Hotel Kamedaya
Travel Blogs from Otawara
Day 5: Lake Chuzen and Kegon Falls
... and none of the restaurants looked appealing to us. So we decided to accelerate our plans and just take the early bus back to the station, have a quick lunch and then head back to Tokyo to make another attempt at that French Japanese Steakhouse that we've missed out on twice already. You know what they say third times the charm. Damn it third times the charm my ass. When we got to the restaurant we were turned away by the hostess. The restaurant was fully booked for ...
Day 4: Nikko - Temples and Shrines
... by the countless colours of the autumn foliage. This experience has given a new meaning to the phrase "eye candy". Arranging a tour with Yoshiko of the Goodwill Guide Club of Nikko just added so much depth and meaning to the whole experience. She enlightened us with the background and history required to really appreciate and understand the significance of what we were seeing. She also helped us cover much more ground than we could have alone. No time spent getting ...
The real Shogun
... An item of interest at Toshogu is The Sacred Stable. Horses were dedicated to Shinto gods and were housed at shrines. Monkeys were also kept at shrines, the idea being that they protected horses from disease. Anyway, carved above the stable door at The Sacred Stable I was surprised to find those three famous monkeys -- see, hear, and speak no evil.
Lunch at ...
Japan On Ice
... to date (it still didn't explain the Maid Cafes but I'm getting ahead of myself).
The other claim to fame of the temples is one shrine in particular- the "Three Monkeys" sculptures are famous throughout the world for the "see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil" poses. The carved monkeys covering their eyes, ears and mouth respectively, were inspired by the Buddhist teaching that if we do not hear, see or speak evil, we ...
Day trip to Nikko
... some truly spectacular views.
After that I decided to take a leisurely stroll around the south side of the lake to visit Chuzenji temple, a small temple overlooking the lake. Unfortunately there wasn't much to see and the tour guides only spoke Japanese so I didn't understand much. Also in every part of the temple they showed us, there seemed to be a lucky trinket, which, if you purchased one from the conveniently placed stalls, would bring you good ...
TripAdvisor Reviews Hotel Kamedaya Otawara
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