Koyasan

Day 245 – OK, no meat, but no garlic?

Breakfast at Super Hotel consisted of a whole heap of fairly unidentifiable bread products, tasty anyway.  From there it was back on the train, then another train, then a funicular and finally a bus, to get us to the hilltop town of Koyasan, most famous for it’s monastery lodgings and temples.

Heading up the funicular, the aisle is a staircase.

After heading into the tourist office to secure lodgings for the night at one of the local temples (just turning up to your accommodation in Japan without a reservation is not the done thing!), we deposited Erin’s backpack in a locker and went for a walk around Danjo Garan and up to the Daimon Gate.

Dai-to (Great Pagoda), which houses the “Cosmic Buddha”.

Sai-to, the Western Pagoda, nestled in amongst the woods. 

Check-in at our temple, Haryo-in, was strictly between 4pm and 5pm, though we observed other people who had no problems arriving a bit late.  We were shown to our room by a monk who had substantial difficulty walking and could only use one arm.  We later learned that he had suffered a stroke at a young age, doctors had told him he would not walk, but through discipline and faith living in the temple he had learned to walk again.  Our room was fairly simple with tatami mats on the floor, our futons tucked into a wardrobe, a small table with tea in the centre of the room and a shrine in the corner.

At 5:30pm dinner was served and Erin was especially excited to try ‘shojin ryori’, which is Buddhist vegetarian food with no meat, fish, onions or garlic.  We were seated on the floor at little individual tables and we and the other guests nervously looked at each other to work out what manners were required of us.  It turned out not to be too difficult and the food was wholesome but a little bland (no wonder, we put garlic in everything!).

 

Lights out was at 10pm, like being on school camp.  So after dinner, deciding there was probably not much night life in a town full of monasteries, we just hung out until bedtime.

Day 246 – Shrine fashion

Despite our adversity to early starts we got up in time to attend the morning Buddhist prayer.  It went for about half an hour and afterwards one of the monks (the same one who had looked after us yesterday) told us a bit about the ceremony and his own personal background.

The temple’s shrine, where the morning prayer was held.

After breakfast, a similar affair to dinner, we headed back down to store Erin’s pack before heading to Oku-no-in, a cemetery temple, for a walk around.  The grounds are quite extensive, and very majestic with towering trees and an array of moss covered shrines.

Some shrine fashion that Erin took quite a liking to.

In the ‘no photo’ section of the grounds there is Miroku-ishi, a small wooden building housing a sacred stone.  Pilgrims reach through holes in the side of the building to try and lift the stone onto a small ledge.  It is said that the heavier the stone the heavier your sins.  Needless to say I could easily lift the stone onto the ledge, whilst Erin couldn’t (nothing to do with our respective arm strength of course!).

From Koyasan it was back onto the public transport merry-go-round for the bus, funicular, five trains and the shinkansen to Nagoya where one of Japan’s four yearly Sumo competitions was in full swing.

The train map for the local Japan Rail lines, this is only one company and is fairly simple in comparison to some other areas of Japan!

For dinner we headed to a chain of izakayas (Japanese pubs) called Yamachan.  Erin’s tofu salad was delicious but the rest of our food came in disappointingly small proportions.  On the wall they had a ‘Miso Beer’ advertised, but it was A$10 a bottle, so I decided to hunt it down in a bottle shop later. [Two weeks later still no luck :-(  ]

Nara

Day 244 – Deer and dearest

Shouko had told us that one of her favourite sites in Kyoto was Heian Jingu, so we headed out there in the morning.  The sun was already out in full force, but the gardens provided a bit of shade so it wasn’t too bad.  Coincidentally we bumped into Jane and Per again, they were on the bridge over the lake feeding the fish and terrapins. 

Massive Torii Gate at the entrance to the temple.

Another really helpful sign.

   

After swinging back by Tommy Rich Inn to collect our things we headed for the train to Nara.  I’d booked a hotel right next to the station, but we were there half an hour before check-in time so we browsed in the local bookshop for a little while.  When we got to the front desk the guy informed us that we had in fact booked into a different ‘Super Hotel’ 20 minutes walk away.  This came as a bit of a rude surprise, especially given the heat.  So we grumpily trudged away from all the tourist attractions towards our hotel.  When we got there they had given us two adjoining rooms, strange, but ultimately quite spacious!

We now faced a twenty minute walk back into town to where the self-guided walking tour we had planned to do started.  The first sight to greet us on the walk was a city park full of deer.  It turned out that they not only occupied this particular park, but practically rule the city, they’re everywhere and quite tame.

Watch out in case they ‘bite’, ‘kick’, ‘butt’ or ‘knock down’!

Deer and dearest.

They do keep the lawns looking nice.

Next stop was Todaiji, the world’s largest wooden building, which houses Japan’s largest Buddha statue.  The building was arguably more impressive than the statue.

“This big.”

On the hill behind Todaiji was Kasuga Taisha, a temple complex surrounded by thousands of lanterns.  Unfortunately we were here at the wrong time of year to see them all lit, but as it was late in the day the place was pretty quiet and weather a little more moderate.

