Kyoto: Part 1

Back to a travel post. I've had the privilege of spending quite a few days Kyoto, one of the prettiest cities in Japan. Kyoto is most well known for being a very Buddhist town, with lots and lots old big temples and shrines. It's very cool to be able to walk around and see so many interesting things, typical old-school Japanese picture postcard type images to take. That being said though it is still a very modern town with a large population and a lot of tourists.

Many of these temples have been deemed "National Treasures" by the Japanese government which means that they have something unique to present and preserve, historically and/or artistically. Trying to visit and fully appreciate the significances of every single temple in Kyoto would be a year long task to undertake, but we can always try and hit the highlights.

Because Kyoto is such a big city so I'm going to break up this post into a few different sections. I thought it appropriate to start off near the Kyoto Station.

Kyoto Eki is a bustling hub of transportation with buses, trains, subways, and shinkansens constantly flowing through it. The station in and of itself is a tourist attraction. There is a large shopping complex and a nice observation deck with a bunch of restaurants.

View from the Observation Deck

Sanjusangendo is a very famous attraction in Kyoto. Inside are 1001 Buddhist statues of different devis and bodhisattvas. Just appreciating just how intricate all of the statues are is very interesting.  Photography is not permitted inside the hall but here are a few snaps from the outside which is also very peaceful and serene This link has a few more pictures taken from the inside as well as some more information about the temple. 

The area around Chionin Temple seemed to be another very popular attraction. There are various entrances and exits and different halls and temples and shrines to see. The compound is so big, I'm actually not sure that I managed to see the entire thing!

 

 

That's it for this post. I'll upload a second one sometime mid-week. Cheers!

Television!

One more lifestyle piece. One thing that I've had a really difficult time acclimating to in Japan is television. This sounds silly, because television is something that you don't think you really have any opinions on, but Japanese television is in a class of it's own. In America we've all heard about the infamous Japanese game shows that are as a completely absurd and I've noticed that that enthusiastic over-the-topness does seem to spill over in to all of their TV programs. Everything is very exciting and eye catching, even the news!

Let me just let the pictures do the talking. Here is just a small selection of the ever entertaining variety of programs you might happen upon when you switch on the TV.

Little kiddos singing songs and eating lunch...and just sort of being adorable!

Program where groups of people tried to act out scenes from manga books.
Not easy to categorize, but definitely entertaining!

Televised sumo competition. Rawr!

British TV program dubbed in Japanese.
I got wee bit excited when I saw Jamie Oliver on me telly!

Just two of the very exciting sketches on a morning kid's TV program.

A lifestyle program that is teaching Spanish to a Japanese audience.

Recycling!

Back to a lifestyle post. I touched upon this briefly with in my post about safety way back in February, but I think it deserves a post of it's own. I love recycling, I think it's a great idea as for both environmental sustainability and progeny's sake...and it makes me feel very virtuous for doing a very simple thing. When I realized that Japan also promotes recycling, I was very excited. Japan doesn't just recycle though, Japan recycles like crazy.

Let's start with the basics: You're going to need to start with three different colored bags which unfortunately change from city to city. Here in Kariya the colors are as follows. Green for combustibles, yellow for papers, and red for plastic. Green is your normal trash - banana peels, tea leaves, egg shells, etc. Then comes the exciting part. 

The two basic levels of recycling categorization are plastics and paper, pink and yellow respectively in Kariya. Every bottle of juice, every tray of vegetables, every carton of takeout has a symbol on it showing which category it falls into. Be careful though sometimes the tray might be a paper, while the lid might be a plastic. Give it a quick rinse and into the bag it goes. In Kariya, combustibles are picked up twice a week, plastics once a week, and papers bi-weekly.

Recycling Labels!
graphic from webbdevlam.com

The more advanced level of the bagged recycling collection system is the return bag. For some of recycling categories the waste collection company needs to take the sack back to their sort facility and then they return them to you. As such, each family has their name and apartment building written on the sack so they get their own bag back.

PET bottles are particularly tricky. PET bottles don't go into the normal plastic recycling, which is caution number one. You're either going to need a collection sack or just drop them off one by one at the nearest convi or vending machine garbage bin. Many convis discourage disposal of household recycling at their facilities so you have to be a bit discreet about that one. There is a thin perforation line to take the wrapper off of the bottles which goes into the normal plastics bag.

There are some recyclable items which are solely collected at third party facilities, like some convis or grocery stores. One example of these is milk cartons. I usually take the cartons that have accumulated over the past month to the Apita grocery store to dispose of them. Make note of the proper unfolding procedure! 

So there you have it, basic recycling etiquette in Japan. It takes a few weeks to get into the groove of it, but once you've got it down, it's such an effective system that you have a tough time not following it! 

Gamagori

Cue customary apologies for another very belated update. Instead of making excuses for myself though, this time I'm going to offer reparations. Starting this week, I promise to have one new update by Monday morning of every week. They might not be the most interesting of posts, they might not even be completely coherent, but there will be one. I realized that it has been rather inconsiderate of me to not update this regularly when you, the brave souls who are still checking this blog, have been taking time out of your day, to read about my life in Japan. The least I can do is offer an coordinated flow of information and I apologize that it has taken me six months to come to this realization, but better late than never, eh?

