Kyoto--Day 1
Okay, I realize that I said "give me a few days" about three weeks ago, but I have an explanation for that. Long story short: I lost my wallet. Somewhere on the train between Otsuki and Yokohama, it either fell out of my bag or someone stole it. I'm not sure which one. It's been a major headache dealing with that because it had all of my American and Japanese identification, my ATM and VISA cards, and roughly $300-400. So I've been broke, hungry, and overall depressed for about two weeks now. But I finally got enough wired to me to buy groceries, and I'm feeling much better after my first real meal in a long time. So now I'm ready to post about Kyoto...finally. I apologize for the incredibly long wait.
This is going to be big one. I've put ramen in and settled in for a very long post. So Lisa, Nozomi-san, Maru-san (my tutors), and I set off for Kyoto in the highlight of our Spring Break. I'm going to break this up into three parts, okay?
DAY 1: SUNDAY--We took the train out from Tsuru at about 7:50 a.m. and rode the line all the way to the end at Otsuki. Nozomi-san overslept and was just getting up when we called her to find out where she was. That wasn't good. So we were already a little thrown by not having all of our people with us. She decided to catch the super express train and make it to Tokyo Station a little after us. That was cutting it really close. Our Shinkansen left the station at 11:03, and her train was supposed to arrive at 10:55. Very, very close. But back to us for a sec.
I took a lot of pictures of the ride from Tsuru, but my camera ran out of memory space on Day 3, and I had to delete all of them to make space. Sorry. We were all pretty excited and awake, despite the early get-up. It became immediately apparent that there are a lot more cherry trees outside of Tsuru, because everything was pink in the countryside. We passed some really beautiful towns just as the sun was coming up, and made fairly good time.
We didn't take the most direct line because it was more expensive, so it took us a good two and a half hours to get to Tokyo. By the time we got there, we already felt like we had traveled enough for the day, but we weren't even halfway through. It was at this point that we got a bit frantic. Like I mentioned before, Nozomi (I'm going to drop the -sans, if you don't mind) was running late, and our train was about to leave. We didn't want to board without her, but waiting much longer would mean that we'd all miss the train. And we already had pre-paid tickets that were really expensive! Just as we were getting desperate, we spotted her in the crowd. We didn't waste time and took off sprinting for the gates. We ran into a problem at the toll gate. Apparently you have to insert your rail pass and your Shinkansen ticket at the same time, but I didn't know that, and we were stopped for a few crucial seconds as they tried to explain. The only thing left was a flight of stairs, and we took them two at a time with the luggage on our backs. Our train was already at the platform, ready to depart at any second. We ran full-out to find our car (14) and fell inside just as the doors were closing. Man, talk about stress!
But it was really nice once we knew that we had made it. I got a row all to myself at first with a window view, while they were crushed together on the side. That didn't last long, though. At the next stop, a middle-aged guy took the window seat and left me on the aisle. It's a pet peeve of mine when someone gets a window seat and doesn't look out it. He spent most of the trip reading the newspaper or dozing off. Grr...
Everyone else had managed to buy an obento lunch at the station as they waited for Nozomi. I had volunteered to guard the luggage and keep a look-out, so I didn't have anything to eat when everyone else was breaking out the chopsticks. Luckily, though, an attendant passed by with a cart of food and the like. It was kind of expensive (1000 for one obento box), but it was worth it. Here's what I bought:
Really good. The other guys weren't as lucky and got some sort of weird fish obento. Needless to say, I was full and a lot happier for the rest of the trip. The actual ride wasn't very eventful. I tried to sneak peeks out the window without staring at the guy next to me, and busied myself with my iPod. We finally pulled in to Kyoto at about 2:00 or so. That left us with a few hours to sight-see and stuff. We dropped our heavier bags off at a delivery service and had them sent ahead to our ryokan, so we didn't have to make the trip ourselves. That was really convenient, and free, for some reason.
