Nikko (日興) - Part 1

This weekend, I decided to head to the city of Nikko. I think some back story on Nikko is required so you can fully appreciate all you are about to witness. Gather round the glowing computer screen, get your hot chocolate or white wine, and read on.

Our main character is a man named Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was the "most powerful man" of all Japan in the 17th century. He deserves this title because:

1. He founded the Tokugawa shogunate during what is known as the "Edo period" of Japan. "Edo period" is Japanese for "time when Japan prepared for modernization and industrialization". Remember my earlier post about the Meiji temple? Go on, I'll wait for you to go back and re-read it. Back? Okay... well, the Edo period was essential to set Japan up for the Meiji Restoration.

2. When he died, he asked to be enshrined in a temple in Nikko to become the guardian of Japan. So he became a gongen, as you do. Gongen is sort of a combination of Shinto and Buddhist deities (kami and buddhas)... so this dude was deified! What was he protecting Japan against, exactly? Demons, naturally. According to fusui (feng shui in Japanese), the northeast is an "ominous direction", sorta like a demon portal gateway thing. Nikko is considered to be the demon gateway into Tokyo. Hence, the need to protect Japan by being enshrined in Nikko. Catching what I'm throwing ya?

Despite all this, he never actually lived in the city. Crazy, right?! Nikko was founded by the priest Shodo, after a dream where the Myojo-tenshi (God of the Stars) told him, “Civilize mountainous Nikko after you have studied Buddhism.” So... Priest Shodo did just that. His journey will be discussed later.

Okay, now that we have the history out of the way, on to the real stuff! Nikko is designated a World Heritage Site because of the historical importance of the shrines there.

If you ever come, I stayed overnight in the lovely Nikko Station Hotel Classic. They had an amazing brunch in the morning; it's a little pricey but I think worth it.

My first stop was the 27 meter-long Shinkyo Bridge, also known as Yamasuge-no-Jabashi, which means "Bridge of Snakes with Wild Sedges”. And before you ask me why it’s called that, let me tell you. In the year 767 (to be exact), the priest Shodo Shonin and ten of his disciples were attempting to explore the Nikko mountain area but were stopped dead in their tracks by the raging Daiyo River. Unable to cross and complete his destiny, Shodo prayed and prayed. The god Jinja Daio heard him, and appeared with a red snake and a blue snake which he threw across the river. They twined together to form the bridge, and the yamasuge (wild sedges) growing from their backs ensured that Shodo and his followers were able to cross without slipping. The bridge in its current form was built in 1636. To quote to its descriptive sign, “establishment of Shinkyo is full of mystery, but is respected as a sacred bridge.” It is also the oldest drawbridge style bridge in Japan, and only the shogun or the emperor (along with their retinues) was allowed to cross it – but only after dismounting. Today, for a measly 200 yen, I crossed it. I guess that means I’m a shogun!

At the end of the bridge is the Jinja’o-do Sacred Hall… Jinja, if you were JUST paying attention, is the god who helped the Shodo cross the river. Today, people believe this god has a power for “bridging and match-making.”

Thankfully, I had done my research prior to coming to Nikko, so I knew about the “hidden” stuff. Seriously guys, the next little section is pretty hard to find. I had to walk through random neighborhoods! My search was for the Kanman Path, which is known for the Kanman-ga-fuchi abyss and the Narabi-Jizo. Wha??

Well, let me explain… The Kanman-ga-fuchi abyss was formed by the lava from Mt. Nantai (a nearby mountain… duh). It got its name because Priest Kokai thought the stream sounded like the word “Kanman”. That’s the last word of a sutra, or Buddha bible. Personally, I didn’t hear it, but maybe that’s because I’m not Japanese. A haiku was even written about the river (Daiya river) by the Emperor Taisho.

Sleeves were wet by the spray at 

the River Daiya. 

Cold moonlight night comes over the shore.

Where I took the picture of the abyss is called the Reihi-Kaku Divine Tower, so called because the priests would light a holy fire in it and pray for world peace. This was built in 1654 by the priest Kokai, and still no word of world peace. :( It’s called a tower, but really it was like a little gazebo thing.

