Let them drink wine!

Meiji Shrine in Tokyo: o-sake from different regions of Japan...


By gaining the good and rejecting what is wrong,
It is our desire that we'll compare favorably
With other lands abroad.

-Poem by Emperor Meiji

The Meiji period was an enlightened period during which a policy of "Japanese Spirit and Western Knowledge" was adopted, to learn from the best of Western culture and civilization while keeping Japan's age-old spirit and revered traditions. Emperor Meiji led the way in promoting modernization by embracing many features of western culture in his personal life, such as shearing his topknot and donning western attire, and in many other aspects of daily living. Among these departures, His Majesty set an example by taking western food and in particular by enjoying wine with it.

The barrels of wine to be consecrated at Meiji Jingu have been offered by the celebrated wineries of Bourgogne in France on the initiative of Mr. Yasuhiko Sata, Representative, House of Burgundy In Tokyo, Honorary Citizen of Bourgogne and owner of the Chateau de Chailly Hotel-Golf. Profound gratitude is due to the wine makers who have so generously contributed to this precious gift to be consecrated here to the spirit of world, pain and amity, with the earnest prayer that France and Japan will enjoy many more years of friendship.

-Meiji Jingu

東京 TOKYO pt.1

Next stop: Tokyo...it was only right that we continue towards the capital. The name comes from being the city east of the capital...'to' = east, 'kyo' = capital, the old capital being Kyoto.



Kyoto is approximately half way between Fukuoka and Tokyo. However instead of taking the overnight bus, we took the train, the Shinkansen, making it seem like it was just around the corner.


Voila Pauline-san, une des envoyé spéciale a Waseda University, qui nous a acceuillis pendant notre petit séjour dans la capitale.


15h10 : The emperor of Japan shows himself only 3 days throughout the whole year, and his last day happened to be the first day we got there (jan. 2). Ten minutes too late, this is as far as we got to seeing the emperor's hand wave out to the masses.


Visiting Tokyo is like sticking your finger is a sumo's butt: it seems like an impossible thing to do, but once you do it, it's a lot of fun. Just look at Anne-san. Merci Anne. Respect Anne.


Really though, just as I had expected, Tokyo is a very crowded place...take a look.


Harajuku: massive amounts of people...all the time.










Shibuya : the famous crosswalk, before...


and after.




When it comes to architecture in Tokyo, obviously there are many amazing places and buildings to see...Tokyo prefecture is a place that nests too many references, that i've only seen in photographs, or read about in books...


In the Ginza area of the city, there is a handful of designer stores, drawn by some of the world's most renown architects...










random: this is actually the Tokyo International Forum...different hood!




Takadanobaba: can't forget this place...5 people in pauline-san's waseda uni. dorm room for 4 nights is enough to leave a mark...


look familiar? (peace sam-san.)


place a une petite fete d'anniv. dans un resto Coréen...voici une autre envoyé a Waseda: Maria-san.

after a party, always comes karaoke...even if you can't sing. Maria-san happened to be very graceful on the mic.


Newsflash! Image insolite: eh ouais!...on l'a eu en train de chanter!


the gyoza boy...


that's one thing that was more predominant in Tokyo, compared to Fukuoka...the amount of graffiti. We are not used to this in Fukuoka...we also don't have many gaijin, but that's another issue.

Akihabara: electric city...on weekends, the streets are closed to cars.


here, you can find anything from rare manga comics, cheap video games, obviously all sorts of electronics and...

live performances!...sometimes sad but funny.


Tokyo is a place where lights just don't have an off button. to be continued...

Land of A Thousand Temples...: Kyoto pt.2

京都 Kyoto
This was the first stop outside Kyushu; we were now onto a bigger island called Honshu. We got there a few days before new years...the time to familiarize ourselves with a few temples and shrines...there are many wonderful places to see in a city like this, however by foot, sometimes you just don't have enough time to see them all.


Represent! the Kyoto official international 'gaijin' crew: annesan, wensan, loupsan, jimmysan, chrissan, and benjiro...


Temples and shrines usually have some kind of gates...this one happens to be the monumental gate of the Heian-Jingu Shrine...huge torii gates like these are always shrines gates.


A glimpse of the philosopher's path...unfortunately without 'sakura' blossoms: spring cherry tree blossoms are not to miss...




the path we took leads to one of my favorites : Ginkaku-ji.
This temple might not be covered in gold, or in silver for that matter, but as soon as you enter its garden, you can understand why this temple was one of the few not to get burned down...


with that said...it was very hard to capture the essence of it, so...i give you a piece of the city view...


A piece of Daitoku-ji...


famous for it's stone gardens: 枯山水 karesansui...


of many shapes and sizes...


beautiful bamboo.


Kinkaku-ji: yes, covered in gold...the gods were with us that day...pretty spectacular structure it was, shinning under a golden sun.


her goes a little taste of the old Kyoto style neighbor-hoods...small dwellings and narrow streets...




...and can't forget the maiko houses...caution: geisha in training; entertainment geisha that is. (look for the red lanterns!)




Contrasts: these downtown perspectives are always so remarkable when you don't expect them. Kyoto also has taller buildings, and interestingly enough, the map of the city is based on a grid, with parallel blocks, like most big american cities...




yup! a capsule hotel...convenient, comfortable...so easy to use, no wonder it's number one. ha.




A quick glance of a cemetery on the way up the hill: aerial view of an underground (dense) city.


still, on our way up...








Kiyomizu-dera: this beautiful temple is one of the prime examples of ancient japanese wooden architecture built without the use of a single nail.




...if you can't buy it, just take a picture of it.


Kyoto is also known to be the first imperial capital, hens the little stroll through the vast imperial palace park on our last day in Kyoto.