Buddist temple in Shikoku

  We thought that we should meet a Buddhist family in our last stop of our tour, the island of Shikoku. We had already been to a Shinto Shrineso we thought we would talk about the other popular religion.

A Family Butsudan

   Buddhism started in 600 BC in India but through spread of religion Buddhism traveled to Korea and China. In 600 AD Korean monks brought it to Japan and since then it has been a popular religion. Buddhist means the one awakened to the truth and believes in many things including rebirth and is commonly practiced through meditation.
     The family we met and had dinner with told us about their beliefs and traditions. The husband even happened to be the oldest son in the family so he had a butsudan in his house. A butsudan is a family altar, the wife puts fresh food and incense on it daily. This altar celebrates the husbands parents.

  It was so interesting to see the differences in religion from Canada to Japan!

Going Home to Ottawa-Day 10!

Cole and I had a fun time in Japan we visited Tokyo which was a lot fun seeing the endless skyscrapers, then we were close to climbing mount Fuji it was really cold up there but we accomplished half of a goal. We traveled by the fastest train in the world, the Bullet Train. And we saw Derek Jeter and the Americans beat the Japanese in the best baseball game ever!!! We saw a Shinto Shrine and learn`t more about Samurai warriors. Then we visit the Taksakiyama zoo it was a lot of fun to see all of their animals. And we learn`t about the houses in Japan. That was the best ten days of my life!!!!!! Cole and I are on the plane back from Japan and we just landed! This is our Blog!!!!!

Climate and Housing on Hokkaido-Day 9

Cole and I wanted to learn more about Japans climate so we asked a Climatologist she said that the best time of year that you want to be here in Japan is Spring,
Spring is probably the best time of year to be in Japan. The temperatures are warm but not hot, there's not too much rain, and March-April brings the justly famous cherry blossoms and is a time of revelry and festivals.
And Summer starts with a dreary rainy season in June and turns into a steam bath in July-August, with extreme humidity and the temperature heading as high as 40°C.
Autumn starting in September, is a close second to spring. Temperatures become more tolerable, fair days are common and fall colors are almost impressive as the cherry blossoms in spring.
Winter is a good time to go skiing or hot-spring hopping, but as the Japanese have yet to figure out the wonders of central heating, it's often miserably cold indoors.


Cole and I got invited to dinner from our friend at the train station, when we got there she gave us a tour of her house. She said that it was a Traditional Japanese home it is made of wood and supported by wood pillars. But more and more families in urban areas are living in big apartment buildings, she also said that there is two big differences with western homes are that shoes are not worn inside the house and that at least one room tends to be designed in the Japanese style with a tatami floor. When the dinner was ready we sat down and ate chicken teriyaki it was really good we said goodbye and thanked our friend from the train station.

The people of Kyushu- Day 6 continued

The National Living Treasure :)

  The people we met in Kyushu were different than all the people we met in Tokyo and other highly developed cities, but where we were in Kyushu it was much different.
  The small country villages were where Thomas and I spent most of our time, we were even lucky enough to meet a Japanese living treasure (artisan who is paid by the government to continue  their traditional practices). He was an incredible man and showed us a thing or two about how he makes paper the traditional way.
  Below is a video a link to video on how some people make paper (an easier way).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjw1qMQrE4I

Shinto Temple in Kyushu- Day 5

 We decided to visit an old Shinto shrine in Kyushu. After a Quick Flight from Sapporo to Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu we landed and headed to a shrine.
  As we entered the old red door way I felt as if a spirit had taken over me and I was truly stress free.
    Thomas and I wanted to go see the Shinto Kami,  it is the most important place in the building it has a lot of sacred objects. That were important in japans history, there was a samurai sword it said it belonged to a famous samurai warrior who killed himself after a loss in battle.
        When we asked for a tour guide at the front desk we met  one named was Tomasu. He said that there are festivals on occasions like the first new moon of the month.  We learned many new things from him and he was very kind. He walked around in a beautiful silk kimono or more commonly known as a yukata. 
   Every stop in Japan we meet new people and see the totally different cultures in each island. From the modern trendy people in Tokyo to the kind traditional kimono wearing people in Shikoku.

Takasakiyama Natural Zoo Day 6 in Kyushu

Cole and I went to the Taksakiyama Natural Zoo this morning and we will never forget it. We got there by train and after we walked out of the train station and toward the zoo, it took us about ten minutes to walk there.
Once we got there, we found a tour guide who told us that there are 61 species of mammals, 116 species of birds and 35 species of reptiles. We spent a lot of time in the monkey area feeding the Japanese Macaque. I don't think Cole will ever forget when a baby macaque jumped off a tree onto his head then peed!
After further exploring and seeing many new birds and reptiles Ive never seen before we sat down for lunch of chicken teriyaki and rice.
This was our first stop in Kyushu and we were loving the heat! Since the day before we were in Sapporo in the furthest island north and now soaking up the sub tropical climate. Along with the great weather we met more nice people, a young man who must've worked at the zoo, they called the monkeys by name so we could pet them easily. He also showed us the cutest animal in the world... the Japanese flying squirrel!!
The people of Kyushu are all very kind and from we what we tasted great chefs! We have had many astonishing traditional meals served from elder people, native to the deep forests of Kyushu. We tried grasshopper and a traditional stew made of tofu and tea. We went into the city for a delicious dessert of coffee jelly and ice cream after our fun time at the zoo.

