On Friday we woke up to snow. Yes snow :) It made Kyoto look very picturesque. As we walked out of the train station, it started coming down hard and sticking. It was the good, pure, white snow that makes you want to sit in front of a roaring fire drinking hot chocolate.

So we went on our bus bound for Sanjusangendo. Its a Buddhist shrine where they have 1001 statues surrounding a huge Buddha. Unfortunately, you couldn't take any pictures, so all of ours are slightly blurry (stolen pictures without flash!) but they were unbelievable to see. They are so intricate and beautiful, made of wood and then lacquered and covered in gold. There were many statues in front also who were other protectors (but I don't remember their full stories), some with scary faces. It was just unbelievable to see them all standing there as people prayed. There was a monk who started the morning prayers when we were there, with someone accompanying him on the drums. They burn these sticks that are sold - for about 600 yen you can write your name and wish to Buddha and then they burn it for you and it supposed to come true.

After that, we went back outside and it was snowing. Full swirling buckets of snow coming down all around us. The beauty of the white snow on all the old shrine structures was amazing. It makes me miss the old days of being a child and watching the snow fall out of the den window in my house and then going outside to ruin its perfection.

Anyway, then we left for the train station. I had been warned that trains would be really packed because its a holiday weekend, and then we tried getting reserved tickets and they were sold out for non-smoking. So we ran to the train to try to get seats and when we got on the non-reserved section, it was practically empty! So that was really nice. We were able to get seats right near our luggage. On our way, we had great views of the Japanese countryside covered in snow, as well as another clear shot of Mount Fuji.

When we arrived in Tokyo, we went to the Chabad House, dropped off our stuff before a quick errand to get transformers. We found Joey some exciting stuff!

We had another great shabbos at Chabad (I highly recommend staying with them for shabbos if you come to Japan) and it was nice to have non-instant stuff to eat! We will actually be staying at the Chabad House until we leave.

We leave Japan in about 26 hours. How sad. That's all for now.

Today we trekked to Hiroshima. The train ride takes about 2 hours from Kyoto. As experienced trainriders, we now went to the correct cars and got good seats :) It was raining when we left Kyoto and I was worried that it would be bad weather in Hiroshima because we were going to an outdoor shrine first that was supposed to be one of the most beautiful sites in the country, but being on the water wouldnt look so good if the weather was bad. Luckily, as the train sped through the countryside, the weather got better and better. We landed in Hiroshima with sunny, blue skies.

To get to Miyajima (the island where the shrine is), we took a subway to a ferry (all covered under our unlimited JR train pass). The ferry ride was a short 10 minutes, but gave us beautiful views of Hiroshima and the shrine. When we got to the island, there were tons of wild deer floating around (food for 200 yen which we did not buy) and you could approach and pet them. At one point, two deer were head butting and fighting, which was really funny to see! After that we walked down to the shrine, which is absolutely beautiful. Its bright red and tall, and if you come during high tide, it looks like its floating in the water.

Then we walked through the shrine complex and exited near a temple that was being used. The video of it can be seen here (dont know what they were doing though):


After that we went back to the main area of Hiroshima to see the Peace Park and Museum. When we exited the station for the museum, we asked the guard for directions. A woman nearby helped us with the english/japanese, but it seemed like the guard didnt know! It was odd because hundreds of thousands of tourists do this all the time, and he didnt know how to get there? We decided to figure it out for ourselves, and found the tram right in front of the station went there.
Anyway, first we saw the atom bomb dome -- one of the few surviving structures from the atom bomb. It was really spooky to see the building -- most of it blown to bits but the basic structure still there. Pieces of metal were just hanging off as is. It was a somber way to start before visiting the museum.

