Hello friendos! It is starting to really heat up in Tokyo now, looking at high twenties (celcius) from now on; today's high was 29 - a harbinger of the summer to come perhaps!
I have another episode in the Golden Week series for you, this time in Saitama Prefecture with the area known for its Edo Period (1603-1868) architecture. It has streets and streets of quintessentially Japanese buildings, and as it was GW, there were many people out and about, with plenty of market stalls and performances going on as well.
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| These windows are an airtight design designed to protect the inside contents from fires outside |
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| Tiling must have been quite a skilled profession back in the day |
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| A dancing dragon (though I was told it was a lion) |
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| Looks more dragon-y to me |
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| Also saw a statue of an emancipated Buddha (and with hair!) |
Kawagoe has plenty to see and do, with the first thing being to see the Toki no Kane (Bell of Time). This is a symbol of Kawagoe, and rings four times a day to mark the time. While it has burnt down on numerous occasions, it has been rebuilt - the last time in 1893, and its sound has been recorded as one the '100 sound sceneries of Japan'.
Such is its quintessence that all over you could but things with symbolism drawn from the tower, with one artist selling pencil sketches of the tower over the years. Apparently it was renovated a few years ago, during which time it was entirely covered in scaffolding and cladding, so we were at a very good time!
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| Close by to the tower is also the most Japanese looking/least Starbucks looking Starbucks I've ever seen |
Having done the tower, we moved onto the Hikawa Shrine, which is famous for its tunnel of 'ema' (prayer/wish tablets).
Because it was GW and thus a time of holiday for many people, the place was quite busy with people looking around, and in particular, fishing. Not for ordinary fish, mind you, but rather good luck charms shaped like red fish. You would be given a fishing rod that your would manoeuvre, trying to hook a fish.
The Hikawa Shrine also had a little stream running through it, which had a very interesting good luck charm thing going. For a small fee, you could purchase a very fine sheet of paper shaped like a person. You would place this on the water, and hope it floated down the stream through a set of gates that stood in the stream - doing this was a sign of good luck. Obviously the paper was getting saturated throughout, and the challenge was to get to the gate before it sunk. This also had the effect of making the stream bed rather cloudy, like some bizarre algal bloom or some such.
Otherwise the Shrine, being quite a large complex with a nice courtyard and garden, had plenty of very typical Japanese aspects, all of which were very attractive.
After we stopped for coffee and lunch (no coffee for me, but
Claire has a fondness for the stuff), we went to Kita-in temple, which is famous for having some 500 plus Buddha statues, each of them different from the next. There's some story that if you go there at night and feel around, one of the statues will be warm to the touch, and should you go back when it is light, you will find that statue to resemble you. Unfortunately we didn't get to test that story, as the place closes at 4pm (even during GW), so we missed that opportunity, but I will be sure to go back again - though not sure I'll stick around til after dark; many of the statues are quite creepy looking (I'm sure they're quite benevolent, being Buddhas, but you never know...) On the bright side, the gate was such that I could shoot over the top of it relatively easily, so not all was lost!
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| Second from right Buddha does look like he'd harass you in an alley |
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| Centre Buddha here looks a bit jollier though |
As it was basically closed though we had the rest of the temple complex to ourselves, and as such could wander about with noone else getting in the way (a relative rarity in Japan I find!)
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| Unlike the backwards working taps in my dormitory, this temple tap was quite cool |
With the sun setting on another GW day, we made our way back to the station for the hour-ish long jaunt back to Tokyo, and towards another chapter in our holiday adventure!
On a non GW note, uni is ticking away nicely; got some assignments and assessments coming up but all under control there. The way the academic year works here is such that some of my courses are almost over, going only for 2 1/2 months or so (with a total of 4 terms), after which it will only be another 2 1/2 months until the Summer holiday! This weekend I am looking at going into the flashier parts of Tokyo in the evening with my camera to see what snazzy cars I can find (in my limited experience there are plenty of Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martins and such like to be seen, so hopefully I have some good hunting!)
But for now, stay frosty out there peeps - seriously though, it's super hot here now!
Troy
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