Amanohashidate...Bridge to the Heavens

Our latest adventure took us to Amanohashidate – otherwise known as the “bridge to the heaven”. For some reason it has been ranked as one of Japan’s top three scenic places to visit. Now, I must admit, winter is not the greatest time to see things at their most gorgeous. Also, the low lying clouds defeated the best photographer. The driving rain didn’t help either and, come to think of it, neither did the freezing cold at night.
The best way to view the bridge is from the top of the hill on one side or the other. There is, of course, a chairlift available to take you up to whichever top you want – we, of course, did both. It gives you a better view of the bridge – and, of course, the opportunity to view it. Now, according to tradition, one is supposed to bend over and look at it between your legs – thus giving you a view of the bridge “heading for the heavens”. It’s traditional and has been for thousands of years (and here, I’d believe it).

Amanohashidate Sand Bar

It is basically a long sand bar that spans across Miyazu Bay on the west coast of Japan. It is tree covered with a path that you can walk from one side to the other. In true Japanese fashion, it has numerous toilet facilities- no searching here - shrines and lots of beaches. I’m sure they’ll be far more popular in the nicer weather. Still, the scenes were pretty and we enjoyed the walk…when it wasn’t pouring rain or freezing cold.

Amanohashidate

Jeff spent quite a bit of time, stalking the wild herons. He has a gorgeous picture that he took (I’ll post it as soon as I get it from him.) Here’s my picture of him, patiently waiting out the birds. The dragons were found at the shrine. There have been many dragons at the fountains in front of shrines around Japan, this is the first time I’ve found one that has been twinned like this.

Amanohashidate Bridges

There are a couple of more standard bridges, connecting the sand bar to the mainland on the north side. One of them is a pivoting bridge, allowing boats and barges to come into the lagoon. They were very busy hauling out loads of what looked like black sand. Tourist boats also came in – caught this one on its way in with the bridge open.

Amanohashidate Ring

Yet another tradition … when you go to the top of the hill, they have this ring sitting on the hillside. They also have small, round, flat wafer like rocks that you can purchase (honor system …and it works) 3 for 100 yen (roughly a dollar). Now…you take this rock thing, make a wish, and try to throw it through the hoop – if it goes through – your wish will come true. They have these rings all over the place – though one is RIGHT in front of the train station – solid glass window behind it – bet that’s not one you’re supposed the through a rock through (smile). The granite rings found around town actually represent wisdom (hmmm...think that supports the decision to NOT throw rocks through the one by the station.)

Amanohashidote Mysteries

We did find some mysteries on our walk. The first one was the presence of hoses on many of the trees! Nothing at the foot to hook into, just hoses, painstakingly snaked up through the branches to the top and then the lower portion neatly coiled at head height. Once again the challenge is on…if you have any ideas…post it in the comments.

Here’s the next mystery…what is it? It’s just sitting out on the beach. And then...there are the fans tied carefully to the trees. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to come up with these puzzles for the average tourist to think about.

Santa Travels in Japan

You know...in the states I realize that Santa travels by reindeer. However...in Japan anyway...he travels by dragon!

Magic in the Air

Once upon a time there was magic in the world, and all enjoyed the marvels it could produce. Sadly, we now must rely upon those people who have managed to retain a tenuous grasp of it, whether it be through art or music, storytelling or light. Fortunately, light magicians live in Nagoya and present the world with a fabulous view of their craft.

It’s truly a wonderland to visit Nagoya Station during the Christmas season – and this year especially since it centers on the wonderful world of children’s books! The walkway rivals the zoo, though on a much smaller scale. This year the bears, the holders of the magic, frolic and play all around the station.

Reflections

Not only were the lights spectacular in person - the reflections found around the building offered a different, delightful scene as well.

Magical World of Books

Meanwhile, a huge book appears on the mammoth station display, opening up to a wonder filled world of dancing bears, fireworks, toy makers and more. When the tale s finished, the book closes, ready for the next reading

Christmas in Nagoya....Books

 

 We all cherished the dreaming world

of picture books

We never forget the dream

We always remember the dream

We surely pass on the dream

Welcome to the brilliant world of picture books

I think it is totally cool that they have dedicated the entire display to the world of picture books!

