At the Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum (Photo-essay)

And so it goes: not just The Guardian's coverage of Japan in its Travel section (see here, here and here) but also my own over on this blog... After devoting much of the previous day to visiting sacred spaces in Nikko (and the day before that checking out Asakusa's Sensoji Temple), I decided I needed a bit of a break from visiting temples, shrines and associated places. Alternatively, my visit to Nikko's Tamozawa Imperial Villa left me eager to view more old Japanese buildings.

So after a super fresh and filling sushi breakfast at Sushi Dai, I made my way to the Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum located out in a part of Tokyo's western suburbs known as Koganei. My copy of The Rough Guide to Japan intriguingly described this museum as "a kind of retirement home for old Tokyo buildings" but what got me really wanting to pay a visit to the place was a line in the guidebook about "the museum [having been] the inspiration for the abandoned theme park in Studio Ghibli's Oscar-winning Spirited Away".

After spending time at this very cool museum, I definitely can see its influence on that film. In addition, a charming elderly volunteer docent told me that the Studio Ghibli is headquartered in Koganei, its staff regularly visit the Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum, and the museological institution's green caterpillar mascot character, Edomaru, was drawn by none other than Hayao Miyazaki!

Spotted while walking through Koganei Koen
to the museum -- a pretty, yellow-orangey
Japanese butterfly atop a definitely orange flower

The former residence of Hachirouemon Mitsui,
parts of which were built in 1874 and 1897 in Kyoto,
other parts of which were built in 1952 in Tokyo's Minato Ward

Visitors are allowed into many of the buildings in the
spacious museum -- and here's the view of a couple of
other buildings from the upper floor of another

The fallen leaves on the tiled roof top
make for a pretty picture, I reckon! :)

The copper-plated upper front wall of an
early Showa period (1926-1989) kitchenware store

The building to the right of this photo is a public bath house
upon which sighting I couldn't help but think of Spirited Away

Puppet Ponyo posing inside
the beautifully decorated bath house

Another photo of Puppet Ponyo -- this time
atop the bath house's baby (weighing) scales
looking a bit anxious at the possibility that
she could weigh anywhere close to 15 kilograms ;D

Nikko's Tamozawa Imperial Villa

The 107-room Tamozawa Imperial Villa is
quite a bit bigger than it may look in this photo

Although no where one tenth as decoratively
elaborate as the Toshugu Shrine, the villa still
is not without its own ornamental touches

Nestled amidst landscaped beauty, many of its
windows (be they round, square or rectangular)
offer up aesthetically pleasing views

For many people, Nikko's sacred spaces are about all that they see of the place. Some others (mainly Japanese visitors, I'm getting the sense) also make it a point to check out natural attractions like the Kegon and Ryuzu Waterfalls and Lake Chuzenji. Should I ever venture again to that part of Japan, I'd definitely want to see those natural sights.

On my maiden trip to the area, however, I opted to focus on Nikko's cultural attractions. And after visiting the "big four" attractions of Rinnoji Temple, Toshugu Shrine, Futarasan Shrine and Taiyuin Mausoleum and realizing that I still had time to check out another place before catching the last train out of Nikko back to Tokyo on Tobu Railway's World Heritage Pass, I decided to make my way to the Tamozawa Imperial Villa.

Occupied by three emperors and three princes between the years 1899 and 1947, this 107-room residence is one of the largest wooden buildings in Japan. Originally the Tokyo residence of a branch of the Tokugawa clan, its central core was constructed in 1632. With changes and expansions in the intervening year, the overall building now is a blend of Edo and Meiji Period architecture that seems harmonious as well as pleasing to my admittedly untrained eyes.

One reason why I was motivated to pay a visit to the Tamozawa Imperial Villa is that it appears at the top of Frommer's Japan's The Best Castles, Palaces and Historic Homes list. If truth be told, however, I reckon that the only other place I've visited that's on the list -- Himeji Castle -- is a good deal far more impressive and beautiful as well as plain larger and filled with lots more interesting nooks and crannies to explore.

