Yearly Archives: 2014

Japanese markets

Markets are some of our favourite places to visit. For a start we love food and it’s always interesting to see the exotic (to us) ingredients available to local cooks, and they are usually interesting and colourful places to photograph too. We’ve found Japanese markets to be just as interesting as the ones we visited in Riga, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Bangladesh, and three very different markets from the first half of our stay in Japan really stand out.

Omicho Market, Kanazawa

The Omicho market in Kanazawa really feels like a locals market. It is comprised of stalls mainly offering fresh ingredients and is arranged in a series of covered corridors. There were lots of restaurants around the fringes and on the second floor, we ate at a couple of them during the few days that we stayed in Kanazawa.

A quiet corner of Omicho Market

All kinds of fish feature heavily from live oysters to dried squid, and especially big red crabs, this fine specimen is priced at just under £30!

Japanese vegetables – that’s fresh wasabi in the bottom left, bamboo shoots above it and the white vegetable with green leaves to the right of the lemons is called udo

Non-fish and vegetable stalls include cakes, desserts and flowers

We enjoyed sashimi bought from the fishmonger for lunch one day – eaten standing at the side of his stall

Nishiki Market, Kyoto

This very long covered market stretches for four or five blocks through the centre of Kyoto. It was a great place to spend a rainy afternoon, unfortunately lots of other people had the same thought so we spent much of the time shuffling along in a crush of bodies. There were a lot of weird and wonderful traditional foodstuffs that we attempted to identify, with enough samples to keep things interesting and the occasional souvenir shop as well.

Stained glass skylight over Nishiki market

Vast arrays of pickled vegetables

Miso pickled vegetables (called misozuke) are made using a fermented soy bean paste

We managed to score several samples of sake by looking simultaneously appreciative and indecisive :)

Souvenirs included beautiful ceramics, mobiles and cotton scarves

Food offerings ranged from fresh vegetables and fish to the intriguing sounding ‘Espresso Milk Jam’ (sadly no samples available) and packs of spices

There were lots of snacks available too, these Tako-tamago looked interesting – a baby octopus with a quail’s egg in its head on a stiiiick!

Kagoshima Fish Market Tour

When we read in the Lonely Planet about the weekly early morning tour of the Kagoshima wholesale fish market I got very excited, to the point of planning our trip to make sure that we’d definitely be in town on a Saturday. The tour is run by a group of local hotels and ryokans, but it’s not necessary to be staying with one of them to join in.

We were collected from our hotel just after 7am and whisked off to the Wholesale Fish Market on the seafront where we were issued with wellies and met our guides and the rest of the group – two locals and a group from a Hong Kong TV company (without their video cameras). A market representative guided the group in Japanese, but fortunately for us Yukiko, one of the hotel managers, spoke good English and gave us a really good overview of what we were seeing.

Bustling commercial fish market in Kagoshima

When we arrived fish was being auctioned. The smallish group of wholesalers moved around to each of the crates with the auctioneers amidst a cacophony of bells and whistles. Everything happened very fast, there was a lot of cryptic jargon (even to Japanese ears not in the know) and the bidding was done by the wholesalers quickly scribbling their price on a clapper-like pocket chalkboard which was then flipped open at the auctioneer so that only he could see it. To us, it seemed like the wholesalers got one shot at naming their price for each crate before the auctioneer moved on to the next.

Auction in progress, the guys with the red caps are the auctioneers

Wellington boots are pretty much required footwear around the wet floor of the fish market

We were able to wander fairly freely, trying not to get in the way and marvelling at the huge diversity and amazing freshness of the fish. I’ve never seen eyes so bright or scales so shiny. Obviously the quantity and variety of fish each day varies. Yukiko told us that this morning’s catch was a particularly good one.

Flying fish are a specialty of the Kagoshima area. Their pectoral (side) fins are very long to allow them to glide over the water’s surface.

Fish of all different shapes, sizes and colours

Next we moved into the section of the market where the wholesalers sell to trade, i.e. restaurants and fishmongers selling to the public. Here we were given a demonstration of a 40kg tuna being carved and even got to try some as sashimi – short of cutting it up on the boat, I don’t think we could get it any fresher than that!

