Kyoto

Yes, it is two months later and I a getting around to writing about Kyoto. With a little luck, you will hear about my trip to Thailand shortly...

First, an update on hitting my head on the door frames in my apartment. Since the last report, I have had a few close calls and one square hit. That hit was not as painful as the one where I fell to my knees, but I would call it the second worst. I was even in my stocking feet when it happened. Ouch.


The new school year started last week, with lots of changes. We had some time off between the school years, hence why I went to Thailand.


Ok...

Back in February, there was a 3 day weekend. Monday, February 11, was National Foundation Day. It celebrates the (unproven) foundation of Japan as an empire in 660BC. Sounds good to me.


Kyoto was the capital of Japan for a long time, around 500 years, before Tokyo. It was rarely bombed in World War II, and, for that reason, there are many older buildings there unlike in many other cities. Kyoto was even on the list for the atom bomb. The theory was that because there are so many intellectuals there they would appreciate the bomb. Fortunately, Kyoto was taken of the list.

On Saturday I rode the Shinkansen (the high-speed train) to Kyoto. It was snowing heavily there. This was unusual. Kyoto, which is near Osaka, is like Tokyo in that they do get snow, but rarely does it snow all day like it did that day. It was a heavy wet snow like New York snow, not like Utah`s light powder.
That`s not a snowball in your hand is it...?

After dropping off our bags at the hotel--we were too early to check-in--we took a bus to one of the temples, Kiyomizu-dera. It is Buddhist temple and a World Heritage site. One of the most famous in Kyoto, even. It is on the hills (well, they call them mountains...) in the east part of town.

There is a 3-roof pagoda and balconies built over the edges of ravines. Because of the snow, we could not see the rest of Kyoto from the temple.
That day was fabulous, even with the mobs of tourists (we like to joke that the rude ones are Chinese, but unfortunately there is some truth to this). I really enjoyed my biggest day of snow this year.

That evening we ordered Domino's and watched Lost. Fun, eh?

The next day was sunny and warm. The snow started melting pretty quickly. Our first stop was Nanzen-ji. It is a Zen Buddhist temple that was founded in 1264. It is famous for a few things, including the main gate (sanmon) which was built in 1628. There is also supposed to be beautiful rock gardens, but we skipped them in part due to the snow (couldn`t see them under the snow) and they wanted us to pay a bit for everything at the temple--they were trying to nickle-and-dime us to death!

Most people know about Sakura, the Japanese cherry blossoms. These happen in mid-spring (and just so happen to be the same time the year starts here!). What many people do not know is the plum blossoms that bloom in February. They came early this year because of our mild winter, but the snow storm meant we could not see them. At Nanzen-jin, the trees were covered with small patches of ice where the snow had clung to the blossoms. As we walked around the temple the ice-covered flowers would fall and break on the ground.

In the rear of the temple, we found a beautiful aqueduct.

We took a nice walk to the next temple. Close to the temple, we stopped and had the meal that Kyoto is famous for: Tofu. As there are so many monks, Kyoto is famous for tofu. With the meal we had fresh soy milk and about 7 different tofu dishes (or similar to tofu dishes). I really enjoyed this. I remember reading an article in the New Yorker a few years ago that was a travelogue of the journalist travelling and trying the many different kinds of tofu there are--not just the types you see in the store in the states! It was really interesting to try a few different types and to eat them in a way that I have not eaten it before. Here in Mizuma, I buy tofu at my cheap store (the one without the produce if you remember from the bread blog). It is only 29Yen, about 29 cents now. Super cheap. Generally I freeze it before I use it, letting it defrost in the fridge. This gives it a much firmer texture. I make a lot of curries with it and even burritos now and then. Yum!
After our tofu meal, we hiked up the hill to the `Silver Temple,` Ginkaku-ji. It is actually called Jisho-ji (Temple of Shining Mercy). It was built in 1474 by a guy who was trying to imitate his grandfather`s Golden Temple. Perhaps he was going to cover it in silver, too, although it is only wood. It was a great place, with lots of trees and a few paths up the hills. A small pond was located near the main building. In the picture, to the right, you can see the snow covering the rock garden.
From there we took a bus across town to the Kinkaku-ju, the Golden Temple. Originally built in 1397, it had, sadly, to be restored in the past 50 years. It is covered by real gold.
Here we encountered the most people we had seen yet.

At all the places we visited there were many buildings. The last two were originally retirement homes that were dedicated, on the owners request at their death, to be temples.

I took the Shinkansen home on Monday. The second to last stop, and the only other one in Kyushu besides that last one (which is my stop) is in Kitakyushu. The train stops in the old center of town: Kokura. Kokura was the second choice for the first atom bomb. If Hiroshima was covered with clouds or smoke, they were going to drop the bomb on Kokura. The day was sunny and clear and no cities were burning nearby, so the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Kokura was the first choice for the second bomb. Unluckily for Nagasaki, the second choice, a nearby city was burning and Kokura was obscured. The bombing of Japan by regular bombs is often overlooked by the atom bombs. Technically, the total poundage of destruction on Tokyo was more than either of the atom bombs. Japan suffered through their own Dresden firebombing a few times over.


Japanese are often amazed by our, Americans`, curious desire to visit the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their war memorials. They recognize we are not gloating but it is hard to describe why we go. Guilt? Pride? Respect? I hope to go to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Nagasaki is only 3 hours by driving from my place while Hiroshima is hour by Shinkansen.