Travel – Chiba Nihonji Mt. Nokogiri

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Working on our bucket list for this year (which is coming to an end way too soon, again) we did a rent-a-car trip to one Nihon-ji Temple¹ at Mt. Nokogiri (presenting one of the biggest Buddha statues you might see in Japan.) Though, not the statue itself was on the list per se, but driving on Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line. Which is why I decided to divide this trip into 2 posts → read on for Aqua-Line here.

If you do the rent-a-car version of this trip (which is more than a recommendation) you might want to stop at the GUSTO (family restaurant) located right next to the ferry-port (not crowded and great -sea-view) as –attention– there are no convenient stores near the temple and you better charge yourself with some energy before climbing all those stairs. [of course you can bring your own food or Bento]

 

After charging your batteries you are ready to drive to the (free of charge!) parking area on the east-side of the mountain. [Side note: there is another entrance area plus rope-way near the station – but it might not be accessible yet, due to typhoon damage in October 2019]  Even on a beautiful Sunday afternoon the place wasn’t crowded at all (though the streets were, so people where around for sure) and all you have to do is climb stairs only. The huge 31m-tall Buddha statue as well as the temple building itself is located right after the entrance, so in case you’re not a fan of stairs, you still get to see what’s advertised.

If you are more into –breathtaking views– and –mysterious caves– an maybe want to “peek into hell” you should follow the others and reach to the top.

Not only the way up the 330m high Mt. Nokogiri is breathtaking. So is its view  → on clear days you can even see Tokyos Skytree and Mt. Fuji !
As for “Jigoku Nozoki” – peeking down a steep cliff (right into hell – they say)  asks for some 10min patience to be able to take your pictures, as people wait in line (japanese style).

 

After that it’s time for another hidden gem – Hyaku-Shaku* Kannon² – a carved Goddess (nearly as tall as the Buddha you saw downstairs.)  Walking over moss-covered stones, musty air combined with chilly steep rock walls towering up on both sides of you – give this statue quite the “religous” touch.

As previously mentioned a big part of the other area you could explore is actually still closed due to Typhoon damage in October 2019 [thus, your way down is on the same side which you came up.] Before leaving the premises, though (they close at 5pm!) take a detour and look around the temple premises – there’s a path through the forest (leading downhill to the station – which is the only thing you miss when coming by car) some shrines and maybe you even discover the hidden fox statute like we did.

 

After an exhausting day you might be lucky and catch one of the most beautiful (and longest) sunsets you might see in and around Tokyo. As you drive along the coast back towards the bridge, letting this day come to an end – pure satisfaction.

 

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¹Nokogiri Nihon-Ji [ 鋸山 日本寺 ] Wikipedia Info here
²Hyaku Shaku Kanno [百尺観音]: Website (english)

³Kamata – more infos here
*1 Shaku – the length between bamboo nods (about 30cm)

Health – Ikegami Honmonji Oeshiki

One of my fav. shots this year – the perfect Halloween post.

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For those of you, who are really into Temples and Shrines I recommend to visit

Ikegami HONMONJI¹ Oeshiki Festival

Honmonji is of the biggest temples in Tokyo as well as one of the most important ones (thus this huge festival every year) : Nichiren³ died here.

It is a 30min-1h trip within Tokyo by train (note: get off Ikegami Station, last stop of Asakusa Line – and walk towards the temple, as the area has some “LA/Sanfran” flair you don’t wanna miss) If you come to see the festival itself, I’d recommend to arrive as early as 2pm – browse the area (there is lots to see!), have some snack at the numerous stalls lining up at the street and definitely visit this cafe [自家焙煎椿屋珈琲 池上店]² (pricey but spacious with delicious cakes and they do have their own roast of coffee beans.) Then walk back around 4pm to get a good view (the festival starts 6pm)   → Lantern Parade from the station towards the temple [which unfortunately was cancelled due to the previous typhoon this year]

As for the temple, despite consisting of very old, large and many buildings [Halloween mode: ON] it is actually surrounded by its even huger graveyard. Thus the festival, too, is held in between tombstones; people walking through it, sitting on one, while enjoying a snack → there is even an observation deck where couples become emotional (while I kinda waited for lost souls to take over their bodies)

»Definitely a scenery you won’t experience anywhere else in Tokyo – and all you game-designers out there, THIS is your place for inspiration.

And even you can’t visit for the festival – it is a nice day-trip anyway. As I mentioned above, we recommend to walk towards the temple from Asakusa-line (Nishi-Magome Station) as the city has to offer a certain “American VIP” feeling. Hills with great view over the neighbor city combined with luxurious –rich people– houses. (in European eyes still “tiny” but well, this is Tokyo after all.)  Add the cafe which I also mentioned above and choose a (less-scary) afternoon – and voilá – nice non-spooky memory →

P.s.

