Japan (Cliffnotes Version)

At the end of our two months in Korea, eight of us decided we would take advantage of the opportunity to do a quick one week whirlwind tour of Japan. We bought a rail pass which gave us unlimited rides all across Japan on the ridiculously fast (186 mph) Shinkansen bullet trains. We started in Hiroshima where we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and the iconic A-Bomb Dome which was one of the few buildings to survive the bombing.

Before and after the bomb.

A striking historical reminder right in the middle of modern day Hiroshima.

Next we went to Miyajima Island, which had several really nice structures including a temple and pagoda. There's also indigenous deer that are so used to people that you can pet them. We took a cable car and then a short hike to the top of the island for a nice panoramic view.

 

Next up was Kyoto, where we saw a bamboo forest, the Nijo Castle (sweet moat), and the Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple.

 That night we went to Osaka to get dinner (order placed via vending machine) and to get a glimpse of the night life. We also saw the famous Glico Running Man advertisement.

 Then it was on to the obligatory hike up Mt. Fuji, which we decided to do at night to catch the sunrise. Japan is, after all, the Land of the Rising Sun. The hike up took 8 hours, most of which was pretty intense. There were so many other people going up that you could see a continuous string of lights zig-zagging all the way up the mountain. Along the way there are various stations, some of which had snacks or hot ramen, while others served as hotels or (paid) restrooms.

 

 

 After the sunrise we took some time to check out the volcanic crater and then started heading back down. This is where Mt. Fuji really started being unpleasant. The return hike has to be the worst hike ever. It was 5 hours of walking down an extremely steep slope on loose volcanic 'gravel'. Lots of dust, lots of falling, lots of pain. By the time we reached the bottom none of us could walk and I decided to never hike Mt. Fuji again. Later we learned of a Japanese proverb that says "He who climbs Fuji once is wise, he who climbs it twice is a fool." Now I know why.

 Next we went to Tokyo where we took a one day bus tour with an awesome tour guide. We saw most of the major tourist attractions including the Imperial Palace and gardens, the Meiji Shinto shrine, the Senso-ji Buddhist temple, ending with a cruise boat tour of Tokyo Bay.

  

 After the bus tour we went to the Shibuya scramble crossing. I'm told there are similar crossings even in the US, but this is a really famous one and it was pretty crazy. All traffic is stopped, allowing people to cross from every direction all at once in a surprisingly orderly manner. Here's a video clip.

 Our last day in Japan was devoted to traveling from Tokyo back to Hiroshima to catch our return flights. But along the way there were two last stops that we absolutely had to see before we left. The first one was the highlight of my entire Japan trip. A 60 foot tall Gundam Statue. Giant robot, what else can you ask for?

 And the last stop was the Himeji Castle which was sadly under construction, bust still worth the visit. It is considered the best preserved castle in Japan, originally built in the 17th century.

 Clearly, one week isn't enough time to really see all of Japan. But I would say we did really well with the time we had. Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Mt. Fuji, Tokyo, Gundam Statue, Hemeji. Many more pictures at the link below.

For the complete photo album of everything in this post go here:

Japan

Feel free to ask questions if there's anything you want to know more about.

Jecheon

On my way to the airport to go to Japan, I took a quick detour to visit Dr. Bohee Lee, a professor at Semyung University. Dr. Lee was a visiting researcher at RoMeLa for a year and just got back to Korea about two weeks ago. He graciously invited me to visit, so I found some train tickets which gave me about 4 hours in Jecheon for a quick visit.

Even though we only had 4 hours, we managed to see some really nice spots. After a breakfast of Dak Galbi, we stopped by a few places that are used as sets for television shows and films. First were some interesting rock formations and then a set designed to look like a traditional village.

Our next stop was Cheongpung Land, which had a huge rock climbing wall, a huge bungee jump, a modern sculpture park, and a nice view of the Cheongpung Bridge.

Next we went to the Cheongpung Cultural Heritage Park, which is a preserved traditional folk village. These buildings were actually relocated here to prevent them from being submerged when a dam was built. Preserving the culture is important enough for an entire village to be relocated.

We also got a nice view of Asia's largest water fountain (162m, 530ft). I want one of these on Virginia Tech's campus. The one and only fountain at VT is maybe 1.5m tall.

Some more highlights:

I'd say we did pretty well for only having 4 hours. Jecheon has lots more to offer so it would be nice to visit again when I have more time. Maybe next time I'm in Korea. : )