This is the furthest North we've traveled together and definitely more removed from big city/tourism life. We clearly are not from around here and with international tourism still blocked we definitely get looks and questions a lot more these day, 'where are you from?' and 'why/how did you choose to come here' We start with the simple explanation, we're from America but currently living and working in Utsunomiya. A quick explanation to the underlying question of, did you find a way to get into our country and bring your American germs with you?!?!
The Gorge that inspired our destination! Always excited to see beautiful things in Nature. Always amazed at the clarity in the streams here! We wandered along the gorge for a bit, admiring the scenery then found the famous spot with the special snacks! While waiting for our food to slide back across the Gorge I was 'welcomed' to the area by a friendly bird. And by welcomed, a big ol chunk of bird poop landed on my shoulder!
Sidenote: public bathrooms are increasing the availability of soap/towels in this COVID germ aware times. But public bathrooms in a park along a gorge have not gotten that memo. Toilet paper and running water worked enough to scrub away the offending 'welcome gift' Then, I slathered copious amounts of hand sanitizer, all over my shoulder (and nearby hair in case of splatter) Much horror and subsequent public bathroom scrubbing later I mostly recover and and ready to rejoin admiring the views.
Sidenote: public bathrooms are increasing the availability of soap/towels in this COVID germ aware times. But public bathrooms in a park along a gorge have not gotten that memo. Toilet paper and running water worked enough to scrub away the offending 'welcome gift' Then, I slathered copious amounts of hand sanitizer, all over my shoulder (and nearby hair in case of splatter) Much horror and subsequent public bathroom scrubbing later I mostly recover and and ready to rejoin admiring the views.
Alongside the gorge we found this patch of marshland, so interesting how two seemingly vastly different ecosystems coexist next to each other. Speaking of coexisting, the trees growing out of the tops of rocks in the middle of the Gorge- amazing!!!
We wander through this small town on our way to visit some temples. Dreaming and plotting how to recreate these beautiful gardens back home.
Super interesting to find these pieces carefully laid down along the side of the path. Typically we find these Torii Gates over the path like below. Marking the entrance to the shrine. We wondered how long these pieces have been there and what caused them to fall? An earthquake? Typical degradation over the years? Part of an abandoned master plan to rebuilt and beautify?
When these shrines were built eons ago, they were built on special magical land, places considered sacred by the folks that lived nearby. The thing about beautiful sites deemed sacred by the locals? Other people see magic in the same spaces! And they build their temples to their deities.
So these spaces which are already beautiful and magical are made even more enchanting by these sacred structures. Each structure crafted in a similar style, but full of unique details. Often a set of steps (sometimes very tall and steep steps) lead to the shrine, super loving the detail of tree roots functioning as steps!
Two different religions, each seeing the same space as sacred, building structure to honor their deities and give their community a place to gather. Not just coexisting harmoniously, but welcoming diversity, growing and evolving. "Today, most Japanese people observe both Buddhism and Shinto, according to the occasion, without any conflict or contradiction between the two."
There's something so beautiful in that truth, that ability to coexist peacefully with someone different than us.
Treating each other (and their spaces) with respect.
Making our own sacred spaces more remarkable by the shared environment.
Treating each other (and their spaces) with respect.
Making our own sacred spaces more remarkable by the shared environment.
And this World Heritage Site: Chuson-ji. A Golden Temple built in the 12th century. They surrounded this with another temple like structure to protect the original structure.
No photos allowed inside, but l did find one to borrow from the internet!
And it wouldn't be a weekend adventuring in Japan without a bit of a mishap. 10 Months (nearly 11 now) into our Japan life and we still don't know everything. Almost every train we've ridden so far has taken our electronic ticket card, our Suica. We just tap it to enter/exit and it auto deducts our train fare. Super easy, no worries about having exact change or knowing which route/station code to enter.
But we've heard in the rural areas, sometimes the stations are so tiny they don't have machines to read the card (really, really Japan?!?!) And on Sunday morning as we set off for another beautiful place we ran into one of those stations. Well, it took us a bit to figure that out.
Just like always, we tap our Suica cards to get on the train and settle in for the ride. As we get to the destination we head to the exit doors and push the button to open the doors. They don't open. We wait a moment then try again. Still not opening. We continue pushing the button and nothing changes. Finally (as the train was getting ready to pull away) the kind Japanese folks in our train car start shouting something and the train conductor opens the doors for us.
Fast forward an hour and we get on a different train at the same station. The same station where we weren't able to tap our Suica to exit, instead we just walked through an empty gate. Getting back onto the train we decide to pay slightly more attention to the process where we realize this train works differently.
Instead of tapping in, you pick up a paper ticket. Which you then take with you to the front of the train to pay for your fare (who knows hows you figure out how much to pay?!?!) And the conductor opens the doors to let you off. So earlier when we couldn't open the doors by ourselves, and had to rely on the kindness of strangers shouting at the conductor to help us out. Turns out the conductor definitely decided it was easier to just let us off the train without paying then to try to explain to us how the paying process worked. A calculated decision to not delay the train schedule and instead just let us enjoy our free ride.
We fumbled our way through this paper ticketing process, not exactly doing it correctly, but at the final destination we got off the train all by ourselves and even managed to pay for our fare! Not exactly at the correct place or for the correct price, but each weekend we support the train systems with lots of our Yens so it all works out.
But we've heard in the rural areas, sometimes the stations are so tiny they don't have machines to read the card (really, really Japan?!?!) And on Sunday morning as we set off for another beautiful place we ran into one of those stations. Well, it took us a bit to figure that out.
Just like always, we tap our Suica cards to get on the train and settle in for the ride. As we get to the destination we head to the exit doors and push the button to open the doors. They don't open. We wait a moment then try again. Still not opening. We continue pushing the button and nothing changes. Finally (as the train was getting ready to pull away) the kind Japanese folks in our train car start shouting something and the train conductor opens the doors for us.
Fast forward an hour and we get on a different train at the same station. The same station where we weren't able to tap our Suica to exit, instead we just walked through an empty gate. Getting back onto the train we decide to pay slightly more attention to the process where we realize this train works differently.
Instead of tapping in, you pick up a paper ticket. Which you then take with you to the front of the train to pay for your fare (who knows hows you figure out how much to pay?!?!) And the conductor opens the doors to let you off. So earlier when we couldn't open the doors by ourselves, and had to rely on the kindness of strangers shouting at the conductor to help us out. Turns out the conductor definitely decided it was easier to just let us off the train without paying then to try to explain to us how the paying process worked. A calculated decision to not delay the train schedule and instead just let us enjoy our free ride.
We fumbled our way through this paper ticketing process, not exactly doing it correctly, but at the final destination we got off the train all by ourselves and even managed to pay for our fare! Not exactly at the correct place or for the correct price, but each weekend we support the train systems with lots of our Yens so it all works out.