To be fair though, it may be a case of comparing apples and oranges since one is an imperial villa and the other a (non-imperial) castle. Also, Frommer's Japan's authors (Beth Reiber -- who also wrote Frommer's Hong Kong, an old copy of which I still like referring to every once in a while -- and Janie Spencer) may well have awarded the Tamozawa Imperial Villa extra points on account of it being the only imperial villa that doesn't require a reservation to visit.

In any case, I did like that it is one of those Nikko attractions that, for one reason or other, looks to have remained off the well-beaten path -- with the result that one frequently finds oneself alone in a room (or whole entire section of the villa) and also granted quite a large portion of solitude when venturing about the part of the large memorial park surrounding the residence! :)

Waiting (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

Message for those waiting for my Photo Hunt return: I'm back! And here's confirming that I was vacationing in Japan when the previous two editions of Photo Hunt took place -- and, also, that I had a great time once again in that wonderful country (which I first visited back in 1982!)!

Those who regularly check out this blog know that this past week's entries have been Japan-focused -- and that a couple of days ago, I put up an entry recounting my visit to Nikko (particularly the sacred area known as Nikko Sannai). Today's blog entry also features images from that part of Japan (that, ideally, would be enveloped by sunshine like its name suggests but, alas, wasn't particularly so when I was there!).

More specifically, it features two pairs of photos I took (of a Torii near Futarasan Shrine's Futara Spiritual Spring and a flight of steps near the Taiyuin Mausoleum's Koukamon Gate) -- with the first of each pair featuring people in them and the others being those I snapped only after spending time waiting for the areas in the photo to be clear of people!

So... which shots do you prefer -- the ones with or without people? I can't decide with regards to the first pair (taken at Futarasan Shrine). Alternatively, I definitely prefer the people-less photo taken at Taiyuin Mausoleum -- not least because while waiting for that shot, I also got time to compose it better (so that, among other things, it doesn't look like the steps at the bottom of the picture are tilting like they are in the "peopled photo" of that same place)! :b

Nikko's sacred space(s)

Highly decorated roofing on some of the buildings
that make up Toshogu Shrine in Nikko

Close-up view of a gateway at the less elaborately
decorated -- relative to Toshogu Shrine -- Taiyuin Mausoleum

On the second full day of my recent Japan trip, I woke up early to beat the Tokyo rush hour commuter traffic and headed some 140 kilometers north of the Japanese capital city to Nikko. A temple town located close to 1,300 meters above sea level, it is the final resting place of influential shoguns Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) and his grandson Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651) -- who ordered the construction of Toshugu Shrine by some 15,000 artists and craftspeople -- as well home to such as the Buddhist Rinnoji Temple and Futarasan Shrine, which was founded by a Buddhist monk but dedicated to the kami (Shinto gods) of Nikko's three most sacred mountains.

After arriving at the town railway station, a bus took me closer to the part of Nikko where its four major holy sites are to be found within walking distance of one another. It was still morning when I embarked on what effectively was a pilgrimage of sorts -- albeit one that was more cultural heritage than truly religious in spirit -- but mid afternoon by the time I finished checking out the sacred area collectively known as Nikko Sannai (and realized that I had forgotten to have lunch but also be hungry -- so satiated was I visually and aesthetically by the sights there!).

Due in large part to its main Sanbutsu-doh Hall currently literally being under wraps while undergoing renovation, I was distinctly underwhelmed by the first and main section of Rinnoji Temple that I visited. In contrast, I got much more out of my visit to the serene feeling Taiyuin Mausoleum that actually is administered by -- and consequently considered, for organizational purposes part of -- Rinnoji Temple personnel but lies furthest north of the four major holy sites in Nikko Sannai and consequently is the least visited.

Like many other visitors to Nikko, I devoted the most time to touring around the expansive grounds of Toshogu Shrine where I didn't only just check out the likes of the Yomeimon Gate (that has more than more than 500 separate sculptural ornaments on it), the famous "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" monkey trio, the celebrated "sleeping cat" and intriguing "crying dragon" but, also, climbed several extra flights of stairs up to the Okusha (Inner Shrine) where Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb lies.

