Japan - S. Korea 2007 Trip

[Yoon]

As you all know, I'll be going on a trip to Japan & South Korea for three weeks. I'll be in Japan for two weeks (August 7 - August 19) and in South Korea for one week (August 19 - August 27). This will be my first trip to Japan and my sixth trip to South Korea. I'll be departing on August 6 from Minnesota.

While on my trip, I'll try to make daily posts about my trip, somewhat like a mini-blog, to let all of you know where I've been and what I've done during my trip in Japan / S. Korea. I'll also post some pictures as well.

August 7, 2007

I arrived in Japan at the Tokyo-Narita International Airport at 5 PM local time. The flight was okay, but I been on much better flights. The flight was pretty full, but I was already expecting that, since most people that are going to Asia and flying Northwest Airlines usually take the Tokyo route.

Anyhow, after leaving the airport, I took the subway to get to International Azure Guesthouse in Narita, the accommodation for my first night in Japan. I figured that I should probably just rest that day, since I had jet-lag and the fact that it takes about an hour to get to Tokyo from Narita.


Outside International Azure Guesthouse in Narita, Japan

Finding the International Azure Guesthouse (IAG) hostel took a while, since the directions to the place were kind of vague. I finally found the place after one hour of looking around in Narita. Inside IAG, it was basically a standard hostel with some added Japanese-style features. For those that don't know or never been to a hostel, it's just like a dorm, where you sleep with other people in the same room and share the bathroom.

It wasn't too crowded at the hostel. I met a few people there, mostly from Europe. A lot of the people there were actually at the end of their Japan trip and were planning to depart from Tokyo-Narita airport the next day.


Near International Azure Guesthouse in Narita, Japan

After getting settled, I decided to take a small walk outside. There wasn't much to see and do in the area around IAG, since it was a quiet part of Narita, hence the small number of pictures. After about 30 min. of walking, I decided to return to IAG and turn in for the rest of the day.

[Yoon]

August 8, 2007

Itinerary:

- Tokyo-Narita Airport
- Ueno Park
- Royal Family Museum of Art
- National Museum of Science
- Tokyo National Museum
- Akihabara

Accommodation for the Night: Capsule Inn Akihabara (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZP9Jj3QQBM&mode=related&search=)

After leaving the IAG in the morning, I headed directly to the Tokyo-Narita Airport to pick up a few tourist guides/maps at the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO). Afterwords, I took the subway to Ueno Park, in Tokyo. It took a little over an hour to get to Ueno Station.

Once I got to Ueno Station, I stored my backpack in a coin locker and headed out to Ueno Park. There were lots of things to see in Ueno Park, as there were ponds, temples, statues, and museums scattered inside the park. Because there were so many things to see, I spent most of my day here.

After Ueno Park, I went to the Akihabara section of Tokyo, which is considered to be THE place to go for electronics and anime-related stuff. After dropping off my stuff at Capsule Inn Akihabara, I decided to go for a walk and look around in Akihabara. Also known as "Electric Town", Akihabara is true to it's nickname, as the vast majority of stores sold electronics, such as computers, software, toys, music, anime, cellphones, MP3 players, and so on.

One of the buildings I went into in Akihabara was Yodobashi-Akiba, a multi-floor shopping center building that was dedicated purely to electronics. Each floor was dedicated to certain products, such as computers, music, etc. One of the floors was completely packed with mini-collectables and models; model makers and collectors would go NUTS on this floor!

By the time I got back to Capsule Inn Akihabara, it was pretty late. About Capsule Inn, it is one of the many capsule-style hotels that are unique to Japan. They're very cheap, but for a reason: rather than a room, all you get is a "capsule" to sleep in! Each of the capsules were equipped with a TV, radio, and alarm clock, so it wasn't that barren. Sleeping there was certainly a unique experience. You can click on the URL link above to see a Youtube video of Capsule Inn (made by someone else).

Narita, Japan



Ueno Park



Royal Family Museum of Art



National Museum of Science


Tokyo National Museum


Akihabara



Capsule Inn Akihabara

[Lozal]

That's too bad that your first night was boring.
Enjoy the rest of the trip.

[Yoon]

August 9, 2007

Itinerary:

- Asakusa
- Senso-ji Temple
- Sumida River Park

Accommodation for the Night: Oak Hotel (http://www.oakhotel.co.jp/english/)

The next morning, after checking out of Capsule Inn Akihabara, I went to the Asakusa district (in eastern Tokyo), which hosts a very large Buddhist temple called Senso-ji (the oldest temple in Japan). Before heading out to Senso-ji, I dropped off my backpack at Oak Hotel, which is located between Akihabara and Asakusa.

