Japan Travel Guide

photo credit: RachelH_

photo credit: skl8em

photo credit: skl8em

photo credit: ensign_at_e233net

Horyuji
- The oldest wooden building in the world, and where Silk Road culture blends in perfectly -

Horyuji Temple was the first Japanese world heritage site registered back in 1993. Hoki-ji Temple is also registered as a world heritage site.

The core temple, Horyuji, was built in the year 607 by Shotoku Taishi, a politician of that time. Thirty-eight national treasures and 151 important cultural assets are preserved on the temple’s vast premises, and it is a treasure house of Japanese art; at the same time it is also known as the oldest wooden structure in the world. This complex is divided into the Western Precinct centering on the Kondo (main building) and Goju-no-tou (five-story pagoda) and the Eastern Precinct centering on the Yumedono (dream pavilion). The remarkable feature of this temple is you can see patterns everywhere in which the Silk Road culture and unique Japanese culture are subtly and perfectly blended.

The Kondo houses precious sculptures including the “Shaka sanzon-zo” statue designated as a national treasure. The Goju-no-tou standing to the west of the Kondo at 32.6 m high is the oldest wooden tower in the world. It has a Japanese tile roof with a beautifully curved shallow slope. The term “Tou” indicates a tomb in which a relic of Buddha is placed, and a container for a relic rests in this Gojunotou as well. On the wall of the first floor there is a realistic, expressively drawn scene of Buddha on his deathbed.

The Yumedono, the central building in the Eastern Precinct, is an octagonal building constructed in 739 for the purpose of holding a memorial service for Shotoku Taishi. Inside this building stands the Guze Kanon-zo statue, considered to be a life size portrait of Shotoku Taishi. For years, the statue has remained wrapped in white cloth as a secret statue of Buddha withheld from public display for religious reasons and consequently has suffered almost no damage over time. Now it is on public view at certain periods during spring and autumn.

photo credit: kikmoyoo

photo credit: ddkkpp

photo credit: ddkkpp

photo credit: ddkkpp

Yakushima
- Welcome to Princess Mononoke’s Forest -

Yakushima is a round-shaped island situated approx. 60 km south from the southern end of Osumi Peninsula in the southern part of Kagoshima prefecture. One fifth of the island is registered as a natural heritage site. There are as many as 6 mountain peaks over 1,800 m high including Miyanoura-dake (1,935 m above sea level), the highest mountain in Kyushu, and this is what gives the island its other name-the ‘Alps on the ocean’.

The bedrock of the island is granite, and it is said that a ridge thrown up by movement in the earth’s crust is what formed the island. The influence of the climate and air masses is very complex, and the main feature of this area is that temperature and seasonal changes are the largest on earth. It is possible to see plants from both subtropical zones and cold temperate zones on the island. It rains so much in this area that it is said that it ‘rains 35 days of the month’, and we can see many rare animals and plants due to the abundance of water and the changes in temperature at different altitudes. The range of flora is very wide, from coral reefs to alpine plants, and among the animals, there are those that display traits unique to Yakushima such as the Yaku monkey and Yaku deer.

The term ‘Yaku sugi (Japanese cedar)’, the symbol of Yakushima, is used only for cedar trees over 1000 years old. Yaku sugi growing in the area covered by clouds and mist sometimes extend roots even from the leaves and stalks and form themselves into strange shapes. A cedar discovered in 1996 and situated at an altitude of 1350 m is assumed to be the largest and the oldest in the world, and is called ‘Jomon sugi’ (there are various theories as to its age, from 2170 to 7200 years old).

Apart from this, there are many other good sightseeing spots such as ‘Shiratani Unsuikyo’ where you can take a walk in the forest of Yaku sugi; ‘Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen’ where you can bathe in a spa right next to the sea; ‘Ooko-no-taki’ as the tallest waterfall with the largest amount of water in Yakushima and selected as one of the 100 waterfalls of Japan; ‘Senpiro-no-taki’ where the water falls approx. 66 m on to a gigantic granite monolith; ‘Yakushima lighthouse’ where you can see the deep blue ocean spreading out to the horizon and a beautiful sandy beach ‘Sango-no-hama (coral shore)’ that is known as a spot where you can collect star-shaped sand. If you want to experience canoeing or forest bathing or take a tour of the whole island with a veteran guide, it would be a good idea to book a reservation on a tour.

photo credit: James Trosh

photo credit: James Trosh

Hiroshima Genbaku Dome
- Keep Love & Peace now and forever-

The Genbaku Dome is the ruin of the former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall that was destroyed when the first atomic bomb, named “Little Boy”, in human history was dropped by an American air force bomber on August 6, 1945. Because the atomic blast was almost directly above this spot, the walls of the building were partially spared from destruction, and the characteristic form of the building remained with the iron frame of the dome.

