Japan 2007: Kyoto

Today the sun peaked over the city early, making it look pleasant outside. I dressed in my skirt and sandals then my suede jacket to fend off the morning chill. That chill never went away though. We took a side road instead of going through Kyoto station.

We found Sanju-sangendoa small eatery for breakfast and ate something similar to spaghetti. Sanju-sangendo, the temple with a thousand and one kannons was just a few blocks away. The wind blew from the north and was very strong; I was shivering when we entered the temple complex. We paid five hundred yen each. Around the main building pictures were okay, but no photography was allowed inside.

I was so cold we hastened to enter the temple. Shoes were removed, our heat sucked through our feet into the in-exhaustibly cold floor. In front of the fading kannons were twenty right figures, a complete set of gods or demons that all had interesting stories provided in English. Halfway down the long hall — this was the longest wooden building in Japan — sat a large Buddha not so large as Todaiji’s through. A monk or llama stood in front speaking to a group of people sitting around him. He looked happy and learned; I wish I knew what sound advice he gave. By the end of the hall and the thousandth and one kannon, my feet were numb with cold. A hall behind the larger hall held memorabilia of the temple’s history that I quickly passed in search of heat. I did see it was built on an alternating foundation between sand and clay for earthquakes, which I found very clever.

I found a spot of sun and waited there a long while for Herr to emerge. We purchased a charm from the small shop and headed for Kiyomizu. Unfortunately, as soon as we stepped outside the walled temple my shivering would not cease. Luckily, the Kyoto National Museum was just across the street. We paid the five hundred yen a piece entrance fee and quickly made our way to the heated building. Inside was a small collection of ceramics and scrolls we briefly browsed as we thawed. Herr was also chilled; he left behind his jacket this day. He found an overstuffed chair in the sun while I perused the gift shop. I found a cherry blossom dangly that Herr agreed we should purchase. I quickly added it to the camera case next to the marriage charm purchased at Sanju-sangendo.

Outside warmed up just a little, so we continued on to Kiyomizu. I was really excited; Kiyomizu is a candidate to become one of the new seven wonders of the world. We took what we later found out was more of a back road and walked past an expansive graveyard that rolled with the mountain. We ate dumplings in sweet sauce at the north end of the graveyard and south end of Kiyomizu.

It was beautiful and had a terrific view. We saw a maiko — she was treated like a celebrity by all — who was very pretty. Farther up we saw two young maikos in training, still learning how to walk in the large wooden shoes.

There was an entrance fee to enter the actual Kiyomizu temple, so Herr decided we should go to Nijo-jo before it closed. It was quarter to two, and my brother had warned me that it closes its gates at four. As we made our way down the steep hill, we heard them announce the cherry festival would begin at two. I was really torn. I wanted to see the cherry festival and go inside Kiyomizu, but I also did want to see Nijo-jo. Herr seemed more interested in the castle, so we continued to the main road and caught a taxi.

Nijo-jo also had an entrance fee we paid. I moat ran all around it with trees growing atop the walls. We went to the shogun’s castle first for it closed before the grounds did. We again removed our shoes, walking barefoot across the polished (with age and use) squeaky (intentionally, to sound like a nightingale) floorboards. The rooms were very similar and square with varying painted scenes on the walls. Afterwards we walked the gardens and came to the inner moat that surrounded a second castle inside Nijo-jo. This was only open on special occasions, so we just walked around the gardens and up the wall.

We came to a tea place along the path that turned out not to be what the signs read, a tea ceremony, but instead was just tea and a tea cake at six hundred yen a person. We agreed it was a rip off, but the tea cake was good, we sat in a traditional open tea area, and Herr had to take his shoes off again.

We caught a train at Nijo station across the street back to Kyoto station. Herr wanted to try a shabu shabu meal (you cook everything yourself in a pot then drink the broth last), so we shopped a bit to get closer to dinnertime. I found my leg covers at The Cube, which made me very excited, then we went up to the eighth floor of Isetan in search of a photo album. We didn’t find quite what I hoped for (I would have loved something bamboo with cherry blossoms on it…), but it was Japanese with cherry blossoms. We grabbed some cute little stamps to use as well.

All the way to basement level to find the restaurant, the kind man told us a shabu shabu restaurant could be found on the tenth floor of Isetan. So back up the escalator we went. Another nice man left his restaurant and walked us all the way to it, where we discovered the prices were insane. We ate at a pasta restaurant instead, the Ante Room, where both our orders were wrong but tasted okay. After that we were both wiped and sore, so we went back to the hotel and bed shortly after.