On to the post, I suppose. Without sounding too ostensibly British, Gamagori is a quaint little coastal town in Aichi prefecture. The most popular tourist spot is Gamagori Takeshima, a large shrine set on a small island a few hundred meters from the mainland. To get the secluded shrine there is a long bridge for the daintier tourist, or for more intrepid folks (and excitable children) there is always the water route. The level of the clear ocean water is actually rather low all the way to the edge of the island, perhaps peeking at half a meter, so it is very easy to walk across on foot, though your jeans are might get a bit wet.

 





Walking around the shrine is very calm and relaxing as such places are inclined to be. The vast wooded areas and the proximity to the ocean gives off a tone of reflection and spiritual isolation. The occasional tour group led by enthusiastic microphoned tour guides can sometimes take away from the overall effect though. The shrine encompasses the whole island with various alcoves and pathways to ruminate and meditate through.   

After exploring the island shrine, we walked through the mainland in search of a famous statue. Resting on the hill top of the village is a bronze statue at the top of Mt. Kobo overlooking the little city. He is distantly visible from the main road but there is a very steep trek to actually get near the statue. Like the shrine, this path also leads through quiet woodlands so the whole experience was very much worth the extra effort and exercise. 

Overall, a nice little day trip. The fact that everything is accessible by foot is nice for those of us who enjoy walking and exploring. Given the accessibility, there were a lot of fish, squid and other marine critters for sale in the local shops, which will be a nice treat if you enjoy fresh seafood. :)

Sakushima Island

Back to sightseeing posts for a while. Sakushima Island is a bitty island off the coast of mainland Aichi less than an hour from Nagoya. From Ishikki there is a short ferry that leaves every two hours.

Once we had docked and gotten off the ferry, we found a map and rented some bikes to explore the island. The island is 11.5 km round with various inroads and hills to explore. We quickly learned that there are stamps at points of interest so the inner child in me was obviously very excited. Needless to stay, many sudden stops were made when a stamp box was spotted.
 

The island was a picturesque little town and riding bikes on a glorious day was just grand. There were many works of art that were very interesting, even if the deeper meaning was not always comprehended.

I loved seeing this little guy all around the island. He is meant to keeps the sea in check, so be sure to drop a few coins in his palm if you'd like to stay on his good side.

As ever there were a few temples and shrines to visit. These were particularly pretty because of the wooded surroundings and having the sea nearby. 

All in all, a great day trip from Nagoya. It was nice, quiet little town with a lot to see and do and great way to get a bit of exercise on a great day. Here are a few more pictures of the town for your enjoyment. Cheers!  

 

Jitenshas!

I'm going to speak briefly on travelling by car because there isn't too much special about it. The three biggest differences from driving in America:

1. Right hand driving and smaller roads are two things to really be aware of. So drive slowly and carefully.
2. Gas is more expensive and most of the bigger highways are toll roads so keep that in mind when planning your journey. For one person, it can be cheaper and easier to ride public transportation.
3. Any accident you get into has to be reported to your company, no matter how small. So I reiterate, drive carefully. Make sure you read all the driving manuals before you travel.

On to what I'm more excited to talk about - jitenshas!

Bikes are very useful inside cities for getting around, because you have a lot more mobility and freedom. The small roads as I mentioned above are often crowded for cars and parking can be tough to find in busy places, so using a bicycle often a useful alternative. The roads and sidewalks accomodate bikes quite well and both drivers and pedestrians are aware that a bike could show up out of nowhere. That being said, they really do show up out of nowhere. While in America it is common courtesy to shout out 'on your left/right' or 'behind you' when you want to manuever around a pedestrian, the Japanese are simply too nice for that. They just try to quietly predict your movement and ride around you. Only problem is that if you make any sudden deviation out of your walking path, you might get in their way without knowing it.

It seems like cities in Japan really encourage the use of bicycles, so there is bicycle parking everywhere. Just around Kariya station there are three different bicycle parking areas and they are all free. Many people will bike to the station to begin their morning commutes on other public transportation. There are also many rental-a-cycle places both in touristy cities and even in residential cities, like Kariya.

The most common type of bicycle has the little basket in front. You'll see these a lot because bicycles are generally not used just for recreation. The basket in front is used to carry groceries and backpacks and other things that need to be transported.

Also novel to Japan is the collapsible bicycle. Bicycle shown below is made by Dahon company. I have never ridden one though I think the structural stability of the frame is probably a bit precarious, so I'd be bit wary of that.

Graphic from dahonfoldingbike.co.uk

Final note about transportation, there is always walking. I really enjoy walking around Kariya, I can get to the grocery store, my Japanese class, the post office all on foot. Only bigger malls are farther away. There are sidewalks everywhere, and if not there are walking lanes and crosswalks drawn on the smaller roads.   

That's all folks. A small introduction into transportation in Japan. More posts soon.