The museum itself was very informative. The entire museum stressed peace and nuclear disarmament. It shows the city before and after, and gives stories of those who died and those who survived. Its incredibly sad. It was also wierd to see it from Japanese perspective, as we always learnt it through the american eyes. It wasnt that any details were different, it was just that we learnt it was important to end the war, and the horrors of what happened are not stressed as much. I dont know if I am making myself clear, (because I dont think America is insensitive to what happened), but it was just different.

After the museum, it was snowing, so we went back to Kyoto. Usually we take direct trains, but this time we had to transfer, and it went very smoothly. We are now native train-takers :)

(This post is for Wednesday)

Kyoto is a city full of temples, shrines, shrines, shrines and temples. We saw quite a few, and barely scraped the surface! I wont bore you will all the details (because I could go on and on and on and on....), but I will tell you some of the highlights.

We started out the day at a shrine which houses a wooden Buddha thats about 1000 years old. Its really beautiful, but you cannot legally photograph it. They also had a lot of other smaller old statues of Buddhas and other guardians.

Then we went to a shrine with a famous zen garden. It was laid out in like the 1600s and they keep the format. Needless to say, Joey and I did not see the wisdom (though we didnt try really hard -- we do tend to mock things).
After that we went to the highlight of our day -- the golden pavillion. Its a pavillion where the top two floors are covered in gold. Its absolutely fantastic. Unfortuantely, you cannot go inside it or chisel the gold off, so all we took away were pictures. [Honestly, pictures do not do this place justice -- its an unbelievable experience to see]

Then we went to another zen garden. All we saw was gravel with two mounds in the middle of nowhere. We continued around to see some rocks and moss in the next few areas. Joey and I were both thinking "We paid 500 yen a person for this?" but then the monk came and explained it to us -- the whole garden signified lifes struggle and sometimes you hit a palce where you cannot go on (a dam) but really you can and although you really want to go back sometimes, life always goes on, until you reach the ocean of calm (hence why there was really nothing there). Anyway, way too deep for us :) But the monk did sing "Row, row, row your boat" to us while showing us the different parts of the garden! Totally worth every penny.

Next was the silver pavillion -- which never actually got covered in silver. They had beautiful gardens surrounding the pavillion. Then we went to Nanzenji, another temple, where you could actually climb the huge gate. The stairs are really narrow (made for asian feet) and it was really high, but well worth the climb because of the unbelievable views! You also have to remove your shoes, so you are climbing in your socks! Its odd.

The last shrine of the day was the Heian shrine, a garish, colourful newer shrine. It was the end of the day so everything was closing, but we did get a glimpse of the shrine inside and all of the exteriors of the building.

On to the last stop of the day -- Gion. We went Geisha hunting (for those of you who do not know what a Geisha is, watch Memiors of a Geisha -- but its basically an escort girl [or glorified prostitute]) At first we chased down any woman in a kimono (and got a couple of pictures -- the poor people!). But this is what we actually saw! She looked like she was 12-14 years old, but Geisha start young. She looked like a little kid playing dress-up, so who knows is she was real or not. But we'll say we saw a Geisha :)

Today was all about rain. Rain, Rain and more Rain. We left Tokyo (slightly sad, but excited for the journey ahead) via a shikansen train (fast bullet train) to Kyoto. Now the Japanese have a seating system. There are three basic types of cars -- non-reserved seats, reserved seats and Green. So when we came to the platform, we made sure not to get into a reserved section because we had not reserved seats. So we found one that said green on it. Since it didnt say reserved, we sat down. The seats were really comfortable and there was plenty space for our luggage. Little did we know, green meant deluxe (and it really was, I would have loved to sit there). After 1 stop, the conductor came to check our tickets and he said we were in the wrong car (or rather, we couldnt understand him at all and had to ask one of the passengers for help). So we schlepped all our stuff (remember, we have all our clothes and food with us) to the non-reserved cars where there were no seats. So we stood until the next stop and grabbed some seats. It turned out not to be so bad (but the green cars were much nicer!). It rained most of the train ride to Kyoto.

