Takayama-Photos and everything

Hello.
Autumn has arrived, sight-seeing has recommenced, I am back! Today is a national holiday in Japan so we don't have to go to work! It's the autumn equinox and is a day to celebrate and honour ancestors. Right on cue the temperature has dropped. Last night I was cold cycling to and from work-not chilly but cold and I was wearing a jacket!
We planned to get up early as we'd had such varying reports on journey times to Takayama; from 2 to 4 hours. As it was we both woke up at 6am and decided to get up and go. The sun had just risen and as we drove through the mountains we reached parts still slightly dim as they waited for the sun to reach above the shadows of opposing peaks. As we neared Takayama we could see clouds nestling in the mountains below us. It turned out to take less than 2 hours at that time in the morning and using the toll roads.
We arrived to dark clouds and a chilly wind as we walked along the river to the centre of the city. We arrived through a giant Torra gate at the otherside of a bridge and were greeted by the morning markets. As we got further into the winding old style streets the shops were still unopened and only a few other eager tourists mingled about. We had coffee and Jasmine tea at a traditional wooden coffee house and Takayama woke up around us. It was amazing to see the difference when we found our way back to those streets later in the afternoon-they were packed with tourists and rickshaws.
We strolled around some Temples, across many pretty bridges where Weeping Willow trees blew about in the breeze. The sun came out and was pleasantly warming-a sensation I had forgotten. We had lunch (pretty early) in a lovely travellers cafe with guest books on the tables and postcards on the walls. We ordered pancakes and they came with a friend egg, bacon, tomatoes, fried potato, a lovely salad with a smokey dressing and parmasan cheese as well as crisps  and homemade Italian style bread on the side!
We strolled more shops and Temples in the afternoon before heading back to Seki. It felt like a real holiday day-I'm not sure if it was the effect of an extra day off of work or the cool weather.

 The tora gate at eigth thirty am-I don't know why Mike looks super-imposed-he was really there.

 One of the many Japanese flags flying today.

 Another beautiful river shot!

 Temple gates.

 A huge bell that we watched a monk ring at midday.

 Just to prove it's cool-a jacket and a scarf and I was cold!

Swimming

Today we went swimming at the public swimming pool in Seki-not the straightforward experience you'd imagine. They clean the pool every hour or so and there is an announcement for everyone to get out at this time. People either sit around the sides or get into the various jacuzzi set ups. After about ten minutes you are allowed back into the main pool but first the lifeguard leads everyone in a set of stretching exercises. Everyone joins in. No-one laughs. It is a genuine moment in Japanese swimming and then everyone is back in and off.
There is also a great deal of walking in the pool. There is a special walking pool with a current and bars for you to follow like a queuing system around the pool. In the main pool there are walking lanes roped  off. So yet again the every day proves to hold hidden treasures of bizarreness to enjoy!

Carrying On

Everyone is too hot. The conversation starts always with it's very hot today. Everyone is tired and a little dizzy or they have a headache. The summer trickles on here meeting autumn head on in typhoon season. This weekend was respite for us in Seki with a brisk breeze and a couple of cool rainy nights. For others it was a reminder of how vicious the natural world can be and how precarious little Japan is.
I spent yesterday hiding from all the bad weather, all the bad news, in Nagoya's famous department stores. A labyrinth of escalators and passageways that suddenly open up onto wide open spaces with pop up shops in the middle and the more established designer boutiques glassed off with museum like window displays. In some areas the sales are unattended racks in the unadorned corridor leading to the toilets in others Dolce and Gabana shoes hang from black chandeliers. The rough and the smooth, the rich and the poor, the lucky and the unlucky.
I stumbled across a tiny Fortnum and Masons concession and down in the depths of the fairground like food hall was a miniature Harrods tucked into a little alcove. Everywhere was crowded, fashions were as varied and enjoyable as ever and I found as much joy in browsing little boutiques housing items with nonsensical  English phrases as ever. This is the lesson I learn in Japan. The government battles, the ground shakes, the mountains fall down but Japanese people keep going. 6 months in and it still surprises me. Just as it surprises them that six months on people still aren't visiting their country.