Arriving in Japan

In October, a group of us - numbering 12 - went to Japan to attend one of the services held for the 750th Memorial for Shinran Shonin at Honzan (Nishi Hongwanji) in Kyoto - the main temple for our sect.

The first stop is Tokyo. Tokyo is a good place to start for those who have not been to Japan before as it is the most accessible if you do not speak Japanese. Most of the signs are written in Romaji if not in English, many retailers have some knowledge of English, and the facilities are more international, if you know what I mean.

Our first stop after a good night's rest at Shinagawa Prince Hotel is a visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market. After navigating one train and one subway, we managed to arrive at one end of the fish market and walked through to the other side. Los Angeles is the home of many wholesale markets but none come close to amount of food that is sold at the Tsukiji Fish Market and the outer markets.



Even though it was early in the morning, we skipped the hotel breakfast to have fresh sushi at one of the restaurants just outside of the market. Not only was that fun, but since the fish is amazingly fresh, it was quite delicious and quite an experience after arriving in Japan.

Also in Tsukiji, we stopped at Tsukiji Hongwanji with its Indian architect. The main hondo was not open as it was being cleaned for a special ho-on-ko service, we got to the kodo (little chapel) in time before the morning service ended.

Before we boarded the Nozomi Shinkansen, we had a chance to visit the Ghibli Museum just outside of Tokyo in Mitaka. Here on display is the work and brilliance of Hayao Miyasaki. The purpose of visiting here is to capture a sense of Japan that is harder to find. Miyasaki is fond of telling stories and especially those stories that evoke the folktales of Japan. These are the folktales that were abound when Shinran entered his exile on the Sea of Japan.



Then we made it back to Shinagawa Station in Tokyo to catch our shinkansen to Kyoto. The Shinagawa station has been modernized and is a good alternative to catch the shinkansen instead of busier and larger Tokyo Station. There were only three stops on the fastest of all the bullet trains. It was too dark to spot Mt. Fuji along the way.

Once we arrived in Kyoto, we had to pick among the many restaurants in the station as well underneath it for dinner. We stayed at the Shin Miyako Hotel, which is very close to Kyoto Station.