After the visit to the fish market, we left Tokyo for Takayama, located in the mountains North of Nagoya. For this trip, everybody had to have a 14-day JR Pass, allowing us to ride on almost any train, at anytime for the duration of our trip. So we took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya, and than a local train to Gero. We had to stay there as there is a festival in Takayama and all hotels are fully booked.
We had hope that the cherry blossoms would be still in full bloom here, but again, we are just too late. We are higher up, but further South from Tokyo. However, the town does offer some picturesque views. However, our main goal is Takayama, another 1/2 hour on the train.
The old part of town has been protected and winds around a small river.
You can ride around town the ‘old fashion way’ …
As before, food is an important part of our trip. In the hotel, we are ready for our traditional dinner – Hiro and I have also decided to wear the traditional Yukata – casual wear for inside the house.
The second day, we get to experience the Takayama Festival. It is centered around a series of floats which were initially built centuries ago
They each have a mechanical puppet who does the most intricate dance
I saw two separate performances amongst a sea of people, which is why the view was not always perfect …
When the puppet needs a change of props, “magic Hands” appear from below, carefully disguised …
There are also parades
I was fascinated by one young girl, in the middle of this photo. She was beating her drum with rare energy, as if it had seriously wronged her – and she never smiled once! Since she was part of a band with mostly flute player, I surmised that she really wanted to play the flute and was mad at the band leader for forcing her to play this ‘dum drum’!
But what fascinated me the most, were the kids who rode the floats. This girl had exactly the same haircut as the puppet.
There were others, just thrilled by the big crowds
At the end of the day, though, it was time to put the floats back in their hangars – not an easy feat since they do not have a motor and all is done by ‘people power’.
We left Takayama the next day, after a visit to two sake distilleries, and a little bit of education on the finer side of this traditional Japanese drink.
This was our longest travel day, not in distance, but in just about every other way. We took a train from Gero to Takayama, another from Takayama to Nagoya and than a Shinkansen to Osaka. Two short subway rides got us to another station still in Osaka. We were in the middle of rush hour and in one subway, we were packed tighter than sardines – not easy considering that most of us were carrying two bags (I had two backpacks – a big one on my back and a smaller one between my legs). We did not have to go far, so it was an interesting experience – but I am glad I do not have to do that every day. We took two more trains, a funicular and finally a bus to get to Koya San – South of Osaka, surrounded by 7 holy mountains. The two is full of temples as it is one of the most important ‘teaching’ center of buddhism in Japan. We actually stayed in one of these monasteries and were awakened at 6:30 AM to participate in two of the morning ceremonies that the monks have to do (no pictures allowed – sad to say). Here is the entrance to our ‘hotel’
The town is very picturesque
but not the reason why many pilgrims come here all year long
The largest cemetery in Japan is located here caled Okuno-In. It has been active for hundreds of years and contains tens of thousands of grave-sites all built inside a beautiful forest.
You even had the obligatory black raven …
Every space, no matter how small, is used as a shrine or memorial
In the afternoon, we visited the most important temple in town: Kongobu-Ji. It is home to one of the best and largest rock garden in Japan. The rocks represent the head and back of a dragon sticking above the clouds (gravel). This picture does not do justice to the real thing …
By now, you must be asking: what does this have to do with food? We has another feast at the end of our stay in Koya San, served by the training monks …
Next stop – Osaka, after a bus, the funicular and several trains of course…
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You’re covering a lot of ground on this trip!
As souvenirs for our sons, we bought yukata at a shop in Kyoto. I’m not sure that they’re totally practical, but they are easier to wear than a full kimono.
I’m not sure how drumming fits into flute performances. The size of the drum that the girl is beating looks like the big taiko drum. If I saw more of her motion — you said that she was beating hard — I could judge whether she’s a real taiko drummer. They tend to have these ridiculous poses that look cool, but are really difficult to maintain — as well as being extremely bad for posture.
You’ve certainly gotten away from the cities. That’s parts of Japan that I might like to see someday, but at the current point in my life, it’s enough just to get around the neighbourhoods where I am. Diana seems to be travelling a bit more with me these days, as the boys are older, so we’ll see what happens over the next few years.