Sapporo - Tokyo - London

Where to start? I'm now in London and everything feels weird.
So back in time...


SAPPORO - Friday to Tuesday
It was quite shock to arrive in a landscape covered in snow.

I arrived early and was picked up at the end of the day by a friend, M, so I decided to go to the cinema to kill some time. For a while I've seen the poster for Gantz, adapted from a manga, a bit violent. Because it is an action movie, I thought it would be easier to follow in Japanese so I decided to go and see that. I wasn't disappointed: on top of the gore scene, the story was pretty good and the 2 (sexy) guys wore tight latex combination. ;-)

I then walked around the mall in the station (outside it was snowing) to get some presents.
At 17h30 I found M in the station and we went to the parents of my other friend, K. I've only seen K&M in London before but it was at the same time weird and normal to see M (and later K) in Sapporo.
K's parents were adorable and the mother prepared an amazing dinner (home made tempura, croquette, ahhhhh).

K arrived later (work work work) and we had a nice time catching up. K and I stayed in the Japanese room at K's parents. The other shock in Sapporo was how warm the house was. Everyone was cold but for me it was like summer. Awesome.

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The next day, we went back to Sapporo for lunch in lovely cafe/design shop. The owner, a friend of M&K was in Tokyo that day so couldn't meet him but M told me he was really surprised to see the picture of this friend, in W* Sapporo.

Then went to a wheel located in the top of a tall building. Must admit I kept wondering if the wheel was going to fall from the roof and the height was bit too much but it was well worth it for the amazing view of Sapporo.

Then we went to a second-hand bookshop where we had a drink. The shop was on one of the floor of an old building. I would have never thought of coming in and really wander how people find the (cool) places in Japan.

 Afterward we went for a bit of shoes shopping between girls and found M in a huge bookshop where we spent a couple of hours.
Then dinner and I went with K to the opening of this exhibition by two artists: tbc (dammed didn't get name card) and Shu Saito (got the card!). We were joined by a couple of K's friends, both really funny and cool. The area where the gallery is, is a middle of regeneration: low rent, lots of artists, galleries, pretty cool. And I really like the artworks (even got a badge from mysterious artist).

After that we heard there was another opening nearby so we went. The artist was a bit freaky, a 26 years-old something, behaving like a child and speaking with a voice of a 12 years-old. Brrr. Really made me feel uncomfortable. But, for the first time, I saw real Otaku (nerd obsessed by mangas, anime and electronic) and I can confirm that none of my friend (or me) are real otaku. Oh yeah, the art. Well was like a very good manga, cute characters (lolitas) so I think it would work well outside of Japan but, perso, I didn't see the point.
After that, we went with K and her 2 mates for drinks in a restaurant at the top of building, where I had a good view of Sapporo by night and nice shochu(danger danger).

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On Sunday, Y, a mate of K, met the night before, drove us to the countryside, We passed a cemetery with statues like in Eastern islands, a huge Buddha and other oddities. No ideas why this stuff was there. We arrived to our destination: a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains (one of them a volcano). Apparently, in the summer, it's a very popular destination because there are lots of onsen and you can take boats on the lake. But when we went, the town was deserted and silent apart from the muffled sound of walking in the snow.

After lunch, we headed back to Sapporo. On the way we stopped at this coffee place which has been designed by architects. It's amazing what good architecture can do: as soon as we entered the building, we felt complete utter relaxation.
After a stop at the supermarket to get the ingredients for the nabe (hot pot) we headed back to K&M's place. Their flat is really cool and the party fun: good food, good drinks, good company. Danger danger.

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On Monday, we chilled out. Even went back to bed after breakfast(!). We went out for lunch in a lovely Nordic-style restaurant nearby. K and I spent a nice afternoon chatting, catching up... But I couldn't help thinking I was at day-2d before leaving Japan.
For dinner K's mum prepared another amazing meal. Basically you pick up a nori (seaweed), chose your sashimi, put all that together with rice and yummmmmmmm. Awesome.

