Page 47 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

Windows into the Past
Written in the early 11th century by
Murasaki Shikibu, a lady-in-waiting at
the imperial court, The Tale of Genji is
thought to be the oldest work of fiction in
the world. Visit the room where Shikibu
began to write this historic romance on a
moonlit night in 1004 at the Ishiyama-
dera temple in Otsu, near Kyoto. Japan is
also home to another ancient art form –
the haiku. Learn more about these
concise poems at Tokyo’s Basho Memorial
Museum (1-6-3 Tokiwa), dedicated to the
masterful Matsuo Basho. You can also
recreate his long-form poem The Narrow
Road to the Deep North by climbing up
Mount Haguro (p308). As you walk the
forest path, surrounded by towering
trees, it is easy to see how Basho was
inspired to write his meditative verses.
And at the end of your trip, why not
summarize your trip in your own haiku?
PAGE AND SCREEN

Illustration depicting
Lady Murasaki writing
the Tale of Genji

A still from Hayao Miyazaki’s
Oscar-winning animated
movie Spirited Away

Through
International
Eyes
For many people, Lost
in Translation (2003)
perfectly renders the
realities of being a
foreigner in Tokyo. Visit
the New York Bar at the
top of the Park Hyatt
Tokyo (p89) to recreate
the most iconic moments
from Sofia Coppola’s film.
Wes Anderson fans,
meanwhile, should take a
boat trip to Gunkanjima
from Nagasaki (www.
yamasa-kaiun.net/en).
As well as being the
inspi ration for Isle of Dogs
(2018), this abandoned
Exploring the industrial island also Scarlett Johansson
wonderful Ghibli featured in the 2012 and Bill Murray in
Museum in Tokyo James Bond film Skyfall. Lost in Translation
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