Gion (Geisha District)

Gion is THE neighborhood known, both traditionally and even in the present-day, for geishas and teahouses.  Since the ambience is supposed to be at its best at night—and your odds of seeing a real geiko or maiko (apprentice geisha) are also best in the evening—we made plans for dinner in the area.

We didn’t happen to run into any geishas.  That could have something to do with the fact that it was a relatively early dinner to accommodate the kid’s bedtimes, but oh well!

We found this restaurant on the advice of a guidebook which described it as being “on one of the most beautiful streets in Gion”.  The restaurant was called Ozawa, a tempura place, and the food and the location really were both superb.

I regret the quality of the photos but we actually only had our underwater camera and between the dark and the snow it was a difficult situation for a good shot.  It really was a very romantic and picturesque area though.

The street runs along a small canal lined with willow, cherry, and maple trees.  You had to cross a small bridge like this to get to the restaurant.

As you can tell, it snowed that night, turning the next morning’s adventure into a dazzling winter wonderland.  I’ll get it posted soon.  Thanks for reading!

Kiyomizu-dera

So I actually just found out that this temple was one of the contenders, making it into the top 20, for the New 7 Wonders of the World.  First constructed in 798, the present buildings date from 1633—fire again being the catastrophic culprit.  Interestingly, the entire structure, including a large veranda supported by massive wooden pillars 50 feet high, is constructed without the use of a single nail.

Gratuitous group shot, in case you haven’t seen enough of us among the other sites.

At several of the temples we visited, including this one, you can ring the bell if you wish, for a small fee.

 

The pagoda may not be as tall as the one at To-ji, but it is more brightly painted.

The temple sits on a hill on the east side of Kyoto and is well-known for its spectacular views of the city.

Bonus shot of the city.

The main hall with its celebrated veranda.

Exploring the main hall.

From there, you look down on the temple’s namesake (Kiyomizu means “pure water”), a small waterfall divided into three separate streams.  Each stream is said to confer a different benefit upon those who drink from it (wisdom, longevity, and love), however, it is considered greedy to drink from all three and will bring misfortune.

The path down to the waterfall is lined with several smaller temples and shrines.  This image seemed to be getting a particular amount of attention/veneration—I believe it’s the Amida Buddha, but I’m not entirely certain.

Like most of the city, this temple is particularly spectacular (and particularly crowded) during both cherry blossom and fall foliage seasons.  Envision the tree limb in the foreground covered in cherry blossoms to give yourself an idea of the sublime beauty of this place.  By the way, the cherry blossoms ARE blooming here in Okinawa right now!  (They bloom much earlier here than in mainland Japan.)  I’ll get back to more Oki pictures eventually but until then, there’s still more Kyoto to show you!

Sanjusangendo and Toshiya Festival

While I was researching what to see and do in Kyoto, I realized that we were going to be in town for the Toshiya archery competition.  Held at Sanjusangendo Temple since 1606, the traditional goal was to shoot the length of the temple and awards were given for various achievements such as most hits out of 1000 shots and most hits on target in 24 hours.  By the way, the temple is extremely long; the name of the temple is actually a description of its length, meaning 33 (san-ju san) spaces between the columns.

Archers trying to keep warm while waiting for the contest to begin.  By the way, although it was cold, it was really a good time of year to visit because this was the only place that was really crowded the entire time we were there.  Kyoto attracts huge crowds in both the spring (for the cherry blossoms) and the fall (for the autumn leaves).

 The exterior of the temple really isn’t noted for anything other than its length.  Inside however—where, yet again, you can’t take pictures—there are 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy.  There is one central statue complete with 11 heads (to hear the cries of the suffering) and 1000 arms (to reach out to those in need), flanked by 500 life-size statues on either side, each one with 40 arms (each arm can symbolically save 25, therefore totaling 1000 again).  The statues were carved from wood in the 12th and 13th centuries.

A monk makes his way across the courtyard.  In addition to the archery festival, a special mass was being said that morning and as we filed through the temple looking at the statues, I think we got sprinkled with some Buddhist holy water.  Actually there were many features of the temple and temple rites that reminded us of Catholicism.

Temple gardens in the snow.

I LOVE this shot and am so proud of it.  For the record, it is un-edited and un-cropped.  You take a thousand pictures and eventually you end up with something really good.

This shot is a little more cliche, but still . . . I was there; I saw it; I shot it.  

More gardens in the snow.

And then we left to find some place warmer and less crowded.  For an Oki friends I might have reading this, the place we found was CoCo Curry :)  On to the next adventure!

