We left Bangkok late at night and arrived in Tokyo early the next morning. This trip was hosted by Rissho Koseikai, a Buddhist new religious group in Japan. It was found in 1938 by Nikkyo Niwano and Myoko Naganuma, and it emphasizes the Lotus Sutra.
We stayed at Rissho Koseikai's headquarters in Tokyo for a few days, and every day we would visit a few organizations of new religions or movements to listen to a lecture about their teaching or organization.
It was the best time to be in Japan. Cherry blossoms were blooming all over the country. I sometimes saw many girls in Kimonos, which I guess meant they were celebrating their 20th birthday.
Tokyo really fascinated me in many ways. The subways were huge and super-complicated. I learned that you have to stay on one side to leave the other side for people who are in a hurry to run to the train.There also were a lot of shops in the subways, but most snacks they sold were too cute to eat! The cost of living was ridiculously high too!
Even though our main purpose was to study new religions and New Age movements in Japan, we often had a side trip to enjoy the city. We went to the Tokyo Tower and shopped at Shinjuku for electronics.
One day we made a trip to a suburb of Tokyo called Tokamachi province. It was my FIRST time seeing snow. I was so excited to touch and walk on that solid white ground. I will never forget the feeling I had then. :-)
After the relaxing bath, I wore a Japanese ukata that the hotel had provided to all the guests and walked to the cherry blossom festival in town. It was a fascinating celebration. The parade was impressive, and people were joyful. I got to see traditional Japanese dance in the parade too.
I spent quit some time at the festival before returning to the hotel. I put my sleeping mattress on the hotel floor like Japanese people in the past. I studied the pillow and found that they put little seeds inside for some purpose that I didn't know, but it actually gave me a very sound sleep at night.
The next morning we took a train to Mount Fuji . It was kind of scary because I had never been on a gondola, and it was quite high. However, once we were on the top, I got to get myself a memorable photo with Mount Fuji.
After visiting all the new religion organizations in Tokyo, we traveled to Osaka to learn more about new religions. Actually, we did more traveling than studying. We went to Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace. It is the most beautiful palace I have ever seen! Of course, cherry blossoms were everywhere. Osaka is my favorite city of all! :-)
One surprising thing I saw at the palace is that priests/monks would stand and pray for money. That's kind of odd for a Thai person to see.
After the palace we went to a flower festival located along the river. It was beautiful! The whole town was celebrating the pink flowers. There was a lot of great food like grilled squid/octopus. I would never get tired walking there again.
The next day we went to Mount Koya (Koyasan) to visit Kongobuji Temple, the head monastery of the Shingon sect. It was a pretty temple outside of town.
Next we went to Okunoin, one of the most sacred place in Japan and a popular pilgrimage spot. You have to pay a lot of money to be buried here.
The last day before heading to Osaka Airport, we visited one last new religious group. I don't remember the name of the group because it was 8 years ago when I visited them.
The trips in Tokyo and Osaka were the most memorable trips, and Japan has always been my favorite country. I went there before I met Nathan, so I hope one day Nathan and I can travel in Japan together. Right now I'm learning Japanese, so hopefully I can get around without a tour guide this time. :-)