Latest news with #AussieTravellers
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
The eerie secret hiding within Japan's magnificent temples
Demonic security guards are secretly watching Aussie tourists while they wander Japan 's thousands of magnificent temples. Travellers who explore famous religious sites in Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka don't realise their behaviour is closely monitored by these creepy ogres. Aussie travellers are lured to Japan not just by it modern cities, elite cuisine, and distinctive culture, but also its array of splendid spiritual sites. Japan has more than 80,000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, including top attractions like Tokyo's grand Senso-ji, Kyoto's sublime Kiyomizu-dera, and Osaka's majestic Shitenno-ji. While visitors savour the commanding architecture and serene gardens of these temples, they unknowingly walk through wild tales from Japanese mythology. Every person who enters one of these Buddhist sites can look up and spot its Onigawara roof tiles. Although these ceramic artworks look like mere ornaments, they actually have a crucial role. Because each tile depicts an Oni ogre, whose job is to watch over the temple. For more than 1000 years, Japan's temples and shrines have been decorated by Onigawara carvings of these ogre demons, which provide them with cosmic protection. All of which sounds confusing. Until, that is, you learn about this country's deep connection to angels and demons. In Japanese mythology, this eternal Good vs. Evil battle takes place between Tennyo angels and Onryo demons. Tennyo are commonly depicted as beautiful women in flowing robes. Tourists can see them in mural or statue form at many religious complexes, or carved into a giant wooden sculpture inside the main Tokyo branch of the Mitsukoshi department store. Whereas Tennyo are pure and peaceful, Onryo are much more complicated in character. This class of demons, which includes the Oni ogre, are considered malicious, and capable of causing great harm not just to individual humans, but to Japanese society as a whole. Yet Onryo aren't just evil. They can also be a great ally to those humans who worship them and earn their favour. Which is why tourists at Japanese Buddhist temples may spot locals kneeling before a statue of a vicious-looking beast. They may be venerating any of the dozens of different types of Onryo demons. Some Onryo are shapeshifting beasts, like the Oni ogres. Others are ghosts of humans who were wronged during their life and have returned to haunt Japan as revenge. Tourist can see both of those styles of Onryo demon being respected at Tokyo's Oiwa Inari Tamiya Jinja. That pretty shrine, near popular Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, is dedicated to a demon named Oiwa, a woman who was murdered by her husband and now prowls Tokyo as a vengeful ghost. Meanwhile, the roof of this shrine hosts another type of Onryo, the Oni. Several of these ogres sits on its roof in sculpture form, peering down through the trees at local worshippers and foreign tourists. Just as it does at tens of thousands more Japanese temples. Oni are easy to identify, once you know what to look for. Most commonly, these ceramic artworks have two horns, wide eyes, a bulbous nose, and a gaping mouth bearing sharp teeth. Typically, they are positioned at the end of the ridges on a temple's roof. This tradition is at least 1400 years old. Onigawara roof tiles have been traced back to the 6th century, when a Korean artisan landed in Japan and pioneered the concept of tiles. This new style of roofing was then used at Asuka-dera, a brilliant Buddhist temple in Nara, which was the capital of Japan at that time. Remarkably, Asuka-dera is still standing. Perhaps due to the protection offered by its Onigawara tiles, which visitors can spot atop each corner of its roof. Elsewhere in Nara, tourists can admire especially menacing Oni ogres atop colossal Todai-ji temple and graceful K�fuku-ji temple. Or travellers can admire outstanding demon tiles in the nearby tourist hubs of Kyoto and Osaka. In Osaka, Oni ogres stand sentry at the photogenic Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine, the sprawling Osaka Tenmangu shrine, and historic Isshin-ji temple. Kyoto, meanwhile, is even more laden with Oni, due to being the most traditional of all Japanese cities. Onigawara tiles sit atop its memorable Kodai-ji, and golden Kinkaku-ji temples, among many more landmarks. They are also are positioned on the roofs of old-fashioned Kyoto homes, to protect the inhabitants. Aussies can learn to make their own Onigawara tiles while visiting Kyoto, Japan's former capital city and its modern day hub of traditional crafts. Kawarakoubou is a Kyoto art business run by a veteran Onigawara craftsman, who teaches tourists how to take lumps of clay, and hand-mould them into devilish shapes. These artworks are then baked in his kiln, before being delivered to the tourist's hotel for them to take home as a unique keepsake. Just make sure, upon landing back in Australia, that you declare to customs you're carrying a demonic security guard. That may take some explaining.
