Last Days in Japan

The final days of our vacation trip to Japan were filled with excitement and wonder. We were fortunate enough to visit the Todajii or the "Great Eastern Temple" which resides in Nara. This is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples. The Great Eastern Temple in Nara was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples in Japan. As the center of the Buddhist movement in Japan it became very powerful politically and interfered with the capital politics in Nara. The capital of Japan was relocated from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 order to decrease the influence of the Temple on government affairs.







The Great Eastern Temple in Nara houses Japan's largest Buddha and is also the largest wooden building in Japan. It was reconstructed in 1692 in a smaller version but continues to retain that distinction.

Osaka

Osaka in Japan's third largest city with a population of 2.5 million people. It is also Japan's second most important city just behind Tokyo. The Kansai region of Japan owes its economic successes in large part to the powerhouse that is generated in Osaka.

In the 16th century, the Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a famous ruler, chose Osaka as the location of his seat of power and built a large castle here. The great castle which is surrounded by a moat has been rebuilt several times and stands now as a reminder of Japan's glorious past. Here is a photo that I took of the moat surrounding the castle grounds with a modern skyscraper in the background as a juxtaposition of the present and the past. I thought it was amazing!

New Friends

During our trip through the Japan's we toured with a group of people with whom we have since become friends. Here is our Pistachio Man and his beautiful wife who traveled from San Francisco to be with us on our tour. In Chinese, pistachio is literally translated as "open heart fruit".



Here is our group and especially the girls from Laguna Beach. See you all next time!