Part 3
2018 © K. W. Bridges & Nancy Furumoto www.kimbridges.com kim.bridges@gmail.com
Viewing Notes • This photolog consists of four parts. • The layout is designed for double-page spreads. • Some pictures span two pages. A black page background color indicates that an image is split between two pages. Picture Information • All of the photos were taken by K. W. Bridges and Nancy Furumoto between November 22 and 27, 2017. • We used a combination of Google Pixel 2XL phones and a Sony RX1R II camera to take the photos. • Photo processing was done with Adobe Photoshop. • Composite panoramas (of which there are many) were created using Kolor Autopano Giga 4.4 Acknowledgements • Cindy Howland-Hodson helped with the editing. She has a sharp eye and a great command of the language. We’re greatly indebted to her. • We relied on many Internet websites for information. We appreciate the efforts of many businesses and government agencies in creating and maintaining information about travel in Japan, especially for peak tourist seasons. • Chris Rowthorn ’s InsideKyoto.com website was especially valuable. We used his recommendations to craft an itinerary prior to coming to Japan. Without his advice, we would have missed many key sights.
Organization This is a long document. It is divided into four parts, each about the same length, for convenience. The places visited are listed on the next two pages. They are grouped for each part in the order in which we went to the places. This map of Kyoto, Japan, provides a general spatial context for our explorations. The areas of daily activities, corresponding to the parts of this document, are shown on the map.
Kamo River 162
Part 4
Hozu-Katsura River
367
Citadines
Gion
Part 3 Part 2
Kyoto Station 9
Shinkansen Tokaido Route
N
1
Part 1
Meishin Expressway
Part 1 Distance Walked: 4.6 miles Wednesday & Thursday – Honolulu To Japan Honolulu Sky Club JR Train Office Tokyo Station Shinagawa Station InterContinental The Strings The Dining Room
Part 2 Distance Walked: 6.2 miles Saturday – Southern Higashiyama Kiyomizu-dera Temple Inoda Coffee Kodai-ji Temple Ryozen Kannon Temple Otani Shrine Chion-in Temple Maruyama Park Yasaka Shrine Shoren-in Temple Minami-za Gion Uokeya U
Friday – Tokyo to Kyoto & More Shinagawa Station Kyoto Terminal JR Office Tourist Information Office Citadines Sobanomi Yoshimura Keihan Station Fushimi Inari Shrine Tofuku-ji Temple Tsuten-Kyo Bridge Kamo River CoCo Ichibanya Karasuma Gojo Co.
Part 3 Distance Walked: 6.6 miles Sunday – Northern Higashiyama Nanzen-ji Temple Nanzen-in Temple Nanzen-ji Temple Dojo My Garden Eikan-do Zenrin-ji Temple Philosopher’s Walk Honen-in Temple Ginkaku-ji Temple The 24 Hour Meat Shop
Part 4 Distance Walked: 6.4 miles Monday – Western Mountains Kyoto Station Katsura River Bamboo Forest Tenryu-ji Temple Nonomiya Temple Dangoro Cafe Gio-ji Temple Gion Manzara Tuesday – Travel Day Kyoto Station Tokyo Station Narita Airport Terminal 1 Muji To Go Kabuki Gate Sky Club
Total Distance Walked: 23.8 miles
Red is always there Winter chases green away Ěś Watch the falling leaf
Sunday: Northern Higashiyama Up again at 6 AM. Nancy, as usual, adds details that our prepared schedule has missed. Flexibility is important. The weather has been great. Cool, maybe even cold as the sun sets. Blue skies with a few cloudy periods. Today’s forecast is for precipitation late in the afternoon. Our goal is to head out early. We can do the temples and return before the rain. We’re dressed for wet conditions although we must buy umbrellas if we get more than a light shower. Out before 8 AM. That’s important. We want to be ahead of the crowds. Now we have a use for our transportation passes. There has been little need for the two-day transportation pass. Just the short trip to the hotel. Today, we’re going beyond easy-walking range. The subway is nearby. That’s our first destination. The transit ride is two stations to the north and then a transfer to the east-west route. It is a four station run. Back on the street we do the usual navigation: move with the crowd. Along a sidewalk and through a park. Then we’re given directions by a local woman. She says, “Turn right.” We follow her and after a short walk she points up toward the mountain and shows we should go there. Very helpful. Good advice.
The huge Sanmon Gate confronts you when you arrive at Nanzen-ji Temple. Inside, the surrounding trees have turned color. It is a dramatic start to today’s viewing. We move ahead and do the usual ticket-purchase ritual. We’re glad we can help support these institutions with our small contribution. You merge with the crowd as you enter the grounds. This brings us back to the “wow” stage that characterized our temple visits yesterday. The morning golden-hour sun shines through the autumn leaves. Stunning. Everywhere you look. As you approach the temple area, a walkway leads off to the right. You can spot an old aqueduct through the trees. This is a huge red-brick structure that cuts across the property. We head that way. We’re below the aqueduct so we can’t see the watercourse. This interesting structure draws you under. A rather modest building is on the other side. A sign says this place has one of the top three ancient view gardens in Japan. Gotta go inside.
