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I have not written for a long time, not that I did not have anything to say but I was too busy at work (and it’s getting worse) but also not in the right mood to write. Well, did you ever had that feeling that when something goes wrong, everything else will follow the same way till you are broken down? Or maybe it is just that something is wrong and you cannot appreciate anything for a while…
So yeah, the couple of past weeks in Japan have been quite disappointing. The end of my stay in Japan is nearing fast and I still wanted to do and visit so many places and there is no time to spend thinking of what is the next destination. So as I woke up on a Sunday morning, I decided to go to Ise; Ise is not far from where I live, I mean speaking in Japanese distances… it is still a 3 hours ride by train. By the way, why did I choose Ise? Because I had that picture of two bounded rocks, with sacred rope in the water, in my mind. But in fact, Ise is known for two famous shrines, or should I say 1 shrine, Ise Jingu, divided into 2, the inner (Naiku) and the outer (Geku) shrines keeping 2 of the 3 symbols of Japan’ emperor family. As a matter of fact, everything that is sacred has to be protected right? so are the shrines, hidden by wooden walls; you can barely see the roofs… and the artifacts? do not even think about it. Eventhough those shrines are among the most venerated in Japan, I felt I was wandering in the countryside (yeah Ise is pretty drab) with a walk in the forest to see trees and shrines’ roof.
Funny story, I met one NEC researcher a few weeks ago and he said he was from Ise, which at the moment I thought it was nice. Now I understans why he said it was not really a good place! Even Ishikiri, the place I am living in, is more exciting than Ise.
Alright, it was rainy, the sightseeing was not extraordinary but I did not see the 2 rocks yet! There are just a train station away so let’s head for Futami and the Meoto-iwa! It was not raining that hard but being on the coastline, wind was pretty strong so you get soaked anyway. And there they are… (Ise is lost in the middle of nowhere but Futami is even more lost than that) the 2 wedded rocks… wait… aren’t they supposed to be bigger? I was cheated again, the illusion of 2 big rocks comes from the size of the tori on one of them, a dawrf would not be able to go through it! Well you got the idea, an optical illusion, really dissapointing.
So this was my last sightseeing in Japan, I wish I could go to Hokkaido but money is getting short and I have met new friends so I am gonna spend some time with them before i leave.
Oh I almost forgot, I went back to Hakone to see Mount Fuji but guess what… yeah clouds were in the party again! But being in Tokyo for a week-end and meet friends there was fun though.
Pictures will come shortly…
Mid August is the usual holiday’s season in Japan. Especially as Obon is taking place, many Japanese go back to their hometown to welcome their ancestors. This is for the traditional part… Obon’s week is probably the busiest week in Japan or maybe just after the Golden Week and every single hotel is for sure booked a long time ago in every touristy city. Luckily I decided to take my vacation one week before the rush and got to several beautiful places in Japan. The schedule was pretty tight but we (note that “we” does not refer to Sébastien and me this time) managed to enjoy the sightseeing despite the many hours we spent in trains, subways, boat, bus and other transportation.
We started at Osaka obviously on Saturday 4th, I have been in Osaka for 4 months already but never visited the castle, Ōsaka-jō. No need to say it twice, we headed there and even if the castle looks beautiful from the outside, also considering the surroundings, once inside we were a bit disappointed. The 7 floors were rebuild as a museum and not much from the original interior were kept but it is still nice to have a idea of how this castle and the surrounding evolved through the years. And as every tall building in Japan, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city (which looks endless except for the mountains far far away and the sea).
For the following days, we took the shinkansen (probably the most convenient way to travel in Japan, I wish there was shinkansen everywhere) for Tokyo and stayed there for 3 days. Of course you can spend years in that city and still have something you did not visit, but as simple tourists we just got a glimpse of it. (After all, it is the purpose of this blog right?) Also as far as I remember, I did not write a second article on Tokyo when I went there 3 months ago so I will take the chance to show a couple of pictures I took in addition to some new one. Osaka is known to be the city for food, but as a poor student I never tried the numerous delicious restaurants there. However as a tourist who wants to experience good food in Japan, we tried as many restaurants as we could during those couple of days. Maybe I should not stay a poor trainee once back in Osaka… it was so good!
The next stop of our journey was initially Mount Fuji, as I had that crazy idea and wanted to climb it (and come back in one day). It is for sure possible but many guides warn that it is not an easy walk and you should be prepared beforehand… which we were not unfortunately. Giving up that idea, I still wanted to see Mount Fuji and a good place to see it is to go to Hakone. About 1 hour from Tokyo and located at 1000m in altitude, the place is famous for its onsen and the sulphur scented hot water that comes out of the mountain. We were just 1 hour late as by the time we reached a high and god spot to see Mount Fuji, an gigantic cloud chose to take a nap up there before we could admire the sight. This is too bad as we spent hours in train, bus and rope way to get there. The good thing is that after 3 days in the Tokyo excitement, a walk in the mountains we nothing else than nature, the strong smell of sulphur (and a load of tourists…), was truly pleasant and cleared our mind.
