Goodbye Kyoto, Hello Hokkaido

Our last morning in Kyoto, and we made the most of it. 

What would a Mcgregor holiday be without dad taking the young children for a 'morning walk', before the others get up. There's no one left to take, and I had suggested that Hamish might enjoy a sleep in before our days camping. So I looked up another couple of temples from two branches of Zen Buddhism, and headed off. 

They hadn't come up in my research but boy did they deliver. Close to town, massive in size and beautifully ornate inside.

 The first one didn't allow photos, but there was no such sign at the second. 

Both had portraits of former leaders on the side of the main statue, presumably to inspire devotion to finding enlightenment. Thankfully our church doesn't do that!

Three particular highlights: 

1. This diorama showing the tragic death of 27 people from a congregation in 1883 when the massive tree they were hauling for the rebuilding of the temple fell down.

2. Because the man-made ropes of the time weren't up to the task of hauling the huge logs, thousands of women across Japan donated their hair to make ones that were. Here's one that's 68m long and weighs 375 kg. 

3. Just as I was about to leave the main hall of the first temple, I noticed a group of priests and believers walking in. Having loved talking with a Russian-born monk at an orthodox monastery outside Bethlehem about their faith, I had spent many hours trying to find a Shubuko (temple lodging) so we could attend the early morning service and talk to a monk in English afterwards. 

No English speaking monk here to talk with afterwards, but I did get to sit in on the service. The 10 priests sat in the inner sanctum and chanted, whilst the 20 or so worshippers sat in the much larger outer area, with one or two if them quietly joining in. (The other temple had prayer books to pick up on the way in, but here they weren't giving this option). Of course I couldn't understand a word of it, and couldn't take photos, but it was a moving experience nonetheless. 

 

4. This repository was built to house the complete collection of Buddhist teachings in a special revolving octagonal bookcase. What a joy to have our complete scriptures in a freely available book (or an app).

A great start to the morning and I was sorry that Hamish missed it. 

After another delicious Japanese breakfast we had our final activity in Kyoto, chosen by Hamish. 

The Samurai Museum and Experience. 

A samurai descendant dressed up as a ninja gave us an excellent and entertaining explanation of Japanese history, the feudal system and the samurai in particular. 

Lots of armour, swords and guns.

Fascinating!

An interesting titbit: 

We had wondered how Japan came to drive on the left, since they missed out on the glories of the British Empire. Apparently samurai would always store their swords on their left (so they could draw them out quickly to kill you with their right hand), so they would always walk on the left so as not to bump swords with another samurai. Somehow this translated into road rules, but missed producing a uniform side to walk on the stairs at train stations. We enjoyed the ninja star throwing competition, and guess who won?

All that sumo training must have paid off! 

Sadly we had to skip the dressing up because we had a plane to catch, or rather a train to the airport, which would get us there just in time. Turns out arriving 10 minutes before the Haruka express train leaves is not really enough time to find the right ticket machine, buy the ticket and get all the way to platform 30. But thanks to the JR worker's expertise and encouragement to 'hurry, hurry', we raced to platform 30 and hopped on just in time. 

A relaxing 80 minute trip including going through Osaka (this in depth investigation of the city confirmed our decision not to go here) and we arrived at Kansai International Airport - a man-made island with the longest terminal in the world, and even then we caught a shuttle bus to terminal 2. Surprisingly the check in process was convoluted and the boarding sign consisted of flip down sheets with your destination and 'not ready' or 'now boarding.' A pleasant flight with views of beaches and snow-capped mountains on the way to Hokkaido. 

Hokkaido - long time trading area but then a Japanese colony from the late 19th century when they were afraid of the threat of Russian invasion from the north. Hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised samurais were encouraged to move here to settle and exploit the natural resources of the island. Now the capital city of Sapporo is Japan's fifth largest city, which is saying something, and huge numbers of international tourists come to ski each year. 

