In September is am going to be travelling through Japan, and perhaps even head to shanghai or beijing. i have read an earlier post on things to do in Tokyo, but i wonderd if anybody had any insights into what the rest of Japan has to offer, this means everything, not just architecture. I will be in Japan for about 2 weeks.
Also, any hints on how to save money are also welcomed.
travel in japan is expensive so best way to save money is to not go anywhere.
actually, you can get a rail pass of some sort i am told that will at least bring the cost of travel down to bearable levels...no direct experience with this but am told is a good deal.
if architecture hunting i would def visit the 21st c museum by sejima in kanazawa. it is located across the street from kenrokuen, one of the three "best" gardens in japan, whatever that might mean.. It is quite nice though, and the villa in the middle of the garden in easily one of my favorite buildings in this country (it has wood shingles, razor thin, and 2 interior gardens, each with water running through it, but only one gurgles so the ol empress mother was able to pick her courtyard based on her mood; noisy or quiet nature...lovely)
if you head for kyoto try to see katsura imperial villa, but prepare early...need to book a few months in advance...this place is seriously an amazing building. worth the wait and the ride out to it...
for less architectural experience, an onsen in the mountains is always nice..and for serious time the hiroshima peace garden/memorial/museum is very very moving.
an tokyo is filled with crap to see and do. depending on your poison there is bound to be something to keep you occupied..
I've lived in Japan for two years and tried to go to the Katsura Palace twice...I have not been able to go yet. You need to make a reservation...look into it. Ryokans tend to be outrageously expensive in my experience. You're looking for hostels. In Kyoto I might suggest the Gojo Guest House. Go to hostelworld.com.
I've spent a good amount of time trying to get around to architectural sites. Most recently I finally saw Ando's Rokko Chapel and the Rokko Apartments I, II, and III in Kobe. This took a total of about 4-5 hours and you need to look into how to get there. I was blown away though, they're very quality sites. Himeji castle is also extremely impressive and is about 40 minutes outside of Kobe.
Tokyo is underwhelming architecturally, but if you go you should hit Harajuku on Sunday and Omotesando Road down to the Prada building.
Osaka is kind of like Tokyo to a slightly lesser extent. Ando's Church of the Light is a short half day trip out into a quiet neighborhood. (I realize I am focusing on architecture and Ando in particular.
I live in Kyushu which is great for onsens (hot springs). The cities can definitely be bypassed though I am a fan of Beppu if you want to see some interesting hot springs.
If you get a rail pass you HAVE to purchase it at a travel agency OUTSIDE of Japan. As for other ways of saving money... ...uhhhh...Japan is outrageously expensive. You can go to "Don" shops which are essentially rice bowls with meat and onions on it. The most well known is probably the big orange Yoshinoya. These are cheap and filling. Otherwise make reservations for hostels, and ...good luck.
God Jump, you are soooo wrong. There are several reserved spaces on tours for gaijin. You have to go to the office (can't remember the name and it's not in my travel guide) with your passport and make a reservation. I believe you can get a turn around in only a few days. Locals wait months to get in. I loved Kyoto so much. I love the scale, the mix of old and new. Not much 'star' stuff, but man, I love that place. Going there this weekend actually.
The rail pass...you need to buy it outside of Japan and tell the the dates you are going to use it. It's about $260 for 7 consecutive days, but gives you unlimited use of JR trains including the Shinkansen (sans the Nozomi). When you get to Japan, you take it to a JR office and convert it the voucher you get in the US to a pass. It's only valid with a temporary visitor visa (which is what you get if you just get stamped at the airport, I have a designated visa this time since I'm "working.")
