Tokyo, Japan
The beauty of Japan, and the Japanese people, added to a pleasant and delightful adventure.
Maybe it is due to sheer ignorance, but before I had embarked on my adventure to Japan, the first word that would conjure in my mind at the mention of the country was ‘foreign’. This is not the only word that would come to mind, however. Other words included intriguing, fascinating and curiosity.
I can say now, after having visited, that one of the many beauties and joys, along with the privilege of travelling, is to not only experience a new place, peoples and ways of and patterns of life, but to also unlearn our unconscious biases and preconceived ideas about other cultures and parts of the world.
Simply, when it came to Japan, I did not know what to expect. It is not that I had any negative ideas about the country or people, but I also had never taken any time to learn about the culture of peoples. All I had read about Japan prior to my trip was from the standard high school curriculum in Canada, in which Japan is mentioned in reference to WWII and Nagasaki.
Even in the planning stage of the trip, I maintained a loose itinerary so as to allow myself to freely discover things as they came. I did not know any famous landmarks or well known destinations in the country as I did with many other, mostly Western, cities and countries around the world.
And so, with a very limited frame of reference, I embarked on my adventure to Tokyo, Japan.
Mt. Fuji and Buddhist Shrines
Mt. Fuji, captured from the Fujisan Express Train
Mt. Fuji, worshipped since ancient times and considered sacred, is an active volcano and the highest point in Japan. Due to it’s proximity to Tokyo, and the relative ease by which it can be reached (via the Fujisan Express), it was high on my very loosely structured itinerary for Tokyo.
Since ancient times, it was believed that powerful energy was released land around the volcano, and long ago, when the volcano used to erupt rather frequently, people would superstitiously hold festivals and divine rituals in order to please the gods, whom they believed the eruptions would signify the anger of.
To this day, a fire festival known as the Chinka-taisai Fire Extinguishing Festival, is held annually in accordance with a four hundred year tradition in order to appease the mountain and prevent eruptions. Due to it’s deep historical and spiritual significance, the mountain remains an important tourist destination as well as having an important place in Japanese tradition.
Mt. Fuji viewed from a local sightseeing bus
Tokyo at Night
Shopping and Commercial Centres
City Aesthetics
Among the experiences and things I particularly enjoyed about Japan as a tourist was to politeness and helpfulness of the kind Japanese people, especially for foreigners, the cleanliness and natural beauty, as well as the dynamic night life, cuisine and architecture it offers.
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