Our first stop was the Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine in Southeast Kyoto. People who look at a lot of famous pictures of Japan will know that this is the place with all the red torii (you know, those pi-shaped arches over all the shrines?). We definitely wanted to go there, so we made it a top priority. I may have gone a little photo-happy in my excitement. I tried to restrain myself, but there was a lot to look at. Contrary to popular belief, there is more than one set of arches. We passed through it and thought we were done, but it goes WAY up the mountain, past dozens and dozens of torii tunnels. We didn't make it all the way to the top because it was getting late and we still had two stops planned. Shame.
Here's the main entry area. The shrine itself is really old. It was founded in 711 and is a symbol of wealth. The foxes guarding the front represent messengers. The one with a key in its mouth is supposed to protect the rice granary, I think. The foxes changed from gate to gate, mostly symbolizing the harvest.
The main shrine area.
There were also a lot of really cool shops leading down the mountain. We explored those for quite a while and picked out some cool things. Did I mention that it was raining? That was the only real downside of the trip. It rained the entire first day, and it went off-and-on the next few days. It was only after we left that the weather cleared up. Oh well. It was actually kind of cool in the middle of the forest, with lots of cover. Not so much in a busy street out in the open. Oh, and Maru was having some problems with the fortune thing. The stick that's supposed to come out of the bottom wouldn't come out. I got a so-so fortune this time.
Then the torii! They were huge and went back for quite a ways. Very good cover from the rain.
In order: Maru, Nozomi, and Lisa.
Oh, and me.
After passing through the first arches, we came into another mini-shrine area. This one was much less crowded and further into the woods. It was at this point that we realized just how far these torii went back. They go all the way up the mountain...which is a very long ways up. In all the famous shots of it, the photos make them seem like there's only one main "tunnel" that's famous. Very, very wrong. We had to have gone under at least twenty more just like it over the next two hours or so. I took a bunch of pictures of them, but they all start to look the same after a while. So I'm only going to post the ones that stand out as unique from the others.
The mini-shrine had a lot of candles lit around the outer edges, and a display of rocks at the center. Apparently, if you lift the rocks and they feel light, your wish will come true. I went into a Jedi trance and tried to clear my mind of everything, focusing only on the rock. It was heavy. So much for that idea. Basically, only heavy weight wrestlers will achieve happiness in this world. That's the message I'm taking back from Japan.
It was heavy.
We went down one of the more prominent paths and passed under another series of torii arches. So began our long and arduous trek up the mountain in the rain. It was actually really fun, though. You definitely got a spiritual, New Age-y feel from the mist, rain, and forest all around you. You could see how Shintoism could have started out in ancient Japan. If its creators were looking at forests like the one around Fushimi-Inari, they probably got the same sense that everything around them was alive with some sort of spirit. But I'm getting way too deep right now. Bottom line: it was really pretty, and the rain only added to the atmosphere.
We eventually climbed a flight of stone steps and crossed a mountain stream to arrive at a hidden lake in the middle of the shrine. I thought it was one of the highlights of the trip. You can't really tell from the pictures, but everything was completely still except for the rain hitting the water and creating ripples on the surface. Past the lake were a few little shops and lots of statues guarding the entrance. We passed by a really cute cat on the way up--doing its best to maintain its dignity in the rain.
Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the very top. I wanted to keep going all the way (it couldn't have been much further), but we were losing daylight, and we still had two more stops planned before the end of the day. We could spend the whole time in one place. So we reluctantly turned around towards the top and took a different path back. This one was much older looking and parts of it seemed to have fallen into disrepair. But that just made it cooler--more worn down. It was basically the back entrance through more stone work and sakura trees than bright red torii arches. There were some apartments literally in the middle of the shrine. I wish I lived there--that would be a nice commute.
We eventually left Fushimi-Inari and made our way to the station. Along the way, though, we passed a lot of nice shops and bought some souvenirs. I got a few things for people back home, but we probably spent too much time shopping around there. I think we probably could have gone to the top and not spent an hour in the shops, but I guess that's something for next time.
