I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect with Kyoto. I mean, I did know about it and why I booked part of my vacation here but after being in the chaos known as Tokyo for several days, I don’t know if I was going to be able to adjust to the more traditional and quieter Kyoto. I don’t think I'm completely adjusted yet but if today is a sign of what’s to come, I can’t wait to continue the transition.
For those expect some humor from me on today’s blog post, assuming you think what I've written so far on this blog has been funny, you probably won’t be getting much of that today. The takeaway from today’s activities don’t lend themselves to be humorous, it’s more contemplative, awe-inspiring, and thought-provoking and you’ll understand as you continue reading. This will probably be the case for the next several days during this part of my vacation in Kyoto and Osaka. Days like these were the main reason I came to Japan.
I started my day off by waking up early for a traditional Japanese breakfast in the restaurant in my hotel. This was why I called it a relatively early night last night, I have to factor in the time it takes to write these blogs (they don’t just write themselves, each of these takes at least 2 hours). I get up early, I don’t even shower, I figured I'd do that after and time is of the essence since the restaurant in the Hotel Gimmond closes at 9:30am. I walked into the restaurant and it definitely isn’t your normal Howard Johnson type hotel restaurant, it’s very traditional Japanese.
This was the traditional breakfast meal. Ok, let me see if I remember it. On the right is miso, something the Japanese have at every meal. Moving counter clock-wise you have egg, not well done, very soft eggs here in Japan. Of course above that is the tea, yummy! Next was some kind of fish, a big piece, with some other fish type thing with it and then some lettuce and cabbage. After that is the rice and then you have two dishes of pickled vegetables. The packet on the bottom is nori.
After this delicious breakfast (for $8 mind you), I walked to the front of the building and then to the roof top to snap some pictures, here they are…
After taking these pictures, I go back and shower, spend a lot of time trying to figure out which temple/shrine to go to today and if I'm going to take a subway or walk. I play it safe and head for the popular temple here in Kyoto, and decide it’s only about a 2 mile walk, and the weather is ridiculously beautiful, I'll slow walk in and see the sights along the way.
As soon as I leave my hotel, I see this…
I thought I was seeing a geisha already, little did I realize I'd be seeing women dressed like this all day and no, they aren’t geishas. They might be a meiko, a geisha apprentice but odds are it’s just Japanese women in traditional Japanese kimono’s. Still a good picture of them wearing these outfits in the middle of a major metropolitan area.
Here are some things I saw along the way to the temple I decided to go to today. I’ll come back and talk before I get to a certain set of pictures.
Ok, so you’ve seen a lot of what I saw along the way, and had the next thing not happened, those would’ve been amazing experiences but instead, they couldn’t hold a candle to this next part.
I was finally in the Gion District. I had planned on doing this tomorrow but my walk to the temple today took me through here. I was shocked and thrilled that during my walk, I got a chance to see some geishas. Maybe it’s because I'm American but geishas are almost mythical creatures that can’t possibly exist and when you see one in person, your brain truly can’t comprehend what it is seeing, at least that’s what happened to me. Seeing them in person, you stop dead in your tracks, you are in awe and it really is a surreal out of body experience. The legend of the geisha and any ill-conceived notion I have about them goes out the window and the pure majesty of them is all that remains.
You’ll see more of these women later, but I had to show that now and talk about it a little bit so that hopefully you at home can understand what went through my mind. It’s hard to put on paper what’s going on in my mind but I think I did a good job just now. The next few pictures are of the temple the geishas were standing in.
The next series of pictures is from the walk to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and what you see along the way.
Ok, the walk up to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple is over, I've finally reached it after countless twists, turns, and staircases. This is the most popular temple in Kyoto. The next set of pictures probably don’t even need captions, but of course I'll add some if necessary. Worth noting is that the Kiyomizu-dera Temple was built completely WITHOUT the use of a single nail.
After quite a while at the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and more pictures than you can imagine (you only get a sample on the blog, what I consider the best to tell a story, the rest, and trust me there are a lot more, hang out on my hard drive), I decide to move on to something new. On the walk back down the mountain, I see some interesting things because I took a different route home. My travel advice, never take the same route twice. If you go one way to one place, take a different way back. You won’t be sorry.
