Wednesday 6 February 2013

Highlights of the trip to Japan






Mount Fuji from my hotel room 



We have been in Japan for only 11 days but seen so much and done so much that I will just give a brief summary here of what we have seen and done.


Beautiful gardens:


Ninomaru Garden at Nijo Castle


Strange shaped trees at Ryoan-ji temple

Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Pavillion)



Ryoan-ji



Kinkaku-ji


Kinkaku-ji




Ryoan-ji


Ryoan-ji

Itchiku Kubota Museum garden



Garden at Orinasukan museum





















































Temples and shrines:


Nijo castle

Kinkaku-ji temple (Golden Pavillion)



Meiji shrine


Torii gate at Meiji shrine


Torii gate at shrine at Asakusa



Lanterns lining way to Kasuga Taisha  shrine


Torii gate at Kasuga Taisha shrine







Shrine in street in Gion district




Support structure of kiyomizu temple

Torii gate at Itsukushima shrine on Miyajima island

Asakusa temple

At Asakusa



























































Statues:




Statue at Ryoan-ji Temple

At Ryoan-ji temple




 


Daibatsu, a colossal  gilded bronze Buddha, 15 meters tall at Todai-ji temple


Buddha at Kiyomizu temple





Wildlife:

Heron at Kikaku-ji temple



Sika deer at Nijo castle

Sika deer in street by Nijo castle 





















Every day life:


Tree pruning

Fixing a support at the Itsukushima shrine during low tide

School girls

Vending machines everywhere




Orchids at a florist shop in Kyoto



Ladies wearing traditional kimono in Kyoto


Students dressed up in order to earn pocket money at Kiyomizu temple

Wedding procession at Meiji shrine



Children on their way to school







Trainee Buddhist monk











Garden outside Starbucks next to Karasuma Kyoto hotel

Houses in Kyoto

Restaurant on Miyajima island


Shopping:



Shop in Kyoto station 

Plums in abundance

Fresh vegetable counter


Baby eels for sale - gave this one a miss



Beautifully presented smoked salmon





Omotesando - guess they are selling trainers? 




Fans in Kyoto





Wonderful cake shop in Tokyo











































Experiences:



Geysers at Owakaduni Valley


Eating eggs boiled in       at Owakaduni - each egg eaten lengthen your life by 7 years


Ropeway (cable car) at Owakaduni

Musical fountains at LaQua at Tokyo Dome complex

Tokyo skyline from 23rd floor of Tokyo Dome Hotel 


Teahouse in Gion district (famous for Geisha) in Kyoto


Learning how to read a Japanese newspaper


Welcome committee at Miyajima island






































Fun moments:

Trees protected against weather damage at Nijo castle




Looking at reason why 'nightingale' floor sings



















Reason why nightingale floor sings





















Sad moments:



Peace Museum Park and Atomic Dome

Thousands of origami cranes at Children's Peace memorial


Food moments:

Lunch in the Tatami room at Japanese restaurant in Kyoto




Pancake restaurant, 6th floor of building in Kyoto 



Having pancakes with friends in Japanese pancake restaurant

12 course Japanese style banquet



First of 12 courses, includes shark fin jelly and tofu


Another course of sashimi

Casserole cooking slowly on table - great for cooking sashimi in

Food cooking at the table, one of twelve courses


Momiji with chestnuts - really yummy!




Demonstration on how to cook momiji's





Best Moment:


 Waking up to see sun rising over Mount Fuji from my bedroom 









2 comments:

  1. Annelize, reminds me of my trip to Kyoto about 20 years ago. Marvellous! And great photos!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, nice to get some feedback ;-)

    ReplyDelete