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| Nijo-jo Castle |
Last night, after tempura, I ventured out to see the route for the tour pick-up today. A veritable city runs under the train tracks I have to cross. Restaurants, shops, services... “Streets” crisscross. You could get lost down there. And below all that runs a subway. Very impressive.
Another impressive thing is up street-side. In addition to the regular crosswalks, there are diagonal crosswalks - at least at major intersections. Very civilized for pedestrians, but all traffic must obviously stop at the same time.
A Japanese lunch is included in this Kyoto one-day tour. Breakfast, on the other hand, was not included with the hotel room. Thank you, Expedia. Your prices are cheap for a reason. That and no view.
Partially thanks to last night’s recon, partially thanks to asking an old subway guard en route, I find the Sunrise Tour Agency in plenty of time and embark on a bus with 34 other people. One of them is a Japanese gentleman escorting two clients from India for the morning part of the tour. We sit together on the bus and talk cheerfully. His son, like my daughter, is an M.D. in the States.
Our guide, Kashivai, is in her 50's, I’d guess. She knows her stuff and her English is good - but with a heavy accent and the usual Japanese “l vs r” pronunciation problem. Unfortunately, her voice is high and doesn’t carry well. Plus she doesn’t like turning her mic up so I spend the whole day close to her during explanations.
Off we set into Greater Kyoto, Japan’s seventh largest city at 1.5 million (a figure which will pale compared to the cities of China).
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| Nijo-jo Castle |
First stop: Nijo-jo Castle, built at the start of the 17th century.
Kyoto was Japan’s capital for about a thousand years, and its very name means “capital city”. (In 1868, the capital moved to Edo, renamed Tokyo, meaning “Eastern capital”.) The first part of the castle is the part that was open to those outside the Chosen Few. As such, they weren’t necessarily trustworthy. So aside from bodyguards behind all doors, this outer circle of the castle has cypress floors that creak and squeak, making a sound the guide says sounds like a nightingale. This was achieved by using long nails hammered only part way in, the top of the nail then bent over and down, forming an arch that allows the board to move a bit... and squeak. Impossible to sneak up on someone here. There are also murals of tigers to “intimidate” those waiting to be seen. Of course the nearest tigers back then were in Korea, so some of these tigers have stripes and spots.
Further in, closer to the shogun, the floors have no nightingales because only trusted people got this far. Nonetheless, the men wore robes designed so that swords could not be drawn rapidly. The samurai were all right-handed too, as being a leftie was not allowed... until the 1960's!
As for the shogun’s numerous wives - married for political alliances - they retired at age 30, but were not allowed to go home, serving as political hostages. They also did no needlework, as did European noblewomen; only servants sewed.
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| Kinkakuji Temple, the Golden Pavilion |
Back on the bus and off to our second stop: Kinkakuji Temple, the Golden Pavilion.
Built in the mid-14th century, the temple was once the private villa of a powerful shogun. When the shogun died, the villa became a Zen Buddhist temple. It’s been burned down twice: once in the late 15th century during a war, more recently in the mid-20th century by a crazy novice monk. This resurrection dates from 1955, a close copy of the original. The paintings inside were saved and restored. The top two of the three levels are covered in gold leaf. Spare no expense!
The setting here is magnificent. Old trees, a brook and a small waterfall. And the temple nestled in all that, looking like it’s on an island but it’s really linked to terra firma on one side. It reminds me of a golden version of the gazebo in the middle of the pond at Fontainebleau, built so the French king could be alone.
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| The Imperial Palace |
The last stop of the morning: the Imperial Palace, painted (as are many others) a bright “vermilion”, the color of the sun and fire to protect against evil spirits. After all, this was the former residence of the Emperor of all Japan, when Kyoto was the nation’s capital. And even after the capital moved to Tokyo in 1869, this palace was sometimes used for the enthronement ceremony of new emperors. Originally built in the 13th c, it was destroyed by fire many times (eight in all). We tour several of the buildings, each one a story in itself, all of a similar architecture.
The palace is framed by vast gardens and is accompanied by a state guesthouse, all held within walls. The houses of other high-ranking nobles were razed when the capital moved and the gardens are now open to the public. Just walk through the regal gates and enjoy.
Then it’s back to Kyoto Station, where some people leave our group, including my three new friends. The rest of us go to enjoy a Japanese lunch nearby. Served up on individual platters: miso soup, three appetizers - tofu (yuck), potato salad (pureed) and eggplant and green beans with ginger - followed by vegetable and shrimp tempura, then fresh pineapple and grapefruit. And fresh grapefruit for dessert after a Sukiyaki-style chicken hot pot that bubbled away over a timed flame while we ate the “befores".
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