Shanghai

Japan

How did I end up there for a vacation?

When I think of Japan the few things that come to my mind are Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, earthquakes, Supply Chain Management, Kaizen, Toyota and the seasonal Cherry Blossom. None of which are an inspiration to plan a vacation to Japan in the month of August.

Moreover after having spent a good 2 months to plan a Euro trip and spend time in the beautiful gardens of Florence, party in the streets of Prague, get the customary Eiffel Tower picture, Japan just did not sound like a great idea.

But more often than not, my husband’s conviction wins over and that is how we ended up going to Japan. The trip was planned within a week unlike the itineraries I had spent time preparing. (The visa processing takes just two days, which is impressive.)

Still not fully convinced what further added to my scepticism was the fact that whoever I mentioned Japan to assumed that it was a business trip and when they got to know it was a vacation, the look generally implied, there are better places around Singapore to visit, why Japan!

Anyways it was a vacation, which is always something to look forward. But if you fall ill a day before the flight, that excitement is also gone. I slept for the entire day, before the flight. Thank God for some good friends who invite you for good home cooked meal in such times.

But this is all before the trip. As I travel back, I think Japan has been one of the best places I have visited - EVER. The country is extremely advanced when it comes to any kind of technology, be it the bullet trains or the highly automated washrooms, but what gives it the soul is the culture which the Japanese people have still managed to hold on to.

Kyoto – Culture, Gardens and Shrines

As soon we left the airport we took Narita Express to Tokyo Station and then the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. At approx. 250km/hr. it took us 3 hours to reach Kyoto. Although we reached late night, the city did not fail to charm. 

Every blog I read  about Kyoto had a different list of things mentioned to do. For us this is the one we followed http://www.insidekyoto.com/kyoto-itineraries and found it comprehensive.

Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, is somewhere between a modern city and a traditional old town. Depending on which part you are in you can get a flavour of everything. On one hand there are more than a thousand Buddhist Temples, Zen gardens, traditional wooden houses and on the other an advanced transportation system, high end shopping complexes, modern cafes etc.

Kyoto: My Top 5

Shinto Shrines (Place of worship and dwelling of kami):

Some of the best in Japan can be found in Kyoto and there are innumerable of them. A shrine amongst the bamboo forest (Tenryu-ji), a shrine with hundreds gates (Fushimi-Inari-Taisha), a shrine at the end of a shopping street Kiyomizu-dera Temple), and many more each one with something fascinating. 

Shrine Guard

Gardens:

In one of the travel books I had read ‘Japanese Gardens are like paintings which change colour with every season'. Even if I had tried, I couldn't have described them better than this.

Japanese garden art has been refined for a millenia and the more I read about them I get rather confused because there are different ways of classifying them.

As I understand the best there are the Zen Gardens (which have rocks and gravel instead of a pond), Tea gardens, catering to the popular Japanese tea ceremonies and stroll gardens. 

They commonly have circuit style gardening with well manoeuvred small size trees. We went and the end of summer and could see the lush greenery and the autumn colours showing slight traces.

• Tenruyji - Amongst the Bamboo Grove in the Arashiyama District, the

Romantic Train to Arashiyama

Through the Bamboo Grove

Tenruyji Shrine Garden, using the elements of nature in background

• Kinkakuji - Another shrine where the garden has all the elements but also uses the mountains to add to the beauty (this is a form of gardening in Japan)



The Golden Pavillion

Kiyomizu-Dera - The streets which lead to the shrine are the most touristy ones in Kyoto with a series of shops selling souvenirs. 

Tourist in a Geisha Attire

Souvenir Shopping Street 

Hot Selling Macha Tea Ice-Cream in a Cone

• Shoren-In Temple - Not very popular amongst tourist this one is a must visit

Serenity

The room at the temple to sit in tranquillity and enjoy the overlooking garden 

How so ever different each garden was, there was the 'element of serenity' common to all of them. 

Geisha 'Spotting':

Gion is an old part of Kyoto which still has Geisha houses. A lot of them have been converted to Japanese fine dining restaurants as Japan has far fewer Geishas now (In 1920, there were some 80,000 geishas in Japan, today the number is below 2,000). Many tourists hang around at Gion in the hope of spotting one, and we got lucky to see some of them accompanying patrons to a close by hotel.

I am still not very sure what exactly a Giesha does but by the very definition of the term, they are female entertainers who act as hostess. Extremely graceful and beautifully adorned. 

Streets of Gion

Geisha with a patron

Geisha House

Souvenirs:

Most of the countries I have visited before have souvenirs with some British influence. Japanese souvenirs are quiet different. Some of the must buys include 

• Tenugui - A thin Japanese hand towel made of cotton. It can be used for anything from wrapping a bottle, wrapping a gift or as a wall hanging.

• Dolls - My sister is a doll collector, hence every country I visit I pick up a doll. Japan has the widest variety. Geisha Dolls (personal favourite), Kokeshi Dolls (made from a block of wood), the new age type Kimi Doll and many more. (Tokyo has its own range with the Manga figurines)

• Fans - Didn't end up buying one but perfect for a click.

Just Posing!!

• Mug Sets/ Sake Sets -  Big, small, traditional, funky - you just need to name it and you can get them! Keep an eye out for the traditional Japanese earthen mugs and the "Oh so pretty" Sake sets. 

Food and Cafes:

Although Japan is known for Sushi, there is a lot more variety available. (Rather, I did not find as many Sushi places as I thought). Kyoto has a series of cafes beside the river which serve many other cuisines apart from Japanese including Italian (Pizza is fairly popular), Spanish and Mexican.

Similar to other Japanese things, the cafés are also rather small, but well managed. Most of the cafes we visited were run by 2-3 people, doing everything from cooking to cleaning. They have a long table, one side of which serves as a sit down bar table and the other as the cooking area. Many cafes have an additional charge for group tables. If not more, beer is as famous as Sake.

Fried chicken and Teppanyaki chicken available on street shops is must try.

Street Food outside a shrine

Riverside Italian Restaurant

Dinner at Beer Komachi - Craft Beer with appetizers

Macha Tea and Cake

The next part of the journey included Hakone and Tokyo, which I leave for writing another day.

(Photo Credits - Raman Arora, who had 3 camera at a time all through the trip)