Nasushiobara

On May 7th, we left the comfort of Eisuke's home for a train ride and a hotel room. We stayed in Nasushiobara for two days. This place had a lot to see like this temple and the surrounding landscape.

You could not get away from the sound of flowing water here. It was everywhere. I had never before seen so much water. It was flowing in rivers, under the streets through drain pipes. It was amazing.

While we were walking along this river, we spotted a family of monkeys on the opposite river bank. So, out came the 200mm lens, and I was able to get some shots of them.

This area is well known in Japan for its hot springs, called onsen in Japanese. We knew this before going there, but thought that they were all at the hot spring resorts, with a few natural ones that would be found off the beaten path. We were quite surprised to come up on a few open natural hot springs that were just right along the hiking trails.

The best place to see here was Ryuka no taki, or white dragon falls. It was a bit of a hike to get there, it seems the walk is always uphill in Japan, but this was worth it. The waterfall at the top is 60 meters (197 feet) tall and 130 meters (426 feet) long. The word ryu means dragon, and they say this looks like a white dragon. I guess it is a sort of serpentine looking waterfall.

The walk to get there was just as scenic, with fast flowing rivers and creeks, waterfalls, and steep cliffs.

After seeing this, we went on to see the Momijidani suspension bridge. This bridge is 320 meters (1,049 feet) long. In the center of the bridge is a grate-like thing that you can walk on and look down the 40 meters (131 feet) down to the water.

Once we were done here, it was back on the train to Tokyo to catch our bus at 8:20 PM for the over 9 hour ride back to Takamatsu.

Nikko

On May 6th, Yukiko's brother brought us to Nikko. Here we went to the Tosho-gu, which is a shrine that was completed in 1617. This area was very pretty, with landscape and buildings that just flowed together. From the water areas that are used for symbolic cleansing, and supposedly providing varying effects depending on the water, like longevity, wisdom, wealth, etc.

To the buildings, entrances and stone lanterns, that work well with the natural surroundings.

Anybody who visits the temples and shrines in Japan can tell you that the Japanese love steep sets of steps for some reason. The elevation of this area ranges from 200 meters to 2,000 meters, and I think you could climb steps the entire 1,800 meters. So if you plan on visiting the temples and shrines of Japan, you certainly need to bring your hiking shoes, and practice on the stair master before coming over.

Another thing to note; The Japanese people of this era were small. So,, for most Americans and Europeans, you'll need to watch your head. Luckily enough, I am not tall by USA standards. Even so, as you can see, I barely fit under some of the passageways. We saw an old set of samurai armor from this period. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of it, but it would fit a modern day 13 year old well. So, I am sure that at the time, these passageways were plenty tall. 

Once you get to the top of Tosho-gu, you have made it to the tomb of a famous shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

We also visited nearby Futarasan shrine and Rinno-ji, which houses the tomb of Ieyasu's grandson, Iemitsu.

Hitachi Kaihin Koen

On May 5th, we headed to Hitachi Kaihin Koen, or Hitachi Seaside Park, which had a small amusement park that would rival that of any local high school fair. So, not all that impressive.

The scenery was very good though. There were these little blue flowers everywhere, and from the top of the hill we had a great view of the Pacific Ocean too.

The pollen from the trees and plants was everywhere though. So, I put away my dSLR as it was getting covered in the stuff, and whipped out the Olympus Tough. The pollen on that is easy to clean as it can be completely submerged in water.

Mashiko

When we went to visit Yukiko's brother in Tochigi, he took us to a number of places. One of the first being Mashiko. Each area in Japan is well known for something, and Mashiko is known for its pottery. Here we tried our hand at making some. As you can see Yukiko was much better at it than I.

These (#16) are the finished products. Well at least we are finished. We got to choose two that will go into the fire to complete the process.

After we were done, we went to see the pottery festival that was happening. Here we got to see what the professionals are capable of making.

Odaiba

On May 2nd we headed to Odaiba. This is kind of an amusement and shopping area in Tokyo, that is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. The first thing we did was take a ride on the ferris wheel. This ferris wheel was the tallest in the world when built in 1999, but later beat by the one in London. It is 377 ft tall, and has a diameter of 328 ft. We chose to take the box that is clear all the way around so we would have a complete view. We were a little disappointed because they had some sort of film on the bottom that was bubbling and pealing. So, we didn't really have a clear view looking straight down. 

