Today was spent as a tourist in Nagoya. With my bags at Ryuji's house, its key in my pocket and by making a breadcrumb trail of photos nothing could possibly go wrong.
First on the list was a visit to one of the three holiest shrines in Japan: Atsuta-jingu or 'sword shrine'. I was expecting to see a nice park, temple and perhaps a sword, but none of this. The shrine area consisted mainly of quite modern buildings. The park surrounding it wasn't really beautiful (a forest with a wide gravel path through it) and the shrine itself, and actually all the little shrines where people prayed were all closed wooden boxes. English explanations or personnel were nowhere to be found, so this place was kind of a deception.
Next on the list was the Tokugawaen. A museum and park dedicated to the Tokugawa family (which has delivered a number of emperors). The Tokugawas donated their archives to the state, and the contents now form a very nice musuem. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed and there were guards in every room to supervise this. There were some really nice samurai outfits and swords, furthermore handwritten battle reports from the 1400's. Quite interesting to see. Another strange thing: there were very old manuals for all kinds of things: how a woman should wear here make-up, how you should fold your clothing, how tea should be pored, all these kinds of things. The Japanese didn't become very neat and precise this century... they've been like that for hundreds of years!
The surrounding garden was once again very nice. There was a large pond with Koi in it, and one very beautiful little Japanese tea house overlooking this pond from a perfectly laid out garden.
With my zen-levels high I went back to being a proper tourist again: off to the Meijo park and the nearby Nagoya castle. I mainly wanted to go to the park to see the dutch windmill. The rest of the park is mainly used for sporting, which is fun to see, but the park itself wasn't very beatiful or anything like that. I did see the windmill. It had been a gift, and apparently has stood liked that in the park since the moment it was given. Its woodwork looked rather rotten and the actual blades were fixed to the ground with steel cables: the mill has probably never turned. So if anyone is looking for a hobby in the Nagoya area: go restore and operate this windmill :-).
The castle looked the same from the outside as the other castles, and the entrance was on the other side of the park, so I skipped it. Instead I went back to city center again for more modern landmarks: the Oasis 21 building and the TV tower. The Oasis 21 building is actually one of the cities' bus terminals, but it has a special roof: it is made of glass and there is a few inches of water on top of it: giving a strange kind of effect. Snapping a picture of these buildings was enough, so I headed back to the station area again, where I had an appointment with Ryuji in the Irish pub, after he finished work. We shot a few games of pool (for free :)) and drank a beer. Afterwards we went to a Japanese Sushi restaurant where we had a very nice plate of sushi.
While exploring in the Nagoya station area I discovered that there was a cafe on the top floor of one of the towers. After dinner I had a coffee there with Ryuji, to see if the view was any good. The coffee was very expensive, but with free refills, so we halved the price :-). Later in the evening this proved to be not such a good idea, since at 03:00 am I was still wide awake. After the coffee we went to Ryuji's neighbours: a jazz cafe. A very nice Japanese lady was playing piano there and making some very enjoyable music. Add a nice glass of wine and it was a perfect last evening in Japan. My flight the next day, however, was only at 22:00pm, so there was still one more day in Japan.
I asked Ryuji to plan something for this day what he might also enjoy, because I had done all the things I wanted to do in Nagoya. He came up with a daytrip to an old post-route in the mountains, where there's also two historic villages. He heard about this from one of his couchsurf guests and hadn't been there himself. It would involve a 2 hour trip to get to the start of a 3-6 hour hike, so I discussed the options and time limits with Ryuji, as I wanted to make sure not to miss my flight.
In the morning we took 2,5 hours to get to the place, so I was kind of worried about getting back in time. The view, however was amazing: we were quite near to the Japanese Alps and could see snow covered tops.
The old village was quite nice to see, a bit touristy, but full of nice old buildings with beautiful gardens. We tried some of the local snacks, but soon started our hike, with a good pace. The path is actually an old messenger route from the days of the samurai, and it really also has that kind of feeling about it. A winding little road made out of old stones, little or no civilization in sight and deep and dark forest nearby.
We soon also found ice patches on the path, which were very, very slippery. Quite amazing to be warm and in full sunlight one moment, and walking on snow again the next. After about 2km we came across a worrying sight: a bell that you had to ring to chase any bears away. Except for pandabears I didn't know Japan had bears!
About halfway along the route we came across a lonely old Japanese cottage with a very nice tatami, rice paper walls, and a kettle of boiling water on top of a hole in the floor: right out of the history books. In front of it was a bent old man, inviting us in. He immediately put some dried and fresh plumes and a cup of tea in front of us and started telling stories and asking us questions. After offering us a cup of plum-sake he even started singing. It sounded like a song he might have been singing his whole life during work in the fields. He actually talked with Ryuji in Japanese a lot, because mostly foreigners walk the route between the two old villages. Japanese people (and actually most tourists) take the bus. He really enjoyed seeing a Japanese person there, and shared a lot of his stories. He and his friends actually put up the bear bells after an American tourist scared a bear away by screaming really loudly (it was the first bear sighting on the path as well).
Since we were in a hurry we took or leave from him after spending the time that courtesy asks for such a friendly and inviting person. We dropped some money in the tipping box, wrote in the guestbook and headed on.
Walking on this old path, in the forest again after all these cities, and hearing the stories from this old man really gave a good feeling. We walked the last bit of the road in a cheerful mood. We encountered a nice waterfall along the way, and after 7km came into the other touristic village. I found this one to be more beautiful than the first, but also here we had to hurry through it to make it to the bus stop on the other side on time.
The travel on the bus was uneventful. The connections to the station were actually bad, so it consisted of a lot of waiting: a good time to write some postcards :). We were back at home about half an hour later then when I would have planned it, but still with lots of time to spare to get to the airport. As Ryuji is a very thorough and meticulous person I wouldn't have expected otherwise! I packed my bags together and said goodbye to Ryuji at the metro station: time to move to the next country!
The trip from the train station to the airport was more difficult than I anticipated: normally an airport train is a very simple thing, and just takes you to the airport. Not so in Nagoya: there are three branches on the airport line, and even though it is branded as an 'international airport' no announcement is made in English in the train itself. Once I started asking other passengers it was already too late and I was 2 stations past where I should have switched to the correct train. On the way back I immediately asked the conductor for directions and he made sure I got on the right train in the end. I made it in time to the airport, and was off to Hawaii!
Full picture sets here:
Nagoya 1: Touristic sites
Nagoya 2: Daytrip
First on the list was a visit to one of the three holiest shrines in Japan: Atsuta-jingu or 'sword shrine'. I was expecting to see a nice park, temple and perhaps a sword, but none of this. The shrine area consisted mainly of quite modern buildings. The park surrounding it wasn't really beautiful (a forest with a wide gravel path through it) and the shrine itself, and actually all the little shrines where people prayed were all closed wooden boxes. English explanations or personnel were nowhere to be found, so this place was kind of a deception.
Next on the list was the Tokugawaen. A museum and park dedicated to the Tokugawa family (which has delivered a number of emperors). The Tokugawas donated their archives to the state, and the contents now form a very nice musuem. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed and there were guards in every room to supervise this. There were some really nice samurai outfits and swords, furthermore handwritten battle reports from the 1400's. Quite interesting to see. Another strange thing: there were very old manuals for all kinds of things: how a woman should wear here make-up, how you should fold your clothing, how tea should be pored, all these kinds of things. The Japanese didn't become very neat and precise this century... they've been like that for hundreds of years!
The surrounding garden was once again very nice. There was a large pond with Koi in it, and one very beautiful little Japanese tea house overlooking this pond from a perfectly laid out garden.
With my zen-levels high I went back to being a proper tourist again: off to the Meijo park and the nearby Nagoya castle. I mainly wanted to go to the park to see the dutch windmill. The rest of the park is mainly used for sporting, which is fun to see, but the park itself wasn't very beatiful or anything like that. I did see the windmill. It had been a gift, and apparently has stood liked that in the park since the moment it was given. Its woodwork looked rather rotten and the actual blades were fixed to the ground with steel cables: the mill has probably never turned. So if anyone is looking for a hobby in the Nagoya area: go restore and operate this windmill :-).