Nijo (Samurai) Castle

Continuing the Kyoto trip . . .

Originally built in 1603 as the residence of the shogun (the de facto leader of Japan), it was used by the Tokugawa shogunate until 1867 when sovereignty was formally returned to the emperor and the castle became the property of the imperial family.

With inner and outer moats, it was defensible as well as ornate.  And of course, a display of wealth to this degree is also a display of power.  Within the outer moat is an area of almost 70 acres, including nearly 80,000 square feet of buildings and numerous scenic gardens.

Unfortunately this is another area where photography was not allowed indoors.  There are many, many valuable paintings (on screens, walls and even ceilings) to protect.  Besides the paintings, the other real highlight from inside the castle are the “nightingale” floors, which are designed to chirp when you walk on them so that intruders and other unexpected guests are easy to detect. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the details.

Logan zooms down the path.  This was about the time that he and Naomi both were mobbed by a group of Korean tourists. 
On a side note, we got very curious, quizzical and slightly incredulous looks from many people (including the aforementioned Korean group) when they asked us where we were from and we told them we live in Okinawa. 

At the gardens, post-mobbing.

Granted, I think she was definitely one of the cutest things I saw all day, but I still don’t quite understand why a complete stranger would want to take a picture of her or with her.  Oh well!

  A tranquil garden scene.

This is looking back from the exterior wall towards the second palace—yes, there are two of them in there.  While you get to tour every room of the main palace (which is more specifically called Ninomaru Palace), this second one, Honmaru Palace, is completely closed to visitors.

A teahouse overlooking another one of the gardens, and, if you look close, a turtle hanging out (probably half-frozen) in the pond.

Much more still to come . . .

Kinkaku: the Golden Pavilion

Described as the second most famous sight in all of Japan (after Mt. Fuji), this temple was definitely not to be missed.  As a bonus, we happened to be there on a Saturday when one of the local colleges offers volunteer English tour guides at select sites, including Kinkaku.

Leading up to the main event . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd and 3rd floors of the pavilion are covered in gold-leaf (not gold paint, actual gold).  Originally built in 1397 as part of a retirement villa for a shogun, the property was converted to a temple upon the shogun’s death.  The pond is called Kyoko-chi, meaning Mirror Pond.

A bronze phoenix crowns the building and, according to myth, is supposed to protect it from fire.  The phoenix hasn’t been particularly effective though, as the temple was burned down in 1950 by an obsessed monk.  It was reconstructed according to the original design in 1955.

Here we are!

I’ll be honest, I don’t really get Zen gardens.  According to our guide, the tree (which is over 600 years old!) is supposed to symbolize land and the stones symbolize the water/ocean.

There are a number of very famous Zen gardens in Kyoto; most of which we didn’t see, partly because it seemed like a rather bad idea to bring a 2 1/2 year old to a carefully arranged pile of rocks.

A classic tea house known as Sekka-tei, meaning “Favorable Sunset Teahouse”, referring to the view it provides of the setting sun reflecting off the Golden Pavilion.

A parting shot of the pavilion.    

A brief interlude amid the sight-seeing: we stopped for lunch at a little noodle shop/cafe and I snapped this picture not long before Naomi grabbed Jake’s bowl of noodles and dumped the entire thing into his lap.

The afternoon’s activity: Nijo Castle.

To-ji

Fushimi-Inari (see below) was Shinto; our afternoon adventure was of the Buddhist variety.  Toji is one of the oldest temple grounds in the city, built when the capital was moved there in 794 as one of a pair of guardian temples on either side of the southern entrance to the city.  It burnt down several times, so most of the buildings now standing date from around 1600.

Toji is a temple of Esoteric Buddhism and was the home of Kukai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism.  (Do you know what that means?  Because I don’t really know either, but there you have it.)

An idea of the scale: Logan is there in front of the gate.

The five-story pagoda is the tallest in Japan at 187 feet.  One of the symbols of Kyoto; they have even used it their marketing for the New Year.  This year is the year of the rabbit and, for Kyoto, one of the rabbit ears is this pagoda.

As usual, Logan’s interests are elsewhere.

The pagoda was interesting, but even more fascinating were the multitude of statues inside the various temple buildings.  Unfortunately, for preservation reasons (and possibly for religious reasons as well) you can’t take photographs inside.

A crysanthemum, symbol of the Japanese emperor, lays at the bottom of the stand for burning candles and incense.

Much more still to come from Kyoto . . .