Japan

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Naturally Tokyo is one of the most exciting and diverse cities in the world. The fusion of contemporary Japan and ancient mysticism continued to astound me for the whole duration of the trip.

Akiba

Akiba (short for Akihabara) is the centre of Tokyo's thriving technological wonderland. There are dozens of cheap shops for computer hardware as well as huge game arcades full of pachinko machines. It's not all high tech stores though, there are multi-level anime and manga shops with aisles and aisles of art covering all the best-known genres and some more you've never heard of. The electrical goods cover everything you can think of, from pocket sized gadgets to huge plasma screen TVs that take up the whole wall. If this weren't enough the first sight to greet you as you come out of the station is a gigantic screen on the side of a skyscraper showing the latest anime releases.

Shinjuku

Shinjuku is what I expected when I came to Tokyo. High rise buildings, huge shopping centres and confusing terminals. A couple of million commuters a day pass through the station into the super-dense urban towers and the heart of modern Tokyo. The view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (TMGB) is breathtaking, with thousands of buildings, large and small spreading out in all directions, right up to the horizon. The local architecture itself is a sight to behold. Looking up the side of skyscrapers made me dizzy! The TMGB, with its two towers is modelled on Notre Dame in Paris. Having seen both buildings I can say that the resemeblance is striking.

Higashi-Shinjuku is one of the most novel areas for shopping, with the latest fashion and a great variety of restaurants. The area is home to the world's busiest crosswalk and one of the most crowded meetings places around. The signs and billboards fill nearly all the space above eye-level. Apparently the area is also home to the local mafia.

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I've wanted to visit Nikko ever since I read about it in Feymann's Lectures. Feynman writes:

^[1]'Why is nature nearly symmetrical? No one has any idea why. The only thing we might suggest is something like this: There is a gate in Japan, a gate in Neiko, whihch is sometimes called by the Japanese the most beautiful gate in Japan; it was built in a time when there was great influence from Chinese art. This gate is very elaborate with lots of gables and beautiful carving and lots of columns and dragons heads and princes carved into the pillars and so on. But when one looks closely he sees that in the elaborate and complex design along one of the pillars, one of the small design elements is carved upside down; otherwise the thing is completely symmetrical. If one asks why this is, the story is that it was carved upside down so that the gods will not be jealous of the perfection of man. So they purposely put an error in there, so that the gods would not be jealous and get angry with human beings.

We might like to turn the idea around and think that the true explanation of the near symmetry of the nature is this: that god made the laws only nearly symmetrical so that we should not be jealous of his perfection.'

Temples and gates

The Nikko complex contains a multitude of shrines, mausaleums, gardens and gates. The foliage is beautifully understated and the buildings are garish. The current structures were built during the 17th century and they have drawn tourists since the late 19th century. Nikko is also home of the three monkeys, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

1,000 Samurai Festival

I happened to visit during the 1,000 Samurai Festival. Over a thousand costumed soldiers and priests show up to reenact the internment of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Holy artefacts are moved around and samurai on horseback take part in archery competitions.

Lake Chuzenji

The local Mount Nantai erupted thousands of years ago, forming Chuzenji and Kegon Falls. The bus ride to the top of the mountains took nearly an hour through winding roads (one on the way up, and a different one for the way down) give outstanding views at every turn. The late itself has shoreline homes for foreign consulates and plenty of row boats. We took a boat out and for 20 minutes I struggled to move it (I was rowing backwards) while Tim strained to hear the owner shout instructions from the jetty. It was great fun!

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I didn't spend enough time in Kyoto. The city is so varied and rich in history. After so much travel checking in to a real hotel made a huge difference. It wasn't just a hotel, it was a Japanese hotel with authentic sake (sent me to sleep), fish for breakfast and a faux onsen (hot bath). I was expecting just a bed and a sink, instead I had one of the best rooms available, with a TV, shower, space age toilet, four beds, glorious view of the city and a full set of yukata (robe) and slippers. Although it was fairly basic as Japanese hotels go it was different enough and luxurious enough to satisfy.

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1 Richard Feynman Lectures on Physics ISBN-10: 0201021153