There was a Japanese theme for the Area Education programme in Spring 2009. In the first Study day on ‘Staging the Orient’, Sarah Lenton presented an overview of Japanese theatre and opera, showing how the Orient is represented on the European stage with specific reference to Madame Butterfly and The Mikado.

In May, Suzanne Perrin’s lectures on ‘Japanese Art and Culture’ covered Japanese living traditions including religion ,crafts and festivals with a detailed look at Japanese costume and textiles from the 10th century to the present day.

At the end of May, a group of members from Societies within the Area travelled to Japan to begin their tour in Tokyo.

Originally known as Edo – meaning ‘the Gate of the River’, Tokyo first became a significant town in the early 17c, when Tokugawa Ieyasu established his shogunate (military government) here. Within a short time the whole of Japan was governed from Tokyo, and by the end of the 18c Tokyo was probably the largest city in the world. It was formally established as the Japanese capital in 1868, when the Emperor moved there from Kyoto.

Tokyo is now one of the world’s most modern cities with a population of about 13 million but among the high-rise office blocks, huge department stores and busy streets there are still gardens, Buddhist temples and the occasional old wooden house from another era. Our tour started with a visit to the Tokyo Tower. Japan’s equivalent of the Eiffel Tower - 330 metres high with two observation platforms, 150 and 250 metres high, where we could look out at the skyline of Tokyo.

We then continued to Harajuku, an area of fashionable boutiques and bistros in Central Tokyo and strolled through Ginza. The district of Ginza was laid out in the 1870s and was one of the first places in Japan to have Western-style brick buildings and street lighting. It is well known for its shops, art galleries - and the Sony Building. We spent some time in the Akihabara district, also known as ‘Electric City’ an amazing place apparently devoted to every computerised and electronic gadget invented.

The afternoon was free to explore on our own - adventuring onto the Yamanote Line the urban railway which winds around Tokyo in a 35-kilometre loop. The locals were unbelievably good natured helping us to negotiate the ticketing system and ushering us onto the train like honoured guests.

The next day’s visit was to the sacred Buddhist town of Nikko and the Tosho-gu shrine, one of the most famous centres of pilgrimage in Japan. The shrine was built by Tokugawa Iemitsu as a memorial to his grandfather, Tokugawa Ieyasu, a warlord who united Japan in the 17c and established the shogunate that ruled the country for 250 years. Entered via a huge stone gateway, the shrine has a five-storey pagoda and three sacred storehouses, one of which has notable carvings of elephants. A sacred stable houses a carved white horse and reliefs depicting the life cycle of the monkey. These include the famous ‘Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ threesome.

In the afternoon we stopped at the Chuzenji-ko Lake and the waterfalls at Kegon-no-taki. Here we watched the water plunging 97 metres into Lake, taking the elevator down to a viewing platform, where we could see the full force of the water.

Early morning departure from Tokyo and we drove on to Yokohama - a vibrant metropolis in its own right, with a population of 3.5 million. A feature of Yokohama is the fascinating Chinatown district, with its tiny streets and decorative facades, famous for its restaurants, brightly-coloured Chinese gates and for the Kantei-byo Chinese temple.

After Yokohama, we visited Sankei-en Garden, a fine example of traditional Japanese landscape gardening around a 500-year old wooden pagoda. The garden was laid out by a silk merchant in 1906, and is in reality two gardens, an inner garden and an outer park. Sadly the weather was less than kind and we did not see the garden at its beautiful best but were able to admire the design and enjoy the bonsai display by the local gardening enthusiasts.

We continued south-west to the Hakone region, dominated (we were told) by the perfect conical peak of Mount Fuji, 3,776 metres high. We stopped at Lake Ashi to board our boat to cross the crater lake, passing the red gateway of the Hakone-jinja shrine and the Hakone Sekisho-ato, formerly a customs post operated by the Tokugawa shogunate – disappointingly, owing to the pervading low cloud, we couldn’t see Mount Fuji.

After crossing Lake Ashi, we set off for the Owakudani Valley, the most popular thermal resort in Japan where our hotel stood at a height of about 1,000 metres on the slopes of Mount Komagatake, near the small town of Kowakien. Following lessons on how to wear the kimono provided, we were off to the hotel’s natural hot spring baths (separated for men and women). The hot pools are fed by a natural sulphurous spring at a constant temperature of 40°C and we were able to sit in the hot water at the edges of the pool, whilst feeling the raindrops from the garden on our heads.

Next day we travelled north from Hakone, passing the still-elusive Mount Fuji and on to Matsumoto.

Matsumoto has been an important town since the 8c, and is famous for its castle. Formerly the home of the Ogasawara clan, the castle dates from the late 16c. It is one of the best-preserved castles in the country, and is officially regarded as a ‘National Treasure’. The keep contains kato-mado (bud-shaped windows), a form of Buddhist architecture first introduced from China to Japan in the 13c. Rising in contrasting levels of black and white, with ornate gables, it is very different from a British mediaeval castle.

From Matsumoto we crossed the Japanese Alps to Takayama. The journey gave us a good insight into life in rural Japan, with farmers at work in fields and tea plantations. What sets Takayama apart from most large Japanese cities is that it has retained many of its original wooden houses and has few modern high-rise buildings. The town was founded in the late 16c and its streets are arranged in a regular grid pattern.