The castle looked the same from the outside as the other castles, and the entrance was on the other side of the park, so I skipped it. Instead I went back to city center again for more modern landmarks: the Oasis 21 building and the TV tower. The Oasis 21 building is actually one of the cities' bus terminals, but it has a special roof: it is made of glass and there is a few inches of water on top of it: giving a strange kind of effect. Snapping a picture of these buildings was enough, so I headed back to the station area again, where I had an appointment with Ryuji in the Irish pub, after he finished work. We shot a few games of pool (for free :)) and drank a beer. Afterwards we went to a Japanese Sushi restaurant where we had a very nice plate of sushi.
While exploring in the Nagoya station area I discovered that there was a cafe on the top floor of one of the towers. After dinner I had a coffee there with Ryuji, to see if the view was any good. The coffee was very expensive, but with free refills, so we halved the price :-). Later in the evening this proved to be not such a good idea, since at 03:00 am I was still wide awake. After the coffee we went to Ryuji's neighbours: a jazz cafe. A very nice Japanese lady was playing piano there and making some very enjoyable music. Add a nice glass of wine and it was a perfect last evening in Japan. My flight the next day, however, was only at 22:00pm, so there was still one more day in Japan.
I asked Ryuji to plan something for this day what he might also enjoy, because I had done all the things I wanted to do in Nagoya. He came up with a daytrip to an old post-route in the mountains, where there's also two historic villages. He heard about this from one of his couchsurf guests and hadn't been there himself. It would involve a 2 hour trip to get to the start of a 3-6 hour hike, so I discussed the options and time limits with Ryuji, as I wanted to make sure not to miss my flight.
In the morning we took 2,5 hours to get to the place, so I was kind of worried about getting back in time. The view, however was amazing: we were quite near to the Japanese Alps and could see snow covered tops.
The old village was quite nice to see, a bit touristy, but full of nice old buildings with beautiful gardens. We tried some of the local snacks, but soon started our hike, with a good pace. The path is actually an old messenger route from the days of the samurai, and it really also has that kind of feeling about it. A winding little road made out of old stones, little or no civilization in sight and deep and dark forest nearby.
We soon also found ice patches on the path, which were very, very slippery. Quite amazing to be warm and in full sunlight one moment, and walking on snow again the next. After about 2km we came across a worrying sight: a bell that you had to ring to chase any bears away. Except for pandabears I didn't know Japan had bears!
About halfway along the route we came across a lonely old Japanese cottage with a very nice tatami, rice paper walls, and a kettle of boiling water on top of a hole in the floor: right out of the history books. In front of it was a bent old man, inviting us in. He immediately put some dried and fresh plumes and a cup of tea in front of us and started telling stories and asking us questions. After offering us a cup of plum-sake he even started singing. It sounded like a song he might have been singing his whole life during work in the fields. He actually talked with Ryuji in Japanese a lot, because mostly foreigners walk the route between the two old villages. Japanese people (and actually most tourists) take the bus. He really enjoyed seeing a Japanese person there, and shared a lot of his stories. He and his friends actually put up the bear bells after an American tourist scared a bear away by screaming really loudly (it was the first bear sighting on the path as well).
Since we were in a hurry we took or leave from him after spending the time that courtesy asks for such a friendly and inviting person. We dropped some money in the tipping box, wrote in the guestbook and headed on.
Walking on this old path, in the forest again after all these cities, and hearing the stories from this old man really gave a good feeling. We walked the last bit of the road in a cheerful mood. We encountered a nice waterfall along the way, and after 7km came into the other touristic village. I found this one to be more beautiful than the first, but also here we had to hurry through it to make it to the bus stop on the other side on time.
The travel on the bus was uneventful. The connections to the station were actually bad, so it consisted of a lot of waiting: a good time to write some postcards :). We were back at home about half an hour later then when I would have planned it, but still with lots of time to spare to get to the airport. As Ryuji is a very thorough and meticulous person I wouldn't have expected otherwise! I packed my bags together and said goodbye to Ryuji at the metro station: time to move to the next country!
The trip from the train station to the airport was more difficult than I anticipated: normally an airport train is a very simple thing, and just takes you to the airport. Not so in Nagoya: there are three branches on the airport line, and even though it is branded as an 'international airport' no announcement is made in English in the train itself. Once I started asking other passengers it was already too late and I was 2 stations past where I should have switched to the correct train. On the way back I immediately asked the conductor for directions and he made sure I got on the right train in the end. I made it in time to the airport, and was off to Hawaii!
Full picture sets here:
Nagoya 1: Touristic sites
Nagoya 2: Daytrip
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