Travels in Japan - Night Time Coming

There's a scene in Hayao Miyazaki's anime "Spirited Away" where night descends on the ruins of an old, abandoned town. It is meant to mark a transition where the main character transitions from the living human world to that of spirits. The lighting of the lamps symbolizes the presence of spirits - something seen in spiritual or religious practice in Japan. Lanterns, candles, fires are lit at Obon, the celebration of the return of the dead to spend time among the living.
Two of my favorite instances of this involve creating small paper lanterns and either lighting them and sending them to drift down a river or into the ocean - or another where the lanterns are lit and thrown to rise into the sky. Its a beautiful, poetic image as the spirits of the departed set forth into the unknown, borne unto the darkness beyond on these fragile craft. Their lights slowly flicker out and away. So much like life. So fleeting, beautiful, and then it is over. The Japanese quality of light

The Japanese quality of light in small rural spaces is subtle, a simple post here or a lamp that hangs or stands there. In a vast city like Tokyo, its on a scale almost incomprehensible. While Tokyo is generally safe, it is good never to go alone as in any city. That said, I did wander one evening to see what I could find. To me, Tokyo was at its best at night. It has an almost Blade Runner quality, though from what I understand Blade Runner got that quality from Tokyo (Shinjuku Specifically). I have never been to that part of the city, but from the pictures I have seen - I can see where they got the idea from.
When you travel to Japan, take at least one night or an hour to wander. Perhaps you might be more inclined to nightlife than I, and you can certainly enjoy that. For me though its the sights and sounds of the city that were so enticing. One imagines who has been here, who runs it. The daily (nightly) stories that begin and conclude in such locations. Each a story unto their own.

Travels in Japan - Nikko Conclusion

Trust anyone who welcomes you and shares of their home and life. Always show unto them the trust to share of yourself as they share unto you.
There is no more ample display of Japanese hospitality than what is known as the "kaiseki" meal. These multi-course meals are often reserved for special occasions and are a well-known staple of Japanese ryokan. The ingredients and flavors change with seasons. You might have items and special courses in winter that hint at the spring to come or the fall that is behind you. These beautiful meals come in exquisite packaging—ceramics, baskets, plates, decorations, etc.—that entice the imagination. You use all senses in this meal before you even taste anything.

Sometimes there are more "unusual" looking meals - things that might not appeal to the western pallate but definetely do the Japanese one. My advice for this with anything in Japan is to keep your mind open, close your eyes and forget what it looks like. Take at least a few bites, nod and make sounds like its delicious, then move onto something else.

Our hosts at Nikko Hoshino Yado ryokan were already very gracious, but the moment I shared what little Japanese I knew (not more than maybe a sentence worth of words, they opened up even more. They were delighted when I recognized a dish as Sakura Mochi—sweet rice that covers in red bean paste wrapped in a cherry blossom leaf. They deeply appreciated when I told them the food was oishi (delicious) and shared their own fractured English with us. Many spoke quite well, and we managed to communicate between ourselves.

I don't remember all the meals and conversations we had, but it was enough between us that the proprietess gave us her address to communicate, and a particular waitress apparently asked to be able to serve us every night because she enjoyed our presence. (This is what was told to us.) Even the main desk person took special notice to get us extra futons since the floor was not quite as comfortable. Indeed, I would say that was the hardest part of the stay. The hot spring bath was luxurious (I was the only one who partook) and it is communal bathing so it takes a lot of courage to do. Once I did it though it was as natural and relaxing as any hot tub. THe meals themselves were such a show, beautiful in presentation and absolutely delicious.

Our experiences at this in resolved in me that knowing about a culture is of the utmost importance. Taking a little time to learn about words, dishes, customs, and then using that knowledge with your hosts will give you such a better rounded experience. You aren't just "visiting" you are contributing and participating. That is the beauty of Japan in a nutshell.

This unusual dish is Yuba, its home made tofu. You start by boiling soybean milk with a special acid or casein, and the yuba itself is the skin that forms off the top. Then you enjoy the fresh tofu cooked right in front of you.

This next one might give many readers or observers pause. I recognized it immediatley as Fugu, poison pufferfish. It takes tremendous skill to be able to prepare it, and even a tiny amount of the toxins in the fish can kill several people. If you are wondering about the design, that's what clued me in. Pufferfish is arranged super thin in a "crysthanthemum" pattern traditionally. As to trying it, I had my doubts, but I trusted them to know what they were doing. The taste was nothing special and I would never eat it again because of the risk - but it was a cool one time thing.