Kyoto is a really beautiful city...in a kind of artistically dark and mysterious sort of way. It definitely lacks the metropolitan, futuristic vibe of Tokyo. Everything seems a lot older in Kyoto, and there are a lot more shadows. Let me put it this way: If Tokyo is Metropolis, Kyoto is Gotham...and I'm always been more of a Batman girl. I'll show more pictures of the actual city in my next post. For now, I'll put that thought on hold and talk about the way to Tofuku-ji Temple.
I have to say one more thing about Kyoto, though--those red flowers are everywhere! I don't know what it's called, but this same flower kept showing up no matter where we went in the city. It was actually kind of cool. I was having a fangirl moment. When I saw the OVA (Trust and Betrayal) of Samurai X / Rurouni Kenshin, I assumed that the animators just threw that detail in for aesthetics and plot symbolism. I didn't actually think that those flowers would be in Kyoto for real. So it was a pleasant surprise. Every time I saw them, I had to urge to gasp, "To...mo...e..." Lisa got pretty tired of me after a few instances of this happening. For those of you who have NO idea what I'm talking about (and I'm sure it's the majority), I apologize. I now return you to your normal LiveJournal post.
To...mo...e...
Tofuku-ji was the tutors' pick. Lisa and I didn't know about it at all, but we figured that it had to be famous if the Japanese speakers wanted to go there. We took the train over there and got a little bit lost after arriving at the station. It was at the end of a very narrow and twisty side street. Kyoto has a lot of those. Turns out that the temple was founded back in 1236 and it's particularly famous for its maple trees. I guess a lot of people go there during autumn for the Fall colors. We finally got our first look at it from an old wooden bridge leaning across a canyon. We were just going through this covered entryway when one of us happened to look left and saw this.
Pretty impressive to look at. It's nice to know that after going to so many shrines and temples in Japan, I'm not tired of seeing new ones yet. The view was especially good from the bridge that we crossed. A little creek was running way down below, and cherry blossom petals were floating in the water. Very pretty.
Unfortunately, it was not to last. You see that picture on the bottom right up there? Those are the bars keeping us out. It closed early. We missed it by one or two hours. I can't really blame the tutors for not checking something like that--they've already been incredibly busy planning everything else. They missed a few details. A sympathetic older gentleman was passing by and confirmed that it was definitely closed. So we didn't get to see any more of the temple. But it wasn't a completely wasted trip. The little bit we were able to see of it was pretty cool, and the streets leading up to it were probably worth the effort. Plus, we still had to go to Kiyomizu and it was rapidly getting darker. I really don't know how they were planning on doing all three places in one day if we had actually gone to all of them. It was late as it was after only one and a half.
So we tried to preserve our remaining energy and took a bus to Kiyomizu-dera. I was really looking forward to this one. It was also a pick made by the tutors, but it's one of the most iconic places in Kyoto. There's a famous view overlooking downtown with the temple in the foreground--it's on every other postcard from Kyoto. Basically, it's a vast complex built on wooden support beams thirteen meters off the ground. The name comes from a waterfall that comes off a mountain stream. It's a custom to drink from it when you visit because it's supposed to grant you a long life. But anyways...here's what the temple normally looks like during the day and during the night. I'm not responsible for these pictures.
The temple itself is at the top of this huge hill. We had to walk a long way up through hundreds of little shops and food stands. On any other day, I would've been all for stopping along the way and checking out the merchandise because some of the souvenirs looked really cool, but it was almost twilight, and I wanted to hurry to the top. I took the lead and wouldn't let the tutors stop at every shop. I was hungry, tired, and a little cranky at this point because of the amount of time spent on minor things. That's one thing where I think Japanese people in general differ from Americans--experience vs. product placement. I don't know about you guys, but when I go someplace, I want to go there and see it, not spend two hours shopping around in the gift shop and then squeeze in the last half hour for the actual visit. Japanese people seem to be a lot more oriented towards brand names and material memories. The trip isn't really worth it to them if they don't have something to take back with them. So I did my best to (politely) put my foot down before they could spend all night on that little street before the temple.
