Vacation (Day 1) and Other Events!

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the long delay.  As per the usual, the last few weeks have been really hectic.  Classes are hitting me like a brick, what with midterms piling on top of the usual course work.  But, at least last week was a nice long break.  I went on vacation during the school's fall break.  Sara and I went to a bunch of places all over the southern part of Honshu (本州 - ほんしゅう), the Japanese main island.  We went to Kyoto (京都 - きょうと), Nara (なら), Himeiji (ひめいじ), and Hiroshima (ひろしま).

The trip started from Nagoya Station where we boarded the Shinkansen (しんかんせん), or bullet train.  It was a pretty short trip, only a few hours.  The trains here are amazing, in case you haven't heard or I haven't written about it before.  Much faster way to get around the country than airlines.  It's a little expensive, but the convenience and speed are impossible to argue.  After about 2 hours on the train, we arrived in Kyoto around noon and went straight to sightseeing.

 

Upon arriving in Kyoto, the first thing we did was caught a cab to Nijo Castle!
These are some of the first sights we saw walking into the castle.  I was
particularly happy to see ducks.  After everything else that's been going
on, seeing them was a pleasant reminder to be myself.  (Duck was/is an
old nickname some of the people that love me still call me.)

 

Sadly, we quickly discovered that this particular castle wasn't much of a castle.
I'm sure at one point there was a main hold, as well as the other trappings of
a proper castle, but this one was long since torn down and turned into a tourist
attraction.  Hence the modern "artistic car" show being held in the middle
of where the old palace would've been.  On the upside, there were a lot of vendors
set up due to some kind of event, so I bought a pretty cool Japanese fan.

 

All the commotion and added modern things that were distracting
from the history and beauty of Nijo Castle did give way to a few
moments of wonderful awe.  Seeing these two women walking
around wearing the traditional kimono and managing to catch an
image of them by themselves was rewarding.  It is also hard to argue
the beauty in the details of the architecture in the ancient buildings.

 

I wasn't supposed to take pictures here, but I snuck a few in while we
were touring the Tokugawa Shogun's palace on the grounds.  These are
some reproduced paintings from inside the Palace.  The originals were
actually painted using gold and other minerals as the pigments in the
paints.  That's right, these murals were created using precious stones
and metals as paint.  How's that for opulance? 

 

So, one of the things that held true across every location we traveled to
was that the gardens were all amazing.  Zen gardens, koi ponds, standing
stones, and running water with bridges are all very prominent in them,
and the results are always breathtaking.  These are just a few of the
pictures I took of the gardens around Niji Castle.  

 

Despite the original purpose long since being given up on, it is
very obvious that this was a stronghold with defense in mind.
One of my favorite features of Niji Castle from a military
history stand point is the walls that are nothing but long sets of
steps on the inside, enabling defenders to rush to the top with
ease.  This is in high contrast to most castles, which usually
only feature access to the wall tops through a couple of  towers
or stairwells.  A very interesting feature.

 

Next, we went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace.  For hundreds
of years the ruling Imperial family lived here, and into the
modern era, the enthronement ceremonies of the Imperial
family have been held here.  These are a few of the gates
that used to separate the divine Emperor from the rest of
the world.  Remember, the Emperor is descended directly
from the Sun Goddess Amaterasu herself, and the Japanese
are very big on separating the divine from the worldly.

 

The view across the courtyard to the heart of the Emperor's
home.  In the pictured building, the Emperor lived, held religious
rituals, held court, and conducted the business of running the Japanese
Empire.  The scale of the building and the beauty of it are hard to convey
with just these pictures.

 

Within the white draped thrones guarded by Fu dogs, the
Japanese Emperor and Empress' thrones are hidden.
The other is a good perspective as the size and scale of
the buildings at the palace as well.

 

These are just a few pictures from the Imperial Gardens,
and they do a sorry job of conveying the beauty.  Yet,
as tranquil and beautiful as they are, they turned out not
to hold a candle compared to the next location we went.

 

These are the pics I took as we were walking into the grounds
of Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion.  It is a Buddhist temple that
is hard to reconcile with the culture of Japan or Buddhism.
That said, it is impossible to argue the effect it has on you.

 

This is Ginkakuji.  The exterior is made using silver leaf
sheets that cover the entire building's outer walls.
While the temple itself is gorgeous, the grounds around
it put it to shame.  It's hard to trump nature, especially
when it has centuries of delicate care and energy put
into maintaining it and shaping it so that people
coexist with it.

 

The gardens around Ginkakuji are still one of my favorite
things that we saw during the trip.

 

The view from the side of the mountain that overlooked
the temple complex was awe inspiring.  I kind of wish
I could have stayed a little longer and caught the sunset
over Kyoto from there, but the place closes before dark.

Well, those are the attractions that we visited on the first day.  This has already turned into a very long, very picture heavy post, so I think I'm going to have to break vacation up into a day by day playback.  I will attempt to get a post up every day or two for the next week until it's all finished.  Looking back on it, there is so much more to write about, but it just won't all fit!  As always, if anyone has specific questions, just ask, I'll do my best to answer them!