Rising Sun

TOKYO

Arrival in Tokyo is in the morning. Visa procedures quick and free of charge. Strict and meticulous checks... Even though we're tired and a bit groggy from jet lag, we immediately start looking for a place to stay to make the most of the day... Right away a couple of practical tips: 1 - currency exchange at the airport: there's no difference from the rates in the city. 2 - at arrivals, finding accommodation in the city is easy, quick and safe. Try the Welcome Inn Reservation Center desk. 3 -...if you want to reach Tokyo by train there are many options. Affordable ones too...(min. Y1000) We settle in at the Suzuki Ryokan, to immediately try the typical local hotels, where two nice elderly ladies welcome us, obviously without knowing a word of English... so we get by with "arigato" all day long. The ryokan is one minute from Nippori station, just 15 minutes from Ueno. Y7000 for a double.

Hygiene is not a problem, as in the rest of the country... We dedicate the first day to visiting the nearby Ueno district, the city's little cultural and natural oasis. Passing through the Yanaka cemetery and the Tennoji temple, we find ourselves in Ueno-Koen park where you can visit, in addition to the park itself, the Tokyo National Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Western Art and the Ueno Zoo... the Ueno area is enchanting and incredibly peaceful, which is why we still can't grasp that we're in a megalopolis of 18 million inhabitants... but immediately, as we walk, we find ourselves in Ameyoko where one of the few remaining open-air markets in the city "resists"; the Yokocho Arcade Market literally "sucks us in" among the people... but how many are there?!?... The following day we throw ourselves into the central part of the capital.

First stop the Tokyo Imperial Palace, or rather the park surrounding it, since the palace is closed 363 days a year... note a multitude of workers tasked with conserving the surrounding trees: there was practically one per tree, trimming leaves with nail scissors. All of it under torrential rain... Practical news: in March in Japan it's freezing cold. And it rains 3 days out of 4. We then move to the "nearby" Ginza, a district of commercial inspiration, where the Tokyo Int. Forum, known as the "Dome", stands out with its futuristic structure, along with the Sony Building: a dream you can touch, for those who love technology... and since I have this "problem", (because yes, in this country a normal passion in this field turns into a problem...) after visiting a couple of 9-floor little shops all dedicated to the subject, I decided to avoid them until the end of the vacation...

So we decide to end the day in Shinjuku, the famous area studded with very tall skyscrapers. At sunset the spectacle is guaranteed, and it's also nice to get lost in the nearby red-light district (nothing to do with the ones of the same name in Western cities, here you feel safer than in your own home...), where wealthy Japanese, after a long day of work, go to spend a few yens in the many love hotels. The scenery is worthy of the set of Blade Runner: you have to see it to believe it. Tips: eating can be decidedly cheap, especially if you do it in the many little restaurants that dot all the city's stations. Always choose the ones displaying photos of the dishes, unless you speak and read Japanese... Trying the metro in Tokyo is an adventure (an expensive one, too). If you find yourself in a minor station where the names are written only in local characters...

good luck! The last day in the Japanese capital takes us to discovering Akihabara, an area totally dedicated to shopping in electronics stores. A real Arab souk but with oriental colors and faces. You have to try the thrill of losing yourself among the multitude of people running everywhere. After a visit to Tokyo Bay, with its panorama characterized by the Rainbow Bridge, we visit the splendid nearby temple of Zojo-ji, from where you can also admire the Tokyo Tower. At night we find ourselves in the incredible district of Shibuya. Lights, giant monitors, shops and the most unimaginable people on the streets. Here everything leaves you open-mouthed... even the pedestrian crossings! Tokyo is unimaginable if not seen.

A city of the future with skyscrapers, lights, tangles of roads and railways, but where it's easy to get lost among parks and "oases" of incomparable beauty and where the tranquility makes you forget you're in a megalopolis. And then the cleanliness, everywhere, leaves you stunned!

KYOTO

The visit to Kyoto starts off well right away thanks to the fact that even the journey itself to reach it is thrilling before you even leave. Finally we board the famous Shinkansen: the bullet train!!! Already Tokyo's central station leaves you speechless when you discover you're "only" one of the 2 million daily passengers passing through its tracks... 2 million... Sitting on one of these trains feels in every way like boarding a plane, with the only difference being that here they always leave on time. A 2-minute delay already means monitors flashing with big red characters. The same public anxiety that in Italy you'd feel for a national tragedy......and so in just 2h 30mins we reach Kyoto... The old capital of Japan welcomes us with freezing temperatures, and the immense futuristic central station disorients us a bit on our arrival.