As it happened, we were too late anyway--the light was going fast and it wasn't long before the flash in my camera wasn't enough. I took a lot of pictures, but most of them turned out way too dark. Here are some of the ones that I was able to salvage.
I guess Nozomi and Maru planned to arrive in the dark. They had heard that they temple hosts a "light up show" after hours, where all of the sakura trees and buildings are lit up with glowing lights. It was actually really well done. The way that they situated the lights made the whole area look like a fairy wood at night. Every angle was covered. I have to admit that it was really pretty, but it's all in my memory instead of in my camera. It was painful looking out into the darkened areas of the forest and knowing that I could've been looking at a really great view if I had been able to see it.
The first thing we had to go was fork over 300 yen for entrance fee and then another 100 yen for something else. We weren't sure what we were paying for, but the tutors told us to get in line and take off our shoes. ...okay...? The guide gave us a little pamphlet, but it was all in Japanese, and I only got bits of it. We descended into this dark underground chamber, completely silent and only wide enough for one person at a time. I went first, because I'm adventurous like that. This was the embodiment of darkness. That sounds like a really corny line from a Devil May Cry screenplay (no offense, I love the game), but it was true. Not only could you not see your hand in front of your face, you couldn't see the swirly purple effects behind your eyelids. That's how dark it was. I walked along the passageway for a while, using the wall to guide me. We finally entered a dimly lit chamber underneath the temple. They had rigged a light to shine from the ceiling and illuminate this ancient looking stone with a Buddhist symbol on it. I kind of went, "Huh" and walked around it. I didn't think we were supposed to touch it. After we actually got out of the tunnel, they gave us a pamphlet in ENGLISH and I was able to figure out what that was. Apparently the whole experience was supposed to imitate the feeling of being in the womb, and then enlightenment. We were supposed to touch the stone and make a wish. Well, thanks. I'm so glad that I found that out after going down there. But it was still kind of cool, even if I didn't get to make a wish.
Lisa and I went off by ourselves because we were both of the consensus that the place was cool, but it would've been a lot better in the daytime. We tried not to feel any bitterness about it, but we refused to stand in the long line to drink the water out of protest. In retrospect, I probably should have. Even though we were exhausted and wanted to go to our ryokan and crash, you don't really get to do that everyday. I think we were put off by the fact that it was freezing and that it was still raining.
Nozomi and Maru rejoined us after a while, and we made our way back down the mountain. The shops were closing up by the time we passed into the city. The crowds were thinning out, and the streetlights were coming on. We really didn't feel like going all the way down and having to find a bus or a train to take us further into Gion District. So Maru hailed a cab. Yes, I have ridden in a Japanese taxi. And I have to say that they're much more reasonably priced than people give them credit for. They go by the mile (or kilometer) instead of time spent in the cab, which I think is practical. There's no meter running.
The driver pulled up right at the entrance to the ryokan. He gets kudo points for knowing exactly where it was. Maru paid him while we went inside and checked in at the counter. We just wanted to change our clothes and crash at that point. Our room consisted of one giant tatami room that could double as a living room or bedroom, depending on the hour. A low table with complimentary tea and cookies was off to one side, and a bathroom was in the adjoining room. Not a bad setup. While everyone was taking turns getting ready in the bathroom, I helped roll out the futons, pillows, and miscellaneous blankets that we would need. I got a bed somewhere in the middle of the room. At least it wasn't next to the door.
Nozomi and Maru were up for going down to the ryokan's onsen and having a nice soak. I just blinked and stared when they invited me to go with them. I'm all up for trying new things, but I have to draw the line. Basically, it's something you either a.) Normally wouldn't do, but feel like you should since you're in Japan, b.) Have always wanted to do but never had the opportunity to try, or c.) Something that will emotionally scar and cripple you for life and should never be attempted. Considering that getting fully naked in front of a room of complete strangers ranks pretty high in the C category, I passed on that. I don't want to need therapy after all of this. Onsens have little to no privacy, and it's pretty much bathing in public. Lisa was a lot less shy and reluctant than I was, so she volunteered to try it. A truly brave soul, that one. I respected her courage while taking a nice private shower with the door locked.
