Ken@Japan

Waiheke Island is an island near from Auckland and famous for wineries and beautiful sights. It is quite accessible from Auckland by a ferry. I was looking for something natural, wanted to expose myself to the country's wildness. When I got a brochure about the island at the hostel's reception, I thought that was it. Therefore, I decided to go to the island on my third day. The city's port "Queens Wharf" is located at the end of the city's main street called "Queens Street" and along  Quay Street. I went down the Queens Street in the middle people commuting to their office and reached to the port early in the morning. There was some time to catch the ferry, so I dropped by a convenience store to get a morning snack (usually I don't have a breakfast in Japan, but I thought it was better to eat something before my wildness experience in the island). I got a minced-beef pie with some cheese and 1.5ml bottled mineral water. There was a bench i...

Since I'd had a long flight, I slept very well that night. It was really "GOOD morning" when I got up. On my second day, I decided to follow my travel habit; to go to museum firstly. Wherever I go, the first place to visit is the place's museum to get close to its local culture. My travel isn't tourism but more "journey" to touch something different. To me, museum is a juke box letting me take a look at the local culture and ask anything to curators. Following this habit, I walked to Auckland museum located in Auckland Domain-a public park. After 40-minute walk, I got to the museum's main entrance and I was overwhelmed at the building.. It looks a palace! Certainly, New Zealand is under British commonwealth, so there is no palace for royal somebody to live, but it looks like a palace on a hill. How wonderful it looks. Getting inside, there is a huge hall and foyer, and the reception desks are placed in its front. I approached to one of the...

In Japan, it is one of its holiday seasons from the end of April to 1st week of May, called "Golden Week". Every year, I spend my vacation in foreign countries during this season and I chose New Zealand this time.  Why New Zealand? Actually no specific reasons. It seemed that I can buy a cheap air ticket if I go to New Zealand. On top of that, New Zealand appears in some big Hollywood movies as the fields, especially in my favorite fantasy movies.  I would have liked to take a look at the beautiful natural sites in my eyes. Furthermore, I was interested in the country's native Maori culture. In sum, Cheap ticket+Movie sets+Maori-these items motivated me to visit the country. A cheap air ticket means a long flight including a long-wait transit. This time, I took a flight served by one of the Chinese big carriers, China Southern. The flight took me from Osaka to Guangzhou, a city in the southern china, then to Auckland after 7-hour wait for transit there based on ...

If your lovely partner died, how wod you deal with his/her belongings? If you loved his/her so much, you may keep them on your hand. If you didn't love, then you may throw them away. In her case, it was a bit different.  When her husband died, she donated all of his belongings to a temple, which her husband established. The "she" is the Japan's imperial empress Kou-myo（光明皇后）, a wife of the 45th imperial emperor Shomu.（聖武天皇）.  When the emperor died in 756 AD, the empress decided to give the Shomu's mementos to Toudai-ji temple（東大寺）, known as a Buddhist temple with a big golden statue of Buddha.  The items, ranging from her husband's clothes, folding screens to his bed on which he had spent time with his wife, were stored in a traditional warehouse called "Sho-so in" （正倉院） in Nara. This is a historical origin of the treasury warehouse.  For another information, the empress also donated some medicines there, which the husband had taken in hope of ...

Ise Grand Shrine is the  most sacred shrine in Japan, comprised of two main buildings, 14 sub buildings, and 112 annexes.  These 128 shrines are located throughout Mie Prefecture and this shrine complex is officially called  “ Jingu （神宮） -the deities ’  palace ”  collectively. That said, people have called it   “ Ise Jingu ”  by pointing out that the two main buiding s, which are the central parts of the shrine ’ s religious service, are located in Ise city, Mie.  “ Grand Shrine ”  is an English word corresponding to “ Jingu ” . The two main buildings are   “ Koutai-Jingu Shrine （皇大神宮）”  and   “ Toyo-uke dai-jingu （豊受大神宮）” . The former is   called   “ Nai-ku （内宮 : Inner Shrine ）”  and the latter is   “ Ge-ku （外宮 : Outer Shrine ）”  popularily. In the inner shrine, Amaterasu-oo-mikami (Amaterasu), who is said to be the great ancestor of the imperial family and the supreme female deity representi...

The imperial family of Japan is deeply correlated to the nation's  indigenous  religion; shintoism. The mythology says that its founder-the first emperor is a divine  descendant  from the heaven above where divine beings are situated, and legendarily  the current emperor Akihito is its 126th heir. Based on this custom, the emperor himself serves the religious festivals periodically in a special shrine alter located within his imperial palace in Tokyo （宮中三殿： Kyu-chu sanden   – the three inner shrines in the   palace). In some occasions, the empress Michiko is with him for its religious service. Some articles report that the crown prince Naruhito has represented some of his father ’ s religious duties as the father is too old to stand the physical stress coming f r om the services as they should appear with a heavy traditional outfits and  solemn  manners based on its 2673-year traditions during the service. The imperial family held its c...