Tokyo Trip - Day 4

This day's sightseeing was spent in Haraizumi. This is a small town immediately north of Ichinoseki. In the 12th century, it was a rival to Kyoto as a cultural capital in Japan. Very little remains from that era; however, two temple sites have been preserved and proposed for inclusion as UNESCO World Heritage sites. We first visited the Motsuji Temple which is illustrated in the next 10 pictures. The weather that day was the most humid I have ever experienced. It had rained all night and just let up when we arrived. However, with temperatures around 30 degrees (near 90 F), it was like being in a sauna. I had real problems taking pictures since my camera lens was continually fogged. I would wipe down the front element, and in seconds, it would be fogged again. The photos below are a few that I managed to snap in the one or two second window between wipe down and fogging.

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The next 11 pictures are from the second temple site - Chusonji. This site is on top of a hillside that is accessed by climbing a couple of hundred meters along a paved pathway. The most famous and sacred building is the Golden Hall, a beautifully adorned wooden structure that is completely covered in gold leaf. Due to its age and delicate condition, it is completely encased in a protective structure. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside.

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The first picture below is from the Chusonji Temple, followed by four pictures of the town sites of Ichinoseki (2nd picture below) and Hiraizumi (3rd to 5th pictures) . I was fascinated by the contrast between North American housing and that of Japan so that I took the following pictures of typical rural Japanese housing.

The following series of pictures were taken at the Ichinoseki Shinkansen station prior to returning to Tokyo. In the first picture, Swifty and his friends have met to see us off at the station.

The day closed out in Tokyo at a dinner hosted by Stereo Sound Magazine. It was held at a very exclusive Italian restaurant that included a menu specially chosen by our hosts and a selection of very fine wines. At the end, there was an autograph session where we all signed a copy of Stereo Sound's 40th anniversary edition.

Link to Day 1

Link to Day 2

Link to Day 3

Link to Day 5

Link to Day 6