#88 - Yamadera, a mountain-top temple

Yamadera (山寺), meaning mountain temple, is built in the mountains of Yamagata Prefeture. It was founded in 860 as a temple of the Tendai Buddhist sect. It is a great place for a short hike and for some great views. In most guide books I have seen, Yamadera is mentioned as a good side trip from places like Sendai, although you would have to travel a little ways to get there.

At the base of the mountain, you can find several temple buildings. The oldest building here houses a flame which is said to have been burning since Yamadera was founded. There are also some small shops for food, water and other things! I managed to buy a shrine book with a lovely picture of Yamadera on it (unfortunately, I didn't actually use it because I was yet to fill my other book with stamps!).

In the upper area.

Climbing up.

To get up the mountain, you will need to climb around 1000 steps, which can be a bit of a hike. You can see stone lanterns and small statues as you ascend. Needless to say, I was exhausted as I got to the top!

There are many buildings scattered near the top, and I could see other areas, such as a balcony-like seat in the rock face. Unfortunately, my bus going there arrived late, so I didn't have time to have a good look around. Added to my rushed hike (run?) up the mountainside, I really didn't have a good opportunity to take it all in anyway!

View of the valley.

From the upper areas, there is a great view of the surrounding valley. Luckily, the weather was good when I visited, so it looked great!


Yamadera is also famous for one of the places visited by the poet Basho. He wrote one of his well-known haikus here in 1689, which mentions the stillness and quietness of Yamadera. Here is an English translation:

"ah this silence / sinking into the rocks / voice of cicada"

Although my time there was short, I did enjoy being able to visit Yamadera. It was a place I had been wanting to visit since living in Sendai. If I am able to visit the region again, I would love to spend some more time here to leisurely take in the atmosphere. But, I'm not sure if I'll be thrilled about climbing up again!

#76 - Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower (東京タワー ) is a communications and observation tower in Tokyo. Standing at 333 metres tall, it is the second tallest structure in Japan (after this tower).Construction was completed in 1958, and Tokyo Tower remains a popular attraction for tourists to this day. I visited in the middle of July, 2013 and loved it!

History

After television broadcasting started in Japan in 1953, it was feared that a lot of transmission towers would be built across Tokyo. In order to prevent this happening and potentially overrunning the city, it was decided to construct one large tower to service the whole area. 

Looking up.

Did you know that, originally, Tokyo Tower was planned to be bigger than the Empire State Building? Unfortunately, due to a lack of resources and financing, this wouldn't be the case. 

Japanese architect Taichu Naito (内藤 多仲) was responsible for the design of Tokyo Tower. The lattice tower was based on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. But, when the 90 metre antenna was placed on Tokyo Tower, it overtook the Eiffel Tower to become the tallest free-standing tower in the world at that time! Like its French counterpart, Tokyo Tower came to be a symbol of its city.

Things to do

Tokyo Tower offers great bird's eye views of Tokyo. There are two observation decks: the main observatory at 150 metres, and the special observatory at 250 metres. On a clear day, you can see Mount Fuji! Unfortunately it was a little drizzly when I went, so I couldn't see it. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed looking out across Tokyo, and identifying other buildings and areas I had visited!

A view from Tokyo Tower.

At the time I visited Tokyo Tower, it was becoming late afternoon. I stayed until after the sun had set, and saw Tokyo light up! The views were great and it was a wonderful way of looking back on all the things I had done in Tokyo. 

Looking towards the Rainbow Bridge
 and Odaiba.

Looking up at night.

Tokyo at night.

Finally, underneath the tower, there is a four-storey building called FootTown. Here, there is an aquarium, reception hall, restaurants, convenience stores, and of course - elevators to climb the tower. You can also visit the Guinness World Records Museum Tokyo on the third floor. Also, on the roof of the building there is a small amusement park for children.