You enter alongside a house that has open rooms with tatami mats on the floor. The trees outside have turned into a spectrum of yellow through red colors. Walking ahead and turning the corner, you get a sight of the pond at the base of the mountain. Colored trees hang over the water. This is the scene that gives place such a high “visual” rating. Another chance to stand, grab a deep breath, and say “wow.” This garden earns our pause and reflection. The pathway leads around the pond. Each step you take gives you another “Kodak moment” photo-op. There aren’t too many people here. We’re lucky that we’ve gotten in ahead of the crowd.
The photo-essay on Nanzen-in Temple is a separate document called The Garden at Nanzen-in Temple. The story and images are not repeated here except for the single photo shown above. This story is available at ISSUU. The photo-essay looks more deeply into the history and appearance of this special garden.
We leave the garden and we head back to the aqueduct. After climbing up the slope, we can see water flowing in a channel. Is this part of a system that connects to Lake Bishwa? That’s something to investigate later. We do know the aqueduct had considerable value to Kyoto. The design was special. Economic benefits include the transportation of goods and people, along with power generation. It is a testament to the craftsmen that this structure still carries water. A small temple is nearby. Go up the stairs. There are always stairs! Again, a beautiful garden amongst the temple buildings. The architects of these gardens paid great attention to detail with perfect touches of stone-work, trees, and ground cover. There are few people in this garden. There should be more. It’s a beautiful garden. It is a bit off the main track. It’s hard for people to find.
We exit via a side gate. What should we do next? Nancy recalls there is a waterfall nearby. That seems like a plan. We go farther back in the valley. Past a cemetery. Then head up a steep slope, climb the many stairs, and arrive at a remote temple. There has been a stream flowing alongside our walkway. There were also a few tiny temples alongside the path. At the top, we find three workmen cleaning up the area. They are just finishing and, as they leave, they cross a bridge and walk farther up the trail. You can see their destination. It is near a waterfall at the back of the valley. It is a simple fall. Only a small amount of water. But a nice touch to the end of this hike. One workman was carrying a very large sea shell in a net (similar to those used with Japanese fishing floats). We asked him about it by using sign language. He holds the conch shell and blows into a trumpet-like mouthpiece. A rich, deep sound fills the valley. What a fine noise. That was great! We turn and head back. We hear the sound again as we go down the trail. This time not just one note. We hear a little “tune.” Another nice touch. It takes a few minutes to get back to the aqueduct. There, we spotted people photographing two dogs. We’ve not seen many dogs on this trip. Let’s stop and check them out. Cute dogs.
You walk under the aqueduct. Soon, you’re at the dojo. This is the traditional residence of the temple’s abbot. What a home! The Nanzen-ji Temple Dojo grounds have famous Zen gardens. You enter the building after taking off your shoes. The route leads you along the corridors. Sometimes these are on the inside. From there you can peer into rooms and look at the view that the occupants will see. Most of the time you’re walking along the outside of the buildings. Here you are close to the gardens. You can still see into the rooms. There are quite a few gardens. Some are mostly dry. They consist of rocks and gravel. There is some vegetation but it is restricted to a small “island.” Other gardens are filled with plants. Trees, shrubs and a groundcover of moss. Plus rocks. A few gardens mix these two styles. It takes an expert to see and understand the symbolism of the garden’s elements. The number of rocks. The pattern raked into the gravel. The placement of trees. All of these aspects, and much more, are important to the design. We’re not here to analyze the gardens. This trip is focused on seeing the autumn colors. We’re not disappointed. Each of the gardens in the dojo has an element of color. Sometimes it is in the garden. Other times it forms a backdrop to the garden scene. All intentional. All part of of the organization of nature into harmonious and meaningful visual elements. These are designs that have been perpetuated and refined over the centuries. We are fortunate to be able to see them at this peak in their beauty. Maintaining the perfection of the dry elements, such as the gravel patterns, requires daily maintenance. How can you “touch up” the gravel without walking on it and leaving footprints? Apparently you can walk without traces if you proceed slowly, step with a flat foot, and wear soft shoes.
That’s enough for this temple and its dojo. We are lucky (or was it good planning?) to be ahead of the crowds here. Now, however, the mobs have arrived at Nanzen-ji Temple. Time to move. There is much more to explore today. The highway leading north to the next temples goes through residential districts. There is street traffic, but pedestrians fill most of the narrow roadway. You’ve got to be alert for cars. The slow approach of a vehicle causes walkers shift to the side of the road. It is rare to hear a car’s horn. We soon arrive at the entrance to Eikan-do Temple. Should we enter? We’re hungry at this point. It is time to fuel-up. We are not sure where to eat. There may be competition for space. The other visitors must need food, too. Luck is with us. There is a tiny restaurant nearby. It has an empty table. In we go. We order an egg-over-rice and vegetable fried rice. Add some blended coffee (their term for a small cup of black coffee) and a green-tea latte. Adequate food in a classic neighborhood establishment. Most important, it is what we needed. Just when we needed it. The green-tea latte is unusual. Maybe we’ll skip it next time. We don’t know the restaurant’s English name. We could call this the “dog restaurant” because a small dog wanders around visiting the regular customers. The Japanese name on Google Maps translates to “Tea Ceremony.” That doesn’t seem quite right. Instead, we’ll use “My Garden” as that was printed on the container holding chopsticks.
