Work has been keeping me pretty occupied recently so I have not been able to get anywhere for the blog so I decided to do the first in a "Best of" series. I will add to this series from time to time with a different theme or an update to an existing theme. The first in the "best of" series will be about Japanese nature.
When I first came to Japan, 16 years ago, I had the impression that Japan was a concrete jungle. All skyscrapers and neon, shiny, plastic and new. Maybe most people who come to Japan are under the same impression and there is a lot of that. But scratch beneath the surface and there is a whole lot more waiting to be found. Get away from the cities and you will be surprised. There is a whole lot of beautiful nature here and living in these big cities makes the Japanese appreciate all of the beautiful nature around them. They cherish it and protect it, wanting to maintain and preserve it for generations to come. Following are just a few photos I have taken to highlight some of the naturally beautiful places that I have been to. Let's start with Japan's 2 favourite seasons.
Spring time means only one thing in Japan. Cherry blossom time! Time to get out and enjoy the flower that has come to symbolise the country more than any other. One of the best things about Cherry blossom time is that you don't have to get out of the city to see it! The following couple of photos were taken in Yanaka cemetery, in the middle of Tokyo.
This next one was taken near the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo.
Cherry blossom season is also party time. Troops of office workers march out of offices and into nearby parks setting down picnic mats and eating and drinking to their hearts content, enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms. Now in a city as big as Tokyo, that means a lot of people as this photo from Yoyogi Park shows.
But the crowds are never an issue as everyone is simply out enjoying the season just like the folk on the picnic mat next to them. It is a fun, festive atmosphere.
You can find some full blog posts about cherry blossom season here, here and here.
The other season that is celebrated is autumn. With autumn comes autumn leaves as everywhere in Japan is turned into a sea of reds, oranges and yellows! This first photo is at the foot of Mount Takao, within the limits of Tokyo.
You can read more about Mount Takao here.
The next 2 were taken at Nikko a beautiful town less than 2 hours by train from Ueno in the north of Tokyo. Nikko is home to an area of temples and Shrines that is World heritage listed.
To check out more about Nikko, check out some past blog posts here, here and here.
Last year in July I escaped Tokyo and headed deep into Nagano. Nagano is an area of Japan that I love and that is rich in natural beauty. Here are a couple of photos taken from that trip. This first one is a river running through a beautiful, old, small town called Tsumago. The day we visited was the day after a typhoon had passed through and there had been a little rain that had fallen.....
Just a little.....
Nearby Tsumago is the quaint old town of Magome and on the outskirts of Magome I was greeted with this view.
Stunning! This trip was made in July, just after rainy season, so the greens were so deep and vivid! You can read some more about and enjoy some more pictures of these 2 stunning towns here.
A little further north into Nagano is Togakushi, in the mountains outside of Nagano city. I went here on the same trip as Tsumago and Magome. These next couple of photos are of some huge old cedar trees in the area.
Not too far away from this area was a beautiful lake called Kagami ike, or mirror lake.
I am told that early on a still morning, the view here is spectacular! Unfortunately, I am not such a morning person...... Anyway, you can read some more about Togakushi here.
Now, not all of this stunning nature is found outside of Tokyo. The big city has it's fair share of hidden gems too. One such place is Todoroki valley, a hidden oasis of green in the sleepy suburbs of Setagaya.
On a hot summers day, a visit to Todoroki Valley is just the cure! Check more out about Todoroki Valley here.
Just a couple of months ago I had the pleasure of visiting Ise in Mie prefucture. Ise is home to one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan. It also has a stunning river running through the town.
Please feel free to read more about Ise and it's beautiful shrine here, here, and here.
The final photos I would like to share with you come from an area just outside the beautiful old city of Kyoto. The area is called Arashiyama and is famous for its natural beauty, especially in autumn when the area becomes a patchwork of vivid autumn colours. It is, however, a beautiful place to visit any time of year. One of the other things Arashiyama is famous for is its bamboo walkway.
I was lucky enough to visit the area a day after a typhoon had stormed through the area (I swear I don't plan these things!) so it was not at all busy. Continuing on past the end of the bamboo walkway I found this little hidden gem.
This place was simply stunning and nearby was a temple or shrine as I could hear the bell sounding every 30 seconds or so. I sat here for a good 5 minutes just taking in as much of the tranquillity as I could. What a find this place was!
Also in the Arashiyama area is a river called Katsura river. I reached the other side of the river at around dusk and it proved for some wonderful photos. Here are just a couple of them.
I did manage to get another photo while I was here and this is one of the most beautiful photos I have taken, although, quite a different kind of beautiful!
If you would like to read more about Arashiyama and Kyoto, you can find their blog posts here and here.
Well, I think that will do it for this post. I hope you enjoyed that photographic tour. As I said at the start of the post, there will be more posts with the "Best of" theme so please keep an eye out for them. Thanks again for reading. Please leave a comment and share the blog with someone you know who will enjoy it.
Se you next time!
I had a free day recently and decided to head down south to Kamakura again. I have written about Kamakura here and here previously. Kamakura is a place that I will probably go to more often than other places as it is so close to Tokyo (only about 45 minutes by train from Shibuya) and there are so many things to see and do there! My destination today was the majestic Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine that dominates and stands tall watching out over the township of Kamakura.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine dates back to the year 1063 when it was built to honour the God Hachiman. Hachiman is the God of warriors and the protector of the Japanese people, and Imperial family and the country itself. He is also the God that was worshiped by most of the samurai class. If you travel around Japan you will notice a great many Hachiman Shrines as it is the second most common Shinto sect after the Inari sect which is identified by it's use of foxes as Shrine guardians. It was originally located much nearer the beach at Kamakura in the area that is now Yuigahama. It was later relocated to Kobayashi village before finally finding it's current home overlooking Kamakura at the beginning of the Kamakura period. The city of Kamakura was the capital city of Japan for all of the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333) and the Shrine became a national religious authority and an Important Cultural Property of Japan.