All walked out we found ourselves an Okonomiyaki Restaurant and collapsed down for a beer.  The rather glum waiter cooked our meals for us on the hotplates on our table, (rightly) not trusting us to do it ourselves and not burn them, make a huge mess or both.

A hard earned thirst deserves a nice cold beer and the best cold beer is… well whatever comes in a glass bigger than your head really.

 

On the way home we stopped to test a beer vending machine, had to buy two or three just to be sure it was working properly, all good.

Outside our hotel all the local birds had settled onto the power lines to roost, they were making quite a racket but looked good framed against dusk.

Kyoto

We arrived in Kyoto only 3.5 hours after leaving Tokyo (the two cities are 500km apart, we love the shinkansen!) to the pouring rain.  Completely unprepared, we were soaking by the time we made it to the hotel only a few blocks away.  The station was in the middle of the Gion Matsuri festival that we had come for, so the crowds and umbrellas everywhere made it slow going.

Once we had settled into our expensive little hotel room, we hit the streets to soak up some of the atmosphere and try out some of the food stalls that had lined the main street.  The place was packed, with kids in dress-ups and ladies and men in their traditional Kimono and hair all done.  The floats for the main parade to be held in two days were set up for viewing in the back streets, so we visited a few of those as well, and Matt found a vending machine with a 1 litre Asahi can inside, although it was switched off, so we had to settle for a “bullet” (500ml) each instead to wander the streets with. 

 

 
Twin mini Geishas sharing a corn on the cob.

 
Fishing for a pet.

 
More pets!

 
Lanterns adorning one of the floats.

Day 241 – Gold, silver and a lot of red.

With Nishiki Market so close to our hotel, we decided here was our best bet for breakfast.  We found some yummy flavoured rice cakes and soy ice cream amongst other little treats and snacked on our way to the train.  As these treats weren’t enough and it was nearing lunchtime, we got a bento box each at the station too.

 
Our bento box – pretty ordinary for $10.  We’ve learnt that if we want cheap and on-the-fly we go soba noodles and save the sushi for the fresh fresh sushi train!

The heat was already stifling by the time we got off the train near Fushimi-Inari Taisha, an 8th century shrine complex dedicated to the gods of rice and sake. 

We made like Japanese and used our umbrellas for rain and sun!

Some of the pathways were lined with hundreds of red Torii gates.

 

   
There were dozens of stone foxes around the complex as well.  The fox is considered the messenger of the Inari, the god of rice and harvest (and now business) and the Japanese see the fox as a mysterious figure capable of possessing humans.

We jumped back on the train and headed to Kinkaku-ji next, the famed Golden Pavilion.

 
Originally built in 1397, the pavilion was burnt to the ground in 1950 by a young monk obsessed with it and in 1955 an exact copy was rebuilt, but completely covered in gold foil unlike the original which was only gold at the top.

 
We have often seen figures in gardens surrounded with silver coins, thrown to grant wishes.  In any other country but here, those coins would have been cleaned up! 

Onto a bus now, we went to visit a collection of Zen temples called Daitoku-ji, famous for its beautiful stone raked gardens.  As we arrived the skies opened up for their 4.30pm downpour and after a brief wander, we decided to head somewhere indoors.

That somewhere was the 7 storey Handicraft Centre selling all kinds of Japanese “omiyage” (souvenirs).

Check out the luxury on the buses!

Dying for sushi we hit the Musashi Sushi Train for dinner.  At 137 yen (less than $2) per plate we couldn’t go wrong!

 

Day 242 – Gion Matsuri

This morning we hit the Nishiki Market again, this time finishing our snacks with a lemon shaved ice drink.  As the drink was piled high, we sat down to drink it, and with the influx of local tourists for the parade, found ourselves to be the source of much amusement, with a few either secretly and not so secretly taking photos of us.  When we first arrived in Kyoto, a guy had yelled out to us and pointed us out to his friends shrieking “Burad Pitt! Burad Pitt” at Matt.  So I guess word had got out! (And does that make me Angelina? I hope not!)

We managed to get a front row spot for the parade fairly easily and watched as each of the floats went by, reading about them in an English colour brochure a kind man in the Handicraft Centre had given me.  The floats are essentially portable shrines to the dead, paraded through the streets of Gion since 869.  The festival started after a plague swept through and so the shrines were made to honour the dead and ward off the curse of Guzu Tenno.  There were 32 floats playing traditional Gion bayashi songs, with puppets and carpets hanging off the sides and Noh actors dancing around and community members pulling and pushing along the floats that are rolled on huge wooden wagon wheels.  People walk around holding Chimaki, cogon grass wrapped rice cakes, to ward off disease.

This float is called the Tsuki Boko.  Our brochures tells us: The crescent on the top of the pole represents the moon, while the “Tennoza” sacred tree is dedicated to the Shinto deity “Tsukiyomi No Mikoto”.  This float is filled with precious artworks such as the floral design on the ceiling which was painted by Okyo Maruyama (1733 – 1735) and the carved gables by Jinjoro Hidari, a famous 17th century sculptor.  The medallion carpet at the front of the float was made in India in the 17th century but today’s carpet is a brand new on made with the same design.

