Japan Architectural Tour (End)

Early morning of Feb. 4th, I headed to see the Meiji Shrine at the Shibuya District in Tokyo. It's a Shinto shrine constructed in early 20th century and dedicated to the former emperor Meiji and his wife. Before you enter the shrine premises, it's suggested that you wash your hands. Photography's not allowed at the prayer booths and visitors are prohibited from sitting on its stairs. Not only tourists, but lots of locals visit the Meiji Shrine everyday, too, to lift up their prayers.

Upon returning to Harajuku Station from the shrine, to your south-east side is the famous shopping district named Omotesando. For those interested in interior designs, marketing, and fashion this is a must-visit site in Tokyo. I might add shopaholics on that list, too. From the most luxurious brands like Louis Vuiton, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and Armani, each building itself is a store front on itself. Arguably, the 4 most popular buildings in this area are the Dior building by SANAA, the Omotesando Hills by Tadao Ando, the Audi Forum by Benjamin Warner of Creative Designers International (CDI), and Tod's by Toyo Ito. The Omotesando Hills is a huge department store located halfway through the main Omotesando street. Later that day, I checked out another must-see shopping district in Tokyo called Ginza. While I'd like to take the time to talk about each building and its unique facades, I minimized it to this paragraph to keep it in length.

The 21_21 Design Site is a museum designed by Tadao Ando. It sits on a district of Roppongi, famous for its night club scene. Compared to many other Ando's designs the 21_21 is very simple in its planning and less conceptual, focusing more on its form. The neighborhood has a park around it. Even if you aren't there for the museum, it's really nice to just sit and relax. I got a bento take-out and ate at one of the benches before entering the museum. Afterwards, I checked out Ginza as mentioned before and Akihabara, known for lively cosplay scenes, maid-cafes, and electronic goods.

Next day, I woke up early to go see the Tsukiji Fish Market auction, which I missed. Next was the 4-hour long train ride to Naoshima Island via Okayama. The entire trip from Tokyo to the actual Naoshima museum sites, however, took a little over 6 hours. Utilizing the express train, local subway ride, the fairy boat, the Naoshima town bus, the shuttle bus, then a bit of walking, I was exhausted before I even began my tour. Naoshima Island is a very artsy town. Located between Shikoku Island and Okayama main land, the island promotes itself as a pompous get-away for those looking for artistic adventures. The 3 museums located at its most southern part are the Chichu Art Museum, Lee Ufan Museum, and Benesse House Museum. On this small island, the museums collectively house few of the most sought-out contemporary exhibitions and artists including Lee Ufan, Cy Twonbly, Yves Klein, Donald Judd, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and James Turrell. The Naoshima Island takes a day's worth of travel and is well worth it. I headed back the same way I came to the island; I took the eastbound train to Kyoto. But before Kyoto, I stopped by Osaka to see the Umeda Sky Building.

The Umeda Sky Building is the 7th tallest building in Osaka. Due to its unique look, however, it attracts the most attention among all the skyscrapers in Osaka. Standing at 173 meters, it was designed by Hiroshi Hara in 1988 and finished in 1993. Its Floating Garden Observatory is open to public for few hundred yens, where you can get a panoramic view of the city. The name is misleading though. There is no actual garden. To my mistake I thought it was the tallest building in Osaka until I googled it few minutes ago and it was noted that it was actually the 7th tallest. When I went they were also hosting a Valentine's event so it's suffice to say that I was one of the very few lone birds up there. I headed down and out to Kyoto.

Note that the starred picture isn't mine. It was sourced from Google.

Now, what's a Japan trip without a capsule hotel experience? Right? Thinking that, I looked up all the capsule hotels in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo before I went and this one was the one I wanted to go to the most. The hotel's name is Nine Hours because it's suggested that you use the hotel only for 9 hours. The modern, sleek interior design was what attracted me initially. The capsule experience was great, but having experienced it once I wouldn't necessarily seek it out again. I slept fine and the capsule was comfortable, but at a capsule hotel you don't get the psychological barrier and security because there's no door.

It was Sunday when I woke up. So being a Christian, I headed to a church. Specifically, the Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church. It's a church located on the far north-east side of Osaka designed by Tadao Ando in 1989. I didn't understand a single thing the pastor was saying and I wished I could, but it was a once-in-a-life-time experience. I tried really hard to get the most out of it. Maybe too hard.

The following afternoon I headed to Ginkakuji, a zen temple at eastern Kyoto. It's one of the two temples in Kyoto notorious for their stone gardens. And upon admission, I immediately saw why. It's a beautiful landscape where philosophy meets art. Conceptualizing the unifying element in all things in the universe known as 'ki', the zen monks mapped out its flow of energy onto the garden. I wished I had more time in Kyoto, but it was time to leave. I had to catch my early morning flight back to Seoul the next day from Kansai International Airport. So I headed back to Osaka, enjoyed some street sceneries, ate some soba noodles and tempura, and prepared myself for a wrap-up.

This brings my Japan architectural tour to an end. I got lost so many times but I had fun. If I were to pick one or two things I best liked about the trip, it was the train rides and the oceans. I sincerely enjoyed every moment looking out onto the window from my train rides and the smell of oceans by the beaches and ports. I'm sure I'd go back. Someday. Sigh. It's all well though. All the impressions I've gained from the trip is still fresh in my mind, but I try not to believe that a good journey always need to cost a plane ticket. Or need to be overseas, hotels, guide maps, and asking for directions, though those can be nice.

Matsuo Basho
Everyday is a journey, and the journey itself is home.