Monday, November 4 We got going early, knowing that we had a longer than usual ride out to Arashiyama, a town perched above a river in a deep, green valley west of Kyoto. The town and the slopes deeper into the Valley have inspired Japanese literature for more than a thousand years—important scenes from theContinue reading “Arashiyama”
Category Archives: Japan November 2019
Last Day in Kyoto…Alas
Tuesday, November 5 There were a couple of things that we wanted to see that didn‘t lie on an easy route to anything else, so we made our last day into a public transportation day! First stop was the Fushimi-Inari Shrine. There are many shrines in Japan dedicated to Inari—the Kami of rice and theContinue reading “Last Day in Kyoto…Alas”
From the Old Capital to the Older Capital: On to Nara!
The train to Nara was horribly overcrowded: this is a commuter line, since Nara falls within the Osaka / Kyoto / Kobe metropolitan area, with its 20 million inhabitants. We survived, though, and found to our relief that our hotel was connected to the JR Nara rail station. We were perhaps a bit less delightedContinue reading “From the Old Capital to the Older Capital: On to Nara!”
Horyu-Ji and on to Osaka
We boarded a local train for what in some ways was the highlight of the entire trip for me, a visit to Horyu-Ji, probably the most important Buddhist temple in Japan. Horyu-Ji contains the oldest wooden structures in the world. Founded in 607 as a seminary, some scholars believe it was rebuilt after a fireContinue reading “Horyu-Ji and on to Osaka”
Osaka: Model City
We started the day with a ride on the subway to the “southern” downtown area of Namba. The central boulevard, Midosuji, is a spiffed up version of Fifth Avenue, with every designer boutique known to man. The side streets are, on the other hand, riotous piles of bars, restaurants, and little shops, many of themContinue reading “Osaka: Model City”
Closing the Circle
Although this magical trip was coming to a close, none of us smelled the barn, eager to return home. We made one last stop in Osaka, walking to the Umeda Sky Building, a remarkable architectural achievement at the edge of the Umeda built-up area. Although the building is “only” 40 stories tall, making it theContinue reading “Closing the Circle”
Return into Irony
Narita seemed comparatively empty when we arrived in the early afternoon; although 40 million people are served by only two airports, much of the traffic borne by the airports around New York is taken care of by the rail network in Japan. We parted ways with the Bans after a wonderful, enormously companionable trip together,Continue reading “Return into Irony”