Time passed and I do not remember all the details, but I'll try to describe these 2 trips.
1. August 2000 - Summer Travel
This trip, I spent with my professor of Japanese at the time, Mr. Takemoto and girlfriend. I was not learning Japanese, so that for a year and knew just a few words. My teacher took charge of organizing the trip and acted as my guide: conditions cooler than a traditional travel agent.
It goes back a long time already, but I remember very well one thing: it was very very very hot! Japan is first and foremost been a sweltering heat, even at night and in all stores with air conditioning running at full speed. With the sound of crickets ...
Bonus season is still Matsuri (祭り), summer festivals with fireworks, yatai, dances in a kimono. And what of August, there is the festival of Obon , National Day of the Dead. But unfortunately I do not remember having seen one of them, except perhaps a small Matsuri in Asakusa.
Travel time: about 18 days
- First week: increased mainly in Tokyo, with Japanese classes in the morning and afternoon visits. Bulk:
------- -Visit of Asakusa: Senso ji temple and Flame Asahi building. This was the first temple I visited in Japan and this time, I have good memories: Keepers of the door, the big paper lantern, the shopping promenade, the incense and prayers followers ...
------- -A riverboat ride on the Sumida River direction Odaiba. I remember strings of blue huts on the banks of the river, the last refuge of the homeless in Tokyo. And then on the Odaiba Venus Fort mall whose interior deco architecture resembles an Italian village (it feels like an amusement park).
------- - Omotesando and Takeshita dori , but in less depth than 2007, and then it was not Sunday. I remember the plaque affixed to the sidewalk that said Harajuku, Elysian Fields' or something like that.
------- Shinjuku-day: climb up the building of the town hall to see the city, I remember also tour the surrounding buildings.
------- - Shinjuku by night, with golden gay and neon: become a classic since ...
------- -Attend a training session Sumo: through a friend of my teacher, it was one of the most impressive trip. See these behemoths breathe and sweat a few yards from home ...
------- -visit the garden of the imperial palace, Yasukuni Shrine followed (which I have not visited the museum) ... I found the place very zen ...
------- -Nihonbashi Bridge : I wanted to see what bridge, reconstruction of the man who marked the starting point of all roads in Japan. But with the hideous highway which covers ...
------- - Ginza, neighborhood department store: On Sunday, as the streets become pedestrian.
------- - Shibuya, where I went to buy a CD of a Japanese rock band, Spitz.
------- -The district of Ueno Park : the small temple at the center of the lake, a Japanese drum band, visit the small museum Shitamachi which traces the life of former Tokyo (sympathetic) and the Museum of the Western Art (with works by Rodin, Monet ... interesting but little explanation in English).
------- - Ameyoko , near Ueno: I remember having really enjoyed the constant agitation of the neighborhood full of shops close to each other and selling anything and what.
- Second week: traveling in Kansai (with JRPass), and to Hiroshima. Accommodation in various hotels.
------- -The Golden Pavilion (disappointing: apart from the traditional photo of the lake, nothing special about this place ).
------- The flag- money (nicer: a stroll in the garden on a hillside) and the temple Eikan do (very quiet) followed by the path of philosophy, this path that can reach Gion along a small canal. Always a very pleasant time.
------- -course the classic crossing of Higashiyama, traditional stalls and ends with the Kiyomizu Temple , but this time of day.
------- -A funny idea I had: Eigamura , Toei cinema village, kind of theme park dedicated to film the firm, with old reconstructed streets.
------- -My teacher, a fan of flamenco, insisted to take me to a bar where they drink, sing and dance to the sounds of acoustic guitars ... The Japanese know how to let go when you need it!
Then I think we left Kyoto, we stayed at Tenri village where the sect is based namesake. The brother of my teacher being responsible in this sect. Well when we say cult, it is immediately cold in the back but I did not have to undergo pressure from them, and I found them very welcoming. I did not convert so far ...
------- - Nara: A city tour organized by bus (it's not my thing). Within hours the Kofuku ji, the Great Buddha Todai ji, Kasuga Shrine and stone lanterns, and then the naughty deer roaming freely in the park ...
------- -Just 1 hour or 2 in Osaka, just enough time to descend and Teramachi Dotombori
and leave ... Then we headed to the West:
------- - The Himeji Castle : On the advice of my teacher, a beautiful white castle World Heritage. Truly superb.
------- -At the end, in Kyushu, we spent an evening at Kokura. Without having anything to visit with my guide friends in this city.
------- - Hiroshima: A lot of emotions in the museum of the bomb and the Peace Park, a tribute to the victims of the atomic bomb. I would go back one day ...
------- - Miyajima : just 1 hour on this small island sacred jewel with her shrine on the beach and mountain path. It's little and I went back at the longer trip later.
- Third week (3 days): I stayed at Matsudo (a suburb of Tokyo), in the family of my teacher. The opportunity to experience life in a real Japanese family. I remember that night Karaoke, and 2 / 3 of Aznavour songs that contained the catalog. I sang as a pot ...
------- "We've got to spend an evening at a Chinese restaurant in Yokohama's Chinatown . It surprised me at the time to see that even in Asian countries there could have Chinatowns, with a very special atmosphere ...
------- Matsudo -A, I visited the residence Tojo, former home of Tokugawa Akitaka , brother of the last shogun of Japan. As a child he was sent to the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867 to represent his country and lived there for many years. There he learned the French before returning to Japan as an advisor to the emperor and help modernize the country. I remember that the guard had shown excerpts from the diary of Akitaka, written in French ...
------- - Yebisu Garden Place: Another funny idea of visiting a complex of buildings and shops in a quiet quarter in the center of Tokyo with a replica of a French chateau, which houses a restaurant, Robuchon.
------- - Tokyo Tower: For my last evening, a small tower at the foot of the Tokyo Tower is illuminated, do not give me want to step on it ...
Failing to have pictures (at the time, I did not have a APN), I finally many memories of this trip ...
(To be continued)