#75 - Ueno Zoo and Tokyo Skytree - 16 June 2013

Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoo is the oldest zoo in Japan. Also known as 恩賜上野動物園 (Onshi Ueno Doubutsu-en), it was founded in 1882 and currently covers about 14.3 hectares of land. It lies in the Ueno Park grounds, which is a large urban park with museums and galleries and other attractions.

There are over 460 species kept in Ueno Zoo. There were animals such as penguins, kangaroos, giraffes, elephants, tigers, hippos, birds, red pandas - the list goes on! However, perhaps the most famous is the panda. Unfortunately, at the time I visited, the female panda was kept inside, as it was thought she was pregnant, and we couldn't see the male through the enclosure (or the people!). The panda has almost become a symbol of Ueno. Even around Ueno train station, you can see statues of pandas, gifts and sweets in the shape of pandas, pictures, images, and so on!

Polar bear!

Japanese bears!

View of art of Ueno Park
from the hotel room.

I spent a long time watching the polar bear. First, it was playing with a floating orange ball in the water. Then, it managed to get the top from an orange cone, and would throw it into the water and chase it like a fish! Other than the polar bear, there were other bear enclosures too. When I was at the zoo, the weather wasn't great, but I really enjoyed looking at the animals!

Tokyo Skytree

Looking up from near the base.

On the same afternoon, I also visited Tokyo Skytree for the first time. Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー) is one of the newest additions to Tokyo's skyline, standing at 634 metres tall, it became the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world (after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai). You can see Tokyo Skytree in the distance from most areas in Tokyo, so of course it has become a popular photo object!

One of the views.

There are two observation decks, with great views across Tokyo. The Tembo Deck stand at 350 metres and spans across 3 floors. There is a souvenir shop and a restaurant, as well as a cafe and glass panels on the floor to see to the bottom (eep!). The Tembo Gallery is at 450 metres. Here, you can walk up a sloping spiral ramp, which circles the tower to give great views.  

Underneath Skytree there are is a large shopping complex and also an aquarium, so it would be easy to spend a long time there! Here you will also find Tokyo Skytree Station (which used to be called Narihirabashi Station) making it very easy to get to Skytree by train. 

#74 - Koraku-en in Okayama City

In May 2013, I briefly visited Okayama city and saw some of the main sights. One well-known place in Okayama is Koraku-en (後楽園) which is known as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. It's really easy to get to: it's about a 30 minute walk from Okayama station, or you can take a tram or bus to one of the entrances.

Looking across the river towards Koraku-en, which is on the island.
You can see Okayama Castle on the right-hand side of the river, just to the right of the bridge.

Koraku-en was order to be constructed in 1687 by a feudal lord, and it was finally completed in 1700. One of its main purposes was to entertain important guests. Nowadays, anyone can enter for a small entrance fee to enjoy the beautiful garden. Nearby, there is Okayama Castle (岡山城 Okayama-jo) which is also known as "Crow castle" due to its black façade. It can be also seen from inside the garden, which adds to the garden's scenery.

 

This pond is called Sawa no Ike (沢の池 "Marsh Pond". The three small island built in it are supposed to be based on the scenery around Lake Biwa in Kyoto!

 There is one special feature of Koraku-en that is quite unique for a Japanese garden. Usually, plants and other points of interest are placed in a specific order, so that the garden entertains people when walking around. But, at Koraku-en there are spacious lawn areas. It makes it very reminiscent of a European garden! The lawn area covers about 18,500 square metres (the area of the whole garden is roughly 133,000 square metres).

Picture of the garden map,
showing the different areas.

Of course, Koraku-en still has many things to see, such as plum groves, small hills, ponds and streams, maple leaves - and so on! I have only visited once, but I was told that the scenery within the gardens changes drastically from season to season.

I really enjoyed walking around Koraku-en. It is a great place to spend a sunny day out with friends or family. I saw a lot of people having a picnic or playing ball games. The weather was good too, although I do remember getting a little sunburnt(!).