The first article, “A Spiritual Look at the Kamakura Daibutsu” explains a bit about the religious significance of the Daibutsu, and the details of the statue.

The second, “A Technical Look at the Kamakura Daibutsu” delves more into its construction and history.

Great stuff, knowing the facts about the places you’re visiting adds another dimension to your trip.  Rather than just going, gawking, and snapping photos, it gives you a new insight into what you’re looking at.

Here are a couple more photos I snapped during my visit.  Including the Buddha’s sandals which are hanging on the wall nearby!  When we go back to finish seeing the sights of Kamakura, we’ll definitely pay the daibutsu another visit.

“Worship tickets” to the site cost ¥200, and its worth twice that. Be sure to check out Muza-chan’s articles!

(And yeah, I’m still here!  Actually there’s more I’m going to add to the site! Just have to get to it!)

Related posts:

1. The Kamakura Adventure

If memory serves this was on the platform at the strangely Swiss-themed Gora station, part of the “Hakone Loop”, which you can read all about on Day 8 of the Journal….

Related posts:

1. The Hakone Loop, Part 5: The Ropeway and Cable Car
2. The Complete Journal

You start scouring the internet, pick up a few guidebooks, read other people’s trip accounts (like this one) but its difficult to really decide what you’re going to go see, and when.

That’s where a tool like Google Earth is indispensable.  If you’re unfamiliar with Google Earth, the short description is that it allows you to take an instant bird’s eye (and now street-level…) look at practically any place on earth.

Not only that, but you can view images, Wikipedia articles, even videos taken at a particular location.  With Street View enabled, you can even virtually walk the streets of Tokyo.  It’s really a powerful tool.  I literally spent hours poring over the maps, photos, and street view images.

But how does it help me plan my trip?

Lets take, for example, Tokyo.  If you type ‘Tokyo’ into the search box, you’ll be zoomed around the world and wind up  looking at a satellite view of the Tokyo Metro area.

Tokyo Through Google Earth

Great!  But now what?  Look carefully.  Make sure you’ve got the ‘Panaramio’ layer turned on, underneath ‘Geographic Web.’  Notice the little blue squares?  Click on one of them.

Panaramio Image of Tokyo

You’re greeted with an image that someone has added to Panaramio, of some sight in Japan.  Awesome.  Now zoom in.  Notice how more and more of the little blue squares appear, and that they will be clustered together?  What you’ve just discovered is how to find “the sights” of Tokyo.  Everywhere those clusters of photographs are, you will generally find a location which seems to be favored by tourists and photographers.

It will also give you a pretty good idea of how far things are from each other, and from the train stations.  This way you can plan your days appropriately, and plan how to get from A to B.  I did this by creating a folder for each day under ‘My Places’, and dragging things into those folders.

Keep zooming in, and panning around the city.  Not only will you find the “big ones” like Senso-ji, Meiji Shrine, Ueno park, etc.  But the not-so big ones as well.  This is how I found such locations as Hanazono Shrine, Zojoji Temple, and even Enoshima Island.  “Oooh, look at this cluster of dots!”  I know it sounds strange, but you’ll find things you probably wouldn’t have otherwise.  There will usually be a Wikipedia article available as well.  This way, you can decide what looks interesting, and what you might just pass on.

Now for some real fun.  Lets assume you’ve picked your hotel, and you want to see what the area around it looks like.  Street View to the rescue!  Make sure that layer is turned on, and you will see small cameras with yellow borders.  Double click one of these.  You’ll be zoomed right down onto the street.

Tokyo Street View in Google Earth

Now you can “follow the cameras” from site to site, or from your hotel to the train station, or whereever.  I found this feature particularly handy for “preparing” myself how to recognize certain landmarks and areas.  A map will only go so far.  If you can virtually stand on a street corner, recognize the landmarks and say “I need to turn left here” then you’ll be able to do it when you’re actually there.

Play around with the different layers.  Especially the ‘Places of Interest->Transportation->Rail/Subway’ Layers.  With these enabled, you’ll be able to see where the stations are, and where all the lines go.  Brilliant!

Is it perfect?  Not really.  Actually the Earth implementation of street view is a little clunky when compared to the ‘Maps’ version.  It doesn’t show you the arrows, or any inset maps or anything like that, but its handy just the same.

Other layers like Dining and Shopping are marginally useful, unless you’re fluent in reading Japanese, as most of the place titles and descriptions are written in the same.  Some of the smaller train stations are as well.

