Japan 4 - Tokyo

Thursday, 14 May 2026

A full day in Tokyo. Tokyo is overwhelming. I wonder how they make the skyscrapers earthquake-resistant. And yet there are also large green swathes of green: parks, palaces, shrines, and temples.

The view out our hotel room (Capitol Hotel Tokyu). The room included a "Skyline View" map that identified all the major buildings and landmarks.

Our first stop on today's tour was the Sumida Hokusai Museum - a small museum showcasing the work of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).

Hokusai's most famous work is "Great Wave Off the Coast of Kanagawa", from Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji. Like most of the museums we visited on this trip, we could have used more time here to see everything.

Aoyama District

Aoyama is a high-end shopping street in Tokyo. If you're not into internationally famous names in fashion (Gucci, Prada, etc.), more down-to-earth shops can be found just off Ometasando Street. (We grabbed an iconic fast-food Japanese lunch at the 7-11 behind the Apple Store.)

Ometesando Hills is a high-end mall in Aoyama. It's interesting spiral-ramped architecture spreads over several blocks. While it's only 20 years old, its exterior screams a 1960s NASA-style facade.

Meiji-jingu

We entered the Meiji Shrine from a side entrance that leads to the bus parking lot. Even before passing through the torii that separates sacred and profane, we encountered the wall of sake casks.

One of the few torii we saw that was not painted orange or red (vermillion).

A second torii as we approached the inner shrine.

The washstand.

Two camphor trees pruned to appear as one. Most large Shinto shrines have at least one camphor tree.

A cloud-lighting-rain rope is strung between the two trees.

The amulet/tablet rack is beneath another camphor tree.

The avenue down to the main entrance to the Meiji Shrine.

Japan 3 - Hakone & Tokyo

Wednesday, 13 May 2026

Today we returned to Tokyo to join the remainder of the participants on the main tour.

Hakone Open Air Museum

What a delight. This small by U.S. standards (only 17 acres), but large by Japan standards, sculpture garden could have occupied the whole day. Unfortunately, we only had two hours. Here's a sampling.

"A Grand Story", Giuliano Vangi

"A Grand Story" This sculpture looked completely different on each of the four sides.

"Fugue Fusante", Antoine Poncet

"Symphonic Sculpture", Gabriel Loire - outside. (Pieces attached to the outside are by Atsushi Imoto.)

"Symphonic Sculpture" - inside.

"The Dwelling", Ossip Zadkine

The museum is also a garden.

The sculptures are constantly being cleaned and maintained. As we were leaving, "The Dwelling" was being cleaned.

Asakusa Temple (Senso-ji)

After returning to Tokyo, we stopped by the Asakusa Temple (Buddhist) before returning to our hotel.

The main gate and shops lining the path to the temple.

Incense burner - typical feature of a Buddhist temple.

Instead of a stupa, Japanese Buddhist temples have a 5-story pagoda.

Japan 2 - Hakone

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

The Hakone area has many hotels that feature "onsens" (hot springs baths). It is near a volcanic caldera (Owakudani) that supplies the heat for the waters.

Owakudani

We took the Hakone Ropeway (cable gondolas) up to Owakudani.

Gondolas going up and down the mountain.

As we went up the mountain, the view was spectacular.

And then we crested the ridge and the caldera was directly beneath us - a dramatic transition.

Gondolas hanging over the caldera with the forested mountains behind them.

The caldera was remarkably "industrial".

A closer view of the industrial infrastructure.

Steam, sulfur, and hot water. We learned in the nearby GeoMuseum, that the hot water baths are not filled with water from the caldera, but with natural spring water that is pumped up to be heated in the caldera, then returned to the hotels. (Volcanic heat, not volcanic water.)

The cracks in these retaining walls are a disturbing reminder that the volcano can come alive at any moment. The ropeway has been closed for extended times when the atmosphere becomes too toxic.

The Hakone GeoMuseum was worth a visit. I especially liked this display of fossil leaf prints.

Lake Ashi

Lake Ashi was nearby. On a clear day, there is a view of Mt Fuji, but a view is rare this time of year, since clouds are generally much lower than Fuji-san's 3776 m (12,388 ft) high summit.

