Japan - Tokyo, Kamakura & Nikko

Senso-Ji - Tokyo
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Having finished hiking up and down the mountainside in Hakone we had plans to head straight through to NIKKO via Tokyo, however we opted to make our base in Tokyo as 2 places we wanted to visit, both KAMAKURA and Nikko, are considered as possible 'day-trips' from the capital. We had an existing reservation at 'Taito Ryokan' for the 12th but as it was the 10th we had to find accommodation for 2 nights.... considering we had had private lodgings we faced the reality of sleeping in dormitory-style bunk beds!! Found a newly built and clean hostel called the Sakura Hostel which was fortunately very close to the Taito Ryokan. This hostel also had free access to computers so we thankfully abused it to copy all our photos to the usb memory stick and update the blog. It was also a perfect day to catch up on laundry etc. It was amazing to see the amount of backpackers that travel with laptops. I'm glad I don't have to lug that around with me for the year! Going to sleep that night - thank god Cal and I had bought some silicon ear plugs for the journey coz we had a snorer in our room - pffff!

Senso-Ji - Tokyo
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Next day we dumped our bags at Taito Ryokan (as they were able to provide us with 1 night’s dorm accommodation), we headed to the nearby SENSO-JI temple. At the temple we had our fortunes told and I got 'regular fortune' and Cal got the worst fortune and naturally not happy with that on her second attempt (after “cleansing” herself) she then got the 'best fortune'! Afterwards we walked down this 2-long block corridor of nic-nak shops and had the great misfortune to buy these really yummy looking sponge cakes only to find out after taking a huge bite that they are filled with red-bean paste – yuck! We walked around the neighbourhood called Asakusa for the rest of the day taking in the full Sunday atmosphere. Had tempura fish, beans, pumpkin and squid (it was all battered and deep-fried) for dinner and stank of it after we left.

Moments before bad fortune shot
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Following day was our first day trip to KAMAKURA to see the 13 meter tall bronze Buddha (Daibutsu) in Kotukuin amongst other things. Got out at KITA-KAMAKURA and idly strolled down the hill passing ENGAKU-JI temple that honors both the Mongolian and Japanese fallen heroes/victims of the 1274 and 1281 invasions. Little lower down we stopped off at TOKEI-JI temple which was a safe haven for women of abusive relationships and in those days it was the only way to get a divorce after living there for 3 years. We also stopped off at the KENCHO-JI, number 1 of Kamakura's 5 Zen Temples, the oldest in Kamakura (built 1253) and one of the oldest in all Japan. A few Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples later we headed back into Tokyo, getting back late so had quick sushi for dinner and bed this time in our own room.

Nic-nac corridor - Tokyo
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NIKKO was a study subject for Cal and was recommended to us by quite a few people so we were both very excited to head out to there to see the over the top gilded temples. The story goes that the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu's last wish was to build these temples in 1616 and after his death his grandson concluded that they were not impressive enough and ordered that they be 'done up' to what still stands today. We arrived to see the extra detailed and colourful temples and mausoleum of the shogun. The compound was an amazing sight to see and what added to the grandeur were the spectacular autumn colours of the Acer trees. Truly a wonderful and fantastic day.

Wood work detail - Kamakura
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Last day in Japan we sent off all our post of souvenirs etc and then headed to TSUKIJI fish market on the Tokyo coast but found that every 2nd Wed of the month it was closed. Just our luck….The reason for going of course for the freshest sushi in town and thankfully there was a café still open to serve us the best and freshest sushi we’ve ever had. With tummies full we loitered around the SONY building gawping at all the latest gadgets and super sized HD TV’s. We caught a train to SHIBUYA to see the world famous Tokyo billboard signs (Tokyos’ version of Piccadilly Circus). After that we headed to the shopping lane of HARAJUKU in the hopes to see a ‘harajuku girl’ (which we did but was too shy to take a photo – look them up on Google).

Kamakura
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Later that evening we checked in online for our Bangkok flight and had our last Japanese okonomoyaki to end our fantastic, yet rushed, 2 weeks in Japan.

What will remain with me (and maybe Cal too as this is not her 1st time here) of Japan are their respect, social interactions and tradition. The bizarre love of green tea and red bean flavour. Miniaturization from small cars and parking lots to miniature bonsai's. The wacky Elvis jiving gang. Their fascination with mobile phone tassels, Manga comics and knee-high socks/boots combo and lastly the food.