My Adventures in Japan Part 5: Hokkaido

I went to Hokkaido. I took a bus tour so I saw many places in Hokkaido. Hokkaido is big.

It is the second biggest island in Japan. As you can see from the map, it is also the northern most island in Japan. I went to Hokkaido in March. It was still winter. It was usually about -10 degrees celsius but I didn't feel cold. Actually, I felt very energetic.

The original people of Hokkaido are the Ainu. I visited a "mock" Ainu village. That is to say, it wasn't really an Ainu Village. It was built for tourists.

I met some Ainu in Hokkaido. One Ainu man could speak English. He spoke English very well.
He could also speak the Ainu language. Very few people speak the Ainu language now.

I saw an Ainu ceremony. It was very interesting.

I also visited an ice village. It was very beautiful. Hokkaido is famous for ice sculpture.


I went on an icebreaker. Unfortunately we didn't see any icebergs. Even still, it was exciting.

Many seagulls followed the ice breaker. Some people fed the seagulls.

There are many birds in Hokkaido.

Hokkaido also has some interesting marine creatures. One of the most interesting are Clionidae (クリオネ). Clionidae are also known as the "angels of the sea". They are very popular in Japan because they are cute.

In this picture you can see Clionidae in a jar.

Here's a close-up of a Clionidae.

Another great thing about Hokkaido is the food, especially the seafood.

In this picture I'm eating rice with salmon roe (いくら) and crab. It was very delicious.

My Adventures in Japan Part 4: Hiroshima

I went to Hiroshima. I went to Hiroshima in order to take a course at David English House. I learned how to teach English to Japanese children. I stayed in Hiroshima for one week.

Phototaken by Nick Coutts on 2005-03-19.

As you can see from the map above, Hiroshima is quite far away from Tokyo, so I took the Nozomi Shinkansen. I was very exciting. I had never travelled at 300 km per hour before.

When I arrived in Hiroshima I took a street car to David English House. Hiroshima is one of the few places in Japan that has street cars. I like street cars. My hometown, Toronto, is famous for street cars too.

When I had free time I went sight seeing. The Peace Memorial Park was across the street from my hotel. I also visited the Peace Memorial Museum.

Photo taken by Marreka on 2006-04-29

Hiroshima's famous food is okonomiyaki. There is a great place in Hiroshima called Okonomiyaki-mura. Okonomiyaki-mura is Okonomiyaki Town in English. I love Okonomiyaki. It is one of my favourite kinds of Japanese food. There are many kinds of okonomiyaki. My favourite is Hiroshima style. I ate okonomiyaki four times when I was in Hiroshima.

Photo taken by Shagadelicbabe on 2006-3-24

On my last day in Hiroshima I went to Miyajima. Miyajima means "shrine island". The actual name of of the island is Itsukushishima. The shrine at Itsukushishima is a World Heritage Site. It's most famous for its torii. When I went to Miyajima the torii had been damaged by a typhoon, so it was under repair.

This is what the torii looks like when it is in a good condition. It's very beautiful, isn't it?

My Adventures in Japan Part 3: Mie

I went to Mie prefecture. Mie prefecture is famous for Isejingu (伊勢神宮). Isejingu is called the Grand Shrine of Ise in English. Isejingu is the holiest place in Shinto.



In the picture below you can see the torii gate of Isejingu. The torii is the entrance to the grand shrine. It is different from most torii because it is not painted red. Everything at Isejingu is natural.


Isejingu is dedicated to the goddess Amaterasu-omikami (天照大神). She is in the centre of the picture below.


Isejingu is a very quiet and peaceful place. I went there in summer. It was very hot and humid. However, there are many trees, and plants and a lot of grass in the area surrounding Isejingu. This made it feel cooler than it really is.

The landscaping around Isejingu is very beautiful. I love the trees in Japanese gardens. They have beautiful shapes. The technique that Japanese gardeners use in order to shape the trees is called niwaki (庭木). The first Chinese character is "niwa". Niwa means garden. The second Chinese Character is "ki". Ki means tree.

This is one of the small shrines inside Isejingu. I love the colour of the natural wood. Isejingu is designed in a very old style of architecture. This style of architecture was developed before the influence of Buddhism and Chinese architectural styles.

Isejingu is in the city of Ise. Most cities in Japan are famous for some kind of food. Ise is famous for akafukumochi. Akafukumochi is very delicious and very fun to eat too.

Next time, Hiroshima!

My Adventures in Japan Part 2: Gifu, Nagoya and Kyoto

The first trip I made outside the Kanto area was to Gifu, Nagoya and Kyoto. I took the shinkansen, which is also known as the "bullet train". As you can see, I was very excited.

Gifu is in the middle of the island of Honshu. This area is called Chubu. Gifu City is very close to Nagoya, just 20 minutes away on a local train.

I visited a squirrel zoo in Gifu. I found it very strange to pay ¥600 (about CN$6.00) to see squirrels. In Toronto there are wild squirrels everywhere. If you want to see squirrels you can just look out your window. Many people in Toronto have squirrel feeders in their yards.

This the ticket for the ropeway up Mount Kinka and the Squirrel zoo.

Gifu is famous for paper lanterns called chouchin (提灯). I went to a chouchin shop. The master kindly let me watch him make a lantern. It was very interesting.

Gifu is also famous for cormorant fishing. Cormorant fishing is called ukai (鵜飼,). I saw ukai in Gifu. The picture below is of a fisherman taking a cormorant out of its cage.

After I visited Gifu I went to Kyoto. I walked down many interesting streets in Kyoto.


My favourite place in Kyoto is Kiyomizu-dera. The view is spectacular.

In the picture below I'm drinking water from the waterfall at Kiyomizu-dera called Otawa-no-taki. It is said that drinking this water gives you good health, a long life, and success in your studies.

I was very lucky to meet maiko while I was at Kiyomizu-dera. Maiko are apprentice geisha.

I also visited Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺), which is called the Temple of the Golden Pavillion in English.

The picture below is a zen garden at Roan-ji in Kyoto. It looks quiet and peaceful, doesn't it?


After Kyoto, I went to Nagoya. The picture below is of Nagoya Castle.


In this picture I'm sitting on a replica of one of the mythical golden dolphins that are on the roof of Nagoya castle.

That's all for now. Next time Mie!

My Adventures in Japan Part 1: Nikko and Kawagoe

As you can see by the map above, I have been to many places in Japan.

This is a picture of Tosho-gu Shrine.
The first place I went to was Nikko. I went in October. The leaves were very beautiful.

You can see the beautiful autumn leaves in this picture.

I went to Yokohama to celebrate my first New Year's Eve in Japan. First I went to China Town. I ate Yaki soba. Japanese traditionally eat soba on December 31st.

Then I went to a countdown party on the Hikawa Maru.

After the countdown party, I went to Landmark Tower. I saw the sun rise. It was very beautiful. The picture below is Landmark Tower.

On New Year's Day I went to Kawagoe. Kawagoe is also known as "Little Edo" (小江戸) because it is much like Edo (Tokyo's name during the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate).

As you can see, many people come to pray for good luck in the new year.

This a good example of the mixture of traditional and contemporary culture that you can see everywhere in Japan.

In this picture I'm standing next to a stand selling daruma (達磨,).

This is a picture of one of the many interesting shops in Kawagoe.