Not having directions is the best thing you can do on vacations like these, cause you never know where you’ll end up. I take a random turn and end up seeing in the distance a hug Buddha statue. When I saw huge, I mean huge, take a look.
Once I finish with the Ryozen Kwannon, I decide to go back through geisha alley. Honestly, I can’t get enough of this. Seeing them just blows me away. That “click” moment I talked about having the other day, yes this entire day was the “click” moment and it came to a peak in the next two pictures.
The next several pictures are taken in the Maruyama Park, a park notorious for a huge weeping cherry blossom tree that is lit up at night. I will be seeing this tomorrow.
I’m not exactly sure how I ended up here or why there is an amphitheater in an old Japanese park but here is a video showing you what’s going on.
This is right outside Maruyama Park, some residential property near the Kamo River I showed you earlier. These houses are beautiful especially with the river running behind them. You can see a bird standing in the middle of the river if you enlarge the image.
After all of this walking and sightseeing, I decide it’s time for a snack/early dinner. I head back to the Nishiki Food Market/Teramichi Street and look for some more food options. I remember one from the day before that I wanted to stop at but chose Mr. Young Men. I still made the right choice but it’s time to try the place I passed up on. It’s a food stand more than a restaurant.
After these snacks, I go home to rest up a bit. It gets dark out and I realize in Kyoto, night time is not the best time since it’s more of a day time city. Also, I am going to be riding my bike a lot tomorrow so an early night actually sounds like a wonderful idea. Of course this lasts for a short amount of time before I realize I want another snack. I also wanted to see the Noji Castle which is near my hotel and see if they light it up at night.
They don’t, this is the best I can do of the gates to the castle.
Here is my dinner. Hmm, ok, starting from the miso soup in the top left going clockwise. The tea is a cold tea, it tastes like the flavor was toasted, it was amazing and I had about 5 glasses before I left. After that is a fish stick of sorts on cabbage. Next is an egg (surprise!), teriyaki burger, with French fries underneath. After that is good old deliciously perfect Japanese sticky white rice. In the middle is pickles. This meal was fantastic and of course cheap.
After that I came home and Skype with the parents, sister, and niece and nephew. All in all a great day, I seem to be having a lot of those. Tomorrow is a bike ride around Kyoto since the weather seems to be a repeat of today.
Oh, and sidenote, my friend Rob came to Japan and lost weight, how come I feel like I've been doing the opposite? Ah well, I'll eat healthy when I'm home, no point in starting that now!
Oyasuminasai.
- DAK
For those expect some humor from me on today’s blog post, assuming you think what I've written so far on this blog has been funny, you probably won’t be getting much of that today. The takeaway from today’s activities don’t lend themselves to be humorous, it’s more contemplative, awe-inspiring, and thought-provoking and you’ll understand as you continue reading. This will probably be the case for the next several days during this part of my vacation in Kyoto and Osaka. Days like these were the main reason I came to Japan.
I started my day off by waking up early for a traditional Japanese breakfast in the restaurant in my hotel. This was why I called it a relatively early night last night, I have to factor in the time it takes to write these blogs (they don’t just write themselves, each of these takes at least 2 hours). I get up early, I don’t even shower, I figured I'd do that after and time is of the essence since the restaurant in the Hotel Gimmond closes at 9:30am. I walked into the restaurant and it definitely isn’t your normal Howard Johnson type hotel restaurant, it’s very traditional Japanese.
This was the view from my seat, looking through the bamboo curtain onto the traditional seating area.
This was the traditional breakfast meal. Ok, let me see if I remember it. On the right is miso, something the Japanese have at every meal. Moving counter clock-wise you have egg, not well done, very soft eggs here in Japan. Of course above that is the tea, yummy! Next was some kind of fish, a big piece, with some other fish type thing with it and then some lettuce and cabbage. After that is the rice and then you have two dishes of pickled vegetables. The packet on the bottom is nori.
After this delicious breakfast (for $8 mind you), I walked to the front of the building and then to the roof top to snap some pictures, here they are…
Front door of hotel looking right.
