Ancient Nara

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Saturday, 12/02/2011 10:00, Kozenji, Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture
We woke up after a late-night manly beer session and found out that most of us had already ventured into the nearby mountains to explore some abandoned railway tunnels. Since the rain was pouring heavily, Grega and I decided not to go hiking. Instead, we went to visit our friends in Nara and see some of the ancient city. Yes, just like Kyoto and Kamakura, Nara used to be the capital of Japan. It can, however, boast being the first capital of the classical Japanese state back in the VIII century. Out of political reasons, the capital was then moved to the newly built Kyoto, yet Nara remained an important religious and commercial centre. It is sometimes still referred to as 'Nanto', which means 'southern capital', in opposition to Kyoto lying to the north.

Saturday, 12/02/2011 12:00, Nara Station
After a four train changes we finally got to the central station. We were welcomed by the locals - Emmanuel and his girlfriend Yuko, whom we had met the previous day in Kyoto. Together we ventured into the nearby Nara Park and I was immediately struck by the view of one of the town's symbols - the sika deers. The vast park and it's surroundings are inhabited by tamed deers, which according to a legend came to Nara with a god to protect the newly established capital. The deers wander carelessly around the streets and alleys, not being intimidated by passers-by or even cars. Mostly they are harmless and even bow to you in response (amazing trick) but once they spot food or any other item of interest, they can become a bit insolent to get it from your hands or even pockets (they ate one of my friends' paper temple ticket he had in his trouser's back pocket). Fortunately, their horns are regularly trimmed.

Anyway, we eventually reached the National Treasure of Todai-ji ('Eastern Great Temple') from the VIII century: home of the great Buddha statue and one of the biggest wooden buildings in the world. Honestly, it made a huge impression on me and is probably the most beautiful and overwhelming temple I've seen in Japan so far. Also by that time the sky cleared up a bit and allowed us to admire Todai-ji in it's full sunshine glory, from the Nandaimon (the Great Southern Gate) and it's two Nio guard statues to the middle gate, the Main Hall and the Daibutsu, the biggest copper Buddha statue in the world. The Daibutsu actually didn't look bigger than the Kamakura one, but that's maybe because it was located indoors. At the temple we met with the rest of our Nara friends: Nadia and Giuseppe and some guests from Yamaguchi (Marco) and Tokyo (Fifi).

After seeing the marvels of Todai-ji we retreated to have lunch in a local ramen joint and spent some time in a European style cafe recommended by Yuko. Some persuasive phone calls later we were joined by the tunnel hiking team and in full force went back to Nara Park to see some sort of light festival with beautiful illuminated decorations and very original artistic compositions of projected images. If this sounds dull and unclear, check out the attached movie. We also passed through another precious temple - Kofuku-ji.

In the end, we had a group dinner at an Indian restaurant, paid a short visit to our friends' dormitory and rushed back to catch the last train to Kozenji. Nara definitely surprised me in a positive way and felt so different then the nearby and also historic Kyoto. Modelled after old Chinese capitals, Nara seemed ancient, calm and harmonious. The deers wandering freely among humans also added to the magical impression of a bit forgotten city, where the time stood still and kept the past beauty alive. The bonus movie shows how traditional Japanese sweets are made in the streets of Nara.

Snow over Kyoto

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Thursday, 10/02/2011 22:50, Shinjuku, Tokyo
After a long day at NTT and a sleepy train ride to Tokyo I found myself at the foot of the towering Shinjuku Center Building, waiting for the charter bus to take me for my long awaited weekend. The cold February wind, blowing relentlessly between skyscrapers left me shivering even as I took my seat, lit a small light above my head and started reading Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita'. In the famous book, a devilish stranger was described. One of the characters commented on his unpleasant appearance saying that he was probably Polish. After my eyes got tired, I lulled myself to sleep with The Cure's 'Kyoto Song'. I was to wake up in that city.

Friday, 11/02/2011 6:00, Kyoto Station
An even colder wind welcomed me in the past capital, hitting my face with a stingy mixture of rain and snow. Accompanied by the sound of my teeth I literally ran to the station building to hide myself from the storm. After a short tour of a rather unimpressive mall I realised that everything except an overcrowded McDonald's was still closed. Fortunately I was soon joined by Diego and Javier, who came with different buses. Since we still had to wait for the arrival of other friends, we decided to explore a bit more, led by Javi, who fortunately had already visited Kyoto during Christmas and knew his way around the main locations. First of all, Kyoto station's main hall blew my mind with it's astonishing modern architecture and a massive staircase leading to the "Happy Terrace" from where a beautiful panorama of the city could have been seen if not for the snowstorm fog. Fortunately, Bartek and Tomek didn't get lost and arrived around 9.00. Also, I found out soon enough that my summer shoes were not well suited for the weather and spend the next few hours looking for an open shop on a National Foundation holiday, only to settle for an expensive department store with golden knobs and butlers. But at least I got a pair of decent shoes.

