Day 1:
The end of January marked the start of Chinese New Year, so I had time off. I met up with my parents in Japan for a couple of days before traveling back to Taiwan with them. My arrival in Japan did not quite go as planned. While trying to land, there was a strong crosswind. The pilot had to divert to another airport. We sat on the airplane for another two hours until we had the all-clear to take off and land. I eventually made it to Japan, three hours later than expected. By the time I arrived, it was evening. I met my parents at the airport and we had dinner, then went to the hotel. My parents had been in Japan about a week, so I was thankful that they knew how to get around using the subway.
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| Here is a lights display at the subway station. |
Day 2:
The next morning we headed to the Tsukiji Fish Market. People go to the fish market at 2 am in the morning to be able to go to the tuna auction. We did not get up that early. We wandered the market and tried different street foods including a Japanese omelet (like a cold eggroll), blow torched tuna, and bacon wrapped fish. Then we took the train to Kyoto. In Kyoto we stayed in a traditional townhouse complete with sliding doors and beds on the floor. We explored the nearby Heian Shrine. We had dinner at a soba noodle restaurant, where we sat on the floor at traditional tables.
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| The Tsukiji Fish Market |
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| An O-mikuji or fortune written on paper at the Shinto shrine. |
Day 3:
Our morning started with a visit to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. The shrine was very picturesque with thousands of red, torii gates on the different paths. The shrine is dedicated to the Shinto god Inari, who is the god of rice. There are many fox statues around the grounds, because the fox is said to be Inari's messenger. It took us about two hours to follow the gates and hike to the top of the mountain. There were several great views of Kyoto on the way. The next stop for the day was to bamboo forest in Arashiyama. I didn't realize that bamboo grew so tall!
Our final stop for the day was visiting the Monkey Park Iwatayama. We hiked up another mountain to find a pretty big population of snow monkeys. It made us a little nervous, because there were rules that were posted everywhere for interacting with the monkeys. 1. Don't crouch down. 2. Don't stare at them. 3. Don't put your camera in their face. 4. Don't get their hair wet. 5. Don't feed them after midnight. Okay, I made up the last two. We bought apples at the shelter and monkeys would stick their hands through the wire fencing in the windows for it. We were also there for a feeding, which was something. They played the "can-can" and threw from a bucket of food. The crowd of monkeys went wild!
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| Some of the torii gates at the Fushimi Inari Shrine. |
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| One of the many foxes at the shrine. |
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| Arashiyama Bamboo Grove |
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| A snow monkey at the park. |
Day 4:
My mom really wanted to go to a temple. How many temples can one person go to? She informed me that we had been to multiple shrines, but no temples yet. We went to the second best temple, the Ginkakuji Silver Pavillion. It was known for its sand garden and moss garden. I signed us up for a cooking class through Traveling Spoon (https://www.travelingspoon.com/). For the cooking classes, you go to a local's house, and they show you how to make a traditional meal. Our host was named Keiko, and she was very welcoming. Randomly, she had been to Mankato and had studied in Milwaukee. We helped make several dishes including miso soup, Japanese egg rolls, and a few other dishes. We enjoyed talking to a local about the area. After lunch we visited the Nijo Castle, where the first shogun from the Edo period lived. The castle had nightingale floors, which creaked when you stepped on them. The final activity of the day was to go see a theater performance of a show called Gear. (http://www.gear.ac/en/) It was a non-verbal performance that was set in a futuristic society was human-like robots. The humanoids, as they were called, danced, juggled, mimed, and did magic. This day felt a little less touristy, and more authentic with the Japanese culture.
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| The Ginkakuji (Silver Pavillion) temple in Kyoto |
Day 5:
We took the rail back to Tokyo. When I was in South Korea, I really wanted to go to an animal cafe. The timing just did not work out though. I made up for it by going to not one, but two animal cafes in Tokyo. The first one that we went to was a bunny cafe. When we got there, they gave us Crocs to wear and an apron (in case the bunnies peed or pooped on us). They gave us a cup of food and we spent a half an hour sitting with and feeding the bunnies. It was very therapeutic. The second cafe we went to had two different rooms. We could choose to go to a small animal room or an owl room. The small animal room offered hedgehogs, sugar gliders, and many more cute animals. It was very crowded though, so ultimately we went with the owl room. There were about 20 different owls, most of which it was okay to pet their heads. They also let us put on a leather glove and hold one of the owls. We had to pay for an hour, but were done before then.
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| Here I am at the owl cafe. |
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| My mom at the bunny cafe. |
Day 6:
Our final day in Japan, we stayed in the district where lots of sumo wrestlers live. We got up early to go watch a practice. At first, it was not the most exciting. They did different stretches and practice squats. After watching for a little while, you could start to see the hierarchy. There were the up-and-comers, who worked hard to please the others. Then, there were the more seasoned athletes, who would give tips to others. In the practice bouts, the wrestlers would get pushed in the dirt when they did not perform up to standards. Everyone seemed very serious, but after practice was over the personalities came out. They joked around with each other and posed for pictures. We left in the afternoon and headed back to Taiwan. I was anxious to get back to Taiwan and a place where I know how to get around.