Although I was expecting from such as guidebook descriptions that the visit to Toshogu Shrine would be sensory overload-inducing, it turned out to be the case that I actually have seen far more colorful and elaborately decorated places -- including Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew and (yes, really!) Penang's Khoo Kongsi's magnificent clanhouse. And I'm sure it didn't help that the day I visited Nikko (whose name means "sunlight") was the one day during my Japan trip that there were no blue skies to be seen -- and, also, that the autumn leaves had yet to appear to offer up a beautiful show.

On the bright (no pun intended!) side, however, this meant that I was ready and happy to press on to check other sacred sites in the area after visiting the -- don't get me wrong -- still pretty impressive overall monument that is Nikko's most important and famous sacred site. In addition, it helped as well that the neighboring Futarasan Shrine nicely served up a contrasting sight by virtue of it being as visually understated as Toshogu Shrine tends towards the aesthetically elaborate.

All in all, I'm glad that I went to Nikko. I'm also glad that I went when I did -- in that Nikko Sannai wasn't half as crowded as I was expecting it would be. Actually, as strange as it may sound, I was happy to have the company there that I did. For the truth of the matter is that I think that a Nikko Sannai empty of people would make me feel like I was intruding too deeply into the private realm of the supernatural as well as spiritual! ;b

The modern and traditional (in Japan) in a single photo

Spotted in Asakusa: the towering Tokyo Sky Tree
(which will only be completed in 2012) and,
among other things, a rickshaw on the street along
with more regular vehicles like cars and bicycles

Especially for baroness radon: here's an addendum to my previous blog entry on my encountering the modern and traditional over a single day in Tokyo that comes with a photo that shows the modern and traditional really do look to easily and comfortably co-exist in Japan... :b

On another cultural note: on this most recent visit to Japan, I saw lots of bicycles and bicyclists about. Although two recent books I've read about Japan involved a woman touring Japan by bicycle, I hadn't really associated the country with bicycles and bicyclists -- this not least since the two travel tomes in question (A Ride in the Neon Sun: A Gaijin in Japan and The Sun in My Eyes: Two-Wheeling East) were written by a British rather than Japanese woman (Josie Dew is her name).

So... can anyone enlighten me as to whether bicycles have become an increasingly favored vehicular option in Japan in a bid to help conserve energy post the March 11 disasters? If not told otherwise, I am suspecting so -- especially in the context of my not having noticed that many bicycles and bicyclists during my previous visits to the country and, also, my noticing on this most recent visit other energy-saving measures in effect including the highway stretching between Narita Airport and central Tokyo not being so well lit these days.

The modern and traditional - both in Tokyo (photo-essay)

Is it coincidence or what? One day after I wrote my first blog entry post my most recent Japan trip, The Guardian ran a travel piece extolling the virtues of traveling in Japan.

While I wouldn't go so far as to say that I found any place I went "eerily quiet", it's true enough that I often got the impression that I was the only foreign visitor in many of the places that I went to on this recent holiday. But it also was the case that on my first full day in Japan, I visited famous Tokyo landmarks -- and (consequently) found lots of other people besides myself around and about in the area.

At the same time, I have to say that the crowds never did get in the way of my appreciating the places I visited -- and how it was that in the course of just one day, I got to feel like I was going from a visually futuristic 21st century back to a more traditional Japan! More specifically, I spent the morning in the skyscraper business district that is Nishi-Shinjuku and the afternoon in the central shitamachi ("low city") that is Asakusa; two such physically contrasting spaces that it can almost come as a shock to realize that they are both part of the same city!! :b

Beautiful blue skies over a Shinjuku landscape that includes
the visually arresting Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building's
courtyard is a good place to get some peace
and quiet -- at least on a weekend

Puppet Ponyo stands tall in front of the
high rise building that is the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government's headquarters

Expansive view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Building's 202 meter high South Observatory

Blue skies over -- and crowds milling about in
the grounds of -- Asakusa's Sensoji Temple

View of Sensoji Temple's five storey pagoda

Entering the temple's main building
at whose front hangs a giant paper lantern

Amidst all the noisy bustle, some people look
as if they are in another world and time from
the milling others just a few meters away

Yokoso Japan!

