[Japan] Temples and Popular Areas in Tokyo

My family and I spent most of our Japan trip in Tokyo. While there, we got to visit some of its most famous temples and districts. Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most popular and important. There are a lot of buildings in this Buddhist temple complex, including the Main Hall, the Kaminari-mon Gate (which is the main entrance), and the Hozo-mon Gate. It seems that Hozo-mon means Treasure House, and apparently, many of the treasures of Senso-ji are kept on this gate's second story.

Senso-ji Temple Hozo-mon Gate

Aside from its historical and religious significance, what I love about this temple complex is that it has a lot of greenery. To one side of the main hall was a peaceful garden area. I was very pleasantly surprised to find such a beautiful oasis in the middle of this very busy city.

Garden in Senso-ji Temple

In front of the Main Hall is a huge jokoro, an earthenware incense burner. Smoke from incense is believed to have a healing effect which is why several visitors who pass by often fan the smoke from the jokoro towards themselves.

A jokoro, or incense burner, at the Senso-ji Temple

The path between the two main entrance gates is a short street called Nakamise, which is lined with several shops. My family and I ended up getting a lot of souvenirs here, such as magnets, pens, and chopsticks.

Nakamise street leading to Senso-ji Temple

Another temple we visited in Tokyo was Meiji Jingu or Meiji Shrine. This Shinto shrine is located amidst a beautiful forest at the heart of Tokyo. It is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.

Meiji Jingu

There is a relatively long walk from the entrance of the shrine to the main temple area but it was quite relaxing because the tall forest trees provided a sense of serenity as well as much-needed shade from the scorching summer sun. Several large torii gates can be found throughout the pathway that leads to Meiji Jingu.

One of many torii gates at Meiji Jingu

Along the way, we passed by a large display of sake barrels that were offered to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken by members of the Meiji Jingu Nationwide Sake Brewers Association...

Sake barrels

...as well as a large display of wine barrels were offered by wineries from Bourgogne in France.

Wine barrels from France

Another popular area in Tokyo that we visited was Ginza, which is known as Japan's premium shopping district. We were there on a Saturday and it was cool to discover that Chuo Dori, the main street that passes through Ginza, is closed to traffic on weekend afternoons.

Chuo Dori, the main street that passes through Ginza

Our main purpose of going here was to visit Uniqlo. My brother asked us to see if a specific shirt was available here because it wasn't avaialble in the Philippines. The Uniqlo store in Ginza has an impressive 12 floors and its own cafe! You can also customize clothes. We ended up getting a total of 14 items here, including my brother's shirt. 

Uniqlo Ginza

I also got to meet up with my friend Tim in Ginza. He's been living Tokyo for a few years now and he suggested we have drinks at one of his favorite bars in the area. Instead of giving me directions to the bar, though, Tim suggested that we meet at the Godzilla statue in Ginza. He thought I might like to see it and he was right. Naturally, I had to take a photo.

Godzilla statue in Ginza

Another famous district in Tokyo is Akihabara. I took my family here so we could visit Hunters Bar, a Monster Hunter-themed restaurant. (I will write more about this in a future post.) We also passed by Radio Kaikan. There's a shop at the entrance that sells a lot of Japanese snacks and treats. We ended up buying a lot of boxes of Tokyo Banana here for our pasalubong to family and friends.

Akihabara

Chuo Dori also runs through the Akihabata district so people could freely walk across the street.

Chuo Dori passing through Akihabara

Finally, on our last day, we made an attempt to visit the Imperial Palace, which was supposedly walking distance from our hotel. (It kinda was, but it was a really long walk!) I saw online that there are free guided tours and that same day registrations can be done at the Kikyomon Gate. Unfortunately, we seemed to have followed the wrong directions and ended up at the Imperial Palace East Gardens instead. Since we were already there, we decided to walk around for a bit and take a few photos.

Imperial Palace East Gardens

That said, I didn't want to leave Japan without getting to see the Imperial Palace so while my family was resting at our hotel in the late afternoon of our last day in Tokyo, I decided to head back. I wasn't really able to do anything while I was there but I'm quite happy that I was able to take a photo of it along with the very elegant Nijubashi bridge.

Tokyo Imperial Palace and Nijubashi Bridge

Next post: Hachiko and Shibuya Sky

[Japan] Mt. Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko

When I was planning our trip to Japan, my Mom told me she wanted to see Mt. Fuji. I did too. As such, I did a bit of research on the best places to see this world-renowned symbol of Japan and Lake Kawaguchiko seemed like the perfect place. I decided to include a day-trip to this town located 2 hours away from Tokyo in our itinerary.