By the time they got back, it was really starting to get late, and we went to bed immediately. We had an early start the next day with breakfast served promptly at eight. But more on that next time. Here's one last picture from the day. Night!
This is going to be big one. I've put ramen in and settled in for a very long post. So Lisa, Nozomi-san, Maru-san (my tutors), and I set off for Kyoto in the highlight of our Spring Break. I'm going to break this up into three parts, okay?
DAY 1: SUNDAY--We took the train out from Tsuru at about 7:50 a.m. and rode the line all the way to the end at Otsuki. Nozomi-san overslept and was just getting up when we called her to find out where she was. That wasn't good. So we were already a little thrown by not having all of our people with us. She decided to catch the super express train and make it to Tokyo Station a little after us. That was cutting it really close. Our Shinkansen left the station at 11:03, and her train was supposed to arrive at 10:55. Very, very close. But back to us for a sec.
I took a lot of pictures of the ride from Tsuru, but my camera ran out of memory space on Day 3, and I had to delete all of them to make space. Sorry. We were all pretty excited and awake, despite the early get-up. It became immediately apparent that there are a lot more cherry trees outside of Tsuru, because everything was pink in the countryside. We passed some really beautiful towns just as the sun was coming up, and made fairly good time.
We didn't take the most direct line because it was more expensive, so it took us a good two and a half hours to get to Tokyo. By the time we got there, we already felt like we had traveled enough for the day, but we weren't even halfway through. It was at this point that we got a bit frantic. Like I mentioned before, Nozomi (I'm going to drop the -sans, if you don't mind) was running late, and our train was about to leave. We didn't want to board without her, but waiting much longer would mean that we'd all miss the train. And we already had pre-paid tickets that were really expensive! Just as we were getting desperate, we spotted her in the crowd. We didn't waste time and took off sprinting for the gates. We ran into a problem at the toll gate. Apparently you have to insert your rail pass and your Shinkansen ticket at the same time, but I didn't know that, and we were stopped for a few crucial seconds as they tried to explain. The only thing left was a flight of stairs, and we took them two at a time with the luggage on our backs. Our train was already at the platform, ready to depart at any second. We ran full-out to find our car (14) and fell inside just as the doors were closing. Man, talk about stress!
But it was really nice once we knew that we had made it. I got a row all to myself at first with a window view, while they were crushed together on the side. That didn't last long, though. At the next stop, a middle-aged guy took the window seat and left me on the aisle. It's a pet peeve of mine when someone gets a window seat and doesn't look out it. He spent most of the trip reading the newspaper or dozing off. Grr...
Everyone else had managed to buy an obento lunch at the station as they waited for Nozomi. I had volunteered to guard the luggage and keep a look-out, so I didn't have anything to eat when everyone else was breaking out the chopsticks. Luckily, though, an attendant passed by with a cart of food and the like. It was kind of expensive (1000 for one obento box), but it was worth it. Here's what I bought:
Really good. The other guys weren't as lucky and got some sort of weird fish obento. Needless to say, I was full and a lot happier for the rest of the trip. The actual ride wasn't very eventful. I tried to sneak peeks out the window without staring at the guy next to me, and busied myself with my iPod. We finally pulled in to Kyoto at about 2:00 or so. That left us with a few hours to sight-see and stuff. We dropped our heavier bags off at a delivery service and had them sent ahead to our ryokan, so we didn't have to make the trip ourselves. That was really convenient, and free, for some reason.
Our first stop was the Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine in Southeast Kyoto. People who look at a lot of famous pictures of Japan will know that this is the place with all the red torii (you know, those pi-shaped arches over all the shrines?). We definitely wanted to go there, so we made it a top priority. I may have gone a little photo-happy in my excitement. I tried to restrain myself, but there was a lot to look at. Contrary to popular belief, there is more than one set of arches. We passed through it and thought we were done, but it goes WAY up the mountain, past dozens and dozens of torii tunnels. We didn't make it all the way to the top because it was getting late and we still had two stops planned. Shame.
