Catholic places we have visited in Japan

Because some of John's compatriots in the Catholic Men of the Chapel asked:
             (This is a work in progress. I will try to add links and photos and the real names of the churches as I find them.)

Our Lady of the Assumption, Misawa (Fr. Andre's church)
Sacred Heart Church, Towada
Seitai Hoshikai - Akita
Hakodate Catholic Churches
 -old church (and Lourdes grotto)
 - new church
Trappistine monastery in Hakodate
Furano church (Hokkaido)
Sendai cathedral
Tokyo cathedral (and Lourdes grotto)
Franciscan church in Roppongi
Narita catholic church
Kyoto cathedral
Niigata cathedral
Base churches:
Misawa AB
Iwakuni MCAS
Atsugi NAS
Nagasaki Urakami Cathedral
26 Martyrs Hill and Museum
Nyokodo--hut of Dr. Takashi Nagai
Seibu-no ______-- Franciscan monastery founded by St. Maximillian Kolbe
    (Kolbe museum, kindergarten, boys' school, Lourdes grotto, church with side chapel of St. Max)
Oura historic church and former Latin school - Nagasaki
Oura new church

Bonus! Korean churches
Osan shopping area church
Myeong-dong Cathedral (and crypt with relics of the Korean Martyrs)
Yongsan North chapel

Extra Bonus!!! Thailand!
Chiang Mai Cathedral

Double Extra Bonus!!! New Zealand!
Christchurch Cathedral [no longer in use due to 2011 earthquakes :-(]
            This is where Matthew threw up on John just as Midnight Mass was starting on Christmas Eve, so John and I went back to Mass in the wee hours of Christmas morning and found ourselves at a Traditional Latin Mass. Serendipity. :)

Wellington Church
Queenstown church

China - sort of
We did not have the freedom to leave our tour group in Beijing, but we did pass a large church while on the bus--we assume it is a government-approved church--and realized it was Catholic as we passed.

Kyoto Scenes

Lest you think we haven't been doing anything, here's a few scenes from Kyoto...

Fuji info

I am collecting websites to refer to as we get ready for Fuji-san.

http://fujisan.yamakei.co.jp/en-success.html

Hiking...and fireworks: a busy Saturday

On the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, we hiked up Mount Odake, the highest peak in the Hakkoda Mountains. John and I are so proud of Matthew, who did the whole hike himself! And I am grateful to John, who carried Meghan in the backpack the entire way.


That's a 30-pound pack for 11k with a 1500 ft. elevation gain. My husband is a saint!

I wanted to do the hike to see if I could survive it and to get an idea of what climbing Mt. Fuji might be like in a few weeks. I survived, so I guess we're going to Fuji. Pray for me on August 3. ;)

The hike starts off from the parking area above Sukayu Onsen


in pine forest with lots of bamboo in the underbrush.

The terrain varies along the way from rocky forest


to sulfur-smelly ravine


to a freshwater spring (where we refilled our water bottles and enjoyed our lunch--wish I had taken a photo),

in the swampy meadow (what a relief to walk on the level boardwalk!)


Above the treeline, the trail is very steep, with rocks held in place by metal fencing, and the weather became even more foggy and windy as we neared the rocky summit.

Somebody left his jacket in the car. We didn't hear one complaint, though.

Shinto, one of Japan's two major religions, worships nature. Mountain tops are holy places, and there is always a shrine at the top.


On Odake-san, there are two. The tiny one, above, is at the summit. The larger one, below, was tucked in just below the summit, protected from the strong winds.

The usual offerings of yen coins, sake, and beer.

The only disappointing part of the hike was that it was so misty/foggy at the top of Odake-san that we couldn't see the caldera at all.


The wind was fierce, so we didn't stay at the top for long.

The kids fading off into the fog as they start down.

On the steep descent, the path crossed snow!


John was relieved to find man-made stairs that made his descent with Meghan more stable.

There were lots of man-made stairs,


and a restful downward stroll on boardwalk through much more of the marsh.




We stopped at an observation platform for a snack.


