#9 Last time, I wrote about my experience with the people of Japan. This time, it is about the places I experienced. I stayed in Kobe; however, I hardly saw it in detail. I did walk a lot throughout the streets of Kobe and had a glimpse of the port, which is what Kobe is known for. Kobe, a city, is sandwiched between hills and sea, quite similar to Kerala, though this is way narrower than the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. You can clearly see the hills from the coast of Kobe. Close to the hills, like a border, run the Shinkansen line, the track exclusive for the Bullet trains. There are a few mountain view points, accessible through ropeways and roads, which I couldn’t find time to visit. The ropeway rides close at 5 pm, and the day I planned to go, I reached around 5:15 pm. In fact, before my travel to Japan, I never really planned to see anything, particularly in Kobe, and it happened to be so.
Before I go more about the places, I have to mention why I didn’t see any Korean cars on Japanese roads. It never crossed my mind to Google it. But what happened is that as I was reading the newspaper, I came across this article about the prime ministers of Japan and South Korea meeting after about a decade. In reading through, I see that Koreans always wanted Japan to apologize for the wartime acts they did. This probably could be why we don’t see Korean cars in Japan. I also read recently about the hesitancy of Korean companies to import cheaper Indian steel and still opt for Korean steel, even if it is at a premium.
Nara: I planned to go here after learning about the huge Buddha statue in Todaiji temple, with a nose of about half a metre. My professor also recommended to visit this place. With the JR pass, we took Kobe-Osaka-Nara trains, and it was seamless. From the Nara station, it is roughly 2 km to the statue, and we decided to walk. Just from the station starts a shopping street leading to the Buddha. It was so beautifully put with sparse vehicles that you can easily splurge your Yens on traditional Japanese folding fans. The price tag on some of the fans was mind-bending. On the way, there was another temple, which I should have seen, but there was no time. And the 2 km felt long. We crossed 1 or 2 large wooden gates, which looked like a free-standing structure on probably foot-thick wooden columns, leading to the statue. There was nothing so special about the Buddha statue apart from its sheer size. One can easily understand that the entire structure or hall surrounding the statue was built after the statue was put in place. At each of the four corners of the hall, 4 warrior statues can be seen, all different from each other. We went around the Buddha, lit a candle, and came out. At this point, what captivates you is the huge gates and the temple’s architecture. Aesthetically, those structures were built with much thought in place.
The first thing in the Todaiji museum is a movie with a vast projection about the statue’s history and hall. It was burnt, rebuilt, and so on. Famine, wars, and it has all ingredients. It was then I regretted in not going to the museum before the Buddha Hall and statue. Everything from then on was all about Indian gods, culture, and history. If I am not wrong, what we see from now on is several buddhas over the years in Japan and taking different names like Suryaprabha, Chandraprabha, Sahasrabhuja, Sakyamuni, Prabhutaratna. All of these names have Japanese version also. The four warriors protecting the main Buddha statue have names: Virupaksa, Virudhaka, Vaisravana, Dhrtarastra. There was a huge Saraswati statue with features similar to what we see in India, except for the face. This is one place that shows how much the history and culture of the subcontinent have been influential in the foundation of Japanese life and most probably driven by Buddhism. However, the present statistics say most Japanese have no regard for Gods & Legends. I just saw only two churches throughout my time in Japan. I did see small Buddhist temples here & there, much like the temples in Tamil Nadu. To be continued.
PS: When I started this website, I was looking for a copyright free image of mountains and I ended up with one, as what you see in the homepage. I never knew it was Mount Fuji and I would happen to visit it’s home a year later. However, I still haven’t seen it in person. Probably, something for the next travel to Japan.