Conservatively color-attired people
and brightly colored building in Shinjuku

Serene scene at Rikuguen Garden later that morning

Puppet Ponyo gets into the Hanshin Tigers-supporting
spirit at a baseball game that evening
in the opposition section of Meiji Jingu Stadium

A few months ago, I wrote a blog entry in which I mused about where I'd like to travel to for my next vacation. Even while I considered spending time in countries I have yet to visit (such as Vietnam or Italy), I eventually opted to return to a country I've visited a few times already (but had last been in in 2008).
More precisely, two Saturdays ago, I boarded a plane that took me to Tokyo's Narita Airport. And while I stayed every night of this most recent Japan vacation in Shinjuku, I ended up moving around quite a bit during my eight day stay -- not only in central Tokyo and the greater Tokyo area (that includes Koganei and Tana -- both described in Wikipedia as cities "located in Tokyo") but, also, UNESCO World Heritage-listed Nikko, Kamakura (which may join the likes of Nikko, the Great Wall of China and Cologne Cathedral on the list within the next couple of years) and Kawagoe.
With my pedometer registering that I had walked more than 15,000 steps a day (and often more than 20,000 steps, actually!), I think it's safe to say that I covered quite a bit of ground this recent Japanese vacation. And what with the weather turning out great for the most part (complete with plentiful bright blue sky sightings, dry days and pleasantly cool temperatures), I happily spent a large proportion of time outdoors doing such as strolling about traditional Japanese gardens (like Rikiguen and Kiyosumi Gardens) and checking out the Edo Open Air Architectural Museum located not too far away from Mitaka (which has a number of Studio Ghibli associations, including the museum's mascot having been created by Hayao Miyazaki) as well making pilgrimages to various Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines located in expansive grounds.
Perhaps it was just as well that I did a lot of walking -- and effectively exercising -- on this recent Japan vacation since I also did quite a bit of eating and drinking during it! Almost needless to say, I re-visited Sushi Dai -- where I had my best meal of 2006 -- one morning. And I have to say this past week, I also had my best tempura (with batter so light and ungreasy-feeling over a variety of ingredients including prawn, fish, eggplant and onion) and soba (the kind that's freshly handmade and made purely from buckwheat) meals ever.
Something else I think worth sharing is that I once more found the kindness and courtesy of strangers to be a major factor in making my time in Japan really enjoyable. Among these often truly disarmingly nice folks were the volunteer guide who gave me a personalized tour -- for free! -- of Asakusa last Sunday (which just happened to have been my birthday), the senior citizen volunteer docents at the Edo Open Air Architectural Museum who -- after getting over the shock of realizing that I wasn't Japanese (and couldn't speak Japanese) -- enthusiastically engaged me in conversation as well as gamely made their best attempts to explain details about the exhibits that weren't on the English parts of the exhibit labels and museum brochure, and the woman at an out-of-the-way shrine in Kamakura who went about sharing her refreshing ice cold green tea with fellow visitors.
I additionally was fortunate to have a friend living in Tokyo to spend three evenings and one Saturday with; not least because some of the activities we partook of together -- like going to izakayas and a baseball game -- are more fun when done in good company rather than on one's own. (More than incidentally, I first got to know this friend by way of her being sbk's daughter and she used to introduce me to people as "my mom's friend" but these days, I think we can say we are friends in our own right!)
In short: I reckon I managed to fit in a lot of fun times on my most recent holiday -- and there's much I want to share about it by way of photos and writings. So, just as my blog turned Germany-focused for a few weeks in the wake of my 2010 German vacation and Korea-centric for a few weeks after my 2009 South Korean vacation, my focus will be on Japan for the next couple of weeks or so. And who knows, maybe after checking out these entries, you yourself will feel inspired to yokoso (i.e., visit) the Land of the Rising Sun! :)