Shizuoka
Alright, I've decided to bite the bullet and do the latest big post full of pics. Fortunately, I've already given the highlights in my original blog (which you can now find in the sidebar, conveniently labeled "My Original Blog"), so this one will be mostly pics...
First, the big one - Fuji-san. Thanks to the haze, in the original pic it's invisible, so I've enhanced this one so it's only virtually invisible (or virtually visible???). It's not photoshopped or anything, I've just tweaked the contrast and gamma, so if you squint and hold your tongue just right, you can pretend it's there...
The view of Fuji-san was from the top of the Nihondaira plateau, about an hour's bus ride from the city centre. From there, you can take a cable car down to Toshogu Jingu (with pleasant views of the valleys and the coast).
From the bottom, you have to climb stairs and more stairs (about 1100 of them) to get to the shrine. Apparently, climbing the stairs is what gives you magical powers, which I suspect is the power to not drop dead after climbing all those stairs.
The view from the top...
And the shrine itself. Amazingly detailed paint and enamel work. There's been many years' worth of painstaking restoration done on the shrine. When Tokugawa Ieyasu's grandson established the original site, it had both the Shinto shrine and Buddhist temples, but apparently in the Meiji period, instead of the seperation of church and state pursued elsewhere, there was a seperation of Shinto and Buddhist sites, and the Buddhist temples here were dismantled and taken somewhere else.
So after a century of remodeling, the place is looking pretty good now, although they're still working on the area behind the shrine, which leads up to the actual resting place of Ieyasu himself. A little low key for the first Shogun of Japan, but an amazing place nevertheless.
The next day, it was on to the Yayoi Museum, where they've reconstructed several of the typical houses of the Yayoi period (roughly 300BCE to 300CE, contemporary with the Roman Empire). The Yayoi mark the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to one based on growing rice (of several varieties in different colours and flavours - a sample of which (red rice) they were providing upon entry to the museum - yum!), making more advanced pottery and using metal tools.
In the spirit of this reconstructionism, I took up their offer to try on their (hemp cloth!) Yayoi clothing and have a bit of a chop at a log with a Yayoi axe. You gotta love these new-fangled "hands-on" museums. I later did a Wiki search on the Yayoi, and it seems that both genetics and archaeology support the idea that the Yayoi people, technology and material culture came to Japan from Korea. Funny, there was no mention of that at the museum...
In the afternoon, it was on to Sumpu-jou, the local castle - of course! Not much left, but what's there is quite photogenic.
The moat and outer walls of the gatehouse...
The outer gate...
The courtyard of death...
The inner gate...
And looking back through the inner gate. Four centuries ago, any samurai who made it this far would know he'd paid his dues...
The sort of shot you could whack on a postcard, label "Historic Shizuoka" and make a mint. And it's yours for free!
Unfortunately, there's no main castle left, but they have a great little statue of the man himself (Ieyasu). Apparently, this castle is where he spent his childhood and later retired, after passing on the shogunate to his son.
A short bus ride to yet another shrine, Sengen Jingu. If you've read Chifley's blog, you'd know that the difference between jinja and jingu shrines is that the kami (god or spirit) actually lives in a jingu. This one is the home of Fuji-san no Kami.
This one is a collection of three shrines leading up the mountain, which means, of course...
Stairs! I nearly had a heart attack climbing these! They look innocent enough, but they're so steep, it's almost like climbing a ladder - and too steep to sit down and rest. I wonder how many old and clumsy people have been sacrificed to the kami on these steps...
At the top is one of the shrines hidden in the hillside...
And a spectacular view, which would include Fuji-san, except for the clouds... grrr...
And now, the pics I'm sure you've been waiting for...
Yes, it's the love hotel. And all done in the best possible taste! Neon mood lighting, all the latest gadgets (plus some more in the vending machines!) and a sumptuous shower room with jacuzzi. Lovely!
First, the big one - Fuji-san. Thanks to the haze, in the original pic it's invisible, so I've enhanced this one so it's only virtually invisible (or virtually visible???). It's not photoshopped or anything, I've just tweaked the contrast and gamma, so if you squint and hold your tongue just right, you can pretend it's there...
The view of Fuji-san was from the top of the Nihondaira plateau, about an hour's bus ride from the city centre. From there, you can take a cable car down to Toshogu Jingu (with pleasant views of the valleys and the coast).
From the bottom, you have to climb stairs and more stairs (about 1100 of them) to get to the shrine. Apparently, climbing the stairs is what gives you magical powers, which I suspect is the power to not drop dead after climbing all those stairs.
The view from the top...
And the shrine itself. Amazingly detailed paint and enamel work. There's been many years' worth of painstaking restoration done on the shrine. When Tokugawa Ieyasu's grandson established the original site, it had both the Shinto shrine and Buddhist temples, but apparently in the Meiji period, instead of the seperation of church and state pursued elsewhere, there was a seperation of Shinto and Buddhist sites, and the Buddhist temples here were dismantled and taken somewhere else.
So after a century of remodeling, the place is looking pretty good now, although they're still working on the area behind the shrine, which leads up to the actual resting place of Ieyasu himself. A little low key for the first Shogun of Japan, but an amazing place nevertheless.
The next day, it was on to the Yayoi Museum, where they've reconstructed several of the typical houses of the Yayoi period (roughly 300BCE to 300CE, contemporary with the Roman Empire). The Yayoi mark the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to one based on growing rice (of several varieties in different colours and flavours - a sample of which (red rice) they were providing upon entry to the museum - yum!), making more advanced pottery and using metal tools.
In the spirit of this reconstructionism, I took up their offer to try on their (hemp cloth!) Yayoi clothing and have a bit of a chop at a log with a Yayoi axe. You gotta love these new-fangled "hands-on" museums. I later did a Wiki search on the Yayoi, and it seems that both genetics and archaeology support the idea that the Yayoi people, technology and material culture came to Japan from Korea. Funny, there was no mention of that at the museum...
In the afternoon, it was on to Sumpu-jou, the local castle - of course! Not much left, but what's there is quite photogenic.
The moat and outer walls of the gatehouse...
The outer gate...
The courtyard of death...
The inner gate...
And looking back through the inner gate. Four centuries ago, any samurai who made it this far would know he'd paid his dues...
The sort of shot you could whack on a postcard, label "Historic Shizuoka" and make a mint. And it's yours for free!
Unfortunately, there's no main castle left, but they have a great little statue of the man himself (Ieyasu). Apparently, this castle is where he spent his childhood and later retired, after passing on the shogunate to his son.
A short bus ride to yet another shrine, Sengen Jingu. If you've read Chifley's blog, you'd know that the difference between jinja and jingu shrines is that the kami (god or spirit) actually lives in a jingu. This one is the home of Fuji-san no Kami.
This one is a collection of three shrines leading up the mountain, which means, of course...
Stairs! I nearly had a heart attack climbing these! They look innocent enough, but they're so steep, it's almost like climbing a ladder - and too steep to sit down and rest. I wonder how many old and clumsy people have been sacrificed to the kami on these steps...
At the top is one of the shrines hidden in the hillside...
And a spectacular view, which would include Fuji-san, except for the clouds... grrr...
And now, the pics I'm sure you've been waiting for...
Yes, it's the love hotel. And all done in the best possible taste! Neon mood lighting, all the latest gadgets (plus some more in the vending machines!) and a sumptuous shower room with jacuzzi. Lovely!
posted by Ia Ftaghn at 4:20 pm
1 Comments:
Congratulations on your blog! Keep up the good work!
Portugal
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