On the way we saw the landmark Kyoto Tower, entered the courtyard of the huge Hongan-ji (Temple of the Primal Vow) and marveled at it's beautiful black gate covered in snow. This Founder's Hall Gate is supposed to be the largest wooden structure in the world... Anyway, we crossed the Kamo River, inhabited by some freezing cranes, and wandered around eastern Kyoto's atmospheric, narrow streets leading mainly to restaurants, gift shops and traditional Japanese inns. Eventually we got to Gion - the old geisha district, well-known among gaijins for being the setting of 'Memoirs of a geisha' novel/movie. We were lucky enough to actually meet some geishas taking a walk through the calm alleys. Although it was probably a bit rude, we still had to ask them to be kind enough and take pictures with us, which they did. At that moment I fully realised I made another of my dreams come true. I was in the beautiful Kyoto, surrounded by primeval wooden buildings as dignified as the delicately smiling geishas. Everything was important, filled with tradition and I thought that view, that scenery, that feeling were the reasons I came to Japan in the first place.

As the wet rooftops glittered in the shy February sun and the last remnants of the morning snow began to disappear, we plunged deeper into the dreamy surroundings. Creepy street art, the tall Yasaka pagoda, Hello Kitty Geisha and much more... With a bit of delay we finally got to the impressive Kiyomizu-dera, a temple of "pure water" placed on a hill with a beautiful view of the cityscape. How about descending into the main hall pitch-black basement where the only light source was the dim love stone, granting a single wish upon touching? Also at the temple we caught up with Grega and Jarek, our benevolent hosts for the weekend, who took us right away for a local speciality lunch (okonomiyaki and yakisoba).

We spent the rest of the afternoon roughly following the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site and there's truly too much write about. We saw the enormous war memorial statue of Bodhisattva (Ryozen Kannon), a wedding, Maruyama Park, cemeteries and got lost in a bamboo forest, where my camera's battery eventually died. Towards the end of our excursion, we were joined by Emmanuel and his lovely girlfriend and were ready for the final temple for the day - the silver Ginkaku-ji with it's precisely crafted garden. That was the limit of our endurance and after a dinner in an oddly Chinese restaurant we called it a day and headed for our well-deserved rest in Kozenji. What a day it was!

Old Tokyo

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Actually, there is no such thing as an "Old Tokyo". Unlike most of big European cities, the capital of Japan doesn't have a typical old town or even any other major concentration of old architecture. Whatever historical sites are still left to see, they are pretty much scattered all over the metropolis and well hidden in between modern urban areas. This makes Tokyo a city of interesting contrast but also deprives its visitors of chance to experience the past Japan. Of course it is still possible to taste a bit of the samurai life while walking around some narrow, crowded bazaars or picturesque temple parks but these are all together quite rare in comparison with more present-day-like districts. As a result, those wanting to really immerse themselves in the past should take a trip to Kyoto, the old capital, and it's surrounding cities like Kobe, Osaka and Nara, where the old is still well preserved and Japanese traditions seem to be more visible than in the westernised Tokyo. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to go there yet, so right now I want to share with you my impressions about some historical sites of the Eastern Capital (and this is what the name 'Tokyo' stands for, in opposition to Kyoto lying to the west).

Tokyo is a relatively old city, dating back to Kamakura period, when it was simply a small fishing village with no significance at all, then called Edo, after a minor samurai clan that was governing it. In the late 12th century it was first fortified and in 1457 the Edo castle was built in the place where the Imperial Palace now stands. Throughout the course of history, Edo became more important and in 1590 it was finally obtained by Tokugawa Ieyasu, a powerful warlord, whose mausoleum is now in Nikko. When Tokugawa became the shogun and de facto ruler of Japan in 1603, Edo's rank and wealth grew as the new military capital, while the Emperor, the highest priest, was still residing in Kyoto. By the 18th century Edo was already the biggest city in the world with a population of around one million inhabitants (almost twice as populous as the biggest European cities of that time, London and Paris). The picture (or rather photochrom) below shows the panorama of the city around 1865.