I’m working on a custom layer for 10 Days in Japan.  It has the routes we walked drawn out, and I’m working on including photographs.  Its a little tedious, but it should be well worth the wait.

If you’re *really* bored, search around for other custom overlays.  There are some maps that go back to the Edo period which you can overlay.  You can also enable ‘historical imagery’ and zoom back and forth through the past few years to see how the city has evolved.  Notice how many buildings are torn down and rebuilt.

If you’ve got any other tips for using Google Earth for your trip planning, please add your comments below! I’m sure I don’t know everything there is to know about it, and would love to have some more insight for planning my next 10 Days in Japan!

Related posts:

1. Rail Planning With Hyperdia

Signs on Mt. Takao

What’s it say? (You can probably guess the top part)

サルや野生動物にエサを与えないで下さい
ゴミは待ち帰りましょう

この看板は、高尾山を訪れる人たちに安心して自然を樂しんでもらうため、八王子市追い払い駆除隊。(社)
八王子青年会議所。高尾山を活動の拠点とする八王子森林パトロール隊。ボランチィアが協力し設置したものです。
八王子市農林課

(whew)

Please don’t feed the wild monkeys.
Let’s take  our trash with us.

This sign is to give peace of mind and enjoyment to Takao-san’s visitors, from the Hachioji _____ Organization (Company).  (The missing part doesn’t make sense to me, maybe someone can clear it up?)

(This next part is a little unclear to me, I’m not quite that good yet! Someone want to fill in the blanks?)

Hachioji young men’s meeting place (?), Have volunteered for the institution and do patrol activities on Takao-san. (? again… ?)

Hachioji City Agriculture/Forestry Department

(again, whew)

All the (not-so-good) translating aside, I thought it was funny that these signs were everywhere.  Simply because…

1. I didn’t see or hear a single wild monkey the whole time.  Where are they? Aside from the monkey park, I mean.  I’m sure they are there, hiding, waiting til after dark to come scour the place for left-behind treats…
2. Generally speaking, nobody litters anyway.
3. WTF is up with the monkey on the right?!  He looks like he’s royally pissed and is going to attack or something!  Yet he still has a little smirk on his face, like “I’ll show this monkey-feeding littering scumbag!! Right after I eat some of his tasty garbage.”
4. The one on the left seems to be saying, “psst. feed me! Yeah, me! C’mon, you know you want to!!!”

I realize that its important to not feed the wild animals, and to not leave your trash lying about.  I just found the sign kind of funny, if not for the picture, but for the long winded explanation and credits…

At the time I didn’t really understand what the bottom part said (the top was clear enough) and figured it was to explain why not to feed the monkeys, but no….

No related posts.

The situation is quite the opposite in Japan, as pretty much everything on four wheels is considerably smaller.  Take for example this VW Minibus replica spotted in Enoshima…

Subaru Sambar VW Bus Replica

OK, so Volkswagen never made anything this damn cute.  Actually its a replica, based on the Subura Sambar van, a tiny little utility vehicle, which you’ll see plenty of, like this (Wikipedia photo)

Subaru Sambar (Wikipedia)

Then there’s the cars.  Like this Subaru.  I thought the Geo (Suzuki) I had for a while was small!

Tiny Subaru!

Continuing down the scale, there’s this thing, thanks to Tokyo Times….

Keep a spare rubber band handy!

Of course, when you come across something like this (below) in Japan, it is definitely a reminder of just how big our wheels really are.  Everyone sing with me, “one of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong!”

Spotted outside the east exit of Shinjuku Station.  I can’t even think about driving this around Tokyo.

Get the F out of my way!

And then you get lucky, and spot one of the gems of the Japanese auto industry.  Like this Nissan Skyline GT-R.  Got to hear it pull away among a growing crowd of admirers, like the guy in the picture…  -drool-

Nissan Skyline GT-R

Share and Enjoy:

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Native to Asia, there are lots of different varieties, but the type you’re most likely to see in Japan are these, the (I think, from some quick unconfirmed research) Hydrangea Macrophylla, or “Mophead.” In Japan it is called “ajisai” (紫陽花).  The Kanji means (I think) “purple sunshine/warmth flower”, which pretty much describes it to a tee (even if most are blue!)

"Mophead" Hydrangeas, or Ajisai (紫陽花)

Most of the ones we saw had brilliant light blue flowers, but some have a pink to purple hue.  The difference comes from the pH of the soil its planted in, with the more acidic yielding blue, and basic producing pink/purple.

