My diary of world cities

Tokyo, Japan - Part II

2011-09-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

Before reading this part, I suggest you to read Part I that gives you some insight about modern Tokyo. This section talks about the history of Tokyo, religion and world war II.

History of Tokyo

The history of Tokyo gives us a picture of how the city grew from a small fishing village to a major financial giant. the history of Tokyo goes back to nearly 400years. The city was known as Edo which was a fishing village. The city was constructed in 1457, when Ota Dokan, a vassal of Uesugi Mochitomo, built the Edo Castle. The city gained its importance and started to flourish from 1590 onwards under the rule of Tokugawa Leyasu in 1603. During the Edo period, the great fire of the Meireki destroyed a major part of Asakusa and the Edo castle. During the 18th century, the city grew and became the cultural and polital center of Japan.

In 1868 after the Meiji restoration, Emperor Meiji took over the city and renamed it to Tokyo, which means easter capital. Since then it became the permanent home of the imperial dynasty of Japan. In 1871, the emperor abolished the feudal han system and set up the prefectural system in Tokyo. The Great Kanto earthquake was a major natural disaster in the history of Tokyo, which occurred in 1923 and killed around 70,000 people.

During world war II, the city experienced heavy bombing, which damaged major portions of the city. During that period the city was under military control and also controlled by the allied forces. It became a major military base during this time. Between 1950 to 1960, the city experienced extensive economic growth. Industries grew and infrastructure was developed. From 1970 onwards, the city grew at an alarming rate and by 1980, it became one of the most developed cities of the world. The modern history of Tokyo is filled with tales of growth and development.

The history of Tokyo traces the growth of the city into a major financial and advanced city of the world.

Language

If we want to travel to Tokyo, it is better to know the language of the city in order to communicate with the local people. Japanese is the official language. The best method of communicating with local people is through Japanese. However, English is also widely spoken. Tokyo is one of the major global city in the world, which makes English as one of the common dialects after Japanese. Japanese is written with a combination of three scripts: Chinese characters, two syllabic scripts of modified chinese characters and Katakana.

Katakana is a simple form of the Japanese language and easy to learn. Many words are similar to English language and easy to understand. The script is characterized by short straight strokes with angular curves.

Some useful Japanese phrases are:

Good morning - ohayo gozaimasu

Good afternoon - konnichiwa

How are you - o-genki desu ka?

Good bye - Sayonara

Excuse me - sumimasen

Thank you - arigato gozaimasu

Yes - hai

No - lie

Apart from these two languages Chinese and Korean are other two which can be heard in the city. The city also has many Filipino speakers.

Music

Japan is the second largest music market in the world after United States. The oldest form of Japanese music are shomyo, buddhist chanting and gagku. Gagaku is a classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since Heian period.

Islands of Japan

There are four main islands of Japan

Hokkaido - It is the north part of Japan. It is the second largest island. This island is seismically active. Apart from earthquakes, it has many active volcanos.
Honshu - It is the largest island of Japan. It is the nation's main island. It includes cities like Tokyo, Kawasaki, Chiba etc.
Shikoku - It is the smallest island located in the south of Honshu. It includes cities like Osaka, Hiroshima, Okayama etc.
Kyushu - This is the third largest island of Japan. It includes cities like Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kagoshima etc.

Mount Fujiyama

Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan 3,776m approx. It is an active volcano that erupted in 1707. Mt. Fuji lies about 100kms south west of Tokyo and can be seen from the city on a clear day. It is one of Japan's "three holy mountains" along with Mt. tate and Mt. Haku.

Today Mt. Fuji is the international destination for tourism and mountain-climbing. It is surrounded by five lakes: Kawaguchi, yamanaka, lake sai, motosu and shoji. The temp is very low in the high altitudes and the cone is covered with snow for most part of the year.

World war II and atomic bombings on Japan

During the final stages of world war II, USA conducted two atomic bombings against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan on Aug 6, 1945 and Aug 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date. Earlier than this Japan conducted attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was a surprise military strike conducted by Japanese Navy against US naval base at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th, 1941 which was Dec 8th in Japan. This attack came as a shock to the American people and led directly to the US entry into World war II. The following day, United States declared war against Japan.

