Friday, November 16, 2012
Mt Fuji from NAOJ 天文台から富士山
Today, weather was great in Tokyo and Fujisan could be seen clearly from the city.
According to one friend at work, Miyachi-san, the roof in our building is one of the best places to see the famous mountain! So today I asked him to show me if the view was so great, and it was!
I took the lab camera and took some photos. These are some of them.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
七五三 Shichi-go-san
七五三 literally means 7-5-3 and it refers to ages. On 15th November every year, girls aged 3 or 7 and boys aged 5, celebrate their age. Normally, the celebration is actually held in the weekends around 15th Nov. The celebration consists of a visit to the local shrine and then, a family lunch or dinner. Of course, kids wear beautiful traditional clothes and female relatives usually wear kimono.
Last Sunday, we joined our niece's celebration. She is now 3 years old. In the morning, grandparents and kids took photos in a studio near their home and then, we all went together to our shrine, Nezu Jinja.
In Nezu Jinja, we went inside and listened to the priest singing and blessing all the kids one by one.
Finally, we all went together to a nice kushikatsu restaurant near Nezu station.
Last Sunday, we joined our niece's celebration. She is now 3 years old. In the morning, grandparents and kids took photos in a studio near their home and then, we all went together to our shrine, Nezu Jinja.
In Nezu Jinja, we went inside and listened to the priest singing and blessing all the kids one by one.
Finally, we all went together to a nice kushikatsu restaurant near Nezu station.
Friday, November 9, 2012
North Sado
This post will finish describing the beautiful and historical island of Sado in Niigata. Yesterday, I described the Southern and Central parts of the island (or the places we visited), so now it is time for the wild North!
The way to visit the isolated and wild North is by following a narrow coastal road which cuts through small towns and ends up becoming in a single lane track at the Northern tip of the island. Driving in this last area is not for the faint-hearted. Once at the tip of the island, it is better to come back on the other side, to avoid driving again in the same "road"!
The largest town in the area is Aikawa 相川, the town which flourished in the Edo period due to the famous Gold and Silver mines in the mountains nearby. The mines are actually the main attraction in this area. They have already been inscribed in the UNESCO tentative list for the World Heritage registration. That means there are high chances they will become a UNESCO World Heritage in the near to mid future. The Edo period mine is pretty interesting and has lots of robots trying to show us the working conditions in the mine tunnels. They even mined below sea level and needed complex drainage systems to make exploitation sustainable!
After wandering in the underground tunnels for around 1 hour, there is an informative museum which explains how the gold was extracted, processed and traded. And there is also a chance to grab a 12 kg chunk of pure gold!
The mountains nearby looked beautiful with some reddish colors...
Further North, there is the beautifully scenic Senkaku-wan, with a small aquarium and some games for kids. These are some of the nice views.
The coastline becomes really rough and wild with many rocks jutting out of the sea.
Even tunnels are the roughest made you can probably see in Japan! Just a hole through the rocks!
In the Northern tip of the island, there are two beautiful places with huge rock: Onogame 大野亀 and Futatsugame 二ツ亀. Onogame is actually the largest rock in Japan. It is the huge rock in the photo just below. There are hiking routes to the top if you have the time to climb up there. View must be pretty good!
The other rocks, Futatsugame, are two rocks connected to the island by thin strips of black sand when the tide is low. When we went, tide was high and they looked just like two small islets.
Two more photos of Onogame and Futatsu game.
At this point, we were pretty near from Vladivostok, in Russia! That sounds far!!!
The way to visit the isolated and wild North is by following a narrow coastal road which cuts through small towns and ends up becoming in a single lane track at the Northern tip of the island. Driving in this last area is not for the faint-hearted. Once at the tip of the island, it is better to come back on the other side, to avoid driving again in the same "road"!
The largest town in the area is Aikawa 相川, the town which flourished in the Edo period due to the famous Gold and Silver mines in the mountains nearby. The mines are actually the main attraction in this area. They have already been inscribed in the UNESCO tentative list for the World Heritage registration. That means there are high chances they will become a UNESCO World Heritage in the near to mid future. The Edo period mine is pretty interesting and has lots of robots trying to show us the working conditions in the mine tunnels. They even mined below sea level and needed complex drainage systems to make exploitation sustainable!