Ajisai in Ueno Park

Absolutely stunning.  There are numerous other varieties, some as vines, some have flowers that have a border around them….  but these were the most prevalant.

Here’s some more information, I know I’m going to be finding out if they can survive the climate here in Oklahoma…

• Hydrangea – Wikipedia
• Mophead Hydrangea

No related posts.

But we sure don’t have sushi and onigiri.  While we might grab a breakfast burrito or a ham sandwich, or even a semi-wilted salad…. they might grab something like this:

A bit of sushi, and some inari

or this:

onigiri, sushi rice wrapped in seaweed with a filling

The point is that what you’re used to depends on your location, and that things aren’t really all that different “over there.”  Really, they’re not.

And, yeah, I thought this stuff was pretty good, and truthfully it was the first time I’d had inari.  Excellent, and hard to screw up.  I’m sure to most native Japanese, its just your average (or below average) konbini food.  Its cheap, it does the job, and its readily available…

… as opposed to say, CHEESE!!  (Just had to throw that in… )

Related posts:

1. Shinjuku Station (新宿駅) and Checking In

What the Heck is it?

This large “gift basket” looking thing was in the lobby of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building (as of early July anyway.)  I see the maneki neko, the target with the arrow, the small “twin towers” of the TMG building in the center, a carp or three or hour, and a whole bunch of other stuff, including what looks like potatoes(?) or some other root at the bottom(?).

Mounted up on the wall, it was probably a good 6-8′ across.  Some sort of offering to the taxman? A display by the chamber of commerce?  I really have no idea, I just thought it looked cool.

Any ideas?  Just curious!

No related posts.

Ueno Park was one of my favorite stops on the entire trip.  Absolutely gorgeous.

This is the first in a series of video clips, most of which I have yet to get uploaded to YouTube! But check out my channel anyway! http://youtube.com/user/10daysinjapan/

Related posts:

1. Ueno Park, Shinobazu Pond, Gojo Shrine | 上野公園
2. The Complete Journal

It’s really quite simple.  You visit the Hyperdia website, and look for the button that says English (unless you’re fluent in reading Japanese!)  You enter the station names of your starting point, and your ending point, optionally any stations you want to stop at along the way, and go to the next screen, where you’ll see something like this: (I used Shinjuku 新宿 as my starting point, and Kamakura 鎌倉) as my ending point, without any waypoints.

Planning Your Route with Hyperdia

From here you simply select the date and time you want to leave, the number of different routes you want to show, and you can even select air routes, shinkansen routes, reserved seats, or add waypoints at this stage.  You can optionally enter your desired arrival time, or select “Average”, which I found gave better options for the results surrounding a particular departure time.  We’ll select “Average”, and 8am, and see what we get:

Hyperdia Rail Planning Search Results

As you can see, it returned five separate options, sorted by travel time, listing the fare and the number of transfers.  Below that I’ve shown the first table that it returns.  You’d leave Shinjuku at 8:08 on the Shonan Shinjuku Line and go straight through Ofuna to Kamakura.  It even provides links to timetables, other information, and maps and hotels, although those links will appear in Japanese.

If there were a transfer along the way it would display that, along with any walking time between stations should that arise.  Here’s an example from Shinjuku to Kamakura, stopping through Enoshima, which requires you get off at the monorail station, and walk the short distance to the Enoden station.

Hyperdia results with transfer and walk time

As this shows (and its more or less what we did) you take the Shonan Shinjuku to Ofuna, transfer to the Shonan Monorail, walk from the monorail station in Enoshima to the Enoden station, and take the Enoden to Kamakura.  If there are bus routes required (as in Hakone) it will even show you those.

It’s really that simple!  It works well for getting around the metro lines in Tokyo, or for planning routes well outside the city.  It only tells you direct fares, so if you’ve got a JR Pass or other type of pass, the fares won’t necessarily apply, but you should make sure your pass is valid on the chosen lines and/or trains.  You can’t make reservations for those routes which require it (that I can tell) from Hyperdia directly, but you’ll be able to plan how and when to get to your destination with ease.  And yes, it is quite accurate.

Don’t forget, though, that you should always check  your information at the station when you leave.

Link: Hyperdia, and Hyperdia in English

[This is the first of a series on planning your trip to Japan, just check the "Planning" link under categories to the right for more articles like this.]

Related posts:

1. Planning: Japan Through Google Earth