On the way to Senso-ji (located in Asakusa Park), there was a rather large corridor market, filled with tons of Japanese and foreign shoppers. It was definitely catering to all the people on their way to Senso-ji, since Senso-ji apparently attracts millions of visitors a year (according to the guidebook I have anyway).

After making my way through the corridor markets, I finally reached the Senso-ji complex. At the entrance stood a very impressive looking gate. There was also a very tall pagoda standing on the left side of the main gate into Senso-ji. Continuing on, I noticed a statue spouting water, with Japanese-style ladles laid around the statue. This was a common sight, something I had seen in Buddhist temples that I visited in the past. People would basically use the ladles to either to "cleanse" their hands or drink the water for spiritual reasons.

Just beyond the statue was Senso-ji itself. Senso-ji was huge! It was pretty impressive inside the temple, as it featured very Buddhist-like decorations. In the back of the temple, there was a impressive-looking Buddha statue, sitting in a throne. I could not take pictures, since the temple officials forbid taking pictures of Buddha, since it was considered disrespectful. After leaving the main Senso-ji temple, I also visited some temples and gardens that were located around Senso-ji.

After seeing all that the Senso-ji Temple area had to offer, I decided to visit Sumida River Park, which was only about ten minutes away by foot. The park itself was basically just a park. The main feature, however, is Sumida River. Sumida River runs through Tokyo and eventually reaches Tokyo Bay, into the ocean. Although not as impressive as the River Thames in London, Seine River in Paris, or the Han River in Seoul, it was still nice to see some Tokyo buildings and traffic in the distance.

After taking an hour and a half break in the park, I headed back to the hotel to call it a day. At that point, I was developing a slight headache, probably because of the heat and me not drinking enough water. A good night's rest and lots of water alleviated the problem.

I forgot to mention in my previous posts about the weather here in Tokyo. Although it hasn't rained since I got here, it has been really hot and humid! It has been around 90-95 F (~32-35 C) consistently, with the humidity being 60%-80%. I'm glad I didn't bring any long sleeve shirts/pants or thick jackets!

Asakusa Area



Senso-Ji Temple






Sumida River Park

[Demon]

Looks like you've abused your camera alot xD, cool pics. Have fun there!

[Yoon]

@Jesse: The first night I just wanted to rest up and get rid of the jet lag as soon as possible, so it's all good.

@Demon: I was originally going to use a 2.1 megapixel Canon camera that I got from my sister as a present two years ago, but I figure that wouldn't do justice in Japan, so I decided to pick up a 7.1 megapixel Canon PowerShot SD1000 camera before I left. It was nice that it was on sale when I bought it.

August 10, 2007

Today's Itinerary:

- Ginza
- Shinjuku
- Yoyagi Park
- Meiji-jingu Shrine
- Harajuku

Current Position:



Accommodation for the Night: Oak Hotel

Ginza

Ginza is the "rich district" of Tokyo. It's considered to be the "Fifth Ave." of Tokyo. Most of the stores and buildings in this area were mostly department stores, expensive restaurants, and pricey cafes. Most of the wares being sold here were luxury products like Gucci, Prada, Seiko, Omega watches, and so on. According to my guidebook, Ginza's real estate is considered to be one of the most expensive in the world!

Besides the expensive luxury stuff, the Sony Building is also located in Ginza. Inside the Sony Building, there were four floors dedicated to showcasing the latest and upcoming Sony products. Some of the upcoming computers, LCDs, media center PCs, MP3 players looked quite impressive.




"I originally saw something like this on a photo posted at Engrish.com a while back. I was surprised to see it myself, by coincidence, when I was looking at a map post in Ginza. I guess the term 'Homeless' in both English & Japanese is considered impolite, so instead of 'Homeless Shelter', they call it a 'Shelter for People Who Cannot Go Back Home'."

Shinjuku

Shinjuku is a district located in western Tokyo. I didn't really get to spend much time in Shinjuku. It seemed to be a place with a lot of restaurants, clubs, bars, and shopping buildings.




Yoyagi Park / Meiji-jingu

The forests in this park seem a bit different from the parks back home in Minnesota, as the forests here in Yoyagi give a certain sense of serenity. The Yoyagi Park forests also seem to give an ancient-feel vibe and definitely reminds you of the forests seen in Japanese-oriented movies like "The Last Samurai" and Japanese animation like "Princess Mononoke". It's hard to tell from the pictures that I posted, but that's what I felt as I walked through the park on my way to Meiji-jingu.

