Japan
Feb.9 - Feb.15, 2002
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JapanFeb.9 - Feb.15, 2002 |
My father decided to take our whole family to Japan for Chinese New Year this year. It's been a few years since we all traveled together, and this was the first oversea trip for the entire family. My mother's goal is to have such kind of trips at least once a year. We joined a tour this time (there were only two families in the tour: our family and the family of the boss of the travel agent), and focused on Kyoto/Osaka/Kaga areas.
I flied back to Taiwan from US just one day before our departure to Japan (Woanyu and kids already went back two weeks ago). My father-in-law drove us to the CKS Airport to meet my family in the early morning, but the car was broken when we just got on the highway. We had to push the car to the roadside and waited for my mother-in-law to drive another car. We were delayed for about 30 min but we still made it in time. It seemed we had an adventurous start of our trip. We arrived in Osaka Kansai International Airport (關西國際機場) at about noon and had lunch on our tour bus (but I skipped our first meal in Japan: all sea food lunch box).
[Day 1/2] [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6/7]
Since its establishment as the capital of Japan,
then called Heian-kyo, in 794, Kyoto remained as the
Imperial resident capital for over a thousand years and
prospered as the center of Japanese culture. Heian-kyo
was modeled after Chinese city Chang-an, the capital of
Tang China, and the square grid system of roads and
streets then created still forms the center of Kyoto
City. In 1868, the government was moved from Kyoto to
Tokyo. There are more than 1650 temples, 400
shrines, 60 gardens, and 3 emperor palaces in Kyoto city.
Many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines were founded in
the city and the surrounding area under the patronage of
the Emperors and Shoguns (warrior elite leaders), and
remain today as they used to be.  |
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| I got up early and walked to Nijo Castle from our hotel. Japan is a very safe country to walk alone even in the dark. It was about 20 minutes walk. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to have good light, and it was also too early that the castle was not open yet, so I could only go around the walls. The castle was built in the early 17th century, and is renowned as a priceless example of the architectural style of that period. Since Nijo Castle was not in our tour itinerary, I didn't have a chance to look its famous splendid interior this time. I decided to take subway back to hotel and it was quite easy and convenient (although it took me a while to figure out how to make the ticket machine display English instruction). |  |
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Tenryu-ji Temple was established by shogun Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏 , 1305-58). The grounds of Tenryu-ji once covered nearly four square miles, and there were approximately 150 subtemples within its precincts. The entire complex was ravaged by fire a total of eight times during wars (most recently in 1864); the reconstruction of Tenryu-ji as it now stands was completed in 1900. In 1994 it was designated by the United Nations as a World Cultural Heritage site. |
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[Day 1/2] [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6/7]
