Japan is not a huge country, but it is a pretty big island.
And there is so much to see and do. After enjoying the sights of Kansai, I
headed to Tokyo. Tokyo in many ways is the ultimate in cities. It’s huge, with
a highly efficient metro system to rival that of Moscow or St Petersburg, with
more sky-scrapers than you can poke a stick at. Never the less, you can still
find some amazing parks and temples there too to keep you occupied. Not
satisfied? Well, fear ye not, there are museums a-plenty as well. Still not
satisfied? Well, head up a tower to see the city from above. Tokyo tower is
great, but there’s also the skytree as well.
If you still aren’t impressed, not so far away in Chiba is
Tokyo Disneyland. I visited in August 2012, which wasn’t the best time to
visit. It’s was absolutely packed in there, everyone was going. Well what could
I do, my holidays are when the school is on holiday, which is basically every
school in the country is on holiday. I spent much of the day waiting in queues
sadly, however, it still was a lot of fun! The rides are enjoyable, you get a
parade in the evening, and for those who felt it still wasn’t quite like theme
parks elsewhere, the food they sell is fried, unhealthy and very expensive!
It’s hard to go past Splash Mountain as the best ride, but there are of course
many rides. I didn’t have time to go on Space Mountain…
Tokyo’s museums are very good. Head to Ueno, also home to
the zoo, and you’ll find the National Museum, and the fun Science Museum, both
worthwhile, but you may find the Shitimachi Museum more interesting. It is in
an old house that has survived wars and quakes, and recreates Japanese life
from around 100 years ago inside.
Temples? Well Senso-ji(Asakusa) and Meiji-jingu are perhaps
the best two shrines to visit, the latter in the middle of a huge park near
Shinjuku. Get off at the Harajuku station, the area there is also a popular
spot
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| Postered wall in Akihabara. |
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| Yokohama. |
And yet there is more and more in Tokyo. It’s an amazing
place. However, Japan offers more and more. Check out the beautiful castle in
Nagoya, a very pleasant city (as long as you’re not there in August where the
heat and humidity is unbearable). If it is the height of summer and you want to
escape the blinding heat, why not head to Nagano-ken? Former winter Olympic
Games site, I visited Hakuba last year where it was pleasantly cool in August,
not to mention very beautiful. Great opportunity to relax, enjoy the cooler
weather, and go hiking.
The down the road you have Yokohama, a wonderful bay-city with a beautiful bay, skycrapers and a ramen-museum (a museum for noodles!). What more do you want?
Further north Sendai is the main city of note. A really nice
city with an interesting museum and a great citadel watching the place a-high.
Not far from Sendai is Ishinomaki, now my favourite place to go when I want to
see a movie. It’s an interesting town, devastated by the 2011 tsunami. However,
it is well back on its feet today, and has a couple of things of interest. It’s
quite the centre for Manga, and one of the best places in the country is the
Ishinomaki Mangatten Museum. Devoted primarily to a famous Manga artist from
Ishinomaki, Shotaro Ishinomori. There’s also the replica of the galleon, San
Juan Baptista, worth seeing on the bay.
Closer to home, Iwate Prefecture has a bit to see and do as
well. Not too far from Ichinoseki are two gorges with annoyingly similar names.
‘Geibi Gorge’ and ‘Genbi Gorge’. Both are very pretty places indeed, but the
first is slightly more famous because you can take a special boat trip where
the punter will sing for you. It’s a very special place.
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| Golden Hall, Chuson-ji |
The crowning glory of this region though is the town
Hiraizumi – only 7km from Ichinoseki. There’s more than one temple of interest
in this town, but Chuson-ji, perched atop a hill, is really spectacular. Part
of this hilltop complex is Konjiki-do, a gold-leafed hall, not quite as
spectacular as Kinkanhu-ji in Kyoto, but nevertheless an impressive sight.
Japan has much more than I can cover reasonably in two
blogs. I enjoyed hiking in Yamagata-ken over the peaks known as ‘Dewa Sanzan’,
staying in the eastern town of Tsuruoka. In town Zenpo-ji is a very interesting
temple complex too. Then there’s Kyushu in the south of the country, and
Hokkaido in the north. Both with great beauty and interest, but of the three
main islands of Japan, Honshu remains the only one I have visited thus far.
Japan is an amazing place, with so much packed into three main islands (and
indeed others).
What will be number five on my list? Well, again you’ll have
to wait for that one!
10 – Slovakia
9 – Romania
8 – Mali
7 – The United Kingdom
6 – Japan
My travel writings (available on Kindle) can be found here:
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