Monday, March 18, 2013

A Tourist's History of Japan

Not all World Heritage sites are created equal (Wieliczka salt mines and D.F. Wouda pumping station, I'm looking at you). 

But Japan does it right: their sites are entertaining and educational. Those in western Honshu, the heartland of Japanese tourism, provide a CliffsNotes of the country's history - what every visitor ought to know about Japan. To illustrate, here's what we learned from the region's many UNESCO sites.


1. Itsukushima Shrine (500s)
Shintoism

The story: Mt. Misen on the island of Itsukushima (colloquially known as Miyajima) has been worshipped since pretty much forever. The island came to be so sacred, no one could be born or die there, and commoners were verboten

A Shinto shrine was established at the base of the mountain in the sixth century, though the present buildings date merely from the 1200s. They sit on stilts over the water; it is said that at high tide (if you squint your eyes right and tilt your head just so), the shrine looks as though it were floating. 


Miyajima's famous torii gate and ninja deer
I read someplace that this design allowed commoners to visit the shrine without ever setting foot on the sacred island: they would steer their boats through the giant torii gate set out in the sea and approach the "floating" shrine by water. Whatever the original purpose of the sea-bound torii gate, it is now one of the most photographed landmarks in Japan. Indeed, the entire island of Miyajima is considered one of the three most scenic places in the country. (Yes, there's a list for that.)

What is Shinoism? The "native" religion of Japan, Shintoism is closely tied to nature and is heavy on the ancestor worship. Shinto traditions are still a major component of Japanese life, even though most Japanese describe themselves as non-religious.

The highlights: 
  • The central streets of the village of Miyajima are thick with the Japanese domestic tourism industry (toy shops, candy stores, cheesy restaurants), which provide an anthropological adventure for foreigners. 
  • The sea around Hiroshima is known for its giant oysters, which in season are sold on the streets of Miyajima, grilled in their shells to order.
Making momiji at the Traditional Crafts Center
  • Miyajima is also known for a cake-like cookie (momiji manju) filled with sweet bean paste, which you can watch being made by Rube Goldberg-esque machines at many of the aforementioned candy stores. Better yet, head to the Miyajima Traditional Crafts Center (just to your left as you exit the ferry terminal) to take a short momiji-making class. We took ours with a teenaged school group, which kindly helped tutor us in the fine art of cookie flipping. 
  • Like Nara (see below), Miyajima is home to free-ranging deer. Unlike Nara, these deer are aggressive when you try to eat your momiji in front of them. Seriously, one reared up on its hind feet at me. Not charmed. But from afar, they add character to your photos of the shrine.
  • Miyajima is a good option for a romantic night in a traditional inn, at least if you don't have kids in tow. This is where we had our fabulous/fascinating experience at the People's Lodge, complete with our multi-course haute cuisine feast (as described in a prior post). 
Good to know: I highly recommend taking a class at the Traditional Crafts Center as a brief and light-hearted introduction to the local culture. Miyajima is easy to reach from Hiroshima; you do not need a car on the island. Note your JR rail pass covers the JR ferry.

Educational Value: Medium
Entertainment Value: High
Kid appropriate? Yes, but keep them away from the deer.


2. Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area (late 600s/early 700s)
Buddhism

The story: Buddhism reached Japan in the mid-sixth century from China via Korea. Founded by Prince Regent Shotoku in the 600s, Horyu-ji came to be associated with the imperial family: this was the temple that guarded the empire. 


Welcome to Horyui-ji
The temple buildings are pretty and elegantly laid out - but they are not earth-shattering. This is a pretty esoteric site for outsiders not familiar with Japanese Buddhism. Its greatest claim to fame (for nonbelievers, at least) is that a few of the temple buildings date back to 680 or 710, meaning they may be the oldest wooden buildings in the world. Which, when you think about it, just isn't that interesting.

The highlights: Not so much.

Educational Value: Low
Entertainment Value: Low
Kid appropriate? No

Alternative: Horyu-ji is the one exception to my thesis that Japan's World Heritage Sites are uniformly worth visiting. To get a sense of the development of Buddhism in Japan, I highly recommend visiting instead (3) The Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, which includes my all-around favorite Japanese experience, Koyasan

Educational Value of Koyasan: High, especially if you overnight in a temple.
Entertainment Value of Koyasan: Very High
Kid appropriate? No (but only because I don't think the temples like them)

4. Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara (710-784)
Early Japanese capital

The story: Nara wasn't Japan's first capital, but it was the first capital that mattered. Coinciding with the rise of Buddhism at the imperial court, Nara was the logical home of the great Buddha (Daibutsu) - a 50-foot bronze statue finished in 751 that still lives at Todai-ji. 


Todai-ji (note people entering, for sense of scale)
Todai-ji (about which I waxed rhapsodic in a prior post) sits in a giant historic park in the midst of Nara, along with many other temples, shrines, historic sites, and lots and lots of roaming deer. (These deer like it when toddlers pet them - unlike the ninja deer of Miyajima.)