For six months before the atomic bombings, the US intensely fire-bombed 67 Japanese cities. Together with UK and China, the United States called for a surrender of Japan on July 26, 1945. The Japanese government ignored the ultimatum. Hence, by the order of President Harry Truman, the US dropped nuclear weapon on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Within the first to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed more than 90,000 people in Hiroshima and around 80,000 people in Nagasaki. Six days after the detonation over Nagasaki, Japan announced its surrender to the Allied powers, officially ending the pacific war.

Inspite of these disturbances, Japan has stood in front of this world as the most developed and advanced country.

With this post I am concluding my posts on Tokyo, Japan. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

Next week I will be featuring Shanghai, China.

Tokyo, Japan - Part I

2011-09-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

Japan........ Love in tokyo... famous bollywood song that gives a glimpse of Tokyo city. Lets learn more about Tokyo which is also one of my favorite cities around the world. Japan is known as Nippon in Japanese that means 'Land of the Rising sun'.

It is one of the three 'commanding centers' for the world economy along with New York and London.Tokyo is the capital of Japan. It is one of the most advanced international cities. Tokyo is the 4th most livable city in the world. It is also one of the largest metropolitan area of Japan with a population of more than 13million. It is also one of the most populous city of the world. The city has many distinctions to its credit:

Second most expensive city for employees
Fourth most livable city in the world and one of the world's biggest metropolitan city.

Tokyo metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of Tokyo prefecture and the city of Tokyo.

Geography

It is located in the eastern part of the Honshu island. Total area of the city is 844.4 miles. Tokyo has numerous outlying islands that extend as far as 1850 km from central Tokyo. The Izu islands are group of volcanic islands and form part of the Fuji Hakone Izu national park. Tokyo is most earthquake prone city. It has been hit by earthquakes many times since 17th century. In 1923 there was a massive earthquake with 8.3 magnitude which killed 142,000 people. The city is located near the boundary of the three plates.

Infrastructure

Economy

Now since we know that Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in this world, lets see the economic structure in this city and the country of Japan. According to an estimation Tokyo urban area has total GDP of US $1.479 trillion in 2008. In 2009, around 51 companies were listed on the global 500 which were based in Tokyo. It is a major international financial capital. It houses the headquarters of world's largest investment banks and insurance companies. Tokyo was rated as world's most expensive cities 14yrs in a row in 2006.

The Tokyo stock exchange is Japan's largest stock exchange, and third largest in the world. Tourism in Tokyo is also one of the major contributor to the economy. Tokyo's currency is Yen.

Cityscape

Panoramic view of Tokyo - Wikipedia

Tokyo, world's one of the most advanced city was also one of the Japan's oldest city. Architecture in Tokyo is greatly influenced by its history. This metropolis has been left in ruins twice: first in 1923 by the earthquake and later after world war II. Tokyo's landscaping is one of modern and contemporary architecture, older buildings are scarce. Tokyo features two distinctive towers: Tokyo tower and the new Tokyo sky tree which is the tallest tower in Japan and second tallest in the world. Tokyo also has numerous parks and gardens.

Transportation

Tokyo is Japan's largest domestic hub for rain, ground and air transport. Public transportation in tokyo is extensive network of efficient trains and subways operating throughout the city. Narita international airport is the largest airport for international travelers to go to Japan. Rail is the primary transport in Tokyo and it houses extensive railway network in the city. Through many Japanese friends I have learnt that the people are not so aggressive drivers in Japan compared to other countries.

Sports

Tokyo hosts diverse array of sports. It is home for the baseball clubs. The Japan sumo association is also based in Tokyo where official sumo tournaments are held annually. Tokyo hosted the summer olympics in 1964. Tokyo hosts lot of national and international sporting events like Tennis, swimming, marathons, American football, judo and karate. It is said that Tokyo is bidding to host 2020 summer olympics.

