We visited some of Japan’s most famous tourist attractions at a time when overseas tourists weren’t allowed into the country. It made for great photo ops and a more relaxed travel experience. Our trip this time took us to Himeji, Nara, Yamaguchi and a quick impromptu stop at Kyoto. We had a rental car which made things a lot more convenient and we didn’t have to walk in the cold December wind as much. Our first stop was Himeji City.
Without a doubt the best castle in Japan, Himeji Castle stands out as one of the best places to visit if you are planning a trip here. There is so much to share about our trip to Himeji Castle and the adjacent garden that it deserves a standalone post which you can find here.
After leaving Himeji Castle we went to Mount Shosha, home to Engyoji Temple. This site was the filming location for The Last Samurai (yes the Tom Cruise one) because of its old-styled temples and structures. To get up the mountain, the easiest way was to take the ropeway, otherwise it would have been an hour hike up the mountain. After taking the ropeway, we had to walk about 10 minutes to the main area.
The Engyoji Temple site consists of a sparse collection of shines, temples and traditional structures. The main temple, mani-den, was most notable for being 27th on the 33 Kannon Temple pilgrimage. What makes the temple impressive is the way it was built. It sits on wooden foundations and has its main balcony protruding out of the rock cliff. It must have taken a great feat of engineering to build such a large structure sitting halfway out of an uneven slope back in the day. Additionally, without modern vehicles, the materials other than wood and stone must have been arduously transported as the the temple is located in a secluded area of forest.
The other prominent spot in the temple site was the square that had three buildings on its perimeter. These were used mainly for training and housing for Buddhist monks but now remain disused. In more recent times, these were the buildings used as settings for the movie. There is a circuit that goes around the temple site and is littered with other small shrines. It takes around half an hour to walk the circuit if you are fast, but if you wanted to have a closer look at the buildings, it would be best to plan an afternoon. It was a totally different vibe to Himeji Castle and brought us to a different time in Japanese history. The dense forest surrounding the area creates an atmosphere that you are one with nature. It also feels like the perfect place for calm meditation.
Then we went to Nara… oh Nara… if it wasn’t for your aggressive biting deer you would have rated much higher on my list of favourite cities. We were promised semi-wild but gentle, polite creatures that roamed freely and would bow to request to be fed senbei (toasted rice snack). Instead, what we got were hungry swarms of over-zealous Pokémon which appeared not only in grassy areas but wherever we went on the slightest possibility of a senbei. They were everywhere. Waiting outside shops, roaming the shrines, crossing the road and there were even two locking horns in the middle of the walking path towards Todaiji and hissing at passersby.
Of course Nara isn’t just about the deer and the park . There are the Seven Great Temples (nanto shichi daiji). We went to three of the seven and again I have dedicated a separate post about them here. There was also Naramachi, the old merchant district of Nara which currently retains an old world feel as you walk down its many streets and alleys. Finally, there was this:
Fastest mochi maker on record. The shop name is called Nakatanidou and we sort of stumbled upon it. We didn’t even know it was there when we walked by it the first time round. Luckily we backtracked when we started seeing a crowd gather. Then two guys who we had seen on Youtube appeared and started making the mochi. I managed to get a video of them in action but I suspect it was more for show than the real process. Nonetheless, we bought one to try. It was alright, but I’m not a mochi expert so I wouldn’t be able to tell an excellent mochi from an average one. We left Nara the following morning and headed to Kyoto.
Kyoto wasn’t part of the trip initially. We decided to make a stop there to see the Golden Pavilion and Kiyomizu-dera. Perhaps the most iconic of all attractions in Japan is the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji. The pavilion is not made of real gold, but had gold foil wrapped around its exterior that gives it its colour. Entry into the pavilion is not permitted so visitors can only view it from around the lake where it is situated. The Kiyomizu-dera is a temple site with multiple buildings. The most famous of them is the main temple that has a balcony protruding out of its main structure. It was a brief but breathtaking stopover and we left Kyoto after having lunch at a kaitenzushi restaurant.
The last prefecture on this trip was Yamaguchi. We only went to one place in Yamaguchi, the Motonosumi Inari Shrine. I’m pretty sure there was more to see in Yamaguchi (indeed there are other attractions that appear on a Google search), but by that time we had gone to some of the most famous places in not only Japan but the world, and other things paled in comparison. Nevertheless, the Motonosumi Shrine was this prefecture’s offering on the list of notable places to visit in Japan. The unique feature of the shrine was the line of 123 torii gates that line the path up to the shrine. It is situated on a cliff next to the sea which provided a breathtaking view out into the horizon.
From castles and gardens to shrines and temples, the sites we visited on this trip provided us with a big window into the rich history of Japan and its culture. There were definitely places we missed out on and food we didn’t get to try, but we got to see Japan without the tourists which was an absolute privilege. It probably won’t be so quiet the next time we visit, but we’d go back to those cities any day! (maybe not to feed the deer again though…)
Mundivagant spirits 