This is the fourth in a series of posts retro-blogging my Japan trip in January.
We took it easy our last morning in Fukuoka, packing up, getting a healthy American breakfast at Mr. Doughnut, and catching our 10:59 shinkansen out towards Kyoto.
Before wrapping up my Fukuoka coverage, I want to show off this panorama I made of Mark standing at an intersection near our hostel. If you have a good enough eye, you can probably spot the seam—I am definitely an amateur in this field, plus I didn’t plan on making these into a panorama when I took them. Anyhow, click for a larger version.
It was a fair walk to our hostel from the station, so we bussed it and picked up day passes. Kyoto has a great city bus network; it’s definitely the easiest way to get around. Adult fare is 220¥, but a day pass is only 500¥, so we each bought one every day we were there.
Our hostel (the Hanakiya Inn, for anyone keeping score) was excellent. Nothing fancy—some rooms, a shower, and a common room. It’s actually more like a bed & breakfast than a hostel. The woman who runs it, Eimi, lives upstairs with her kids. She was very helpful, when we checked in she gave us a bus map and a city map, and marked a bunch of stuff on it for us. She also speaks English, so I would recommend this place for even the fobbiest of gaijin tourists.
We tried to get started touring right away with Nijo castle, but it closes at 4 so of course we arrived too late. We spent the evening wandering around and finding food in the lively shopping area around Sanjo and Shichijo west of the river, then went back to the hostel and planned out the next day.
Hit up a lot of stuff in Kyoto today. First we walked to Sanjusangendo, the temple with 1001 statues of Kannon and a complete set of the 28 guardian dieties. It was pretty interesting compared to most of the temples I’ve seen, even without knowing anything about Buddhism. No pictures allowed inside, unfortunately.
Next, we bussed our way over to Nijo castle. We avoided it back in 2004 because we’d already seen the castle at Himeji. It turned out to be quite different from Himeji: although only one floor, it was filled to the brim with fantastic paintings and intricate carvings. I was pleasantly surprised that we were actually walking on the original nightingale floors for most of the interior tour. Again, no pictures inside, but I got some good ones of the surrounding gardens and such.
After stopping for lunch at a Yayoiken near Shijo Karasuma, we hopped on another bus and made our way out to Ginkakuji, the “silver” temple. Unlike the literally-named golden temple, it’s not actually silver. In fact I’d say it’s looking pretty shabby these days. But the surrounding zen gardens were gorgeous, and we did get to see the Very Important Moss on display.
By the time we’d left it looked too late to make it out to anything else (most temples and such close between 4 and 5) so we headed back to the hostel. On the way back we got some macha-flavored ice cream, and commented how excellent their subliminal marketing must be to sell ice cream in the middle of winter. We saw at least 5 ice cream shops open just between the temple and the bus stop!
Once back at the hostel, I found out that Kiyomizudera temple was actually open until 6, so we quickly headed back out and walked up the hill to check it out. I had visited there before, but not through the actual paid-admission temple part (due to being completely burned out on temples at that point). After waffling for a bit we decided to go ahead and do it, and Kyoto surprised me once again—it was good! At dusk, with the lights of Kyoto down in the distance, the view was spectacular. After a great walk through the surrounding trees, we finished up at the waterfall for which the temple is known. I think it turned out more worthwhile than most of the other temples I’ve been to after all!
About the waterfall: Kiyomizudera means something like “pure water temple,” because of the spring there. You’re supposed to use these long metal scoops to get some water from the waterfall and drink it. The scoops sit in a container that advertises itself as an ultraviolet sterilization device. Now, I’m no expert on irradiation and its effect on germs, but I have serious doubts about that being legit. My guess is that either a) the machine is totally dangerous and the scoops are now radioactive or b) the machine does nothing—it’s a box with blue LEDs designed to ease people’s health concerns.
In the evening we wandered around central Kyoto some more. I decided we should walk through Gion on the off chance that we might see a geisha. And lo and behold, we did. I couldn’t believe how easily we found one considering how rare they supposedly are these days. It’s possible that it was just someone dressing as a geisha for the day (something women in Japan can pay an extraordinary fee to do for fun), but after talking to Adam, Nat, and Jeff the next day, it seems the evidence points to it being the real deal. So strike that one off Andrew’s list of things to do in his lifetime.
We found a line of street vendors near the river and got some taiyaki, before we eventually meandered back to the hostel. This was a very fulfilling day, and I continue to be amazed at how much stuff there is to do in Kyoto.
