Hakkei-tei Ryokan in Hikone

I think the highlight of the recent trip we took had to have been the small ryokan (Japanese style inn) where we stayed in the castle town of Hikone. The building we stayed in was built in 1677. It was a thatched roof 5-room complex that was located down the hill from the castle. The building itself juts out over a small pond in a Japanese garden built in the same year. The garden was designed by Kobori Enshu, one the most famous garden designers in Japanese history. The building was used throughout the centuries as the entertainment and guest quarters for guests of the lords of Hikone castle. It is amazing to think of the people who have stayed in those rooms and the things that were talked about throughout generations.

We were the only guests there that evening se we got to stay in the large front rooms that looked out over the pond. The rooms were small and old with beautiful woodwork and impeccable décor. We had sliding doors that opened up to a small tatami veranda where there were more sliding doors that opened up over the pond. It was pretty hot that day so we kept those doors shut to keep out heat and bugs. Sitting there in our yukata after having a nice soak in the communal bath, watching herons and ducks and turtles in the pond one could really imagine the history.

The owner is the third generation to own the building. His grandfather bought it 70 years ago and turned it into an inn. The owner is also the chef! We had an 11 course dinner that night while the sun set over the garden. It was one of the best meals I have ever had in Japan. We had one unusual thing which they call funazushi. It is fermented carp that tastes like blue cheese. It is actually the ancestor or modern day sushi. Breakfast was also amazing and consisted of local specialties and beautiful presentation. The staff was all so friendly! There is very little privacy though. When I came out of the bath and was walking down the hall in my yukata (Japanese style robe) the woman who took care of us basically followed me into my room and proceeded to put it on me correctly. It didn’t matter to her that I was totally naked underneath! But she made me look presentable and I felt like what it might have been like as an important lady guest in old Japan.

One reason I really wanted to stay in this place was because of the most famous member of the Ii family, which was the ruling family of Hikone castle. Naosuke Ii, being the shogun’s right hand man in the 1850’s, was pretty much responsible for making the decision to open up Japan to the rest of the world when Com. Perry arrived in 1853. It was a turning point in history and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay within walls that have seen so much. I am glad that Damien and I got to experience that with our good friends Heather and Jeremy! I will never forget it.

One of the highlights of our recent travels was being able to visit Japan’s four official Heritage Castles with our friends Heather and Jeremy. Back in 2005 we went to Matsumoto castle in Nagano Prefecture. That was our first original Japanese castle. It was so amazing to visit a castle that wasn’t a concrete reconstruction. Most of Japan’s castles were either bombed during World War II or were burnt down some time in history.
When we knew that Heather and Jeremy were coming, I researched the location of the other three castles that Japan has declared National Treasures. They were all fairly close.

Inuyama Castle
This small castle is only about 15 minutes away by train and Damien and I had already visited it a couple of times. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the Kiso river. The open air balcony on the top level allows wide vistas of the area. The grounds are covered with small temples and shrines. Like all original castles the inside structure is all wood and the solid beams used inside are mind boggling. To think of how big some of the trees must have been, and then to wonder how they managed to build such a structure with them!
This castle was the last castle to remain in private hands and was just donated to the city of Inuyama a few years ago. This is the oldest castle in Japan, being built in the mid-1500s.

Himeji Castle
This is the grand-daddy of all Japanese castles. It is the only castle that is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is massive compared to all others and it towers over the town of Himeji. It is often called the White Heron due to its sweeping, white architecture. The grounds are made up of meandering pathways and T-junctions meant to confuse anyone trying to storm the castle. The inside of the castle was made of the most beautiful and aromatic cypress beams. We had to climb up and then down 6 or 7 very steep stairways to reach the top. As with other castles from this time, there were no living quarters inside. The main tower was used for weapons storage, business transactions and meetings. There would have been more buildings outside or even a palace on the grounds for actual living. Himeji still retains the living quarters meant for the ladies of the castle.
It was so very, very hot this day!! It was amazing how cool the inside of the castle was though and how great the breezes were rushing in through the windows. One interesting thing we learned about this castle was that in the mid-20th century it was completely taken apart and re-inforced with 2 HUGE beams of wood to replace the old ones. We just can’t imagine the logistics of such an undertaking!! Many movies have been filmed here such as Ran, Shogun and The Last Samurai.

Hikone Castle
This is the least known and visited of the 4 castles (esp. by non-Japanese). It is a little bit out of the way and not famous. It is also the smallest of the four. But it made up for that in other ways! The outside is a beautiful contrast of black and white with bright gold accents. The inside is made up of naturally irregular tree trunks that were used because of their curvature to create a stunning criss-cross of ceiling beams with a strong scent of cypress. There were only three floors but the view from the top was of the mountains surrounding Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. The Ii family were the lords of this castle in the old days. Naosuke Ii was the most famous of these lords. He was the Shogun’s right-hand man in 1853 when Commodore Perry came to Japan. Against the wishes of many, Naosuke Ii signed the agreement to open Japan to the rest of the world. He ended up killing many who opposed him and created a civil war in the process that led to the dismantling of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In 1867 the last Shogun, Yoshinobu, gave the country back to the Emperor. We were luckly enough to stay a night in a very special inn on the grounds of the castle that I will write about in a forthcoming email.

So, now the four of us have visited the greatest castles in Japan!

Gion and Geisha

This is my first blog about the wonderful time Damien and I had with our friends Heather and Jeremy. They flew in from Chicago on the 12 of July and just left on the 21.

While we were in Kyoto the most famous festival in Japan was going on, the Kyoto Gion Festival. We had heard that things would be crazy but luckily the stories were a bit exaggerated. We were able to watch the parade of giant, centuries old wooden floats, or dashi, get pulled around the streets. The dashi were similar to ones we had seen before, but a bit bigger and more substantial. But this festival is very big and Kyoto style is more reserved than other areas of Japan. I thought the festival lacked energy. It was very hot that day. I had to keep running up to the front and take pictures and then running back to the shade. I couldn’t stand to be in the scorching sun for more than about 5 minutes. Some of the floats were 12 tons and have no steering. The attendants lay bamboo poles on the ground and use water as a lubricant. They then slowly make a series of small turns until the float is ready to go down another street.

We spent our second evening walking around the Gion district of Kyoto. This is the main area famous for geisha. Actually, Japanese prefer to use the terms geiko and maiko. Geiko are full-fledged geisha and maiko are in training. We found out that you can distinguish the two by looking at the collar and belt of their kimono. Maiko have colored collars and long trains on their belts. Geiko have white collars and no train. We were very lucky to have been in the right place at the right time during this busy festival time. We were more than shocked to run into geisha almost immediately upon entering the Gion neighborhood. Within about 20 minutes we had seen upwards of 15 of them scurrying from one appointment to another. We even got to see a couple of them with their male patrons. One of the most amazing things was watching a geiko and a maiko waiting for a taxi and when it arrived one of them said thank you to the restaurant hostess. She had the most unnatural high pitched voice I have ever heard. I asked some students about it and they said that it is the traditional sound of a sexy beautiful woman’s voice. Definitely different from where I am from!

It was difficult to get pictures, especially of their faces since you never knew when one would dart out in front of you. And they clearly wanted to get to where they were heading as quickly and inconspicuously as possible. It really was like seeing living history walking down the street. There are so few actual geisha left and many people go to Kyoto and try to see them and never get the chance. It is an evening I will never forget.