Off to the left, you can see what I’m about to talk about next – see the red hats??

The Narabi-Jizo (also known as the Bake-Jizo) is a line of stone statues of Jizo. You remember Jizo from Kamakura, don’t you? Sure you do. Well, there’s about 70-something statues of him in a row, right by the abyss. These statues were carved by the disciples of Archbishop Tenkai. You ready for some really creepy stuff? Apparently, legend says that the statues change places from time to time, and a visitor will never see them in the same order twice. THAT’S NOT ALL! It’s also said that if you count them on the right, and count them on the left (AKA, going back and forth), the number… will… never… be… the… same… AHHH! I didn’t feel like myth busting today so I didn’t bother counting.

Now on to the not-so-hidden stuff. There are a collection of five temples in this one area, and if you’re smart, you find someone selling a pass for all five for 1,000 yen. If you’re dumb, like me, you just pay the entry fee for each temple… which obviously costs more. Ugh.

The first of five temples I went to is called the Rin-no-ji Temple, or the Taiyuin Temple. Enshrined here is the third successive Shogun Imetsu Tokugawa, who wrote in his will, “I will serve for Ieyasu even after I die.” Apparently that was girl-talk for, “build me a shrine next to Ieyasu’s shrine”… good thing his successor, Shogun Ietsuna, got that. The buildings face Toshogu Shrine (where Ieyasu is enshrined), indicating Iemitsu’s deep respect for Ieyasu.

The first part is called the Nioumon Gate, so called because of its two guardians (Misshaku-kongo and Naraen-kongo), which are called Niou. I like Wikipedia’s description of them: “wrath-filled and muscular guardians of Buddha.”

This one is Misshaku-kongo… looking all wrath-filled and muscular. *wink*

After that was the Nitenmon gate, which was unfortunately undergoing restoration when I went to visit. Inside I could still see the two gods called Nitenmon (or Deva Kings). They guard over one of the four cardinal directions. On the back were the Fujin (god of wind) and Raijin (god of thunder).

This is Jikokuten. It guards the east direction. Check out that hand on the hip... attitude. 

Koumokuten  - It despises perverse people (or at least, sees through evil). I would think it must hate me, though thankfully that angry glare is directed toward someone else.  It guards the west direction.

Fujin – God of Wind. It has a bag of wind, heck yeah, and four fingers to signify each direction.

Raijin – God of Thunderstorms, carrying drums and drumsticks (how appropriate). It has three fingers to signify past, present and future.

After that, yet another gate! This one had four female devils, guarding each direction again. You know how it is.

I think she's single so if any of you want me to set you up, let me know!

And finally, the Karamon Gate, so called because Kara means “Chinese Style.”

Somehow I was an idiot and didn’t continue further, but inside were apparently some interesting things that I won’t go into detail because I didn’t see them. Sigh.

Leaving behind that temple, I made my way to Futarasan Shrine. Apparently “Futara-san” is another name for Mt. Nantai, and was created to worship the mountain gods (Japanese old timers believed that mountains controlled important weather phenomenon and water to the river, which in turn would affect their lives).

My favorite part of it was the “Ghost Lantern”. Apparently long ago the flame in the lantern used to act strangely… fearing ghosts, the samurai warriors would attack the lantern! Another explanation is that the flame acted weirdly because a flying squirrel was licking the lantern oil. Either explanation seems weird to me.

Dings from the swords of the samurai. 

Also here is the Futara Spiritual Spring… this healing water promises to cure eye diseases and also makes a good sake. Despite the sign pleading us not to throw coins into the spring, you can still note the coins. You were allowed to taste some of the water coming from a spout off to the side. I braved whatever endemic water parasites are out there to try it myself… eh.

Leading up to the main shrine (Toshogu Shrine) is a tori with a special stairway that is designed to make you think it’s longer than it actually is.

On to the main attraction! The very shrine where Ieyasu himself is enshrined!

... Just kidding. This post was so big that I'm going to do a two-parter. The rest of it to be done by the next weekend! 