It was a challenging hike on a real mountain with rocks to scramble over,


narrow wood bridges to cross,


and some lovely flora along the way





not to mention the deliciously-scented Aomori pine forest.

At lower elevations, much of the trail was muddy, so we were grateful for the boardwalk!

We met only a few hikers along the way, which I know is different from Fuji. At times, especially as the afternoon drew on (we are slow hikers), we felt as if we were the only ones on the mountain.

Peaceful!

If there has ever been a time to sing the "Te Deum" it was when we reached the onsen again.


We were tired


and not a little bemused by the Japanese teens who appeared to be camping in the parking lot.


But we were not too tired to stop at Lake Towada on the way home for their summer festival. We enjoyed some festival food: yakitori, corn dogs, and potato balls (with no fish in the middle-yay!). We found that we were very hungry for some reason.

We heartily enjoyed the Towada-ko fireworks display, especially because bad weather cancelled Misawa's fireworks on the July 4th weekend.


While we waited for the post-fireworks traffic to dissipate, we enjoyed some delicious, Japanese soft serve.

Matthew remarked today that Saturday night was the first time he can remember actually wanting to go to bed and sleep.

Progress

Japan Rail (JR) has opened the Tohoku Shinkansen all the way to Aomori. We were very excited when we heard this news. Only one more step--under the channel between Honshu and Hokaido--and we will be able to take the Shinkansen all the way to Sapporo! And to top that news, there are new, faster trains coming in 2011.

Then we discovered that since the Shinkansen now goes all the way to Aomori, Misawa is off the railroad map as far as JR is concerned. There used to be a limited express train through Misawa Station from Hachinohe, formerly the end of the Tohoku Shinkansen line. That train schedule coordinated with the arrival of the Shinkansen so that passengers only waited 6-11 minutes in Hachinohe to make a connection.

Now, however, Misawa Station is served only by the Aomori Railway, which has scheduled fewer trains throughout the day. This means that the minimum wait in Hachinohe for the Misawa train is 40 minutes. You can drive up here in 30 minutes.

So it looks like we will now be driving 30 minutes to Hachinohe Station to meet visitors (and Patrick on Monday night :D) instead of 5 minutes to Misawa Station. The inconvenience is annoying.

The fact that we are annoyed may be an indication of just how long we have lived in Misawa. When we first arrived here, we would never have had the expectation that train travel should be more convenient than driving. And a 30-minute drive to pick someone up from commercial transportation wouldn't have bothered us in the least. Now it seems a major inconvenience. We think the train should bring visitors much closer to us on a much more convenient schedule. We have become very spoiled by Japan's super-convenient, (formerly) highly-connected transportation system.

Thus, we are not as excited about the completion of the Aomori leg of the Tohoku Shinkansen line as we used to be.


“Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity.” Thor-Heyerdahl



Driving directions from Misawa to Hachinohe Station:

Take the POL Road (becomes Route 10)
to the Momoishi Toll Road. (The entrance is on your left before the overpass.)

The first toll gate, at 4.5km, will cost 200yen.

Travel 8.5 km. Exit at Hachinohe-kita. There is no toll here.

Turn right onto Route 45.

After 3.0km, exit to the left, following signs to "Hachinohe Sta." Turn right at the bottom of the ramp. *

Follow this road for 2.9km, and turn right at the stop light (you will pass Harley Davidson on your right, and the Fish Market on your left).

After 1.7km, this road comes to a T-intersection at Route 454. Turn right on Route 454, and you will see the station in front of you.

Long-term parking: turn right after 1.0km, following signs to the West Exit.

Short-term parking is available in a small parking lot in front of the station. Get in the left hand lane as you drive toward the station. Instead of turning left, cross the street to the parking lot ticket booth.

*If you miss the Fish Market turn, keep going on Route 45 for about 1 km, and make a right onto Route 104. After a little more than 1 km, turn right onto Route 454 and drive approximately 3 km to Hachinohe Station.

