Bright and early we’ve hopped on the Shinkansen heading out of Tokyo and towards our next destination – Takayama in the Japanese alps! As we leave the dazzling, frantic cityscape the scenery becomes more and more rural. There’s tumbling rivers, rice fields and verdant forests whizzing past us at a rate of knots. The countrysideContinue reading “Glimpses from the train”
Monthly Archives: April 2017
So long Shinjuku, toodleloo Tokyo
Before we head onto the glorious Japanese Alps we have one final night in the neon heartland of Shinjuku. The man is both intrigued and then delighted by this vending machine restaurant. Just pop in your money, make your selection, get your ticket and take it to the counter. Seconds later – a meal isContinue reading “So long Shinjuku, toodleloo Tokyo”
Capsule hotels & manic manga
Heading back from Nikko we’re catapulted back into the frenetic modernity of Japan and it’s hectic railway network. Even the usually dry train literature is exciting to me. It helps that it’s super cute and colourful too. The bullet trains have magazines advertising lots of intriguing, and in some cases, unfathomable, things for sale includingContinue reading “Capsule hotels & manic manga”
Into the abyss
After the wonders of Nikko we head to the impressively named Kanmangafuchi abyss. Kanmangafuchi is also known for its row of about 70 stone statues of Jizo, a Bodhisattva who cares for the deceased. This particular group of Jizo statues is alternately called “Bake Jizo” (Ghost Jizo), “Narabi Jizo” (Jizo in a line) or “HyakuContinue reading “Into the abyss”
Final details
A last look now at the sumptuous shrines and temples of the UNESCO World Heritage site at Nikko. Toshogu Shrine, one of the main sites at Nikko, is the final resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. Ieyasu is enshrined at ToshoguContinue reading “Final details”