Roving Japan

Photoset, Days 54, 55 and 56

I was going to do an entry for each day, but I think I can summarize the entire Kyoto trip in one post and let the photos fill in the details.

We spent our 3 days bouncing around as many temples and shrines that we possibly could. All of them are beautiful, but some more beautiful than others. Many of them are actually undergoing restoration and are covered in scaffolding (this doesn’t stop them from charging full price admission though.). My personal favorites were Taizo-in, Tenryu-ji and Nijo-jo.

Taizo-in had an excellent Zen garden which far outclassed the more famous Ryoan-ji which was tiny and unfortunately obscured by construction work. Taizo-in is part of a huge temple complex which was really fun to walk though, as it gave us the feeling of walking through old Kyoto city streets.

Nijo-jo is where the Kyoto capital palace is located. This ancient temple was very impressive. We really liked that they had set up mannequins in a couple of the main rooms. We’ve seen a lot of historical buildings, but this was the first one that showed some context for how people actually used the rooms.

The floor at Nijo-jo also makes a chirping noise as guests walk on the wooden planks. At first we thought that it was just due to wear and tear, but we learned that the chirps were by design. The noisy floor alerted the guards that someone was walking the halls.

I also liked Ninna-ji, although it didn’t offer any revolutionary sights, it was nice because we were basically alone. Being able to quietly walk around a 400 year old temple is much more gratifying than trying to squeeze around bus loads of tourists and school kids to take a photo.

One of the most famous temples, Kiyomizu-dera was way too touristy for my taste. It was just not possible to retain the authentic ancient temple atmosphere when there were hundreds of people walking through, and souvenir shops selling sweets and trinkets INSIDE THE TEMPLE. Charms are one thing, but sweets and fans are another. Keep that stuff outside the temple walls please.

Another temple, Sanjusangen-do had an amazing display of 1000 golden statues of the “Thousand Armed Kannon.” but there was a constant flow of middle school and high school students disrupting the temple atmosphere. Too bad too, because the statues were really awesome (no pics allowed, so here is a link)

I know that many people like to associate Kyoto with Geishas and such, but we didn’t see any. Risa says that it’s very rare to see a real Geisha. Most of the girls in kimonos you see walking around are tourists who have rented a kimono for the day. That doesn’t make the scene any less pretty though. In the neighborhood of Gion, we saw a couple kimono clad women walking down the road. When they are alone, it almost looks like a scene out of an old movie.

It was fun to spend the last few days with Risas mom. One of the most unique temples we saw was based on Yoshikos suggestion. Nanzen-ji, which has a European style aqueduct running through it and a giant stone lantern.

Risa had a great time hanging out with her mom. It’s been a couple of months since we’ve seen a familiar face, so it was nice to have family around.

Yoshiko left on the 3rd (today), but Risa and I are staying one last night so we can leave tomorrow morning.

Kyoto Sightseeing Summary
Day 1:
Sanjusangen-do Temple — ***1/2 The artifacts alone are worth 5 stars, but the temple atmosphere is shattered by bus loads of students and tourists.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple — *** Too touristy for me, but the buildings are beautiful.

Yasaka Jinja — ** Nice shrine near Gion.

Gion Neighborhood — ***1/2 Cool neighborhood with a good atmosphere.

Ginkaku-ji Temple — *** The main structure was under construction, but the garden was great.

Heian-jingu Shrine — *** A giant torii marking the entrance was very cool, and the colorful structures were very impressive. Can anyone identify these Chinese(Taiwanese?) celebrities?

Day 2:
Kinkaku-ji Temple — ***1/2 The famous gold structure was pretty, but the garden was lacking. Also lots of tourists.

Ryoan-ji Temple — * Disappointing. Zen garden was obscured by scaffolding, and they charge full price admission anyway.

Ninna-ji Temple — *** Nothing new, but since we were almost alone, we could enjoy the relaxing atmosphere.

Taizou-in Temple — **** Fantastic zen gardens. Fun to walk through the temple complex.

Tenryu-ji Temple — ***** One of the best temples we saw. One of the few temples where you can walk inside the buildings. It also has a massive garden in the back.

Arashima Neighborhood — ** Famous for the river and a few shops. Nothing too exciting.

Togetsu-kyo Bridge — ** A Famous bridge. Nice for the historical significance, but this bridge isn’t an original, so there isn’t much to look at.

Day 3:
Nijo-jo Castle — ***** “Castle” doesn’t apply anymore, as the main castle structure is gone. But the Nijo-jo Palace is fantastic. This is the actual capital building of old Kyoto. The palace was incredibly interesting because they had life-sized mannequins in the rooms to give you some context as to how these rooms were used. (no photos allowed inside unfortunately)

Nishihonngan-ji Temple — *** Huge “Working” temple. We could enter the temple buildings and listen to the monks reading scripture. We also saw a long line of monks leaving the temple after a days worth of studying.

Koryu-ji Temple — ** Nice little temple, but nothing new.

Nanzen-ji Temple — ***1/2 Nanzen had two unique elements. An aqueduct and a giant stone lantern. It’s very pretty, but we arrived after closing so we didn’t get to experience everything it had to offer.

Day 51 and 52 Photoset

The gray polluted cityscape of Osaka has been thankfully replaced by blue skies, quieter streets, green parks and lots and lots of historic temples. Welcome to Nara! Birthplace of Japan.

Nara is a really nice little city. It’s one of the oldest cities in Japan, and the first capital city of Japan. The city has modernized a bit, but you still get the old city feel when you walk the streets and discover a 150 year old house that has been turned into a museum, or a 100 year old house that still has people living in it.

We spent our two days in Nara staying at the Nara UGAYA Hostel. It was a nice hostel, although not as good as Beppu Guesthouse. It was close to the station and close to Nara park, so it was perfect for our needs.

We spent the first day exploring the park (which is filled with deer), seeing the largest Buddha in Japan, visiting several old temples, and just otherwise enjoying the trees and blue sky. The weather report called for rain, but it was beautiful out. Such a wonderful change of pace!

The second day we extended our range to include a couple of other temples about 20min away by train. Horyuji and Yakushiji were really cool, and for the most part, they were tourist free.

The rain came today, beginning as a little sprinkle, but later turning into a downpour. Unfortunately for me, the downpour came during the middle of our walk from the last temple to a station about 1km away. By the time we got to the train, it looked like I had just climbed out of a pool. Oh well, at least the rain in Japan is warm. Not like the freezing cold rain I’m used too.