Culture

Many different festivals are celebrated throughout Tokyo. The city showcases brilliant blend of modernity of fast moving world and an ancient and devout culture. The history of Japan beckons an ancient civilization that incorporates many customs and traditions. Bowing, tea ceremony and ikebana are the common among them. Japanese are considered to be most polite people in the world. As a matter of fact, politeness is considered as a part of Japanese culture. Bowing is the way to greet people in Japan. Japanese are also sensitive about their etiquettes. There are some famous festivals in Japan Sejin-no-hi which is the youth festival, then there is the famous Doll festival. Some festivals have their roots in chinese festivals but they have undergone dramatic changes as they mixed with local customs. 'Matsuri' is the japanese word for a festival.

Hina-matsuri is the Japanese Doll festival which is held on March 3rd. Platforms covered with red carpet are used to display a set of ornamental dolls representing Emperor, Empress, attendants, musicians of Heian period. Formerly, people believed the dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits. There is an ancient Japanese custom, where straw dolls are set afloat on a boat and sent down a river to the sea, they are believed to take bad troubles with them.

Japan celebrates the entire season of cherry blossoms. A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus prunus or Japanese cherry. The custom is said to have started during the Nara period when it was ume blossoms that people admired in the beginning. In Japan, cherry blossom symbolizes clouds due to their nature of blossoming. During world war II, the cherry blossom was used to motivate the Japanese people, to stroke nationalism and militarism among the population. They are also used to inspire Japanese spirit.

The kimono is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. 'kimono' means thing to wear. The earliest kimonos were influenced by traditional Han chinese clothing called hanfu.

Read part II of this article where i will talk about Japanese history, Japan's participation in world war II and lot more..

Cairo, Egypt (Part 2)

2011-09-20T17:40:00.001-07:00

Once you are done with Part 1 of Cairo proceed with this post.

Music

People in Egypt have been playing music since the stone age. However, the earlier evidences are from 3100B.C. As seen in the picture above, there were instruments like guitars and harps. There were wind instruments like clarinet, with reeds for the mouthpiece, and there were bronze trumpets too. There were percussion instruments like drums and rattles. Most of the Egyptian musicians were women. As today, sometimes Egyptian musicians had to wear thin or revealing clothes and dance along with singing.

Art

Once the Persians conquered Egypt, Egyptian art became a mixture of different cultures. Each of these cultures mixed with Egyptian culture in a different way.By about 7500 B.C. Egyptian artists were also carving on rocks. Around 3000B.C. Egyptian artists began to create their own rock walls to carve and paint, by building stone buildings. Most of the buildings that have been left are known as "Mastabas" which were the burial places for the rich people after they die. These pictures that were carved were supposed to help the dead person out when they reach the next world. Egyptians thought that we live after we die in this world. So, the paintings showed all sorts of things that people did in their regular life.

Sculpture

People began to carve sculptures from about 4500BC. These early sculptures were small and mos

tly of women. But from 2900 BC, Egyptian artists began to carve life-size stone sculptures.

Egyptian Writing

Nobody knows from where Egyptians figured out how to write, is it either from themselves or from the Sumerians, who began writing about the same time, around 3000 BC. The Egyptian form of writing, hieroglyphs, does not look the same as the Sumerian form of writing. Most part of Egyptian writing came out from the tombs. The hieroglyphs are mostly symbols that mean something. List of symbols and meanings.

Egyptian Gods

As in the rest of the Africa, people of ancient Egypt were polytheistic, meaning they believed in many gods. Some of these gods were Ra, Anubis, Seth, Isis and Horus. Egyptians worshiped these gods with animal scarifies, with incense and many processions. People believed that Egypt belonged to the gods and the Pharaoh was the representation on earth of gods, or a kind of god himself. They thought when you die, Anubis would weigh your soul against a feather, and if your soul is heavier than the feather then you will be punished since you have committed sins. They thought that after a person dies he goes into a new world, so they put in the grave everything you would need in a next world.

Under Greek rule, the Egyptians begin to worship some Greek gods as well. At the same time, Greek people in Athens began to worship Egyptian goddess Isis. After Romans conquered Egypt some Egyptians began to convert to christianity. However, with the coming of Islam in Egypt in late 600AD, most Egyptians converted to Islam. Since 700 A.D. most people in Egypt have been following the Islamic faith.

