Kenroku-en Garden

Kenroku-en Garden, located in Kanazawa, is officially one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan and well worth a visit if you’re in the area. Many consider Kenroku-en to be the best of the three official top gardens in Japan.

Founded in the Edo period (1603 – 1868), it’s visited by thousands of visitors throughout the year. It’s a favorite attraction of visitors and tourists alike and many come more than once, because the Kenroku-en garden reveals a different experience each season. Read the story »

Take a trip to Sapporo

Sapporo is one of the newest cities in Japan. It is also one of the nicest. With its 2 million inhabitants, it is considered a middle tier city, according to Japanese standards of size. It has little traditional architecture, but it doesn’t lack in Japanese style, even it is a rather modern style.

It is one of the rare Japanese cities organized with a grid system. It has streets that run from East to West and from South to North. Every street address follows the coordinate system. Therefore it is very easy to find a street, if you know that it is on East X and South Y. The only drawback to this system is that blocks are very large. In all cases, it is much easier to find an address in Sapporo than in other Japanese cities. If you are walking around the city, don’t forget to take the address of your hotel, hostel or accommodations written down on a paper. Otherwise, you might have trouble finding your way back.

One of its more famous monuments is the Clock Tower. It is rather a small building, with Western influence. It is the oldest building town and therefore is the symbol of the city. Although all Japanese tourist will visit this clock, it is not a surprise that almost no one has ever heard of it outside Japan. For most people it is a disappointment to come to Japan to just see a clock with Western style.

Ishiya Chocolate Factory is well-known by any Japanese children. Although the visit to the factory is a must see, if you have children, adults more interested in culture could find it boring. If you visit it anyway, don’t forget to buy some white chocolate from it, since it is unique.

Sapporo TV tower is an example of the Western influence in Japan. It is a replica of the Eiffel Tower but much smaller. Japanese tourist would visit it. Most Western tourist see no attractiveness in it.

Sapporo Beer Museum is of some interest. Entrance is free, what is quite uncommon for Japan. It is not very big and no beer is given away for free. It is an interesting visit that should last no more than one hour.

Take a holiday in Kanazawa, Japan

Kanazawa is one often overlooked tourist destination in Japan. Although Japanese tourist know to appreciate it, foreign tourists often not even have heard the name. It is in a remote location, in an off-beat track, but most tourists believe that it is worth the long journey, after visiting it. It is remote, but this only contributes to being more exotic.

Remember that this city was not heavily destructed during the war, so it is perhaps one of the best conserved cities in Japan of the Edo period. Another similar alternative is Takayama, that it’s equally impressive. It has a broad offer of temples and shrines. However, it has something more. This was some centuries ago hot spot for samurais, geishas, land lords and merchants. This city has been a trading place since many centuries and its buildings reflect this history.

If you come by train, you’ll see the symbiosis of Japanese old and new styles. The train station is a futuristic building integrated within a wooden temple of glass and steel. But, of course, although the train station is impressive, there are other tourists sights that are much more magnetic.

The first must-see place is perhaps the Kenroku-en Garden. It is with no doubt the most well-known sight in Kanazawa. Its name means the Garden of Six Attributes. It is considered one of Japan’s Top gardens. It was once the pleasure gardens of the Maeda Lords, many centuries ago. It has been expanded to occupy the entire block.

It has not been built until the end of the Edo Shogunate, and due to the fact, that it has been a long building project, it reflect the architecture of many styles and periods of time. Water is piped from some kilometres to fill its ponds. After that the same water fills the castle moats. It is definitely a great engineering feat of an ancient period.

Another impressive sight is the Kanazawa Castle. Castles are impressive no matter where you go. Within this castle, you could find the national university some years ago, however, this was for many centuries the place of the Imperial Army. Currently, the castle is a public space, and might be visited for free by anyone. It has a long history of more than 400 years.

Starting with the Ishikawa Gate, that’s name like the district of Ishikawa downtown. It is quite uncommon to find an original, century old gate in Japan. In this case, it is still used as gate. Some parts of the palace are only open upon payment of an entry fee that mostly goes to the budget of the restoration. The amazing thing about this castle is that it is constantly being restored. Its huge size implies that there is always a place that needs to be renewed. That, however, doesn’t imply that the castle is closed to the public.

One of the most magnetic, due to its high symbolical nature, is perhaps the Nagamachi Samurai District. This area is the traditional spot, where samurais actually lived, trained and were instructed. Efforts have been made to recreate the historical feel of this district, however, many critical tourist may find it too commercial. Samurai fans will be definitely disappointed.

Reasons to visit Hiroshima in Japan

Most people only associate Hiroshima with sad events during the Second World War. Currently, Hiroshima has suffered its past, has been re-planned and rebuilt and it is an industrial city with wide boulevards, rivers crossing it and a bubbling city centre. Hiroshima is at the coast of the Seto Inland, in the west of Japan. Hiroshima has lots of life and it is know within Japan for its vibrant nightlife, only compared to that of Tokyo.

Hiroshima, as other Japanese cities, seems to be made of concrete and neon. However, although almost no historical building can be seen in the city centre, around the city, there are traditional Zen gardens and Buddhist temples. With its population of more than 1 million, Hiroshima is the financial centre of its region, Chugoku and a reference point for the whole country, not only the West. Automobile industries are heavily present in this region. Mazda has its headquarter in this city.

