Invisible Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji - the highest peak of Japan (3776 m. absl) and one of its most recognizable symbols.

The highest, the holliest and the most beautiful mount of Japan, and the symbol of faith for the Japanese. In fact a volcano, which erupted last time in 1707 and is now dormant. For centuries Japanese believed that on top of Fuji, gods had its seat. It's a mountain that every Japanese should climb once in a lifetime. 

We didn't want to climb it (well, in fact I'd love to, but would be difficult while pregnant ;)), but we very much wanted to see it, therefore on a sunny Saturday we went to Hakone - from where apparently the Mount Fuji was visible.

We took a shinkansen to Odawara, and from there a bus to Hakone (1450 yen for a return ticket). After arrival to Hakone Machi, we took a sightseeing boat to a nearby Togendai. 

 Before we started the cruise, I had the most perfect lunch. A grilled squid and mais. Seriously, it was one of my best lunches in Japan ;-)

Since it was too late to take the funicular (operating from Togendai), we bought tickets only for the cruise. On a nice day, with a bit of luck, Mount Fuji is well visible. Unfortunately - despite the nice day - we couldn't see the Fuji. Instead, we had a great time while on the boat, admiring - finally - a peaceful and quiet side of Japan.

After return to Odawara we got a bit lost in its train station undergrounds. Luckily - as we found an excellent supermarket, where we purchased some sushi for dinner. For me this time only with cucumber, raw fish has to wait ;-)

One day in Tokio

I'm back in Tokio. Marijn is here for the first time, as upon his arrival to Japan, he immediately took the train to Kyoto to join me there. And he has only one day in Tokio. Not much, but given the fact that after the Kyoto temples he's not very keen to visit more temples, planning the itinerary seems to be a bit easier ;-)

We decided to start our day with the Tsukiyi Fish Market - one of the World's largest fish markets, handling over two thousand tons of marine products per day. It is located in central Tokyo, just a few JR stops from our hotel, though soon it is supposed to change location.

Tsukiyi Market is composed of two parts - the inner market where the seafood wholesale business and the tuna auction take place, and the outside market full of shops and restaurants. We started visiting the market from the outside market and although we just had our breakfast, we very much wanted more food - seafood!!! All sort of fish and marine animals - raw or ready to eat such as sushi, oysters, scalopps etc. The choice was huge, though in my case - as I was pregnant- unfortunately a bit limited. I opted for scalopps (hopefully well cooked).

After a short meal we headed to the wholesale market located in a big hall and composed of hundreds of stands. We were there a bit late (11-12), and the sellers were already closing their stands. Still, we managed to see a bit and it gave us an idea how busy it was earlier this morning. Marijn had also the specialty of the Tsukiyi - fatty tuna ;-) If someone is keen to wake up early in the morning, then it's possible to observe the famous tuna auction. The number of visitors of the tuna auction is limited to 120 per day and a special permission needs to be obtained from the Osakan Fukyu Center at the Kachidoki Gate.

After leaving the wholesale market Marijn had sushi and his favorite oysters ;-)

As temples were no more our interest, I wanted to show Marijn a bit of modern Tokyo, thus we spent our afternoon and evening in Akihabara and Shibuya Crossing :-)

Kyoto-Nara-Hiroshima or how to make 762 km in one day

Until Marijn's arrival the pace of my trip was rather slow. I was sleeping until when I wanted, and without any rush I was visiting Japan. But Marijn had a very limited time in Japan, and I still wanted him to see some of the biggest attractions of this country, and make sure that his quite expensive Rail Pass pays off.

Therefore the plan for today was highly ambitious, however with all the calculations I made, I concluded it was feasible. We planned to go first to Nara - Japan's first capital with some oldest and largest temples of Japan (usually it is a one day trip), then to Hiroshima, and then to come back to Kyoto on the same day… I don't like this type of travelling, I don't like to rush, I like slow travelling, but I had to make a compromise.

So we woke up early in the morning and took a train to Nara. It was full of tourists, as Nara is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan. The journey took less than one hour, and so upon arrival we straight headed to Nara's main attraction - Todaiji temple. It is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples.

The temple was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan and grew so powerful that the capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower the temple's influence (and in general influence of Nara's Buddhist monasteries) on government affairs.

I have to say that when I first saw it, I had a "WOW!" moment. The temple was very impressive from the outside, but also from the inside with the Big Buddha located in the main hall of the temple. It is also the largest wooden building in the world, although the current construction represents only two third of the original temple hall's size. The 15 meters seated Buddha (Daibutsu) is one of the largest bronze statues of Buddha in Japan.

An interesting, and quite populr among young visitors attraction of the Todaiji is a pillar with a hole, through which youngsters (and not only) were trying to go. It is said that those who can squeeze through this opening will be granted enlightenment in their next life.

Todaiji was a plan minimum in Nara, but I hoped to see at least one more temple. It had to be close to Todaiji, as we couldn't loose much time. My choice was the main sanctuary of Kasuga Taisha - Nara's most celebrated shrine. We got there after a walk through the Nara Park with a lot of deers along the way!

Kasuga Taisha was established at the same time as the capital and is dedicated to the deity responsible for the protection of the city. It was rebuilt periodically every 20 years during the centuries.

The shrine was composed of the offering hall, which could be visited free of charge, and a paid inner area which provides a closer view of the shrine's inner buildings. Kasuga Taisha is famous for its lanterns, which have been donated by worshipers. Hundreds of bronze lanterns can be found hanging from the buildings, and hundreds of stone lanterns standing within the temple grounds. The lanterns are only lit twice a year during two Lantern Festivals, one in early February and one in mid August.

After Kasuga Shrine we rushed to the train station, in order to take a train to Osaka, and then a shinkansen to Hiroshima, where we arrived around 4:30PM. It was late, but I knew the city already, and I knew that besides the museum, most of the attractions are located outside therefore without closing hours. We took the "City sightseeing bus" and we headed to the Peace Memorial Park. Marijn rushed to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum where admission was finishing at 5:30PM, while I waited for him outside. After that we walked slowly through the Park, and then we went for a dinner to my favourite Okonomiyaki restaurant - Hassei.

We came back to Kyoto with the last train, tired, but very satisified, as we did and saw everything we wanted. Long live the shinkansens!!