A trip to Old Japan

...or so we assumed.

Disclaimer: This post is going to be long. Sorry, so much to see in three days.

On November 23rd, Ron and I left to go to Kyoto. We had planned this trip for a while, so we were really excited to get out of cold Iwate and to not-as-cold Kyoto. I thought that Kyoto would just be a city that was frozen in time back to the Edo period of Japan; fantastic landscapes sprinkled with traditional shrines, geisha dressed up walking down old streets of Gion, surrounded with dark wooden homes and paper lanterns lighting the way. Kyoto itself however, was not what I anticipated. I didn't realize that history could not preserve itself from modernization. I was taken back by the steel frames of the Kyoto train station or the high-rise buildings of Gion. Not to mention the hoards of people that crowded the city during this holiday weekend. Aside from this naive culture shock, Ron and I did have an enjoyable time and we were able to play treasure hunters and find those small streets that still managed to retain the magic of old Kyoto.

On our first day, we managed to see what most people see in three days. It was a whirlwind day, accompanied with a LOT of walking. Our first stop was KINKAKUJI. A beautiful temple that is covered in gold. It's surrounded by MIRROR LAKE (you'll see why).

Next we went to RYOAN-JI (The Peaceful Dragon). It has a beautiful temple, but is known for it's Rock Garden. In the garden are 15 rocks, but no matter where you stand, you will only see 14 of them. It isn't until you acheive Enlightenment and can see overhead when you can see all 15 (mind numbing isn't it?

Our next stop was the IMPERIAL PALACE. They don't let people in on the weekends so we didn't get to look inside, but the park that it was in was beautiful. So Ron and I "smartly" decided to walk to GINKAKUJI, the younger brother of Kinkakuji. This temple was suppose to be covered in silver, but they never got around to it. The walk was a lot longer than we expected.

The last temple was our favorite for the day, NANZEN-JI. This place had a slew of temples, but we saw only the big one. This one really looked "old". It had a "I've been around a while vibe". Next to it was a really cool canal bridge. It was neat to have the very old next to the very modern.


We ended the night with a trip to very busy Gion. We ate okonomiyaki, walked around, went to the public bath to soak, and then went to bed. My dogs were killing me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Sunday, we took a train to see FUSHIMI INARI SHRINE. The best one! This shrine is known for their statues of foxes (messengers of the gods) and an everlasting number of Torii gates. This shrine was by far the most beautiful and peaceful shrine. We went in the morning so it wasn't busy and you can hike to the very top of the mountain throught the Torii gates. It was so cool I'm putting 3 pictures!



After, we went to KIYOMIZUDERA, the number one recommendation from all my teachers. I think everyone in Japan thought the same thing. It was very crowded. So crowded that we didn't even go in, even if that is the best part. We just enjoyed watching the people walk in and out.

Once we made our way down from the hoards of people, we slowly made our way to the hostel, but stopped by a nearby temple along the way, HIGASHI HONGAN-JI. Later that night, Ron and I went to the top of the train station where we had traditional Kyoto cuisine while the sun set (awww).

Then we went back to Gion to watch a show that had little snipits of traditional Japanese dance, art, and music. Great stuff. Also the street it was on was the type of street that I wanted to see. It was very dark. The neon lights of the city didn't touch it. The paper lanterns lit up the dark wood the covered the old houses that I assume were there 50 years ago. Unfortunatly we couldn't eat there because it was all too expensive. So we went to a convenience store and bought beer. Ahh gaijin!




Bellies full and mind satisfied with Japanese culture, the day was done.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday... stay with me people!
We felt we saw enough of Kyoto... for now, so we decided to spend our half day in Kobe. Our plane was leaving from there so we thought it would be the best time of any to go see. We went to the Harbor, saw a spot of the Kobe Quake, ate in their Chinatown and slowly made our way back home.





The trip was a really neat way to see a completely different side of Japan that Morioka or Tokyo can't offer. To see all the history and the landmarks really makes you realize the power and the pride that the Japanese people have. It's really amazing. Many of these places have been rebuilt after the wars destroyed them. They decided that after it was demolished, it was still important enough to rebuild. This was true for Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, and Higashi Hongan-ji. According to Ron, Kyoto was on of the places on the list to be hit with the atomic bomb, but Americans decided that the city was too beautiful to destroy. I'm sure glad they made that choice. It would be a shame to see all that gone. I look forward to the next time we venture to that side of the island. Until the next post, stay cool California!