So we left Hakodate and travelled down to Nagano, where we stayed in a cheap hotel near to Zenko-ji temple, an important Buddhist religious site believed to house the first image of Buddha to come to Japan.
We started with a trip to Togakushi, a more remote area northwest of Nagano, where we visited a significant Shinto shrine on the lower slopes of the mountain Togakushi-yama (apparently created when one god threw away the rock door of the cave of a sun goddess...) You walk for a bit among the cedar trees, having passed the traditional Shinto 'entering the spirit world' doorway. Emmie and I decided to do this in noble silence. I don't know why, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
The silent walk to Togakushi Shinto shrine:
Of course after 5 minutes some tourists came by and said hello to us and we had to ignore them and feel rude. Then came the fit of giggles. Then, as though the universe was determined to test our resolve, some old Japanese people started to say hello to us... Anyway we made it to the shrine and paid our respects to the Kami in our bad tourist approximation of the traditional Shinto formalities. Our way back was much more informal, so we could take photos of us sitting in trees.
The shrine and the tree-sitting:
Togakushi is also where the ninja's trained. We visited a museum which also had an amusing theme park (technically for kids but nevermind). We got to throw shuriken (I missed them all. Emmie hit them all with disturbing accuracy. I'm starting to get worried.) There is also a house which is set up like a maze full of secret doors, hidden rooms and weird tilting corridors. This was great fun, despite the old japanese people pointing and laughing at the two tourists giggles like children.
It is not the room that is tilting, it is your mind that is tilting:
From Nagano, we also did a day trip to visit Matsumoto and its castle, which was a little boring to be honest.
Matsumoto castle:
On the last day in Nagano, we managed to get ourselves to the temple at 5:45am to escape the tourists and participate in their morning service. This was a really great experience. If you have ever sat on tatami mats for any length of time, you will know that its also slightly painful. However we did get blessed twice by the head of the temple, which more that made up for the slight ankle pain.
Having been blessed twice by the high priest, Emmie follows him around and radiates beatifically:
The nice random lady at the temple who helped us out and actually bought us lunch afterwards
From Nagano we made out way south to the Edo-era village of Magome and took on a famous hiking trail to the village of Tsumago. Normally its quite a relaxed two hour stroll in the country, but we decided to do it with our big bags. So I have my 19kg and Emmie had her 16kg. Not so bad for me in comparison when you realise that for Emmie its over a third her body weight. Still, we made it and stayed the night in an inn in Tsumago where we met a Japanese guy who spoke really no English at all. It was 100% 'point in dictionary and nod'. We must have done okay as he liked us so much he gave us a lift out to the station afterwards which is why he makes it into our blog photos for niceness...
Magome to Tsumago and the nice guy who's name we can't remember
We then made it down to Kyoto, where spent a week taking it easy and seeing a few of the local sights such as Gion, the temples, Zen gardens, golden pavilion etc. We did Himeji castle as a day trip. We were staying at a very cheap japanese inn run by a little old lady called Mrs. Tani. Really nice, although she seemed the kind of strong, Italian-mama type you didn't want to cross. The place had a great vibe and though it was a little dirty it had a lot of charm. Also cockroaches. Two things about Japanese cockroaches. They are big, sometimes around 2-3 inches long. Also, they fly. Nasty. All in all it was good. She gave us chopsticks as a leaving gift. We bought her flowers.
Himeji castle. More cool than Matsumoto Castle, partly because it features in You Only Live Twice and The Last Samurai. Also it has some historical importance apparently.
Emmie and Mrs. Tani. I would be there but I'm hiding from the giant flying cockroaches.
We also visited a small cafe that is run by a guy who is a photographer. Him and his mates set up the place and since then, over the last few decades, it became a centre for civil rights movements in Japan. Interesting fellow. Great photographs. He also makes a passable curry. See Emmie's post for the photos.
We then did a quick stop over in Hiroshima, to visit the A-bomb museum (very moving) and to visit Colin (formerly Side Effect front man, aka The Lyrical) who is now teaching over here. No, we didn't bust some old skool rhymes.
Im running low on time here, but we are now on our way to Yakushima island, a great hiking destination where you can camp by the beach and find some of the oldest trees in the world.
More later,
Sri
P.S. I'm reading Vagabond, a manga comic based on the novel Musashi, which is based on a real life historical figure who allegedly killed 66 men in combat before retiring to live as a hermit as there was no one else worthy to fight. I also bought a travel 'guitalele', its like a nylon string guitar but tuned up a 4th so it sounds like a ukelele. Its also tiny and very cheap. I might have to send some books back to someone as this bag is getting heavy...
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