The Japanese political schism came to an end in 1868 as a result of the civil Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. The Emperor moved to Edo in 1869, making it the official imperial capital and the single military, religious and cultural centre. The city was renamed as Tokyo and the Edo Castle became the Imperial Palace. Tokyo entered the period of rapid growth and versatile development, which more or less continues to the present day. So what are the reasons for Tokyo losing most of its old urban areas and replacing them with modern structures? Unfortunately, the capital suffered some incredible catastrophes as well, mostly in the first half of the 20th century. First of all, the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake devastated most of Tokyo and Yokohama in only 10 minutes, killing up to 150.000 people. Not only was Tokyo hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded in Japanese history, but also by extremely high winds from a nearby typhoon, that caused the fires to rapidly spread all around the city.

The other catastrophe (and by far worse) was the bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It started in 1942 as a 'morale breaker' and a direct response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but soon changed into a full scale strategic bombing of 1944 and 1945. The fire showers consumed most of the beautiful old wooden buildings and more than 50% of the city was destroyed. The estimated number of 100.000 deaths seems to be greatly lowered by both American and Japanese authorities interested in maintaining the friendship between both nations. Unfortunately the savage bombings of Tokyo by the USA are not a well-known fact, despite being maybe more devastating than both Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombings combined.

Going back to the present matters, it is really amazing how Tokyo has managed to recover from all these damages, transforming into a true global city and still keeping some of its bygone charm. Bits of it are well visible in the district of Ueno with it's well-known park and a neighbourhood of finest cultural sites, like three National Museums, temples, shrines, libraries and a lively street market. There's also Japan's oldest and most famous zoo established in the late XIX century. Another place worth seeing is the Asakusa district, home to the great Senso-ji, an ancient Buddhist temple from the VII century (the capital's oldest). Asakusa used to be Tokyo's main entertainment district with many theaters (later cinemas), festivals and a small carnival. Although it is now far less popular with the young people than newer districts like Shibuya or Shinjuku, it's still a major touristic attraction. It is said that Asakusa's narrow alleys (like the pretty Nakamise-dori), filled with traditional music coming from shop speakers and the smell of food hastily prepared in street stalls, are somehow reminiscent of Kyoto. And there are also 45 actively working geishas in the area.

Finally, the most impressive historical area of Tokyo must be the Imperial Palace itself and it's surrounding Gardens. Located in Chiyoda district, the huge Palace area consist of the Emperor's residencies, archives, museums and administrative buildings. Unluckily, normal visitors are not allowed into the heavily guarded inner grounds, including the seven-winged Kyuden (the main palace), and can only stroll around the Gardens, watching the palace from afar. There are special times of year, however, when everyone is allowed inside. These include the Emperor's birthday on December 23rd, when he even greets the cheering crowd that gathers in the Reception Hall. This year I was unable to attend, maybe I'll go some other time. And this concludes the small tour around the capital's history. The bonus movie shows a small shrine in Harajuku visited by me and my good friends a while ago after a night out in Tokyo.

In the city of the future

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...it is difficult to concentrate. For someone born and raised in a very beautiful but still quite marginal periphery of Europe, the modern Tokyo seems like a city of tomorrow. Not everything here is perfect, obviously, but for the most part it's a relatively clean, well-organised, safe and truly exciting place. Also very different from some big metropolises of the Old Continent I've visited, since it combines the all-around comforts of technology and state of the art urbanisation with traditional elements of Japanese culture and popculture. So next to the tallest glass towers there are some small wooden temples snoozing quietly in lovely parks with fish-filled ponds. Just a few steps after the biggest crossing with six-lane multilevel streets, five different pedestrian bridges and ten lines of metro, monorail and regular train intersecting above and below, you can stumble upon a narrow picturesque street with traditional small stores, ramen shops and stalls selling all kinds of stuff. Tokyo is a delightful city of many colorful contrasts.

At times, however, it can be somewhat depressing. In this ocean of people, wealth, fashions and success you can painfully see how small, unnecessary, insignificant and imperfect you are. And the everlasting loneliness is multiplied by all the passers-by you want to talk to or touch but you can't... by all the places you want to go but don't have time... by all the things you want to have but can't afford. And you miss your previous life back in Europe, your friends and loved ones, your favourite places and drinks but you grow apart and they start to be just memories, fading away each day. But than you realise that you can't really replace them here with anything new because of this perpetual loneliness and isolation. Finally, you find yourself suspended in this dream world, not wanting to go back home but also not having anything to look forward to or even relate in to this surrealism. Maybe it's the language, maybe the mentality, maybe the stereotypes or fear of rejection but it's so hard to really integrate and finally feel secure, valuable. Only the everyday obligations like school or work can keep you in touch with reality but kind of suffocate you at the same time, which doesn't help in the long run.