When the floats all started to look the same, we set out to find some lunch.  Not being very successful, we referred to our guide which suggested a place, which most locals seemed to like too as the line was LONG.  We decided to wait, taking this as a good sign, and not wanting to wander any longer.

As we were waiting, a couple of familiar faces joined the queue.  This morning I had stopped to help a couple struggling to find out from our non-English speaking host where the parades would be held today for the Gion Matsuri.  So we joined forces and made a party of four, deciding that we couldn’t leave them on the steps outside in the heat while we sat, the two of us, at a table for four.  Jane (from London) and Per (Swedish, but living in London) were in Japan for a whirlwind trip following the attendance of a wedding in Yokohama.  We hit it off and decided to meet for dinner.

With it being so so hot and us being so so tired, we decided to skip the planned afternoon walking tour and instead took a bus out to the Western suburbs to the Arashiyama area to see the Tenryu-ji, one of the major temples of the Rinzai school of Zen and in particular, the adjacent bamboo grove.  Wandering through the bamboo forest was very majestical and different to any other forest we’ve been in. 

The gardens of Tenryu-ji.

I want a mini-stream in my garden!

The bamboo grove.

On the way back to the train wandered back along the Hozu River and through the neighbourhood with another Asahi.

If my Japanese was better we could go into one of these little places to eat/drink : (

We saw this little guy walking back to our hotel.  Matt had a go at me because up until now I have been a bit nervous about speaking Japanese, but had a great conversation with the puppy!

That night we went out to all you can eat (and drink) with Per and Jane at one of the hotels on the main road in Gion and played a little (pissy) pachinko (Japanese pinball) on the way back to our hotel with our Shochu (like sake).

Me, asking the Pachinko machine what the hell I was supposed to do.  I successfully turned 1,000 yen into about 400 yen in the space of 10 minutes, but it was fun all the same!  Gambling is actually illegal in Japan so when you have had enough, you take your little golden balls to the counter, exchange these for a token, which you then take either next door or down the street to cash in!

Day 243 – Oo-iskey on the lock!

Today we met up with Per and Jane again and all (a little hung over) went for a walk in the Higashiyama area. 

First we headed up Chawan-zaka (Teapot Lane) and had a look at some of the pottery and other wares for sale leading up to our first stop at Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most famous Buddhist temple complexes in Japan.  As we headed in the gate, some students approached us asked if they could guide us through the temples and practice their English  Of course this made the experience much better as we could actually understand the meanings and customs in the temple.

Like this one: You take water from this little fountain and wash each hand with a little cup on the end of a long stick before you enter.

If a lady can lift the small cast iron pole with one hand it means she can control her husband and her household well.  Of course I could lift it!  (But it wasn’t easy).

One of the main shrines to Buddha.

Overlooking the ‘mainstage’ and back over Kyoto.  As this temple is high up on stilts with a waterfall and stream running through underneath, many business men came to commit suicide here but apparently many were unsuccessful because of all the trees breaking their fall.

Our hosts, who come here every weekend from Osaka to practice English.  This was the last trip for Taki on the right as she was heading off on exchange to Canada.

Just some crazy stuff we see about the place!

After we shouted the girls an ice-cream for their efforts, we headed back down the hill to Sannen-zaka, a more traditional streetscape lined with wooden houses and more shops and restaurants and then to Ishibei-koji, a very picturesque cobbled alley.  We skipped past Kodai-ji (another temple) and onto Maruyama-koen and park which is famous for Cherry blossum viewing when they are in season (around April) and then into the streets of Gion, the seedy district, although just as interesting during the day (Our favourite club name was “Club Laid”, no mucking around there!)    

Along the road, but on purpose, we came across a place that will show visitors Japanese Tea Ceremony and explain the customs in English.  Both Jane and I had wanted to go, but neither of our boys were interested, so we sent the boys off to a bookshop and in we went.

The tradition of full tea ceremony usually involves a full meal as well, but this demonstration was just about the making and presentation of “matcha”, powdered green tea.  There was a lot more to it than I thought and it was very relaxing to watch.  It is influenced by Zen Buddhism and so each movement was performed in a very particular way – drinking the tea was really secondary to the discipline needed and the relaxation achieve by performing tea ceremony.

On the way back to the hotel we came across this gorgeous little boy (below) in the window of one of the pet shops and Jane politely obliged as I cooed at him through the window.  He has the same markings as Evie!  If I had a spare $2,400 and room in my backpack he would have had a home!

Back at the hotel we had a nap and caught up on some blogging before heading out to Sushi train with Per and Jane.  This sushi train was even better at only 105 yen per plate and you could make special orders by Shinkansen which arrived right to the table!  Matt was beside himself with excitement.

After Sushi train we headed to a Japanese style whiskey bar.  The boys tried everything on the menu, so it was a go hard and go home kind of night.

Brad orange highball on the lock prease.  The turmeric was surprisingly nice, but pink grape(fruit) was my favourite.