The number, size, and variety of temples in Kyoto is amazing. I didn't expect some of them to be so big! I see many with suprisingly strong Chinese influence in the architecture too. They date from about 800 AD to the 1500's and 1600's, but the number of original buildings...well, they aren't all original, but they still have an awe-inspiring historical feel to them. Many of them have good views too! I don't like the touristy feel I get from a lot of the temples and Kyoto in general. In the morning I walk from the station to Kiyo mizu. The last half mile is uphill, and a continuous row of souvenir shops. After all the overcast weather, the wintertime combination of weak sunlight and cool temperatures gives me an excited and expectant feeling. I see an electric Toyota city car that is part of a community car program cruising slowly up the hill. Most of the shops look empty now, but prepared for the day ahead. I emerge from my climb in a sort of hillside plaza, and my wonder increases; the temple is big, colorful, and crowded with Japanese tourists. I am a little suprised to see so much domestic tourism!
The view from in front of kiyomizu back towards downtown Kyoto. The station and Kyoto tower are barely visible center, and there is a solar-powered clock to the left!
Temple buildings from my mostly quiet resting point
Beautiful bright colors
I guess the temple was established in the late 700's, with the present iteration dating to 1633...an old, steady school of Buddhism. I sit for a while and marvel at the view of the temple, the view back down to Kyoto...and I feel really out of place. I don't know where I am allowed to go, and where to stay out of...I don't know if it is cool to take pictures freely...can I sit on that bench? No one else is doing it...why not? I shed the worries of a tall white American in Japan and just enjoy the exterior of the temple buildings that I can see. They are doing construction or restoration on part of the temple. In Japan, when they work on any building, they surround it completely with scaffolding, then cover the scaffolding with something tarp-like, so you can't see what the heck they are doing. One bell tower had been recently painted....most of the temply was vermillion orange-red with fancy stripes on the roof overhang; white, red, blue, green, and black in a delicate pattern. The corners were decorated with cool little blue elephant's heads! They looked Indian to me, but then again, I guess everything originated in India. But wait, I thought it all started in China...Hmmmm...Do you remember how we resolved the origins of Eastern history, Luke?
Freshly-painted bell tower with huge cast bell
Elephant head: decorative detail on the bell tower
I go to a nearby temple which looked different from some of the others, and has very few people visiting. I am a little bit suprised to find out how recent it is; it is a memorial to the unknown World War II soldier. I see, for the first time, a large incense burner. I also see a fat, noisy American couple and feel quite repulsed. The temple is very interesting, featuring a large expanse of raked gravel, a poem dedicated to the soldier, and a quiet secluded area with many laterns. I still feel ill at ease with the process of visiting one of these places, but I am learning fast. I am also much relieved to learn, upon inquiring, that they have a men's room...not a problem one thinks about much, but a real concern in a foreign country when you are out walking around all day.
Temple building with raked gravel in the foreground
Interesting contrast of WWII plane at shrine
This city is a fascinating mix of historical and modern. I accidentally walk right past Kodaiji, which I should have visited while I was there, and sit down for a picnic lunch. On my way ot the temples that morning, I was looking for something dirt cheap, and so I resorted to a convenience store, where I made an interesting discovery: the Japanese pre-made deli sandwich. The sandwich is made with white wonder bread, the only bread that seems to exist over here. This fact alone I find curious for a country who got their name and idea for bread from the French. Of course, the crust has been cut off. Bread-"Salad" (thin-sliced cucumber, mayo, and hard-boiled egg)-Bread-Bread-Ham with Horseradish and Mayo-Bread-Bread-More "Salad"-More Bread. The Japanese love mayonnaise and use it in creative ways: on french fries, on fish and rice, etc.
I wander through the upper part of Maruyama Park and I am unimpressed. I have seen some amazing parks so far in Japan, and for on which is highly acclaimed, this one seems small and boring...however, it is wintertime. This path leads me to Chion-In Temple, which is huge. I take pictures, but I am worried they won't do it justice because it is hard enough to comprehend the size of compound when you are actually there. The front gate is...I don't know...it is really tall. Huge, and almost too huge to comprehend that it is ancient and made entirely of wood.