Mt. Fuji

The challenge of visiting Mt. Fuji is that even on a sunny day, there is no guarantee that you can see its magnificent peak. That's because it is a volcano with its own microclimate. To maximize our chances of getting to ssee the peak, my plan was to wake up early each day, check the visibility of Mt. Fuji via the livestream videos, and if skies were clear, we could go to Lake Kawaguchiko that day. (I planned our Tokyo itinerary in such a way that we had multiple days that I could switch around with each other.) On our first full day in Tokyo, the livestream at around 7am showed that Mt. Fuji was fully visible from Lake Kawaguchiko so we decided to go there immediately.

Mt. Fuji covered by clouds

My plan was for us to take the bus from Shinjuku. We arrived in Shinjuku before 9am and it took us a while to figure out where the bus terminal was. Unfortunately, when we got there, we were told that the next available bus would leave at 12:15PM. That would be too late for us. We abandoned that plan and decided to take the train instead. While on the train, I checked the livestream again and unfortunately, Mt. Fuji was already hidden behind clouds. Still, the town of Fujikawaguchiko where Lake Kawaguchiko is located is beautiful so I thought it would still be a good day. I also had a couple of activities lined up so I figured this trip wouldn't be a total bust. Our train ride took about 2 hours and it was around noon when we arrived.

The beautiful and serene Lake Kawaguchiko

My main plan here was for us to take the ropeway to the top of Mt. Tenjo where you can get incredible panoramic views of the town as well as a great unobstructed view of Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, when we got there, the waiting time to head up Mt. Tenjo was one hour. We felt that it was too long of a wait so we instead walked over to the lake shore and got tickets to the sightseeing boat instead.

Lake Kawaguchiko Sightseeing Boat

The boat ride over the lake lasts 20 minutes. It was a relaxing experiencing, and while Mt. Fuji remained shrouded, the cloud formations were glorious and it was still quite impressive to see this iconic volcano.

Spectacular cloud formations over Mt. Fuji

We tried to go back to the ropeway after our boatride but the waiting time was still an hour. We also ran into a few more problems in the afternoon that prevented us from maximizing our short stint in this beautiful town, including the discovery that all modes of transportation heading back to Tokyo were fully booked! (I was actually advised when buying tickets in Tokyo that I needed to buy return tickets upon arrival in Kawaguchiko because they sell out pretty quickly but I forgot to do that because of all the chaos of figuring out how to get to Lake Kawaguchiko.) I was told that we could get tickets for the next departing train but we wouldn't have any seats. It was a 2-hour ride, which was quite a long time to be standing after a long day, but there didn't seem to be any other feasible option so my family decided to take the tickets. We ended up just sitting on the floor or leaning against the walls of the sections between train cars.

The peak of Mt. Fuji starting to become visible

It was on this train ride back to Tokyo that we finally got to have an unobstructed view of the peak of Mt. Fuji! Better late than never, as they say. Thankfully, I was still able to take relatively good photos even from behind the window of a moving train.

Mt. Fuji as seen from our train back to Tokyo

It was a long day with many ups and downs, and it was probably our most stress-filled day in our entire Japan trip. Thankfully, things got better for us in the remainder of our trip. And I'm also thankful we got to see and take photos of Mt. Fuji.

Next: Temples and Popular Areas in Tokyo

[Japan] Kyoto

One of our most memorable days in Japan was spent in Kyoto, where we participated in the Maikoya Tea Ceremony with Kimono Experience...

Maikoya Tea Ceremony with Kimono Experience

...and we visited the Samurai and Ninja Museum, which included Ninja and Samurai experiences.

Samurai and Ninja Museum with Experience

Our original plan was to take two day-trips to Kyoto. One day would be dedicated to the Tea Ceremony and the Samurai and Ninja Museum while the other day would be spent seeing several famous Kyoto sights. However, as I had written previously, a typhoon hit Japan, resulting in many places being closed and intercity trains being suspended. Our two Maikoya activities were scheduled on that day so I was initially very disappointed, thinking that we lost our chance to experience them. This was because both were almost fully booked when I purchased tickets a couple of weeks before and I thought there was no chance for them to reschedule our bookings while we were in Japan. I called them to ask what options we had given that we were leaving Osaka in a few days and they said they would email me shortly. To my very pleasant surprise and relief, they did email me shortly after and they said that they could accommodate us the next day. This was great news for me and my family!

Fushimi Inari Taisha

Our first stop in Kyoto was Fushimi Inari Taisha, or Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is one of the most important Shinto shrines in the world and is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. It is also world-famous for thousands of torii gates that were built over pathways that lead up the mountain. Pretty much everyone who visits the shrine takes photos of the torii gates and I'm quite happy that we managed to take several pictures in the area without multitudes of other people photobombing us haha.

