News
Day 17: Special rituals in a temple
Saturday March 12th, 2011 by Rick van Kemenade
Today the participants woke up in Kyoto for the last time. The morning program was free. Many spent the morning at the imperial palace, where they had applied earlier during the week to be able to visit. The fact that the palace was across the street from the hotel made this a very convenient excursion. Others decided to wake up late to recover from the tiring days that preceded this one.
Early in the afternoon the entire party gathered at Kyoto’s central station. From here, we took the JR train to Osaka, from where we travelled on to Shigisan, a small town in the Nara prefecture. The large luggage had been sent ahead to Osaka, since it would only cause inconvenience at the temple. There was a plan to walk up the hill that housed the temple. Unfortunately it started raining when we arrived at the station and we were slightly behind on schedule, so the group boarded a bus instead.
The full bus clearly had a rough time tugging 32 Europeans up a mountain. We finally made it to the right bus stop and entered the Senju-in Temple complex. We were welcomed by the monks who reside there. The men and women were taken to separate sleeping halls and the rules and (early) timetable were explained. After that we enjoyed a very special diner on our knees, with new and interesting flavours for all.
After diner, there was time to walk around the temple area. Some decided to walk all the way up the hill, while others watched the devastating earthquake news (fortunately far away from our area) on a small television screen. Later on, there was time to enjoy the hot tub and lights went out at 22:00, to rise very, very early the next morning.
Day 5: Last touristic day for a while
Sunday February 27th, 2011 by Rick van Kemenade
Today’s program started off with a visit to the Sensoji Temple. This temple, which is situated very close to our hostel, has a beautiful main hall, a pagoda and impressive gates, all coloured bright red. The sun was shining and the participants had time to see the entire complex. Leading from the area was a crowded street of small shops. Many members of the group took the opportunity to buy souvenirs and try out some of the countless delicious snacks that Japan has to offer.
After gathering at the temple gate, we walked on to Asakusa Metro Station, past the crowd that had formed to witness the Tokyo marathon. From there we travelled via Kanda to Kichijoji Station. Following a quick lunch we walked to the Ghibli museum. Ghibli is a world-famous Japanese animation studio. In the museum they showcased their animation techniques through the years. There were also exhibitions of their many cartoons and characters and there was an exclusive demo movie entitled “Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess.” The museum visit really woke up the child in many of us.
In the late afternoon the group split up. Some decided to travel back to Harajuku to witness the “cosplay” street performances that take place there on Sundays. Others headed to the Kagurazaka district, where they made a walking tour that went past many small temples and shrines in a relatively modest, urban area of the gigantic Tokyo.
Everyone came back to the hostel relatively early, as tomorrow we will rise early for our first technical day. We will visit the RCAST research centre (University of Tokyo) in the morning and NEC in the afternoon. During the past days, we have been on fairly busy trains in ‘quiet’ hours. Since we will be travelling via Shibuya Station during rush hour tomorrow morning, the trip there will be an adventure on its own!
![DSC_0594[1]](../../../../farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5482076186_068e7cc3b8.jpg)
![DSC_0576[1]](../../../../farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5482076162_e5a69b1fcb.jpg)
![DSC_0550[2]](../../../../farm6.static.flickr.com/5093/5482076158_2bff7fabc3.jpg)
![DSC_0534[1]](../../../../farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5482076142_fd76f2420b.jpg)
