Kyoto Day 1

Well, it's a dull rainy Saturday, so I figured it's about time to post about my trip to Kyoto. Spring has nearly sprung now - sakura should be starting any day now - but this trip was about 2 months back. Because of spreading 20 days over two months, I had the last few days of January off, so a nebulous idea of going somewhere turned into a fantastic trip to Kyoto. As you know, I had been there briefly last year, but only visited the castle, which was nice, but not particularly impressive. I thought there wasn't much more to Kyoto beyond a few more temples that I could see from the top level of the station, but I was wrong - very wrong. This time, I saw a lot, but still only scratched the surface...

We (names will be omitted to protect the not-so-innocent! ;) ) took the shinkansen and arrived about 11am at Kyoto Station. It was still just as impressive as I remembered, and still sticks out as a modern monstrosity amid all the ancient splendour of old Kyoto. This time, again, I was armed with a better camera.



This is near the top of 10 stories' worth of escalator...



...and about halfway down, where if you look up, you will see...



...the massive glass roof. Still the most amazing train station I've ever seen. A delicious (or "edible", depending on your translation of oishii) okonomiyaki lunch and a bus ride later, we arrived at Kiyomizudera, one of the more popular tourist spots.



The front gate...



...the bell tower...



...and the grand view of the temple. Amazing to think that all this traditional architecture is built without a single nail! At the bottom of the frame, you can see the roof built over the holy waterfall, Otawa-no-taki, the waters of which are said to cure what ails you. Although I haven't been sick since I've been in Japan, I drank some anyway, just to be on the safe side.



A little further down the road was one of those "old streets" selling souvenirs and snacks to the tourists. Unlike some others, it loses the Edo-era atmosphere somewhat with all the power poles and wires...



...and what, at first glance, appeared to be another temple, but was actually a restaurant. I expect it was the sort of place that, if you weren't on an expense account, you couldn't afford to eat there.

The presence of Buddhism is stronger here than I have seen anywhere else, as you can see by the likes of this guy...



...and in the names - if it's called -dera or -ji, it's a Buddhist temple; if it's called jinja or jingu, it's a Shinto shrine. All too often they seem to be mixed together, but in Kyoto, every little sect has its headquarters and a grand temple of some kind. I was starting to get an appreciation for the diversity of belief within Japanese religions, but unfortunately there was little information available in English, and my companion, although impressively knowledgeable about these different sects for the younger generation of Japanese, couldn't provide much detail. The thought struck me that in this respect, Japan is perhaps a kind of alter-ego of the West, with its monolithic religion(s) and pluralistic society. Maybe a gross generalisation, but an interesting concept nonetheless. But I digress...

The next stop was Koudaiji, a temple built in memory of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whose legacy was built on by Oda Nobunaga (whose great-great-great...grandson was competing in the World Figure-skating Championships held in Tokyo this week - I wonder if he'd be proud or spinning in his grave...) and Tokugawa Ieyasu to unify Japan in the 17th century. The temple itself is rather understated, but the grounds have wonderful gardens, starting with a raked gravel garden, complete with mini-Fuji-san...



As for the rest, if I'm gonna finish this tonight, I'll let the pics speak for themselves.























On the way to the next stop, we almost got run down by a rickshaw full of geisha (that sounds like a great punchline - I wish I had a good joke to go with it)...





...but at least I then had my camera ready for a slower-moving procession of maiko.



On to Maruyama-kouen, a nice little park with a giant shidarezakura (weeping cherry tree), which is a favourite local spot for hanami (getting pissed under the cherry blossoms).





The entrance torii to Yasaka Jinja, considered the guardian shrine of Gion, Kyoto's entertainment/red-light district.











In the light of the setting sun, it's looking just as garish as its ward.



Alas, there was no time left for anything other than a wistful look over the fence at one of the biggest and most impressive temples in the area, Chion-in. It's the headquarters of the Joudou (Pure-land) school of Buddhism, one of the biggest, richest and most powerful branches in Japan, which was founded by Hounen, a 12th century monk who advocated a more ascetic and devotional path to enlightenment before fasting himself to death.

All this talk of fasting made me hungry, but thankfully, being at a shrine meant there was a ready source of takoyaki nearby. Temporarily sated, we did a bit of strolling and window-shopping through Gion, took the bridge over the Kamo-gawa to the city centre, and checked in to the ryokan (Japanese-style inn) we had booked. They say that everyone who visits Japan should stay at a ryokan at least once. I suspect they say that to try to keep the business alive. To be fair, it's reasonable accommodation - you can appreciate the traditional decor...



...and try out the samurai-style pyjamas...



...but for that price, I'd prefer a real bed with a real pillow and non-shared bathroom, especially after spending the day hiking all over town. At least now I can say that I've been there and done that.

One little highlight to add - we found a great little izakaya nearby that had the best maguro sashimi I've ever tasted!

To be continued...