Japan sketchbook - 14

Himeji Castle

Watercolour, crayon and marker

©2015 Charlene Brown

The next day we were off to Himeji to see the White Heron Castle, “the best castle in Japan or possibly the world,” according to our guide. Its recently-unveiled refurbishment is “too white” according to some, but was just perfect against a deep blue sky that day.

We climbed to the top – in stocking feet up many flights of ladder-steep stairs – so I was able to photograph this unique view including a tiny portion of the very complex tile roof.  I decided to paint that instead of trying to capture all of the ornate gables in the prototypical Japanese castle architecture. 

Japan sketchbook - 13

Todaiji Temple Daibutsu (Great Buddha)

Watercolour and crayon

©2015 Charlene Brown

The Todaiji temple complex includes a hall that was until 1998 the world’s largest wooden building, rebuilt three times after two fires and a typhoon. This hall houses the world’s largest bronze Daibutsu, a magnificent statue of the Buddha, almost 15 m. in height, that more than makes up for having to traverse the prevailing deer menace…

In Nara, both the Todaiji Temple and the Kasuga Shrine are surrounded by deer parks that proved to be a challenge for those of us with the usual Victoria deer attitude – and it turned out the Nara deer have attitude as well, especially toward anyone who hasn’t come up with 150 Yen for deer cookies. Actually, they are a little easier to deal with than Victoria deer as they are very small and obey traffic signals. 

Japan sketchbook - 12

Golden Temple

Watercolour, crayon and marker

©2015 Charlene Brown

The day after our Shirikawa visit, we began our journey to Kyoto on a regular train and switched to the famous ‘Bullet’ at Nagoya. Our luggage had been sent ahead (because of the unlikelihood of making the 18-minute, three-level connection in Nagoya if we had it with us) and upon arrival in Kyoto, as soon as we ascertained that all our stuff was in fact at our hotel, we went back across the street to explore the multi-level architectural wonders of the railway station – as if Kyoto, with its 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites didn’t already have plenty for us to see.

The next day, our itinerary included the famous Kinkakuji, the Golden Temple, where we looked first at the iconic view with the reflecting pond, shown here. Then we went right up close – our guide made sure we realized the Golden Temple is covered with squares of gold leaf, not just paint – and all the way around the magnificent temple grounds.  As with the Imperial East Garden on our first day, I loved that the serenity was undisturbed by the dozens of workers quietly maintaining the perfection of everything with hand tools and twig brooms.

Japan Sketchbook - 10 and 11

Thatch-roofed temple at Shirakawa

Watercolour and crayon

©2015 Charlene Brown

Our day trip to Shirakawa took us through a series of viaducts and tunnels, one 11 km long! Before the tunnels were built, the area was so isolated and snow-bound, it was sometimes called the Tibet of Japan, and a unique thatched architecture evolved.  I thought the temple pictured on the left was an especially appealing example of this, and made a point of putting it in the second painting, in which I’ve tried to include the whole village, along with the three to five-story A-frame houses, the suspension bridge, the vegetable gardens and paddies on the valley floor, and even the terraced crops on the mountain slope in the background. The temple, should you be looking for it, is surrounded by purple trees, just to the left of the centre of the panorama view.

Click on image to enlarge

Shirakawa Village

Watercolour, crayon and marker

©2015 Charlene Brown

Japan sketchbook - 8 and 9

Onsen at the ryokan

Watercolour, crayon and marker

©2015 Charlene Brown

After a night sleeping on the floor on tatami mats at an onsen ryokan, some of us enjoyed a sunrise dip in the milky green sulphur hot springs pool – ‘some’ being those of us unafraid to go out to a pool where no bathing suits or clothing (or cameras, fortunately) were allowed.  

The ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, is located in a caldera with active steam vents in the allegedly dormant volcanic peaks towering above. This was a brand new experience for most of us, and (also allegedly) made us each five years younger.

Hakone caldera

Watercolour and crayon

©2015 Charlene Brown

Japan sketchbook - 7

(click on image to enlarge)

Lake Ashi

Watercolour, crayon and marker

©2015 Charlene Brown

Still making our way to Hakone, we went for a boat cruise on Lake Ashi, passing the torii gate at the entrance to the Hakone Shrine shown here near the shore on the left. 

One of the truly iconic views of Mt. Fuji includes this gate, but Mt. Fuji was pretty much clouded over when we were there and most of us didn’t even know it was out there.

Anyway, I really liked this view, which includes the torii gate to the Hyoshi shrine in the background… and we had a terrific look at Mt. Fuji over several hours of our travels the next day.

Japan sketchbook - 6

(click on image to enlarge)

Hase Temple

Watercolour and crayon

©2015 Charlene Brown

This Buddhist temple is most famous for its 9 m. tall gilded statue of Kannon, the goddess of Mercy – one of the largest wooden sculptures in Japan.  The temple also includes an underground cave, the Benzaiten Grotto, and a garden with hundreds of poignant little stone Jizo statues – some laughing, but all tragic – placed there by grieving parents.

There is also a spectacular cliff-top outlook to the sea, with this uni-lingual but easily understood warning about aggressive kites .

Japan sketchbook - 5

(click on image to enlarge)

Great Buddha of Kamakura

Watercolour and crayon

©2015 Charlene Brown

On November 5, on the way to Hakone, we stopped at Kamakura. The presence of the Great Buddha was surprisingly calming, considering the throngs of tourists and uniformed school children at the site.

This huge (13.35 m) bronze statue has withstood much worse over the years, since its original casting in 1252. At first it was housed in a large hall, but this was destroyed (twice) by storms during the 14^th century, then washed away by a tsunami at the end of the 15^th century. Since then it has stood in the open air. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed the base, which was repaired in 1925, and a seismic upgrade was completed in 1961.