Japan

With just a little forward knowledge of where I’m coming from, Japan for me is the closest to a feeling of nirvana as I have even felt. Maybe that’s too much, especially in this day and age, of a description for people to wrap their heads around. Is it an impossible way to feel? Not at all! But I may travel a bit differently than allot of people in the sense that when I do go to a place, especially a place I’ve never been to before, I do everything in my power to feel everything. Sites, smells, tastes and interactions with locals just to name the general vibes. I try my best to feel the history, and there is an enormous amount in Japan, and what life might have been like centuries ago. My feelings of Japan are deep and meaningful and I am so looking forward to when my wife and I can go back and see and experience more of the land of the rising sun.

I will start us off with a visit to the town of Himeji, Japan. The photo to the left is of Himeji Castle, which is located in the Hyogo Prefecture. It is the largest and most visited castle in Japan. The first rendering was built in 1333 and was torn down and replaced with a three story structure in the early 1340’s. This was during the feudal period in Japan where the fighting was fierce and Shoguns sending their armies in an attempt to take over castles and land to build their empires. Himeji Castle was built in such a way, within the interior, that warring samurai would gain entrance but their ease of access ended there. The stairs leading to the higher floors were constructed in such a way as to, at the very least, slow the enemy down to where they were easy pickins coming up from the stair case. The steps were uneven and you had to almost squeeze up into the floor. Almost as if the floor was giving birth to you. It was difficult just carrying a camera bag…can you imagine having fifty to seventy-five more pounds of armor to try and manipulate up uneven steps? Plus, you have some weaponry that you’re sporting that kind of stick out and up, depending how your samurai sword is worn. It was like that for every floor and, there was only one egress above and below the floors. No multiple entries of exits to cover and defend. This is absolutely must see on a trip to Japan.

The photo and the bottom left is of Himeji City, as seen from the top tier of the castle. The building straight ahead, not the horizontal striped one but the shorter one in front of it, is the train station. I booked us a hotel that was two and half blocks away and we just walked to where we stayed. We also walked everywhere we chose to visit in Himeji. There was a huge, open air market, roll-up door shops that contained allot of tourist type trinkets. It was close to Halloween when we were there and the Japanese love anything that requires dressing-up! They don’t celebrate Western-type events as we do in the States. But, the Japanese love to deck themselves, or their homes, businesses and other places, out in style. There was a Japanese gal in a store that we walked-into and she was playing the role of a zombie and the make-up she had on was impressive and she even put zombie contacts in her eyes for full effect. She was kind enough to allow me, and several others with phones, to photograph her. The pomp and circumstance is what they love the best about the Western holidays when they come about and they like to involve themselves, wholeheartedly, into all of it.

Lastly about Himeji, night time was awesome there and not for the reasons you may think. We walked back to Himeji Castle around 2100 hrs. The gate was open to the main grounds, within the walls that surrounded the castle, and it would possibly equate to the size of a football field, with curves. You would not believe the people that were on those grounds! Folks young and old, out and about and allot of them were exercising. Men, women, boys and girls running around like it was a high school track. Kids running by themselves, no one stalking them, or the single women that may have been there, everyone out in a harmonious vision of cardio-vascular health. No issues, conflicts or other stressful indicators…quite a sight!

The next area I would like to talk about is Kyoto. Kyoto is such an awesome city, with so much history, dating back to the early 700’s, that I’m going to discuss this town in two parts. Within the first part we have, Fushimi Inari-taisha, the Inari Temple in Kyoto. The first structures were built around the year 711, in Southwestern Kyoto. It was relocated to where the shrine is located today in the 800’s. The main structure was built in 1499. The photo to the left is of the torii gates. One of the main reason why visitors come to Kyoto is to visit and photograph the torii gates that line the path from just above the main entrance to the top of the hill where there are more, private-type, shrines to pray to. There are about one-thousand torii gates that line the path. It is a lovely place to go to, any time of year, it’s open 24/7 and there is no admission fee. One could have a variety of shots you could take advantage of, if photography is your thing, and you won’t come away disappointed. Autumnal times during the year are most beneficial in getting lovely fall colors to compliment your shots. There is no fear about being in such places at night. None, zero. Long exposures with Inari could prove fascinating and beautiful.

The photo to the right is of the Main Gate into Inari. There are all sorts of prayer shrines before you get to the torii gate path. These are absolutely worth a look and, if you chose to research the proper way of prayer at Inari Temple, you too can, and are welcome to, say a prayer. It’s a wonderful way to spend half a day exploring the grounds, architecture and religion at Inari Temple. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Japan!

Alright my friends, that does it for me! I will be back next time with more stories from Japan. But before I high-tail it out of here, let me ease a concern you might have about Japan. My wife and I were in Japan for almost a month. My wife has a high school friend that moved there thirty plus years ago and the two of them have stayed in touch. So when we decided Japan is on our radar to visit, we were fortunate to stay with her and her husband for two weeks and we couldn’t have had a better guide and interpreter! We saw places and things that we would not have known about had we rented a car and went ourselves. Now, my wife and I were on our own for about a week to go do our own thing. Communication breakdown can happen if you’re not prepared with a working knowledge of the Japanese language, which neither my wife or I had, but we had help. While in Kyoto, we had to go to lunch as we were starving from all the walking we did. We popped into this restaurant and were cared for by staff that spoke no English. We spoke no Japanese. What helped, you might ask? Google Translate, that’s what! We communicated with our server, via our phones, and had no issues. It was wonderful! You can go nearly anywhere in the world and effectively communicate with the locals, wherever you may be. So if Japan wasn’t on your adventure radar because you don’t think you can communicate with anyone…now you can. Google Translate will even read signage to you. Shoot a photo of the signage and Google Translate will give you the sign in English. Man, I love technology…to a point, and this is a good one.

Until next week, happy traveling! Leave me a comment or visit me on FB, thenoadiclensman.