Saturday and Sunday. The amazing Akashi bridge.

If you know me, you also know that I love weird airports, ferries (any and all) and beautiful and dramatic bridges. Satyaki mentioned a visit to another castle or pagoda, which would have been nice, but then mentioned the Akashi Bridge. We decided to make that Sunday’s visit as well as a trial run at the train change and getting the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) for my Hiroshima trip on Monday. I will do a separate post for this.

He and I took the kids out Saturday morning for a run around and to hopefully give Snigdha a break, and we went to their preschool on Roko Island maybe 5km away. 

It is a nice school focused on expat kids and they enjoy it and are learning well. We climbed up the mountain (in the car) from there and got a good view of the whole of Osaka bay including both Kobe and Kansai airports which are built on man-made islands.

 

We came home and Satyaki grilled an excellent tenderloin, and mushrooms, after which we all promptly took an afternoon nap. 

We walked around downtown Kobe and tried some street food. Rather like a donut, and then we saw a celebration of Chinese New Year as we entered Chinatown.

Street food Kobe style

We ate at a Chinese (very authentic) place on Saturday night. The in-laws of a Cat guy Tay who was a BCP employee until the reorg and now works for HEDC own it. I think he is Japanese, and his wife Chinese but grew up in Japan. Get all of that!!.

Anyway good food, selected by the owner/chef and we meekly ate what was put in front of us. There was only one item that we adults agreed did not taste as we would have liked. The rest was really good and not too expensive by Japanese standards.

Satyaki went for a 12 mile run on Sunday morning in preparation for the Tokyo Marathon next weekend, and I blogged a little and took a walk. There is a river that runs in front of the house and it has some nice walking trails alongside. There are lots of signs and alarms and escape routes because it is subject to flash flooding after rain in the mountains.

 

 

 Satyaki's home

We then took off for the Akashi Bridge by train. I will, as I have said do a separate post for this.

We went out to a very good Indian restaurant for dinner. Excellent Tandoori chicken (Sneha’s favorite) and Dal Makini (spg?) with black lentils and butter chicken. Superb!!

Kyoto. Friday

So today I have the somewhat daunting prospect of navigating to Kyoto on the train without any help other than the excellent briefing given to me by Satyaki last evening. I have my tickets (around 20 bucks for a one hour each way train ride) and I know that the train to Kyoto is a “Rapid” which has limited stops but still zips along. There is also a “Super Rapid” with even more limited stops and then local trains. All VERY efficient. This does not include the Bullet Train, which I will experience on Monday going to Hiroshima.
All went well and this is really helped by the incredible punctuality of the trains, almost to the second. The train arrives in Kyoto station at 7.39 as promised and I have an hour to navigate my way to the hotel and get something to eat. That all proves easier than anticipated so I have time to relax and look around.
Japan is VERY clean, and VERY organized and everything has a feel of quality.
I am booked on the all day tour of Kyoto and we have about 8 destinations and of course a tight schedule. We are on a bus with a total of about 50 people and I am sitting next to a guy who works for …..Volvo!!. He is actually in the On highway truck group and we spend most of the day on and off chatting about global business and how large corporations function or not depending on your view.

 

2 cute girls on the tour

Two cute girls with Andy

Two cute girls with the guys they were REALLY interested in!!

Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and is full of both Buddhist and Shinto temples and many beautiful gardens. All are meticulously maintained and there are restrictions in some of the palaces and temples on wearing shoes and taking photos.

 

 

 

Kiyomizu Temple

 

 These guys have to be really fit

I was really impressed with the Golden Pavilion, and the Kiyomizu Temple and the associated gardens.
There are really three aspects to a visit like this in my mind
Ø The religious history and impact
Ø The building construction and techniques
Ø The social implications
I do not pretend to understand the religious aspects and underlying history, but remain aware of the impact that it had and continues to have on people’s lives. This was essentially the same in India.
Some of the buildings are many centuries old and kept in superb condition. The overall construction must have been as a result of many previous years of experience so the culture and expertise is actually much older than the buildings actually suggest. The Kiyomuzi Temple for example was built without the use of nails, screws or any other fasteners. All the construction was made with dovetail and other fashioned joints. It stands on 130 + massive pillars that must have withstood many an earthquake. The Imperial Palace was built on a foundation of alternating sand and clay so the two materials would “slip” against each other in a quake and the building would remain safe. How about that for smart engineering about a thousand years ago! The rafters in the roofs are spaced much closer than we would be accustomed to but the roofs are heavy and the principal seems to be to be safe and use more materials if deemed necessary.
I do not feel well enough qualified or experienced in Japan to comment on the social aspects, but the Shogun system and it’s implications, and the Geisha system are certainly different and impacted how Japan developed. It was a completely closed society until about 150 years ago, and in many respects still is today. The status quo seems to work well for them and there are few signs of any poverty, and many signs, sometimes ostentatious of great wealth . The system would not suit me well I believe, but now I think about it I have not been invited to join!