The floating torii for the Hakone Shrine on the shore of Lake Ashi. The line was very long to get a picture with the torii and lake.

The torii is better seen from the lake.

On a clear day, we might have been able to see Mt Fuji.

Lake Ashi is definitely a tourist destination. In addition to ferries going around the lake, tourist "pirate ships" also give rides.

Japanese cedar plantations line the lakeshore and hillsides. Some environmentalists argue that the plantations have excluded more varied native vegetation.

Hotel Garden & Onsens

For the remainder of the afternoon, we had time to visit the hotel gardens and onsens.

The hotel (Ten-yu Hakone Ryoken) garden path started at the bottom with a waterfall and small pool.

The path went steeply uphill along a mountain stream.

A small Shinto shrine was the top.

At night, the garden takes on a fairy-land quality.

Since we were staying in a traditional ryokan (guest house), we were encouraged to wear the (provided) traditional garb (yukata) around the hotel. Lon looked great in his yukata, but they don't make these to fit my shape.

Our room had a private onsen tub on the balcony, but this was not as serene as going to the two public onsens in the hotel. One onsen is set into a garden with a 50-ft (15-m) waterfall. The other has an infinity edge overlooking the valley. The sex-segregated onsens switch every day. So Lon and I both got to see both onsens.

For obvious reasons (no bathing suits allowed - completely naked), photography is not allowed in the onsens, so this is a photo of a poster showing the garden onsen at night. The lighting is much subtler than this photo shows.

Japan 1 - Kamakura

Monday, 11 May 2026

We were on a 2 1/2 week tour of Japan with Carleton (College) Alumni. Most of the trip was a cruise around the western end of Honshu (Japan's largest island), but we started with a pre-tour extension to the Hakone area.

We arrived in Tokyo yesterday, but after a 14-hour plane ride, we just had dinner and got a good night's sleep. Today we traveled by coach from Tokyo to Hakone with most of the day spent in Kamakura.

Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu

Our first stop was this Shinto shrine at the northern end of Kamakura.

The torii separating the shrine from the city. A torii is a gate that separates the secular from the sacred. You generally acknowledge the transition by removing headgear and bowing.

A washstand for cleansing hands and mouth before proceeding into the main part of the shrine.

Most shrines have a wall of sake casks that show support of the shrine.

This rope with paper lightning bolts and tassels is found on many passages - even strung around and between trees. The rope represents cloud, the paper lightning, and the tassels rain - all for ensuring good crops.

Wooden amulets are for sale in the shrine, where you can write your wishes and then hang them on a rack.

You can also buy a "fortune" paper. If the fortune is unfavorable, you can tie it to a different rack and hope it will be ignored by the gods/fates.

Tsunami Awareness

We walked Komachi-dori, a small "shopping street" full of small tourist shops and eateries, then had lunch at an ocean-front restaurant.

The possibility of an earthquake is always a possibility, and near the ocean, the threat of a tsunami is taken seriously. These banners along the shopping street show the evacuation route.

The ocean front has maps showing low-lying and safe areas, evacuation routes, and the elevation above sea level at that point.

Daibutsu (Great Buddha)

On the west side of Kamakura is a large statue of Buddha.

The Daibutsu was cast in 1252 and has weathered many earthquakes and tsunamis. It is 11 m (40 ft) tall, not counting the pedestal.

The whole statue was originally covered in gold leaf, but only a very small section between his left eye and left ear has not been worn away by the years.

In most Buddhist areas we've visited, the Buddha is frequently represented by large footprints. In Japan, he has huge sandals. Since they are made of natural fibers, they need to be replaced every few years. The sign tells who made and donated the current pair.

Along the Ocean

Between Kamakura and Hakone, we spent most of our time driving along the ocean. Most of the time the shore is a sandy beach - popular with surfers and wind-surfers.

The breakwaters were made of an interesting set of concrete blocks. 

The small island of Enoshima is barely off-shore and connected by a short causeway.

Much of the highway was behind a buffer of wooded dunes, supplemented by a 4 or 5-m high fence.

One of the few places you could see the strong, high fence running parallel to the shore.