Tradition!

Kyoto, Japan’s original Imperial capital, is our longest stay in one place and it is a welcome break from the packing/unpacking. As with Tokyo the first day we set off with our guide who in a previous life was a financial reporter with Bloomberg. She was superb and our first stop was the Nijo-jo Castle. She explained the whole Shogun/Samurai/Imperial system to us as well as the history behind the castle’s design and decoration. The castle buildings are in a zig-zag configuration so that each room can look out on the gardens. You can see why by looking at the gardens here. Flash and showy was frowned upon so the Samurai’s gifts for the Shogun were rocks for the gardens and as the Shogun did not like the sight of flowers falling there are flowerless pine trees in abundance, all sculpted majestically. The palate of colours inside is muted and limited. The waiting rooms are decorated to convey a sense of the Shogun’s power over the Samurai with tall pine trees from floor to ceiling and tigers. As tigers are not native to Japan the artists had never seen the animal – they were given the fur and shown pictures from which they then painted the walls. Hence some of them have spots rather than stripes! Natural wood is in abundance with ornate carvings with a different picture carved on either side of the same piece. The floors deliberately make the sound of a bird when walking on them for security and are hence called “nightingale” floors. There are many castles in Japan and we were told that if you only see one, then this should be it and we agree with that.

From there we went to the Golden Temple. As it is “only” covered in gold leaf it’s inspected every couple of days in order to repair any defects pronto. As it shimmered beautifully in the sunshine they’d obviously got it ready just for us! Like most structures in Japan it’s made of wood and has burnt down a few times but the phoenix on the top has always survived. It was left by the last Shogun to be turned into a Buddhist Temple on his death. Despite the ornate appearance of the Temple there is a very intimate but basic tea place where the Shogun took tea. Allegedly he used to change the saying on the wall hanging depending on his guest, particularly when entertaining his enemies – keep your friends close, and your enemies closer as they say! There are two specific trees of interest here – one is a sapling taken from a tree that survived the Hiroshima blast and the other is a pinus in the shape of a sailboat with the sail pointing west as good things happen in the west, allegedly. Finally tiny waterfall falling over a large rock – there is a photo taken of this as an apology to my David for throwing out all his Pokémon cards decades ago. This is one of the many examples of a “Dragon Gate.” The legend is that if the koi carp can jump over the stone it becomes a dragon and this inspired the Pokémon Magikarp, which evolves into Gyrados. Am I forgiven David?

Other must see places commutable from Kyoto are the Sagano Bamboo Grove and the Tenryuji Zen Temple and its wonderful grounds leading to the Togetsukyo or “moon crossing” bridge all in the Arashiyama district. This is a beautiful district and it is easy to see why it housed the country residences of the nobles from Kyoto. Fushimi Inari-Taisha and its thousands of Torii gates and the bowing deer of Nara are all worthy of a visit. We read all the “to-dos” and the “don’t dos” for feeding these deer and then you get there and are surrounded by them the minute you buy their crackers so the rulebook goes out of the window. Shame I didn’t get the video of Steven throwing his first packet on the ground and running away after a deer bit him on the bottom. However practice makes perfect and there is a photo of the deer bowing to Steven and a video of one bowing to me here. Even the manhole covers have the deer on them. We then strolled through the beautiful park and through Nandaimon Gate at the Todaiji Temple. Despite the best efforts of the deer who made a huge nose print on my lens as I was taking a picture (did you hear me screech?) I managed to capture the figures that are at the gate. There are figures by the side of each gate at a temple/shrine, sometimes human and sometimes animal. One has their mouth open, one has it closed. We were told that the first sound of the alphabet uses an open mouth and the last sound is with a closed mouth. So these figures guard you from the beginning to the end (of your life).

Walking back through the streets we managed to see traditional mochi biscuits being made. The spots to video this are highly prized so there is literally 3 seconds here to see the traditional rhythmic “mochitsuki” – a workout that deserves one of the biscuits afterwards! We’ve generally felt very safe here, despite seeing a poster of Japan’s “most wanted” at the Ryōanji tram station. A much nicer shot in Ryōanji was the smallest Rolls Royce in Japan!

With a six night stay we have had plenty of time to not only see the “must see” sights but wander the streets and explore at our own pace. We had to go to the Nishiki market to see all the food we wouldn’t eat and if ever there was a restaurant that chose its name to ensure a quiet night surely “Rat & Boar” would be it. To be honest it wasn’t hard to decline the Kyoto dish of “Takotamago” – baby octopus stuffed with a quail egg.

Kyoto is one of Japan’s most iconic cities, steeped in history and culture and it is dominated by the Takase and Kamo rivers, with an abundance of willow trees and traditional wooden (Machiya) houses dating back to the Edo period that are interspersed amongst their more modern equivalents. Their roofs are particularly beautiful. We’ve covered the Gion district and seen the timetable for the Meiko to learn their trade with lessons for singing, dancing and traditional Japanese instrument tuition. And if lessons are not enough there is always the power of prayer as they have their own Shrine.

It is only right that in this traditional city we attended a traditional tea ceremony, in traditional formal kimonos. This is very much the epitome of Japanese culture based on purification, harmony, silence and respect. It was very serene and dignified. It originated when tea was brought to Japan from China and used for its caffeine – Buddhists needed to be awake for long periods to pray and Samurai drank it before battle. As with most customs there is always a precise way of doing things and this extended to not stepping on the edge of the tatami mat incase the Ninjas under the mat edge stab you with their daggers. The whisk is made from a single piece of bamboo, divided into 100 fronds to get optimal aeration for those bubbles. At the end as you finish it is good etiquette to make a slurping sound as you finish the bubbles as a sign that you’ve enjoyed it. I’m afraid I never got that far. Having spent sixty three years and one day avoiding tea and drinking coffee, one sip was enough for me. Steven slurped twice, finishing mine so as not to let the side down. I managed the traditional sweets quite happily though 😋. Whilst we arrived at 11:00 we had the option to wander around Kyoto in our kimonos and wander around until 18:00. I declined – it clashed with my camera bag!

Most cities come alive at night, but the Pontocho district next to the river, and our hotel, especially so. It is full of wooden bars and restaurants that open out onto the Kamo river. The lanterns and stones on the road are marked with the symbol of the area – the chidori or plover wading bird which are plentiful in winter when they migrate here from Russia. In another part of the city but within a 10 minute walk from our hotel we found Moishe – look for those photos, but with only six seats you have to book. Sabich, shakshuka, falafel and genuine Israeli pitta made a pleasant change. The banter was exceptional too!

According to our guide there are over a million Gods in Japan and approx 1,600 shrines in Kyoto. As we say goodbye to our luggage for the next 5 days and head for a brief stay in Osaka and then the mountains, we have to admit that we think the change will be good as we may have seen enough shrines now.