Near the center of Yoyogi Park lies Meiji-jingu, a large Shinto shrine that was created in 1920 and was dedicated to Emperor Meiji, the Japanese ruler that was primarily responsible for the industrialization of Japan in the 19th century. The shrine is large; the layout reminds me of one of the smaller palaces I visited in Korea back in 2004. Although the shrine is Shinto, there are some aspects that were retained from Buddhist temples.





"In the corner of the courtyard of Meiji-jingu, there was a large tree with many hanging wooden placards at it's base. These hanging wooden placards were also at the Shinto shrines I visited in Ueno Park. Basically, visitors to the shrine would write their wishes and hopes on a blank wooden placard and hang it in the shrine. These wishes would then be answered and fulfilled by the spirits. Most of the wooden placards at Meiji-jingu were not in Japanese; many of them were written by foreign visitors to Japan, as many of them were written in Korean, English, Russian, Thai, Vietnamese, etc."



Harajuku

Harajuku, another distinct district of Tokyo, is located right next to Yoyogi Park. Harajuku had a lot of quirky and cool stores and restaurants. It was packed with people by the time I got there. I also saw some girls cos-playing in the area as well.





"'Too big for you? Too small for you? Not snug enough? Then Condomania is the shop for you!'"



"Hmm, I never knew that 'NUDE' was also an acronym for 'Natural Urethan Dom Ex'."



"One condom mascot for Condomania isn't enough; there's apparently a 'girl condom' named 'Emily' and a 'boy condom' named 'George' yelling each other's name in Japanese on the ad outside the store."


"The Audi Building in Harajuku. Pretty cool building, I check out some of the floors in the building. The first floor had a showing of some awesome-looking Audi cars."



That pretty much wraps up my last full day in Tokyo. Tomorrow, I'm off to Nagoya (in central Japan) with a possible stopover by the Mt. Fuji area.

[Ghost B3N]

nice photo's mike.

make 1 for me !!!!

1 with you on it /heh ;D

[Lozal]

Those are really nice photos. Your mom keeps asking me at work if I've received an email from you "today". Send her an email to let her know that your alright and what day you will be in Kyoto (she keeps asking me if your there yet).

[Yoon]

@Ben: Thanks!

@Jesse: Yep, I've already e-mailed her and talked to her on the phone today.

I'll try to post pictures from August 11, 12, 13, and 14 later today; I haven't had Internet access to post the pictures from those dates.

August 11, 2007

Today's Itinerary
- Shinkansen (Tokyo-Nagoya)
- Nagoya
- Nagoya Castle
- Atsuta Jingu

Accommodation for the Night: Comfort Hotel Nagoya

Shinkansen: Tokyo-Nagoya

In the morning, I hitched a ride on the Shinkansen, Japan

[Yoon]

August 12, 2007

Today's Itinerary
- Shinkansen (Nagoya-Kyoto)
- Kyoto
- Higashiyama
- Kiyomizu-dera Temple
- Ryozen Kannon Temple
- Kodai-ji Temple
- Maruyama Park
- Chion-in Temple
- Yasaka-jinja Shrine
- Kyoto (Night)

Accommodation for the Night: Orange Inn

Shinkansen (Nagoya-Kyoto)

After leaving Nagoya, I hopped on the Shinkansen to get to Kyoto. The Shinkansen is really convienient. If anyone is planning on going to Japan and is going to travel around the country, getting a Japan Rail Pass is highly recommended, since you get unlimited rides during the time allotted. It

[Yoon]

August 13, 2007

Today's Itinerary
- Kyoto Station
- Nijo Castle
- Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine
- Kinkaku-ji Temple

Accommodation for the Night: Orange Inn

Kyoto Station



Nijo Castle





Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine







Kinkaku-ji Temple

[Yoon]

August 14, 2007

Today's Itinerary
- Himeji City
- Himeji Castle

Accommodation for the Night: Weekly Mansion Osaka at Otaemae

Himeji City



Himeji Castle

[Yoon]

August 15, 2007

Today's Itinerary
- Osaka Castle
- Shinkansen (Shin Osaka-Hiroshima)
- Hiroshima

Accommodation for the Night: Hiroshima Central Hotel

Osaka Castle







Shinkansen (Shin Osaka-Hiroshima)



Hiroshima

[Yahoo]

Hiroshima O_O
Was nice there?

[Ghost B3N]

nice pictures again ^^

Japan is very very very beatifull !!
Maybe some day ill see it with my own eyes

and the last picture
ITS YOU IN IT =D
for that:

arigatou Mike-Sama