I think to pack your two weeks, stay in the Kinki region. Two weeks isn't enough to see the whole country. It's small, but lots to see and do, and it's spread out. Kinki has Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji. Actually, you could probably do those in a few days...maybe a little over a week. Then you could do Tokyo and Yokohama. Basically, you can't see everything, but to get the most of it, make a good plan. And don't ride the subway during rush hour. It blows.
no problems about too much Ando. i am going because i won a scholarship to go Japan to study the works of Ando and Shigeru Ban. now that i am planning the trip though i have realised i can go and see a whole lot of other architects stuff too. SANAA, FOA etc.
sorry hasselhoff but after nearly 15 years of trying to arrange for peope to get in to see katsura i gots to say...well, you are kinda right.
when i went there it was easy...signed up and went the next day, no worries. On the other hand, some friends were here from canada recently and were not able to get in cuz it was busy season. they suggested he and his family hope for a cancellation, which did not work out. this is not the first time this has happened with visiting friends... which is why i recommend reserving fairly early if you are able. you can do this from inside japan as hasselhoff says, or from outside japan from here...this is the page for ALL the reservation required imperial stuff in japan...click on katsura imperial villa and see what is possible...if all full don't fear...just go to the agency next to the imperial palace in kyoto in person and sign up...if lucky you will get a spot in a day or two and can visit...if not, well...c'est la vie n'est pas?
if you are into ANDO, well then you gotta keep on walking past PRADA (in Tokyo) for about 2 more blocks, where you will be confronted by his COLLEZIONE building. great architectural gymnastics from the 80's...and sadly lifeless on every occasion i have visited.
personally, when it comes to ando the only really great building i have seen by him (so far) is the church of the light in osaka (it took forever to find it, but my wife and i were let in by the pastor and had the entire place to ourselves for as long as we wanted...very very cool.). oh and you shouldn't miss his HH STYLE building on cat street (close to harajuku station, found next to an earlier building by sejima for the same company)...his omotesando hills project, also in the area, is really very unfortunate...but in the same area so worth checking out...
as for the the ROKKO housing projects, yes they are quite good, but if you can't see inside will be a bit of letdown...just a bunch of boxes on a hill really (and not that special; there are a few such in the area). I was lucky enough to befriend a kid who lived there and got a tour of ROKKO II, and was duly impressed...def see if you can get inside...
which buildings will you see by shigeru ban? oddly i have only seen installations by him myself...
as for ryokan being expensive...i would say they certainly CAN be expensive, but not all are...
check here for a random link to ryokans in tokyo ...the GRADE "D" ryokans are less than a hundred bucks a night, which is cheap. you should be able to find something for about 7000 yen a night without too much trouble, though a friend recently found a place in the korean part of tokyo that was about 3500 yen a night ( ! )
in kyoto i always used to stay here as it is quite inexpensiｖe (around 6000 yen) and only a few blocks from the train station...
finally, in response to guig's comment that tokyo is underwhelming architecturally....well, i think most of japan is best appreciated for its life than its architecture. people USE buildings rather than look at them here, which leaves the nation kind of ugly...but if you are interested in lived-in-cities and ad-hoc urbanism tokyo is really remarkable.
btw, let me know when you come to tokyo. i am happy to act as guide if you want one.
It's ok. They don't really have anything for me to do. They told me to design the facade of this apartment building, but it's basically already done and it's pretty stock and rigid, so there isn't really anything I can do other than say to use red tiles, not blue or something. I was trying to come up with something. It's slow, but the observation part of being in a Japanese office is interesting. I should write a book. The loading of the subway is pretty much unreal. It can't be safe.
No calaesthenics. But they do have a lunch time jingle, an after lunch time jingle, a 3pm jingle and a 5:15 sound. They come on over the PA. All the lights shut off at noon and come back on at 1.
another good ando project is the water temple on awaji island just outside of kobe. while you're there you can visit the project on awaji island and see all of his projects in one place. disaterous. stick to his small scale buildings
we had the same thing in my office. well not the jingles, but the shutting off of the lights for lunch...everyone went to sleep on the floor beside their drafting tables too. was quite surreal.
sometimes the intern programs in japan do not involve much real work, or so i have heard. will be interesting to hear how it turns out for you. your hours sound good. everyone else there works short days too?
The Shigeru ban buildings i want to see are some of his house, the "paper house", the "Curtain house", the "wall-less house" etc. i just hope i will be able to convince the owners to let me inside. otherwise i will just have to do with external observations. Shigeru Ban sadly doesn't do too many public buildings.
hmm, looks like there are quite a few housese in tokyo...though finding the places might be a chore.
have you tried contacting ban? long shot but he may offer advice about which buildings are accessible (may even be willing to talk, if lucky). ie, the glass shutter house in meguro (tokyo) is commercial so easy to view...