We landed in Kyoto about 3 hours later. It had finally stopped raining. We went to our hotel (Hotel Granvia, right in the train station) and dropped off our luggage so we could go to Himeji Castle. We took another train (about an hour) to Himeji and it started raining again!

Once in Himeji, we went to the castle. The castle is a feudal castle from the 1500s with large grounds. Unfortunately, there were no english guides, but luckily, all of the signs were in english too! What was so interesting was that the castle was not quite what I think of when I think of castles (I guess I think more along the lines of the European grandeur). Although there werent any furnishings left, the signs posted said it had been furnished in grand Japanese style. The rooms, however, didnt look that big. The most beautiful parts of the castle were the exterior and roof. Each roof tile end cap had the insignia of the ruling lords when the roof was fixed.

After that, we went back to our Hotel in Kyoto. The hotel is fantastically located (connected right to the train station), very modern but still having a lot of Japanese charm (we peeked into the restaurants and the women were wearing kimonos and sitting people down behind shoji screens. But the rest of the hotel was granite and steel. Our room is unbelievably plush (you should feel the bed and blanket!)-- the only negative is that CNN is the only english channel.

This morning started with a trip to the Meiji Shrine -- a shrine dedicated to the first contemporary emperor of Japan. There was also a garden we wandered through, which would have been beautiful had it been spring or summer. Instead it was sort of drab and dead. However, they did have a pond and we noticed that the fish have the Japanese mustaches. I don't know if we just never noticed it before or its only on Japanese fish. (if you look at the picture, you might be able to see it). We also strolled through a nearby park, taking in the morning joggers and trees that were bandaged (we still have to figure out why there were bandaged!) By the park we also saw a lot of young girls dressed in outlandish fashion. To know anything about Tokyo teenage fashion, all you have to do is put the oddest combination of clothing together, including baby doll dresses, lots of stripes, shorts in the winter etc and add some dyed hair to match your clothing!

After that, we walked through the skyscraper area to see really interesting architecture. Japan has a lot of really modern and interesting architecture. One of the stores we passed is called Mandarake, a huge Anime/Manga/Transformer store. This was a really odd experience -- you descend down two sub levels into a basement with every collectors item you could want! Joey found a few hard to find transformers (and good deals too!). They also had a showcase full of transformers which wont be sold until a certain day (where we wont be in Tokyo!) so that was disappointing because that stuff is really rare. We also couldn't get to the main store so we will go on our last day in Tokyo.

Next we took the monorail to Odaiba, the futuristic part of town. There we encountered a Japanese Toys R Us (and some really good deals on toys Joey already owns!) and then we walked to Palette Town. There Toyota has a really cool showroom with all sorts of futuristic stuff, including a transforming one person wheel-chair (for lack of better word -- see picture). It changes heights and width. The showroom also showed many different types of chair options for people who use wheelchairs -- one of the cars had a ramp in the back, another had a chair that swung out so that a person could easily get on. It was really interesting to see. They also had an exhibit on why certain features in a car are designed a certain way (like the dashboard).
Another thing they had was a ride called E-com. Its a self-driving car. You get inside and watch the steering wheel move itself along a track. We think it uses a magnetic system (which one of our professors actually told us about when we were in college -- its quite possible she was working on this because this is very similar to a video she showed us). Anyway, you can see a small clip of us driving on youtube.com or below,



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After that, we went up on one of the tallest Ferris wheels in the world -- it takes about 16 minutes to circulate! The whole Ferris wheel was surrounded by people in Santa suits (it was very weird to experience Asian Christmas -- they all celebrate it culturally, but not religiously at all -- so Christmas is a regular day but everyone is wearing Santa hats and elf ears!) The views of the city were unbelievably beautiful and clear.