TOKYO - last stop
Arrived there on Tuesday. Grey sky, rain...It was quite a change to be in the middle of this big city, bustling with people, tall buildings everywhere after having spent months in medium-sized cities. Hotel was a bit old and in a so-so area (slept with my luggage blocking the door) but the people at reception were adorable so, at the end it was OK.
My luggage arrived safely from Fukuoka. In Japan, you don't see people carrying huge luggage around in trains/planes. Instead they all seem to send them to their destination via the equivalent of UPS/DHL, except that it's super cheap. I tried to lift my luggage and realised that I couldn't so decided to send to London one last box by post. Thanks God I did that because when I arrived at the airport on Thursday, I was over the weight limit (29kg instead of 20kg). So I had to throw away 1kg, take a membership to Lufthansa, repack to bring my backpack to 8kg and make a very sad face at the counter so they let it pass. I say it's lucky because the box was 7kg (full of precious books - why don't I like hankerchieves instead of books??) so I would have had to pay the extra fuel charge which costs a fortune.
Anyway, enough of that, back to Tuesday. After the post office, the email checking and getting a coffee, the day was nearly over so I just hang around Ueno station, not very inspiring...

Wednesday, I wanted to go back to this amazing stationary shop I visited years ago so headed to Ginza where I spent the day. I just hang out in coffee shops, watching the world go by, trying to take in as much as I could...my mind already half-way between Japan and England.

LONDON
So apart from the little "trauma" at the check-in counter, it was a long trip back home. Will pass on the details but now I'm back in London, everything seems strange and I'm jet-lagged. I'm sure it's only a matter of few days to get used (back) to my surroundings.

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I could have written very ceremoniously The End but, if it is the end of the 3 months in Japan (see title), it's certainly not the end of my story with Japan. So instead it'll just be a See You Later.
^_^

Kyoto day 4 - North West

Today I took it easy. I walked to what I thought was a train but was in fact a tramway. It was slow but great to navigate the city at street level while seating.

After I arrived at destination, north west of the city, I decided it was time for breakfast. I heard Portishead coming from the stereo of one of the café so had to get in. The café was inspired by tibetan color, the waitress, a Japanese of Korean origins, absolutely adorable. After my mango lassi I thought it was time to head off to my first stop of the day: Ninnaji. The temple founded in 888, served as a residence for the ex-emperor and is now the headquarter of the Omuro School of Flower Arrangement and the Omuro School of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. I was able to visit the "palace", which has several houses linked together by covered wooden passages and surrounded by garden. I was lucky to bump into a couple getting married in traditional kimonos and was allowed to take a photo of them (obviously they're looking at the actual photographer). Must say that my T-chan and S-san looked so much better. He he he.

The rest of the ground of the temple hosts several smaller temples (all closed), a 5-storey pagoda and Omuro cherry, a type of cherry tree with nearly no trunks, must be beautiful at the blossom season.

Afterwards I walked to what I thought would be the highlight of my day: Ryoanji temple, famous for its zen garden. The architect of the garden left no explanations so nobody knows the signification behind the 15 stones. The guide tells you to look at it and several explanations will come to you. Well, first it was busy, then seeing the garden I felt absolutely nothing, nada, rien, nanimonai. Disappointed I followed the arrows, saw a nice little gate, a nice pond/lake and left. Bouhhhhhhhhhhh

After a stop at Family Mart for quick lunch, I then made my way to the top of the top destination the golden pavilion or Kinkakuji. I first heard about it reading a novel by Mishima. So I was expecting a huge monument but no,no, no it's "only" 3 storeys high but still striking. (I'd like to thank the heron at the bottom of the picture for posing).

The 1st floor is built in the palace style, the 2nd floor in the style of a samurai house and last floor in  a zen temple style. I couldn't actually get in the building but some poor photos outside showed how it looks like inside. But the golden pavilion is only a part of this zen temple so the rest of the walk was very pleasant. Of course there were lots of tourists but it was still fine to move around.

I stopped for coffee (yes today I took it easy) and the guy was horrified when I told him I wanted to walk to my next destination. "But you know It's 20mn!" Obviously, he had no idea who he was talking to!
So recharged in cafeine I walked to the final destination of the day: Daitoku-ji. The place is actually enclosed within some tall walls and inside, there are at least 25 temples with beautiful paved alleys. It's like turning the clock back in time: quiet, sound of the wind in the leaves, the smell of damp wood and beautiful anywhere you look. Most of the temples were closed to the public but I was able to enter 3 of them.

