Kyoto

Day 1

Our first trip of the year! I had a week off work for winter vacation, so we decided to take a longer trip: five days. We went to Kyoto via a similar route to the one we take to go to Osaka but we just stayed on the train for three more stops. Once we arrived in Kyoto, we took a bus to the hotel. The bus was packed with people and having our backpacks with our personal belongings for 5 days did not help the space situation. We made it to our hotel without much of an issue (the bus dropped us off two minutes from our hotel). 

After leaving most of our items in the hotel, we walked to Nanzen-ji temple (南禅寺). The temple was built as a retirement place for Emperor Kameyama in the 13th century but it was later converted into a Zen temple. Now it is one of the most important Zen temples in Japan. Blake and I have a goushin stamp book. A goushin stamp book is a blank book that you bring with you to temples and shrines and collect seal stamps that say the place and date of your visit. This was the first temple we went to that gave a pre-made goushin instead of putting the stamp in your book. Usually, there are a couple of people manually adding the calligraphy and stamp directly to your book. I assume they get so many visitors that to deal with demand they started selling the pre-made stamps that people can add to their book.

Near Nanzen- ji temple there was a large aqueduct called Suirokaku. It was built in the Meiji Era and brings water from Lake Biwa to Kyoto. They found a crack on a column of the aqueduct and are monitoring its progress to see how it affects its stability. 

When I told my students I was going to be visiting Kyoto they always recommended I try yatsuhashi. Yatsuhashi is a sweet Japanese confectionery shaped like a triangle and stuffed with fillings like red bean paste (anko), chocolate, etc. There are a couple of theories about where the name was derived from. It is made from rice flour, sugar and cinnamon but it is steamed instead of baked. It is a delicious treat and a great souvenir to take back home. 

  

Near Nanzen-ji there is a 2 km path that takes you to Gingaku-ji (銀閣寺, Silver Pavilion) called the Philosopher's Path (哲学の道 - Tetsugaku no Michi). It is called the Philosopher's Path because a Kyoto University professor of philosophy used to regularly walk through the area when going to work. It was a nice leisurely path to walk along.

  

Gingaku-ji (銀閣寺, Silver Pavilion) is a zen temple from 1482. Originally, it was built as a retirement villa and was later converted into a zen temple. It was created as the sister temple of the famous Golden Pavilion. Unlike the Golden Pavilion – which is covered in a layer of gold leaf – the Silver Pavilion it is not actually covered in silver. There was also a dry sand garden and a moss garden that you can walk around and enjoy.  

We ended up eating dinner at Motion Diner, an American-themed restaurant. We had been wandering around looking for a place to eat, a lot of places seemed to be closing early for the night or were packed with people. Having worked up an appetite from the day of walking we decided to splurge and get American-sized burgers before preparing for the next day's adventures.

Day 2

The Kamogawa river (鴨川, duck river) was located near our hotel and we strolled along the riverbank whenever we had a chance. The river was relatively low when we were there and there were a few different birds that Blake got to see. As a birder, it was the perfect place for him. 

  

The Heian Shrine (平安神宮) is not as old as some of the other shrines or temples we've seen. It is just over hundred years old and the current main buildings are slightly smaller replicas of the original Imperial Palace. As you approach the shrine you are faced with a giant bright red torii gate. Torii gates are traditional Japanese architectural features that mark the spot separating the worldly from the sacred. Originally, torii gates were built from wood or stone but now they are also built from other modern materials.

Heading west of Kamogawa river is the Gion District, a famous Geisha district. During the evening Geisha and maiko (geisha apprentices) can be seen walking as they head to and from work. Tourists have become a bit of a nuisance to the point that new signs have been posted around Gion District about being respectful of geisha and maiko. We also walked around Higashiyama District, a historic area that has been preserved to retain a traditional-feeling neighborhood and shopping area. We had (again) worked up an appetite from walking all day. One of our fellow program participants also happened to be in Kyoto and we met up with them for dinner near our hotel.

Day 3

  

Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) is famous for Sendbon torii or rows of thousands of torii gates lined up one after the other. Behind each torii is the name of the person or company that made a donation. The shrines in Fushimi Inari are all dedicated to Inari, which is the god of kami (rice). All of the shrines we saw had a couple of stone kitsune (foxes); since the fox is considered to be the messengers of Inari they are often seen on the shrines. The hike took about 2 hours to complete and there were areas where you could to rest, get a drink or even have something to eat. The shrine was packed with people, it especially draws more people in for the new year. Hatsumode (初詣) is the first Shrine visit of the New Year, and often times the popular shrines will have long lines in Japan. Fushimini Inari brings in a lot of businesspeople since the god of kami is also considered the patron of business. Once we made it back down to the base, it was so full of people it was overwhelming. You could barely walk through the crowd without bumping into someone. Luckily, once you got further away from the shrine the crowd of people got better.

Day 4

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Golden Pavilion) is the sister temple of the Silver Pavilion. It was originally built as the retirement villa of the shogun (military commander of feudal Japan) Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. After he died in 1408, it was converted into a Zen temple. Like the name says, the much of the Golden Pavilion is covered in pure gold leaf. Kinkaku-ji is one of the most famous places not only in Kyoto, but in all of Japan.

  

Ryoanji Temple (龍安寺) is one of the most famous karesansui (dry landscape) rock garden in Japan. The garden has 15 rocks laid out and it is set up in a way so that no matter what angle you look at it from there's at least one rock that is hidden from view. Only when someone has attained enlightenment can they view all fifteen rocks. This was one of the places we went to with a smaller crowd. It was nicer because we were able to sit in front of the garden and just enjoy the view.

Day 5

  

Our final day was spent at Nijo Castle (二条城, Nijōjō). The castle was built in 1603 for the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). After the Edo Period ended the castle was used as an imperial palace. We were able to walk inside Ninomaru Palace but unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of most of the areas inside. The rooms inside had tatami (straw woven mat) covered floors, decorated ceilings and fusuma (painted sliding doors). The Palace also had uguisubari (nightingale floors) that, when stepped on, produce a screeching sound. This was a good defense system as people could not sneak in quietly, although the floors were not originally designed to make noise on purpose. It just happened to make noise because of how the nails and floors boards were placed together.We had a lot more places we wanted to visit in Kyoto but there wasn't enough time to do them all! We hope to return in the future and see some of the places we didn't get to see. Kyoto was a great place to visit for the New Year.