First-timers’ trip to Japan: 4 weeks, an unexpectedly awesome trip
Feb 20th, 2024, 08:00 AM
#302
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Yes, I have been viewing your wonderful photos all along. They bring back many memories of my trips to Japan particularly the recent photos of Kokedera and Matsuo Taisha - there I saw the rock gardens of Mirei Shigemori - his last ones....
Really cool that your first trip was a month...mine was a week back quite a few years ago....and now I return pretty much every year....
Really cool that your first trip was a month...mine was a week back quite a few years ago....and now I return pretty much every year....
Feb 20th, 2024, 08:07 AM
#303
TIL: the Japanese borrowed-word "modan" means modern. Also:
Hiroshima style okonomiyaki layers the ingredients which include noodles. Osaka style mixes the ingredients and does not include noodles. Osaka-style okonomiyaki with noodels is called modanyaki.
Hiroshima style okonomiyaki layers the ingredients which include noodles. Osaka style mixes the ingredients and does not include noodles. Osaka-style okonomiyaki with noodels is called modanyaki.
Last edited by mrwunrfl; Feb 20th, 2024 at 08:45 AM.
Feb 20th, 2024, 10:43 AM
#304
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Progol, I am so sorry to hear about the death in your family. This kind of loss is never easy to accept and to process.
Happy to see that you are continuing with your trip report and outstanding photos. Especially love the photos of the Moss Temple. You are right, very ethereal!
Happy to see that you are continuing with your trip report and outstanding photos. Especially love the photos of the Moss Temple. You are right, very ethereal!
Feb 20th, 2024, 12:50 PM
#305
Original Poster
Thank you, everyone, for responding! It really does help to know when there are folks out there actually looking at this very long report!
AJPeabody, thank you for your kind words! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying this!
shelemm, thank you! I do tend to shoot a lot of photos but the garden at the Moss Temple is really very special. We both felt a sense of calm when we were there and it was so quiet and peaceful.
valgachi, thank you for your sweet thoughts. I’m still studying your trip reports and trying to cull out some ideas. We’re going back for 18 days (combined with Taiwan) next fall so I’m toying with a lot of different ideas - but keeping it simple.23 seem to,do best when I don’t try too hard and the trip isn’t too far flung.
Mara, I’m so glad this is bringing back good memories for you! And a month was a wonderful amount of time to travel! I didn’t consider that we’d be able to get back at all, though, as you might’ve read, we are planning a return trip for 18 days (with Taiwan) - but I truthfully don’t imagine we’ll be able to get back after that, given the cost of travel and the difficulty of traveling so far for us (NYers), now that we’re in our 70s. So we have to make the best of it while we’re able!
mrwunrfl, I’m SO looking forward to trying okonomiyaki in Hiroshima especially though now I’m intrigued by Osaka, too. Taste test time! And thanks for posting the translation of the sign. We did it at the time but I didn’t remember what it said. But it makes sense that it says “Slow down” as that’s the street where the cars and buses enter to get to the temple.
KarenWoo, thank you for your very sweet words. So true, a loss is not easy and it does take some time to absorb and process. Happily, I’m able to focus more on finishing this trip (have we all convinced you that a trip to Japan is in order?!) - and planning for next year’s trip! I can’t believe we’re going again, but we are - along with Taiwan. Very excited! And the Moss Temple (Kokedera) is a very special place.
AJPeabody, thank you for your kind words! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying this!
shelemm, thank you! I do tend to shoot a lot of photos but the garden at the Moss Temple is really very special. We both felt a sense of calm when we were there and it was so quiet and peaceful.
valgachi, thank you for your sweet thoughts. I’m still studying your trip reports and trying to cull out some ideas. We’re going back for 18 days (combined with Taiwan) next fall so I’m toying with a lot of different ideas - but keeping it simple.23 seem to,do best when I don’t try too hard and the trip isn’t too far flung.
Mara, I’m so glad this is bringing back good memories for you! And a month was a wonderful amount of time to travel! I didn’t consider that we’d be able to get back at all, though, as you might’ve read, we are planning a return trip for 18 days (with Taiwan) - but I truthfully don’t imagine we’ll be able to get back after that, given the cost of travel and the difficulty of traveling so far for us (NYers), now that we’re in our 70s. So we have to make the best of it while we’re able!
mrwunrfl, I’m SO looking forward to trying okonomiyaki in Hiroshima especially though now I’m intrigued by Osaka, too. Taste test time! And thanks for posting the translation of the sign. We did it at the time but I didn’t remember what it said. But it makes sense that it says “Slow down” as that’s the street where the cars and buses enter to get to the temple.
KarenWoo, thank you for your very sweet words. So true, a loss is not easy and it does take some time to absorb and process. Happily, I’m able to focus more on finishing this trip (have we all convinced you that a trip to Japan is in order?!) - and planning for next year’s trip! I can’t believe we’re going again, but we are - along with Taiwan. Very excited! And the Moss Temple (Kokedera) is a very special place.
Feb 20th, 2024, 12:54 PM
#306
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Hi Progol, Sorry for your loss. Thank you for continuing your report, I benefited a lot from your previous reports, Europe and Asia. I am fine-tuning our March visit. How do you rank the attractions in Kyoto? We have five nights and travel at a slow pace. Did you get temple fatigue? I am very interested in the Moss temple but concerned about sitting on floor for sutra, do they allow sitting on a chair for those who can't kneel? Is the garden unique that justify the extra cost and allotted time to visit? Thanks and please keep on writing...