Numazu Alps (沼津アルプス) and Beer

It seems like I go through phases in my life that constantly repeat themselves. For instance, I agree to a physically challenging adventure (such as 200 mile relays) with little to no training, then regret my decision when I'm in physical discomfort while I'm doing it, and then afterwards I decide it was totally awesome and I'm gonna become a pro (and then hurriedly lose that motivation the next day). Today, friends, was no exception!

I was invited to do a 10K (6.2 miles for us Americans) hike through the Numazu Alps by some pilots from the helicopter squadrons in the air wing, where we would reach the summit of 5 of the peaks. This image I found below in Japanese gives you an idea... we started at the far right and did the next five peaks.

According to our guide, this was a good hike for beginners (approximately a 1 on a scale of 0 to Fuji), with the peak of the highest mountain (Mt. Washizu) being only 392m tall... so I figured that meant "slightly more difficult than a leisurely stroll".

....

Uh, not for someone like me, people!! There were some INSANE inclines, I felt like I was in the movie Vertical Limit. Just kidding, but there were parts where you were climbing and had to use ropes to help yourself so you didn't accidentally fall backwards into the abyss. This was a wake-up call for Mt. Fuji. Of course, this is coming from a person who once gave up eating dinner because she didn't feel like walking to the kitchen.

We made it to the summit of Mt. Washizu second (we had climbed the second highest peak first).

My friends and I at the summit! But no, our adventure was still not finished... we had three more mini mountains to climb.

In this shot, I'm dead. Literally... they had to do CPR on me to resuscitate me. Actually, we were waiting on two French guys in our group who got separated. Luckily, no one was dead or had to cut their arm off because they had fallen into a crevice.

Luckily the next three mountains were made interesting with some cool shots of Mt. Fuji (AKA Fuji-san). Since my skill level with photography is at the range of "Takes Average Still Shots of Flowers", the shots aren't the best, but you'll have to deal with it. Or Google images of Mt. Fuji.

 The view above is of Mt. Fuji, the city of Numazu and the Suruga Bay, as seen from Mt. Tokura, the third peak (I think).

Me with Fuji in the background on our last peak (Mt. Kanuki)... yay!

We also saw the wave-watching point (Suruga Bay)... I wish I had thought to take a photo of the sign. It had a little cute drawing of a wave.

Below is my painting I made of Suruga Bay with Mt Fuji in the background... I know, I'm pretty talented.

After our hike, we were taken to the Baird Brewery. This is a small brewery that makes some pretty good beers... It apparently can be found in the States, so if you see it you should give it a chance! We were given a tour of their facilities and then to the best part, our free beer... of course followed by purchases of more beers. Those marketing wizards!

After we were properly feeling the effects of adult beverages (not in excess, of course), we headed to Bashamichi for some more drinks and birthday celebration at an Irish pub called 82 Ale House... the Japanese staff really got into the St. Patrick's theme. This Creepy Bartender would make shamrock pictures in our Guinness head with the tap (unfortunately, no photos of that).

Overall, a pretty awesome day!

東京 (Tokyo)

This weekend I joined 35 million of my favorite people to experience the craziness of Tokyo, specifically the ward known as Shibuya. Our first stop was a store called Don Quijote, which is sorta like a mixture between CVS and Spencers... Any good night out requires the perfect accessories, and we settled on some futuristic sunglasses. These sunglasses may have been our best purchase all weekend... *cliff hanger*.

One of my desires was to go to what's known as a Host Club. In what would have to be total awkwardness, women go to a bar where they are able to talk to a handsome young man they've designated as their "host". The host makes commission off the drinks he sells... clearly my alcoholism would serve once again to destroy my finances. First-timers get a special price and a chance to meet all the hosts. This video gives a good idea of what I'm talking about. Please note that they are speaking exclusively Japanese... *foreshadowing*

Most host clubs in Tokyo are located in the red light district called Kabukicho. Most people would consider the red light district of any city to be especially creepy and seedy... in Japan, it was Japan-dangerous. Japan dangerous means it was probably about as dangerous as Vegas during the day and twice as clean. Here's me and my friends rocking our glasses in Kabukicho.