From the get-go, Buddhism and Shintoism were closely intertwined in Japan. (There was actually a "Shintoism and Buddhism Separation Decree" issued in 1868 after the Meiji Restoration - which tells you there was a lot to be separated.) Next door to Todai-ji is the grand Shinto shrine of Kasuga, surrounded by primeval forest and thousands of atmospheric stone lanterns. Where Todai-ji is formal landscape and open vistas, Kasuga-taisha is a bit more mystical, all vermillion and dark green, moss and stone and the perpetual twilight of ancient forest.


Kasuga-taisha
The highlights:
  • The whole area has a very family-friendly vibe: little kids feed deer, crawl through the nostril of the giant buddha at Todai-ji, and picnic in the meadows of the park. Ice cream and candy stores abound.
  • I have detailed all the fun to be had at Todai-ji's great hall, where the Daibutsu lives - but there is much more to this temple complex. The entrance gate (Nandaimon) is home to two towering guardians: 28-foot-high statues carved from wood around 1200 AD that rival - perhaps surpass - the Italian Renaissance centuries later. (They are hard to photograph, but see here for a general idea.) Other temple buildings are scattered around the great hall along storybook cobblestone lanes; one has a wide veranda, perfect for resting, with a sweeping view over Nara. 
Good to know: There's a grocery store right next to the JR train station - pick up picnic supplies there. The best place to picnic are the meadows along the entrance to Kasuga-taisha; we had difficulty finding a picnic spot in the Todai-ji precinct or in between Todai-ji and Kasuga-taisha. 

Educational Value: High
Entertainment Value: Very High
Kid appropriate? Absolutely

5. Himeji-jo (early 1600s)
Feudalism and the rise of the samurai

The story: Despite the continuity of the imperial family, the other great families of Japan fought for centuries for effective control over the country. Just like in Europe, Japan experienced a prolonged period of castles, strongholds, civil wars, and professional warriors. Only a few of those feudal castles remain today, and Himeji-jo - though built at the very end of this era - is the most impressive. Or at least that's what we hear.

The upside is that Japan takes its national treasures very seriously, investing millions of dollars in their preservation. The downside is that, until March 2015, Himeji-jo is encased in a giant warehouse-type structure and is almost entirely inaccessible to visitors. Here is what it is supposed to look like, and here is what we saw:


The white warehouse of disappointment
We tried to make the best of it by visiting the grounds - but there really is nothing to see. I am sure, however, that this would be an awesome site to visit sometime after March 2015. Not that that that makes me feel any better now.

The highlights: For the time being, none. 

Good to know: In case you missed it, don't bother for the next two years.

Educational Value: Unknown
Entertainment Value: Currently negative
Kid appropriate? Well, at least they have some samurai costumes on display...

6. Shrines and Temples of Nikko
The Tokugawa Shogunate 

The story: Around 1600, Ieyasu Tokugawa succeeded in "unifying" the country under his command, ending the era of warring states and ushering in a long period of stability. Thereafter, the Tokugawa Shogunate effectively ruled the country from Edo (Tokyo) until 1868. 

A mountain north of Tokyo that had long been worshipped and was already the site of a Buddhist temple was picked to house the memorial shrine for Ieyasu. Built under Ieyasu's son and grandson, Tosho-gu is perhaps the most ornate shrine in all of Japan. At the same time, thousands of Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria) were planted around Nikko's various temples and shrines, giving the area today a regal mysticism.


Secondary buildings at Ieyasu's shrine
 The highlights:
  • Tosho-gu glitters in the forest like a fairytale crossed with an acid trip. Every building - even the storehouse and the stable - is intricately carved, gilded, and painted in primary colors. Still, for all its flash, it left me feeling kinda empty.
  • Next door, the Shinto shrine of Futarasan, dedicated to the local mountain deities, provides a calming respite after the flash of Tosho-gu. 
  • And then there's the Buddhist temple of Rinno-ji, home to three famous Buddhas who sit together in Three Buddha Hall - which was our first run-in with the white warehouse of disappointment. The hall, enshrined in white scaffolding reminiscent of E.T., felt like a construction site; the Buddhas had been dethroned and were only partially visible in a work area. (So not, I suppose, really a "highlight" after all.)
  • Taiyu-in Reibyo, the mausoleum of Ieyasu's grandson Iemitsu, is past all the other temples and shrines, which makes it tempting to skip - but that would be a mistake. Secluded amidst the Cryptomeria trees, the main hall's gilt and vibrant color seem not gaudy but appropriately majestic. You can smell the earth here; the stillness of seclusion lets in bird song and the wind. Despite the crowds that visit Nikko, Taiyu-in Reibyo is peaceful.
Good to know: More white warehouses of disappointment are slated for Nikko in the coming years - research ahead in case it becomes another Himeji-jo. Nikko is a day trip from Tokyo, but note there is no great option for lunch here. This is also a more physical outing: you can catch a bus from the station to the shrine district (skipping what is otherwise a dull and lengthy hike through town), but there is still a fair amount of walking between the sites, often uphill. 

