Day 11 Thoughts
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We took the bullet train, also known as the Shinkansen, to Kyoto. This train can travel at a speed of 170 mph. Our ride from Tokyo to Kyoto (distance?) took us 2 hours. The cost of this trip was quite hefty. We paid $240 for a round trip ticket. Yikes! Arriving at Tokyo station and riding the train were an adventure of their own. We had difficulty locating the proper platform on which to wait for the train. There are hanging numbered plates that correspond with numbers on the riders' tickets to inform the riders of where they are to stand. Individuals who are to clean the cars on the train line up on the platform with buckets and brooms. The cars were cleaned before we entered. Riding the train was another experience. The whole train was packed, but no one was talking except us, and even the train traveled quietly. We could not stop talking. Once we tried to be quiet to listen to the silence, but one of us started laughing and then we all burst out into peels of laughter. So much for trying to hear silence. Actually, the quiet we experienced on the train, we experienced later as we ate in restaurants, attended baseball games, walked on the streets and rode the public bus. Japan is a relatively quiet society.- People of all ages and all income levels ride bikes in all parts of Japan (rural, suburban and urban)- not fancy bikes, just 2 wheels, a frame and handlebars. I only noticed one cyclist wearing a helmet, though. Some of the sidewalks had lines painted on them. I was not sure if these lines created bike lanes or if they were to provide a boundary to separate the flow of pedestrians walking in different directions. In Japan, by the way, since cars are driven on the left-hand side of the road (we drive on the right), pedestrians also walk on the left-hand side of the sidewalk (we tend to walk on the right-hand side). - Julie and I were hoping to enter the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, but since the Empress Dowager, the wife of Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989, had died just prior to our visit, the palace was closed to visitors. In the Shinto religion, one of the major religions in Japan, it was believed that the emperor was of divine lineage and was a living god.
Toriis are visible throughout Japan. They act as gateways to sacred areas.
Name:
Anne O'Brien
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