Front door of hotel looking left.
Roof top of hotel looking right.
Roof top of hotel looking left.
After taking these pictures, I go back and shower, spend a lot of time trying to figure out which temple/shrine to go to today and if I'm going to take a subway or walk. I play it safe and head for the popular temple here in Kyoto, and decide it’s only about a 2 mile walk, and the weather is ridiculously beautiful, I'll slow walk in and see the sights along the way.
As soon as I leave my hotel, I see this…
I thought I was seeing a geisha already, little did I realize I'd be seeing women dressed like this all day and no, they aren’t geishas. They might be a meiko, a geisha apprentice but odds are it’s just Japanese women in traditional Japanese kimono’s. Still a good picture of them wearing these outfits in the middle of a major metropolitan area.
Here are some things I saw along the way to the temple I decided to go to today. I’ll come back and talk before I get to a certain set of pictures.
This was interesting, in a city full of Buddhist temples and shrines, here was a Catholic church. It definitely stood out to me, like a Jewish temple in Seattle.
This is the Kamo River that goes right through Kyoto and on both sides is a bike path and people sit on the little beaches on the side of it.
This is a statue of the supposed founder of kabuki theater. Kabuki started with the geishas and this statue is very close to the geisha district so it seems plausible.
This street is called Mikoji Dori and is a stark contrast from the chaos of the streets all around it. This area is very traditional Japan with tiny restaurants, porcelain stores, and girls in kimonos. It’s also incredibly peaceful even though it’s tourist central.
These aren’t even shrines, these are private residences in these areas. There are a lot of homes around here. They don’t have a lot of real estate but they are so beautiful, you can easily confuse them for religious grounds.
If you remember a few days ago, I talked about people tying paper onto rope or wire with their prayers and wishes on it. This is one of those but with the dial turned to 11!
The ways to sanitize your hands before entering a temple are getting more and more elaborate and beautiful.
These are the kind of things you see as you walk through these private residential areas. It never gets old seeing a temple just as you turn a corner.
Ok, so you’ve seen a lot of what I saw along the way, and had the next thing not happened, those would’ve been amazing experiences but instead, they couldn’t hold a candle to this next part.
I was finally in the Gion District. I had planned on doing this tomorrow but my walk to the temple today took me through here. I was shocked and thrilled that during my walk, I got a chance to see some geishas. Maybe it’s because I'm American but geishas are almost mythical creatures that can’t possibly exist and when you see one in person, your brain truly can’t comprehend what it is seeing, at least that’s what happened to me. Seeing them in person, you stop dead in your tracks, you are in awe and it really is a surreal out of body experience. The legend of the geisha and any ill-conceived notion I have about them goes out the window and the pure majesty of them is all that remains.
You’ll see more of these women later, but I had to show that now and talk about it a little bit so that hopefully you at home can understand what went through my mind. It’s hard to put on paper what’s going on in my mind but I think I did a good job just now. The next few pictures are of the temple the geishas were standing in.
I don’t know exactly what these are but they were hanging in almost every temple I saw today.
As you can see, whatever those things are, they are all over this little shrine.
This is a close up of the temple I took a picture of from earlier from down the street.
The next series of pictures is from the walk to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and what you see along the way.
Space is a premium, especially considering most of these stores, restaurants, temples, and shrines are built into or on the side of a mountain. Tight and narrow streets and alleys are the house special here.
I wasn’t kidding about it being built into a mountain. Be prepared to see a lot of pictures of stairs and quick elevation changes. The stairs are great though, it’s a great separator between sections of restaurants and shops.
With the weather being perfect like it was today, this scene was awesome. People sitting in a Japanese cafe that had an odd European feel, but I think that’s because the people sitting at those tables were European. Then again, soon you’ll see a picture of some architecture that I swear has some European influence.
This wasn’t a temple or a shrine, just some random parks built into this path up to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Beautiful and a taste of what was to come once I reached the summit.
I love this scene because it was perfect landscaping and architecture and if you click on the picture for the large view, you will see the schoolgirls at the top. It just seems straight out of a movie in a lot of these photographs from today.