The next morning in Takayama started with a visit to Gokayama Washi-no-Sato, the Japanese Paper Village. We saw an exhibition of examples of Japanese handmade paper art and were able to try making our own.

We continued via the Shokawa Valley to visit the Shirakawago Gassho village with its traditional timber-framed, thatched farmhouses that were once typical of this region. The Gassho-zukuri, "prayer-hands construction" style is characterized by a thatched and steeply slanting roof resembling two hands joined in prayer. Although made from wood, without a single nail used in the construction, the design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allows the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy winter snowfalls. In the largest private Gassho-style house in the Area, we were entertained with tea made on the open fire and listened to a demonstration of traditional Japanese musical instruments. Some of us were encouraged to try out the instruments but without the expertise of the owner.

A highlight of a visit to Takayama is the Festival Floats Exhibition Hall, housing some of the magnificent decorated yatai or floats which are paraded through the streets in the Takayama Festival; some date back to the 17c. In the next gallery are beautifully crafted detailed scale models of the famous shrines at Nikko.

Our tour of Takayama concluded with a visit to the Jinya, built in 1615 and formerly the local government office. It is a fine example of the traditional architecture of the period and one room contained graphic descriptions of the punishments which could befall miscreants.

Finally to Kyoto, which was home to Japan’s emperors from 794AD to 1868, and has no fewer than 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Our stay in Kyoto began with a visit to Kinkakuji Temple, better known as the Golden Pavilion. First built in 1397, following an arson attack in 1955 this beautiful building was rebuilt to its original design with the two upper floors covered with gold leaf.

We then continued to Ryoanji - a temple famous for its rock garden, perhaps the best ‘dry’ Japanese garden and a masterpiece by the Zen-inspired artist Soami (1455-1525). The flat, rectangular garden is covered with white earth and surrounded by earthen walls. A total of 15 rocks stand in three groups; it was created for meditation and there are no flowering plants.

After visiting Ryoanji, we wandered through Nishiki Market, with its mouthwatering displays of food, before driving to the Nishijin Textile Centre, a living museum that tells the story of Kyoto’s textile industry. Kyoto's silk weaving was adapted from Chinese techniques and received backing from the Imperial court in the early days, but this support was interrupted during the 15c civil wars. The industry was revived during the Edo period, and Dutch and French methods and machinery were introduced during the Meiji period. Nowadays fabrics such as crèpe, satin, gauze, brocade and damask are still produced by traditional methods and, after having a try at stencilling our own handkerchiefs, we were able to see experts at work and how a Japanese kimono is made – many are the most wonderful works of art.

On the day set aside for our own exploration, some travelled on the bullet train to Hiroshima.

Some wandered along the Philosophers’ Walk so called as a Philosophy professor, Nishida Kitaro is said to have used it for daily meditation – the walk passes several temples and shrines along the way (and little cake shops).

A short coach journey on our final day took us west from Kyoto to the city of Nara, second only to Kyoto in terms of its cultural heritage.

Nara was established in 710 AD as the first permanent capital city in Japan; prior to this, the capital had moved with the death of each emperor. It served as capital for only 84 years, but remains a major religious centre. First stop in Nara was at the Todaiji Temple, believed to be the largest wooden building in the world. Outside the temple there is a vast deer park, inhabited by Nara’s sacred deer, of which there are about 1,200; in pre-Buddhist times, they were considered messengers of the gods. The temple is approached through an ornamental gate flanked by two beautiful 13c statues of Nio guardians and inside the main hall is a huge gilded bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana. One of the supporting posts in the Hall has a hole said to be the same size as one of the Daibutsu’s nostrils. Legend has it that those who pass through will be blessed with enlightenment in their next life. We had great fun watching the local schoolchildren try to assure their future – often with much help from their teachers and friends.

We then continued to the Shinto Kasuga Shrine, famous for its huge number of stone and metal lanterns donated by pilgrims. Some were tempted to buy ‘fortunes’ – a great idea, you tear off any predictions you don’t like and leave them behind tied to the shrine.

Our next visit was to the Gekkeikan Okura Museum, an old sake brewery where we were shown how Japanese sake (rice wine with a 17% alcohol content) is made and were able to taste sake from traditional ceramic sake cups.

Afterwards, a complete change of mood as we visited a very formal municipal tea-house, Taihoan, where we were invited to have cake and taste Uji green tea in the serene tea-ceremony.

On the final evening, our farewell dinner included entertainment by a maiko (apprentice geisha) and geiko, dancing, singing and serving drinks. The refined and graceful geisha wear traditional kimonos and obi and are skilled in a range of visual and performing arts, including dancing, singing and playing the shamisen – a three-stringed instrument. It is estimated that there are now only about 100 geisha and 80 maiko in Kyoto.

We all made the most of our final morning before the flight home from Osaka’s Kansai airport. Some took the opportunity for some last-minute shopping – there was still the Higashi Hongan-ji temple just along from the hotel and the Nijo Castle with its stunning wall paintings and famous Nightingale floor or uguisubari. These floors were designed so that the flooring nails rubbed against a clamp causing chirping noises – used as an alarm system to warn of intruders.