First one was a zen garden, Daisen-in Temple. This is the most beautiful rock garden I've seen in 4 days. At the reception i was given a leaflet in english explaining why every rock is where it is. I think that the combination of understanding the meaning (to do with the cycle of life) and the amazing aesthetics, made me fall in love with it. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take photos so sorry but I can't share what I saw but look it up on the internet. I wanted to buy a little leaflet but the quality of the paper and the printing were so bad I just couldn't do it.

Then I went to Soken-in, another little temple, very exquisite but was packed with japanese tourists and there was no explanations in English so was a bit lost at what was what. Nevermind, next.

At this point it started to rain but I persisted (I live in England afterall) and reached Koto-in zen temple. Again, absolutely beautiful. First, I passed through a little forest of bamboos then entered the temple and at the first corner fell in love with the view through the paper screen.

I walked quickly through the garden and the houses but had to come back again and again to this view. I had to be quick as the temple was closing but a great way to finish my tour of temples in Kyoto.

Initially I thought I'd walk to the tube station, maybe 30mn walk but it was still raining so asked an old lady at the bus stop if any bus was going to Kyoto station and bingo! It went. So the return trip was again very pleasant, sitting and looking at Kyoto, now by night.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Kobe....

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No no no I haven't forgotten about the result, less than a year later, with some serious renovation done ...dadadadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Kyoto day 3 - North Higashiyama UPDATED

I reached my destination by tube (really easy to use) but as I hadn't got a proper map of the area, I decided to follow a group of elderly who looked like tourists. Bingo I arrived at the Nanzenji temple complex.
I call it a complex because set next to each others are numerous point of interests: first the giant San-Mon at the entrance, nanzenji temple and a couple of little shrines.
I first climbed to the top floor of San-Mon, gigantic and from the top, I got a nice view of the complex and Kyoto.

I entered a random shrine and was treated to a lovely garden and old buildings.

Then I followed an aqueduct, first south, which lead to nothing but it was a pleasant walk; then north it lead to a lovely small temple.

Then I tried to find a shrine recommended by my guide. Don't do it, basically you climb up the mountain for ages then arrive to a small shrine, not particularly interesting. I found a girl who was browsing her guide and asked her if it was the same as mine. Yes! And yes, where we were in what was described as a don't miss. Well I say miss it, except if you want an excuse to take a steep stroll through the mountain.
Starting to feel grumpy...

I entered nanzenji temple itself and saw my first dry Japanese garden, what I usually called a zen garden: white rocks representing the sea and bigger rocks with plants and bonsai. Was an amazing experience, just looking at the movements left in the rocks, you get a sense of peacefulness. The temple and its ground were really beautiful.

Starting to feel like I was overdosing on Japanese esthetics I looked for a place to sit down and have lunch without luck. As I passed Eikan-do temple, I thought why not.  Famous for its statue turning her head, apparently super rare, it has a garden and numerous little shrines scattered in the mountain, all linked by wooden passageways. I wasn't in a good frame of mind while I visited so didn't really enjoy it. And climbing steep stairs to a pagoda (seen here up the mountain), which was closed didn't help lighten my mood. Grumble.

I decided it was time to sit down, like NOW so entered the first coffee place I found. Luckily I ended in a nice place, ran by an old couple. One of their usual customer, an old granny, came in, even if she wasn't hungry she was convinced to eat a cake and spent the next 30mn gossiping about Sato-san and its family. Ah ah ah... Feeling refreshed and in a bright mood I headed up to the philosopher's path, a quiet lane with follows a little stream. The actual path is closed until March to help the plants grow back but it didn't spoil anything, as while walking I could still see the stream and its calming effect. Quiet, lots of shops selling craft and cafes. Very nice and peaceful.

Mid-way in the path I went up the mountain again to reach Honen-in, a lovely temple in the forest, surrounded by the smell of fresh moss and trees. Loved it.

Then at the end of the path was Ginkakuji temple (silver pavilion). It's one of the main attraction in Kyoto so it was packed but was well worth it. Anywhere I looked it was beautiful: buildings, moss, rock, zen garden, cascade, everything is meticulously arranged. Was very difficult not to take a photo everything minute and just enjoy the moment.

