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
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
Interesting about the 'see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil' monkeys. Always thought it was a sort of western myth, What is history behind that ?
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Nope it looks like Confucius had something to do about its Japanese origins. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_wise_monkeys
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