The last thing we did that day was head to Akihabara, the electronics capital of Japan. Things are ridiculously cheap (much cheaper than any where else!) It was really fun to stroll through all the neon and look at all the electronics. Joey also found some more transformers here :)

One last thing to discuss for the day: Japanese toilets. They are basically holes in the ground that flush. It is very odd to try to use one of these, because if you lose your balance, you fall in! This was the first type of toilet I was introduced to in the airport. Luckily, our hotels have "western style toilets" (you know, the regular ones we use -- except these all have bidets built in!).

Anyway, just be thankful for your toilet at home.

Day 4 took us to Mount Fuji. Since this was very much a last minute trip, we felt it was easier to do a bus tour. We took Japan Gray Line Bus tour (in English). They pick you up in the morning, drive to Mount Fuji (tolls in Japan are horrific -- it costs like $100 in tolls to drive anywhere). Luckily, in the morning it was a clear day. On many days, you cannot even see Mt Fuji, which of course would be a waste! So for the first few hours of the day, we had an excellent view (pictured above).

When we drove to the highest point you can in the winter (about 1400 meters high instead of 2400 meters in the summer), we go out, took some pictures. About five minutes later, the fog rolled in (see two pictures below - taken 5 minutes apart). So of course we were a lucky group for having seen Mt Fuji so clearly (in the summer a lot of times you cannot see it at all). Can you imagine coming halfway across the world, paying a lot of money to see Mt Fuji, and then missing it because of fog? So we really were lucky.

After that we went cruising on Lake Ashi, a lake formed from the explosion of Mt Hakone volcano. We went on a pirate ship and the views from up top were amazing. I'm sure it would have been more beautiful if it were sunny, but it was stunning nonetheless. We even got to sit in first class cabins (there wasn't much difference, except the first class cabins had tables, so upgrading probably was a waste of money. But these things happen on tour groups.) But I do have to say, in general we are suckers for boat rides, so I don't know if our opinion is valid :)

Next we took a cable car ride up to an area being mined for sulphur. The views from the cable car were very nice -- you could see the village below, but the fog kept it from being spectacular. The entire area is a hot springs resort area (where we didn't go -- they have a lot interesting customs regarding bathing in the hot springs, and even though they are separated into men's and women's hot springs, many mothers bring their 9-10 year old sons with them, and that's just too weird for me).

So once the cable car landed, you could see the whole mining experience. Sulphur and steam were rising out of the mining shafts. Add steam to fog and it gets very hard to see! Up there they also sell black shelled boiled eggs -- they take regular eggs, boil them in the sulphur water, which causes a reaction and turns the shells black. Supposedly, each egg adds 7 years to your life. Needless to say, we did not eat them! Many people did though, I guess its the experience because the guide said it tasted like a regular egg. Of course, before we could leave anything in Japan, there was a shrine there. The major difference with this shrine was the washing station. Most are filled withe cold/lukewarm water, but this one was fueled by the hot springs themselves. It was really interesting to see. People kept coming up to pray, which always makes me feel like we are intruding on them. After all, who wants to be photographed while you are praying?

Anyway, that was the last stop. The bus dropped some people at the train station (which was a more expensive option, why would you pay an extra $25 to take the train which is only a little faster when you can take the bus directly to your hotel and save money?).

Day two started with us waking up very early (4 am!) although as I said to Joey, he wakes up that early every day so I don't know if its really jet lag! It gave us some time to plan our day, since this trip was sort of thrown together last minute. We decided to go to Asakusa, the older area of Tokyo with its shrines. Unfortunately, the whole day was gray and rainy, but we enjoyed it anyway.