Here's the main entry area. The shrine itself is really old. It was founded in 711 and is a symbol of wealth. The foxes guarding the front represent messengers. The one with a key in its mouth is supposed to protect the rice granary, I think. The foxes changed from gate to gate, mostly symbolizing the harvest.
The main shrine area.
There were also a lot of really cool shops leading down the mountain. We explored those for quite a while and picked out some cool things. Did I mention that it was raining? That was the only real downside of the trip. It rained the entire first day, and it went off-and-on the next few days. It was only after we left that the weather cleared up. Oh well. It was actually kind of cool in the middle of the forest, with lots of cover. Not so much in a busy street out in the open. Oh, and Maru was having some problems with the fortune thing. The stick that's supposed to come out of the bottom wouldn't come out. I got a so-so fortune this time.
Then the torii! They were huge and went back for quite a ways. Very good cover from the rain.
In order: Maru, Nozomi, and Lisa.
Oh, and me.
After passing through the first arches, we came into another mini-shrine area. This one was much less crowded and further into the woods. It was at this point that we realized just how far these torii went back. They go all the way up the mountain...which is a very long ways up. In all the famous shots of it, the photos make them seem like there's only one main "tunnel" that's famous. Very, very wrong. We had to have gone under at least twenty more just like it over the next two hours or so. I took a bunch of pictures of them, but they all start to look the same after a while. So I'm only going to post the ones that stand out as unique from the others.
The mini-shrine had a lot of candles lit around the outer edges, and a display of rocks at the center. Apparently, if you lift the rocks and they feel light, your wish will come true. I went into a Jedi trance and tried to clear my mind of everything, focusing only on the rock. It was heavy. So much for that idea. Basically, only heavy weight wrestlers will achieve happiness in this world. That's the message I'm taking back from Japan.
It was heavy.
We went down one of the more prominent paths and passed under another series of torii arches. So began our long and arduous trek up the mountain in the rain. It was actually really fun, though. You definitely got a spiritual, New Age-y feel from the mist, rain, and forest all around you. You could see how Shintoism could have started out in ancient Japan. If its creators were looking at forests like the one around Fushimi-Inari, they probably got the same sense that everything around them was alive with some sort of spirit. But I'm getting way too deep right now. Bottom line: it was really pretty, and the rain only added to the atmosphere.
We eventually climbed a flight of stone steps and crossed a mountain stream to arrive at a hidden lake in the middle of the shrine. I thought it was one of the highlights of the trip. You can't really tell from the pictures, but everything was completely still except for the rain hitting the water and creating ripples on the surface. Past the lake were a few little shops and lots of statues guarding the entrance. We passed by a really cute cat on the way up--doing its best to maintain its dignity in the rain.
Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the very top. I wanted to keep going all the way (it couldn't have been much further), but we were losing daylight, and we still had two more stops planned before the end of the day. We could spend the whole time in one place. So we reluctantly turned around towards the top and took a different path back. This one was much older looking and parts of it seemed to have fallen into disrepair. But that just made it cooler--more worn down. It was basically the back entrance through more stone work and sakura trees than bright red torii arches. There were some apartments literally in the middle of the shrine. I wish I lived there--that would be a nice commute.
We eventually left Fushimi-Inari and made our way to the station. Along the way, though, we passed a lot of nice shops and bought some souvenirs. I got a few things for people back home, but we probably spent too much time shopping around there. I think we probably could have gone to the top and not spent an hour in the shops, but I guess that's something for next time.
Kyoto is a really beautiful city...in a kind of artistically dark and mysterious sort of way. It definitely lacks the metropolitan, futuristic vibe of Tokyo. Everything seems a lot older in Kyoto, and there are a lot more shadows. Let me put it this way: If Tokyo is Metropolis, Kyoto is Gotham...and I'm always been more of a Batman girl. I'll show more pictures of the actual city in my next post. For now, I'll put that thought on hold and talk about the way to Tofuku-ji Temple.