Feb 20th, 2024, 12:57 PM
#307
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Mara, I’m so glad this is bringing back good memories for you! And a month was a wonderful amount of time to travel! I didn’t consider that we’d be able to get back at all, though, as you might’ve read, we are planning a return trip for 18 days (with Taiwan) - but I truthfully don’t imagine we’ll be able to get back after that, given the cost of travel and the difficulty of traveling so far for us (NYers), now that we’re in our 70s. So we have to make the best of it while we’re able!
Feb 20th, 2024, 01:08 PM
#308
Original Poster
Feb 25th, 2024, 10:52 AM
#311
Original Poster
Our penultimate day in Japan… a lovely morning, though I was a bit sad knowing that this was our last full day in Japan. I started the trip with limited expectations as Japan had never been one of those places I had dreamed of going to in the past. But I had really been surprised by how much I had been taken by the country: the simple beauty of the place and the warmest people ever.
We spent a very relaxed morning taking a walk around Gion, across the Shijo bridge, over to the Teramachi and Shinkyogoku shopping arcades, and then on to the Nishiki fish market. At one point, we got a little lost looking for the arcades and we asked a young woman for directions; and, once again, she walked us to our destination. I was mostly curious about the fish market as I’ve read how busy it gets and that it’s essentially a tourist trap. We arrived around 11am and it wasn’t too crowded, but by the time we left less than a half hour later, the crowds were definitely building up. I’m glad I saw it but it isn’t a place I’d go out of my way to see.
After our exploration, it was time to see at least one Major Sight. We decided to visit the Nijo Castle, a World Heritage site and National Treasure. An easy trip from where we were, we took bus #12 to the castle, which took around 15 minutes.
Completed in 1603, Nijo Castle was the center of the Tokugawa shogunate, or Edo shogunate, which governed Japan from 1603 to 1868 under a feudal system, until the Meiji Restoration brought imperial rule to Japan.
We visited the extensive Ninomaru-goten Palace, one of the many structures within the grounds, with its fabulous wall paintings (no photos allowed), including those of tigers and leopards as well as beautiful scenes of nature which emphasize the power of the shogun. We walked through the beautiful gardens and enjoyed matcha cake and tea.
And on our last night, we had a fabulous grilled meat dinner at Maruhiro. The chef, Hiro, is a lovely man and an excellent chef and the 2 women who work with him were charming. The younger woman was so excited to discover we lived in NYC because she visited this past summer and adored it. We had fun talking about the things she saw and did. A great end to our stay.
We spent a very relaxed morning taking a walk around Gion, across the Shijo bridge, over to the Teramachi and Shinkyogoku shopping arcades, and then on to the Nishiki fish market. At one point, we got a little lost looking for the arcades and we asked a young woman for directions; and, once again, she walked us to our destination. I was mostly curious about the fish market as I’ve read how busy it gets and that it’s essentially a tourist trap. We arrived around 11am and it wasn’t too crowded, but by the time we left less than a half hour later, the crowds were definitely building up. I’m glad I saw it but it isn’t a place I’d go out of my way to see.
After our exploration, it was time to see at least one Major Sight. We decided to visit the Nijo Castle, a World Heritage site and National Treasure. An easy trip from where we were, we took bus #12 to the castle, which took around 15 minutes.
Completed in 1603, Nijo Castle was the center of the Tokugawa shogunate, or Edo shogunate, which governed Japan from 1603 to 1868 under a feudal system, until the Meiji Restoration brought imperial rule to Japan.
We visited the extensive Ninomaru-goten Palace, one of the many structures within the grounds, with its fabulous wall paintings (no photos allowed), including those of tigers and leopards as well as beautiful scenes of nature which emphasize the power of the shogun. We walked through the beautiful gardens and enjoyed matcha cake and tea.
And on our last night, we had a fabulous grilled meat dinner at Maruhiro. The chef, Hiro, is a lovely man and an excellent chef and the 2 women who work with him were charming. The younger woman was so excited to discover we lived in NYC because she visited this past summer and adored it. We had fun talking about the things she saw and did. A great end to our stay.
Feb 25th, 2024, 05:51 PM
#316
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All of the photos of your last day are so interesting! Even those of the fish market. What are those red squid/octopus things on sticks?
Thank you for taking the time to post such an interesting report! Your photos are outstanding. I don't know if we will make it to Japan some day but I sure would like to try.
Thank you for taking the time to post such an interesting report! Your photos are outstanding. I don't know if we will make it to Japan some day but I sure would like to try.
Feb 26th, 2024, 03:04 AM
#317
Original Poster
All of the photos of your last day are so interesting! Even those of the fish market. What are those red squid/octopus things on sticks?
Thank you for taking the time to post such an interesting report! Your photos are outstanding. I don't know if we will make it to Japan some day but I sure would like to try.
Thank you for taking the time to post such an interesting report! Your photos are outstanding. I don't know if we will make it to Japan some day but I sure would like to try.
Thank you again for your kind words! I really do hope you get to Japan someday. I think you and your husband would enjoy it very much.
Those red things are baby octopuses (octopi?)!