Yeah, after i posted the last comment i went to his website to see what info there is on the projects. i might email them, maybe the receptionist won't have much to do and will help me out. haha, long shot yeah.
he also is teaching at keio university (sort of a japanese version of princeton). website suggests no e-mail, but there is a phone number...
anyway if you are doing research on his and ando's work you might get more out of him as an academic than as a professional...maybe.
when i did a tour of ando's buildings about 14 years ago i wrote to his office (this was before the age of e-mail) and asked for info and if i could visit his office. his staff gave instructions on how to get to his buildings and told me to absolutely NOT go to his office cuz he was sick of students bothering him all the time at work (this was not what was written, but what was meant...in so many words). when my wife and i couldn't find one of the places we phoned his office and they gave directions (i think they were annoyed about this but did it anyway)...so, you never know.
a common scenario. oh the varied and intersting webs that arhitects weave...;-) unless of course i am reading way to much into your no comment. in which case forget all of the above.
At the risk of becoming a highjacker...the situation with Tomoko is not clear or easy. One of the main reasons for applying for this job was in fact to get a chance to come over again and try to figure things out. The other reason of course was, what other time in my life will I be so absent of obligations that I can go work in Japan for three months? Kickass opportunity that few people get. I could do window details all summer for Kling or live on the other side of the world. But yeah, I met Tomochan four years ago in Boston when she was an international student and things have been odd since haha. This summer the truth shall be revealed.
i know the feeling hasselhoff. be careful.. i came to japan for JUST a year, to paint (which i did), but have never really left the country since. ;-) must be something in the water...
my bad! it was there 3 years ago. anyway, you can pick up these architecture in japan books. I had one for kyoto and one for tokyo. they proved invaluable for my 3 months of being there. They give fairly good directions to all of the buildings and break them down by neighborhood. it is in both japanese and english. i'm not sure you can buy the books here, but you can in any major bookstore in japan.
I am booked in to see Katsura , Imperial Palace and ShugaKuin. thanks for the link to the website Jump.
I am getting soo pumped for my trip!! in all 14 days in Japan, and 111 days in total traveling the world (all thanks to my round the world ticket). i was especially impressed by my accidental choice for the perfect number of days away! - sadly my bank account doesn't agree with me on this.
I also went to Katsura and Shugakuin. You can take pictures at shugakuin, but i don't think they allow it at katsura, not sure on this though. We we also not allowed into the house and had to view it from the grounds. it is still amazing! After you go to shugakuin you are not that far from the golden temple, which is quite a contrast from the serenity of shugakuin
Ginkaku-ji (Silver pavilion) is my favorite. The grounds are beautiful. I could sit at Ryoan-ji's rock garden for hours and hours. Sadly you have to sit next to a bunch of people unless you get there early or before they close.
ryoanji is def a fav for me too...go early to avoid people...
never much liked kinkakuji or ginkakuji for some reason...feel a bit overcooked somehow. been a few times with friends and family and always underwhelmed...the torii is a cool experience and worth doing. if running short of time i'd skip the silver and gold pavillions completely...
Jun 15, 06 10:30 pm ·
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Gettin jiggy in japan
In September is am going to be travelling through Japan, and perhaps even head to shanghai or beijing. i have read an earlier post on things to do in Tokyo, but i wonderd if anybody had any insights into what the rest of Japan has to offer, this means everything, not just architecture. I will be in Japan for about 2 weeks.