Japanese Baseball Game Day 4 Sapporo

     Cole and I got seven tickets to the Japan vs USA baseball game in Sapporo, so we went with Mme. Harriz our college professor, Connor, Michael, Jeff, and Gianni who are all old friends.
    It was hard to get tickets and we were lucky because baseball is so popular in Japan. Sometime you must book a field two months in advance just to play a game!
     We went by train to the game, and on the train it was really crammed with people, it was very hard to sit down. Everyone was trying to get to the game!
    When we arrived, there was so many people lined up at the snack bars. We got our snacks and took our seats. Mme. Harriz, Thomas and Gianni were cheering for Japan; Connor, Michael, Jeff and Cole were cheering for USA. Baseball has been played in Japan for more than 100 years so everyone knew all of the rules. The game began, in the first inning Japan scored twice and grounded out three times. USA had a man on second and had scored once. In the second inning Hisashi Takeda hit a home run for Japan and Derek Jeter hit a homer for USA.

    The game did not have any more runs until the seventh inning when just before the rakki sebun ( the Japanese version of the seventh inning stretch when everyone releases these little balloons ) Mark Texeira hit a grand slam! After that it was pretty much all over for Japan and the USA won 9-5.
  Cole and I were all surprised by how popular baseball was and the difference in snacks found there. But no matter how different it seemed at first once we walked out to our seats we remembered the good ole sport we knew and loved. Nothing couldn't felt better than the warm sun shining down on us the warm breeze brushing against us and the sound of many people kindheartedly cheering for their favorite team!
   In Sapporo just like many other Japanese cities most people live in apartments. Here, I heard of chonaikai. Chonaikai is a  community association that gathers and talk about; social welfare,environment, health, and festival in their community.
     In Hokkaido fire can spread extremely quickly because the houses/apartments are heated by gas heaters which are very flammable and houses are close together.
      Because of this in smaller tsunamis its not the waves but the fire that causes the most destruction. 

Trains, games and baseball! Day 3 in Sapporo

The kind lady we met at the train station.

     Our next stop was up north! We took the Tobu railway link from Tokyo to Aomori, took a ferry from Aomori to the Hokkaido, then finally a train from a small village on the coast to Sapporo Hokkaido! It took us a very long time for all the traveling and staying in those crammed trains were uncomfortable and didn't help Thomas's claustrophobia. But the trains were very cool, they all had black leather seats with the reds painted blue. We could see the farms as they zoom by.
      After each train ride we got some rice and fish, it was extremely nice to have some fresh fish in a coastal city, I have never tasted Mai (red snapper) that was so good.
    My friend Thomas taught me many new card games on the rain rides to pass the time. Have you ever heard of Gin, Oh Crud, or Spoons?

      It wasn't hard to get our tickets. In Canada a two train tickets from Toronto to Ottawa cost about 69$ in economy class and 136 in business class. Our train tickets in Japan though were much cheaper here.

Our speedy train

    Luckily for us we met a nice woman who spoke English and helped us from train to train. If it wasn't for her we probably have made it to Sapporo so easily!
 

Mt. Fujisan- Day 2

one incredible sunset

Our beautiful ride

Thomas and I decided to stop at Mt. Fujisan or Mt. Fuji as its known as in English. This beautiful volcano is Japan's highest peak at a whooping 3776 meters high. Mt. Fuji is a very beautiful and famous site in Japan, you can commonly be found in Japanese paintings with its almost identical sides.
   We rode in our old neighbor and now Tokyo resident's jeep to the volcano. Thomas had the genius idea to try to climb it...  one hour later we were crawling back cold and exhausted !
    Even though we couldn't climb it about 300,000 people climb it each year. People can take guides up the volcano or climb it themselves. It normally takes one day to go from the summit to the crater and back down, most people say its not that hard but it takes a long time and is very cold. Mt. Fuji is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen, imagine what looks like a single mountain dipped with white on top while a awesome sunset falls behind it leaving the peak shimmering with pinks and blues. That is what I just witnessed.
    After our non successful climb we headed into Tokyo for one last meal before we hit the train. We had some good ole' soba which are delicious buckwheat noodles, Thomas and I decided to try sashimi, a so called great dish made of raw fish.
     But our stomachs disagreed and ended up with bad stomach aches during are train trip to Sapporo.
    Mt.Fuji is a interesting place filled with information including; it is a dormant volcano and last erupted in 1707. It was made when the Okhotsk plate and the Phillipine Sea Plate smashed together.

A merorable trip to Tokyo

Tokyo

     My friend Thomas and I had a dream to travel all around japan and experience the Japanese culture. Now it is happening, we boarded an West Jet plane and flew from Ottawa Canada to Tokyo, Japan. As we unloaded off the crowded plane we could smell the sweet cherry blossoms and see the falling sun behind a beautiful Tokyo skyline.



our tour bus



     We entered Tokyo on a late Saturday night and were bewildered by the hustle and bustle all around us; cars cramming the streets like little ants from the endless skyscrapers above and people swarming the streets like bugs. After a two hour search for our hotel, the Marriott Courtyard, we finally went to sleep to rest up for the busy day ahead of us.

     Morning came early and we were off after a quick meal at Fujimamas and started shopping, and meeting great people. A young man showed us all around the city and gave us a free bus ride and all the best restaurants. He said he loved seeing new people learning about Japan culture. We enjoyed seeing the two very different parts of Tokyo, in downtown Tokyo it is very modern with everyone dressed in current fashion and the country side with its traditional homes and people wearing traditional kimono.
      Tokyo is the country's capitol now but it wasn't always, before it was the ancient town of Kyoto but the old fishing town of Edo (Tokyo's old name) is now the largest metropolitan are of Japan.  Tokyo is located on the island of Honshu and has 13,10,279 people living there.
    We had a great first stop on our country wide tour! But Tokyo is just one city in the biggest island of Honshu. It is in central Japan, it has a temperate climate meaning the winters are not to cold and the summers not to hot. Honshu is between the pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan, typhoons can be a real problem in the south where the heavy rains can bring floods and damage to buildings and houses.