Andrew and I left the Costa Classica eclipse cruise at Kobe on July 24, and picked up Japan Rail passes for the next week. Our first stop was at Himeji Castle.
Himeji is a fortress-type castle similar to those described in the James Clavell novels Shogun and Gaijin (I read the latter on the trip).
From there we took the bullet train to Kyoto, where we spent the next 3 nights in a ryokan. That afternoon we visited Kiyomizu Temple, set on Mt. Otawa in the eastern part of the city.
Also there are the Shinto Jishu Shrine and a 3-story pagoda.
July 25 we went to Hiroshima.
The Genbaku Dome was the closest building to Ground Zero that was not completely destroyed by the 1945 A-Bomb. We spent a couple of hours in the nearby well-documented museum.
In the afternoon I took a ferry to Miyajima Island, known for its Shinto Arch, which is in shallow water at high tide. Here it's exposed at low tide, in the background of the tame deer that wander about the streets and paths there.
July 26 we went to Nara for the morning. The Todaiji Temple is the largest wooden structure in the world, though only 2/3 the size before its last rebuild in 1709.
Todiji has a 50-foot bronze Buddha inside, but also impressive are the flanking wooden guardian statues.
Back in Kyoto for the afternoon we saw the Golden Pavilion, set in a garden with reflecting pond.
Our last morning in Kyoto we went to the interesting (mainly inside, no pics allowed there) Nijo Castle in a light drizzle. Then to the Shinto Heian Shrine with a letup in the weather.
Heian is surrounded by a large garden.
That afternoon we took the bullet train to Hakone, a scenic area of foothills and lakes south of Mt. Fuji. I'm not putting up pics here as it poured rain nearly the whole time there, where we spent the night at the Victorian-era Fujiya Hotel, and the next morning rode a funicular, gondola and lake cruise. At this point Andrew headed for Tokyo while I went to the southern trailhead of Mt. Fuji. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8104
After Mt. Fuji I joined Andrew in Tokyo, and we spent our first day at Disney Sea, which has mostly different attractions from any of the U.S. Disney parks. This was the only nice weather day since the eclipse, and with a breeze blowing off the ocean was the weather the Shanghai eclipse chasers hoped for but didn't get. The center of the park is this volcano, which blows fire periodically and contains the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride.
Emerging from one of the rides, I was blown away by this cloud over a Disney amusement park!
The large lagoon in the middle of Disney Sea is the site for elaborate water parades, along with some dancers on shore.
The evening parade is most spectacular, with huge fountain floats and a fiery dragon.
Our last day was a city tour of Tokyo. It ended at Odaiba, which is on an island in Tokyo Bay. Here's a replica Statue of Liberty (supposedly the same as the one in Paris) overlooking the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo skyline.
Odaiba was Andrew's favorite part of Tokyo. He had come over here the night I was on Mt. Fuji to see this 50-foot Anime robot, which is a temporary exhibit this summer.
Odaiba has a couple of large malls, which include the Sega Joypolis indoor amusement park and we found an all-you-can-eat sushi bar for our last dinner in Japan.
Himeji is a fortress-type castle similar to those described in the James Clavell novels Shogun and Gaijin (I read the latter on the trip).
From there we took the bullet train to Kyoto, where we spent the next 3 nights in a ryokan. That afternoon we visited Kiyomizu Temple, set on Mt. Otawa in the eastern part of the city.
Also there are the Shinto Jishu Shrine and a 3-story pagoda.
July 25 we went to Hiroshima.
The Genbaku Dome was the closest building to Ground Zero that was not completely destroyed by the 1945 A-Bomb. We spent a couple of hours in the nearby well-documented museum.
In the afternoon I took a ferry to Miyajima Island, known for its Shinto Arch, which is in shallow water at high tide. Here it's exposed at low tide, in the background of the tame deer that wander about the streets and paths there.
July 26 we went to Nara for the morning. The Todaiji Temple is the largest wooden structure in the world, though only 2/3 the size before its last rebuild in 1709.
Todiji has a 50-foot bronze Buddha inside, but also impressive are the flanking wooden guardian statues.
Back in Kyoto for the afternoon we saw the Golden Pavilion, set in a garden with reflecting pond.
Our last morning in Kyoto we went to the interesting (mainly inside, no pics allowed there) Nijo Castle in a light drizzle. Then to the Shinto Heian Shrine with a letup in the weather.
Heian is surrounded by a large garden.
That afternoon we took the bullet train to Hakone, a scenic area of foothills and lakes south of Mt. Fuji. I'm not putting up pics here as it poured rain nearly the whole time there, where we spent the night at the Victorian-era Fujiya Hotel, and the next morning rode a funicular, gondola and lake cruise. At this point Andrew headed for Tokyo while I went to the southern trailhead of Mt. Fuji. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8104
After Mt. Fuji I joined Andrew in Tokyo, and we spent our first day at Disney Sea, which has mostly different attractions from any of the U.S. Disney parks. This was the only nice weather day since the eclipse, and with a breeze blowing off the ocean was the weather the Shanghai eclipse chasers hoped for but didn't get. The center of the park is this volcano, which blows fire periodically and contains the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride.
Emerging from one of the rides, I was blown away by this cloud over a Disney amusement park!
The large lagoon in the middle of Disney Sea is the site for elaborate water parades, along with some dancers on shore.
The evening parade is most spectacular, with huge fountain floats and a fiery dragon.
Our last day was a city tour of Tokyo. It ended at Odaiba, which is on an island in Tokyo Bay. Here's a replica Statue of Liberty (supposedly the same as the one in Paris) overlooking the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo skyline.
Odaiba was Andrew's favorite part of Tokyo. He had come over here the night I was on Mt. Fuji to see this 50-foot Anime robot, which is a temporary exhibit this summer.
Odaiba has a couple of large malls, which include the Sega Joypolis indoor amusement park and we found an all-you-can-eat sushi bar for our last dinner in Japan.
