The Land Of The Rising Sun

The Land Of The Rising Sun

Despite my travelling and globetrotting, I have not found many places on earth that blend ancient tradition and technical modernity, like Japan -The Land of The Rising Sun… Centuries-old gardens and cobblestone walkways mingle in perfect harmony with modern soaring skyscrapers and dazzling neon signs. I first visited Japan during the Expo 1970 and have been back many times, not just to see Honshu but also spending some time in Kyushu during my term as an Exco member of the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA). Rudyard Kipling said: “The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it”. As a traveller (and I do not mean as a tourist), I had already smelled Japan but was far from understanding the country.

A view from the Jaesu Entrance Tokyo Station.

For many years I had taken the Japanese dish Tempura. Still, I never knew (until today, informed by someone close to our family) that Tempura (the technique of dipping vegetables and seafood into a batter and frying them) was introduced by the Portuguese missionaries residing in Nagasaki in the 16th century! I have since found out that the name “tempura” comes from the word “tempora” (meaning “times” or “time period” used by the Portuguese Catholic missionaries to refer to the Lenten period, Fridays and other Christian holy days. “quattuor tempora” refer to holy days when Catholics avoid meat and instead eat fish or vegetables. Hence, the etymology of the word “tempura“. The recipes for the dish today originated from the “Edo style” invented at the food stalls along the riverside fish market during the Edo period.

Cheery Blossoms in Hakodate

Most of us relate Japan with Cheery Blossoms. Most tourists harbour the misunderstanding that the cheery blossom season is in Spring. Cheery blossoms open as early as January on the southern, subtropical islands of Okinawa, whereas on the northern island of Hokkaido, the flowering can be as late as May. I arrived in Tokyo on April 18th but saw very few blooms, even though the cheery blossom season there (as in Kyoto and Osaka) typically takes place in early April. Though late for cheery blossoms, we had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in exotic dining scenes and endless cultural encounters in the ever-evolving city of Tokyo and other beautiful parts of this fascinating country (such as Kyoto, Kamakura and Hakone)  popular with international tourists.

Is this Japan?

Upon our arrival in Japan, someone close to us decided to show us Motomachi. With Yamate to the east and Kannai and Yamashitacho to the west. Motomachi was an area in Yokohama frequently visited by foreigners, and many of them settled there soon after the start of the Meiji era.

The Minato-no-mieru-oka Park we visited in Yamate was a foreign settlement at the time of the opening of the port in Yokohama. The gardens and western-style constructed houses set the Yamate district apart from other neighbourhoods in Yokohama. Yamate often referred to in English as “The Bluff”, is the name of a historic residential neighbourhood in Yokohama. Western foreigners settled the residential area following the opening of Yokohama as a Treaty Port at the end of the Edo Period. The spreading scenery of the harbour and Yokohama Bay Bridge can be viewed from the observation deck at the Park.

A view of the Harbour and the Yokohama Bridge from the top of the Minato-no-mieru-oka Park

A happy couple taking their photos in the Park.

The British House, built in 1937, is now part of the Rose Garden of Minato-no-mieru-oka Park. I learned that the roses here bloom from April to June and again from October to November. Many foreigners were buried in the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery within the Park. At the Gate House, I saw a map on how to visit their graves. Photos of fascinating events associated with Yokohama (during its time as a Treaty Port) were displayed during our visit.

The British House Yokohama ( designated cultural property of Yokohama originally built in 1937 as the British consular residence).

As we walked down the undulating roads and rolling hills, we saw a happy couple taking their photos. On this day, we continued our stroll to the vibrant Yokohama, China Town (founded by Chinese traders in 1859), where we saw friends indulging themselves in delightful activities. We also witnessed a Chinese lady making Xiaolongbao…

The Yokohama China Town

The shop in Yokohama, China Town is famous for its Xiaolongbao

How Xiaolongbao (small bun) is prepared

A Japanese friend once told me that Tokyo never sleeps. He must be referring to Kabukicho in Shinjuku. I visited Shinjuku in the late eighties and noticed that no other place in Japan could match its perpetual wakefulness. I decided to show my wife. As we alighted the train at the Shinjuku Station, the bright lights and neon signs appeared to beckon us to enjoy their company. We decided to have sashimi and yakisoba in one of the quaint restaurants and met a family from Portugal sitting next table to us. We struck up a conversation with the daughter Katherine who now works in Berlin. She told us that members of the world-famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra regularly perform on Tuesdays (free of charge) at lunchtime in the striking foyer of the Philharmonic concert hall…We have made a note of that information!

Shinjuku by night

sashimi and yakisoba

Railway in Japan

JR East office at (lower level) Narita Airport

Travelling by ourselves in Honshu (with the help of the Japan Rail Pass), my wife and I found the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture of this fascinating country. I also had planned for us to visit some port cities in Northern Japan. I ordered two weekly Passes from JBT International (Canada) Ltd and collected them myself at their office at 900 Georgia St. Vancouver instead of having them mailed to us. The Passes are tokens vouchers we redeemed for weekly Pass tickets at the JR East ticket office (which had a long queue) upon our arrival at Narita International Airport.

