1. Flower Paradise at Hitachi
Seaside Park
Aside from nemophilas, the park has
about a million daffodils blooming amidst the pine trees, about 170 varieties
of tulips and many other flowers. Filled with woods, gardens, a mini amusement
area and cycling courses sprinkled throughout the park, Hitachi Seaside Park is
a must-see for anyone venturing to Japan.
2. Purple Wisteria
The genus
Wisteria is a woody climbing plant of the family Fabaceae. These species are
called. Some of them are grown as ornamentals for their clusters of spring
flowers and their thick foliage. Depending on the species and cultivars, the
flowers are purple, blue or white. The length of inflorescences varies from 10
cm to one meter for Wisteria floribunda var. ‘Macrobotrys’. Some cultivars are
fragrant and among them, there are cultivars such as ‘Rosea’ or ‘Jacko’. They
are native to the United States, China and Japan. The seeds are poisonous. The
best known species is the Wisteria sinensis, glycine in China, widely
naturalized in Western Europe. There is also another common species: Wisteria
floribunda or glycine Floramor.
3. Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in
Japan at 12,388 feet (3,776 meters). The volcano’s exceptionally symmetrical
cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and
photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers. t is one of Japan’s
“Three Holy Mountains” along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku. The volcano is
currently classified as active with a low risk of eruption. The last recorded
eruption was in 1708.
A popular destination, an estimated 200,000 people climb
Mount Fuji every year, 30% of whom are foreigners. The ascent can take anywhere
between three and eight hours while the descent can take from two to five
hours. The most-popular period for to hike up the mountain is from July to
August, while climbing from October to May is strongly discouraged because of
the severe cold weather.
4. Tokyo Tower
This is one of the best-known towers
in the world. Made of prefabricated steel, Tokyo Tower is called light because
it weighs only 4,000 metric tons. At a height of 1,092 feet (333 meters), it is
the world’s tallest self-supporting steel tower. Since its opening in 1958, it has become well known to
visitors around the world, not only as one of Tokyo’s popular sightseeing
attractions, but also as the symbol of Tokyo as an international city. All of
Tokyo’s nine television and four FM radio stations are transmitted throughout
the entire metropolitan area from Tokyo Tower.
Various gauges and instruments mounted on top of the tower
monitor the condition of the air above Tokyo and the traffic conditions in the
streets below. The lights of Tokyo Tower, suspending it beautifully in the
night sky, are made up of 164 flood lights installed on the various parts of
the tower.
5. Tokyo National Museum
(Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan)
The National
Museum is not only the largest and oldest museum in Japan, but it also boasts
the largest collection of Japanese art in the world. This is where you go to
see antiques from Japan's past -- old kimono, samurai armor, priceless swords,
lacquerware, metalwork, pottery, scrolls, screens, ukiyo-e(woodblock
prints), calligraphy, ceramics, archaeological finds, and more. Items are shown
on a rotating basis with about 3,000 on display at any one time -- so no matter
how many times you visit the museum, you'll always see something new. There are
also frequent special exhibitions. Schedule at least 2 hours to do the museum
justice.
The museum comprises five buildings.
The Japanese Gallery (Honkan), straight ahead as you enter the main
gate, is the most important one, devoted to Japanese art. Here you'll view
Japanese ceramics; Buddhist sculptures dating from about A.D. 538 to 1192;
samurai armor, helmets, and decorative sword mountings; swords, which
throughout Japanese history were considered to embody spirits all their own;
textiles and kimono; lacquerware; ceramics; and paintings, calligraphy,
ukiyo-e, and scrolls. Be sure to check out the museum shop in the basement; it
sells reproductions from the museum's collections as well as traditional crafts
by contemporary artists.
The Asian Gallery (Toyokan) houses
art and archaeological artifacts from everywhere in Asia outside Japan. There
are Buddhas from China and Gandhara, stone reliefs from Cambodia, embroidered
wall hangings and cloth from India, Iranian and Turkish carpets, Thai and
Vietnamese ceramics, and more. Chinese art -- including jade, paintings,
calligraphy, and ceramics -- makes up the largest part of the collection,
illustrating China's tremendous influence on Japanese art, architecture, and
religion. You'll also find Egyptian relics, including a mummy dating from
around 751 to 656 B.C. and wooden objects from around 2000 B.C. Note: The
Toyokan is closed for renovation until 2012. Until its reopening, selections
from the collection are on display at the Hyokeikan, built on the
museum grounds in 1909 to commemorate the marriage of Emperor Taisho.
The Heiseikan Gallery is
where you'll find archaeological relics of ancient Japan, including pottery and
Haniwa clay burial figurines of the Jomon Period (10,000 B.C.-1000 B.C.) and
ornamental, keyhole-shaped tombs from the Yayoi Period (400 B.C.-A.D. 200). The Gallery
of Horyuji Treasures (Horyuji Homotsukan) displays priceless Buddhist
treasures from the Horyuji Temple in Nara, founded by Prince Shotoku in A.D.
607. Although the building's stark modernity (designed by Taniguchi Yoshio, who
also designed the expansion of the New York Museum of Modern Art) seems odd for
an exhibition of antiquities, the gallery's low lighting and simple
architecture lend dramatic effect to the museum's priceless collection of
bronze Buddhist statues, ceremonial Gigaku masks used in ritual dances,
lacquerware, and paintings.
Sources :
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar