Ritsurin Garden

On May 29th, we went to Ritsurin Garden. This area is just a few minutes walk from where I used to live. This garden's construction began in the 1570's by the local rulers, the Satos. In 1625, Ikoma Takatoshi continued developing the garden. It was taken over by successive rulers until the 5th, Matsudaira Yoritaka, completed it in 1745. This area served as the private estate of the Matsudaira family for 228 years. After the end of the feudal clan system, the area became a public park in 1875.

The entire park covers about 185 acres, with the flower gardens using about 40 acres. It is the largest garden in Japan designated a national scenic area. The mountain you see in the background is Mount Shiun.

They built an artificial waterfall that ran from half way up the mountain. In the times of the feudal lords, the servants would carry water in buckets up to a large container. When the lord walked by, they would release the water, causing the waterfall to flow. Today this is all done by electrical pumps.

There are three tea houses within the garden. Kikugetsu-tei, pictured below from different locations, is reported to have been a favorite of the feudal rulers.

All of the trees in the foreground of the picture below were planted by members of the Japanese royal family, except for one. The third tree from the right was planted in 1923 by the Prince of Whales. He was the uncle of Queen Elizabeth II. Thirteen years after planting this tree, he would become King Edward VIII, only to abdicate from the throne within a year for the woman he loved.

There were many things to see... The Japanese plums were ripe on the trees

The lily pads were in full bloom

The Japanese gardens as a whole are very well thought out and blend well with the surroundings

I really like the Japanese lanterns that are used to decorate gardens, houses, and temples.

And of course, what Japanese garden would be complete without koi. Visitors here can purchase food to trow in the lakes. So, every time you walk by the lakes' edge the koi would congregate hoping to be fed. We were feeding them in the below photo, which had them all scrambling to get a piece.

The souvenir shop had a lot of wood made items, as the lacquerware from this area is popular in Japan. Outside the shop, they also had a large assortment of bonsai trees for sale. 

Honen-ji

On May 16th, we went to a local temple called Honenji. The best I can figure it is named after a monk named Honen, who was somewhat of a religious reformer who was exiled to Sanuki, present day Kagawa prefecture. Here there are all the typical things a Japanese temple has like shrines, buildings and of course a lot of stairs...

From the top we had a great view. In the background of the picture below, you can see Yashima mountain. As was explained to me many years ago by the principal of Yashima Jr. High School, this used to be an Island, however lava flowed from this volcano at some point, filling in the narrow distance between the island and the shore. During the Genpei war the Taira had retreated to this island and built defenses here. On March 22, 1185 they were in a battle with the Minamoto at this site. The war, which lasted about 5 years, was because of a dispute about whom was the rightful heir to the throne. There is now a wax museum at the top of Yashima that depicts the battle.

After leaving Honenji, we went to another local temple called Kawahigashi Hachiman. Of course there were many stairs here too.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that people here believe if you trow a stone up onto the beam of the temple entrance (archway) that it is good luck. We both managed, after multiple attempts, to get our stones to stay up there.

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.