Trains symbolize modernity in Japan. The Shinkansen (bullet train) cut journeys between Tokyo and Osaka by two hours when it opened in 1964. This route can be very economical if you have a Japan Rail Pass. However, the Japan Rail Pass does not cover two of the fastest shinkansen trains, the Nozomi on the Tokaido line and the Mizuho on the Sanyo line. Today we took the Shinkansen Hikari bullet train from Shinagawa Station (passing Nagoya) to Kyoto in less than 3 hours which enabled us to pay a day visit to this ancient city.

The Shinkansen Hikari bullet train at Shinagawa

Comfortable Interior of the Shinkansen Hikari

Checking the ticket to ensure I was on the right train

Iconic sites in Japan

Kyoto-

Entrance to the ground of the Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto.

Nijo-jo Castle Kara-mon Gate

A visit to Japan is not complete without visiting Kyoto. Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto has witnessed some of the most dramatic and important events in Japanese history since it was constructed in 1603. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Kyoto City began a full-scale restoration of the Castle in 2011. The 400 -year-old building of the Ninomaru-go-ten Palace and the Kara-mon Gate is unique survivals of the early Edo period Japanese ornate architecture and design.

A Japanese lady dressed in Kimono at Ninomaru palace of Nijō Castle ground

A family dressed in Kimonos in Kyoto

Kamakura-

Kamakura: A view of Great Buddha “Daibutsu”

A vast number of Buddhists and people of all sects from Japan and around the world came to pay respect to this Great Buddha.

Hakone-

Hakone:  A distant view of Mount Fuji

Lake Ashi Hakone

The scenic countryside of Kanagawa is seen from our train from Shinagawa to Odawara .

Hakone is situated in a mountainous region dominated by Mount Fuji, Japan’s tallest mountain peak (3,776.24 m). Aside from its fabulous views of that iconic volcano and Lake Ashi, Hakone is spectacular on its own. With quick and convenient rail and bus connections, it can easily be visited as a day trip from Tokyo. We got to Hakone (with the JR Pass) by taking the longer but scenic train route on the slower Tokaido Line via Olfuna to Odawara to connect with the Hakone Tozan railway and return with the Tokaido Shinkansen Bullet train to Shinagawa. The beauty of Kanagawa can be seen by the slow train from Shinagawa to Odawara on JR Tokaido Line.

Photographing at popular destinations can be challenging when hundreds of tourists visit the same sites as we do and at the same exact time! Many people, oblivious to us, appeared in my camera frame. Tourists yelled, interfering with the serenity of the place … It is quite understandable that sometimes we do not want people around us. Sometimes we really would like the place just for ourselves.

A friendly stranger showed us the way to the Senso-ji Shrine at Asakusa Tokyo.

The Senso-ji Shrine at Asakusa Tokyo

A Shinto wedding at the Senso-ji Shrine

But sometimes people come into our lives for a good reason. Complete strangers help us along the way. On one occasion, after visiting the Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, we decided to see the Senso-ji Shrine – an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo. It is Tokyo’s oldest temple and one most significant. After walking for quite a distance, we realized that we were probably walking towards the wrong direction. Then a complete stranger appeared and came into our lives to walk with us and showed us how to get to the location of the Shrine…

Rush Hours in Tokyo…

“Old Tokyo” Ueno/Akihabara.

Inside the commuter train at rush hour in Tokyo

While the Shinkansen can be quiet and comfortable, riding the commuter train is different. There is nothing quite like riding in commuter trains during the rush hour in Tokyo, which we found out and experienced on the way back to our hotel in Tsurumi from Akihabara where we had spent the morning and early afternoon.

The rush hour ride taught us deferential Canadians how to assert ourselves in a jam-packed train 😊. Having spent time in a mega city like London in my younger days, I was much more comfortable (than my wife) standing cheek-by-jowl with people on subway trains crammed shoulder to shoulder.

On this particular journey, I decided not only to revisit the many crowded iconic sites in Honshu popular with tourists but also to visit other equally (for me) significant sites less visited by international tourists… As a pilgrim, I am naturally interested to visit some churches whenever I visit a new place and find myself as a stranger in town. Christianity was introduced to Japan during the Edo- era (1603–1868) by Jesuit missionaries from Portugal. Christian missionaries like Francis Xavier were among the first to travel to Japan to teach Catholicism. However, somehow the influence of the West and the religious aspect eventually came into conflict with the Tokugawa shogunate. The Sakoku Edict was issued in 1635. Christianity was banned under the Edict. Missionaries and believers were persecuted. For more than two centuries, Christian devotees hid on some remote islands to continue practising their faith. The ban on Christianity was lifted in the early Meiji period (1868–1912). Many churches were built, most of them in the South West of Japan. Oura Cathedral (the oldest standing church in Japan) was constructed in Nagasaki City after the end of Japan’s era of seclusion when freedom of religion was granted, and it served the growing community of foreign merchants who took up residence in Nagasaki. A number of these sites are expected to receive World Heritage status.