Christmas in Nagoya

Nagoya Station is a spectacular place to pick up your Christmas spirit. Even though there are very few Japanese who celebrate Christmas, the station is known for its elaborate Christmas displays. This year the theme is Children’s Books…

We wandered through the wonderland, checking out the playful bears with their packages and toys and…books!

Forbidden City Rooftop flashback

Flashback…time to return to the Forbidden City. I had forgotten all about the roofs. Now what, you might ask, is so darn important about the roofs?

First, most of the roofs were yellow because that is the color of the emperor. They’re almost all done with glazed yellow tile. The library, however, had black tiles because black was associated with water and thus provided fire-prevention. Gee…if that’s all you need to do…

Forbidden City Rooftops

Second, the whole design of the Forbidden City was to symbolize the majesty of the Imperial power so things were designed meticulously to reflect power as well as the current philosophical and religious principles. With that in mind, roofs were decorated with a line of statuettes. The number of statuettes on a given building would vary, depending upon the status of the given building. The Hall of Supreme Harmony has 10 (the ONLY building in the entire country that was permitted to have 10). Other buildings might have 3 or 5 statues.
Various reasons have been given for the statuettes, from prestige to lighting protection. They often included monsters and even an evil prince to chase away evil spirits to prevent them from entering the building. Sometimes they were considered to bring good luck. Whatever the reason, they were everywhere.

Hashiya (Chopstick Store)

The wonders of Japan…I am always amazed at the things I find in the most unexpected places. Roaming round a rather exclusive building here – the shops on the upper levels were Dion and Louie Vitton type shops – I was amazed to find a sea of modest, chic shops on the lower levels, yes, the basement. Nestled between the trendy eateries and unique boutiques, I found a chopstick store. Yes, you read it right…they sell nothing but chopsticks. One might wonder just how many variations on chopsticks there could possibly be.  Let me tell you….

The shape is pretty standard…two sticks after all…but the variety is infinite. While bamboo is traditional, they can be made out of sandalwood, teak, pine, bone, jade, gold, bronze, brass, agate, coral, ivory, and silver. The shape can vary and the designs are limitless. You can also get chopstick rests (sets of 5, after all, 4 is an unlucky number). They also have fancy chopstick sleeves for each set for your special party – and personalized, if you so desire – the chopstick and/or the sleeve! Not enough…can’t find what you want…they also carry chopsticks to go in personal carrying cases and how about the kind that are screwed together so that they take up less room.

Now…that’s just for the adults…add REAL cuteness to them for the kids. They even make them dishwasher safe.

Kyoto in the Fall....

Kyoto in the fall…well, let’s say Kyoto in fall weather at least.  We had crisp and cool days, and cooler nights. The gentle rain, not so gentle at times, flowed around a sea of pink umbrellas (I must admit, I had forgotten how much little girls like PINK!). The variety and beauty of Kyoto is there, though, no matter what the weather might be doing.
We had a spectacular time, visiting Kinkakuji, meeting other teachers, roaming around town, trying out new food and, for the Dodd family anyway, taking their first shinkansen trip. Memorable for all of us!

Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle was, of course, built by Ieyasu Tokugawa (VERY famous Shogun in Japan in the 16^th-17^th Century. The primary purpose of the castle was to be a symbol of power – to impress his allies and worry his enemies. It was successful…this castle is exquisite and filled with the carvings and paintings that are nothing short of spectacular. Sadly, you can’t take pictures inside but I did get some cards to  give you a bit of a glimpse.

Shoguns were really into being top-dog in the social hierarchy – and it was a big deal during the feudal period of Japan. The higher ranking or distinguished a person was, the further they were allowed into the castle compound. Not only that, the higher their position, the higher the floor level they were allowed to stay in. Then, on top of that, there was always a raised platform in any room where the shogun would be seated so that no one’s head was higher than his.