As we wandered, I began to recognize a basic problem with my goal... our complete lack of basic conversational Japanese. Since none of the clubs were open to people who didn't know at least basic Japanese, our host club adventure ended before it ever began! My wallet was probably relieved... if it was capable of having feelings.

About our glasses...

JAPANESE PEOPLE LOVED THEM. Seriously. The girls were gushing over them, squealing "kawaii!" (cute!). The guys would stare amused while muttering one of these words under their breath (ordered in popularity):

1. X-men
2. Terminator
3. Cyclops
4. "We have a place you can dance on this planet!" **
5. Electric Girls

** Spoken by a Nigerian promoter

I was actually pretty surprised no one said "Star Trek", but maybe it just isn't popular in Japan.

We ended up going to another bar and met a Japanese pharmacist-who-did-not-practice-pharmacy who invited us to a party in a club called Vanity. Vanity was basically a trance/techno club that seemed pretty exclusive. Our Japanese friend, though, was insane. At one point he asked each of us, "Are you horny yet? When will you be horny?" Japanese Rico Suave at work.

After that, we went to bar that my friends frequent called Propaganda. While there, we told the owner it was my birthday (it's not) and we were rewarded with free drinks!

Our night complete, we promptly fell asleep and prepared for a second day exploring Shibuya. Our first stop was the famous Shibuya crossing, supposedly the busiest intersection in the world. 

 

There's me, walking across!

Also in this area is the famous Hachiko statue. If you haven't heard this story before, be prepared to cry... or at least 5 seconds of depression. Basically, the dog (named Hachiko) would wait every day at Shibuya station for his owner to return. When his owner died of a cerebral aneurysm and did not return to the station that day, Hachiko continue to wait every day at the station for nine years. Here's a photo of his statue with some random school children.

That day, we decided it might be hilarious to go to a Butler's Cafe (Click here). Basically it's a Host Club Light, but filled with European guys who speak English and treat you like a princess. After an arduous search (seriously, it probably took us 2 hours to figure out where it was), we found it! As we walked in, we were greeted by a guy dressed up in a butler outfit who asked if we had a reservation. We did not, but after seeing the tray of tiaras on the side (to complete our princess identity), we decided it might be just a little too awkward and left. 

On our wanderings, we did find another type of club -- a CAT CAFE! Yes, friends, there is a business that is a room filled with cats and you pay to hang out with them. Of course I did it. Despite the barrenness in this photo, it quickly filled up with people. Apparently they also have dog cafes and owl cafes. 

My cat fetish satisfied, we then headed on to a cafe called the Lion Cafe. This place was pretty awesome, and according to my friend, really creepy at night, not because it was particularly scary, but because it was set up (inadvertently) like a haunted house. Rows of pews faced a giant speaker which played classical music. Strict silence is enforced, and most of the people there were working on their computers or just sitting quietly listening to the music.

I snuck that photo in. And in the last random moment of the day, one of my old friends from medical school was in Tokyo with his girlfriend. I met up with them in Akihabara, the technology/anime part of Tokyo. There, we experienced the female version of the host club, known as a maid cafe. They aren't allowed to have their photo taken, but in this innocent street photo you can see a few. It's like Where's Waldo, only for finding dressed up girls. 

The maid cafe was as awkward as you might think (or maybe not... depending on your tastes). Basically you ordered food or drinks, and certain food or drinks came with 5 minutes of conversation with your maid. Oh, and apparently when we entered the cafe, the maids yell out, "The Masters are home!" Ha! I ordered a dish with eggs over rice, and the maid drew an anime-type photo of me in ketchup on top. We also had to do a spell to make the food taste better... it involved making a heart shape with our hands. Thankfully my friend's girlfriend speaks Japanese so we were able to enjoy our 5 minutes of conversation with her. It was quite unusual... I think my curiosity for these types of places has officially been quenched. A good overview video by the same girl with the Host Club is here and the idea of the spell is here (careful, a few curse words). 

An exciting weekend that left me exhausted!