The first one is the Daibutsuden, the main building of one of the buddhist temples, the biggest wooden building in the world. Hover for the rest ! Hints : tori and sacred trees = shinto, pagodas (originally, these are tombs) and incense = buddhist.
Since I’m reading Skip Beat! right now, I believe it’s time to post that picture taken in Shinjuku. I came by it totally by accident, I didn’t even know it was real 
It goes well with the futuristic weird architectural experiments that are the Shinjuku buildings. Just so you know, pictures will be over soon, I promise ! I’d say 4 more posts. Temples are coming…
Once again, hover to know where you are…
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I invite you to take a stroll through Ritsurin Koen (1615-1868), in Takamatsu (Shikoku), and listen to totally unrelated but appropriate music.
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Himeji Castle. Built between 1333 and 1615, this is the only Japanese castle which hasn’t been destroyed and rebuilt in ferroconcrete. It’s still stone and wood. And marvelous wooden floors.The main dongeon is 6 stories high with narrow slippery stairs, with arrow holes, trap doors behind which samurai waited, weapons racks, and all that jazz. Tiles are engraved with the family crests of everyone that lorded over the area. Complete with shrine and suicide quarters.
So, where do I sign ?
I’ve seen volcanos before. The old, sleepy kind, in whose craters you can play tarot or get sunburned, on whose slopes you fall in peat-bogs up to your knees and you need someone to get you out. L’Auvergne, quoi.
Not the kind that actually blew up 9 years ago and is still venting steam.
South of Lake Toya, Usuzan (second picture) was formed 110 000 years ago and still says hello from time to time. Showa Shinzan, the lava dome you can see on the first picture, was created betwenn 1943 and 1945 (a baby volcano, how cute). The latest eruption happened in the Nishiyama craters (pictures 3 to 6).
The bonus pictures were taken in the ryokan we were staying at (the only time we weren’t on a budget, might as well immortalize it) complete with onsen and rotenburo… (I smuggled the camera in when I was sure I was alone, I could have been a secret agent I know).
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Ah, japanese food.
I had tasted a lot of things prior to this trip, thanks to the delicious restaurants in Paris 2e. But now I know they do it right
I forgot to take a picture of the one fancy dinner with lots of little plates you don’t wanna know more about, sorry. A shame, since apparently there was a bowl of seafood entrails or something (actually, that tasted fine).
I was told that food was cheap and good, and all of this is true. If you don’t like raw fish or seaweed, don’t worry you’ll be fine. There is a lot of different dishes.
The one that stays in my mind ? The crab ramen in this tiny restaurant in Hakodate (no pictures either, I started the whole food photographs later). *drools*
So, what have we here ? Genghis Khan in Sapporo (grilled lamb), crab in Sapporo too (Hokkaido rulz), udon in Takamatsu, takoyaki in Osaka, okonomiyaki in Nara, oyakodon and udon in Nara again. Itadakimasu !
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I love the sea, I love shores. Here’s a selection. Hovering on the photos will tell you the locations.
Yes, I wasn’t really over with the stupid pictures… Have fun ! The last one is a bonus from England.
My last posts may have triggered a few questions. Where have I been in Japan ? Am I just bragging and recycling pictures I found on the Internet ? To answer these questions, I’m offering a quick overview of my journey, complete with pictures of, not me obviously, since I like to stay in the shadows of this blog. Who then ? The now world-famous Marioby. Yup, a hippo. Since the camera loves it, it is starring in quite a few pictures. It’s been forgotten in Hakata, Himeji and Osaka though. I’ll highlight some of the places shown later with more serious pictures…
Everybody loves meeeeee (special thanks to our very nice tour guide in Gion, Kyoto)