This building representing Hiroshima, the first city to fall victim to nuclear bombing is registered as a world heritage site as a symbol of prayer for permanent world peace and the elimination of all nuclear weapons. There are only a few world heritage sites having this kind of negative side, including “Auschwitz Birkenau Concentration Camp (Poland)” where the Nazi Germans slaughtered Jewish people, the “Island of Goree (Senegal)” that was used as a base in the slave trade and “Robben Island (Republic of South Africa)” where people opposed to apartheid were imprisoned. These sites are registered to remind us of the tragedies that occurred there and to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

On the opposite bank of the Motoyasu River that runs past the Genbaku Dome, is the Peace Memorial Park where you will find the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound, Children’s Peace Monument and a cenotaph for atomic bomb victims. In front of the Hiroshima Peace City Monument in Peace Memorial Park, a peace memorial ceremony is held on August 6th every year to comfort the spirits of the people who died in the bombing and to pray for world peace.

photo credit: jetalone

photo credit: Kyosuke

photo credit: jetalone

photo credit: TRWV001

Shiretoko
- Feel real wild life, and taste the breeze -
Shiretoko, a new natural heritage site registered only in July 2005, is considered to be the last pristine wilderness remaining in Japan. Shiretoko is a long narrow peninsula located in northeastern Hokkaido. The volcanic Shiretoko mountain range runs down the center of the peninsula and includes the highest peak of the range, Rausu-dake (1,661 m above sea level) and the active volcano Iouyama. The Sea of Okhotsk lies on the western side of the range and the Nemuro Straits on the eastern side. The coastline cliffs facing the Sea of Okhotsk rise up more than 100 m high, and you can glimpse waterfalls large and small cascading directly into the sea, and colonies of seabirds.

The salmon and trout that breed in the sea off Shiretoko are an important food resource supporting the terrestrial ecosystem with rare birds such as Blakiston’s fish owl, Steller’s sea eagle and the white-tailed sea eagle, as well as brown bears. The Shiretoko ecosystem is a dramatically clear example of the linkage between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and it is considered an important wildlife reserve, with unique features unlike any other in the world.

Shiretoko, blessed with mountains, lakes and an abundance of plants and animals, offers many places of interest throughout the seasons. A good example is the Shiretoko Goko or Shiretoko Five Lakes, situated on a lava plateau surrounded by old-growth forest. The five lakes don’t have individual names; they are referred to by number from Lake No. 1 to Lake No. 5. If you take a stroll along the walking trail (takes approximately 1 hour), you may see wild animals and will certainly enjoy the beauty of the changing seasons.

In the autumn, when the mountains are adorned in red and yellow, the hoards of salmon and trout swarming up river to spawn are an incredible sight. In winter, there is also beautiful scenery as the drifting ice changes the Sea of Okhotsk into a white snowfield. There are various nature experience programs available at the site such as night tours for animal watching under wonderful starlit skies, daytime treks for alpine plant spotting while surrounded by birds singing, or nature watching enjoying waterfalls and wild animals while walking along the trail. It is highly recommended to contact Shiretoko Nature Center before departing.

more info :
http://www.shiretoko.or.jp/en/
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1193

photo credit: lucamascaro

Nikko Toshogu

Toshogu is where Ieyasu Tokugawa (ruling from 1603 to 1605) is enshrined; he was the first shogun of the Edo Shogunate, which flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries. As many as 127,000 craftsmen were involved in constructing the shrine, using the highest level of technology available at the time. The two-story “Yomei-mon Gate”, decorated with brilliant colors and over 500 sculptures, is particularly famous. It is also called “Higurashi-mon (sunset gate)”, because people spend all day long gazing at its beauty.

If you pass under Yomei-mon, turn right and enter the avenue leading to the shrine at the back, you will see the “Sleeping Cat” overhead, a national treasure created by legendary master Hidari Jingoro. The story behind the carving is that the cat was to ward off mice, because it is situated near the gate leading to the grave of Ieyasu. In the “Shinkyusha (sacred stable)” for the horses serving God, there is a series of 8 carved boards on which the life of a monkey is illustrated, from birth to pregnancy, caricaturing human life. One of the sculptures, the “Three Monkeys”, is famous throughout the world for the “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” poses. The carved monkeys covering their eyes, ears and mouth, respectively, were inspired by the Buddhist teaching that if we do not hear, see or speak evil, we ourselves shall be spared from evil, and the theme was chosen here in the belief that the monkeys would protect the horses from disease.

In addition to these carvings, there is also one of an elephant, purely from imagination, in a temple called “Kamijinko”. The Toshogu Three Sculptures are small, but incredibly beautiful, and there is always a crowd of people in front of them.

• Access : 30 min by bus from Nikko station

From Shinjuku,Ikebukuro, Shibuya To Nikko station

• Route to Nikko
  • First, get on “Shonan-Shinjuku Line” from Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya to Ohmiya.
  • Second, get on Tohoku Shinkansen from Ohmiya to Utsunomiya.
  • And, you get on JR Nikko Line From Utsunomiya to Nikko.
• Price : ¥4,820 (fare :¥2,520 + shinkansen express fee: ¥2,300)
• Duration : about 2 hours

From Asakusa To Tobu Nikko station

• You can go to Tobu Nikko station directly from Tobu Asakusa Station
• Price : ¥2,620 (fare :¥1,320 + express fee: ¥1,300)
• Duration : about 2 hours

*[Caution] Tobu Asakusa Station is different from Tokyo Metro Asakusa station!

check Tobu Asakusa Station by this map