After wandering in the underground tunnels for around 1 hour, there is an informative museum which explains how the gold was extracted, processed and traded. And there is also a chance to grab a 12 kg chunk of pure gold!
The mountains nearby looked beautiful with some reddish colors...
Further North, there is the beautifully scenic Senkaku-wan, with a small aquarium and some games for kids. These are some of the nice views.
The coastline becomes really rough and wild with many rocks jutting out of the sea.
Even tunnels are the roughest made you can probably see in Japan! Just a hole through the rocks!
In the Northern tip of the island, there are two beautiful places with huge rock: Onogame 大野亀 and Futatsugame 二ツ亀. Onogame is actually the largest rock in Japan. It is the huge rock in the photo just below. There are hiking routes to the top if you have the time to climb up there. View must be pretty good!
The other rocks, Futatsugame, are two rocks connected to the island by thin strips of black sand when the tide is low. When we went, tide was high and they looked just like two small islets.
Two more photos of Onogame and Futatsu game.
At this point, we were pretty near from Vladivostok, in Russia! That sounds far!!!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Central part of Sado
The central part of Sado island is rich in temple and historical places. The plains which extend between Mano 真野 and Sawada 佐和田 on the West coast and Ryotsu 両津 on the East coast house the most interesting temples from the point of view of tourism, a conservation site for a local bird (the toki) and most of the island population.
Near Mano, we first visited the tomb of emperor Juntoku, who was exiled to Sado and died here. The name of the place in Japanese is 真野御陵. Most of the area is off-limits and only the emperor can enter to the restricted areas. Still we can have a look at the entrance of the tomb.
Not far from there, there is another old temple called Kokubunji 国分寺. This temple is not often visited by tourists and that makes it interesting. The atmosphere is quite relaxed and buildings look nice.
Again, a short drive away, there was another cool temple, Myosenji 妙宣寺, whose most attractive feature was a nice pagoda at the very entrance. Moreover, some of the trees around it were already "wearing" autumn foliage.
The last temple we visited in Central Sado was in Niibo village and it is probably the most important temple in the island, Konponji 根本時. This temple was built on the grounds were the famous monk Nichiren lived while exiled in Sado. The temple is quite atmospheric and buildings look very old, which is always a plus.
There is also a statue representing Nichiren...
After so many temples, it was time to go to the West coast, to Nanaura Coast 七浦海岸, where our first hotel was located. Before going to the hotel, we could have a look at the Meoto Iwa, or Married rocks (husband and wife).
Finally, such an intense day needed a well deserved dinner in our minshuku! Lot's of sashimi and seafood! :)
Not far from there, there is another old temple called Kokubunji 国分寺. This temple is not often visited by tourists and that makes it interesting. The atmosphere is quite relaxed and buildings look nice.
Again, a short drive away, there was another cool temple, Myosenji 妙宣寺, whose most attractive feature was a nice pagoda at the very entrance. Moreover, some of the trees around it were already "wearing" autumn foliage.
The last temple we visited in Central Sado was in Niibo village and it is probably the most important temple in the island, Konponji 根本時. This temple was built on the grounds were the famous monk Nichiren lived while exiled in Sado. The temple is quite atmospheric and buildings look very old, which is always a plus.
There is also a statue representing Nichiren...
After so many temples, it was time to go to the West coast, to Nanaura Coast 七浦海岸, where our first hotel was located. Before going to the hotel, we could have a look at the Meoto Iwa, or Married rocks (husband and wife).
Finally, such an intense day needed a well deserved dinner in our minshuku! Lot's of sashimi and seafood! :)
Southern area of Sado Island (佐渡)
Sado Island (佐渡ヶ島) is the sixth largest island in the Japanese archipelago. Historically, this island was a places for exiled people to stay. Many exiled lived here in the past, including one emperor, a No theater master and a famous Buddhist monk, Nichiren. Later, in the Edo period, gold was found and it attracted many people to the island. Today, it is a very rural and isolated place in which good food and traditions are the norm. It is located off the coast of Niigata prefecture in the Sea of Japan and the connections to the main island are by ferry. The car ferry is really expensive, around 30000 yen or 300 euros for the round trip. However, during November, the ferry company, Sado kisen, is offering a very nice offer and the car fee is now only 10000 yen (or 100 euros). Therefore, we went there for a long 3-day weekend. (we intended to go there for 2 days, but our ferry back got cancelled and we had to stay there one more night!)