We picked up our very nice Toyota corolla station-wagon (Hamish was pleased because we don't have these in Australia) and went to the local DCM store to search for the right gas cylinder for our camping stove. To our delight they had just the thing. Then to the supermarket to pick up supplies. Finding the right things here was trickier. What's difficult to get for your camping trip? Breakfast, since a Japanese buffet would be hard to prepare. Also what do Japanese people eat for lunch when they're not eating out or cooking on a stove? No idea, so we bought things to cook on our camping stove. What is easy to buy for your camping trip in Japan? Alcohol from the four aisles in the supermarket.

It was now way past the time for checking in at the campsite and dark for setting up. We finally arrived at the gate of the campsite which was locked. We toyed with one of Hamish's favourite activities - sleeping in the back of the car - but decided it would be a little cramped. We gathered the essentials and headed for the campground. Eventually we had set up and we sat down in front of our tents to admire the view and experiment with night time photography. 

Another day of extraordinary Japanese contrasts. 

Feeling sad that the first half of our adventure has come to an end. But excited that the second half has only just begun. 

Endless Tori gates, a Giant Buddha & urban deer

A nice surprise - our new hotel also included a Japanese buffet breakfast! 

First stop, Fushimi inari - a temple made famous for it's Tori gates on steroids (as Isaac would put it). Small or large, one or many, these gates are everywhere in Kyoto, forming the entrance to any Shinto shrine, and in this case an individual or a company can sponsor one. For up to $12000 you get your name inscribed on the side - though with so many so close together no one is likely to notice and I reckon your company's marketing budget could be better spent elsewhere. 

The Tori gates draw thousands of tourists to Fushimi Inari and a few worshippers - we watched two people take part in a service with the priest, whilst the throngs took pictures and wrote wishes on prayer boards. There is a particular shrine for praying for academic success, and the school groups (yes even on a Sunday) made a bee-line for this one. 

Apparently making trains of origami cranes increases the chances of your prayers for better exam results being answered. 

We pressed on up the hill amongst the photographic pilgrims, but thankfully the crowd thinned out as we headed to the top of the mountain, with many shrines and a few tea houses along the way.

 

A good hike rewarded by a matcha ice cream at the end. 

Then on to Nara, the first permanent capital of Japan in the 8th century, designed in the grid style of the Chinese capital of the time .

Kyoto was a pleasant step down in intensity from Tokyo, and Nara is another step down again - it's about the size of Wollongong. 

Our first temple in Nara - kokofu-ji. Originally built in 710 but it's been repeatedly rebuilt after burning down.

 We loved the expansive exterior and the statues and painted pillar inside - sadly no pictures allowed. 

As we headed off, without realising it we were in famous Nara park. Famous for what? Trees, flowers, playgrounds (the Japanese seem to have no interest in these), or an historical event? No - for hundreds of very tame deer. 

Considered sacred, they have lived in the centre of town for over a thousand years. We loved feeding them the deer-healthy biscuits, and watching them cross the city streets. 

Then another highlight, the beautiful Isui-en Japanese garden with tea rooms. 

This part of the garden is in the 'borrowed style', with the man-made hill borrowing the shape of the natural hill in the distance. Presumably there is a spiritual purpose behind this aesthetic (?), but the aesthetic itself is lovely.

Finally time for a late lunch. Within 1 minute the Minister for Culinary Exploration found us a restaurant, complete with samurai armour 

and a water view. 

On the menu? Japanese style wood-fired pizza, cold Udon (no need to try that one again), 

and our first taste of sake. 

Having been served by the owner's 10 year old son, I felt ok sharing it with my underage son (the legal age is 20 in Japan). 

A great experience all round. 

Then on to the next temple - todai-ji, the biggest wooden building in the world, built to to house the Giant Buddha.

 

Australia has the big banana and the big pineapple, but this was way out of our league. And the two previous buildings (which burnt down) were actually wider! Such extraordinary engineering! 

We're not sure but it seemed like crawling through this hole was of some spiritual significance. 