More stairs, I probably didn’t have to take this many stair pics but it’s my blog and I'll do what I want! Oh, also, the stores are built right into the stairs, causes a lot of traffic but makes the situation even more unique.
Ok, the walk up to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple is over, I've finally reached it after countless twists, turns, and staircases. This is the most popular temple in Kyoto. The next set of pictures probably don’t even need captions, but of course I'll add some if necessary. Worth noting is that the Kiyomizu-dera Temple was built completely WITHOUT the use of a single nail.
I love that the people of Japan actually go to these temples for religious purposes and not just for sightseeing. There are tons of people actually praying and spending the admission fee for that purpose and not what foreigners tend to come for and that is the pictures and sights.
This was an off the beaten path hand purifying station. I still have yet to do one of these even though I've educated myself on how to use it correctly. Maybe tomorrow.
This picture and the one after it go together. This falling water is used for purification and drinking as a source of good luck. The water comes from a waterfall on the mountain the Kiyomizu-dera Temple is built into. This is them grabbing the water in the cups…
…and this is them drinking it.
I walked these twice, getting lost is good for my calf muscles.
You can see this structure while walking the stairs in the picture above this one. This is what holds the temple up on the mountain. Remember, not one nail is used anywhere in that structure, it’s insane.
This is a cemetery on the temple grounds. I didn’t want to go in to get a closer look because I didn’t want to disrespect anyone by taking pictures of something i didn’t think I should be taking pictures of.
You can't hear me very well on the video but I am trying to explain what's happening here. I don't know the religious or cultural reason for this but people keep trying to walk from one stone to the next with their eyes closed. People try guiding them with their voices to help them out. People keep doing it so it clearly has some meaning, I'm just not aware of what that meaning is.
After quite a while at the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and more pictures than you can imagine (you only get a sample on the blog, what I consider the best to tell a story, the rest, and trust me there are a lot more, hang out on my hard drive), I decide to move on to something new. On the walk back down the mountain, I see some interesting things because I took a different route home. My travel advice, never take the same route twice. If you go one way to one place, take a different way back. You won’t be sorry.
Free samples of a dessert I see all over the place. It’s almost a mochi skin with a red bean inside but the inside is sweeter than a red bean. I’m not sure what it is. It wasn’t great but I ate it. When in Japan right?
Ah, now we’re talking! A steamed bun with pork and rice inside! This was delicious, and much better than that red bean nonsense from the other day.
This is that picture with the European influence I was talking about earlier. It really looks like an Italian plaza or some Parisian square. Really interesting seeing this in Japan because it seems to be combining quite a few cultures design-wise.
This was an entrance to a restaurant. A lot of the restaurants in this area have the traditional entrance like this.
This was a great picture, not only is it more geishas, but this was actually a picture using the geishas camera that they asked this lady walking by to take for them. I thought it was interesting, even geishas want pictures of the geishas!
Geisha again. They don’t call it geisha alley for nothing!
Not having directions is the best thing you can do on vacations like these, cause you never know where you’ll end up. I take a random turn and end up seeing in the distance a hug Buddha statue. When I saw huge, I mean huge, take a look.
This is the memorial for the unknown soldier of World War 2 to remember the thousands who died on Japanese soil or for Japanese, it’s called the Ryozen Kwannon. The incense in my hand is given to you when you pay to get in. I was really honored to finally partake in some religious custom because I've been nervous about being disrespectful trying to join in.
This is where the incense goes. I tried saying a little prayer before putting this into the sand but I doubt I did it right.
I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to take this picture but I am so happy I did. This is a monk banging on a drum while chanting. It was AMAZING. It’s like an out of body experience being in the middle of a temple in Kyoto, Japan and watching a monk run a religious ceremony in a Buddhist temple. This is life changing stuff.
I walked away from the temple and went down a path I don’t think I was supposed to, I do this a lot. I saw this almost Roman inspired room where it had a sign talking about the entire memorial for the unknown soldier.
Once I finish with the Ryozen Kwannon, I decide to go back through geisha alley. Honestly, I can’t get enough of this. Seeing them just blows me away. That “click” moment I talked about having the other day, yes this entire day was the “click” moment and it came to a peak in the next two pictures.