Looking backwards towards the front gate of Chion-In...note the size of the people at the gate!
The temple is nice, has more buildings than I expected, some nice garden areas, and is also crowded with mostly Japanese and a few foreign tourists. I find myself wondering about the function of all the buildings, and thinking about how even visiting the temple gives one very little idea of how it functions as a temple...but I do catch a few glimpses of monks moving around the grounds.
Temple buildings at Chion-In
More views of Chion-In
I head back into the main shopping street part of town through a very crowded shrine. The street I walk down feels very old, with small paper and wood buildings, the type of restaurants I couldn't pay for, and probably aren't welcome in anyway, and a very narrow street.
Narrow traditional street in Kyoto
Laterns in Kyoto...right behind me while taking this photo was a geisha!
I spotted a geisha to my left! I saw her with a small group of people for a moment. Not wanting to stare too much, or to trip, or walk into someone, I glance away. When I turn back, she is gone, but I still hear the clop clop of her wooden sandals for a second. A moment later I am distracted again, by a sign for an internet cafe...BINGO. I am there in a jiffy, after figuring out how to get to the second floor, and I am confronted by a Korean staff (sort-of Japanese speaking) and a Korean computer. Quite an experience for my first internet cafe in Japan, trying to figure out how to switch the display from Korean characters to Japanese characters, to Roman characters...and then I am glad I know touch typing! What a trip...a Korean keyboard! I fumbled through OK, though. I didn't receive good news about my friend who is in the hospital in Oregon. I am tired by this point, and just want to head to the Youth Hostel.
All kinds of old stuff in Kyoto; a Honda 600 I spotted on my way to the train station
Late afternoon light on another old building
Based on my experience in Japan thus far, the city bus is to be avoided, and it is reasonable to expect to get somewhere by subway (train.) I try to do this in Kyoto, but it doesn't really work. The streets of Kyoto may be much more logical than Tokyo, but the trains sure as hell aren't logical! I find out that the subway only goes within half a mile or so of the train station, unlike the joint or close stations elsewhere. I hike to the train station where my pack is in a locker, pick up my stuff, and get on the train that heads the general direction of the hostel. It doesn't help that I don't know the exact location of the hostel, but I get off at the station I think will be close. Over an hour of hiking (all in the correct general direction) later, I get there very tired. Once again, I ask for directions multiple times. Even so, it is very confusing. I keep seeing the bus go past, but I don't know that it will take me where I need to go. At one point, I see a large institutional building, figure I had made it, and walked into the wrong building! It seemed very quiet, and it turned out to be an unmarked outbuilding of the local hospital, and literally just around the block from the street for the hostel. It was a very embarassing and confusing Japanese conversation with the guy at the desk. Well, how was I supposed to know?...Two story institutional, long hallways, lots of bedrooms? That night I thought long and hard about the scale on my Kyoto map.
I decide that Kyoto is a good place to visit, but I don't think I would want to live here. Tokyo seems easy to get around, Kyoto is harder to get around. Tokyo is exciting, Kyoto is interesting. Tokyo makes you realize the smallness of your experience and the limit of your potential, Kyoto makes you realize the smallness of your lifespan and the limit to your understanding. My roommates at the hostel are an interesting bunch, three young Japanese guys, each independent of the others. One is enthusiastic about art, Japanese thought, and practicing English. Another is sort-of Japanese rasta and is interested in history and Buddha. These two are in Kyoto sightseeing as I am. The third fellow is, to the best of my understanding, a motorcycle racer passing through on the cheap. We sit around talking in Japanese and English (mostly English) about Kyoto and about our (mostly my) plans. The formality of some parts of our interactions is suprising...our introductions for one, but then, when asked why I was visiting Japan, I said that I had always been interested in Japan, Japanese, and history and cuture. They didn't look at me, but looked off into space approvingly in a proper, reserved manner, while doing a very soft clap, then they straightened up, put their hands on their laps, and started bowing, the whole time muttering, "So...." "Good..." "Hmmmm...is that so?" type of comments.