The Great Pyramids of Egypt and the Sphinx

Pyramids are the first ancient sites that pop up in our mind whenever we hear about Egypt. They are the icon of Egypt. There are about 118 pyramids constructed by the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Few of them are grouped near the city of Cairo. The pyramid age began with a burst of a building in 3rd dynasty reign of Djoser. Pyramids served as a tomb for the Pharaohs of Egypt.

Pic of Great pyramid of Giza from a 19th century photograph

The great pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the pyramids. It is the oldest of the seven wonders of Ancient world. It was the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. It took around 20yrs to construct this pyramid. There are 3 chambers inside the great pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock on which the pyramid was build. Then the queen's chamber and king's chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The Egyptian pyramids are the exemplary art of ancient times.

Sphinx

A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head. In Greek tradition, it has the haunches of a lion, wings of a great bird, face and breast of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer her riddle suffer a fate typical in the mythological stories. The Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man.

Mummies

How can we complete talking about Egypt and not mention about Mummies. A mummy is a body of a person that has been preserved after death. The ancient Egyptians believed that mummifying a person's body after death was essential to ensure a safe passage to the afterlife. There were about 70 million mummies in 3000years. So where did the mummies go? Countless mummies were destroyed in the middle ages. The best preserved mummies are those of the pharaohs and their relatives. These mummies were carefully embalmed and protected from harm. Three famous Egyptian mummies are Tutankhamen, Seti I and Rameses II.

The method of treating the dead body, that the ancient Egyptians used is called mummification. Egyptians removed all moisture from the body, leaving only a dried form that would not easily decay. The art of mummification consisted of many steps. First, the body was washed and ritually purified. The next step was to remove the deceased person's inner organs. A slit was cut into the left side of the body so that they could remove the intestines, lives, stomach and the lungs. Each of these organs were embalmed using natron, which served to dry out the organs and discourage bacteria from decaying the tissue. After removing the inner organs, the body cavity was filled with natron. The brain was removed through the nose using long hooks. Since ancient Egyptians considered brain to be unimportant, it was probably thrown away. Once the mummy was finally prepared, it was time for the funeral.

Quick facts about Cairo, Egypt

Before we end the article about Cairo lets see some quick facts about the city.

Cairo was a stronghold of many ancient dynasties throughout the ages governed by Pharaohs, Romans, Greeks, British and the French.
Cairo is one of the famous tourist destinations in Egypt because of the pyramids of Giza.
Cairo is the largest city of Africa with population more than 69 million.
In Cairo, Sunday is not part of the weekend, but a traditional day off.
Unlike we all might guess, the national animal of Egypt is not camel, its Saladin's Eagle.
National language of Egypt is Arabic.

Hereby, I am concluding my posts on Cairo, Egypt. Hope you all enjoyed reading about it.

Next week I will be featuring - Tokyo, Japan which is also one of my favorite city.

Cairo - Egypt (Part 1)

2011-09-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

City of Cairo, Egypt

Cairo is one of the top must visit places for me. I want to start this blog with this city. Cairo is one of the ancient cities that has seen various dynasties and has a rich history associated with it. It has always been attracting travelers since 10 centuries ago. Cairo is an arabic word for "The conqueror" of victorious city. It is the capital of Egypt also know as "Masr". Cairo is one of the world's largest urban areas and is also nicknamed as " City of thousand minarets" for its abundant Islamic architectural remains. It is close to Great pyramids of Giza and also has ancient temples, tombs and magnificent muslim monuments.

The city provides great culture; including art galleries, music halls, etc. Being one of the largest cities in the world it has famous grand hotels like Four seasons, cairo marriott etc. Cairo has incredible selection of shopping, leisure and nightlife activities. City of Cairo is very lively and it is populated with diverse culture and good hearted people.

History

History of Cairo is very complex and fascinating one. Cairo was founded by "Fatimid dynasty" in the 10th century A.D. It has been the focal point in Egypt due to its strategic location nearby Nile.Cairo's history is an interesting narration of events that have played key role in the development and evolution of Cairo as a modern city.