Tuna preparation: from whole fish to delicious sashimi in less than 10 minutes!

Some fish varieties aren’t available locally and these are imported from as far afield as Scotland, Argentina, and Chile, and kept in huge walk-in freezers at -20^oC. As you might imagine, keeping so much fish fresh in Kagoshima’s warm climate takes a lot of ice. Market employees send a piece of paper up a dangling line to order whatever quantity they need and then collect it from a nearby huge chute.

Clockwise from top left: refrigerated trucks lined up outside the fish market, collecting ice from the dispenser, the market’s shrine to the god of the sea where thanks are given for its generosity, Andrew and our guide inside the walk-in freezer

There are a couple of restaurants on site that serve meals to the employees and workers at the market, but they’re also open to the public whether you’ve been on the market tour or not. The whole group went to one of them after the tour. Andrew and I ordered the huge sashimi set which contained some slightly exotic items (a large sea snail, and sea urchin) as well as more familiar fish.

A sashimi feast! The snail is at the top left of the picture, the sea urchin is the orange coloured meat in the middle right. As well as this mountain of raw fish, the set meal also included rice, miso soup and pickled vegetables.

After seeing the workings of the market it was great to sample some of its delicious wares, and to talk with the hotel managers who created the fish market tour, and who continue to run it every week with the support of the Kagoshima Fish Market.

Yabusame mounted archery, Shimogamo Shrine, Kyoto

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Once a year on the 3rd of May (which fell at the beginning of Golden Week this year), the Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto hosts a display of Yabusame – or Japanese mounted archery.

Yabusame archer making his way to the starting line

Originally started by Minamoto no Yoritomo in the Kamakura period (1185 – 1333) to improve the archery of his shoguns, this event is now part of the Aoi Matsuri (or “Hollyhock”) festival in Kyoto, and it was a happy coincidence that we were in Kyoto and able to see this fantastic display of skill.

The 5 riders in traditional costume take it in turns to race down the 255-metre track 6 times, taking aim at 3 consecutive wooden targets on each pass. By the time we’d arrived the crowds had already gathered, so we took up a place by a large green square which turned out to be the background for the final target.

The Yabusame archers started the procession to the starting line at 2pm and very soon afterward we heard the crack of splintering wood and the roar of the crowd before the first rider came thundering down the course towards us, at the last possible second drawing his bow across his face to lose an arrow into the final target. We didn’t see the arrow at all, the archer flashed past and the target exploded behind him – it was so quick!

Yabusame archer taking out the final target at full speed

The speed and control of the horses reminded us of the Mongol warriors during the reign of Chinggis Khaan, where archery, horse-riding and wrestling are huge sports celebrated every year at Nadaam festivals throughout Mongolia.

Here’s a short video we took of some of the Yabusame archers which hopefully shows their skills of speed and accuracy..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64s46ky6AOI]

A woman in the crowd next to us translated some of the announcements for us, and it turned out that one of the archers was an extra in the movie The Last Samurai!

Buddhist pilgrimage in Koyasan, Japan

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Buddhism and Shintoism

First, a quick primer about religion in Japan. Most Japanese practice both Shintoism and Buddhism. Shintoism is the native religion and celebrates life, the many shrines are dedicated to various gods of the natural world, for example, the god of rain, or the god of the mountain. When babies are born they are celebrated at the Shinto shrine, and its also where farmers make offerings and prayers for a good crop or favourable growing weather. Buddhism, which arrived via China and Korea, is practiced alongside, and has many rituals relating to death so funerals are conducted at the Buddhist temple. Therefore it is said that Japanese are born under Shintoism and die under Buddhism. However, the two religions are so entwined that it’s sometimes difficult to know where one ends and the other begins, Shinto symbols such as torii gates or shrines are often found at Buddhist temples and vice versa.

A bright red Shinto torii gate with guardian dogs in the middle of the Buddhist Danjo Garan Temple Complex

Koyasan is a sacred place for Buddhism in Japan and the home of the Shingon school of Esoteric Buddhism. Its founder, Kobo Daishi, established a religious community here in 816 AD and is buried here, or rather his followers believe that he has entered a state of meditation in his tomb to await the arrival of the future Buddha.

