Kyoto Day 2
Well, Day 1 had focussed on the Higashiyama area in the east, so for Day 2, we headed out to the Sakyou area in the north-east. After a very crowded bus ride, we found a little hole-in-the-wall shop that had great tan-tan (spicy) ramen. Upon filling up, we headed off to the first stop, Ginkaku-ji - the Silver Pavilion, a somewhat less flashy version of Kinkaku-ji (coming up in Day 3). It was built in 1482 by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who intended to cover it in silver, but he apparently ran out of money, and it was turned into a temple after his death. The building itself is not all that spectacular, but the gardens certainly are.
The gardens are all trees and moss in that classic style that everybody has seen in all the picture-books. What was particularly interesting here was they had a little display with all the different types of moss they use - with weird names (at least in English) like "Very Important Moss" and "Moss the Interrupter".
The view from the top of a little track that went up the hillside, with the temple complex down below and the city sprawling off into the distance.
Nearer the temple, they had this elaborately raked sand garden, complete with not-so-mini Fuji-san.
The entrance and exit was this path through incredibly tall hedges. Leading away south from Ginkaku-ji is the Tetsugaku-no-Michi, or "Path of Philosophy", an old cobblestoned walkway that follows a canal lined with cherry trees. A peaceful place to walk, which must be magnificent during sakura season.
Then, a few minutes down the track, is Hounen-in, a little temple dedicated to the guy who starved himself to death...
...complete with a mini-pagoda to keep the local ghosts happy.
Further down the road, we were greeted by this little fellow. Called the tanuki, he, and his unfeasibly large testicles, is the guardian spirit (if you'll pardon the pun) of izakayas everywhere.
Here, tucked away in the middle of nowhere beside the path, was a rather understated memorial to an Empress.
The next stop was Eikan-do, which was founded in the 9th century, but rededicated in the 11th century to the monk Eikan, who had a vision of the Buddha leading him on a path. When Eikan was too afraid to follow, the Buddha looked back over his shoulder, and this image is the centerpiece of the temple's main hall. Of course, pictures weren't allowed, but there are some nice gardens and a covered walkway up the hill to a little shrine with a nice view of the city...
...of course, you didn't want to see the city, did you?
The last stop for the day was the Nanzen-ji temple complex. It was originally built as a retirement villa for the 13th century Emperor Kameyama, but after his death, it was donated as a Zen temple, and is now the headquarters of the Rinzai sect. The original buildings were destroyed in the 15th century, but it was rebuilt later in the 17th century. The central temple is, as you might expect, done in classic Zen style, complete with rock gardens.
A giant Meiji-era aqueduct runs through the grounds, where you can find a few smaller temples hiding...
...such as Koutoku-an...
...dedicated to lovers, with two trees of different species in the front garden that have intertwined and merged...
...and Nanzen-in, the original Imperial villa with a garden supposedly designed by the Emperor himself.
His ashes are kept in a small shrine nearby. Moving from the subtle and intimate to the grand and bombastic, we encountered the entrance to the complex, the Sanmon gate.
As the sun was setting, we took a train back into Gion, in search of some sustenance. After a thorough wander around the red-light district, and perusing dozens of izakaya menus, we settled in a tiny little place down a tiny little alleyway near the canal which runs from Nanzen-ji down to the Kamogawa. I was attracted by the picture of the fugu (pufferfish), since I hadn't yet tried this delicacy. I was reassured by the numerous awards and certificates on display behind the bar enough to have reasonable confidence in not being poisoned, so I tried a plate of fugu sashimi. Well, as I am writing to you now, I obviously suffered no ill effects, and found the taste pleasant, but quite subtle - as with so many such delicacies, it tends to taste overwhelmingly of shoyu and wasabi.
After a leisurely dinner, washed down with a considerable amount of atsukan (hot sake) to stave off the nighttime cold, we adjourned to accommodation of considerably better comfort than the ryokan of the previous night. Sorry, no pics of that place! ;)
To be continued...
The gardens are all trees and moss in that classic style that everybody has seen in all the picture-books. What was particularly interesting here was they had a little display with all the different types of moss they use - with weird names (at least in English) like "Very Important Moss" and "Moss the Interrupter".
The view from the top of a little track that went up the hillside, with the temple complex down below and the city sprawling off into the distance.
Nearer the temple, they had this elaborately raked sand garden, complete with not-so-mini Fuji-san.
The entrance and exit was this path through incredibly tall hedges. Leading away south from Ginkaku-ji is the Tetsugaku-no-Michi, or "Path of Philosophy", an old cobblestoned walkway that follows a canal lined with cherry trees. A peaceful place to walk, which must be magnificent during sakura season.
Then, a few minutes down the track, is Hounen-in, a little temple dedicated to the guy who starved himself to death...
...complete with a mini-pagoda to keep the local ghosts happy.
Further down the road, we were greeted by this little fellow. Called the tanuki, he, and his unfeasibly large testicles, is the guardian spirit (if you'll pardon the pun) of izakayas everywhere.
Here, tucked away in the middle of nowhere beside the path, was a rather understated memorial to an Empress.
The next stop was Eikan-do, which was founded in the 9th century, but rededicated in the 11th century to the monk Eikan, who had a vision of the Buddha leading him on a path. When Eikan was too afraid to follow, the Buddha looked back over his shoulder, and this image is the centerpiece of the temple's main hall. Of course, pictures weren't allowed, but there are some nice gardens and a covered walkway up the hill to a little shrine with a nice view of the city...
...of course, you didn't want to see the city, did you?
The last stop for the day was the Nanzen-ji temple complex. It was originally built as a retirement villa for the 13th century Emperor Kameyama, but after his death, it was donated as a Zen temple, and is now the headquarters of the Rinzai sect. The original buildings were destroyed in the 15th century, but it was rebuilt later in the 17th century. The central temple is, as you might expect, done in classic Zen style, complete with rock gardens.
A giant Meiji-era aqueduct runs through the grounds, where you can find a few smaller temples hiding...
...such as Koutoku-an...
...dedicated to lovers, with two trees of different species in the front garden that have intertwined and merged...
...and Nanzen-in, the original Imperial villa with a garden supposedly designed by the Emperor himself.
His ashes are kept in a small shrine nearby. Moving from the subtle and intimate to the grand and bombastic, we encountered the entrance to the complex, the Sanmon gate.
As the sun was setting, we took a train back into Gion, in search of some sustenance. After a thorough wander around the red-light district, and perusing dozens of izakaya menus, we settled in a tiny little place down a tiny little alleyway near the canal which runs from Nanzen-ji down to the Kamogawa. I was attracted by the picture of the fugu (pufferfish), since I hadn't yet tried this delicacy. I was reassured by the numerous awards and certificates on display behind the bar enough to have reasonable confidence in not being poisoned, so I tried a plate of fugu sashimi. Well, as I am writing to you now, I obviously suffered no ill effects, and found the taste pleasant, but quite subtle - as with so many such delicacies, it tends to taste overwhelmingly of shoyu and wasabi.
After a leisurely dinner, washed down with a considerable amount of atsukan (hot sake) to stave off the nighttime cold, we adjourned to accommodation of considerably better comfort than the ryokan of the previous night. Sorry, no pics of that place! ;)
To be continued...
posted by Ia Ftaghn at 9:50 pm
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