Our Monthly Meeting on 24 July 2024 featured the experiences of two of our members travelling through Japan in May 2023.
June and Dick (our current Committee Chair) described how they had chosen their holiday, what their goals had been and some of the important differences between the UK and life in Japan.
Their journey started in Sapporo, on the Northern Island of Hokaido and had included a visit to the 1972 Olympic Ski Jump as well as a number of towns and cultural centres near Sapporo.
They had visited the interesting city of Hakodate with its isthmus, its mountain and its tower, and we saw views from these locations. The night time visit up the mountain had provided the picture above.
After their first Bullet Train or Shinkansen Journey they had arrived in Aomori where they had the chance to explore the Nebuta Museum. Each year, at the start of August, the town holds a festival and parades these floats through the streets after dark. Made from wire frames covered in tissue paper, they are beautifully painted and then lit from within.
They had then travelled by coach through the heart of Japan, visiting shrines, museums and beautiful lakes, ending at a traditional Japanese Inn complete with Onsen – a public bath supplied with hot spring water geothermally heated by volcanic rocks. They had also experienced a performance by Iwata Students featuring music and dance as shown above.
It was then on to more shrines, a boat trip around the islands of Matsushima before arriving in Tokyo. As well as exploring the many shrines, museums and restaurants, there were 3-D bill boards at the famous pedestrian crossings of Shibuya and Shinjuku. They also took us on a day trip to Mount Fuji where an artist obliged with the view that would have been visible but for the clouds.
The next centre was in Kyoto which had served as the nation’s capital for 1,200 years – Tokyo has only had that privilege for about 160 years. Kyoto is 286 miles from Tokyo, and the Shinkansen Bullet Train completed the journey in two hours, including two stops on the way. Kyoto still has many palaces and shrines from its days as the capital, and we were shown the Bamboo Forest, the Gi-on District (famous for its Geishas), a Tea Ceremony and the 1,000 Tori Gates at the Inari Shrine, shown above.
Their final city on the journey was Osaka, where they had visited the famous castle before catching a flight back to Tokyo for the journey home. This was a fascinating talk with many slides and videos that gave an insight into the differences between our culture and theirs, our food and theirs, and their beautiful countryside with its many features. The presentation led to many questions and recollections from the audience.