Kyoto in a Day

The pace is starting to get to me and it's my own fault. Instead of resting I'm blogging, emailing, on Facebook and folding cranes. I have not read one word in a book but have done plenty of research on the internet. Hoping to post some feelings and observations and not just the day to day activities. Maybe tomorrow.

Early start in Kyoto because we have a day packed with places to go. Nijo Castle is swarming with people and we discover there has just been an official reopening of the brilliantly restored main gate. We are very special visitors as they let us in as the first foreigners to enter through the gold leaf encrusted entry!

This is the first place we have visited that I feel we are really in feudal Japan. Inside the gates Ninomaru Palace is a craftsman's marvel with carved and painted entry doors, hand painting on gold leaf walls and beautiful decorative metal work. No photos allowed (odd since all the art work is reproductions---the real stuff is in a museum) but I guess it is for keeping the visitors moving as it is very, very crowded. As you traverse the palace you start with very formal waiting rooms, then powerful tiger decorated meeting rooms and, finally, the smaller private rooms of the Shogun and his wives. One of the most fascinating things about this palace is the "nightingale" floors used in the public spaces. The floors are specially built with added nails to create a singing type noise so no one can ever sneak up on the Shogun. Pretty ingenious. Also, in the main meeting hall there are three cabinet doors not really in keeping with the room---they were where the bodyguards hid! There was much more to absorb and plenty more to see outside so we put our shoes back on and went to the gardens. Beautiful but still not quite Spring and, after crossing the second moat, we enter a different part of the castle and gardens. The place is huge, crowded and two hours is really not enough---but back on the bus.

(Smile note: Guide is talking about Shoguns, their wives and the history of one Shogun taking a commoner as his wife. Fortunately, she had a son to carry on the family lineage. Shasily, a fellow traveler, says "Glad it was a Shogun not a "sho- girl"!")

Kinkaku, the Golden Pavilion, is even more crowded than the palace so my feelings for it are not great. It is a gold leafed, rather delicate three story pagoda sitting in a beautiful garden and, if you're lucky, the gleaming gold will reflect in the surrounding pond. We weren't lucky and it was not a place I would want to visit again. Did not live up to the hype.

Kitano Shinto shrine is not on the list of places to see but Saeko, who lives in Kyoto, wants us to see this lovely place. Quieter, more peaceful, with beautiful gardens and graceful buildings. We learn how to cleanse before approaching the main shrine where you donate a coin, bow, ring the bell, clap, send your wish and bow again. Some of these rituals are not much different from Catholics, Muslims or Hindus. Interesting. 

We walk a couple blocks to a much shabbier shrine but enjoy a different type of architecture and, surprisingly, our first truly blooming cherry tree. That is three shrines/temples this morning and we haven't made a dent in the 1,600 in Kyoto!

Surprise, we are having lunch in the faculty dining room at Kyoto University. Elegant, old and very delicious food. And a funny time in the bathroom when we have to decide if we want Western or Japanese style toilets! You have to be here to get all the toilet jokes and the men never understand why we are always smiling when we come back from the "comfort room"! We get to wander a bit around the campus which is compact, clean and overrun with bicycles. There are 20,000 students so this is one of the larger campuses of the 47 colleges/universities/trade schools in Kyoto. In fact, there are so many students here they make up about 10% of the city's 1.47 million inhabitants.

A drive across the city takes us along the River Kamo and a lovely riverside walkway for strolling, biking, running and relaxing. We arrive at Sanjusangen-do knowing this is one of the longest wooden buildings in the world. Built in 1164 it is 370 feet long and contains 1,000 life size golden Buddha Kannon and one very large seated Buddha. A stunning sight with no statue replicated. There are additional statues to keep away evil spirits and plenty of incense and candles burning. The flames make me so nervous as the entire wooden structure seems like an accident waiting to happen. Beautiful gardens and another flowering cherry make this a very memorable stop.

Thinking we are finished for the day there is one last stop--- the kimono fashion show. A mini museum to look at all the weaving techniques for making beautiful silk, then a 10 minute show of gorgeous kimonos worn by lovely young ladies. Fun. Of course there is shopping but I'm not in the mood and the "real" kimonos cost thousands of dollars.

Swore I was going to rest tonight but Saeko has offered to take 12 of us to the main train station for a tour. It is an engineering marvel and I can't resist. We take the train, with thousands of other commuters, and on arrival, start taking stairs/ escalators to a different part of this enormous building. We are dazzled by a light show on this huge stairway. (Look up Kyoto train station light show on YouTube!) Impressive and unexpected! We find a cute restaurant and have a boring meal but enjoy the company. We explore a bit more but don't even get to the mall, cinema or hotel included in this 15 story building that is about 3/4 of a mile long. On the way back we see the old, but still a city icon, Kyoto Tower. Built in 1964 it is 400 feet tall, has an observation deck for stunning views and reminds me of the Space Needle in Seattle.

So glad to get back and go to bed. And I'll bet you are glad to finish reading this---sorry it is so long but it was a packed day!