Back to Osaka for the night, the next day is for Hiroshima! Travelling is exhausting and we got up a bit late and hit Hiroshima only around 6pm… not to say that it was quite hard to get a hotel or ryokan just for one night as the holidays are very close and something like 62 years ago on August 6, around 8 o’clock a tragedy took place in Hiroshima. You bet there have been ceremonies and people attending them. The city was not the main reason of our visit in itself, we walk around the (in)famous Genbaku Dome and the Peace Memorial Park and though the hope living in a world free of nuclear weapon is honourable, it sounds a bit unrealistic when you see the damage that occurred during the last century in the city. Also wandering at night near the dome, somehow gave me the goose and I felt uncomfortable.
The clou of the journey was Miyajima, supposedly one the three most beautiful views in Japan! And indeed it is wonderful! From Hiroshima, you go to Miyajimaguchi where you take a ferry for the island and enjoy the sight as the ferry is getting closer to the famous tori (or shrine gate). The place is delightful when the sun goes down as the water will have covered part of the coast thanks to the tides. We did not stay long enough to see that as we had a long road back to Osaka but we stayed long enough to see the tori in the water. Be warned that the deers on the island are much friendlier than their relatives in Nara, and they will not hesitate to empty your pockets, bags if you leave them unwatched for a second, in search of food or whatever that can be chewed.
Seven days passed already and this is the last week-end but no resting time! Months ago I booked tickets for the Summer Sonic Festival. A two day festival held both in Tokyo and Osaka at the same time, featuring lots of international artists as well as Japanese ones. In the heat of Osaka and a radiant sun, we enjoyed live performance of Rooney, The Fratelis, The Pillows, Kasabian and The Arctic Monkeys but there were many more artists. It is just to hard to choose among them as they were not less than 6 stages and performance started from 10am till 9pm. The incredible thing with Japanese organization is how they keep everything clean and no trouble happen… except of course for the transportation but when you think about it, thousands of thousands of people are not easy to move from one place to another in a short amount of time. That was the only bemol of the festival and I am pretty sure many people missed the last train back to Osaka’s downtown.
The journey ended in Kyoto but again, tired to the bones by the festival we were lazy and got there at 4pm… unfortunately every museum, shrine, temple and other touristy place close around 5pm. Bus are convenient in Kyoto as they go pretty much everywhere but it takes time to go through the city… luckily we arrived at the Golden Pavilion at 4.55pm and got the chance to see at least one of Kyoto’s monument, though it is a quick visit.
Je sais bien que vous attendez un article sur Tokyo et ça viendra prochainement. En fait, une partie est quand même de Tokyo dans cet article. Lors de la pause repas, mes collègues parlaient d’un bâtiment à Tokyo appelé “maru biru” ou Building rond (ou en forme cylindre), évidemment Osaka possède aussi un tel bâtiment qui a vraiment une forme de tube. Un des collègues donc, voulais comparer avec celui de Toyko (Osaka et Tokyo ont apparemment quelques rivalités…), qu’elle ne fut pas la surprise de mon collègue en découvrant que le bâtiment tokyoïte est tout à fait normal, carré et droit. Probablement une dérive de la langue japonaise qui sait.
Bref, le propos de cet article est donc d’avoir un aperçu de l’architecture moderne japonaise. Vous avez pû voir déjà à 2 reprises l’Umeda Sky Building, voyons voir ce qu’il me reste dans mon album…
Si l’architecture n’a rien de particulier en Suisse (qui sait peut-être le Learning Center à l’EPFL changera un peu le paysage motonone…), au Japon nombreux sont les bâtiments aux allures futuristes et aux formes arrondies. Ils ne se fondent pas toujours bien avec leur environement, mais ils ont l’avatage d’attirer l’oeil et une petite photo par-ci par-là. Le quartier de Roppongi à Tokyo rassemble un petit nombre de structures aux formes non-conventionnelles et essayer de les avoir toutes sur un cliché, donne l’impression que ces monstres de verre, bois et métal vont se rentrer dedans ! Omote Sando aussi vaut le coup d’oeil, centre commercial construit sur l’emplacement d’anciens appartmenents datant de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, comme beaucp de construction bien que haut, il faut aussi compter les nombreux sous-sol… l’avenue sur laquelle se trouve ce complexe est aussi appelé “Les champs Elysées” de Tokyo, de fait de nombreux cafés ou boutiques portent des noms français (probablement choisis aléatoirement dans un dictionnaire…)
De Osaka, je vous propose le centre commercial de Namba Parks, tout juste réouvert pour le mois de mai. En plus de proposer une quantité de magasin pour y faire son shopping sur 5 étages et 2 étages de restaurants, je n’ai pas encore compris je crois comment ne pas me perdre dedans…les allées en forme de vague et les transversales rendent aisées la perte de repère.