After a sweet stop at one of the numerous stalls lining the street leading to the temple, I wandered in streets, my internal compass set south west, to Heian shrine. I was expecting another shrine so was surprised when, instead, I entered a beautiful garden. Peaceful, sun setting, only noise coming from water...Beautiful.

so now I'm watching TV and in the news, one of the topic covered for a good 5mn was how a vending machine was degraded by someone using the plant pot of the guy next door...I've also been watching this program about teeth-horror stories. So this the woman before....scary.... (to see the renovated one see tomorrow's blog)

Kyoto - day 2 (South Higashiyama)

After a good night sleep, I woke up ready for my second day in Kyoto. After grabbing a juice and sweet stuff for breakfast, I made my way east to Sanjusangen-do temple. Initially built in 1164 it was rebuilt in 1249 after a fire burnt it down. The name (sanjusan) refers to the 33 bays between the pillars of this long building. It houses one large Kannon on its centre, flanked on each side by 500-armed smaller Kannon statues. All the statues are neatly lined and at the front there are an extra 28 guardian statues. It was pretty impressive sight and the length of the building used to host an annual archery competition, during which archers shoot arrows the length of the hall. Some competition even saw an archer shooting arrows for 24hrs! Even though the original competition ended at the Edo period, nowadays there is a similar competition.

I then headed towards the north to the complex of temples called Kiyomizudera. This was packed with people, strolling around the various halls and shrines. As it stands at the top of a hill the view of Kyoto was amazing. The most popular shrines (for teenagers and young couples) seem to be the ones protecting lovers or bringing luck to people looking for love. Of course I got my lucky charms.
There is also a fountain from which you can drink from and it is supposed to have therapeutic properties.

 

After that it was time for lunchtime so I looked for a restaurant. As I managed to saw a dish I liked and that I could pronounce (thanks to easy kanjis). In fact, in Japan, outside of most restaurant window, the dishes they offer is remade in fake materials ( think it's resin) so you can see what they have to offer). Very nice.

Batteries recharged, I walked Sannei-zaka and Ninen-zaka, which are small paved streets lined with old houses full of knick-knack.

 

I reached my highlight of the day: Kodai-ji. The ground host a traditional garden designed by Kobori Enshu and tea houses. I loved walking around to the sounds of the wind in the bamboos, smelling the old wood and looking at beautiful architecture. Happy.

 

After looking earlier for a street called Ishebei-koji, recommended by my guide book I finally found it. And I wasn't disappointed. The book called it the most beautiful street in Kyoto and, even though, I wouldn't go to that extend, I thought it was the most charming street I've seen. Again cobbled tiny streets with lots of traditional ryokan. Each entrance of the ryokan are extremely well presented with a mixture of dark wood, always in lines, perpendicular, horizontal; stones thoughtfully positioned and little ornaments to bring, what I think, is good luck. I nearly died of an overdose of Japanese esthetics.

Still heading north, I arrived at Yasaka-jinja, the guardian shrine of Gion, is colorful but nothing much more.

 A bit disappointed I stopped for a macha ice cream, with a macha power sprinkle on top. Yummy! Then headed to Chion-in temple via a bit of Maruyama Park. Thanks god I had my ice cream because the stairs to reach the temple were pretty steep and then the temple was in renovation so there was nothing much to see. Argh! (photo below is of one of the entrance gate)

Anyway, I made my way back west to Gion, a big disappointment. I imagined little cobbled streets with old houses and silence. instead it's just like any other red-light district. Yes quiet, but otherwise pretty ugly. Maybe at night the grey of the building becomes covered of lights but really I don't see the point. And no I didn't see any geishas.

A frustrated me then crossed the bridge west and walked up north to Pontocho dori. And there was what I imagined Gion would be. Very narrow street with lots of restaurants, theaters, old houses...
Well worth it.

Afterwards I decided to walk back home via a department store to get my dinner: a big salad (luxury in Japan) and some rice. Walking via side streets to the ryokan, I started to feel like Kyoto is becoming more mine. Nice feeling but my feet are demanding that tomorrow I'll give them a break so I'll probably have to take the tube to my destination: North Higashiyama. Will my brain get an indigestion of temples/shrines? Will my legs transform in 2 pieces of wood?

to be continued...
P.S. as always, more photos on flickr.