Nijo Castle

The entrance to the Ninomaru Palace is beautiful. It’s called the Kara Mon (Chinese Gate) and is decorated with gorgeously carved cranes, flowers, and butterflies as well as lions, tigers and dragons.  It is aesthetically gorgeous, making it difficult to imagine it as a fortress, yet that’s exactly what it was.  It has been speculated that either the Shogun was extremely cautious – after all, attacks were common in those days, or he was paranoid. The castle sports towers, moats (Honmaru Palace has its own inner moat), and high walls surrounding all as well as secret passageways (including a closet in the shogun’s personal bedroom so that someone would be on guard at all times) and the famous squeaking floors.

The famous Nightingale Floors were designed to creak and squeak any time anyone walked on them, whether they were barefooted or wearing padding of some sort (shoes, of course, were never worn inside anyway). Hmmm…that leads to a question…a  BIG question… I wonder what raiding samurais did when they entered a castle???

The creaking boards were created on purpose. They set the clamps in such a way that the holes in the floorboards would rub against the clamps. He actually could have saved a lot of time and money – boards exposed to wind and rain and lots of people walking on them naturally warp and start to squeak. Oh well…guess he didn’t want to wait.  It actually still squeaks to the very day, whether by design or age but still….those samurai must have been very light sleepers.

Not the Wii Generation… The WE Generation:My children and the Children we teach!

Time out, Time out. This is a brief educational announcement about our future. I don't share many YouTube videos, heck, I've never done it before, but I believe this one is important and worth sharing. It sends a clear message about the methodology of education this generation needs to be successful. They will be facing a whole different world. How can we help them shape the future?

Okuyama Temple

We had the chance to take a trip out to Okuyama over the October break. A crew of us, with Finbar as our fearless leader, took us out to Shizuoka prefecture, up into the mountains, until we finally reached the small temple area in Okuyama. The autumn air was upon us and the colors were just teasing us but the brilliance was yet to come.

Okuyama Reader

The temple, however, was delightful. We wandered through the grounds, checking out the myriad of statues all around, crawling up the hills, snaking through the small valleys and along the creeks. It really is in a pretty setting. I have to admit, this particular statue caught my eye….

Covered Bridges

We climbed up to the top…all temples and shrines are always found at the top of the hill though I must admit I don’t know why…perhaps because there are so many mountains in Japan? Nevertheless, this one was no different so up we climbed. I particularly liked the covered bridge that spanned the small canyon.

Rock Gardens

The shrine itself is very picturesque. The buildings are old and meander along the mountainside, giving you a glimpse of old Japan. Within the gardens are gardeners, carefully sweeping up the fallen leaves with tiny brooms and plucking the weeds that have grown within the moss. The raked sand gardens are delightful – the care and attention needed to make it just so!!! Amazing.

Kasugai shrine

While there are thousands of shrines around Japan, the majority of them consist of a small building with small figures - foxes, cats, dogs, horses, all are popular. Th other day I came across an unusual one - a HUGE golden state, set in a small shrine in the middle of Kasugai. It was quite striking and beautiful.

CONTEST!!!

This is your chance... your turn to truly interact with a web page. I have posted here a sign, a real live, honest-to-goodness sign, posted on a drink machine in Kyoto. We read the sign. We read it again. We scratched our heads. We called everyone over and read it yet again. We suggested ideas, talked about it, puzzled it over. We came up with no definitive answer so now it is your turn. Give it your best shot. What do YOU think it might mean? Post your ideas under the "comments". Winner gets a good laugh.

Food Samples in Japan

There is a real art to food samples in Japan. Just like in the states, many stores will give you samples of various foods to, of course, encourage you to buy their product. In America, you take the sample and wander about the store as you munch on it. Not so in Japan.
For example...they had kiwi samples at the store yesterday. They did not give you a tiny slice of kiwi, oh no. They gave you 1/2 a kiwi with a small, quite sturdy, plastic spoon in it. You hung out around the lady who was passing them out to eat your 1/2 a kiwi. However, you were left with a spoon and a kiwi skin. Never fear...there was a plastic lined (compost) can for the kiwi skin. There was a small bucket for the plastic spoon. Then there were some hand wipes for the fingers - after all, kiwis can be sticky. And finally, of course, there was a trash can (yellow liner - burnable) for disposing the wipes.
Only in Japan has food sampling been elevated to such environmental consciousness (now if only people would stop idling their cars while they run into the convenience stores.)