As to all these other dishes, what they were escapes me, but you can see the sheer variety. These are some of the various meals and courses tried over the days we were there. Somehow we managed to eat it all, and for the price of our room, the variety and quality were unmatched. At least in my opinion.

Travels in Japan - Nikko Part 3 - Temples and Ryokan Hoshino Yado

For anyone who has traveled to Japan, a seminal experience you have to do at least once (and hopefully shall do many times) is a stay at a ryokan. For an outsider, imagine a hotel (with or without onsen (hot spring) baths), world-class service, and dining. There are many types, with differences between styles in each city, neighborhood, and even change with seasons. THere are even differences between traditional ones (which have you sleep on a tatami mat on the floor) and ones which are western (more traditional beds, though even these can have very Japanese aesthetics.)

We'd only stayed at one such accommodation so far in Takayama, which left much to be desired, with the rest of our trips being at more traditional Western hotels. This hotel, however, was one I earmarked not only for its close location to all the World Heritage sites in Nikko but also because it has great reviews and beautiful pictures. The Nikko Hoshinoyado sits kitty-corner to a more famous ryokan (which may or may not be its parent company; I am unsure) called the Nikko Kanaya Hotel. I don't know much about that hotel, but it's very old and very well esteemed. Our ryokan overlooked the streets and part of the temples of Nikko on a little hill just below it, surrounded by beautiful wooded hills. It included a little fox Inari shrine, much to my amusement, and from the moment we entered that place, our lives were irrevocably changed.

The Japanese pride themselves on service. Everything from a look to a gesture, the way a leaf hits the light, and the subtlest taste of sushi is something that they consider. This hotel met us, foreigners, as if we were friends immediately. Warm smiles, our bags taken swiftly to our room, and tea and sweets served. Of course, this is perhaps typical of any hotel, but there's an intimacy to it, something I struggle now to define in words. You feel like you are the most important person in the world in that moment, and that all they want you to do is feel that way.

The lobby of the hotel was warm and well appointed, with nice comfy furniture and a beautiful view of a garden, and our little room was the same, with tatami mat floors, an alcove with fresh ikebana, and a scroll hanging on the wall.

We took a quick walk back through the area. We wandered through the shrines and up a hill to a small area that we hadn't explored before—so a mix of old and new. Our route up to this area, Takinoo-jinja, took us up the mountain through Toshogu, Rinnoji Temple, and Futarasan Shrines. I was grateful for a better camera this time because my pictures on our last trip did not do these buildings justice. Having several days to view them without crowds also was an enormous boon.

I cannot stress the beauty of these wooden structures. The carvings are immaculate, the colors extraordinary. You see each leaf, each twist of cloud, and each scale of a dragon. There are people and fantastical creatures all over the place, including famous ones like the 3 Monkeys, elephants as imagined by the Japanese who had never seen an elephant, and many others. The austere silence surrounds you. Trees of cedar rise up all around, with streams of light and sometimes fog or mist between. It is a unique otherworld, a place to reflect on the powerful men of the Tokugawa Shogunate who built these buildings. Here their foremost leaders and founders (Ieyasu and his grandson) are buried. Supposedly the Toshogu shrine took thousands of artisans' time to build as a passion project for Grandpa Ieyasu by the grandson.

Even today the temples are in a constant state of activity. Nikko is almost like a rainforest environment, very damp and moist, and so these wooden temples decay quickly. It takes concerted effort to maintain their beauty, but even the touch of time makes them magnificent. One can wander for hours and days and see something new. Look up under eaves, down between lattices, and you will discover wonders to excite and entice. It's a woodworker's heaven.

We wound our way up to Takinoo Shrine through the cedar forest, past waterfalls along a mountain path. Here and there were more small shrines, or ruins. At one point there was our friend the foxes again, and then a stone surrounded by a low wall. Before long we crested the hill and saw Takinoo. The shrine itself is a simple wooden structure, and its major feature is the Torii gate in front of it. This gate features a curious round hole in its apex, and supposedly if you throw a stone through the hole, you will have great luck in matchmaking or life. I, of course, tried unsuccessfully.

The real star of the show was the walk itself through that wood. I imagine many of the trees were planted by those who built the shrines, and chances are lumber was supplied locally for the structures and still is. Nikko is still a lumber/woodworking town. Wandering here, one almost expects to come around the corner and see a spirit staring through the mists, behind a tree or a tunnel to some distant place that mortals should not dare to tread. Yet we do anyways; we wander these otherworlds because they excite us. We yearn to be a part of it.