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¹Ikegami Honmonji^– [ 池上本門寺 ] Very detailed website here and some info in englisch here
²Coffee Chain – Ikegami Store- [自家焙煎椿屋珈琲 池上店]: Website (japanese)

³Nichiren Buddhism – more infos here

Travel – Kuruma Castle Ruins

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One more of our –spontaneous trips– like we did last time to [Tottori] and [Atami]. This time to something a normal tourist wouldn’t get to so easily → even we had trouble to find  KURUMA¹ city . A remote village with this unique 1-kanji name [車].

It is a 1-day Trip (maxed out) from Tokyo (note: 2-3h by car – read here for info regarding the speed/distance relation problem in Japan) but if you are interested in hidden castle ruins and curious eyes that might not have expected to see a foreigner today, then read on 🙂

The ruins of Kuruma Castle⁴ are located on top of a tiny hill, surrounded by a small forest. Accessible only by foot. (Dev. bring closed walking shoes even on a hot summer day. Forest = “mushi” (bugs bugs buuugs)
When you drive off the highway, your navigation system will lead you further into a tiny village and the more you feel lost, the closer you get → the road ends at a private house/field. Find a parking spot on the left side (meadow), make your way around the house and you will see this tiny sign [ 車城跡 ] showing you the way up to the castle. After you passed a graveyard and fought your way uphill through spiderwebs and a big red gate you have arrived at your destination.

I couldn’t find much information in English. But to make a long story short:

»Roughly 800 years ago (around 1300) some person built this castle and it was later transferred to a military guy [“names” at that time were an honor, thus they offered him the name of this town “kuruma” – simultaniously making this “kuruma castle”] . «

There’s also not much left of the “castle” either. But you can enjoy a rebuilt shrine (original was lost in fire) and some ancient pillars surrounded by ear-bursting loud cricket cries and mysterious-green nature. [ you’ll never stop learning, too. Especially when a huge 20cm grasshopper thing attacks you ↔ hajimemashite “Acrida Cinerea“² ]

→ sidenote: I’m not sure about access in winter, but as for a random late-summer weekend day it was zero crowded and fairly easy accessible…. except spiders, that freaked me out [→Tip: bring a big umbrella, using it as a shield to fight your way through the webs.]

P.s. We recommend to bring some snacks or bento and go for a late lunch AFTER checking out the castle. Those highway-stops usually serve local flavors/souvenirs you don’t wanna miss.

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¹Kuruma Castle^– [ 車城跡 ] For location (map) click here
²”Ghost Grasshopper” [精霊蝗虫]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrida_cinerea

⁴Castle Info^– Only Japanese available  here

Random – Kawagoe

I’m a bit late on updating last year posts, which is why my articles might lack of enthusiasm. Sorry.

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My lovely husband surprised me with a ‘let’s go for a drive‘ – this time to Kawagoe. It’s like a tiny time-travel back to Edo, with all its remaining Kurazukuri¹, temple and statues – only 30min from Tokyo (perfect for a day-trip).
Cold wind and grey sky might make it look less fun – especially when you see my pics – but it definitely is worth a visit. Lucky us (who were not in Japan during autumn) could still catch some nice view of multi-colored leaves which made the scenery quite special.

One thing that I’m surprised even myself is that I’ll seem to never get tired of visiting temples. Maybe it’s that certain aura & nature surrounding such a place, the story of each building, and its people …. which make each and every building unique.
Even the same building has different faces, depending on season and weather – I’m sure there’s no ‘wrong timing‘ to visit.

On a side note, we also had the luck to see a real bride and groom in traditional wedding kimonos, which of course upped the temple-feeling by 100%.

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[ Kawagoe, Kitain temple]  ¹clay-walled warehouse-styled buildings

Art – Forever

Check out my other photography here → Etsy ❤

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[While waiting for green light…. Tokyo, Japan]

Random – Mt. Tsukuba

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Yes, another mountain post. We went to Takaosan (see post) last year during a national holiday…and have learned a big lesson. Which made us go on a weekday this time.

Mt. Tsukuba(筑波山) is located a nice 1 day-trip (drive) north of Tokyo. Even you are not the hiking type of person you might wanna go there as you have not only the option to ride a rope-way up to the top. But beautiful forest/flower parks and a really old impressive temple (筑波山神社) at the foot of the mountain are worth the visit anyway. (We decided to climb as far as we could, but gave up halfway. No pictures of mountain top, unfortunately.)

• To make your day perfect you can grab some snacks at a convenient store and walk around “Lake Kasumigaura¹, which is located on your way to/back from Mt. Tsukuba. It’s Japans 2. largest lake ! Check out the pictures ↓ for a preview and start packing 😉

We had best weather and pics turned out as wonderful as the scenery felt. Totally a secret “must go” for you (if you wanna escape Tokyo prefecture as a whole and check out ‘Ibaraki‘ a little)

P.s. There is a quite funny story about why Tsukuba is so green and full of life, while Fujisan is cold and deserted. Check it out – history can be fun.

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Tsukubasan[筑波山, Ibaraki]
¹Tsuchiura [ 霞ヶ浦, “Kasumigaura Bay”]^

Random – Hatonomorihachiman Shrine

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What a name! I ‘ignored‘ this shrine a lot last year, passing by without even looking more closely. But yesterday work brought me and my husband there and we took the chance and enter the shrine area.