We ventured into the Tokyo subway system to get there. Now, as a New Yorker, I have been on plenty of crowded subways during rush hour. I have been jammed up against people I never want to see again. So suffice it to say I am used to packed subways. Tokyo subways surpassed my wildest dreams! The conductors push you in and then when you think you are shoved in as far as you can go, they push you in another few feet. You don't even need to hold on, because there is no way to get anywhere -- you are packed tighter than sardines in a can. What an experience :)

Once we arrived, it was still very early (about 8:30) so we wandered over to the shrine areas. Being that it was so early, we were able to see a lot of people praying. There are about 5 different large shrines, and a few small ones in one area. Japan built most of their structures out of wood, which meant that fires were rampant (and earthquakes into the mix -- in the early 1920s, a huge earthquake and fire combo killed several hundred thousand people). In addition, the city was bombed during WWII so many of the structures have been rebuilt after being destroyed. So they aren't centuries old as they are in Kyoto (where we will be going), but they were still interesting.
Before (and seemingly after, but I haven't confirmed that yet), the people wash their hands with salt water to purify/cleanse themselves. They also burn incense sticks. We even got a glimpse of one of the priests (I don't know the correct term and use that for lack of a better one) walking from one shrine to the other. After that, we wandered through the open air market, looking at knockoff bags, Japanese souvenirs and all sorts of food. They actually had this cookie machine that created sandwich cookies. It was a lot of fun to watch the contraption open, close and squirt.

Next we went to Ueno Park, one of the famous parks in Tokyo. During the spring, people flock here to see the Cherry Blossoms in bloom. The country is famous for it (though, we are here in the winter :-P). Its a nice park, surrounded by plenty of interesting museums, which was our draw (I don't see the big deal with parks -- if you live in the city, its your only chance at nature, but if you don't, then its just a park! If I were visiting NYC as a tourist, I wouldn't really spend much time in Central Park -- there are too many other interesting things to do there!). We went to the Tokyo National Museum, which has old art work and artifacts from Japan and around the world. Everything inside had English translations so we were able to enjoy the museum. They had all sorts of interesting work from old pottery to seals to statues (even a mummy from Egypt!). One thing that surprised us were how empty some of the rooms were. In one building of the museum, there was nothing but ottomans too sit on!

After the Tokyo National Museum we went to a completely different type of museum called the Shitamachi Museum. This museum showcased how the common folk lived and worked for a long time. Inside, was a reconstructed shop and homes, as well as an exhibit on toys and Japanese theatre. The English tour guide was an old woman who volunteered, and she took us through the museum explaining everything. It was nice because you can touch everything in the museum and see how it was used.


At that point, it was time to go to the Chabad for Shabbos. We had been schleping our stuff around all day and were thankful to sit on the (not so crowded anymore) subway. The Chabad house is about a 20 minute train ride outside of the center of Tokyo (almost like staying in downtown Brooklyn). Because there aren't really hotels nearby, they had invited us to sleep at their house. When we got there, it turned out they were Moshiachites which we were somewhat worried about, but it turned out fine. They also hold by the Japanese custom of removing your shoes in a house, so your feet are always cold! They had minyan Friday night (thanks to Joey -- he was then tenth man!) and a long meal, after which we went to bed at 1 am! The other people who spent Shabbos with us was an Israeli who comes 3 times a year for business, a guy from the Upper West Side who is in Japan on business and a guy from Toronto studying Japanese history. Add in the Chabad Rabbi (from Kfar Chabad), his wife (a crown heights girl) and their 4 kids (one named Moshiach), and it was an interesting day. The Rabbi explained why the seaweed used for sushi cant really be kosher (which I still need to check into because he made some really good points and he toured the factories). I hope it turns out not to be true. And thus ended Chanukah (which i still cant believe is already over!)

(Posted late, applicable to Wednesday, December 21)
Hey everyone,

Just letting you know that we safely landed in Japan. Our flight was a mere 13.5 hours (pretty short I thought, everyone always made Japan sound like it was so far away, but its not much further than Israel!). It now about 8 pm in Japan and we just lit chanukah candles (we actually missed a night of chanukah which is so wierd). Attached is a picture of our menorah. Since we cant really put it in a window, we put it by two mirrors so that its multiplied to infinity.

More information as we go. Just letting you all know we are safe.