I had a great first trip to Japan. It was fairly easy to get around, the food was great, most people spoke some English (phew), the scenery was beautiful. In this final post on my trip, I thought I'd jot down a few notes on the scenery aspects of my visit, and illustrate with some photos. My views on the city may be useful for modern or near future cypberpunk, and my notes on the country will help me for
sengoku era gaming.
City
Tokyo is a megacity, well over 10 million people. The infrastructure is very supportive. The buildings are at least three storeys as far as the eye can see, in every direction. Cars are compact, streets are narrow, bikes are everywhere. Underpasses are extensive. Vending machines are incredibly common, with less physical depth than I'm used to , and selling hot drinks as well! Pavement is scarcely existent outside of the city centres. Overhead telephone lines are a complete spider web (hard to replicate on the gaming table!). Private gardens are small and a luxury.
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| Can't see the edge of town from here! |
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| Mount Fuji is behind the haze |
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| View out to central Tokyo |
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| Rooftops of Kyoto |
Bullet trains (shinkansen) are my new favourite way of travel. Smooth, fast, lots of leg room, on-time to a fault, and no check-in or security like an airport. And so cool.
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| Shinji looks like he's grown a pair. Even Rei looks like she has a personality! |
Country
The traditional gardens I visited were lovely- although ten-year old me wouldn't have been so appreciative! It takes a lot of effort to make them appear so natural, if you know what I mean. Winding paths, little ponds and streams with bridges or stepping stones (and koi), mossy ground. Stone lanterns are common. The torii gates have quite an orange component to their colouring, which is a vibrant contrast to the green surrounds. Cherry blossoms in spring, bright red maples in Autumn.
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| Edo castle grounds, Tokyo |
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| Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto. I love those pine trees. |
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| Katsura River, Kyoto |
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| Fushimi Inari-taisha, Kyoto. A hillside path with thousands of torii |
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| Shirakawa Minami-dori, Kyoto- the most beautiful street in Asia. |
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| Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto |
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| Takinomiya Shrine, tucked away in Kyoto |
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| Ginkaku-ji, Kyoto |
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| Koko-en, Himeji |
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| Koko-en, Himeji |
Can you tell I liked Kyoto?! I had a great little trip to Japan, but barely scratched the surface. I am looking forward to going again!
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| Mount Fuji from the shinkansen |
Such a beautiful country
ReplyDeleteAnd very photogenic!
DeleteI have thoroughly enjoyed this series of posts Barks, thank you so much for sharing them with us. What has particularly heartened me was the often seamless combination of future endeavour and historical past, something the west could learn from.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked them, Michael!
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