SketchTravel in Japan, 2019

Tokyo and beyond…

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Midtown and Kagurazaka

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We spent three days in Tokyo before heading out for lesser known parts. First stop was Ginza, midtown Tokyo. Amazing architecture and upscale consumer environs. I loved the Muji store, which is 5 stories of everything cool – even a hotel. Their philosophy of feel good living is apparent throughout. Had lunch at a tiny hidden sushi place you’d never find.

Then dinner in the very different neighborhood of Kagurazaka, small, busy narrow streets packed with shops and activities. Every wandering side street seems to need exploring, with their tiny hidden noodle shops and sake houses. One path was no wider than a person but opened up to a walkway where we had Japanese influenced Italian food. What? Well Tokyo is an international city, so you will find more than just ramen and sushi.

To Shizuoka and the mountains

We met friends of my wife’s for dinner in Shizuoka (her hometown), then left early in a rental car for the historical old towns of Tsumago and Magome. We parked and walked through the old towns, checking out the architecture of these places that were on the main foot travel route of people going from Kyoto to Tokyo a few centuries ago. I loved how water was rerouted from streams to flow through the town. The sound of gurgling clean water… We also stopped at Nasai, another old town on our way to Matsumoto City.

Wasabi fields of Matsumoto City

Matsumoto City is surrounded by mountains and full of agricultural activity. Wasabi is grown here due to the abundant, very clean water. I like seeing all the offering stones at the Daio Wasabi Farm we visited.

Shrine on you crazy diamond – Izumo, Hagi, Tsuwano, Onomichi

I think of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples as being separate and distinct. My wife visits both at certain times of year, honoring them equally. They're all sacred to me, so regardless of a preference for one or the other, Japan is full of these awesome places to visit, and the country shrines are usually amazing as well. Izumo Taisha (grand shrine) elicited a kind of jaw-dropping reaction from me to its grand size and complexity. The massive and exacting stonework of the foundations alone made me think of Peru.

The entire country was celebrating the enthronement of their new emperor Naruhito. People were getting seal stamps and calligraphy marking the date on their visit, so I asked the calligraphers to add them to my sketchbook. I collected two of them. We visited Hagi castle ruins
and the surrounding town where important people like the samurai, craftsmen and merchants lived.

We visited my wife’s friends who live in the coastal town of Onomichi, known for its old houses. They renovated an old inn and now run it. On a wooded hillside around a temple, it is accessible by a steep path or by a cable car that runs to the top.

South to the island Shikoku

Crossing the giant bridges connecting the islands between Chugoku and Shikoku, we drove the small backroads to arrive at Kotohira in order to visit the shrine of Kotohiraja. I loved this old wooden bridge and old lantern I saw in the town, but our main purpose was to hike the 785 steps up to the shrine. Another awe-inspiring place, and where I got the second stamp in my sketchbook. They were kind enough to do that in spite of the fact that my paper is of lesser quality than they use. It took more time to dry, a small price to pay I felt.

We did explore other places that were memorable and well worth visiting, but this is as far as my sketches go.

One last note – to be in the spirit of this trip, and since we walked a lot and drove over many mountains and through small towns and fields, I read a little each day in the book Narrow Road to the Interior on Basho’s journal writings and haiku poems from his foot travels in Japan long ago (1644-1694).

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