I was walking alone down a alley and saw these two geishas with a man I can only assume was one of their courtesans. They were nice enough to let me take a picture.
Then the man asked if I wanted a picture with them. I was speechless, I nodded, I mean who wouldn’t want a picture with actual geishas? This was surreal, I don’t know if I look excited but I was frozen with fear and amazement. Inside I was nervous and excited and shocked this was happening. I was so afraid to move in fear that I'd break them somehow. I walked away from this picture in disbelief and I believe I muttered the words “ok, I can die now”. I had a huge smile on my face walking away and kept thinking to myself, wow, just wow, thank you Japan.
As I began walking on this street in the geisha alley, I saw a geisha walking towards me with a man. I knew I had to start recording this to watch them walk towards me since this was quite a sight to behold. This was the geisha walking her courtesan to a tea house or private property for their time together. It seems fake, like it’s an amusement park but it’s completely real. This world really exists!
I saw more of these girls but again, they could be geishas in training or just young women dressed in typical Japanese outfits.
More classic Japanese alleys. These are so beautiful, and extremely well kept. These outdoor back alleys are nicer than the inside of a lot of apartments I've seen.
The next several pictures are taken in the Maruyama Park, a park notorious for a huge weeping cherry blossom tree that is lit up at night. I will be seeing this tomorrow.
I’m not exactly sure how I ended up here or why there is an amphitheater in an old Japanese park but here is a video showing you what’s going on.
I love seeing the Japanese businessmen in a group like this. It seems so badass Yakuza style!
Two things I love about this store name. Obviously love the Engrish but I also love that it says Taka. I know that’s because it’s named after the street it’s on but I love that word because I think it’s also Yiddish. Anyone want to confirm this?
This is right outside Maruyama Park, some residential property near the Kamo River I showed you earlier. These houses are beautiful especially with the river running behind them. You can see a bird standing in the middle of the river if you enlarge the image.
Here is the same Kamo River from earlier, it’s later in the day and now more people have gathered to sit along side of it in this beautiful weather on a Saturday early evening.
After all of this walking and sightseeing, I decide it’s time for a snack/early dinner. I head back to the Nishiki Food Market/Teramichi Street and look for some more food options. I remember one from the day before that I wanted to stop at but chose Mr. Young Men. I still made the right choice but it’s time to try the place I passed up on. It’s a food stand more than a restaurant.
It smelled delicious, that got me to stop dead in my tracks.
Ok, another meal with an egg on it. Along with the egg it’s stir fry bok choy and noodles in what I think is some peanut sauce. It’s fantastic, totally filled me up.
Well, it sort of filled me up. Next to the little fountain area I was eating my meal, there is a crepe store that has lines around the corner, I had to check it out. For 250 Yen, I got a strawberry and graham cracker crepe with whip cream. It was delicious and I definitely worth the wait.
After these snacks, I go home to rest up a bit. It gets dark out and I realize in Kyoto, night time is not the best time since it’s more of a day time city. Also, I am going to be riding my bike a lot tomorrow so an early night actually sounds like a wonderful idea. Of course this lasts for a short amount of time before I realize I want another snack. I also wanted to see the Noji Castle which is near my hotel and see if they light it up at night.
They don’t, this is the best I can do of the gates to the castle.
Here is my dinner. Hmm, ok, starting from the miso soup in the top left going clockwise. The tea is a cold tea, it tastes like the flavor was toasted, it was amazing and I had about 5 glasses before I left. After that is a fish stick of sorts on cabbage. Next is an egg (surprise!), teriyaki burger, with French fries underneath. After that is good old deliciously perfect Japanese sticky white rice. In the middle is pickles. This meal was fantastic and of course cheap.
After that I came home and Skype with the parents, sister, and niece and nephew. All in all a great day, I seem to be having a lot of those. Tomorrow is a bike ride around Kyoto since the weather seems to be a repeat of today.
Oh, and sidenote, my friend Rob came to Japan and lost weight, how come I feel like I've been doing the opposite? Ah well, I'll eat healthy when I'm home, no point in starting that now!
Oyasuminasai.
- DAK