The last stage of the journey to Koyasan is in a cable car

Staying in a temple, or not, in Koyasan

Many visitors stay in one of the 50-60 temples around the town and we considered doing that, but it’s fairly expensive (prices start at £60 per person per night half board) and so we chose the budget alternative – a capsule guesthouse! Koyasan Guesthouse Kokuu is small and perfectly formed, it’s run by husband and wife team Ryochi and Yuri, and when we arrived Ryochi sat down with us and a map for about 10 minutes managing to answer all of our many questions without us having to actually ask them! Our capsule bedrooms were surprisingly spacious and very comfortable, and Yuri cooks up a mean curry which we enjoyed for our dinner with a flask of hot sake.

Koyasan Guesthouse Kokuu: Inside a capsule, guesthouse corridor, chicken curry and hot sake for dinner

Some of the things we wanted to experience which are typically included as part of the temple-stay experience were the opportunity to witness the monks’ chanting in the morning ceremony, the chance to learn more about the religion and monks’ lives, and trying the Buddhist vegetarian cuisine called Shojin Ryori. Ryochi managed to construct an itinerary for us that covered all of those bases as well as seeing the main sights. First up was lunch at Sanbo where we tried a couple of the Shojin Ryori set menus. It was a diverse and interesting feast with lots of different kinds of tofu, delicious mountain vegetables, and lots of sesame seeds. Yum.

Shojin Ryori meal, before and after!

Kongobu-ji Temple

Next we set off to visit Kongobu-ji Temple, the administrative headquarters of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism. Set around the entrance courtyard are the beautiful main hall with its thatched roof (complete with fire buckets on top), a smaller thatched building previously used to store documents and a belfry with an unusual outward curving wall described on the information board as a ‘skirt’.

Kongobu-ji Temple (clockwise from top): Main temple building (note the large wooden buckets on the roof ridge), a cup of green tea and a rice cracker are included in the admission fee, you need to change from your outdoor shoes into slippers to enter the temple, beautiful carvings on the gable

One reason that we visited was that this temple has the largest Zen rock garden in Japan. We found the rock garden a little disappointing as it wasn’t possible to see all of it and there wasn’t room to sit and contemplate around its edge. The leaflet explained that it represented two dragons flying through the clouds, but some idea of the meaning behind the forms would have been good too.

Banryutei rock garden

However, the stunning painted screen doors dating from the 16th century which are in the rest of the temple more than made up for the slight disappointment of the rock garden. Amongst other things, they show scenes from Kobo Daishi’s life as well as flowers and birds of the four seasons.

Screen doors painted with cranes

Okunoin Cemetery

I didn’t quite know what to expect when we read all the superlatives applied to Okunoin Cemetery, but it really is as atmospheric as all the reviews suggest. I think I would even say that it’s one of my favourite places of the trip so far, certainly from a photography point of view.

Sunbeam shining through the cedar trees onto Okunoin cemetery

The cemetery itself is vast with over 200,000 graves. Our introduction to it was on a night tour guided by a Buddhist monk from Ekoin temple called Nobu (organised through Ryochi at the guesthouse) and it was a little strange to be seeing it for the first time in the dark. Nobu was an excellent guide, he gave us a lot of background information about the cemetery and about Buddhism in Japan, interspersed with scary legends and cries of ‘careful, steps!’

Stone lanterns light the path through Okunoin cemetery at nighttime

Two of the most obvious and useful things that he explained were the gorinto shape of most of the gravestones and the significance of the jizo statues. The gorinto is a column of five shapes representing (from bottom to top) earth, water, fire, wind, and space or void. Together with consciousness these elements form the whole universe.

Gravestones – mostly gorintos but we saw many different ones including a space rocket and a Möbius strip!

The small statues with bibs are jizo, they sit between the living and dead worlds, and their purpose is to guide spirits from life to death. They are often found at the site of deaths (e.g. by a roadside or forest trail). The bib should be red, it signifies the fire required to purify the spirit before crossing to death.

