I wanted to go to Kyoto tower in the evening in the hope to get a nice view of the city by night but I was unfortunately 4 minutes late to buy my ticket. (Closed at 9:30 I think!). I ended up walking around the tower and the train station, Kyoto-Yodobashi.
I stumbled upon this shrine while walking in the Gion district by night. I was definitely impressed by the atmosphere created by all the lanterns. It was very quiet when I went and it was an overall very relaxing experience. I really recommend to visit if you happen to be around.
I’m back at Zenko-ji! The first time was so enjoyable that I had to go again. This time I got a special book where I can collect stamps at every temple. The drawing is handmade in your book right in front of you and makes a great souvenir of your visit!
Wikipedia Reference
Nozawa Onsen is a small village located in Nagano prefecture. It is a very popular onsen and ski place. There are about twenty onsen (hot bath) in the village that are free to use. Each has different temperature and chemical properties. You can get a stamp book and collect stamps from every onsen, each has a unique illustration. Apparently there is an Onsen where the water is close to the boiling temperature (the water is at 95C) but I refused to go there since I already have difficulty to go in some osen where the water is much colder than that! A trip to that city makes for a really relaxing and enjoyable experience.
One good location to observe or film the Shinkansen rapid train it at Odawara Station. It is relatively close to Tokyo and only the Kodama Shinkansen stops at this station. Therefore, you will see plenty of Hikari and Nozomi Shinkansen trains pass by at full speed!
Tokyo tower was built in 1958 and is an iconic symbol of Tokyo. It measures 333 meters and has a look similar to Eiffel tower but with a red and white look. It is now surpassed in height by Sky Tree (634m) but still offers a really nice view of Tokyo.
The Zojoji Temple is next to Tokyo Tower and easily accessible from the Daimon station on the Asakusa metro line. The buddhist temple offers a really nice setting with an awesome view of Tokyo tower. The visit of the two attractions complement each other nicely as Tokyo tower offers a nice aerial view of the temple.
Nagano was the host city of the 1998 Olympic games. The building presented here is the stadium of the opening ceremony with the Olympic torch still on display. Olympics facilities for hockey, speed skating, figure skating are scattered throughout Nagano whereas the ski events were held in Hakone. The Olympics were a profoundly marking event for the people of Nagano. It created an accelerated development of the town (notably the arrival of the Shinkansen rapid train) with a sudden increase of the infrastructures and also a cultural opening to the world.
The Odawara Castle is located close to the Odawara train station (10 min walk). An armor and weapon collection is presented in the renovated inside as well as a picture gallery of other famous Japanese Temples. The view of the city and ocean from the upper floor observatory is worth the visit.
If the weather is good, one can observe mount Fuji from the Shinkansen rapid train. Be sure to sit on the right if travelling towards Kyoto or to the left while travelling towards Tokyo. The station shin fuji propably offers one of the best views. I was offered a window seat by Japanese Salaryman who probably saw it so many times already. The picture taken represents reasonably what you can expect to see, the exact location it was taken is not certain though.
