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Travelling to Japan: Beauty of Contrasts

Author: Ann Jason
by Ann Jason
Posted: Aug 31, 2015

There are many great places to visit in Japan. This country has so much to see beyond Tokyo that one needs several weeks to do it in one trip.

The first place I would like to mention is Nara Park (in the city of Nara). It is a beautiful park where you can meet semi-tame deer walking all around and a World Heritage Buddhist temple. Some of the locations in this temple are in incredibly beautiful forests. There you will also find a really huge statue of sitting Buddha. As far as you may know, there are two main religions in Japan: Buddhism and Shinto, which interestingly have much in common. More than 60% of Japanese believe in both of them.

The next recommended town to visit is Uji (30 minutes' ride time from Kyoto). This is the home of famous Japanese green tea. This tea is ground into a fine powder (macha), and Japanese use it for different products like ice cream and macha KitKat. Here you will have a chance to take part in a tea ceremony and visit the Byodo-In Temple in a beautiful garden setting.

If you visit Kyoto, don’t miss seeing Fushimi Inari Shrine (you have probably seen it in the Memoirs of Geisha film). This one is a main shrine of the god or rice Inari. There are thousands of orange gates there to receive blessings.

After that, you may take a train to Himeji and drive to the Ryokan traditional hot springs. These are public baths separated for men and women, where you take a shower before entering and just relax soaking in a hot water. People there are naked, so you will have to get used to. Generally, most of these baths prohibit people with tattoos to get in without covering them with band-aids. Tattoos are associated with Yakuza, Japanese mafia, so people with tattoos need to check if it is ok in certain baths. It’s better to know in advance and but some band-aids ahead, unless you could be turned away.

The other place to go in Himeji is Himeji Castle. This building looks really amazing. Most of the buildings in Japan are made of wood and less of cement or brick that is why most of the temples are rebuilt or partially rebuilt due to the fire damage. Himeji Castle was restored not long ago, and it looks very beautiful. Visitors are allowed to enter the Castle and mount the six floors of stairs after taking off their shoes (to protect wooden floors). There is a single staircase for those who are going up and for those who are going down, so the movement doesn’t stop there when there are a lot of visitors. If you are lucky to visit Himeji Castle in spring, you will observe an amazing location of sakura (cherry blossoms) from the top floor.

To sum up, Japan is a fascinating country full of beauty and contrasts. If you want to experience a different culture and atmosphere of the oriental world, you will be totally in love with Japan.

About the author: Dorothy Clover is a blogger, writer and editor. She has graduated Stanford School and has a degree in Law. Currently, Dorothy enjoys writing articles and academic texts at http://online-essay-writing-service.com/.

About the Author

Ann Jason is a freelance writer and editor.

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Author: Ann Jason

Ann Jason

Member since: Aug 28, 2015
Published articles: 2

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