Jizo statues

The mausoleum of Kobo Daishi is the most sacred place in the cemetery. Nobu took us behind the lantern hall to stand in front of the mausoleum. Here he told us the story of Kobo Daishi’s eternal meditation and chanted the Heart Sutra which was a beautiful end to the tour.

The lantern hall was also where we were able to see the morning chanting. Ryochi had told us that it was OK to leave quietly part way through but we ended up sitting and listening to the whole of the one hour ceremony with four monks chanting and a head monk making ritualistic sounds with a drum and gong, it was a mesmerising and otherworldly experience. After the ceremony finished at 7am we wandered the almost empty cemetery.

The path through the cemetery is lined with huge Japanese cedar trees. Their average age is 200-600 years, but some are as old as 1000 years.

As you might expect with a cemetery, there are a few superstitious stories connected with Okunoin. There is a well in the centre where it’s said if you can’t see your reflection in the water you’ll die within three years (I’m pleased to report that we were both able to see our reflections), a gravestone which if you put your ear against it you can hear the cries in hell (fortunately that one didn’t work…) and a stone which pilgrims try to lift onto a shelf – the heavier the stone the more sins you have (we couldn’t try it as the building containing it was boarded up).

Andrew looking for his reflection and checking if he could hear the cries in hell

Many companies also have plots, we spotted a familiar logo amongst them

Danjo Garan Complex

The Danjo Garan complex is the site of the first monastic constructions here in the early 9th century although no original buildings remain (building your temples from wood and thatch leads to a high probability of destruction by fire). Along with Okunoin it is one of the most important places in Koyasan. There’s no entry fee to just wander around (you only need to pay to enter the buildings which are open to the public) and it was a good place to see the traditional wooden architecture and thatched roofs up close.

Kobo Daishi planned for the Konpon Daito (Great Pagoda) to be the centre of his monastic complex

Nyoninmichi

Until the late 19th century women were not allowed to enter the town area of Koyasan and so female pilgrims followed a trail circumnavigating the town with dedicated women’s temples on each of the access roads. Nowadays the trail is set up for hikers and it’s a nice way to get a different perspective on the town as well as some spectacular views if you’re lucky enough to get clear weather as we were. The total length of the path is 15.5km but it’s possible to break it down into smaller sections.

Julie in front of the 25m high Daimon (Great Gate) at the western edge of the town

On our first afternoon we climbed from the Daimon (Great Gate) up between torii gates to the summit of Mt Betendake. It was quite steep and in places the steps were very uneven but we got spectacular views across to the Inland Sea (about 20km away we think) and it was nice to be up above and out of the bustle of the town for a while.

The view to the coast – you can see the sea glistening on the right of the picture behind the trees

The following day we decided to tackle the southern portion of the women’s pilgrimage route about 5km, or just over 3 miles, from the guesthouse to the opposite end of town, ending by the Daimon. Again, we met very few other walkers so most of the time it was just us and the rustling of skinks (small lizards) in the dry leaves with occasional glimpses across the valleys and mountains.

Steps up through the trees, toriis line the path up to Mt Betendake, a small skink with a very bright tail

Us on the trail

Koyasan was an excellent stop on our itinerary. I’m sure that a stay in one of the temples would be very rewarding but we didn’t feel that we’d missed out on anything by staying in cheaper accommodation, we just wish that we’d booked two nights instead of one!

Nara, Japan

Tōdai-ji Temple Complex

The “Daibutsuden”, or Great Buddha Hall, in the Tōdai-ji Temple grounds, Nara, Japan

“[“Tōdai-ji”, meaning] Eastern Great Temple, is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden), houses the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu. Sika deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the grounds freely.” – Wikipedia

This massive building is a reconstruction. It is three quarters of the size of the one it replaced, and it is so beautifully proportioned that our brains had difficulty comprehending its sheer size. From the end of the approaching pathway, the Daibutsuden looks about the right size, but then we realised we were a good 300 meters away, and the little stick figures on the steps were people!

The “Daibutsu”, or Great Buddha. The largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world

The Great Buddha just about fits the building, and as his head pokes into the rafters it gives the impression that he’s too big for the hall – it’s a nice illusion that arguably isn’t needed as this is one huge Buddha statue. The Buddha images behind it are scaled such they all appear to be the same size from the ground, and there are other large statues to keep him company.