Torii Gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha

We didn't have a lot of time at the shrine because of our very tight schedule but we did manage to go up the most famous section of the torii gates. One thing we learned that day was that foxes, or kitsune, are associated with and represent rice god Inari. As such, many fox statues can be found all throughout the shrine. My nephew even got a fox mask as a souvenir. I do love this shrine and I hope I can visit it again and spend more time here in the future.

One of many kitsune or fox statues at the Fushimi Inari Shrine

We then headed over to Nishiki where our Maikoya Tea Ceremony would be held. To get there, we took the train and got off at the Sanjo Station. We crossed the Sanjo Ohashi Bridge where we got to see the Kamo River. Naturally, I had to take some photos.

Sanjo Ohashi Bridge over the Kamo River

We were only a short walk away from the venue and we still had about 45 minutes before our schedule so we figured we had enough time for a quick lunch. When we passed by a Japanese barbecue place, we decided to go in to eat. I'm not particularly sure what the name of this restaurant is but we enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.

Japanese Barbecue Restaurant where we had lunch

Finally, it was time for our Tea Ceremony with Kimono Experience. (I ended up booking a private ceremony, which was significantly more expensive, because the regular tea ceremony experience was fully booked and only private ceremonies were available. I felt that we might not get another chance to do this as a family so I got the private ceremony tickets, even if it did cost me a lot of money.) Once there, we got to choose a kimono and an obi (although I think that technically, what I wore is called a yukata). We were then taken to a room where our our host, Haru, welcomed us and explained what would happen. We learned a lot about the significance and the value of this tradition. Haru taught as the Japanese phrase Ichi-go ichi-e, which roughly translates to "once in a lifetime", meaning that what we experience will never be repeated (or not in the exact same way) so it's important to treasure these moments. We also learned about the different elements of a tea ceremony: harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. (Read more about it here: https://www.revolutiontea.com/blogs/news/japanese-ceremony-tea)

Our host Haru performing the Tea Ceremony

The actual tea ceremony then began. I was in awe as Haru performed the ceremony with breathtaking precision and grace. It was truly inspiring to watch! After that, she taught us how to make our own green tea. When drinking our tea, we learned that the the most decorated side of the cup should first face outward so that your companions can appreciate it and when you finish drinking your tea, you should turn the decorated side towards you so that you can appreciate it yourself. What a wonderful way to make you feel even more in the moment and to celebrate with people around you! Once we had all consumed our tea, we shared some stories with Haru before taking photos inside.

We got to make our own green tea

We were then led to the garden where we were given plenty of time to take photos. We spent maybe 1 1/2 hours in total at the tea ceremony, including getting in and out of our kimonos. While that doesn't feel like a lot of time, it was more than enough and it didn't feel rushed. In fact, it was quite relaxing as we got to slow down and enjoy the tea ceremony and we got to take dozens upon dozens of pictures. It was a truly wonderful experience!

Taking photos at the Maikoya Garden

We then took a short walk to the Samurai and Ninja Museum. We were given instructions how to get there and I also used Google maps. When we arrived at the spot that Google Maps told us to go, we couldn't immediately see it. My nephew spotted a sign saying we had to go up the stairs to get to the Samurai and Ninja Museum. We got the basic tickets, which included three things. First was a guided tour of the museum. This was another incredible experience, with our tour guide being very engaging and knowledgeable of Japanese and Samurai history. The tour lasted maybe about 45 minutes but it didn't feel that long because it was tremendously interesting. It was also great seeing all the samurai armor and weapons on display!

Samurai and Ninja Museum

The second inclusion in our ticket was also the most action-packed: a shuriken throwing competition! A shuriken is a ninja throwing star and anyone who has seen movies with ninjas would be familiar with this weapon. We were all given shuriken made of either hard rubber or plastic (which made sense because metal ones would be quite dangerous!) and our guide taught us all how to throw it. We were then told how the scoring would work and the competition began. I have to say, it wasn't easy to get the shuriken to actually stay on the board. Only a handful of people, including both my nephews, consistently got their shuriken to stick. One of my nephews actually hit the bullseye twice: once during practice and again during the actual competition. In the end, he won first place and my other nephew placed third. So cool! The winner was given a a prize so my nephew went home with a really nice blue shuriken.

Shuriken throwing competition

The third and final part of our package was the Samurai Armor Trial. This involved putting on Samurai armor, including a very heavy helmet, and getting to wield replica swords. We then got to take photos against beautiful backdrops at the venue.