Thanks though to the T.I.C (touristic information center), located near the station's south exit, we manage to get out of it "alive".. And after a long and exhausting walk in the cold we manage to find a place to stay. The Budget Inn hotel for three days and the Tour Club for another 2 (five minutes apart from each other and run by the same people) will later prove excellent both for location and value for money. Dorm Y2500 pp and Double Room Y8990 pr for the first one, and something cheaper for the second. We use whatever is left of the day to start discovering Kyoto and its countless wonders......so that at the end of the second day, and after walking kilometers, we consider ourselves totally satisfied with the thousand temples and monuments seen, absolutely not to be missed: Kiyomizu-Dera, Ginkaku-Ji, Kinkaku-Ji (golden temple), Ryoan-Ji (rock garden) and Nishi Hongan-Ji...

but if you want you could see something different every day for a week! The One Day Bus Pass for Y500 is extremely useful. Buses number 100 and 102 are perfect with their routes. After a day, what could be better than a bit of shopping?!? The best is found in the Shijo area and under its arcades. We will then use Kyoto in the following days as a base to travel by Shinkansen to various destinations visitable as a day trip......so that Kyoto and its incomparable artistic wonders may never be forgotten by our minds and our hearts.

NARA

In 45 minutes by train, this time a very ordinary "local", we reach Nara, the first capital of what was the Japanese empire. A nice, quiet, extremely pleasant little town (by Japanese standards 300,000 inhabitants is a small village). Everything that draws a tourist's attention is found within the walls of an enormous park, Isui-En Park, incredibly inhabited by thousands of deer in total freedom. The very useful TIC at the station gives us maps and recommended itineraries. We admire Kofuku-Ji, the five-storey pagoda, the enormous Todai-Ji Chu-Mon gate, access to the Todai-Ji Nandai-Mon temple where, within wooden walls more than 1300 years old, is enclosed the largest bronze statue in the world depicting the Buddha.

The long walk (under heavy snowfall, among other things...) will then take us to the temples of Sangtsu-Do Hall and Kasuga Taisha, also known as the temple of the 3000 lanterns.

HIMEJI

You go to Himeji for one reason only: to admire what is considered the most beautiful castle in Japan. And so it is. Himeji too can easily be visited in a single day. By Shinkansen you reach it in about 2 hours, and the castle, the city's only attraction, is no more than 15 minutes' walk from the station. Not seeing it is impossible. White and majestic, it's recognizable from every side of the city. Entry costs Y600, or you can opt for the "combo" of castle + kokoen gardens for just Y720. A pleasant stroll among geometric and enchanting gardens where the ancient samurai residences once stood is definitely worth considering. As for the castle, a photo of just the exterior can only make you want to visit it. You can't miss it!

HIROSHIMA

So we decide to conclude our tour of the rising sun ever further south. Hiroshima. I believe there isn't a living being on the planet who doesn't feel a shiver down their spine at hearing this name pronounced. And so I don't consider it necessary to explain it myself. I didn't know exactly what to expect from this city. To be honest, apart from its sad fame, I knew nothing about modern Hiroshima. And like almost everything in Japan, here too I'm amazed to find myself in a highly modern metropolis, where, however, people seem to live at a much more peaceful and calm pace than in the rest of the country. The inhabitants themselves call it the city of peace. And after a few hours I believe it truly is... We stay at the Aster Plaza Hiroshima Int. Youth House, a Western-style hotel near the Peace Memorial Museum. Y3130 pp per night is the best price you can find.

Absolutely unmissable and unforgettable in its drama is the Peace Memorial Museum (entry Y50). There are no words to describe the horror you relive within these walls......and on coming out it almost feels like you're breathing different air in the streets. You feel more a part of this community... The adjacent Peace Memorial Park contains within it: the cenotaph, the flame of peace, the children's peace memorial, the Korean A-bomb memorial and the very famous A-Bomb Dome. Strolling through the whole city then gives you the chance to also visit Hiroshima-Jo (the main castle) and the World Peace Memorial Cathedral....without ever forgetting shopping: the Hon-dori Arcade area is the best!

The moment of return is approaching. And in just 5 hours by Shinkansen, with a single change in Osaka, we cover the more than a thousand km separating us from Tokyo... and once we arrive in the capital we already feel sadly at home... What can I say about Japan? A very pleasant surprise. Absolutely not expensive as people believe, undoubtedly cold, safe and all to be discovered day after day... and the Japanese?!? Simply... Japanese!!!