Tokyo is neither an utopia nor a dystopia, it's just a few years ahead of the world I'm used to. It's definitely not a soulless concrete giant like some like to depict it. Even though it sometimes tends to bring up some gloomy feelings, I got to like it a lot, but it's more of an addiction by now. Still being in one of the biggest, if not the biggest city in the world gives me some satisfaction. And I'm not done exploring it yet. Linked to this post you can find some pictures I took all around Tokyo that I think correspond to it's futuristic, astonishing nature. But mostly they are just random. They show the most impressive commercial and business districts of Shinjuku and Chuo (both alternatively considered de facto city centres) but also some more obscure places visited with my friends. Enjoy... and check out the Radioheads.

Nikko is Nippon

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Nikko, which means "sunshine", is a small town located around 150 km north of Tokyo, exactly between the capital city and Aizu Wakamatsu. It is placed in an impressively mountainous surroundings highlighting the most representative and beautiful features of the natural Japanese landscape. Dense forests, lakes, waterfalls and hot springs, as well as monkeys running through the streets of small picturesque settlements. Combine it with some well visible cultural and historical sites and you'll get a perfect short-term trip destination for Japanese and Gaijinese tourists. On the last weekend of November we also decided to visit Nikko in order to escape from the city and for a second forget about the upcoming horrors of school, like tests and final presentations. The team consisted of some of my European friends, Taiwanese girls from the School and Matija (a guest star from Slovenia), who came to Japan to visit his brother and one of the Vulcanuses, Grega. Complicated enough? Ok then...

We took the early Saturday morning train from Asakusa and by noon were already accommodated in a cold but cosy hostel right next to the Nikko station. The owner was very friendly and, being used to hordes of foreigners visiting his place, spoke some pretty good English. After a brief lunch (and a visit paid to a Hello Kitty shop) we headed for the nearby mountains by a bus packed with eager hikers - native as well as Russian, Indian, Chinese, Spanish (we met a couple from Barcelona at the hostel), etc. The view from the windows was truly breathtaking - as the overcrowded bus climbed up the spiral of steep slopes, we could easily admire the rocky horizon of the entire Tochigi Prefecture. Japan (or the Tokyo Area, to be precise) is generally much warmer than Poland and even in late November the weather is pleasantly warm. But the cold air from mount Nantai really made us remember that the winter was coming.

That did not, however, stop us from exploring the area - we saw the impressive Kegon falls and some Japanese macaques (the famous Snow Monkeys) hanging out on the rooftops. Some of them were even bold enough to approach us asking for food (fortunately they seem harmless). After strolling around the magnificent Chuzenji lake (brilliant light) we stopped for some hot chocolate in a wooden coffee house. Just a small trip to local Kotoku hot springs and we could go back to Nikko to get some well deserved rest. The night bus trip downward was crazy and nothing short of a roller coaster ride, leaving me quite dazed. And in the hostel we managed to wake some poor Japanese guy and an Australian girl up with our whispering. The Sydneysider told me about her trip to Poland and how she loved Cracow. The 'Nature' day was over.

The next morning we were woken up by the town's trademark beautiful sunshine and with good moods set out to marvel at the monuments during the 'Culture' day. We basically toured Nikko's World Heritage Site, which at that time of year was still elegantly decorated with the autumn leaves. We started from the old Japanese garden (Shoyo-en). The one in Wrocław, although simply beautiful, is still nothing compared to the real thing. Very close was the Treasure House, a small gallery with portraits of all the shoguns as well as some old pieces of art. We visited the Rinno temple dating back as far as the 8th century and saw the enormous golden statues in the Three Buddha Hall, making the one in Kamakura look a bit poor (no pictures were allowed, though).

Then we continued to the impressive 17th century Tosho-gu shrine, which holds the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu himself and his grandson Iemitsu, both great and respected shoguns. The shrine's other attractions include the Three Wise Monkeys (yes, the famous "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" statue), a small tour of an old Japanese brewery and of course a traditional five-storied pagoda. Needless to say, we saw a lot of wonders that day, like the Sacred Bridge Shinkyo (which you cannot cross) at the Futarasan shrine and countless gates, wooden sculptures, detailed altars and many more. Enchanted by all of this, the delicious food (fried octopus? why not?) and good friend's company, we finally took the evening train to Tokyo. We got enough positive energy to deal with the passing of everyday human events.