Japan (Part 2)

JAPAN (Osaka region and the South).

Friday 01/05/2015 to Friday 29/05/2015.

1 € = 130 ¥
1 US$ = 118 ¥

1 ¥ = 0 76 € cent = 0.84 US$ cent. 

Japanese Time = European Summer Time + 7 hours.

(Click to EXIT)

Day 11 - Friday 01/05/2015 - Noumea to OSAKA journey.

Flight Noumea to Osaka, 01:05-08:05, 9h, Air France flight AF4022, Airbus A330-200.

Nine hours overnight flight from Nouméa to Osaka.

8:40 Limousine Bus from Osaka Kansai airport to Nara.

NARA. 

Begging pilgrim.

1st of May, Labour Day meeting.  I signed the petition for 6 hours working day.

Police arrives.

NARA-KÖEN.

Nandai-Mon gate, 13th century.  The gate to the Tödai-Ji temple complex.

Dragon head at the end of a flagpole.

Tödai-ji temple.  Among the biggest wooden buildings on earth, 48m,

8th Century, housing the Daibutsy-Den big Buddha statue.

Daibutsy-Den (big Buddha), 8th Century, 15 meters tall, 437 tons of bronze.

Monk spending his time with caligraphy.

Amulets with Wish-prayers.  The amulets are bought from the monks,

and then they often do the caligraphy for free.

Nagatsu-Do temple, offering a nice view on Nara's town center.

Cheap prayers, 200¥ each (~1.50€),
all together still collecting a large amount of money.

This temple applies a discount and so collect a lot of wish-prayers.

Monks also do good business with small children.

And also here the beer and saké breweries donate to the monks.

Isui-en, exquisite japanese garden.

My 9m2 bedroom for tonight.

|---| Best Western Hotel Fino, Osaka, 7100¥/night, 56€.

Day 12 - Saturday 02/05/2015 - OSAKA.

A Love Hotel.

The "Shishibutai" (lion mask stage) at the Namba-Yasaka shrine, used for dance festivals.

Traffic officers.

Hözen-ji temple, mos covered statue.

Dotombori-gawi, restaurant district
(the crab moves her legs and pincers).

Dotombori-gawi, restaurant district.

Sankaku-köen, funny ice cream.

Sankaku-köen "Peace on Earth" painting (1983).

 Street concert.

Children taking a bath in the fountains in front of Osaka's JR station.

Umeda Sky Building.  Twin 40-story towers with a floating garden on the top.

The last four levels are linked by an escalator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umeda_Sky_Building

Observation room of the Sky Tower.

The upper levels of the Sky Tower and the escalators
interconnecting the 35th with the 39th floor.

The mirrored photographer on the rooftop, offering a 360° view.

 

 Osaka to Kyoto journey, 40 minutes, 400¥.

Hankyu Railways (private company), Osaka Umeda to Kyoto Saiin, changing at Katsura.

|---| Guest House Sendo, Kyoto, 5000¥/night, ~39€.

Day 13 - Sunday 03/05/2015 - KYOTO.

Taking the train to Torokko Arashiyama.

Bamboo groves.

Not clear to me what they mean with this sign.

Graveyard.

Nicely organised graveyard tools and ustensils.

'Cleaning' (business) woman, approaching naive tourists,

to catch them in their expensive tea houses: 3000¥/coffee ~25€.

Third lady of this kind crossed in a lap of ten minutes.

Sometimes one feel at home, even in Japan.

Shrine.

These days, the golden week, Kyoto is full of tourists.

Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary.

 Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary (Unesco World heritage listed).

 Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary.

Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary.

 Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary, kimono ladies.

Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary.

Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary.

Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary., a monk selling stones...

I noticed the customers then humidify the stones in the nearby water.

Yabusame ritual.
Held each year on the 3rd of May at the Shimogamo-jinja-mae sanctuary.

 Not easy to make pictures here...

Yabusame ritual. (archery on horseback),

the samurais must shoot arches from a running horse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yabusame 

Yabusame ritual.

Yabusame ritual.

|---|  Guest House Origami (Bad!), Kyoto 2800¥/night, ~23€.

Day 14 - Monday 04/05/2015 - KYOTO.

Traffic separator during road works.

Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art.

Volatile visitor's art (also I contributed).

Painting robots.

The work of the robots is sold at 8000¥ for the biggest ones (~ 60€).

This robot steps backwards and draws pulling a body.

Exploring the Nord of Higashiyama.

 

Suddenly, after climbing few minutes the mountain, there is nobody anymore !

Where is Michel ?

A very plastic dinner, with a Belgian beer.

Day 15 - Tuesday 05/05/2015 - Kyoto to Tokushima (Shikoku) journey.
Japan Rail Expressway Bus, 10:10-1300, 2h50, 2100¥. 

Leaving the guesthouse for Kyoto's train station.

Kyoto's bus stop for Tokushima.

Kyoto's crowdy train station.
Notice the stairs and escalators in the backgound, leading until the 10th floor !!!

In good company.

In excellent company. 

'Henro' discovery.  

Here I'll try to find out more about the "88 Route" pilgrimage route", also called "Henro",

Japanese equivalent of our European "Santiago de Compostella" pilgrimages.

A walking course around the Shikoku island, in the footsteps of Köbö Daishi (774-835).

Local trains, in the more local train station of Tokushima
(Tokushima-Bandö, 260¥, 24 minutes).

 And the even more local train station of Bandö.
Notice the cushions on the bench seats.

Ryozen-ji, the 1st temple among the 88 sacred Temples pilgrimage trail,

Two 'Henros' (pilgrims) with brand new outfit worshipping in their 1st temple.

The temple shop, selling the 'Henro' (pilgrim) material.

Money, money, money.

 With two Henros.  Those visited all 88 temples in just two weeks, by car...
I'll start tomorrow morning, on foot.

My hotel for tonight (no idea what the next nights will be...).
Notice all those guest pictures on the wall.
The lobby guy also took a picture of me...

 This is what I found in the lobby, the next day.

|---| Hotel Avanti, Tokushima, 30€ including breakfast.

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