View Larger Map
Our ferry departed from the port of Naoetsu 直江津 and arrived in Ogi 小木 in the southern part of the island. The ferry takes a bit more than 2 hours, but the fact that you can use your own car in the island is great! Since we had our own wheels, we could do quite a lot of sightseeing in the 2 full days + we were there. We started with a visit to a really beautiful and picturesque small fishing town, Shukunegi 宿根木. Shukunegi is a small town inside a wooden fence to protect it from the sea winds. Streets are really narrow and compact and houses are made in a very traditional way. There are some houses which can be visited and provide a further inside into the lives of these people.
On the way back to Ogi, we stop in a mysterious temple inside a cave, Iwayasan 岩屋山. The approach to the cave is really spooky, following a hiking trail in a bamboo forest with lots of forest sounds and no people around. We did not meet a single person during our visit. However, there were many small buddha statues and standing jizou around the cave. The cave itself was also very interesting, with many more stone buddhas on the walls and some altars, it really looked like a buddhist temple.
In the surrounding mountains, leaves had started turning reddish to match the cooler season. And a giant stone buddha could be seen popping out the trees.
After our visit to Iwayasan, it was time to come back to Ogi and enjoy some local delicacies! Burikatsudon ブリカツどん, deep-fried breaded Japanese amberjack (according to wikipedia...) on rice...
...and Ika kamameshi, イカ釜飯, which Naoko wisely described as squid Japanese Paella. ;)
With our stomachs full, it was time to enjoy the local tourist attraction, the Taraibune たらい船, in the nearby port. Of course, we also tried to navigate our boat and that was the most interesting thing.
After our ride in this funny looking boats, we traveled north. However, on our last morning in Sado, we took the ferry again in Ogi and could do some extra sightseeing around the town. We could go to Yajima and Kyojima 矢島・経島, and the islands with the beautiful red bridge became one of the highlights of the trip!
View Larger Map
Our ferry departed from the port of Naoetsu 直江津 and arrived in Ogi 小木 in the southern part of the island. The ferry takes a bit more than 2 hours, but the fact that you can use your own car in the island is great! Since we had our own wheels, we could do quite a lot of sightseeing in the 2 full days + we were there. We started with a visit to a really beautiful and picturesque small fishing town, Shukunegi 宿根木. Shukunegi is a small town inside a wooden fence to protect it from the sea winds. Streets are really narrow and compact and houses are made in a very traditional way. There are some houses which can be visited and provide a further inside into the lives of these people.
On the way back to Ogi, we stop in a mysterious temple inside a cave, Iwayasan 岩屋山. The approach to the cave is really spooky, following a hiking trail in a bamboo forest with lots of forest sounds and no people around. We did not meet a single person during our visit. However, there were many small buddha statues and standing jizou around the cave. The cave itself was also very interesting, with many more stone buddhas on the walls and some altars, it really looked like a buddhist temple.
In the surrounding mountains, leaves had started turning reddish to match the cooler season. And a giant stone buddha could be seen popping out the trees.
After our visit to Iwayasan, it was time to come back to Ogi and enjoy some local delicacies! Burikatsudon ブリカツどん, deep-fried breaded Japanese amberjack (according to wikipedia...) on rice...
...and Ika kamameshi, イカ釜飯, which Naoko wisely described as squid Japanese Paella. ;)
With our stomachs full, it was time to enjoy the local tourist attraction, the Taraibune たらい船, in the nearby port. Of course, we also tried to navigate our boat and that was the most interesting thing.
After our ride in this funny looking boats, we traveled north. However, on our last morning in Sado, we took the ferry again in Ogi and could do some extra sightseeing around the town. We could go to Yajima and Kyojima 矢島・経島, and the islands with the beautiful red bridge became one of the highlights of the trip!
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