Japan Trip Day 5: The Philosopher's Walk

So...the quick nap I wanted to take last about 8 hours. X__X How can one sleep so much and be so tired? XD Jet lagged indeed.

But here I am folks. Pizza in my tummy and a million hours of sleep behind me. Let's see if I can't get a few blog posts out before I go back to bed. XD

Can I be Sleeping Beauty?

Up next is the Tenchi (and husband) version of The Philosopher's Walk. Enjoy!

Woohoo for TV.

Starting off our day with our "normal" programs. XD This show would sing a bunch of programs in English and that was supposed to help kids learn. I am not sure what but it was entertaining.

Dance children DANCE!

Even the random streets are cool.

Today was our first rainy day in Japan. They can't all be bright and sunny you know. But we still were going to go on The Philosopher's Walk no matter what. Just had to stop for some cheap umbrellas.

But in true Tenchi and husband fashion we got slightly lost. I am still not sure if we are just dumb or Japanese maps are really messed up. Maybe a combination of booth as the maps aren't really to scale and we never got a good handle of which way the maps were pointing.

So we actually started off our day going to Heian Jingu shrine. We were on the wrong road but we figured that if we could see such a large structure it would be worth stopping by.

There was a large garden inside Heian Jingu but it cost some money and since the cherry blossoms were no longer in bloom we thought the garden area might be sparse. But it was rather large. Maybe next time. XD

Back on the road again.

After visiting Heian Jingu Shrine we tried to back track a little bit to find the beginning of The Philosopher's Walk. Walking around Kyoto was fun, even if we were sorta lost.

Tiny shrine.

While inside a temple and shrine you have to look everywhere for small details.

Starting with number...4?

After finally getting on track we arrive at Eikan-do. This huge place had tons of buildings connected by open walkways. We weren't allowed to take a lot of pictures inside but it was pretty. Well worth the price of admittance.

Very old verses new.

Many of the temples and shrines have tiny or large stairs. They are not even and a bit hard to navigate at times. I would still go to any of these shrines and temples but I feel as if I need to warn people in case they have problems with stairs. Most of Japan is not very accessible to the handicap. Or at least in the areas I went to.

Gorgeous view.

The climb up to the top of Eikan-do was rough but well worth it. Such a pretty view despite the rain.

Pagoda at the top of Eikan-do.

Not a very big structure but worth the climb up to see it. Also there was a little resting spot to get out of the rain.

"Gardens" everywhere.

However this garden was actually quite pretty despite not having that many flowers. Japanese gardens aren't always about the flowers but the tree and rock alignment. People are always working hard to maintain the gardens.

More of the gardens inside.

Random temple/shrine?

At this point we weren't sure what was a temple/shrine or what was part of the Philosopher's walk. So no more labeling stuff as I don't want to label them wrong. XD

Even thought it was raining down hard the sand structure pretty much was intact. Thought it was cool.

Some of these temples and shrines didn't have many visitors but were still worth stopping by.

I loved the random mouse shrine XD

Lots and lots of walking in Japan.

Weren't allowed in this area but it was pretty inside.

NO MORE STAIRS!!!

The walk itself was very pretty. I am sure if there were cherry blossoms it would have been super crowded. But today we mainly had the place to ourselves yay! XD

After all that walking we decided to stop for noms. At this grocery store they actually had ramune. XO But I still think it is a lie and people should stock up at anime conventions. Because they aren't everywhere in Japan.

Everything needs a mascot, even the buses!!!

Japan could not WAIT for the new Pirates movie. There was Pirate crap everywhere. On this food and this product and a deal here for a free Pirate thing. Every other commercial was for Pirates. Pirates crazy.

Despite being a very advanced society their new programs relied mostly on cardboard cut outs to relay the events of the day. So weird.

Scariest program of the entire trip. A bunch of gay celebrities had to make a bunch of preschooler's cheer for them. This mostly consisted of dancing around naked.

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Japan Trip Day 4: Chishaku-in Temple and Sanjusangen Temple

X__X Perhaps I should have written down where we went each day so blogging would be a bit easier. Because my husband has the memory of a goldfish and I am having a hard time remembering which temple went with each day. X__X Because I am that special and jet lagged.

But here we go folks. Sorry if I get a little picture heavy.

On our way to some temples and shrines. Remember while in Japan one must look out for mascots. Everything needs a mascot.

Up first on the list of things to do today was Chishaku-in. We actually were not planning on going to this structure but went the wrong way on the road and ran into this temple instead. But we still had fun and was well worth the visit. This is the road the Kyoto National Museum is on.

Arriving at Chishaku-in. If one is a fan of old structures Japan is the place for you!

If one is not a fan of stairs Japan might not be the best place for you. Japan is all about the stairs.

Never got to hear any of the big bells hit. :( But they are pretty to look at.

Even though we are inside old structures one cannot escape the influences of the new world.

We saw many people over our trip dedicating a whole lot of money to the temples and shrines. But I guess if you believe your wishes can come true through an offering it makes sense.

When something says temple or shrine in Japan it can either mean one structure or a huge lot with many different structures. Sometimes going through these temples and shrines would take hours or 30 minutes. So it is best not to plan too much on your day in case your particular destination is a bigger one.

This seemed to be the main structure inside Chishaku-in. A few people came to chant while we were nearby.

Great Buddha feet.

This path looks spooky yes? Almost looks like it is out of Alice and Wonderland. XD

The path lead up to a graveyard where several wild kitties were running around.

More small structures around the property. One has to look everywhere and carefully to make sure they see everything.

So many beautiful views from inside Chishaku-in.

There was one building in Chishaku-in that we were allowed to take pictures in. It looked more like a house than a shrine. It had a beautiful garden outside.

View of the garden and what building we were allowed to go inside of.

Many people were just chillin and takin in the view when we arrived. Some people had stuff for an entire day to do while looking at the beautiful garden.

After Chishaku-in Temple we went to Sanjusangen Temple. Most of the impressive parts were inside the temple and we were not allowed to take pictures in there. But the wooden building went on forever. X__X

Some parts of the temple looked very old while some looked brand new. Always rebuilding in Japan.

Since we couldn't take many pictures inside there is not much to show you from Sanjusangen. Only that it is very impressive and one must go if they are in Kyoto. After we did a few more temples we decided to go to a shopping arcade and do some shopping.

Loft is a super cool store that I highly recommend. It has several branches in Tokyo too. Most have at least 4 floors, separated by different categories. One part of a floor has anime goods/characters. And so many stickers!!! If you love stickers and spending money this is the store for you!

That store had such expensive treats but look how big the one on the bottom is. X__X Got to take at least 10 friends with you to finish that one off.

Cat Cafe!!!! One can buy a super expensive drink and spend time petting very friendly kitties. We were not allowed to take pictures inside but all the kitties were so cute! Made me miss mine so bad.

There were a lot of stores selling basically the same stuff, Japanese souvenirs. Some of the plushies were so cute though!

Better picture of the Animate near our hotel.

One needs to advertise everywhere, even on the stairs.

More random temples while we shopped.

Thanks for stopping by to read my Japan Trip Day 4 post! Day 5 will be up soon!

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