoda.

This structure is also commonly known as the Ho-kanji Temple and it is a symbol of the Higashiyama district. This is the oldest pagoda in Kyoto and the roof design is special to protect the structure from rain and strong wind. The very roof structure is also known as the honkawara-buki style. 

Just opposite the pagoda, you'll find this tiny little shop that is also the Museum of Music boxes. You can find many miniature cute souvenirs in it. 

This beats the puppy eyes anytime right? So cute! 

I've actually never seen a yuzu tree before prior to my visit so it was a pure pleasure to find it planted in the compound of the Yasaka Pagoda. 

We wrapped up our Kyoto Trip by visiting the glorious Kinkakuji. The Golden Pavilion is designated as a world cultural heritage site. The current structure was rebuilt in 1955, after the structure was unfortunately set ablaze by a fanatic monk in 1950.

And that wraps up our adventure in Kyoto. Thanks for the wonderful time, Kyoto!