Kyoto and Nara

After New Years Pam and I left to a trip to Kyoto. We had planned to spend two days exploring Kyoto but ended up with one afternoon and the better part of the next day. Not as much as we'd wanted, but there was an excellent reason for it which will be made clear soon.

This trip would be our first true ride on the Shinkansen (not counting the short 30 minute ride I took coming back from Gunma) and it certainly lived up to its billing. We took the nozomi train on the Tokaido Shinkansen line, which gets up to 300km/hr (about 180mph) at its fastest point. Good thing my camera has burst mode or I never would have gotten any decent pictures.

This is a shot of Fuji-san from the train:















The Shinkansen got us into Kyoto at about 10am. We stuck out luggage in a locker at the train stationa and set about exploring what we could.

Our first stop was Toji Temple, which contains the tallest wooden pagoda in Japan.


























It is a very large complex and contains several other interesting buildings








































































Plenty of mochi here to ring in the New Year properly...












































After Toji Temple we headed up to the two other sites near our hotel, Higashi Honganji and Nishi Honganji Temples. On the way we found this kitty in an ideal sunspot. Note that his near twin is curled up a little behind him.













































Walking between temples:






























And we had to expose Pam to a "ticket" restaurant, where you buy a ticket from a machine at the door that has pictures of the food you want, then bring it to the counter to have them prepare it.

I had a curry udon, very good meal for the price.















After trekking about the city for several hours and logging many miles on our feet, we went back to our hotel which blessedly featured a spa on the top floor so we could soak and relax. It also had a heated toilet seat which also contained a bidet and a "shower." Pam particularly enjoyed the heated seat.

The next day it was raining hard, but we did not let this dampen our spirits. We bundled up, bought some umbrellas and continued our cultural immersion. We started pretty early because we had planned to meet two of my classmates in Nara. Dan is in Tokyo with me and was in Osaka for a job interview and Yozo lives in Nara Prefecture. More on that later.

Our first stop on Day Two was Kiyomizu-dera. Kiyomizu means "clear water" and apparently refers to a spring near or on the temple grounds. Kiyomizu-dera is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was one of the most serene, beautiful places I've ever been.





























































































































































































We then got somewhat lucky. When we left Kiyomizu-dera, I wanted to take a cab to Ginkaku-ji (the Silver temple) and instead misspoke and the cab took us to Kinkaku-ji. Since this ended up being the last temple we saw in Kyoto, I'm very glad indeed that I messed up.








































Apparently it's good luck to toss money at this Buddha. Never hurts to be safe.






























After Kinkaku-ji we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit and then head out to Nara for what we thought was a day trip to meet Dan and Yozo.

Nara is famous for its Daibutsu, the biggest bronze Buddha in all of Japan, which is housed in the largest wooden building in the world. It is also famous for its tame deer, which the tourists can (and do) feed. If you can get one alone, you hold out a cracker and bow to the deer and the deer will bow back to you. Only in Japan

Here is Dan learning that you won't have only one deer near you for very long















Pam also learned this lesson.















Luckily for us, the rain and mist can make for some nice photos too















Take a look at the people and you can get an idea of just how big this building is.















The Daibutsu in Nara. Apparently this guy's head had a tendency to fall off every once in a while. I wouldn't want to be in the neighborhood when that happens.


























We had intended to leave Nara and head back to Kyoto that evening but upon arriving in Nara, Dan told us that Yozo wanted us to come stay at his parent's house which was about an hour and a half by car from the city of Nara. While we wanted to see more of Kyoto, we figured that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a part of Japan that gaijin rarely, if ever, get to see.

We were very glad we did. We stopped on the way to Yozo's place to meet his parents for some of the best sushi we've ever had (Dan has pictures, I will update this when I get them from him.) According to Yozo we were the first foreigners to ever eat at this sushi place.

We then finished our drive up into the mountains of Nara Prefecture and arrived in Yozo's village, which consisted of about 15 houses and a hotel. Luckily for us, the hotel contained an onsen. Once again we achieved the coveted "first gaijin to..." status when we visited the onsen that evening. Hopefully my small tattoo did not raise too many alarms.

Yozo's parents house was very nice. His family has lived here for over 500 years and is involved in the timber industry, so his house was wood-heated and had that great, warm, smokey smell to it. After the onsen we joined his parents for many bottles of beer, a few shots of sake and some small snacks then went to bed. Pam, Dan and I stayed in the guest house. Dan's room was heated, while Pam and I cuddled up on some futons with electric blankets and a big pile of thick, heavy blankets. It was almost like camping out and we really enjoyed it, though getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night was not fun!

In the morning Yozo's mom made breakfast and his dad showed us the rest of the house, including a small shrine:



























as well as his family's collection of weapons, which was one old flintlock rifle and a beautiful collection of swords, including a wakizashi that dated to the Kamakura Period (1200-1500.) When he handed it to me I felt as if I had broken into a museum and picked up one of the exhibits. It was beautifully made and balanced, as all top-quality Japanese swords are.


























They also had a katana that had once been issued to an Imperial Army officer during WWII. Yozo is about to demonstrate for Dan exactly what those officers did with it.















After that we thanked Yozo and his family for their hospitality and headed back toward Nara to catch the train to Kyoto. We stopped along the way for some pictures.

This was taken from the top of a dam





























We got back, checked out of our hotel a bit late and headed on our way. Our original plan was to check out and explore Kyoto some more, but it was much colder than when we'd arrived and snow and wind were in the air, so we left a bit early.

This is the hustle and bustle of the Kyoto Station on a Sunday afternoon












And one final shot of Fuji-san from the return trip:














Pam and I don't have the words to thank Yozo and his family for showing us their part of Japan, it is something both of us will always cherish. I hope that we get the chance to return their hospitality some day.