Holy Resurrection Cathedral

I was blessed with the opportunity to pay a visit to the Holy Resurrection Cathedral. This Neo-Byzantine Cathedral (commonly known as Nikorai-do) is situated in Chiyoda Tokyo. The founder of the Cathedral, Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin (1836-1912), later known as St. Nicholas (Kasatkin), spent his first seven years in Japan studying the Japanese language, culture and religion. He was 25 when he first arrived in Japan as a young priest assigned to the Russian consulate in Hakodate. St. Nicholas introduced Orthodox Christianity to the local community and translated the scriptures and many liturgical books and prayer books into Japanese, all of which are still in use today.

Kaigan Kyokai (church)

The Yokohama Kaigan Kyokai (church) situated in Naka-Ku Yokohama was founded in 1872 as the first Protestant Church in this country. The founder and first pastor, Rev. J. H. Ballagh, encountered considerable difficulties in his initial missionary activities. Japanese who developed personal contacts with Christian missionaries in Yokohama started to gather on this site, and Rev. Ballagh stood up and read Isaiah 32:15 “until the Spirit is poured upon us from high and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest”. But according to the World Values Survey, Japan remains one of the most secular nations in the world. There may be up to 3 million Japanese Christians in Japan ( US State Department 2007 Religious Freedom Report retrieved on 2011-06-15.) spread among many denominational affiliations.

Onward to Hokkaido-Northern Japan…

Port of Yokohama

Cruiseship Celebrity Millennium

Aomori-

Students welcoming us at the pier of Aomori

We made a brief call at the port of Aomori and were greeted by a group of enthusiastic students. Aomori is the only prefectural capital in Japan which has no national university. Nearby Hirosaki became the site for the prefecture’s highest educational facility.

A view of Aomori

We met a person from Philadelphia who wanted so much to see a bit of Aomori, but because of her physical condition, she had great difficulty doing so…

To Hakodate

Hakodate is located in the centre of the Kameda peninsula of Hokkaido, which is famous for the Hakodate Asaichi (Morning Market). This well-known seafood market (though less known than the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo) is just a short walk from Hakodate Station. It was bustling with locals and visitors on the morning of our visit, tempting us with an array of fresh Hakodate produce.

A view Hakodate-Yama ( a mountain in Hakodate).

Hakodate train station

Hakodate Asaichi (Morning Market)

The bustling Hakodate Asaichi (morning market).

Hakodate, during the Meiji period, was one of few contact points of Japan with the outside world. It became host to several overseas consulates. During that time the Russian consulate included a chapel from where Nicholas of Japan is credited with introducing Eastern Orthodox Christianity (now Japanese Orthodox Church) to Japan in 1861. The historical missionary church, is neighbored by several other churches, including the Roman Catholic and the Anglican church.

And we proceeded to Muroran…

Despite some and occasional cruise ships calling at this port (as if by accident), Muroran is definitely not a vacation destination. Most cruise ships would berth for a short time and then sail off with their demanding passengers to less grimy destinations. Along the coast by the port is such unalloyed ugliness that it brings tears to those aesthetically sensitive. Concrete, to me, is a wonderful and surely useful thing, but do ugly concrete structures have to be situated along the shore? Why is progress so antagonistic to purity and beauty? This is a very pertinent question, indeed!

However, Cape Chikyu, not far from the port of Muroran, is not without its share of rugged beauty endowed by mother nature. Not many tourists go to Cape Chikyu. We were game to trek up the steep hill on the country road, but as we ascended, the vegetation get less and less fecund, which proved how difficult it was the struggle for trees to even exist (except for the humble grass) on this stony hill. At the very top of the hill, we were rewarded with the opportunity to shoot photos of the spectacular ocean view below with a small lighthouse as a backdrop. Much has been written in nature books, love stories and poems about the beauty and loveliness of flowers, but I find it very strange indeed that we should overlook the simple beauty and usefulness of the humble wild grass adorning and supporting the bare earth and mighty cliffs…

“CHIKYUU-MISAKI” IN JAPANESE

Trekking up the hill at Cape Chikyu

The humble wild grass adorning and supporting the bare earth and mighty cliffs…

Lighthouse at Cape Chikyu (Cape Earth), Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan.

At the very top, there is a Bell of Happiness. It was suggested to us by a local to give it a ring, and we both did 😊..

…and my Journey continues…

Just a thought:

Perhaps life is all about how we see things. As for me, I believe the Holy Spirit (when we allow it to dwell within us) will show us the right way and the correct perspective…