Autumn has arrived in Japan and the leaves have started to turn their vibrant burnt reds, oranges and any colour in between. Looking through the local paper it said that the best time to visit Nikko (for the autumn leaves) was in late October so we took a day off work and headed to the hills for the day. After sitting in the car for nearly 3 hours we arrived at Nikko.
Nikko is well known for its temples and while we were in town we stopped to look at the bridge over the river and walk past one of the temples. At the temple we came across another unique, dragon inspired, way of cleansing your hands. The temple area in Nikko is world heritage listed and is on our list of things to see.
Then it was time to jump back in the car and head to the top of one of the surrounding hills (around Lake Chuzenji) which formed as a result of the eruption of a volcano eons ago. Here we visited the Kegon waterfall which is located at the outlet of the lake. To get a great view of the waterfall you need to get to the bottom. In most countries this would involve treking down some stairs (if your lucky), not in Japan, here you can catch a lift to the bottom of the waterfall (and there were still people complaining about having to walk down some stairs).
The main attraction at this time of year is the autumn leaves and in the area around Kegon waterfall they did not disappoint with many amazing colours set against the water and the hills.
And what better way to finish the perfect day but a fish on a stick. While not as boisterous as the Azabu juban festival fish on a stick seller this guy still had queues of people waiting for the fish to cook. Maybe it had something to do with the heat from his fire????
Located about 80 kilometres from home in Tokyo is the Hakone outdoor museum. Perched on top of a mountain and set in beautifully maintained gardens there is a mixture of sculpture, art to play with and paintings.
As you enter the grounds you come face to face with a huge bison statue and then head to areas that will keep the kids amused for hours including the “soft“ sculpture room (a room full of vinyl covered foam cut outs that can be stacked in any manner) and the wood house which has the most amazing rope spiders web inside designed solely to be climbed on and then there is the cube stack.
There are a couple of interesting pieces of sculpture in the gardens including a huge shopping lady and art so good someone fell down.
And the main attraction for many (apart from the hot springs foot bath!?!?) is the Picasso shed.
Described by the owners as “…a shopping mall designed to resemble a medieval European village. The Sky Feature Program displays a fantastical sky expanding overhead, creating a magical atmosphere where time flows unlike anything in the outside world.”
The “mall” is located in the Odaiba area of Toyo and demands to be seen. While from the outside it looks like any other large shopping centre when you enter you are transported away from Tokyo by a series of rooms that have been dressed to resemble mainly Roman streets.
You move from the church room (where one entire wall has been made to look like the portico of a European church), down onto the Piazza and then through the streets, complete with window shutters (all the time looking at the roof that has been painted to look like “sky”) to a Piazza containing a Roman style fountain.
The Rome theme is never more obvious than where you can queue and put your hand in the “mouth of truth”. I don’t know why but it just didn’t fill me with the same sense of foreboding when I put my hand in the mouth.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I don’t know if any words are needed to describe this (I note that it’s a bit of the figures shirt in the second picture).
11:35 AM |
Category:
Living in Japan
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Located in the mountains about 100 kilometres west of Tokyo, on the shore of Lake Ashi, is the town of Hakone. From the shore of the lake there is the most spectacular view of Mt Fuji including the red Torii of the shrine in Hakone. The shrine and settlement in this area has been traced back for over 1000 years.
The mountains plunging into the lake and the location of the town on the shores of the lake has a very European feel or even, dare I say it, when walking the promenade around the lake it almost felt like Queenstown in New Zealand. Though I did enjoy the sight of a sausage and ham resturant.
Lake Ashi is a very popular tourist location and there are a number of boats that cruise the lake showing tourists around the area. There are seven stylised pirate boats which seemed to be very popular with long queues every time one of these ships pulled in to take on passengers.
We actually went to Hakone to visit a smaller town further around on the lake shore and here enjoyed an aquarium visit, cable car to the top of the mountains and some great lake views.
10:03 AM |
Category:
Out and about
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