Although many foreign tourists may feel uneasy visiting the city due to the event during the war, it must be said that the city is a friendly place for all tourists. Hiroshima people is known for their hospitality and friendly nature. As a tourist, you will be welcomed with open arms.

Although Hiroshima didn’t establish itself as a tourist destination, there are plenty of tourist activities and opportunities in the city. Indeed, there are many exhibitions and museums regarding the drop of the bomb. Most of them are worth visiting. However, the exhibitions are not meant as an accusation. Visitors should not consider this openness relating the drop of the bomb as a possibility to talk about this topic. The explosion killed more than 100,000 thousands citizens of Hiroshima and many of the present-day inhabitants are descendants of those killed.

Hiroshima was founded in the XVI century and it is located on the delta of the Ota river. The Seto Inland is nearby, and this is also a place that should be visited, principally due to its unique well conserved nature. Its position as a dynamic harbour made of Hiroshima a commercial centre, where many immigrants came in and left their influence.

The Japanese city of Kyoto

Kyoto, an ancient city of Japan and its capital for more than 1,000 years, is one of the most beautiful cities of Japan. Its name is well known abroad due to the protocol of the same name. Visitors to this city are mostly fascinated and exhausted. Seeing all that Kyoto has to offer means traveling around this huge city.

Downtown, visitors will be impressed by the ultra-modern architectural style. However, even if you can walk for hours within this futuristic inner city, you can also find temples and traditional parks in Kyoto. These ring the inner city and are oasis of peace surrounding a vibrant city center.

Kyoto is embedded within the Honshu mountains and they can be seen almost from every building within the city. Perhaps due to this fact, Kyoto was not heavily damaged during the Second World War and it conserves well its palaces, shrines, temples and other historical buildings.

Since it was the capital of Japan from 794 until the XIX century, many buildings were built for its samurais, governmental officials, clergy and intellectuals. Although its definitely traditional orientation, many pre-war buildings are being demolished to give place to office towers. Excepting buildings of historical relevance and a couple of more prominent building, almost no building is protected against this fate.

Although it may sound amazing, Kyoto has a grid pattern like any US city. Streets are numbered from West to East, however, streets from North to South have Japanese names. Visitors should always take with them the name of hotel, hostel or accommodation written down, since often Japanese won’t understand tourists asking for directions, even if they are eager to help.

Kyoto has a wide subway net and visitor that want to see everything should consider buying a day ticket.

The number of tourist attraction of Kyoto is astonishing. If you are short on time, plan in advance what you want to visit. If you spend a month in Kyoto you won’t have time to see everything. Specially highly recommended is the Daitokuji Temple, the Kinkaku ji Temple, the Hirano Shrine, the Ryoan ji Temple, the Ninnaji Temple and the Myoshinji Temple. As said above, since it was the capital of Japan for so many centuries, Kyoto is also the center of Japanese temples. It doesn’t mean that it has only temples. As a tourist you’ll also appreciate the Imperial Park, the Museum of Kyoto, the Kamigamo Shrine, and the Kyoto Manga Museum. There is, of course, more, much more.

Check out the 88 Temple Pilgrimage in Japan

The 88 Temple Pilgrimage is a 1,300-kilometre-long pilgrimage through the Japanese island of Shikoku.

Temple Pilgrimage is the most famous pilgrimage track in Japan. The way goes around the whole island of Shikoku. As the name says, it goes through 88 temples. Additionally, another 20 temples can be visited, if you walk even further.

Many of these temples are known by all the Buddhists, have been founded by them or restored at some time by a Buddhist monk or scholar. The temples have a high place within Japanese culture. They are not only an achievement of architecture and a place of faith, but they served for many centuries to spread Japanese culture. Within the walls of these temples, we know that many things like the kana syllabary or the tantric teachings of Buddhism from China have been developed into a uniquely Japanese cultural good.

While most present-day pilgrims (an estimated some hundred thousands each year) make the tour by bus, a rather small group still opt for an old-fashioned pilgrimage, goingin on foot. It is a journey which goes about more than a month to complete. It is known as o-henro-san in Japanese, and it can be seen in the sign on the temples or roadsides towards Shikoku.

The name simply means two travellers travelling together. That doesn’t mean that you are travelling alone, it simply means that the spirit of Dogyo Ninin is traveling with you. This is a highly regarded spiritually entity within Japanese religious cults. Lodging can be found everywhere along the way. Many hostels cater specially for pilgrims along the way. However, their prices, of over $80, are quite expensive for most tourists. If you are travelling on a budget, go for henro houses. They are equivalent to bed and breakfasts. They are family prices where you should trade the price. They appreciate pilgrims who want to stay in their houses and if they know you are doing the whole way on foot, they will provide you shelter and food for a very reasonable fee.

Prepare yourself conveniently for this route. 1,300 kilometres is not for everyone, especially if you are not accustomed to long trips, you should consider doing a part of the route by bus. This is not a flat way. Quite in contrary, it is constantly hill up and hill down, under a burning sun and heavy rain.

Many pilgrims dress up in traditional attire: hakuim the coat of a pilgrim. An optional wagesa, scarf worn around the neck to indicate that you are on a religious pilgrimage. Sugegasa, straw hat. Kongotsue, a walking stick. This last is an indispensable sign to identify you as a pilgrim

Most pilgrims walking on foot average not more than 25 km every day. The trip can last between five to seven weeks.