Nearby, we appreciated the beautifully preserved and presented statues and artefacts from the period of the original temple - over 1000 years old. 

Templed-out, we opted for a  walk through mt kasuga primeval Forrest, an area left untouched for over a thousand years because it was deemed sacred. An enjoyable hike until we came to a sign - 'vipers here, no entry.' Tough Aussies that we are,  we considered pressing on, until google told us that 10 people die in Japan each year from viper bites. 

Finally we returned to Kyoto, enjoying another delicious meal and a spot of late night shopping - 9 levels of consumer goods still open at 945 on Sunday night. 

What a full last day before we move on to Hokkaido. 

So thankful for the enjoyment of all the planning and learning that went into making this week so interesting. So thankful for the helpful, generous and hospitable locals who have been so patient with us. 

But most of all, so thankful to have experienced all of this with my delightful son, who seems to find temples and history and culture interesting too. Thank you Father. 

The unexpected delights of Kyoto

No longer two firsts but a great way to start the day - waking up on our ryokan and enjoying our personal Japanese buffet breakfast. 

We headed for Arashiyama, on the outskirts of Kyoto. 

The famous bamboo grove lived up to expectations with its photographic potential. 

What I hadn't expected was the tranquility and beauty of Okochi-sancho Villa and garden, built by a famous Japanese movie star of the 1930s. 

As the English translation of the sign said, the entrance fee of 100 yen ($10) is 'hefty', but the gardens were beautiful and it included a matcha and sweet biscuit at the tea house.

The unexpected beauty of the garden was matched by the view of the gorge from the lookout of Arashiyama Park.

...and the walk along the river

(Can you spot anything unexpected about this picture?)

...and the view of the bridge

and the view from the bridge

and the view of Kyoto from the mountain on the other side. 

Having read that the wild  monkeys at the Arashiyama Monkey Park would be mostly gone by late morning, we had the unexpected delight of seeing lots of them and feeding a few from inside out cage.

 

And there were a number of babies at this time of year. 

The town of Arashiyama was unexpectedly large, and we had a delicious lunch of tempura and udon. 

After lunch we looked around the Tenryu-ki temple which used to include this whole area. Belonging to a sect of zen (meditation) Buddhism, the temple was very minimalist and bare, and thus unexpectedly uninteresting to a visitor. The garden was lovely but not spectacular. 

What was unexpectedly spectacular? Nijo-castle.

Somehow in all my planning I had simply slotted this in the itinerary without taking note of its historical significance or what we would see. When Tokugawa Ieyosu emerged victorious after 150 years of civil wars, he built this castle as his Kyoto residence. Here he gathered the daimyo and declared his rule as shogun, beginning 250 years of Tokugawa stability and peace. Fifteen generations later his descendants gathered the daimyos and declared his abdication, signalling the beginning of modern Japan. And we were (almost) in the room where it happened, beautifully restored to its former glory (unfortunately no pictures were allowed). 

What was striking? 

1. This extraordinary building was built for the Shogun to express his power, but he was only here occasionally, and after 30 years no Shogun stayed here at all until just a few years before their rule came to an end. What a waste!

2. The series of waiting rooms and the design of the reception hall was all designed to reinforce the levels of power between the daimyo and to express the Shogun's rule over them, right down to the shape of the ceiling above the guy's head. Even they could barely approach him. What a privilege we have to approach our Heavenly father in his throne room. 

Nijo castle was an unexpected delight for a history and theology buff.

Finally, we'd run out of clean clothes and our new (cheap but very nice) hotel didn't have facilities, so we headed across the road and unexpectedly managed to decipher the instructions on the washing and drier machine at the laundromat. Plus at dinner we managed to order our food on a tablet in Japanese. 

Could there be one more unexpected delight? We found what must be the world's biggest 'toy capsule shop'. 

Hamish chose his first 'Jinmy' car. 

Kyoto - full of unexpected delights.