Skip to main content

Danielle- Exploring Lake Chuzenji

Lake Chuzenji and Nikko


I had this past weekend off, so I decided to take a long-anticipated trip to Lake Chuzenji and Nikko in the Tochigi Prefecture.

Nikko's Toshogu Shrine is the infamous mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that lasted for over 250 years in Japan. It was definitely a lavish sort of shrine; highly detailed in design, colorful, and really covered a lot of ground. I did quite a bit of walking around there, and I have a feeling that I still didn't explore everything the shrine had to offer 100%.


Mainly because Danielle wanted to check out a different part of the Toshigi Prefecture.

Predictably, Danielle thought the popular Toshogu Shrine was beautiful, and the trip to Nikko was definitely well worth it. But she thought the less-populated Chuzenjiko was prettier. :>


I love a harbor town, and the smells and sounds of water. Had fun relaxing and watching the sunset at the lake. Though you can't really see the sunset in Japan, what with the mountains and buildings blocking the sky (not as open as it is back at home in the USA). But I felt right at home at Chuzenji. I heard that Nikko even has a fireworks event for the summertime, but I'm thinking about going somewhere local for a summer festival.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Maddie- The First of Many New Experiences

The First of Many New Experiences So, what have my first weeks been like in Japan? ABSOLUTELY BUSY! But, also...AMAZING! Truly, it has been a busy couple of weeks here, but not overwhelmingly so. Furthermore, I`d prefer to be kept busy! Too much free time = too much thinking = homesickness. By keeping a full, fun schedule, with some relaxing and downtime, I can keep engaged with my surroundings, make new friends, and stay sane. To prevent a wall of text, let me break down for you some of my recent activities. So far, I have: Presented about my life in Wisconsin to classes of middle school and elementary school students. Eaten kaiten-zushi, or conveyor belt sushi.  Been interviewed about my biggest surprise when I came to Japan (it`s bluntness in regards to appearance, people won`t hesitate to call someone fat, or tell you that you`ve gotten skinny since they last saw you. As I`ve seen it, it`s never been malicious, just matter-of-fact).  Post filming. To my ...

Daniel- I have Guests!

I Have Guests! [訪れていた] (Daniel) After a trip to the Middle East, my sister and her husband decided to return to the US flying over Asia instead of Europe, so that they could stop by in Japan and say "Hi". Y-A-A-A-A-Y. It felt really good to see some family after seven months away. Unfortunately, the two of them could only stay for 3 days, so we were quite busy during that time. The three of us visited obvious famous places like Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Asakusa, and Akihabara. But I personally enjoyed going to a park where we did the tea ceremony in a tea house on the park's pond. The two of them found it strange that there were no chairs and the process to drink some tea was so formal. I guess I didn't really think about it, I have become so used to traditional tea ceremonies that they don't seem strange to me anymore. I guess I'm becoming a local  I also really enjoyed introducing my sister and brother-in-law to my co-work...

Ali- Kansai workshop

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 Kansai: Kobe (Ali) Kobe Harbor                 My final stop in Kansai was Kobe. Originally, I wasn't supposed to stop in Kobe, but my Kobe host mother was having a workshop and asked the office if the visiting intern could attend. I am so happy she did! After attending the Kansai workshop for this year's Yearlong-sei and  Seishounen  on Sunday at the Osaka Hippo office, I went to my host mom's workshop.I think the goal of the workshop was to get members excited about going on homestays. At the workshop we heard from various Hippo members about their homestay experiences.  Yearlong-sei and  Seishounen also talked about where they were planning on going and what they were looking forward to. I was neat to hear everyone's stories. Kobe Luminarie              On Monday, I...