Buildings of Tokyo - St. Mary's Cathedral

Tokyo is a city full of very modern buildings, with very little evidence of structures more than a few decades old. This is largely due to the devastating destruction the city endured twice in the 20th century; firstly in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and again in the heavy bombing experienced in World War II. The result today is not what you can really call a beautiful city, with ugly, bland, concrete buildings and housing stetched over vast areas of the city. There is, however, some interesting and bold architecture, and the fact that that there isn't any beautiful heritage to protect as in, say for example, Venice, Paris or Rome, seems to enable buildings to spring up that wouldn't be built anywhere else. I plan to visit some well-known (and lesser-known) buildings around Tokyo for this blog, starting with St. Mary's Cathedral.

This cathedral was constructed in 1964 and designed by the reknowned Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. Among his best known buildings are the Peace Museum in Hiroshima and the Olympic gymnastics stadium in Harajuku. In fact, the cathedral has a similar curved roof to the Olympic stadium.

Standing freely from the cathedral there is also a 60 metre bell tower.

The bell tower is very narrow and the bells are only visible from the side - face on all you can see is the narrowly tapered tower with a crucifix at the top.

The interior is built in grey concrete with minimal decoration. The beauty comes from the big open space and the sweeping lines converging towards the ceiling.

When Kenzo Tange died in 2005 his funeral was held, appropriately, in this cathedral. The cathedral is located in the Bunkyo district of Tokyo.

Warm November sun

One of the nice things about Japan (in the middle and south of the country, at least) is the relatively warm autumn weather, which carries on well into November. On sunny days the temperature can go over 20 degrees, and yesterday (Nov.7th) I cycled to a park and sat there for a couple of hours enjoying the warm sunshine and listening to music on my headphones

I also took 360 degree panoramic photos on a new app on my phone, which you can see here

Who is the Japanese prime minister?

It occurred to me recently that I can't remember the name of the new Japanese prime minister, and not only that I don't even know what he looks like. I honestly wouldn't be able to pick him out in an identity parade. Prime ministers change here as regularly as teenage girls in Shibuya change their shade of nail varnish. Since I moved to Japan in 2003 I have no idea how many prime ministers there have been and would be hard pushed to name half of them. Maybe I don't need to get to know what the new one looks like - the new one will probably be along before I've returned from my Christmas holiday.

Tokyo Halloween

When asked about Halloween most Japanese say "we don't celebrate it here" - ignoring the fact that almost every shop, cafe and public place is decorated with images of pumkins, witches and black cats. Like with the globalisation of a lot of things, it does seem to be becoming more popular here and at night I noticed quite a few people in costumes heading off to various bars and parties. Japanese Halloween is basically fancy dress - any fancy dress. Dress up as a nurse, a pirate, a cartoon character, it doesn't seem to matter. I suppose it makes a change from hundreds of Scream masks and Draculas.

As always I went out for drinks in Shinjuku with my friend, Gary, who always spends hours making incredibly detailed masks weeks in advance. I borrowed a kimono and bought a black wig and face paint and went as...I don't know what it was really, but it was based on images of kabuki theatre. Other random costumes I saw were guys dressed as white swans, with long balloons for the tails and a girl dressed as the Starbucks logo. Like I said, any resemblance to a "normal" Halloween theme seems to be completely optional.

Adventures in Kansai, part 4 - Kobe

Kobe is a port city with a large harbour area on one side and mountains on the other. The city gives its name to the famous and very expensive Kobe beef, which I saw no examples of anywhere (not that I was looking) and of course it's probably most famous for the devastating earthquake which struck the city in 1995. There is a museum documenting this event, and had I been passing by I probably would've gone there, but as it was in a different area to where I was I just decided to stroll around the city and enjoy the warm autumn sunshine.

My first stop was Chinatown, where I had an early lunch. This is one of the three main Chinatowns in Japan, the other two being in Yokohama and Nagasaki. I've been to all three. I suppose there's not a great deal of difference between any of them, but they're interesting to see nonetheless.

From Chinatown it's a short walk to the harbour, with it's pleasant wide open areas (something of a rarity in Japanese cities.)

From there I walked back through the centre of the city and headed uphill to the area called Kitano. This is a very wealthy and fashionable area. There are many old Western style houses here, built in the days when Kobe was an important trading port and many Westerners settled here. These houses are very well preserved and some of them are open to the public. It's twinned with Montmartre in Paris, presumably for the similar hillside location, although it's not really quite the same thing. However, it appeals to people who want to have a flavour of European sophistication without actually having to get on a plane (or speak another language.)

Adventures in Kansai, part 3 - Kyoto

I've been to Kyoto several times before, but there are so many sights scattered far and wide that it's always possible to see something new with each visit. For this visit my first stop was Fushimi Inari, a shrine easily reached five minutes by train from the main Kyoto station. The shrine is famous for the hundreds of red torii gates which you pass under on the many paths through the area, and the curious looking stone foxes which stare down at you from all around.

I then stopped for lunch at one of the many tiny little restaurants in the city. When I say tiny, I mean the seating area is usually just at a counter sitting right in front of the staff as they prepare your food.

The entrances of these restaurants often have "noren" hanging down, a cloth printed with the name or logo of the establishment.

Although it can seem an intimidating prospect going into these small Japanese restaurants if you don't speak the language, I strongly recommend that visitors give them a try. if there's not an English menu there's usually a menu with photos - just point! These places are much more interesting than the usual array of Western chain restaurants around the very large and modern main Kyoto station.

My next stop was a temple called Sho-ren-in. When I went here I was almost the only visitor so it was very peaceful and quiet. The temple has many rooms and some beautiful hand-painted screens on the walls and a large garden area which you can walk around. There was a light drizzle falling as I walked around the green moss-covered garden, very atmospheric and relaxing.

The final part of my day was spent wandering around Gion, the traditional area of the city where you see many old wooden houses, and following the winding paths up to Kiyomizu temple. This is one of the most touristy parts of the city, and when I was there seemed to be literally overrun with hoards of school kids. It's still worth seeing, but when you visit the city it's also well worth seeking out some of the less crowded places to really appreciate the atmosphere of the city.

Adventures in Kansai, part 2 - Koya-san

After a couple of days in Osaka I was ready to get out of the city. I decided to head to Koya-san, a place I'd never been to before, or even heard of before reading about it in my guide book. It's in an area of Japan known as the Kii peninsula, a rural area of forested mountains. I took the train from Namba station in Osaka for the one and a half hour ride to Gokurakubashi station, passing through some very nice scenery along the way. Then I boarded a small cable car for a short ten minute climb to Koya-san station, around 800 metres above sea level. After that I bought a day bus pass for 800 yen, so I could hop on and off the buses which circulate around the main sights.

My first stop was Okuno-in, an area of over 200,000 tombs and mausoleums - the largest graveyard in Japan. Some of the burial mounds are hidden in the forest and covered in green moss and obviously very old, there are also some interesting statues and it's a very atmospheric place to wander around, epecially in the moments of peace when there are no other people around and you can't hear a thing except the sounds of the forest.

I also saw a few temples and a large gate called Daimon, which marks the main entrance to Koya-san.

Finally, I went on a short hiking trail, passing under quite a few traditional red torii gates, and with occasional views of the sprawling countryside below. Supposedly on a clear day you can see as far as the island of Shikoku, but I couldn't see that far.

As the buses weren't very frequent (sometimes more than an hour between buses) I decided to call it a day after the short hike. I'm sure there must be a few sights I missed out, and it may be worth doing this area with an overnight stay and two days to take in the sights. In any case, it's well worth a visit.