Also, any hints on how to save money are also welcomed.
lonely planet has great guide books. I'd try there also.
eat sushi ... collect manga .... and dont buy electronics ( going by hasselhoff's earlier post !!)
travel in japan is expensive so best way to save money is to not go anywhere.
actually, you can get a rail pass of some sort i am told that will at least bring the cost of travel down to bearable levels...no direct experience with this but am told is a good deal.
if architecture hunting i would def visit the 21st c museum by sejima in kanazawa. it is located across the street from kenrokuen, one of the three "best" gardens in japan, whatever that might mean.. It is quite nice though, and the villa in the middle of the garden in easily one of my favorite buildings in this country (it has wood shingles, razor thin, and 2 interior gardens, each with water running through it, but only one gurgles so the ol empress mother was able to pick her courtyard based on her mood; noisy or quiet nature...lovely)
if you head for kyoto try to see katsura imperial villa, but prepare early...need to book a few months in advance...this place is seriously an amazing building. worth the wait and the ride out to it...
for less architectural experience, an onsen in the mountains is always nice..and for serious time the hiroshima peace garden/memorial/museum is very very moving.
an tokyo is filled with crap to see and do. depending on your poison there is bound to be something to keep you occupied..
oh, and stay at a ryokan rather than hotel...usually better quality and much cheaper.
thanks guys.
Jump, what do you mean by "book in advance" for Katsura ? you actually have to book to go? i have the book on it. such an amazing place.
I've lived in Japan for two years and tried to go to the Katsura Palace twice...I have not been able to go yet. You need to make a reservation...look into it. Ryokans tend to be outrageously expensive in my experience. You're looking for hostels. In Kyoto I might suggest the Gojo Guest House. Go to hostelworld.com.
I've spent a good amount of time trying to get around to architectural sites. Most recently I finally saw Ando's Rokko Chapel and the Rokko Apartments I, II, and III in Kobe. This took a total of about 4-5 hours and you need to look into how to get there. I was blown away though, they're very quality sites. Himeji castle is also extremely impressive and is about 40 minutes outside of Kobe.
Tokyo is underwhelming architecturally, but if you go you should hit Harajuku on Sunday and Omotesando Road down to the Prada building.
Osaka is kind of like Tokyo to a slightly lesser extent. Ando's Church of the Light is a short half day trip out into a quiet neighborhood. (I realize I am focusing on architecture and Ando in particular.
I live in Kyushu which is great for onsens (hot springs). The cities can definitely be bypassed though I am a fan of Beppu if you want to see some interesting hot springs.
If you get a rail pass you HAVE to purchase it at a travel agency OUTSIDE of Japan. As for other ways of saving money... ...uhhhh...Japan is outrageously expensive. You can go to "Don" shops which are essentially rice bowls with meat and onions on it. The most well known is probably the big orange Yoshinoya. These are cheap and filling. Otherwise make reservations for hostels, and ...good luck.
God Jump, you are soooo wrong. There are several reserved spaces on tours for gaijin. You have to go to the office (can't remember the name and it's not in my travel guide) with your passport and make a reservation. I believe you can get a turn around in only a few days. Locals wait months to get in. I loved Kyoto so much. I love the scale, the mix of old and new. Not much 'star' stuff, but man, I love that place. Going there this weekend actually.
The rail pass...you need to buy it outside of Japan and tell the the dates you are going to use it. It's about $260 for 7 consecutive days, but gives you unlimited use of JR trains including the Shinkansen (sans the Nozomi). When you get to Japan, you take it to a JR office and convert it the voucher you get in the US to a pass. It's only valid with a temporary visitor visa (which is what you get if you just get stamped at the airport, I have a designated visa this time since I'm "working.")
I think to pack your two weeks, stay in the Kinki region. Two weeks isn't enough to see the whole country. It's small, but lots to see and do, and it's spread out. Kinki has Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji. Actually, you could probably do those in a few days...maybe a little over a week. Then you could do Tokyo and Yokohama. Basically, you can't see everything, but to get the most of it, make a good plan. And don't ride the subway during rush hour. It blows.
no problems about too much Ando. i am going because i won a scholarship to go Japan to study the works of Ando and Shigeru Ban. now that i am planning the trip though i have realised i can go and see a whole lot of other architects stuff too. SANAA, FOA etc.
sorry hasselhoff but after nearly 15 years of trying to arrange for peope to get in to see katsura i gots to say...well, you are kinda right.
when i went there it was easy...signed up and went the next day, no worries. On the other hand, some friends were here from canada recently and were not able to get in cuz it was busy season. they suggested he and his family hope for a cancellation, which did not work out. this is not the first time this has happened with visiting friends... which is why i recommend reserving fairly early if you are able. you can do this from inside japan as hasselhoff says, or from outside japan from here...this is the page for ALL the reservation required imperial stuff in japan...click on katsura imperial villa and see what is possible...if all full don't fear...just go to the agency next to the imperial palace in kyoto in person and sign up...if lucky you will get a spot in a day or two and can visit...if not, well...c'est la vie n'est pas?
