Hello all! Winter is definitely on its way out now, with some quite mild days breaking up the crisp and clear winter Tokyo I've settled into - though on the whole it's not been a very harsh winter, especially compared to last winter which had almost unprecedented levels of snow dumped on the city.
Andrew has been and gone, having spent a few weeks exploring the country from Kyoto and Osaka all the way up to Tokyo. I enjoyed having him around in Tokyo for some of that time, as we went around the classic tourist spots, as well as a few places I've never been before.
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| Another "Me with friend at Hachiko" photo |
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| Sensoji Temple in Asakusa |
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| The Mausoleum of the Tokugawa Shoguns in Shibaura |
While Andrew has been here however, I had an opportunity through the organisation that runs my dormitory to visit Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures in the north of the country. They are on the Pacific Coast, being the second and third from the top respectively, and were both hit pretty hard by the tsunami in 2011. The purpose of the trip was to look at earthquake and tsunami recovery projects, but also to go to some tourist spots; the cities in this area have largely recovered their infrastructure and so on, with revitalisation of their tourist sector being the next stage of recovery. In addition to being further north in Japan than I've even been before, the trip also had the benefit of being entirely paid for, so I felt it was rude not to really!
I got up early last Tuesday morning to meet up at the front of the dorm, boarding a bus with 30 odd other residents, my friend Viktor included, and we went by coach bus to Tokyo station, whereupon we boarded a shinkansen (my first since 2011) to go for several hours far north. It was amazing to see the landscape change from metropolis to suburbs to green (ish) scenery to very grey and cold looking nothingness the further north we went.
After arriving in Iwate, our first stop by chartered bus was Chusonji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the head temple of the Tendai Sect of Buddhism in Tohoku (North East Japan). Founded in 850, the current set up was constructed in early 12th Century by a lord who had united the area (Fujiwara). It features a huge golden pavilion (inside a fireproof ferro concrete building), which is adorned in gold leaf and mother of pearl inlay. Unfortunately no photography of the inside was allowed, but it was very impressive looking, and inside the pavilion there are three altars, each depicting Nirvana in different ways; under which there lies the remains of the first three Fujiwara lords, and the head of the fourth. The structure was the first of its form in Japan, indicating the Fujiwara lord who built it was very devout, but also keen to push the envelope in terms of design and architecture. Apparently Marco Polo heard about it on his travels, and despite never visiting he described it as a palace with floors of gold as thick as two fingers (slight exaggeration there).
The whole 130+ hectare complex was pretty snowy and bleak when we visited, giving it a very moody atmosphere - this was appropriate as one of the plains below the temple was the site of a huge battle the late 12th century, when warlords from the south brought the north into the fold, stabilising feudal Japan and heralding the start of the Kamakura Era.
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| The ferroconcrete structure housing the original gold pavilion |
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| A pensive Tendai Monk |
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| A hall for training monks in Tendai Buddhism |
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| Very cold and bleak |
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The plain where 20,000+ warriors clashed for the control of the region in the late 12th Century
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The second place we visited was another UNESCO temple, Motsuji Temple. Founded in 850, the place was extended by the second Fujiwara lord, and completed by the third. After the Fujiwara domain was conquered by warlords from the south at the end of the 12th century, most of the 40 temple buildings were destroyed, but the Taoist Pond (Oizumi ga Ike) remains, in addition to the rebuilt main structure - apparently an Emperor in the post war era was saddened by the destruction of such an extensive demonstration of piety he commanded it be rebuilt. In addition to being a World Heritage Site, it is one of nine Special Places of Scenic Beauty in Japan, making it quite an important place for tourism purposes (which I think is why we went there as part of a tourism reinvigoration scheme)
The general gloominess of the day made it less beautiful and more oppressive than perhaps UNESCO recognises it as being, but there was no doubt the place was impressive. The pond, which is designed to have an East-West current flowing in line with Taoist principles, was frozen over, but we were told that in Summer it is particularly impressive. While the temple buildings were not as impressive as Chusonji, the golden Buddha altar was very pretty to look at, and it felt as though it got more use as a functioning place.
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| Solid ice pond |
In the hall with red lacquer and the golden altar, there is a secret door which is opened every 30 years to reveal an even more impressive statue - the last time was in 2000, so in another 14 years it will be open to the public for a year.
After we left this temple, it was into Miyagi Prefecture for our accommodation in Kesennuma City. Kesennuma is famous for its shark products (more than just shark fins), and was quite badly hit by the tsunami, with water surging through the narrow mouth of its harbour and resulting in a wall of water that was over 7m high in the city - google Kesennuma and most of the first hits will reveal articles and Youtube videos of devastated fishing industry and ships resting on the roads. When we got out of the bus to go to a lecture by one of the local industry heads, we noticed a sign which marked the height of the water at its worst.
