My Japan Adventure18829
 It gets old smelling it everytime I go outside my door.
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Nearmint67 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Byrdibyrd Amazing how many Halls, Shrines, Temples & Castles you have visited this week. I won't visit that many in my lifetime. Great deserts too. Glad you got your deer poo ice cream.. lol.... |
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| Post 351 • IP flag post | ||
 Collector
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BrianGreensnips private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Byrdibyrd Such amazing statues and structures. | ||
| Post 352 • IP flag post | ||
 Feel free to use my post as a checklist.
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multi007 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Byrdibyrd@Byrdibyrd I’ve been reading the entire post. Love the amazing photos. I have a few questions while you have some down time. 1. Do they have any “Japanese” published comics? (Stupid question of course, but I’ve never been out of the USA, so I’m sheltered. Lol). Do they have a comic book grading process over there? (Again I’m sheltered). 2. Is this a self guided tour (you doing it yourself)? Or is this through a tour company in a group? 3. Your photos are fantastic! |
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| Post 353 • IP flag post | ||
 Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @multi007 I'm sure there are translated western comics here, but I've never actually sought them out. I might give it a try, though. If they have original art on the covers that could be very interesting. I'm on my own for this trip. With just one exception, all my trips have been self-guided with just me and friends. I speak Japanese and so does one of my friends (my usual traveling companion), so we get along quite well when we're here.  I'm glad you're enjoying my posts! I'll only be here for a few more days. It all seems too short. I'm going back to Tōkyō tomorrow, and it's the last day for my JR Rail Pass  .Already planning my next trip, though! Looks like March next year could be the one, and I'll be with my friend on that upcoming trip.  |
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| Post 354 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @multi007 Oops! Forgot to answer one of your questions. As far as I know, Japan doesn't have a grading system for comics/manga. I'm pretty sure they can send things to CBCS/CGC as long as the books will fit in the capsules, though. |
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| Post 355 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
I'm on a train now and going to Kyōto for my last day in the Kansai region.  I'll be here and there in Kyōto today, going to some places I didn't have time for before. |
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| Post 356 • IP flag post | ||
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It gets old smelling it everytime I go outside my door.
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Nearmint67 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Byrdibyrd Enjoy yourself. Your kitties will be alright. (I know you miss them, I had cats). You will see them soon. So, no running in the halls, no hand stands or swinging from the chandelier.  Seriously have more fun than 10 people should have. |
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| Post 357 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Nearmint67 I plan on going to some of my favourite places today. I'm sad that I'll be leaving Japan soon, but I'll be back, and in the meantime I'll be seeing my kitties  |
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
And today I found gatcha heaven. |
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| Post 359 • IP flag post | ||
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| Heading back a bit early this afternoon. I want to have plenty of time to be sure everything is packed the way I need it to be. Bye-bye to the Kansai tomorrow |
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Sunset in Ōsaka. |
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| Post 361 • IP flag post | ||
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Got this gorgeous Year of the Tiger  goshuin from Shinsen-en today  |
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| Post 362 • IP flag post | ||
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| Today may have been a little short, but I still got some noteworthy things done. Not least of these was a visit to Sanjusangen-dō Hall. This is a very long building - 120 meters - that houses a jaw-dropping 1,001 life-size standing icons of Thousand-Armed Kannon. In addition, there is an additional seated Thousand-Armed Kannon that is the principal icon, and icons for the 28 guardian deities who protect Kannon, and the Fu-jin & Rai-jin, gods of wind & thunder. This stunning array of icons has been astounding people for centuries. The hall was founded in 1164 by Taira-no-Kiyomori as a sanctuary for retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Naturally, this act also won Kiyomori a noble title, but who's counting, right? Sadly, in 1249, the hall burned down (along with a good portion of the city). Of the hundreds of icons, only 124 could be saved. The emperor ordered that the icons be replaced and the hall restored, and that re-built hall is the one that stands today. Not surprisingly, photography is forbidden in the hall, but outside I found a couple of posters that will give you some idea of what the hall is like inside.   