I was keen to find a specific pillar described in our guide book, as it contains a hole near its base that is the same size as the giant bronze Buddha’s nostril and, if you can fit through it, it is said you will be successful in your search for enlightenment.

On my way to certain enlightenment. This also means that I'm the size of a huge bronze Buddha booger..

On my way to certain enlightenment by pulling myself un-aided through the Buddha’s nostril-sized pillar hole. Of course, this also means that I’m the size of a huge bronze Buddha booger..

Outside, the giant Nandai-mon (temple complex gate) contains the two largest wooden Niō (guardian) statues we’ve seen. They’re perfectly scaled to match the rest of the Tōdai-ji.

One of the gigantic Niō (guardians) towering over a group of schoolchildren

It would be remiss of me not to mention the Shinto messengers of the gods that roam freely throughout the Nara-kōen park area. And what are these protected National Treasures, you ask? Why, they’re tourist-harassing, biscuit and paper-eating deer!

~~Naughty~~ National Treasures, protected messengers of the Gods and cookie-monster-esque devourers of shiki-sembei (deer biscuits)

Yoshiki-en Garden

Instead of the “must-see” Isui-en garden, we opted for the smaller (and free for foreigners – bonus!) neighbouring Yoshiki-en, and while it wasn’t as meticulously maintained as Isui-en, it was beautifully varied and consists of a pond garden, tea garden, and the first moss garden we’ve seen in Japan.

The delightfully serene Pond Garden in Yoshiki-en. I could sit here for hours.

The Moss Garden in Yoshiki-en. A mosst-see.

Kasugayama Primeval Forest

The primeval forest lies to the west of the Nara-kōen park and the Tōdai-ji, and we found it to be a lovely shady walk that the further we went, the darker and more claustrophobic it became.

Kasugayama Primeval Forest, Nara-kōen park.. spooky

Then in the darkest depths of the tree cover, rows of stone lanterns lined the path and lead us towards the sanctuary of the Wakamiya Jinja Shrine.

Just a few of the many stone lanterns lining the primeval forest trail outside the Wakamiya Jinja Shrine

The Wakamiya Jinja Shrine. A place of sanctuary in the primeval forest of Nara-kōen park

Kofun – Megalithic Burial Mounds

Intrigued by keyhole-shaped features on the maps and aerial photography of Nara, we hired a couple of bicycles and went exploring.

The keyhole kofun of Nara – what are these all about, we wondered? (source: Google Maps)

These large, man-made, tree-covered mounds have quite substantial moats around them, and it turns out they’re burial grounds from ancient Japanese times, which figures, but we didn’t find much information about who was buried in them.

The keyhole-shaped mounds and moats of Nara

Heijō – Site of the former Imperial Palace

Once the Imperial and Administrative centre of Japan during the Nara Period, nearly every trace of the buildings that stood here were either relocated, looted for materials or destroyed when the capital moved to Heian.

Reconstruction of the Former Imperial Audience Hall of the Heijō Palace, Nara, Japan

Largely used for agriculture in the 1300 years since, the site is now a large-scale reconstruction project, with the southern Suzaku Gate, East Palace Garden and Former Imperial Audience Hall completed.

We didn’t venture into the museum or the excavation exhibition hall, but we did stop for lunch about half-way through the grounds. It took us about 10 minutes to cycle through the palace site, which says something about its size, and how much work it’s going to take to rebuild it all.

Yakushiji Temple

Situated near the north-south canal to the west of the city, this temple boasts that it was the first to have twin pagodas in its grounds.

One of the twin pagodas in the Yakushiji Temple, Nara. Sadly, the other one was covered up for restoration when we visited

Speaking of pagodas, the temples leaflet says the following which I didn’t previously know..

“Pagoda” means grave in Pali, the ancient Indian language, and it was called “Stupa” in Sanskrit. Pagoda means the grave of the Buddha.

The various temple buildings contain a wealth of Buddhist artefacts, which made it feel more like a museum than a place of worship.