I have to say one more thing about Kyoto, though--those red flowers are everywhere! I don't know what it's called, but this same flower kept showing up no matter where we went in the city. It was actually kind of cool. I was having a fangirl moment. When I saw the OVA (Trust and Betrayal) of Samurai X / Rurouni Kenshin, I assumed that the animators just threw that detail in for aesthetics and plot symbolism. I didn't actually think that those flowers would be in Kyoto for real. So it was a pleasant surprise. Every time I saw them, I had to urge to gasp, "To...mo...e..." Lisa got pretty tired of me after a few instances of this happening. For those of you who have NO idea what I'm talking about (and I'm sure it's the majority), I apologize. I now return you to your normal LiveJournal post.
To...mo...e...
Tofuku-ji was the tutors' pick. Lisa and I didn't know about it at all, but we figured that it had to be famous if the Japanese speakers wanted to go there. We took the train over there and got a little bit lost after arriving at the station. It was at the end of a very narrow and twisty side street. Kyoto has a lot of those. Turns out that the temple was founded back in 1236 and it's particularly famous for its maple trees. I guess a lot of people go there during autumn for the Fall colors. We finally got our first look at it from an old wooden bridge leaning across a canyon. We were just going through this covered entryway when one of us happened to look left and saw this.
Pretty impressive to look at. It's nice to know that after going to so many shrines and temples in Japan, I'm not tired of seeing new ones yet. The view was especially good from the bridge that we crossed. A little creek was running way down below, and cherry blossom petals were floating in the water. Very pretty.
Unfortunately, it was not to last. You see that picture on the bottom right up there? Those are the bars keeping us out. It closed early. We missed it by one or two hours. I can't really blame the tutors for not checking something like that--they've already been incredibly busy planning everything else. They missed a few details. A sympathetic older gentleman was passing by and confirmed that it was definitely closed. So we didn't get to see any more of the temple. But it wasn't a completely wasted trip. The little bit we were able to see of it was pretty cool, and the streets leading up to it were probably worth the effort. Plus, we still had to go to Kiyomizu and it was rapidly getting darker. I really don't know how they were planning on doing all three places in one day if we had actually gone to all of them. It was late as it was after only one and a half.
So we tried to preserve our remaining energy and took a bus to Kiyomizu-dera. I was really looking forward to this one. It was also a pick made by the tutors, but it's one of the most iconic places in Kyoto. There's a famous view overlooking downtown with the temple in the foreground--it's on every other postcard from Kyoto. Basically, it's a vast complex built on wooden support beams thirteen meters off the ground. The name comes from a waterfall that comes off a mountain stream. It's a custom to drink from it when you visit because it's supposed to grant you a long life. But anyways...here's what the temple normally looks like during the day and during the night. I'm not responsible for these pictures.
The temple itself is at the top of this huge hill. We had to walk a long way up through hundreds of little shops and food stands. On any other day, I would've been all for stopping along the way and checking out the merchandise because some of the souvenirs looked really cool, but it was almost twilight, and I wanted to hurry to the top. I took the lead and wouldn't let the tutors stop at every shop. I was hungry, tired, and a little cranky at this point because of the amount of time spent on minor things. That's one thing where I think Japanese people in general differ from Americans--experience vs. product placement. I don't know about you guys, but when I go someplace, I want to go there and see it, not spend two hours shopping around in the gift shop and then squeeze in the last half hour for the actual visit. Japanese people seem to be a lot more oriented towards brand names and material memories. The trip isn't really worth it to them if they don't have something to take back with them. So I did my best to (politely) put my foot down before they could spend all night on that little street before the temple.
As it happened, we were too late anyway--the light was going fast and it wasn't long before the flash in my camera wasn't enough. I took a lot of pictures, but most of them turned out way too dark. Here are some of the ones that I was able to salvage.
