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Final thoughts, suggestions & observations about Japan
I have already summarized some initial impressions of Japan based on the initial three or four days we were there and those favorable impressions were borne out in spades during the additional time we spent there. But here are some additional thoughts or elaboration of what I have previously stated including some tips for anyone who is thinking of visiting Japan:
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“A Fantasia of Culinary Delights”
My brother, George, suggested the above title based on some WhatsApp postings that I shared with family while in Japan as I commented on the variety of cuisine we experimented with and, for the most part, enjoyed. A couple of the images shown below are stock photos mainly because we started eating what was served before taking pictures. First, we have sushi – surely no trip to Japan can be complete without sushi. Now I am not a great fan of sushi – and neither is Mini – but what we had was surprisingly good. Mini and Lekshmi who was with us were not overly adventurous but I pretty much…
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Kyoto
With the benefit of hindsight we should have spent about 4 days in Kyoto, made a day trip to Hiroshima and perhaps included a two day visit to Osaka which which was missing from our itinerary. As it worked out the itinerary we made in the US resulted in us spending only two days in Kyota which was really not sufficient to do justice to this magnificent city with its old world charm and lots to see. Anyway we arrived here from Hiroshima on an unreserved train which involved changing at Osaka. We left booking a reserved seat until too late and by the time we tried reserved seats were…
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Hiroshima
Hiroshima is worth visiting though it can be done in a day trip – we stayed here overnight but we could have spent the extra day in Kyoto instead. There are two things worth seeing in Hiroshima, as a tourist – the Peace Museum which brings out vividly the trauma and tragedy of the first ever atom bomb that was dropped on a city as part of a war. There are two places that I have visited over the decades that I found profoundly moving: one was the Dachau concentration camp near Munich where tens of thousands of Jews were exterminated and the other was Hiroshima. There are pictures of…
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Shibuya Crossing
Today was a rainy day but after being cooped up in the apartment through much of the morning, we decided to venture out even though there were occasional rain spells. We used the Tokyo Metro to go with Lekshmi and Brito to see the famous Shibuya Crossing – a remarkable experience by any definition. This is a famous crossing just outside Shibuya Station that is surrounded by shops and dining establishments. When the lights turn red at this busy junction, they all turn red at the same time in every direction – essentially crosswise and diagonally. Traffic stops completely and pedestrians surge into the intersection from all sides, in what…
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Tokyo City Tour – Part 2
We then proceeded to the Imperal Palace where the Emperor and his family live. Again, our timing was not optimal because much of the Palace grounds were closed since on the day following our tour – April 30th 2019 – the Emperor was going to abdicate and for three days thereafter there were events involving the abdication and the coronation of the new Emperor. What we learned is that although the Japanese follow the Gregorian calendar, they also have “eras” that are given a name – and each era starts with the coronation of a new emperor. For example the era associated with Hirohito who was the emperor during the…