TEMPLES AND SHRINES: KYOTO

 Trip Date: September 6, 2018

My sloth in catching up on these posts is getting worse.  I think nearly two years post-event is a record.  "Yesterday" was a rather sobering outing to Hiroshima; today should be a bit more upbeat.  Kyoto is loaded with shrines and temples, and we will hardly scratch the surface.  

Each morning of a bus tour day, Yoshiko would post her hand-drawn maps in the bus to "orient" us to where we were.  They were always amusing, sometimes helpful.  The big maps at the venue ranged from cryptic to excellent, as was this one for the Golden Temple. 

Kinkaku (the Golden Pavilion) is a shariden, a Buddist hall containing relics of Buddha.  It is part of a Zen Buddhist temple that is formally named Rokuon-ji.  The gardens and buildings are said to represent the Pure Land of Buddha in this world.  He could do a lot worse.  The place is beautiful, and is a World Cultural Heritage site.

These photos are a triumph of rudeness over civility.  The place was jam packed with tourists, mostly Japanese, and it took a bit of shouldering to get any shot without a lot of bodies in it.  The upper two levels are covered with gold foil on lacquer, and a phoenix stands on the peak.  The pond is the center of the gardens, and the rocks were donated by provincial lords of the various periods.  No one is allowed inside other than the monks.

As we were walking around, a teacher with a handful of students in tow asked if we had a minute to answer a few questions for their English homework assignment.  Sure!  Each one asked basic questions in turn (where from, why here, where else have we visited, etc.).  Every one took notes furiously.  Their eyes were like saucers when Loni started rattling off all the countries we have visited.  Cute.

Next up was the Nijo-jo Castle, completed in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who unified Japan after a long period of civil war.  His Shogunate (1603-1867) was one of peace and prosperity.  He announced his appointment as Shogun by the Emperor to the feudal lords at the Nijo-jo castle.  In 1867, it also was the site of the announcement of the return of power to the Emperor, ushering in the Meiji Period.  No photos were allowed of the interior, so this exterior shot will have to suffice.  Loni getting her shot at the right.

 

Our tour was a shoes-off affair, to protect the tatami mats.  Lots of painted screens, decorated ceilings, wide corridors, gardens all around.  Much more extensive and elaborate than the samurai house we saw.  As we exited there was, natch, a store with various stuff to buy.  Only one caught my eye -- a green matchi beer, considered a local delicacy.  Had to try it.  Meh.

Refreshed by the bog brew, we moved on to Fushimi Inari Taisha in southern Kyoto, the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, 233 meters high. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, thus the many fox statues across the shrine grounds. The shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.

 The building in the lower right is the main entrance pavilion, and the upper right shows the beginnings of one of the torii trails.  Here's a shot I snatched from the web:

None of the trails was ever this uncrowded.  They were absolutely choking with tourists, mostly Japanese.  This same scene is in the lower left, below.  Curious as to why this entrance is guarded by unpainted toris.

While it was fairly spectacular to see thousands of these things in seemingly endless tunnels, the heat, humidity, and crush of humanity eventually made it an "I gotta get out of here" moment.  Time for a relax and a fan.  One of the fox statues is on guard.

This trio, out for the day in costume (rented by the day), were happy to be photographed.  the whole point of dressing up was to be seen, right?  Then it was back to our hotel, the Westin Miyako, which was very nice and located amidst a lot of green areas.  Chuck posing by one of the sculptures at the entrance.
 

Loni in the outer lobby area, and the local English rag with updates on the typhoon.  The locat Kansai International airport closure was very bad news for many of our group who had reservations on flights home originating there.  It was under a foot of water, being built on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, reachable only be a single bridge (or boat).  Unfortunately, the bridge got smacked by the freighter that broke loose, and was sufficiently damaged to require closing.  A couple thousand souls were trapped at the airport.  Our group members started desperately trying to rebook their flights home from aTokyo airport.  Collette was able to help those who had booked through them, but the rest were on their own.  Ack!  To make things worse, they still had to get from Kyoto to Tokyo.  Some braved the bullet train on their own (a transfer somewhere was required), others were transported by Collette via bus, a nine hour journey leaving at 6am. Double Ack!  We are going out of the older, domestic Osaka airport on dry land, to connect with our flight home from Tokyo's Narita.

We ate dinner at the hotel's "gourmet buffet" which, at 4500 Yen (about $40) per wasn't cheap, but it was all you can eat and really quite good.  We had sushi, salad, soup, veggies, meats (beef, duck, mutton, chicken, salmon) and lots of dessert options, of which I made a comprehensive survey.  We rolled back to room 222, fully sated and thankful we didn't have to deal with trying to make reservations home.  One of our party was exhausted and in tears in the restaurant, and words of comfort were all we could offer.  

Our last day was on our own until the farewell group dinner that evening.  We chose to stay within walking distance of the hotel as there was plenty to see close by.  Virtually next door was the Nanzenji Temple, whose grounds are located at the base of Kyoto's forested Higashiyama mountains.  It is one of the most important Zen temples in all of Japan and is the head temple of one of the schools within the Rinzai sect of Japanese Zen Buddhism.  This is the Sanmon entrance gate, which dates from 1628.

 Trio of stiffs on pathway to gate.

 

One of the shrines inside.

After the temples, we made our way over to the Murim An private gardens.  Would that I could recreate this place in my back yard.  Don't think it would survive in drought-ridden SoCal.  This was peaceful bliss epitomized.  

Serenity now, as Mr. Costanza would say.