Yakushiji Temple artefacts; cast iron statues of revered monks and the Pedestal of Yakushi Nyorai which is believed to symbolise the Silk Road

We found lots of diverse things to see in Nara – more than we were able to fit into the couple of days we spent there. We could easily have doubled our time and filled it with gardens, temples and shrines.

Matsumoto and the Japanese Alps

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Matsumoto’s main claim to fame is its castle, the oldest wooden castle in Japan dating from around 1595 and one of only 12 remaining original castle structures (although there are many more which have been reconstructed). When we visited there were a group of volunteers offering tours of the castle in English and so we joined one of those with a Polish mother and daughter. We got a trainee and an expert guide for the four of us so the group to guide ratio was very good! The donjon tower which remains was solely for defensive purposes, unfortunately the palace where the lord would have lived burned down in 1727 and was never rebuilt.

Matsumoto Castle and moat

As we walked through the castle our guides explained the different defensive features, such as ‘stone drop’ points where rocks could be dropped to stop attackers climbing the walls, and narrow openings for archers and riflemen. All this looked very impressive, but one of the reasons that the castle survived is that its defences were never tested.

There were a variety of exhibits inside the castle, mainly an armory collection with old firearms, armour and swords, but also details of the castle’s architecture such as these roof ridge ends (top right) which show the emblems of various ruling clans from the castle’s history

From the outside it looks as if the castle has five floors but actually there are six with the third floor being dark and without windows. It’s believed that this would be the safest place during wartime. As we climbed upwards the stairs got progressively steeper and steeper until the last flight was almost ladder like. We were very glad that we didn’t have to run up and down them wearing armour and carrying heavy weapons.

Castle details (clockwise from top left): greedy Koi in the moat, a different kind of fish on the roof ridge, shrine to the castle’s protecting god in the ceiling of the top floor, the original ruling clan’s emblem on the entrance gate

The view from the castle over the town and with snow capped mountains in the background is spectacular

Apart from the castle, the old town area of the city is a nice place for a wander. There are some well preserved old storehouses in the Nakamachi district, many of which have been converted into cafes and restaurants. On our second evening we had a superb sushi dinner in one of them to celebrate Julie’s birthday. All washed down with some casked sake drunk from traditional wooden cups which, strangely, are square and not too easy to drink from!

Julie’s birthday dinner at Kura: the restaurant is housed in an old storehouse, the best sushi we’ve had, traditional sake cup and flask

We had hoped to visit Utsukushi-ga-hara-kōgen, an Alpine plateau, on the next day but when we enquired about the seasonal bus schedule at the tourist office it turned out that we were a week too early. Not to be deterred, the helpful lady pulled out a leaflet about a different place and also its bus and train timetable and so we went to Kamikochi instead! The bus dropped us off at the visitor centre at around 1500m above sea level. This is the starting point for some adventurous hikes into the surrounding mountains but there are also plenty of paths up and down the valley as well which is what we opted to do.

An impressive view greeted us when we got onto the trail

Despite snow still being on the ground under the trees and on the peaks, it was a warm enough day. We set off on one of the trails to Taisho Pond, formed when Mt Yakedake erupted in 1915 and blocked the river. We met tour bus loads of tourists coming towards us, some of whom obviously hadn’t thought about their plans for the day if we can judge by their footwear – although we were walking on a proper path it was slippy where the snow hadn’t melted and muddy where it had, high heels and dress shoes really weren’t appropriate.

Mountain reflections in Taisho Pond – Mt Yakedake is on the left of the picture

Snow beside the path, crystal clear water in Azusa River, memorial plaque to English missionary Walter Weston who first called these mountains the Japan Alps and introduced them to the rest of the world

After a few hours of walking we were ready for a rest and went for a soak in an onsen, a Japanese hot spring bath, at the appropriately named Onsen Hotel. Men and women bathe separately, the ladies section had an indoor pool as well as a few different pools outside, I particularly liked the small wooden tubs. There was a brief moment of excitement when one of the ladies spotted a snake by the edge of the pool, she called the attendant who chased it away by throwing a bucket of hot water over it!

A highlight of the day was when we came across a family of Japanese macaques happily munching their way through the pussy willows on a small grove of trees

two year trip

Andrew and Julie's Travelling Adventures