The first is the very large seated Thousand-Armed Kannon - the principal icon - attended by four of the 28 guardians, and the second is of some of the 1,001 Kannons. Relatively recently (I think it started maybe 10 ~ 15 years ago), the icons have been going through a cleaning and restoration process, and art historians have been in attendance, hoping to be able to identify which of the 1,001 Kannons are the 124 originals that survived the fire in 1249. During this process, they made a major discovery: There are more than 1,001 Kannons. At least some of the hollow interiors of the icons contained centuries-old woodblock prints of... Thousand-Armed Kannon. After Sanjusangen-dō Hall, I went to Shinsen-en, just south of Nijō-jō Castle (I didn't go to the castle - I've been there A Lot of times). Shinsen-en was a garden attached to the castle, but now it's a collection of small shrines and temple halls. It has a nice pond and is often used for photo shoots.  My primary goal in the area around Nijō-jō Castle was Mikane-jinja Shrine. I had once tried to go there a few years ago, but the line to enter was so huge that it reached down the block and around the corner and someone had called the cops. I didn't hang around for that. This time it was a lot more manageable. Mikane-jinja ('Honourable Money Shrine' - No, seriously) is known for helping people out with money troubles. Needless to say, it's insanely popular. This was my first time actually managing to get past the gate. A gate that, by the way, is painted an astounding shade of gold. The racks of ema (votive tablets) praying for financial relief actually equaled and possibly exceeded the number of ema left by students at Tenjin shrines. Ema at Mikane-jinja are in the shape of gingko leaves because when the gingko tree's leaves turn in the fall, they're a lovely shade of gold.    After Mikane-jinja, I went back to Kyōto Station, had a nice lunch of hayashi rice (rice with a meat stew - looks a lot like curry rice), went on a hunt for gatcha, found some, and then returned to Osaka to give myself time to pack up for my move back to Tōkyō tomorrow.  I would love to spend more time in the Kansai region, but my JR Rail Pass will have its last day tomorrow, so I need to leave while it's still active and I don't have to stick a crowbar in my wallet and shell out for a bullet train ticket, which would probably trump any benefit I could possibly have gotten from my visit to Mikane-jinja. |
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| Post 363 • IP flag post | ||
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| I went to Nara yesterday and Sanjusangen-dō Hall in Kyōto today, so I think it would be nice to talk a little about art history. Sacred art became very important in Japan, particularly after the introduction of Buddhism, because Shintō didn't have things like icons. Early sacred art going up through the Nara Period (710 ~ 794) and early Heian Period (794 ~ 1185) saw a lot of very important art, but it had its limitations and that's why so little of that early art survives to this day. Early mediums for statuary all had their advantages, but each one had at least one significant drawback that kept it from being ideal. There were five main accepted mediums: stone, cast bronze, wood, clay, and lacquerware. The advantages to working in stone were that it was both very cheap and very durable. The drawbacks were that it was difficult to work and it weighed too much. Most iconography in stone is reserved for large icons in a fixed location, like a cliff face or a rock wall, and is almost always a bit crude. Cast bronze, like stone, is very durable and has the advantage of being able to cast in various sizes in order to help mitigate the weight problem. The disadvantages to cast bronze are that it's more dangerous to work with and more expensive. It's pricier to start with, and if an error is made, the mistake needs to be melted down and the process has to start again at the beginning. Also, making smaller statues helps with the weight issues, but if you want an impressive, large icon, it's still going to be too heavy. Wood has the huge advantage of being plentiful, cheap, easy to work, can support very detailed work, and is not too heavy when compared to stone or bronze. The problem is the limitations on the size and shape of pieces of wood. Wooden icons are, of necessity, often relatively small. Clay is very easy to work with, very cheap, and can hold incredible detail, just like wood. Disadvantages, however, are significant. Like stone, it's very heavy, but it's also extremely fragile. This is why there are very few clay icons left from the early centuries of Buddhism in Japan. Lacquerware helped to solve some of the problems with clay. Like clay, it could hold fine detail and was not difficult for a skilled artisan to work with. Because lacquerware icons are hollow, they aren't that heavy, and yet they have some durability. The problem with lacquerware is that it's prohibitively expensive. The reason you don't see many surviving lacquerware icons isn't because they fall apart at the drop of a hat like clay, it's because they were simply too pricey to make in the first place. In the mid-to-late 10th century, a new technique came about that turned Japanese sacred art upside down. It was a woodworking technique called yosegi-zukuri. Yosegi-zukuri is joined-block woodworking that allowed multiple pieces of wood to be seamlessly connected together, making it possible to create larger icons, and also to make them hollow so they wouldn't weigh too much. Were it not for this technique, the stunning display at Sanjusangen-dō would not be possible. Almost overnight, all other mediums disappeared, and wood became the medium of choice, with some exceptions being made for cast bronze. Nara is now one of the only places to go to see sacred art created using the old techniques. Clay and lacquerware icons are very few and far between, and most of those are in Nara, either in the old temples or in the Nara National Museum. If you're ever in Japan, don't skip Nara! It's an amazing place with a lot of things to see besides deer.  |