Lors de mon séjour à Tokyo, j’ai pris un grand nombre de photos, cependant je ne pense pas que ça soit possible de tout mettre dans un seul article… le problème est donc de trouver un thème pour regrouper les différents clichés pris le temps d’un week-end. Ainsi, pour ce premier article sur Tokyo, je vais me contenter des photos prises dimanche.
On a beau être dimanche, contrairement à la Suisse où il n’y a rien à faire le dimanche (à part la grasse matinée), au Japon les flux d’énergie ne s’arrêtent pas. Au programme Natsu Basho (ou plutôt matchs de sumo au Ryogoku Kokugikan), cosplay sur Harajuku et performances artistiques à Yoyogi koen. Il y a bien aussi le Temple de Yoyogi, mais il ne cadre pas spécialement avec le reste de l’article. Carte et pas journalier des métros, appareil photo (et nos valises puisque nous rentrons sur Osaka le soir), en route pour cette journée.
L’esprit du sumo n’attend pas. C’est à 8h30 que nous nous pointons devant le Ryogoku, l’arène du sumo à Tokyo, pensant qu’une foule serait déjà sur place pour acheter un billet le jour du tournoi. Que nenni ! Bien sûr nous savions que les débutants et les divisions inférieurs prenaient part à la joute le matin et que les champions ne viendraient se donner quelques baffes qu’en fin d’après-midi mais notre emploi du temps chargé nous a fait venir ici en premier lieu. Pas que le Ryogoku était désert, mais presque, ce qui n’est pas plus mal car nous avons pu déambuler un peu partout pour prendre des photos pendant que les aspirants sumos s’en donnent à coeur joie sur le dojo. La technique des rikishi n’a rien de spectaculaire, mais au moins nous avons pu assister au rituel répétitif avant chaque combat (Eurosport ne jugeant pas utile de retransmettre entièrement chaque combat, et ils ont raison au fond), je dirai que c’est assez particulier quand même ce chant pour annoncer les lutteurs. Après un peu plus de 2 heures, un changement de division et l’achat de porte-clés souvenir, nous décidons de mettre fin à cet échauffement pour nous diriger à l’autre bout de la ville pour des activités tout aussi exotiques.
Harajuku et sa place pour les cosplayers. Si l’intérêt de la foule à notre arrivée se porte sur un artiste de rue faisant la statue vivante, il retourne vite à la gent féminine venue se faire prendre en photo dans leurs tenues home made (et non pas home maid, comme des personnes pourraient le penser…). Oui j’ai dit gent féminine car le cosplay n’a apparemment que des adeptes parmi les demoiselles, vous remarquerez que le style est essentiellement gothic lolita. Heureusement pas de Naruto, Bleach et autres consorts de la sorte ici, ces derniers se réservant sûrement les conventions manga. Quoi qu’il en soit, il y a aussi une autre population sur cette place, les touristes ! Il y a d’ailleurs probablement plus de touristes ici que de Japonais, peut-être est-ce pour cela aussi qu’un groupe de « Free huggers » se sont placés sur cette place. Malheureusement, ils n’intéressent pas la foule qui passe en jetant un rapide coup d’oeil. Il faut aussi admettre que ce groupe de personnes n’est pas très expansif et l’accoutrement peut effrayer de prime abord (je serai inquiet de recevoir un câlin d’une personne accoutrée en pseudo gothique ou d’un mec déguisée en maid…). Le soleil est à son plus haut et l’ombre est rare, il est donc temps de se diriger vers l’ombre des arbres du Yoyogi koen (ou Yoyogi Park).
En ce lieu aussi, la foule déambule et pour cause. D’une part, il fait beau alors les familles, amis s’adonnent à l’activité du dimanche, pique-nique au parc, d’autre part les allées du parc voient se produire différents groupes de personnes qu’ils soient rock’n roll attitude, skaters ou music band en recherche d’un coup de pouce, tous sont là pour exprimer leur passion aux yeux et oreilles des passants. Il arrive parfois que la proximité des artistes crée une cacophonie assourdissante qui au final annihile les performances de chacun malgré les hurlements du chanteur dans le micro. Ce qui n’empêche pas les groupies de sautiller de joie devant leur groupe favori.
Vous l’aurez compris, tout est permis ici ! Et voici la galerie pour vous donner un aperçu !
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