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Aussies' dream holidays up in the air after travel agent collapses
Dozens of Australians have had their dream holidays ruined and are tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket after a travel agency collapsed. At the end of last month Traveldream, which operates as an online travel agency, plunged into administration. The business ceased trading immediately on April 28, causing the flight, accommodation, cruise and tour bookings of their customers to go up in smoke. knows of a mother and her two daughters who have lost $33,000 from the debacle and a group of Aussie travellers currently overseas who arrived at their hotel after a long journey only to learn there was no booking under their name. Insiders told that in the months before Traveldream's collapse, the business had been laying staff off in redundancy rounds but was still accepting new bookings. The company went from having eight staff to no one by the time it crumbled. Donna Lamberth and her husband, 53, lost out on $15,500 because of company's sudden collapse. 'I'm going to have to save again. It's a lot of money to lose,' she told Ms Lamberth, from Injune, Queensland, has been saving up for two years to go on the trip of a lifetime starting in Vancouver, then a cruise from Alaska, ending up in Las Vegas as well as seeing the Grand Canyon. In December, she paid off 100 per cent of the trip. 'I was devastated,' she said when she heard Traveldream had gone bust. 'Then I was thinking I would just pay the extra because my flights and cruise (should be) paid for.' She was happy to learn her money had been put towards securing plane tickets. But when she rang up the cruise company, they informed her that only $250 had been paid by way of a deposit. 'They said there was still $7000 to pay. I burst into tears.' The Lamberths had to pull the pin on their holiday trip and cancel their two months of leave. Ms Lamberth said she was unable to afford to pay for the accommodation and the cruise all over again. 'My bags were packed. I haven't even unpacked my bags yet,' she lamented. At least 75 people are in Ms Lamberth's position, according to the appointed administrator, Bill Karageozis of insolvency firm Mcleods. So far 75 creditors have come forward but the administrator expects there may be as many as 100 creditors for the compay which was registered as Australian Travel Deals Pty Ltd, but traded under the name Traveldream. Mr Karageozis told that the company's debts are unlikely to exceed $1 million. 'There are no available tangible assets of the company,' he added. The administrator has encouraged customers to try to find out who their travel 'wholesaler' is – meaning the company the travel agency paid to secure services. For instance, some customers have managed to salvage plane tickets with airline carriers. It's possible that some services were prepaid using customer money, making it possible that some trips can still go ahead. The list of some of the suppliers customers are recommended to contact include Royal Caribbean Cruises, Holland America Cruises, Qantas, Air Canada, United Airlines, American Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Westjet and Canada Rockeries Keywest Tours. The number of impacted customers might be more – a whopping 300 people reportedly signed up to a tour starting next Monday, May 19, according to an email Traveldream sent. The trip is to the same destinations Ms Lamberth was planning to visit, in North America. Lorraine Micairan is one of the 300 leaving next week and has luckily scrambled to save her trip. But the Sydneysider had to fork out thousands of extra dollars to fill the gaps left behind by Traveldream. 'We're still afloat,' Ms Micairan, a mum-of-five, told 'I received an itinerary, flight details. When I checked in online it says it's cancelled. When I rang Qantas about it, they said there's no payment.' She and her husband paid $12,000 altogether for their much-anticipated vacation along with a group of six other friends. They also discovered the only accommodation that had been prepaid using their money was for a few days in Las Vegas. Luckily Ms Micairan, 37, and their friends pooled their resources and have booked AirBnbs, which has worked out cheaper than each couple booking individual hotel rooms. She was despairing about having to book a last minute plane ticket which was around $5000. Luckily, she said a plane ticket had been reserved at a $1400 price point, so she was able to pay that to secure it. The trip 'is still very expensive', she said, and has cost her a lot more than it should have. Melbourne-based Christopher Banson is the sole director of Australian Travel Deals Pty Ltd. It's been a registered business since 2016. has contacted him for comment. Mr Banson also runs another travel-related business called Salt Water Hotels and Resorts, which has 30 properties around Australia available to stay in. This business is unaffected by the collapse of Traveldream. The Salt Water Hotel business is a shareholder of the Traveldream company. Another shareholder, Travel Dream Australia Pty Ltd, owes Traveldream $49,000, according to administrators. This company is solely directed by Paul Mercuri. Mr Mercuri co-founded Traveldream but was not working at the company by the time it collapsed. attempted to contact Mr Mercuri for comment. For Michelle Brown and Tammy Meurant, their Traveldream experience has been the opposite of a dream. The friends, along with their husbands, arrived in Vancouver last Friday after spending 21 hours flying to begin their holiday. 'We turn up there at whatever time of night. They said: 'sorry we don't have a booking',' Ms Brown recounted to The group of friends, in their 50s, had been worried something like that might happen. They had rung up the hotel multiple times and the hotel had assured them their rooms were confirmed. They had even received confirmation emails and details about check-in. It turned out that someone had rung up and cancelled their booking three days before they arrived, presumably because Traveldream had failed to pay for their rooms. 'We arrived on Friday the 9th. It was cancelled on the 6th. Someone rang the hotel and cancelled it. It had to be a third party.' The two couples are pushing on with their holiday but have been 'scrambling' to find accommodation. They have booked Airbnbs between the four of them for several locations and are bracing for other hotels to be cancelled last minute.