I guess Nozomi and Maru planned to arrive in the dark. They had heard that they temple hosts a "light up show" after hours, where all of the sakura trees and buildings are lit up with glowing lights. It was actually really well done. The way that they situated the lights made the whole area look like a fairy wood at night. Every angle was covered. I have to admit that it was really pretty, but it's all in my memory instead of in my camera. It was painful looking out into the darkened areas of the forest and knowing that I could've been looking at a really great view if I had been able to see it.
The first thing we had to go was fork over 300 yen for entrance fee and then another 100 yen for something else. We weren't sure what we were paying for, but the tutors told us to get in line and take off our shoes. ...okay...? The guide gave us a little pamphlet, but it was all in Japanese, and I only got bits of it. We descended into this dark underground chamber, completely silent and only wide enough for one person at a time. I went first, because I'm adventurous like that. This was the embodiment of darkness. That sounds like a really corny line from a Devil May Cry screenplay (no offense, I love the game), but it was true. Not only could you not see your hand in front of your face, you couldn't see the swirly purple effects behind your eyelids. That's how dark it was. I walked along the passageway for a while, using the wall to guide me. We finally entered a dimly lit chamber underneath the temple. They had rigged a light to shine from the ceiling and illuminate this ancient looking stone with a Buddhist symbol on it. I kind of went, "Huh" and walked around it. I didn't think we were supposed to touch it. After we actually got out of the tunnel, they gave us a pamphlet in ENGLISH and I was able to figure out what that was. Apparently the whole experience was supposed to imitate the feeling of being in the womb, and then enlightenment. We were supposed to touch the stone and make a wish. Well, thanks. I'm so glad that I found that out after going down there. But it was still kind of cool, even if I didn't get to make a wish.
Lisa and I went off by ourselves because we were both of the consensus that the place was cool, but it would've been a lot better in the daytime. We tried not to feel any bitterness about it, but we refused to stand in the long line to drink the water out of protest. In retrospect, I probably should have. Even though we were exhausted and wanted to go to our ryokan and crash, you don't really get to do that everyday. I think we were put off by the fact that it was freezing and that it was still raining.
Nozomi and Maru rejoined us after a while, and we made our way back down the mountain. The shops were closing up by the time we passed into the city. The crowds were thinning out, and the streetlights were coming on. We really didn't feel like going all the way down and having to find a bus or a train to take us further into Gion District. So Maru hailed a cab. Yes, I have ridden in a Japanese taxi. And I have to say that they're much more reasonably priced than people give them credit for. They go by the mile (or kilometer) instead of time spent in the cab, which I think is practical. There's no meter running.
The driver pulled up right at the entrance to the ryokan. He gets kudo points for knowing exactly where it was. Maru paid him while we went inside and checked in at the counter. We just wanted to change our clothes and crash at that point. Our room consisted of one giant tatami room that could double as a living room or bedroom, depending on the hour. A low table with complimentary tea and cookies was off to one side, and a bathroom was in the adjoining room. Not a bad setup. While everyone was taking turns getting ready in the bathroom, I helped roll out the futons, pillows, and miscellaneous blankets that we would need. I got a bed somewhere in the middle of the room. At least it wasn't next to the door.
Nozomi and Maru were up for going down to the ryokan's onsen and having a nice soak. I just blinked and stared when they invited me to go with them. I'm all up for trying new things, but I have to draw the line. Basically, it's something you either a.) Normally wouldn't do, but feel like you should since you're in Japan, b.) Have always wanted to do but never had the opportunity to try, or c.) Something that will emotionally scar and cripple you for life and should never be attempted. Considering that getting fully naked in front of a room of complete strangers ranks pretty high in the C category, I passed on that. I don't want to need therapy after all of this. Onsens have little to no privacy, and it's pretty much bathing in public. Lisa was a lot less shy and reluctant than I was, so she volunteered to try it. A truly brave soul, that one. I respected her courage while taking a nice private shower with the door locked.
By the time they got back, it was really starting to get late, and we went to bed immediately. We had an early start the next day with breakfast served promptly at eight. But more on that next time. Here's one last picture from the day. Night!