Kyoto!

This week is Silver Week in Japan, a national holiday for five days. Kim and I have no school this Monday-Wednesday, so we decided to use this time to take a trip to Kyoto! 

We left Tokyo Station via Shinkansen (bullet train). I thought my first ride on the bullet train was one of the coolest things I've experienced. There are several different models of the Shinkansen, but all of them have a very long front end with an aerodynamic design. The earlier models really do look like bullets, with a long, low rounded front end. Ours was a little less dramatic but it still looked very interesting and unlike any other train I've been on. The seats were comfortable with lots of leg room, a tray table, and a large window. The seats reclined back quite a bit. Kim let me have her window seat on the way to Kyoto, which made me very happy because I love to look out the window on trips, and this ride treated me to a view of the more suburban and rural parts of Japan. My phone can measure the speed I'm going (through Snapchat) and it said we were going an average of 160mph. Things out of the window zoom past you so quickly it's hard for your eyes to focus on any one thing before it's zipped by you. It was cool though - looking through a window on a train at 160mph is much different than on a train at 40mph! After a little more than 2 hours we arrived in Kyoto.

Kimonos are comfortable!

We took two subway trains to get to our Airbnb host. Our host was wonderful. His name is Yoshio and he is one of the kindest people I've met. He waited for us at Daigo station to make sure we wouldn't get lost when we got off the train. In the mornings he'd bring us hot water and coffee, and this morning (my last morning) he brought me a breakfast of two warm pastries, watermelon, and a banana. On Sunday night Yoshio took us to the house of his friend Yano, a tea ceremony master. She built a room in her house specifically for entertaining guests with traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Yano gave Kim and I a lesson in the customs and rituals of the tea ceremony, a treat neither of us expected but one that we both loved. Yano was dressed in a beautiful green kimono and we sat on cushions on top of tatami mats, the type of mats that lined the floors of many ancient shrines and temples. There were many customs involved in the ceremony. Yano made the green tea with very precise and delicate movements. It seemed as though the goal is to make as little noise as possible. She warms the tea in a large, intricate iron pot, pours the hot water into a tea bowl that has a couple small scoops of green tea powder (without destroying the pointed mountain of the powder in the jar), and mixes it with a bamboo whisk 40 times. Then she places the tea bowl in front of the first guest and bows her head to the ground (the guest does the same). The guest (this was our role in the ceremony) picks up the tea bowl, turns it three times so that what was the front now faces the back, takes three sips, and on the third sip finishes the tea and makes a slurping noise to indicate the tea has been finished. Then the guest wipes the rim of the bowl they had their mouth on, turns the tea bowl back to its original position, and places it on the tatami mat in front of them. Another custom of the tea ceremony is to eat sweets to balance out the bitterness of the green tea. Yano had very tasty mochi and sweet nuts for us to eat while she prepared the tea. 

Yano was made very happy by how much Kim and I enjoyed the tea ceremony. She invited us to try on two of her kimonos, a great surprise. She dressed us each in one - they were very comfortable! She taught us to take small steps while wearing the kimono, and not to step outside the boundary of the cloth. It was a wonderful experience.

After that, Yoshio took us to a sushi restaurant where you can get two pieces of sushi for 100 yen (100 yen is about 85 cents). I had four pieces of tuna sushi and a bowl of ramen. I noticed the restaurant also sold french fries, but I resisted. ;)

Now, onto what I saw in Kyoto! Kyoto is an incredible city with dozens of temples and shrines. It'd be impossible to see everything in only 2 1/2 days, but in that time I managed to see 5 temples, 2 shrines, 1 castle, a bamboo grove, a monkey park, a downtown area along a river, and a fire dancer. 

The entrance to Fushimi-inari-taisha.

One of my favorite sites was the Fushimi-inari-taisha shrine. It's the well-known shrine with hundreds of tall orange gates. The gates are a vibrant, beautiful orange and line the stairs that lead all the way up Mt. Inari, where the main shrine is. Along the way up the mountain are many smaller stone shrines where visitors can stop and pray. There are also waterfalls and ponds. It was wonderful seeing the bright orange contrast with the lush, green background of the forest it was in. 

Kinakakuji Temple.

Another favorite sight is Kinkakuji Temple, also known as the golden pavilion. This gilded temple lies on the shore of a pond. It has two stories, golden sides, and two black roofs. At the top of the temple is a golden rooster, almost like a weathervane. Visitors can see the temple from across the pond and closer up by walking on stone paths along the water. Its golden color goes well with its green background of trees. I'm sure later in fall the red leaves make it look even more splendid. 

I also loved Nijojo Castle. Located in the middle of Kyoto, this white castle has a sprawling complex and offers visitors an inside tour of the main castle. Unfortunately photography was not permitted inside the castle, but the castle's interior was one of my favorite things I saw. The walls have gold-leaf decoration with paintings of bamboo, tigers, and birds. Fusura (sliding doors) are located in every room and along the exterior walls. There were models of the shogun receiving feudal lords, all sitting in a bowed position in front of the shogun. In the shogun's bedchamber was a model of the shogun sitting with two women, the first and second ladies-in-attendance. It took about twenty minutes to walk through the directed path inside the castle. 

The bamboo grove.

I also saw the famous bamboo grove near Ryoanji Temple. This grove is about a quarter of a mile long and thick with tall bamboo. Bamboo is very beautiful - I wish there was bamboo in the US. I walked through it twice to make sure I fully appreciated it. 

Snow monkeys are spoiled!

After the bamboo grove I went to a monkey park! The park requires visitors to make a (rather difficult) hike up a small mountain to the observation area where all the monkeys live. It was a hot day, and the hike was tiring, but the top was worth it. Visitors can enter the caged area (which protects the visitors from the monkeys, not the other way around) and buy monkey snacks for 100 yen. I bought a bag of bananas and the monkeys would climb on the cage, reach through, and take it out of your hand. You can tell the monkeys get fed a lot because they would become particular about what they wanted to eat at a certain moment - it took a while for one monkey to decide he was done looking for peanuts and finally take my bananas. The view there was also lovely - you can see nearly all of Kyoto, along with mountains, which surround three sides of the city. 

Yoshio-san, my Airbnb host.

Other temples and shrines I saw include Ninnaji Temple, Yasaka shrine, Tenryuji Temple, and Daikakuji Temple. Each has similar architecture but also each is unique. Kyoto is a wonderful city, and I had a great time. I love to view historical sites, and Kyoto is full of them. Having Yoshio as an Airbnb host made it even more enjoyable and unique. I was sad to leave, and I think Yoshio was a bit sad too. He said, "Let me take a photo of you. You will be a great person one day." I will remember my Kyoto trip for the rest of my life.