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| This is the second floor of the building |
We were given a talk by the head of the local power company, talking about the shift to sustainable energy production that moved away from petroleum/oil burning - the city had a huge inferno during the tsunami as it knocked over oil storage tanks, which resulted in large oil slicks on the water throughout the city which subsequently ignited; not only did buildings have significant water damage on their lower levels, but the upper levels were incinerated (slightly paradoxical). Instead the power company utilises wood chips harvested from forest thinning, done by community foresters, as part of a forest management plan. These woodchips are then turned into carbon monoxide gas which drives turbines - using them to heat water to make steam for turbines requires more investment and scale for profitability with the associated extra facilities, making it a cost effective solution that employs a large sector of the community not involved in fisheries.
Our hotel was closeby, and looked like it was built during the height of the Japanese boom economy in the 1980s, with lots of gaudy gold and reflective surfaces, chandeliers everywhere. Our rooms were traditional Japanese style, and we were all given yukata, which we spent most of our time in. Dinner was a multiple course affair in a huge banquet hall complete with stage and very yellow lighting. As we were eating, the curtain on the stage lifted, and a taiko drumming group started beating. If this wasn't enough of a surprise, then the entrance doors opened up and a "tiger" came out, dancing to the drums as it walked between our tables - very fierce!
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| Rather bleak view from the hotel, showing the harbour mouth where the tsunami came in |
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| The lighting was truly difficult to work with |
With dinner and a show complete, we had our group photo and then had the evening to ourselves, doing onsen (geothermally heated baths) and meeting new people - the former featuring an outdoor part which was quite nice combining the snow/rainfall with hot salt water.
The next morning it was up early for breakfast and then onto the Sanriku Railway, which was taken out of commission by the tsunami for three years. We had the entire line to ourselves for this trip, and our guide stopped the train at various points to point out areas of interest. The line goes for 33km and has 19 tunnels as it snakes uphill - the northern parts of the track were apparently utilised as tsunami defences, though the tsunami went over sections of track that had been adequate during previous tsunami. We also saw extensive reconstruction and earthwork going on, with huge sea walls and levees being constructed - on the upper reaches of the track it could be clearly seen how the houses on the inland side had benefited from the presence of the track, being largely unaffected by water, while the other side was entirely new construction, if not abandoned land. We also saw a poplar tree which was part of an estuarine forest of 700,000 trees; after the tsunami only one largely bare tree remained, making it something of a local icon.
After disembarking the train at Kamaishi Station in Iwate Prefecture, we headed to the Kamaishi Iron History Museum, a monument to the towns extensive iron history and iron magnate Takato Oshima, who built Japan's first modern smelter in 1858. There was a scale model of the furnace, with a video explaining the history, but the entire museum was in Japanese with no English translations, so getting an accurate picture in the short time we had was a bit difficult. Mostly it was looking at iron ore and iron tools, so we left questioning why we visited; as it was largely irrelevant to us without any context or development.
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| Iron stuff |
Our final destination was the Miyazawa Kenji Museum, dedicated to a famous author, poet, farmer and teacher from the region. He wrote some famous works about the cosmos, cats, and farming, and led something of a tragic life, dying aged 37 or so in the early mid 1900s, but left a lasting impression on Tohoku, which was always very close to his heart. As with many places on this trip, photography inside was prohibited, and while they did a better job with translations here than the Iron Museum, as each panel used a different QR code, getting to each translation was a bit clunky, and again the relevance of it to our particular interests was dubious at best. Nevertheless, being on top of a hill in a slurry cloud gave the outside a very spooky atmosphere, even if it did chill us to our bones!
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| As Miyazawa had an affinity for cats, many things are cat themed here - in this case the gift shop |
Following on from the museum, we boarded our coach bus to go back to the station, where we boarded the shinkansen and made our way back to Odaiba via Tokyo Station. All in all it was quite an interesting visit, an opportunity to go up north to places that are a bit out of the way and definitely not on the main tourist trail, and of course being free I couldn't really pass it up (or complain about the last couple of museums). We had some good food and fun times, and while many of the places are a bit niche for tourism, the two temples from the first day are definitely worthwhile if anyone was to find themselves up in Iwate Prefecture.
This week is largely uneventful, work, research and general pottering around, but on Saturday my friend Perry is coming to Tokyo for a week, so it'll be more touristy stuff to come! This time next month my parents will be in Japan along with my grandmothers and a family friend, and I will also be in a very different climate, as Tokyo University is sending me to Hawaii for a week - very exciting! With all these goings on there is sure to be another blog in the works soon, so keep an eye out :D
Til then, stay frosty out there - like half of the photos in this blog
Troy
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