Saving the Best for Last

Well I don't know if is the best, but our last full touring day certainly will rank at the top. Imagine being woken by the early  morning light at 05:30 and looking out the picture window of your hotel room and low and behold, the view to greet you is none other than that of Mount Fugi in her bright, sunny, snow covered glory. Amazing! Who would have guessed? To get an idea of what it was like from the shore of Lake Ashi, click of the following video.

Indeed it was to be a special day. After breakfast we boarded our pirate ship for a tour of the lake. Our first port of call was to be at the far end of Lake Ashi where we would board a cable car which would traverse a mountain range, giving us incredible views of  Mt Fugi. We cross over an extinct volcano crater which still emits sulphur vapor gas and hot water which feeds the hot springs to the local resort facilities.

We transferred gondolas twice and took a funicular down to the town of Gora. Not sure of what we were to do at that point, as this had been a hastily planned day with the attitude of we'll see where the winds take us, we set out not knowing in which direction the breezes would blow. We decided to take a short walkabout around town with no real objective other than to explore and see if there was anything of note to discover. Voila!! The winds blew us up a small side street and wouldn't you know it, but we stumbled onto or rather into a wonderful garden which turned out to be Japan's oldest French garden, opened over 100 years ago. Admission was included with our boat/gondola ticket and there just happened to be a cafe serving lunch overlooking a water fountain. What luck. The garden, complete with bougainvillea green houses was in full cherry blossom bloom. Spring flowers were in abundance and the sweet smell of something we couldn't put our noises to was a welcoming distraction. There also happened to be a handicraft workshop where potters and glass blowers were teaching their skills to anyone who wanted, but for a fee of course. What a brilliant idea. We hadn't done too much shopping to date but decided to pick up a few original pieces to make the journey back home with us.

I have come to the conclusion that YES there is a society where humans can interact and be civil to one another . We all can be courteous  and  respectful to our neighbours. That there is mutually acknowledged hope in mankind for both our peers and elders. And above all, that these instilled values in our youth should be carried forward in perpetuity to the next generation and all of those to follow.

One last ride on the Shinkansen today to Narita Airport for our flight to Shanghai tomorrow, then a direct flight back to Montreal. This will be my last post for this blog and I hope you have had some time to come along and share some of our experiences. It has been great, but now is the time to return home. And as I always say "if you want to come back, then first, you have to go home" . Signing off from Japan. See you soon :)

Sayonara

Rain Rain Go Away

Well what do you do when its raining. Go to a museum of course. In our case we went to two. The National War Museum and the National Museum.

To be expected, the National War Museum went back to feudal times with Emperors and Shoguns waging war with neighboring enemies. It was complete with swords, ancient battle uniforms and other primitive arms, as well as a recent WW2 exhibition. To be expected, the WW2 exhibit was slanted with Japanese propaganda in its depiction, and focused on the bravery and loyalty of the Japanese Armed forces. It tried to blame the Americans for the reasons leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbour. I didn't see any references to the inhumane treatment of prisoners of war and it was very eerie seeing the displays of weapons, such as gliders dropped from bombers and individual mini submarines, launched from real submarines, developed solely for the purpose of suicidal missions attacking American naval vessels.

The National Museum was immense so we concentrated on a small portion, where Jennifer's focus was on textiles, printed screens, lacquerware and calligraphy. My interest was watercolours and the 15th century kimonos, paintings and jewellery.

A day trip Nikko, a World heritage site, to see a carved cat and and carvings of the three monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil) and another temple.  I think our time could have been better spent, taking in more of Tokyo, though who am I to criticize a World heritage site. One of the traditional practices that Jennifer has taken up is that of Gunshuin. The idea is that you buy a blank diary like book and at every temple you visit, you get a hand drawn symbol of that particular temple done by calligraphy. You can see an actual signing of Jennifer's book by clicking on the following video.

The waterfall was a nice photo opportunity but I guess I have been spoiled with Victoria Falls, Iguazu Falls and Niagara Falls. No need to make a special trip to Japan to see what they consider one of the top three waterfalls in the country.

Yesterday was a real treat. Up at 5 am and back on the Shinkansen and this time our destination was Nagoya for a trip to a couple of Post towns. Post towns were located on the hi way route between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. There were 60+ Post towns where travelers would spend the night while en route. Two of these towns have been preserved and are frozen in time. Magone sits on a hillside with cobbled streets and a commanding view of the valley. A trip on a local bus brings us to the town of Tsumago but not before being let off early to do a short hike on a trail down into town. Complete with flowering magnolias, more blossoms and fresh spring flowers, it was a wonderful experience and I would return to this region just to hike on many of the trails between the post towns. A real treat for sure and highly recommended.

Sayonara