Educational Value: High
Entertainment Value: Moderate to High
Kid friendly? Yes, if they won't whine about walking

7. Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (794-1868)
The flowering of Japanese culture, and the Meiji Restoration

The story: Not much story is needed here; Kyoto is Kyoto. And as Kyoto is the repository of so much Japanese culture, history, and religion, there is more to see in Kyoto than one can possibly squeeze into a single visit. Indeed, this World Heritage listing includes seventeen separate sites (the city of Kyoto has a useful map and overview here.)

Many of the most famous temples were built during Japan's feudal era, like Ryoan-ji and its famous rock garden (1400s) and Rokuon-ji (late 1300s) - which is more popularly known as Kinaku-ji, or the temple of the Golden Pavilion. The name is apt.

Literally, it's a golden pavilion
Although the Tokugawa shogunate operated out of Tokyo, Ieyasu built a palace in Kyoto to keep tabs on the imperial court. It was in Nijo palace that, several centuries later, the last Tokugawa shogun relinquished his powers and returned full control of the country back to the emperor. Known as the Meiji Restoration (1868), this event marks the beginning of modern Japan.


Educational Value: High
Entertainment Value: Medium to High (depending on the site)
Kid appropriate? Varies by location (who doesn't love a building covered in gold?)


8. Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
How real people lived

The story: So what was everyone else doing, the people who didn't live in castles or palaces and weren't allowed on sacred islands? Life was not easy for the peasants of Japan, which perhaps explains the modern Japanese work ethic. This site preserves a particular rural way of life high up in the Japanese Alps, where roofs of houses were built to withstand multiple feet of snow and the center hearth was always burning.


Japanese alpine: the traditional gassho-style house
Full disclosure, we didn't actually go to this World Heritage site. We were close by, but setting foot in these remote villages requires long (and surprisingly expensive) bus trips and a tad too much logistical wrangling. So we settled for the next best thing: Takayama's Hida Folk Village.

Actually, it might be even better than the real thing. The folk village is home to a dozen super-old houses gathered from the mountain region, and unlike the villages were people still live, you are supposed to poke around and stick your nose into things. Plus it's designed to be family friendly - indeed, our inner childs were highly entertained.

The highlights (of Hida Folk Village):
Maggie elbows toddlers out of way to ring bell 

  • Helpful descriptions are posted in English in all of the houses, so we came away knowing way too much about construction techniques, rural industry, and the silk worm life cycle (which villagers raised in the eaves of the gassho houses).
  • Visitors have free reign to explore all the houses, but the "village" also has plenty of other incidents of rural life to explore: a sample rice paddy, a small Shinto shrine, jizo statues, a working mill, a giant bell rung with a wood beam. Plus traditional artisans carve wood, make sandals, throw pottery - and sell their creations at reasonable prices.
  • Everything is hands-on. Sample toys, from tops to stilts, are set out for play (and yes, we played with all of them). Stamps can be collected throughout the park, like a scavenger hunt. Peasant costumes can be donned for photo ops with a hand-pulled cart (Jeff owes me big time for not providing an illustration). 
  • But the main selling point - particularly of the real-life villages that are actually inscribed on the World Heritage List - is the alpine beauty of the gassho houses in the mountain valleys. Think Heidi, but with silk worms.

Good to know: It may be that our enjoyment of Hida Folk Village was due to nonexistent expectations. I don't want to oversell it, but it is a valid alternative for those unable or disinclined to go to the extra effort to reach Shirakawa-go.

Educational value: Very high
Entertainment value: Very high
Kid friendly? And how

9. Hiroshima Peace Memorial
WWII and after

The story: So, WWII. By the end of the war, Japan was stretched so thin that middle school students and prisoners from Korea were providing manual labor for the war effort in Hiroshima - which is why they comprised so many of the initial victims of the world's first atomic bomb attack.


The bomb detonated over this bridge; the Genbaku Dome is on the right 
After the bomb detonated in the middle of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, only a few buildings were left standing; the rest of the blast zone was entirely leveled. And only one of those buildings remains standing today: the Genbaku Dome, which is now a peace memorial (and is the site inscribed on the World Heritage List).

The highlights: While most of the city has been rebuilt, the area right at ground zero has been left as a grassy park dotted with memorials ranging from the big (to all victims, to all children) to small (for particular schools, for particular professions). The almost-free museum traces the events leading up to the bomb and explores the full scope of its aftermath. 


Origami cranes left at a memorial
Good to know: The whole memorial area can be thoroughly appreciated with two or three hours. For what it's worth, there's free wifi within the memorial zone.

Educational Value: Very high
Entertainment Value: "Entertainment" isn't the right word
Kid friendly? Yes, for older kids prepared to see graphic images at the museum

Perhaps equally meaningful to me was what Hiroshima has become today: a vibrant city that feels young, energetic, excited, like it's heading some place I want to be. It was reminiscent of the feeling I got in Warsaw and in Rotterdam, other cities leveled in WWII that got back up again. You know what they say: the human spirit, it's indefatigable. And that's the best kind of heritage.



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