Last Rainy Days in Japan

"You will return, like rain to the rice fields at the end of every Summer". That was a line in the book that I am reading right now, which takes place in Southern Japan, and it must apply because it has rained the last couple of days. We did not let that deter us and still kept on schedule...at least yesterday, today the rain beat us and we retreated to the internet cafe.

We started the day at Nijo Castle. This castle was built in 1603 by the first Shogun of the Edo period. It actually has never burned down or been destroyed, one of the few. It is a very large sprawling one story castle made of wood with paper windows. This guy was so paranoid that someone was going to assasinate him that he made all the floorboards slightly loose, so that they sang--called nightingale floors. Plus he had hidden compartments where his bodyguards would hide in case he was attacked. Behind this castle was another built in the same mold around the same time called, Hamaru Castle. Hamaru was actually brought here from Tokyo and was where the Emporer stayed when his Tokyo castle burned down.

We saw the amazing Arisheyama--or the Bamboo forest. It was pretty cool with these forty foot bamboo trees packed in all over the place. It also contained a sort of convent/temple/shrine of purification, all of the Emporer's unmarried daughters had to spend a year there before marriage to purify themselves.

Today, our last day, before catching the boat to China, we went to the temple of Inari. Surrounding this temple ar thousands of Toriis or gates. All of them are side by side and cover the walk ways. They have 2.6 kilometers of them, mostly they are donations from companies and individuals. The temple is dedicated to a Budhist God--probably Kannon, goddess of mercy, but has tons of fox statues since the fox was considered to be a sacred animal and messanger of the gods.

We are lookingforward to China but will miss Japan. This is an amazing country and I feel as though we have only scratched the surface. I would highly reccomend this country to anyone, it is rich in culture, history and food. Plus it is remarkably safe and clean. We also did not find to be outragously expensive like everyone was telling us. Prices are very close to those in the United States and actually, since the yen has fallen some, a little cheaper.