tokyo → kyoto → osaka
kyoto was my favorite! beautiful cultural artifacts and nature, as well as good food and shopping.
- day tripped to arashiyama (so beautiful) and nara (watched a deer kick a child)
memorables
- First day - seeing scenes pass by outside the subway train windows - the compact neighborhoods, the powerlines, the contrasting architecture
- Meiji Shrine, Senso-ji Temple, seeing smaller shrines integrated into modernized bustling city streets - the lasting prominence of ancient beliefs, prayers, and rituals
- on the train from kyoto to osaka, a kind Japanese man informed us we were on the way slower train and that we should get on the express train
- we got on together, and chatted about Japan
- I learned that people wait on the left side instead of the right (for ex., escalators) because of samurai history - so people do this in Tokyo but not Osaka, because Osaka did not have samurai
- if you bump swords with a samurai, you are required to duel
- walking on the left side minimized accidental duel instigations
- I learned that Asakusa is a bad place to stay because it is extremely high risk to earthquakes and tsunamis due to its low elevation, and historically, wealthier people and samurai lived on higher ground
- He approved of Shinjuku
- I learned that the capitol was moved from Osaka to Kyoto, and that Kyoto is very safe against natural disasters
- it’s also protected by Chinese magic, aka feng shui
- The liveliness of underground train stations, many of which were like expansive malls with busy food courts - a city of its own
- Taking the bullet train - the way public transportation systems influence culture and lifestyles
- maybe vaguely fitting that i watched snowpiercer on my flight here
- passed by scenes of layered mountains, with silhouettes of a path of powerlines running through everything - the effort of connection
this trip inspired me to look into
- the suica system
- powerlines in mountains
- design an elevator
- feng shui
- bullet train
- eastern vs western architecture