if you are into ANDO, well then you gotta keep on walking past PRADA (in Tokyo) for about 2 more blocks, where you will be confronted by his COLLEZIONE building. great architectural gymnastics from the 80's...and sadly lifeless on every occasion i have visited.
personally, when it comes to ando the only really great building i have seen by him (so far) is the church of the light in osaka (it took forever to find it, but my wife and i were let in by the pastor and had the entire place to ourselves for as long as we wanted...very very cool.). oh and you shouldn't miss his HH STYLE building on cat street (close to harajuku station, found next to an earlier building by sejima for the same company)...his omotesando hills project, also in the area, is really very unfortunate...but in the same area so worth checking out...
as for the the ROKKO housing projects, yes they are quite good, but if you can't see inside will be a bit of letdown...just a bunch of boxes on a hill really (and not that special; there are a few such in the area). I was lucky enough to befriend a kid who lived there and got a tour of ROKKO II, and was duly impressed...def see if you can get inside...
which buildings will you see by shigeru ban? oddly i have only seen installations by him myself...
as for ryokan being expensive...i would say they certainly CAN be expensive, but not all are...
check here for a random link to ryokans in tokyo ...the GRADE "D" ryokans are less than a hundred bucks a night, which is cheap. you should be able to find something for about 7000 yen a night without too much trouble, though a friend recently found a place in the korean part of tokyo that was about 3500 yen a night ( ! )
in kyoto i always used to stay here as it is quite inexpensiｖe (around 6000 yen) and only a few blocks from the train station...
finally, in response to guig's comment that tokyo is underwhelming architecturally....well, i think most of japan is best appreciated for its life than its architecture. people USE buildings rather than look at them here, which leaves the nation kind of ugly...but if you are interested in lived-in-cities and ad-hoc urbanism tokyo is really remarkable.
btw, let me know when you come to tokyo. i am happy to act as guide if you want one.
Jump, I'm just messin' with ya. I still haven't decided if I will be making my way to Tokyo or not.
yeh i know...
i can't believe i wrote that much...i was half asleep when writing...sometimes fatigue is as good as being drunk! only not much fun.
most of that was meant for mhollenstein, but din write his name...
how is the new job after nearly a week? do they have calaesthenics? i'm dyin to know!
now, have taken a nap and ready for work agin....
It's ok. They don't really have anything for me to do. They told me to design the facade of this apartment building, but it's basically already done and it's pretty stock and rigid, so there isn't really anything I can do other than say to use red tiles, not blue or something. I was trying to come up with something. It's slow, but the observation part of being in a Japanese office is interesting. I should write a book. The loading of the subway is pretty much unreal. It can't be safe.
No calaesthenics. But they do have a lunch time jingle, an after lunch time jingle, a 3pm jingle and a 5:15 sound. They come on over the PA. All the lights shut off at noon and come back on at 1.
Can you go see this imperial palace?
another good ando project is the water temple on awaji island just outside of kobe. while you're there you can visit the project on awaji island and see all of his projects in one place. disaterous. stick to his small scale buildings
What's the 3PM jingle for, Hasselhoff? If you're getting off at 5:15, I'm impressed!
funny, hasselhoff.
we had the same thing in my office. well not the jingles, but the shutting off of the lights for lunch...everyone went to sleep on the floor beside their drafting tables too. was quite surreal.
sometimes the intern programs in japan do not involve much real work, or so i have heard. will be interesting to hear how it turns out for you. your hours sound good. everyone else there works short days too?
The Shigeru ban buildings i want to see are some of his house, the "paper house", the "Curtain house", the "wall-less house" etc. i just hope i will be able to convince the owners to let me inside. otherwise i will just have to do with external observations. Shigeru Ban sadly doesn't do too many public buildings.
hmm, looks like there are quite a few housese in tokyo...though finding the places might be a chore.
have you tried contacting ban? long shot but he may offer advice about which buildings are accessible (may even be willing to talk, if lucky). ie, the glass shutter house in meguro (tokyo) is commercial so easy to view...