Samurai Armor Trial

It was around 430pm when we left and while it was getting quite late, I thought that maybe we could visit one more place before calling it a day: the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. It would take a while to get there by train so I decided to just take a taxi. The sun was a bit low on the horizon when we arrived at around 5pm but there was still enough light to make our short visit here enjoyable. We also visited and took photos at Nonomiya Jinja, a small shrine located within the Bamboo Forest.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

There were a couple of places in Kyoto that I planned for us to see that we didn't have time to visit, including the Golden Pavilion and the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Maikoya also has many more amazing experiences, including Samurai Sword Lessons and a Samurai Sword Cutting Experience! Maybe one day, my family and I can visit Kyoto again to see the places we missed and revisit the places we got to see and enjoy. Kyoto is considered to be the cultural center of Japan and it is a truly beautiful city that is definitely worth visiting. 

Nonomiya Shrine in the Bamboo Forest

Next: Mt. Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko

[Japan] Nara Park

Nara Park was the first tourist spot we visited in Japan. We went there the day after we arrived. Over the years, many of my friends who traveled to Osaka would share photos of themselves interacting with and feeding deer at Nara Park. I've always been interested to go and I thought my family would like to go here too.

Nara Deer Park

Based on my research, I knew that we needed to travel from the Osaka-Namba station to the Kintetsu Nara Station. I also knew that there was a 35-minute rapid express train. However, I didn't know how to get tickets to the rapid express or how to check its schedule. As such, I decided to just purchase tickets from the machine even if it would take us longer to get to Nara. As it turned out, the train we got on WAS the rapid express! (Interestingly enough, on our way back from Nara to Osaka, we also got on the rapid express. I don't know if all trains from Osaka-Namba to Kintetsu Nara and back are rapid express of if we just lucked out both times we took this route.)

Nara Park is known for having hundreds of free-roaming deer, which are believed to be messengers of the gods. As you walk around the city, you will actually see a lot of signs on the streets warning motorists of deer that may cross the road.

Visitors can feed the deer with special rice crackers that can be purchased from a multitude of kiosks scattered all over the park. One pack costs 200 yen and it contains 10 crackers. It was around noon when we arrived and the Japanese summer sun was blazing so most of the deer were laying in the shade. Most of them seemed to be full since initially, none of them seemed interested in eating the crackers we offered them. It didn't take too long though for us to find hungry deer that gobbled up all our crackers. We even ended up getting another pack.

Feeding the deer

If you are planning to go to Nara Park to feed the deer, I do have a few reminders. First, it smells like a zoo, which is completely understandable given the hundreds of deer here. Second, there is a lot of deer poop all over the park so you have to be careful. I actually stepped on some poop myself when I was moving back after feeding a deer. Thankfully, the poop stayed only on my shoe's rubber sole and didn't mess up the fabric part so I was able to clean it when I got back to the hotel. Finally, if you do plan to feed the deer, don't force them to eat the crackers you offer them. If the deer really wants to eat a cracker, they will eat it from your hand almost immediately. (If you also pay attention to their body language, you can kinda tell if they want to eat more.) My nephew and I would just offer a cracker and if after a couple of seconds, the deer doesn't eat it, we would leave it alone and look for another deer that might be hungry. However, I did see many tourists that insistently shoved their rice crackers into the faces of the deer even if the deer didn't seem interested. Please don't do that.

We started to get hungry and I read that there are restaurants inside the park but I couldn't quite figure out where they were. Thankfully, while walking, we stumbled upon a tea house inside the park. The tea house doesn't have chairs but it has these low "tables" with a tatami mat covering them. We sat by the edges of this table, which was what everyone else was doing. There were only a couple of Japanese sweets on the menu so we ordered both of them along with some cold tea. This was enough to temporarily fill out stomachs and give us energy to see more of the park. (I also have to say, the lady serving us was very friendly and hospitable.)

Tea and sweets at a traditional Japanese Tea House in Nara Park

As it was tremendously hot, we decided to just visit one more place: the Todai-ji Temple. I used google maps to help me figure out how to get there but I think it only brought me to the entrance of the temple complex. Thankfully, I found a park map that helped me figure out exactly where the temple was. To get there, we had to pass through the Nandaimon Gate.

Nandaimon Gate that leads to Todai-ji Temple

This large wooden gate is flanked by two large statues, both of which look very fearsome and intimidating.

One of two large statues that flank Nandaimon Gate

While entrance into Nara Park itself is free, you need to purchase a ticket to enter Todai-ji Temple. There are two tickets sold - one that gives you access just to the main hall and another that gives you access to the museum. The heat and the exhausting flight the day before meant that some of my family were a bit tired and we hadn't had a proper lunch yet so we decided to just get the main hall access.