Exiting Kamakura station I made my way over to Komachi shopping street. If you exit the station, simply look to the left and you will see this.
If you don't, you have gone out of the wrong station exit.
It was a Monday, however, the shopping street was pretty busy, people slowly made their way along the street, window shopping, snacking on the variety of food that is available all along the street. After about 15 minutes I reached the end of the street. I turned left and a short walk later I was at the Shrine gate (or one of them. More on that later....)
Yes, it was quite crowded here too!
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine is a popular place for people to get married and, sure enough, there was a wedding happening this day, as well!
I wondered how the happy couple felt sharing their day with the thousands of other visitors to the shrine!
Crossing over the bridge, I made my way into the Shrine grounds.
Inside the grounds were a number of food stalls which are usually only present at Shrines for festivals or New Years Day. Probably the shrine has so many visitors each day that they are a permanent fixture!
Within the grounds of the Shrine there are a number of Shrines and soon after entering I headed off to the right to take a look at one of the smaller ones.
There were some cherry trees that were just beginning to blossom (I actually visited here a couple of weeks earlier than my cherry blossom post which you can check out here).
The red shrine was looking beautiful in the late afternoon sun.
I turned around to check out the sun and was greeted with this!
This just accentuated the beautiful tranquillity of the place.
Walking back to the main area, I passed a couple of samurai enjoying a nice cold beer.
A little further on and I was approaching the main shrine area.
Just to the right of the Guardian komainu (lion dogs) used to stand a 1,000 year old ginko tree. I say used to as in the early morning of 10th of March 2010 it was uprooted during a storm. All that is left now is a stump, however, the roots underground are still alive and new sprouts of life can be seen emerging from the ground. It may not be standing, but it is still kicking!
Climbing up the steps I came to the main Shrine. As with most Shrines, inside photos are not permitted so I wandered around the outside taking some shots.
Turning left of where this shot was taken, I saw another Shrine gate.
The mass of red Tori (Shrine gates) meant only one thing, an Inari Shrine.
The original location for this Inari Shrine was where the main Shrine is located, however, when the main shrine was moved to this location, the Inari Shrine was moved to its current location. The really interesting thing for me (and this may be quite normal, but it is the first time I have noticed it) is that Shrines for 2 different Shinto sects were located within the same Shrine grounds!
I decided that it was time to leave and made my way back down the stairs to leave the shrine.
I exited the Shrine and decided to make my way down toward the beach. Walking out of the Shrine, I crossed the road to where there is a walkway that runs down the middle of the street with cars passing by on either side. In the future, this is going to be a very picturesque walkway in spring time as it is lined with young cherry trees!
The atmosphere was fun and festive with everyone strolling along enjoying the the flowers which many consider to be the national flower of Japan.
Overhead the kites were joining in the fun and frivolity wheeling, circling and looping in the sky, screeching out in delight!
Remember at the start of this post I spoke about how Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine dominates Kamakura, well these next couple of shots demonstrate just that.
After having walked for about 15 minutes I came across another of the Tori (shrine gate) that marks the entrance to the Shrine, maybe a good 700 or 800 metres away from the Shrine itself!
A further 800 or so metres away lies a third Tori, only about 500 or 600 metres away from the beach.
While I have seen Shrines with multiple Tori before I have not seen them so far apart!
I finally reached the beach and the kites (or hawks as the sign says) were still around
although not in the same numbers as earlier, the other kites clearly preferring the merriment of the cherry blossoms to the beach.
I had reached the beach and I took a long, deep breath and revelled in the salty sea air that entered my lungs!
I have lived all of my life near the beach and, especially in my younger years, it played a big part in my life. Fishing with my Grandfather and Uncle, swimming with my brothers, sisters and friends and to this day, the beach just makes me feel free.
It turned out that I had arrived at the perfect time as the sun was settling in behind the horizon and the sky was glowing red, orange and yellow as though a bushfire or a wildfire was blazing in the distance.
.
My stomach was now grumbling as it had been quite a few hours since lunch so I mad my way back to Komachi shopping street next to the station where my day had begun. I had seen a hamburger place right at the start of the street on the left hand side called Rooftops Burger that I wanted to check out
Up to the top floor I went and was greeted by friendly staff who asked me if I wanted to sit inside or outside. I asked for outside. Outside is a covered area which has a view down onto the streets below and I think the tables are kotatsu (heated) tables as my legs were being kept nice and toasty warm!.
It has an upscale feel to it and the hamburgers are definitely not junk food. These looked like good handmade burgers, or at least the photos on the menu did.
I ordered some buffalo wings which were not spicy but had a beautiful vinegary flavour to the sauce. Delicious!
The burger that I ordered was the crispy bacon cheese burger. It came out and it was big!
And juicy and well seasoned and scrumptious! All of the menu items are in both Japanese and English and I have been told that they are working on a completely English menu with all of the menu item's descriptions written in English too. So next time you are down at Kamakura and are craving a burger, definitely check Rooftops out! I'll be going back!
I finished the burger and headed back to the station to make my way back to Tokyo. It had been a great day and I look forward to my next adventure in Kamakura!
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Until next time, see ya!
