Just when you think you might overdose on endless beauty, a short train ride on the JR Sagano line takes you from Kyoto to Arashiyama and yet more beauty. I think I am about to enter a beauty-induced coma. Arriving at Arashiyama station, it’s a short walk to Tenryu-ji Temple. Leaving the temple grounds by […]
The allies had originally planned to drop the first atomic bomb on Kyoto. Kyoto was spared by the personal intervention of Henry L. Stimson, United States Secretary of War. Stimson wished to save this cultural center in which he spent his honeymoon. There are over 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines in Kyoto. It […]
Every visitor to Japan, if time and budget allow, should try to spend time away from the big cities and more well-known tourist areas. Highly recommended, if you can see your way to a sidetrip, is a stay in a traditional ryokan. The tariff might seem high and it is certainly a luxury to average […]
Where else in the known universe can you see a graying middle-aged man, possibly someone’s Grandpa, walking quite nonchalantly down a heavily-trafficked urban sidewalk, dressed in full Sailor Moon regalia? Or, pet impossibly clean sheep? Then, there was this street performance. And, more people than you can imagine trying to cross the street at the […]
Meiji Jingu is a peaceful oasis, a respite from urban frenzy, and is the most important Shinto site in Tokyo. One of the largest tori to be found in Japan spans the entrance as you enter from Omotesando Street at Harajuku Station. The shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his […]
Planning trips to coincide with the conclusion of various stages of cancer treatment became a strategy to cope with the seemingly interminable process of being treated for cancer. While healing from one surgery and waiting for the next, I would look at maps and plan itineraries for all the places that ever lived in my […]
It snows in Paris about once every three years. The city doesn’t really know what to do with snow. Understandably, it would be wasteful to invest in snow plows to clear sidewalks or de-icing machines to defrost airplanes for the three days it snows every three years. It took a second glance to realize this […]
magiecrystal 