Yeah, after i posted the last comment i went to his website to see what info there is on the projects. i might email them, maybe the receptionist won't have much to do and will help me out. haha, long shot yeah.
he also is teaching at keio university (sort of a japanese version of princeton). website suggests no e-mail, but there is a phone number...
anyway if you are doing research on his and ando's work you might get more out of him as an academic than as a professional...maybe.
when i did a tour of ando's buildings about 14 years ago i wrote to his office (this was before the age of e-mail) and asked for info and if i could visit his office. his staff gave instructions on how to get to his buildings and told me to absolutely NOT go to his office cuz he was sick of students bothering him all the time at work (this was not what was written, but what was meant...in so many words). when my wife and i couldn't find one of the places we phoned his office and they gave directions (i think they were annoyed about this but did it anyway)...so, you never know.
I saw Tomoko today, all day. It's 11:22pm and I just got home. We walked around in Kyoto and went to a punk rock show. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
who's tomoko???
more to the point...is tomoko the reason for the interest in finding work in japan?
No comment.
hahahahahah.
lol.
a common scenario. oh the varied and intersting webs that arhitects weave...;-) unless of course i am reading way to much into your no comment. in which case forget all of the above.
.
At the risk of becoming a highjacker...the situation with Tomoko is not clear or easy. One of the main reasons for applying for this job was in fact to get a chance to come over again and try to figure things out. The other reason of course was, what other time in my life will I be so absent of obligations that I can go work in Japan for three months? Kickass opportunity that few people get. I could do window details all summer for Kling or live on the other side of the world. But yeah, I met Tomochan four years ago in Boston when she was an international student and things have been odd since haha. This summer the truth shall be revealed.
haha.
i know the feeling hasselhoff. be careful.. i came to japan for JUST a year, to paint (which i did), but have never really left the country since. ;-) must be something in the water...
luck.
Just stay clear of fugu and heavily tattooed men wearing dark glasses.
you can get inside the paper church by ban in kobe. fairly easy to find
thanks genuwine, so the paper church is permanent then? i always thought it was temporary
Damn! too late to see it.
SBA website
my bad! it was there 3 years ago. anyway, you can pick up these architecture in japan books. I had one for kyoto and one for tokyo. they proved invaluable for my 3 months of being there. They give fairly good directions to all of the buildings and break them down by neighborhood. it is in both japanese and english. i'm not sure you can buy the books here, but you can in any major bookstore in japan.
Fugu is way overrated.
I am booked in to see Katsura , Imperial Palace and ShugaKuin. thanks for the link to the website Jump.
I am getting soo pumped for my trip!! in all 14 days in Japan, and 111 days in total traveling the world (all thanks to my round the world ticket). i was especially impressed by my accidental choice for the perfect number of days away! - sadly my bank account doesn't agree with me on this.
I also went to Katsura and Shugakuin. You can take pictures at shugakuin, but i don't think they allow it at katsura, not sure on this though. We we also not allowed into the house and had to view it from the grounds. it is still amazing! After you go to shugakuin you are not that far from the golden temple, which is quite a contrast from the serenity of shugakuin
and while you're in kyoto make sure to see Kiyomizudera, it was my favorite temple in kyoto, maybe all of japan
oh and also Ryōan-ji with its famous rock garden and Fushimi Inari Shrine to see the 1000 torii
yeah, i can't wait to see Fushimi Inari! i was obsessed with Christo's work in central park, and realised it is basically like the torii at Fushimi.
Ginkaku-ji (Silver pavilion) is my favorite. The grounds are beautiful. I could sit at Ryoan-ji's rock garden for hours and hours. Sadly you have to sit next to a bunch of people unless you get there early or before they close.
ryoanji is def a fav for me too...go early to avoid people...
never much liked kinkakuji or ginkakuji for some reason...feel a bit overcooked somehow. been a few times with friends and family and always underwhelmed...the torii is a cool experience and worth doing. if running short of time i'd skip the silver and gold pavillions completely...
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