Hirosaki Castle autumn

Hirosaki Castle Tower

Last Friday was our 22nd wedding anniversary. To celebrate, John took the day off, and we drove over to Hirosaki to visit the Chrysanthemum Festival. Hirosaki is famous for its spring cherry blossoms, but I did not realize how beautiful it would be when dressed in autumnal glory.

Ushitora Turret

We found parking very near the castle in a shopping center.


This was good luck. Last spring, we went on a Sunday to see the cherry blossoms, and we spent the first hour in the city just looking for parking.

Honmaru

But a weekday in autumn is not so busy, thankfully. Sometimes it felt like we were the only visitors.

Takaoka-Bashi Bridge

2011 is the 400th anniversary of the building of the castle, which, according to the English visitor's brochure, was "completed in 1611. From that time, the Lord of Tsugaru and his successors lived in Hirosaki Castle, which remained the center of governance of the region by the Tsugaru feudal clan for around 260 years until the abolition of the feudal clan system.


The castle was opened to the public as Hirosaki Park in 1895 and designated as a Historical Site in 1952." The citizens of Hirosaki donated most of the cherry trees in the park, beginning in the early 20th century. Today, there are more than 2,600 cherry trees of different varieties, including Japan's oldest Somei Yoshino cherry blossom tree, planted in 1882.

Inner East Gate, with oldest Sonmei Yoshino cherry tree in foreground

In celebration of the anniversary, there were references to 400 and the celebration logo in many places in the park, including this apple display in the Arboretum.


Put off by the extra entry fee, we had never been into the Hirosaki Castle Arboretum before.


This time, the flower and fruit displays made it worth the entry price.






















Even the playground was decorated with floral displays.



Between us, John and I took an insane number of photos.

In the Central Moat

Tatsumi Turret

Just ask Katie. I'm certain that was her favorite part of the whole adventure. ; )


She's a good sport, though.


On our first (springtime) visit to Hirosaki, we took a photo of Matthew that was later published in the National Catholic Register's "Baby Mugs" column.

He's too old for the column now, but I think he's just as cute.


And his little sister isn't so bad either.


We climbed up into the castle tower


and enjoyed the view of the Gejo-Bashi Bridge from above.


We took even more photos,

Approaching Takaoka-Bashi Bridge

Central Moat

It was at about this point that I stopped to get a shot of this fellow.

Great blue heron in the Inner Moat
(viewed from the Kita-no Kuruwa area)

It took a few minutes. I was dissatisfied with the photos and wishing I had brought my SLR along. So I gave up and turned around to join the family.

Who had disappeared.

Butokuden Rest House/Kita-no-Kuruwa

Thinking that they were just up ahead, I continued on, taking more photos along the way.


Until I realized that I was not going to find them easily. Thank goodness for cell phones. :) After a quick call, Katie told me where they were, and I headed out toward the festival food booths. I went the long way, as it turned out, but that gave me the chance to take more photos.





No visit to a Japanese festival is complete without yakitori and yakisoba. And that is where I found my family, who had already purchased our lunch and were waiting and wondering where in the world I had gotten to.

The outer path in the Sannomaru area, walking toward the Gardening Information Center

We had to hurry home for First Friday Mass and Adoration. And we almost missed them because we couldn't find our way out of Hirosaki. Typical of most Riordon adventures in Japan, we followed the directions to Hirosaki that I got from ITT (the travel office on base) and arrived at our destination with no problem, but there aren't any directions telling how to get back out of the city. And, while you would think that it is easy to simply re-trace your steps, if you are following signs into the city and there are no signs going out of the city that have the route number that you need...well...you get the picture.

My favorite photo of the day--taken while I was "lost"

Somehow, despite an outdated road atlas and maps with too little detail, John (I can take no credit here. I will not say more.) managed to find Route 7 and get on it going toward Aomori. From which, we re-located the toll road and made it back to Misawa too late to stop home, change, and shower, but with several minutes to spare before Mass. To the unknowing observer, it simply appeared that the Riordons had arrived early and a bit underdressed. We'll let that impression remain until one of our fellow-parishioners reads the blog. : )

Sugi-no-Ohashi Bridge

Wishing you were here.