ASIA JAPAN DESTINATIONS


BOTTOM: Hitachi Seaside Park


FAR LEFT: Bandai-Asahi National Park


LEFT: Tsurugajo Castle


RIGHT: Kendo training


BELOW LEFT: Ushiku Daibutsu


The castle’s Rinkaku Teahouse


was the first of its type in the 16th century and is thought to have played an important role in the development of Japan’s tea ceremony traditions, making it the place to experience Japan’s famous green tea. If tea sounds a little tame, get


more hands-on by unleashing your inner samurai at the Butokuden, a martial arts dojo within the grounds of Tsurugajo Castle, to take part in a sword- training session with a kendo martial arts group. This once-in- a-lifetime session will leave you feeling exhilarated and honoured to be in the presence of such graceful warriors, even though some are only eight years old (Tom Cruise, eat your heart out).


If tea is a little tame, unleash your inner samurai at the castle’s martial arts dojo


 TOCHIGI PREFECTURE Toshogu Shrine: This Unesco World Heritage Site is the most lavish shrine in the city of Nikko – perhaps even in the whole of Japan – and only a two-hour train ride from Tokyo. Toshogu Shrine certainly lives


up to the hype, comprising a collection of 55 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines that are masterpieces in their own right.


Each is elaborately decorated with a multitude of intricate carvings of dragons, elephants or three wise monkeys splashed in vibrant colours and glittering gold leaf. Its history dates back to 1617 and it’s also the final resting place of the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Rinnoji Temple: There is no better way to end a journey around northern Japan than being taught to open your mind by the world’s experts in meditation. Rinnoji is undoubtedly Nikko’s most important temple, founded by Shodo Shonin, the Buddhist monk who introduced Buddhism to Nikko in the eighth century. The temple hosts Zen


meditation sessions every


Saturday, and once a month there are Shakyo and Shabutsu meditation sessions, which are the transcriptions of Buddhist sutras in pursuit of enlightenment; both are open for anyone to join. But if you want to learn from a


master in a one-to-one session, this is the place to do it. It’s an exhilarating experience, as he corrects posture and position with a none-too-gentle whack across the back with a four-foot stick – to keep you focused, apparently, though I’m still to learn on what – but it does mean a chance to reflect on the examples of authentic Japanese culture found along the Diamond Route. What more could you need to achieve inner peace?


13 December 2018travelweekly.co.uk55


PICTURES: FLORA IOANNOU; HITACHI SEASIDE/JNTO; SHUTTERSTOCK


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