Big Buddha Hall at Todai-ji Temple

Todai-ji Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Nara Park. This magnificent structure is said to have once been the largest wooden building in the world. It is also one of the most famous temples in Japan. Seeing it from afar, we could understand why: it looks quite impressive!

Todai-ji Temple

At the center of the main hall of the Todai-ji Temple is this massive 15-meter bronze statue of Buddha Vairocana.

15-meter-tall bronze Buddha

There are many more huge statues around the main hall, some of which look just as fierce as the ones at the Nandaimon Gate.

Despite the oppressive heat, our trip to Nara proved to be very enjoyable as we got to interact with deer, see some impressive views and structures, and enjoy traditional Japanese food.

Bodhisattva statue

Next: Kyoto

[Japan] Osaka

Osaka was the base of the first part of our Japan trip. This was because there are direct flights from Manila to the Osaka Kansai airport. From there, the plan was to take day trips to Kyoto and Nara. I booked a hotel at the Dotonbori area because this place is known for having many good restaurants, which meant it would be easy for us to find places to eat. I also wanted us to be near the Dotonbori River because that area is a really good place to take photos.

Dotonbori River

The highlight of our stint in Osaka was spending a day at Universal Studios Japan.

Universal Studios Japan

It was summer, which meant that Universal Studios was crowded and the lines for the rides were very long. I bought our tickets a bit late and unfortunately, express passes were already sold out. We made an attempt to go to Super Nintendo World once we arrived, which was about an hour after the park opened, but when we got there, we were told that the next available slot to go in was at 9pm. Wow! We gave up our attempt to get into what is arguably the best section of the park and instead, we made our way to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

We took some photos before falling in line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is located inside the big castle. It's an incredible ride that is very well-made but I gotta say, it really made me and my mom dizzy. We rested a bit, had some Butterbeer, and took lots of photos before moving to our next stop.

"Snow-capped" stone houses at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The attraction we were after the most was the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne XR Walk. My nephew is a huge fan of Monster Hunter and he really wanted to try this. Tickets for this attraction have to be purchased separately and when you buy tickets, you have to select the timeslot you want. Once we got there, we chose our avatar and a weapon (I got a long sword) before getting instructions: how to use our weapons to attack and to shield ourselves, which direction to walk, when to stop walking, and how to gather items as we go along our way. They then fitted us with virtual reality gear and we were off. The actual XR walk lasts about 10 minutes but it was a really amazing experience. The quality of the XR is topnotch and we had a couple of pretty intense battles against huge monsters. Against the first monster, I must have either been killed or I followed the walking instructions incorrectly and ended up in front of a wall because I was instructed not to move (I had a red grid fully surrounding me). However, against the second monster, my entire family was locked in fierce combat. By this time, I had figured out when the monster's attack patterns so I knew when to block and keep myself alive. In the end, we were able to beat the monster and win the game. Hooray! This attraction was only available in Universal Studios Japan until August 31 so we were really lucky to go there at the time we did because we were still able to enjoy it.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne XR Walk

Another attraction that's closing soon is The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man 4K3D so  we decided to try it. The big challenge we had was that a typhoon was coming to Japan at the time and hitting Osaka so it started to rain in the afternoon. One of my nephews got o try one more ride, the Hollywood Dream Backdrop.

Hollywood Dream: Backdrop

Meanwhile the rest of my family had coffee and snacks and checked out the souvenir shops. We ended up eating at the same place where we had lunch: Beverly Hills Boulangerie which is quite near the entrance. I had the Mini Parfait with Double Pudding. I really enjoyed it! (Actually, the desserts here are quite good!)

Mini Parfait with Double Pudding at Beverly Hills Boulangerie

Before we left Universal, we were able to have our photos taken with the minions. (I think this one in the photo with me is Stuart.)

The typhoon hit Japan full-force the next day. While the Osaka Metro was still running, intercity train operations were suspended. We ended up just spending the day in our hotel rooms, although we did have lunch and dinner in the Dotonbori area, so at least we still got to enjoy some really good food.

Dotonbori on a rainy night

The typhoon threw our plans off, which meant we weren't able to visit a couple of places that we wanted to see. We did manage to pass by Osaka Castle before heading to the Shin-Osaka station which is where we would take the Shinkansen (or bullet train) to Tokyo. We didn't have time to go inside or visit the garden but we were able to take some photos. I've seen pictures of the castle before but I had never seen it up close until now and it was a lot larger and more impressive in real life! If I ever visit Osaka again, I would love to spend a bit more time here.

Osaka Castle

Next: Nara Park