It is quite small but has a very calm and beautiful atmosphere [one of the reasons why there is this glass building for Weddings and other celebrations]  Winter is finally over and the first colors appear. I`m sure you won’t regret a visit (as the area where it is located is also famous for being so different to Tokyo — it`s a bit upper class (similar to Aoyama or Daikanyama) and you can see many unique buildings and eat unique food.

 

 

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[鳩森八幡神社 – Hatonomorihachiman, Sendagaya]

Health – Autumn Walk

[an older post, that I didn’t wanna miss though its a bit off-season]

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One of the reasons why I still like this country is – you can count on and also feel the •Graduate Change Of Seasons•
which in my area is quite smooth. Especially during daily outside activities you will be able to enjoy these shades of grey colours.

As it is very close to our home, I tend to choose the Asakusa River Route for daily “fast walks” (as Im not a big fan of jogging anyway/luckily this time I brought my cellphone) And maybe these pictures express my –the world is not the same without sunshine-

 » 1 place 2 different days =  different worlds.

Random – Takadanobaba

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Actually this area is more close to Waseda, but I love to write the word Takadanobaba. It is one of those sunday-strolls-grab-some-food-and-head-back-home-again things, which are the best for people like me and my fiancee.

Baba, as we shorten it, is close to Waseda, so basically you might call this area “for students” We used to live right at a big crossing, which is less nice at night; and the fact that there is a hospital on the one side and a police station  on  the other, is (no matter how much we loved the –any kind of food stores within 5min walk-) one of the biggest reason why we moved back to downtown (oshiage)

As I`m behind my posting schedule I simply add some more pictures and let those talk (if you keep your eyes up you can find curious things in this big city djungle))

Travel – World War 2

somehow every action triggers another one, so even something “bad” might be necessary to make something “good” follow. This is how I live my life.
I quit my job as you might have read in my other post and am struggling to find a new one. For the time being this made me teach english – where I could meet a new friend, which I am really thankful for as we get along so well. BUT the more important thing is, she got 2 free tickets for an exhibition which, when I saw the name, made me speechless – as I wanted to see this exhibition in Zürich last year but had no money to go.

Such ‘coincidence’ supports my believe that you never should stopp dreaming as you might be given another unexpected chance. As well as never ever say something is impossible [being in Zürich not yet knowing I will be living in Japan – I would have laughed off ones sentences “who knows you might be able to see this exhibition in Japan end of this year”]

⇒ life is so unpredictable. Enjoy the moment. Remember the past.

The day we met actually turned out to be a time travel to our past, and a reminder that the phrase above should really be taken seriously. We went to a temple named “Zoujouji” (⇔ read more info here ) which was on the way towards the museum. And usually after taking pictures you head on, but this places actually does have some history to tell.

• Not only where most of the premises/buildings destroyed in WW2 and what you actually are taking pictures of are remakes of the original.
• You will also find 6 of all 15 shoguns buried within the temple and also
• Experience a sad-creepy reminder of life, when you enter the ‘unborn children garden‘ (where little stone statues represent unborn or miscarried/stillborn children)
  

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As for me it made me realize how easily we tend to forget our past. And how fast things turn to be ‘out of date‘ ‘oldfashioned‘ and thus ready to be piled up and in the end forgotten.

[one of the reasons why I love and support wikipedia – it’s like a unverse full of information – a neverending ‘hi’story – a virtual time machine where shoguns drink tea with dinosaurs, and cinderella dances to the new album of michael jackson]

Anyway having WW2 in our mind and heading to our next location – the exhibition called ⇔ Memory for tomorrow [ Dinh Q. Lé ] – we again were presented with a very unique and personal reminder of someone that shows with his incredible work a single tiny person can have a big impact on its surroundings. I felt 100% vindicated on what I said earlier as this person gave the proof that one should ‘never stop dreaming‘ and nothing is impossible (reffering to the helicopter story)

As he explains in that interview above “it’s not so much about the violence and what happend, but how we cope with a situation that was forced upon us, individually.   ⇒ exactly that tiny word explains all. I feel as in this world, every single person lives in its own version. And it’s so interesting and also inspiring to hear about it through storys.

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Maybe next time when you sit in the bus or walk through the city, stop your mind and focus on your surroundings, every person which pass by might have experienced a story much more incredible than a hollywood movie. [ I believe that this is the reason why we love movies – we want to get out of our own world. See what others see. Feel what we never experienced — but instead of a movie ticket, buy your grandmother a coffee and listen to what she has to tell. Invite your neighbour for a chat. It will have a great impact as it is REAL]

If you listen to the audioguide some of the pictures will be explained, other artwork can be found on youtube [though I do recommend to go and see it with your own eyes if you have the chance]

The museum ticket gives you also free entrance to the observation deck of the building. See this separate blog post.
[Roppongi Hills, Mori Art Museum]