Wild Snow Monkeys and Matsumoto Castle

This past weekend (Jan. 24) we went on a fabulous trip to Nagano prefecture, the location of the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. The scenery was wonderful as we drove around the Japanese Alps and we got our first taste of real cold and snow in Japan.

The first stop of the day was at the Wild Snow Monkey Park. These Japanese monkeys live in a hot springs area on a mountain and actually bathe in the hot springs. They really do seem to be wild - they are timid when humans get too close but as long as you are just walking around and looking they go about their business. It was a neat experience to watch them play in the snow and then hop into the "hot tub". The hike up was not too difficult although the trail was covered with snow and ice. There are signs on the way up telling you the names of different birds and animals to be looking for and we took a picture of one bird called an Alpine Accentor. On our way back down it started snowing and the temperature dropped and we were very glad to be back on the bus. We stopped quickly to take a picture in the snow in front of the shrine - maybe next year's Christmas card!

Next we drove about 45 minutes to Matsumoto Castle. This castle is one of the oldest five tiered castles in Japan and is the most intact of any Japanese castle. We learned that the difference between Japanese and European castles is that the Japanese castles are made of wood rather than stone so it really is impressive that any of them still exist. The castle is painted black which is unusual for a Japanese castle - they are usually painted white. Because of its black color, the nickname for this castle is Crow Castle. The castle was very cold and we had to take our shoes off and wear slippers while we walked inside. There were some collections of guns and Samurai uniforms inside the castle. The woodwork on the interior was amazing - it looked like they used whole trees as the support beams.

We would like to go back and visit the castle when it is warmer. We saw pictures when flowers are in bloom and it is quite beautiful. Our next trip is to Sapporo for the Snow Festival so be looking for more cold weather pictures in a few weeks!

Tokyo Part Ni

For those of you wondering what Ichi and Ni are, it means One and Two. There are several different counting systems used in Japan and I'm not sure that I'm using the correct one, but you get the idea. We went to Tokyo again, this time with a Japanese friend who showed us around town. It was great having someone to help us with the language and since she is trying to learn English we can help her also. Sometimes communication turns into a game of charades, but for the most part we are all able to communicate well!

We started the day by heading to the Tsukiji fish market, a very famous fish market in Japan. If you arrive between 4:30am and 6:30am you can witness the fish auction which is supposed to be very entertaining. For awhile this was closed to tourists because of poor manners, but now it has reopened. We did not arrive early enough to see the auction but there are many restaurants in the area that serve the fish they have purchased at the auction and this is supposed to be the freshest sushi in the world. Since we missed the auction, there was really nothing to take pictures of but we are planning to try to make it to the auction when we stay overnight in Tokyo in April for the Submarine Ball.

The next stop was Tokyo Tower, which is a slightly taller replica of the Eiffel Tower. We paid the admission to go to the 150 meter deck of the tower but it was pretty hazy so we did not pay the extra admission to go to the higher deck. Reiko, our Japanese friend, is afraid of heights but still appeared to be having a good time. There is a glass window facing down toward the ground that you can look through and stand on and see all the little people and cars below!

We went outside to get crepes when we came back down from the tower and saw a monkey doing tricks outside. We took some pictures and thought to ourselves that it is a good thing they don't have PETA in Japan.

On the first floor of the tower is a small aquarium and they were having a discount for foreigners so we decided to check that out. There were a lot of eel and piranhas and at the end was a peaceful coy pond with a fountain.

At this point it had been a long day so we all decided to pass on the Tokyo night life and head back to eat dinner and watch movies in Yokohama. Ed took some cool pictures while we waited for the train to go home.

Tokyo Part Ichi

Now that the holidays are over we have taken some time to explore Tokyo. We took our first trip on January 3rd which is still part of the New Year's holiday here in Japan. New Year's is celebrated for three days starting on New Year's Eve. Japanese people traditionally visit shrines and temples on New Year's Eve to pray for good fortune in the new year and then watch the first sunrise of the year in the morning. We saw that there has been some western influence and there were some fireworks in the larger cities like Yokohama. However, partying like we do in the states is not the popular thing to do here.

We started our trip by arriving at Tokyo Station and walking to the Imperial Palace. Because of the holiday most of the palace grounds were closed to the public, but we could still see the palace and the famous bridge at one of its gates.

Next we went to Ueno Park in the northern part of Tokyo. This park will be beautiful in April and May when we can see the cherry blossoms and it is the location of the zoo, the National Museum, the Science Museum, and the Western Art Museum as well as some shrines, temples, and statues. We decided to go to the Tokyo National Museum where we saw military apparel, swords, art, sculpture, and many other Japanese artifacts. After the museum we visited the Toshogu Shrine where I threw my 5 yen coin in and wished for good fortune in the new year. From the shrine we could also see the five story pagoda that is located inside the Ueno Zoo. We left the park passing the statue of Takamori Saigo, a famous figure in Japan, and headed for our next stop.

We went to the Shinjuku area as it started to get dark outside. This is one of the hot spots in Tokyo for partying at night and among the neon lights you can find restaurants, bars, and even the red light district. Times Square is located across from Shinjuku Station, the busiest train station in the world. We ate at a Yakatori restaurant which serves meat (mainly chicken) on skewers. Some of the appetizers were a little strange and I'm not exactly sure what I was eating.

We left from Shinjuku Station for the approximately one hour train ride back to Yokosuka satisified with our first big trip to Tokyo. We were looking forward to our next trip as we hardly made a dent in all there is to see in Tokyo!