Also it was a little rainy that day, so it wasn't clear, but still a great view.

In the area were some shopping malls, like Venus Fort, which is a Venice themed shopping mall. Right next to the ferris wheel is a huge game area, called Tokyo Big Sight. This thing was 4 stories of fun and is open 24/7. Everything from UFO catchers to bowling to karaoke. The bottom floor was the largest,  it was just massive with video games, photo booths and UFO catchers.

There was also Megaweb, which is Toyota's exhibition hall. They had a number of cars on display, and had some driving simulators that you could use.

Once we were done there, we went back to Tokyo Station to grab our bag from the locker and then on another long train ride. This time to visit Yukiko's brother in Tochigi.

Kamakura and Tokyo Tower

After we left the zoo, we headed to Kamakura. There they have a large Buddha statue at the Kotoku-in temple. It was built in 1252, and is over 43 feet tall and weighs 270,000 pounds.

We also got to go inside, which was interesting. The statue is made of bronze, and looking up into the head, you can see the impact points from what I guess was hammering to make the shape.

After seeing the Buddha statue we went to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-guu, which was built in 1063. It is dedicated to the god Hachiman, which even many Japanese who I have talked to don't realize is the god of war. The only reason I know this is because I lived next to a Hachiman temple for a year, so was interested in finding out more about it.

From there, we headed back to Tokyo and went to the Tokyo Tower. This one is near Ropongi, and is 1,098 feet tall. They have built a new Tower, called Tokyo Skytree, which will open on May 22, 2012.

We went to the first observation deck, which is at 475 feet. Here you can get a great view of Tokyo.

They even have a clear floor area where you can stand and look straight down. We had seen the same thing at the CN tower in Toronto just last month

We didn't make it up to the top observation deck, which is at 819 feet. There was a 40 minute wait to get to that deck, and it was already nearing 10:00 PM, and we were just too worn out by all the days traveling. So, off to the hotel we went.

Tokyo

We arrived in Tokyo on May 1st. The first thing we did was head for Inokashira Park Zoo to see the guinea pigs, or morumotto as they are called here. I believe the worker there said they have somewhere between 160 and 180 of them there.

We also got to see some one week old guinea pigs.

Some of the animals I would not have recognized. Like this Japanese "raccoon"

There were all kinds of animals there from goats

to monkeys

Unfortunately they didn't do a show with the guinea pigs like they showed on YouTube, but it was still a great place to visit. The highlight being Hanako, who just turned 65. She is the oldest elephant in Japan.

On the 27th we visited Tokuda and his family. He bought a house up on Mineyama, the same mountain that has the park you saw in my tree in the previous post.

The next morning we went to see Yukiko's parent's garden, which is about a quarter mile form their house.

On April 29th we went to a temple, Hirao-jinjya, There we saw a kabuki play, in which the mayor was one of the actors.

We also had a chance to walk around the temple area.
There is a tradition for taller torii, temple arches, that is you throw up a stone and can get it to stay on the beam, that you will have good luck.

On to Japan

On to Japan. We flew out of Toronto on the 20th to Taipei. There we had a few hours of layover.

Then we headed to Osaka. Once in Osaka it was another 3 hour bus trip to Takamatsu.

Once there the first things we did were eat at one of the best Indian restaurants I know

Then we went to Mineyama to see my tree.

And of course we couldn't resist going through the obstacle course. Everything from balancing to monkey bars.

They make the best slides. I have never seen this in the USA. Not to say they don't exist, but I have never seen them.These use plastic rollers, instead of smooth metal. You can get going pretty fast on these. Plus they can make them really long and you don't lose momentum.

Toronto

After the falls, we spent two days in Toronto:

We went up the CN tower. 1,815 feet tall, with the observation deck at 1,122 feet. That is where this picture was taken.

Visited St James Cathedral. Built in 1853.

Went to Casa Loma. Originally a residence of Sir Henry Pellatt, it was built in 1914. The best I got from the information here is that he never quite finished construction before he went bankrupt. We got to walk down a long tunnel that lead to the stables, which was apparently used as a secret research facility during WWII.

Niagara Falls

So we started out April 16th for Niagara Falls and Toronto before heading to Japan.
We spent two days at the falls.