Featuring:
- Kyoto Train Station
- 400 year old Nishiki Market
- Gion Teahouses and Arashiama District Gardens including Tenru-ji Zen Temple and Garden
- Moss Garden and Bamboo Forest
Maiko serve a several year apprenticeship and the viewer is introduced to one of these extraordinary young ladies. Cherry Blossoms are Japan's unofficial national flower. It has been celebrated for many centuries and holds a very prominent position in Japanese culture. Most of the cherry tree varieties only bloom for a couple of days in spring and festivals abound! Himeji Castle was never destroyed by war, earthquake or fire and survives in its original form today.
It is considered one of three fine examples of Japanese Castle architecture in the world and is both a national treasure and a UNESCO world heritage site. Hiroshima is a graphic reminder of the costs of nuclear war. Miyajima Island (Shrine Island), once the sole bastion of holy men, is now a popular resort destination with several sites of historic significance, roaming deer and monkeys atop 1700' Mount Misan.
(Discoveries Asia 4 DVD/Blu-ray collection includes 5% discount: Japan Tokyo and Central Honshu Island; Japan Kyoto and Western Honshu Island; Korea Seoul, Gyeongju, Busan and Jeju Island; China Beijing, Great Wall, Xian, Guilin, Hong Kong and Shanghai)
DVDHD16 REVIEW: Discoveries...Asia: Japan - Kyoto and Western Honshu Island
This addition to Jim and Kelly Watt's high-def filmed Discoveries Asia travelogue series explores the "cultural capital" of Kyoto and nearby Honshu Island.
Featuring clips of temples and shrines (Kyoto boasts over 2000, including a famed 14th-century temple at Tenru-ji), various nature spots (including a look at a garden w/ 22 different kinds of moss, as well as a segment on cherry blossoms - the symbolic flower of samurais because "they know when to die"), and the modern train station built in celebration of Kyoto's 1200th anniversary, Kyoto and Western Honshu Island also offers viewers behind-the-scenes peeks at the life of a geisha, the kimono industry (fro creation to fashion shows), the floating Otorii gate UNESCO world heritage site, and monuments at Hiroshima. Recommended.