Our trip to Mongolia

We had an absolutely fabulous time in Mongolia, thanks to our spectacular, stunning guide, Chaagii, our equally awesome driver, Jack, our amiable and hilarious traveling partner, Brad and the tremendous people we met, knowledge we gained and sites we saw. This trip will go down in history, in more ways than one. It was a photographers dream, and we had 2 avid photographers available, snapping pictures of everything.Then, of course, there was me, along for comic relief and documenting the mundane and touristy aspects of the trip. If you click on the link above (Our trip to Mongolia), it will take you to Jeff's link of pictures from the trip. Grab a cold drink, sit back, and enjoy the sites.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

We have arrived. It’s hot, it’s clear, the wind is blowing softly, Chaagii, our guide is waiting and we’re ready to go! Today was an adventure in Ulaanbataar. Chaagii, a young girl who has just graduated college, and looking forward to traveling abroad herself to continue college, was to be our delightful guide for the next 2 plus weeks. She and Jack, our driver, were our fearless leaders through everything – and what a trip this was.

Food

The first day, and every day, included wonderful meals. As Chaagii told us, we had culture in the desert – always served beautifully and very tasty. Unlike some tours we’ve been on, this one we got to eat with our guide and driver. While Jack doesn’t know very much English yet, Chaagii was a fabulous translator, working to keep all of us in the know of what was going on. We had a tour of the history museum and a walk through one of the plazas. Chinggis Khan, better known to the Western world as Genghis Khan is very famous in Mongolian history as the man who brought Mongolian tribes together. It was fascinating to read and hear about how he changed the lives of his people.

Herds of Goats and Sheep and Camels

Little did we realize that first day how much we should have appreciated the black roads. We spent far too much time marveling over the drivers in the city – they’re all over the road, they don’t stop for pedestrians and the driver sits on either side of the car – there’s no standard so western cars have left hand drive and Japanese cars have right and it makes no difference. It’s a marked difference from the areas outside of the city where people stop to help others all of the time, keep to their side of the road and watch out for everything – stray cows, camels in the road, small lambs getting lost. Even had a baby goat trip in front of the car one day – the mother stood on the side watching which Chaagii got out and picked up the little guy. Fortunately, he was ok and ran off with mom.

On the road

We headed out the 2nd day for the Gobi. Chaagii assured us that we would have black road for part of it and then it would be dirt roads. She did not mention that, with little exception (we crossed a paved road at one point), we would be on dirt roads for the next 2 weeks. We were and then some. In fact, there were times when Jack wanted to switch directions so he just turned and made his own road. Sometimes there’d be one washboard road and when it got too bad, you just started a new one next to it. Absolutely NO road signs anywhere. We asked Jack how he was able to find his way and Jack jokingly point to his head and said "GPS" but after watching how he could navigate his 4-wheel drive across vast expanses of distance without even once looking at a map, I am beginning to realize that he wasn't joking. It was truly amazing.

Life in the Gobi

The Gobi is a land of infinite variety. When I picture a desert, I think of shifting sands. Not so the Gobi. The land varied greatly depending upon where we were. Predominately we saw small plants spread out across the gravel, dusty terrain – as far as the eye could see. Outcrops of rocks appeared periodically but vast, rolling, dry terrain dominated the landscape. That said, there were hundreds of wildflowers nestled low to the ground and an infinite variety of bugs and some small animals. They were smart, remaining in the shade until it cooled off in the late afternoon.

Ger Camps

After traveling in the back of the rolling, bouncing, jolting car for an entire day, we finally arrived at our ger camp. Now, what, you might ask, is a ger.
The ger is the traditional home of the nomads found in Mongolia. It is like a tent, made with a wooden frame and covered with wool felt. The nomads use it because it is easy to collapse and re-assemble. It can also be transported relatively easily, using carts and a yak (or horse or camel). The gers have been in use for hundreds of years though they have been updated-like wooden doors instead of felt and a wood stove instead of an open fire. Check out the link to see more about the construction of a ger if you’re interested (Yert is the Russian word for the same structure. Ger is the Mongolian word.)