Early History of Cairo

The early history starts with Paleolithic and Neolithic period in 11th millennium BC and ends with the Muslim invasion. The early history has experienced the rule of different dynasties of Pharaohs who built the inspiring Egyptian pyramids. Around 3000 B.C. at the beginning of Bronze age, the king of Upper Egypt conquered the king of Lower Egypt and hence the unification occurred during this period. The Egyptians built pyramids as a tomb for their Pharaohs. This was built supposedly in-between 2686-2160 B.C.

In 525 B.C, Cambyses Persian king brought his army and conquered Egypt and made Egypt part of Persian empire. But in 332 B.C, Alexander conquered persian empire and took over Egypt. Later the Greek successors rule Egypt from 332 - 30 B.C which was also the period of Cleopatra. She was a greek woman and also a Pharaoh of Egypt. After Cleopatra died, Romans took over Egypt and it became part of the Roman empire. Roman empire lasted for hundreds of years 30 B.C - 700 A.D. List of all the dynasties.

French Occupation of Cairo

The entry of Napoleon into the city of Cairo in the year 1798 marked the beginning of this. Napoleon invaded Cairo with the intention of disrupting British trade route. Cairo as a city underwent many social and cultural change under the French rule. Even after the french left, their occupation left an impression in different spheres of life of the people of Cairo.

British Occupation of Cairo

Lord Cromer was placed as the first British Agent in Egypt. Cairo prospered and flourished under the British rule. Tram ways were built, train services were started and various English stores and shopping arcades were set up. Finally, the revolution of 1952 vanquished and ended the 70yrs British rule in Cairo.

Geography of Cairo

Cairo is located in the northern Egypt, 165kms south of Mediterranean Sea and 120 kms west of the Suez canal. The city is along the Nile river that has influenced the history of Cairo. In Cairo, and along the Nile river valley, the climate is a desert climate but often with high humidity. Wind storms can be frequent bringing the Saharan dust into the city during the months of March and April. Rainfall is sparse, but sudden showers cause flooding.

Infrastructure

Health

Cairo and neighboring city Giza, has been established as Egypt's main center for medical treatment and has most advanced level of medical care in the country.

Education

Cairo has been the hub of education in Egypt. Cairo is the center of many government offices, it has largest number of educational schools and higher learning institutes among other cities of Egypt.

Transportation

Transportation in Cairo comprises of extensive rail network, subway systems, road network and maritime services. The road transport is facilitated by personal vehicles, cabs, buses etc. The subway system is a fast and efficient way to get around Cairo. It can get crowded during rush hour. Cairo traffic is known to be overcrowded. Drivers tend to be aggressive but more courteous at intersections. Egypt Air is the national airline of Egypt and Cairo international airport serves the city. It is the second busiest airport in Africa.

Sports

Football is the most popular sport in Egypt and Cairo has a number of sporting teams that compete in national and regional leagues.

Economy

The majority of nation's commerce is generated in Cairo. The city has majority of publishing houses, media outlets and nearly all film studios. The Egyptian pound is the currency of Egypt.

Cities Architecture, mosques and museums

Tahrir Square

It was founded during mid 19th century. Several notable buildings surround the square including American university in Cairo, government buildings, headquarters of Arab League, the Egyptian museum etc. Being at the heart of Cairo, the square has observed many major protests.

The Egyptian Museum

It is the home to most extensive collections of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. It has 136,000 items to display and many thousands in the basement storerooms.

Old Cairo

It is the portion of the city, that is home to the Babylon Fortress, coptic museum, hanging church and other cathedrals.

Cairo Tower

It is a self-supporting concrete television tower in the city. At 187 meters, it is 43meters higher than the Great pyramids of Giza.

Link for photos of Cairo

http://www.ehabweb.net/cairo.html

If you have reached to this point means you developed interest in reading about Cairo, now go to Part II article that talks about Egyptian music, Art and the Great Giza pyramids

First post

2011-09-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I am going to maintain this blog to update info about various world cities every week.

Top 5 cities about which i am going to write are:

1. Cairo, Egypt

2. Tokyo, Japan

3. Shanghai, China

4. London, England

5. Philadelphia, USA

I will update with another blog post. Top areas of discussion would be: Origin, history,wars if any, national monuments, current economy, infrastructure etc.

Hope you like my new blog.

Thanks,

Raniiiii