Japan Times: Kyoto à gogo. Part I: Saturday

29 hours, a trip on a bullet train, a multitude of awe-inspiring temples, shrines and gardens including four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, nearly 18 miles on foot and a lot of rain. This is what Kyoto means to me. Add to the mix ramen, sukiyaki, negi cha-han, a bento box, beer and sake and you’ve got a pretty fantastic weekend.

4.45am on Saturday in our flat was not a particularly pretty sight when the alarm went off and Simon suggested that I should probably go in the shower first. Eventually I dragged myself into the bathroom, wondering why booking the early departure from Tokyo to Kyoto had seemed like such a good idea a month ago. Once we got out of the flat it was all OK and the ever-efficient Tokyo metro deposited us at the shinkansen station around 5.45am. This gave us plenty of time to take super-cool photos next to the train…

Excited, much?!

"Nonchalant enthusiam"

The journey took a little under three hours and we arrived at Kyoto station at 9.15, just in time to get some breakfast. We couldn’t check into the hotel until 12 so we decided to see a few of the sights close to the station first, then head to the hotel to drop the bags, then carry on further north into the city.

My first impression of Kyoto was formed by the station. The current building was opened to the public in 1997 and it looks like the product of a design meeting between M C Escher and Ridley Scott for a film of one of Kafka’s novels. We spent quite a while trying out different escalators and staircases to see where they would take us before emerging victorious onto the Happy Terrace on the 12^th floor. The view was blurred by the drizzle but it did give an idea of the sprawling nature of the city, and we could start to see from the age of the buildings just how much was built during the economic boom of the 1980s, and how relatively little has been built since the bubble burst in the early 1990s.

Confusing!

Escher would have loved it...!

Descending from the Happy Terrace we headed first to Shosei-en, a garden that was created to be part of one of the temple complexes that we would see next. It’s now separated from the temple by several main roads but it remains an oasis of calm in a busy city. It’s been unseasonably warm in Japan recently and the trees have therefore been fooled into thinking it’s not yet autumn but they are starting to come round to the idea, and some of the leaves were beginning to turn red.

You can't escape the city but the garden is still peaceful

Chinese corridor-style bridge

Autumnal reds just starting to appear

Next on the list were Higashi Hongan-ji and Nishi Hongan-ji, two huge Buddhist temples that are both over 400 years old. Nigishi Hongan-ji ‘s Goeido hall claims to be the largest wooden building in the world. I don’t know whether this is true but it’s certainly massive! Both complexes required shoes to be removed so we pottered around on the tatami mats in our socks. It really adds something to the experience in a way I can’t quite explain. The woodwork inside and outside the buildings is phenomenal and the complexes both had a wonderful air of peace and tranquillity, especially in the worship halls where prayers were being chanted.

Main prayer hall at Higashi Hongan-ji

Annex building at Nishi Hongan-ji. Even this was pretty big!

After the temples we continued north to go and check in to our hotel. We hadn’t gone for a particularly expensive one on the basis that we would be spending more time out and about than hanging around inside, so we were pleasantly surprised to find that it actually looked rather upmarket. The outside did anyway… The reception, the ‘computer controlled’ lift, the amazing bedside-table contraption in our room and our bathroom potentially hadn’t been updated since I was born. On the subject of the bathroom, I did chuckle to myself as I imagined how many times my 6’4” brother would have to fold himself in half to get his head under the shower.

Glad to know the lift was so modern...

Amazing. This would not have been out of place on the set of one of
the original James Bond films.

Definitely a shower for small people!

After the briefest of stops at the hotel we forged on with the sightseeing. We were determined to make the most of our time in Kyoto and there is a very high concentration of ‘must-see’ sights there! I really wanted to see some geisha in full traditional dress to we headed to Gion district on the east side of the river Kama to go a-stalking. There are some beautiful old wooden buildings here that house very shishi-looking restaurants but sadly no geisha were to be seen. Perhaps it was the wrong time of day, perhaps it was the rain. I know I wouldn’t fancy being out in that weather in full kimono, massive amounts of makeup and with a hairstyle that had taken hours to create.

Traditional wooden buildings in Gion

We pressed on, our ultimate goal on Saturday being the Silver Pavilion at Jishoji temple. To ensure a variety of religious experiences (well, a choice of two at least) we stopped at Heian-Jingu, a Shinto shrine, on the way. The torii (gate that marks the entrance to the shrine complex) is one of the largest in Japan. It’s painted orange, a highly auspicious colour. It also looks wonderful in contrast to the grey buildings and greenery that surround it.

Giant torii at Heian-Jingu

Heian-Jingu's main gate

Once you get off the main roads, there are very many marvellous things to be seen in Kyoto. Tiny, colourful shrines hide on street corners, stone bridges on stone legs balance effortlessly over small rivers, and ancient wooden buildings hang precariously from the riverbanks.

Tiny shrine on a street corner

Hanging out over the river

Very narrow bridge!

We approached Jishoji along the Philosophers’ Road, which follows the Biwako Canal. The drip-dripping of the rain through the trees lent the scene an air of brooding thoughtfulness. Even I was in a particularly contemplative mood, it has to be said.

Philosopher #1

Philosopher #2

Jishoji (The Temple of Shining Mercy) is better known as Ginkakuji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion). It sits quietly in the hills that are to the north-east of Kyoto and it’s really only when you’re almost on top of it that you become aware of its presence. We followed the prescribed route around the beautifully landscaped garden, designed to afford wonderfully framed views of the Silver Pavilion. It’s so-called because when construction began in the late 15^th century the intention was to cover it in silver foil. Due to various wars, and ultimately the death of its commissioner Ashikaga Yoshimasa in 1490, this never happened. It is believed that the pavilion looks the same today as it did the last time Yoshimasa saw it.

Zen sand sculpture in the garden

Everything in the garden was designed to afford beautiful views to the visitor

The Silver Pavilion emerges from the mist (the building on the left)

Just to prove we were both there, at the same time!

It was just starting to get dark as we walked away from Ginkakuji back towards the city. In the space of half an hour, as the lights started to come on, what had been a bit of a bleak afternoon turned into a sparkling autumn evening.

On exiting the metro station nearest our hotel we were delighted to discover that, in addition to the calories burned by walking almost 12 miles during the course of the day, we had got rid of an extra 5.4 merely by using the stairs rather than the escalator at the station. We celebrated with a large meal of sukiyaki and cha-han, finished off with a large helping of sake. It all made for a very good night’s sleep!