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| Post 364 • IP flag post | ||
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On a bullet train for Shinagawa Station (I'll drop luggage off in a locker and go do some fun stuff before I check in to my hotel near Ueno Station). I'm leaving the Kansai and this may be my last bullet train for this trip. While it's sad I won't get anymore awesome bullet train rides for a while, I will NOT miss the cringey pronunciation of 'shinkansen' coming from the pre-recorded English language announcements. OMG. Please, no more 'shingk-uh-sen.' I can't take it. I'll fix it for you for FREE! Please!!!  |
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| Post 365 • IP flag post | ||
 The Fifth Golden Girl
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| Loving this thread!!!! | ||
| Post 366 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by sborock Thank you!! I'm really enjoying sharing my trip with friends. |
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| Post 367 • IP flag post | ||
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It gets old smelling it everytime I go outside my door.
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Nearmint67 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Byrdibyrd Wow, you have had a fabulous vacation with lots of adventuring and some great deserts too. I have greatly enjoyed the vicarious trip. And you have shown us things many of us have never seen, like the goshuins you have shown. The last one with the tiger is amazing. And how awesome are all those Kannons? Thank you for sharing your adventure @Byrdibyrd .... |
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| Post 368 • IP flag post | ||
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Byrdibyrd How do you say "OCD" in Japanese? Asking for a friend   |
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| Post 369 • IP flag post | ||
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Byrdibyrd @Byrdibyrd , what is 'gatcha' ? that picture ... i see something like video games with seats there at the front, and maybe along the other side but what are the things on the right-hand wall? I am familiar with pachinko palaces and etc. I made some good money in Taiwan actually and met some VERY bad people at gambling establishments who liked me because I'm charming and so let me live) but this stumped me. |
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| Post 370 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Nearmint67 I've really had fun bringing everyone with me on this trip. We'll see about the next one, too.  |
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| Post 371 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by dfoster43 強拍制障害 It's pronounced 'kyōhakuseishōgai.'  Just don't say 'shingk-uh-sen'  |
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| Post 372 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by dfoster43 Gatcha machines have plastic balls inside that contain toys and the like. Here's my fave from this trip so far:   The Snoopy mug with 'coffee art' actually lights up! I only paid about $2.50 for it from one of those machines in the photo. Gatcha toys can be pretty fun, and very inexpensive. Great for souvenirs. |
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| Post 373 • IP flag post | ||
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Quote:Originally Posted by dfoster43 "Gacha" games heavily encourage players to spend real money for in-game currency that can be spent to purchase random "rewards" like characters, weapons, artwork, faster progression, etc. They are usually free to play games that require massive time investments if you want to progress and not pay money. They count on the players becoming emotionally attached and use sunk-cost fallacy to justify spending ever increasing amounts of money to obtain what they want. They make most of their money off a small number of "whales" who are people who will spend absurd amounts on in-game currency. |
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| Post 374 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Dart1146 There are games just like you described that will be in the locations where you find the gatcha machines, but the machines themselves just dispense toys and character goods. What you'll get for your yen will be made clear in the pictures on the machine. No subterfuge there. The other games... that's another story. |
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The fall colour may be getting tired, but it's still pretty.  |
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| Post 376 • IP flag post | ||
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Okay. I'll watch for this. Falling rocks out in the mountains, this here in the city. Makes... sense...?  At least he was wearing his mask when he took a header onto the tracks.  |
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| Post 377 • IP flag post | ||
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doog private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Great to be a beetle on the wall for this trip. Japan moved up the bucket list thanks to this thread. Many thanks. | ||
| Post 378 • IP flag post | ||
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by doog It's a pleasure sharing with friends! I hope you get to enjoy Japan one day. |
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| Post 379 • IP flag post | ||
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Beautiful steam locomotive on display at Shinbashi Station.  Maybe it's for the anniversary?  Got Pokemon? |
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