Now, our tummies are full. That was a good stop. Time to head into the nearby Eikan-do Zenrin-ji Temple. This is a big complex. And lots of colorful trees are inside. Of course, this temple is another “people magnet.” We walk and take photographs, along with everyone else. Everywhere you turn there is a place to get a super picture. A sign saying “pagoda” points to a trail. Why not? Up we go. Climb stairs. Climb more stairs. Finally, we’re at the top. You’re way above the gardens up here. You can peer over the tops of the temple buildings and, in the distance, make out the downtown area of Kyoto. This is a perfect place for panoramic photos. Back down with the crowd, we crawl along with this mass of humanity toward a large pond. As we expect, there are many photo-ops here. Everyone is trying to snap a photo, pose a person for a picture, or grab a selfie. We, too, take snaps here and there. Go with the flow. Crowds are all right. It means other people are enjoying this annual phenological event. You need patience. Don’t expect to take that oncein-a-lifetime photo. Somebody is blocking your photo? That’s OK. Include them in your picture. The large pond at Eikan do-Zenrin-ji Temple is a dominant focal point. Should we try to take a awe-inspiring picture here? Maybe not. There are a lot of other photo-worth vistas. They’ll be less congested. This is a very satisfying stop. Never mind the crowds. We’re viewing what we came to see. We’re enjoying it with everyone else.
Back to the road. Resume the walk north. After a few twists and turns, we reach a canal. The famed Philosopher’s Walk runs aside this picturesque engineering feat. A stepping-stone pathway lets you stroll near the water. It is crowded because this is a popular connection between temples. Many people are “temple-hopping,” just like us. Some are going our direction. Others are doing the opposite trip. Be alert. You need to step off-trail for on-coming people. There is a wider path on the side. It is more the width of cars. But the canal is the beauty spot. We chose to hug the waterway. It is more interesting to thread our way through the human traffic on the narrower walkway. The water in the stream is shallow. Everywhere you look you can find a few fish. In one area the carp are particularly large. You pass many restaurants near Philosopher’s Walk. One is pictureworthy because of its name: Philosophy Café. Perhaps it is worth visiting, just because of its name. But not today. There are a few handicraft stores in the adjacent neighborhood. We’re not tempted. Our focus is to find the next stop on our tour.
Honen-in Temple requires that we cross over the canal and venture up a neighborhood road toward the mountains. Street signs point the way and a GPS check helps pinpoint the temple’s location. It is close. Go up more steps. The entrance gate (Sanmon) is small. In structure, it is similar to what we’ve seen elsewhere. The opening frames a tiny view of what is inside the temple grounds. Taking a picture is difficult. Exposure, for example, as the gate and surrounding area are dark, while the garden seen through the opening is bright. There is a bigger problem. People are going through the entrance. You must wait (and wait) for the right moment. Hope for the scene to clear. That might not happen. Take a photo. Be happy with the result. An old sign near the gate reads, in Kanji, “no garlic, meat, or alcohol are allowed to be brought inside of the Sanmon.” No garlic? Strange.
The garden has colorful trees, elaborate drawings in sand gardens, and small buildings. There are small water features. This is a good mixture. The two sand sculptures symbolize water that cleans your body and mind. They change the carved patterns every few days. It is just a short walk around the grounds. A gentleman is telling us to go into the temple for a tea ceremony. But we decline. Too tired. We’ll get too stiff (given we’d be sitting on tatami mats). The Honen-in Temple is a welcome break. We are weary. The other temples are large and complex. People fill those places. Here we have found simplicity. And just a few people. But we must move on. There is one more temple on today’s itinerary.
We head back to the canal and the Philosopher’s Walk. From here, we proceed a few blocks to Ginkaku-ji Temple. You reach Ginkaku-ji Temple by walking up a street lined with vendors (much as we’ve seen at a few of the other most-popular temples). These stores have foods, omiyage, and crafts. Everything looks good to eat or interesting to buy. But we are still full from breakfast and we travel light (read: don’t collect things). The entrance to Ginkaku-ji Temple begins with a long “tunnel.” This is a walkway lined with a high hedge of Camellia bushes. As soon as you enter the grounds, you approach a pond. There is a dry-garden bordering part of the pond. They have created large, three-dimensional stand structures. Right at the start is a tall, truncated cone made of sand. This is symbolic of Mt. Fuji. It is a mystery how it retains its shape. It is a surprise to encounter this combination of a small lake and big dry-garden! The pond itself is ringed with beautiful maple trees. They’ve turned color. All-in-all, this is one of those “wow” locations.
At Ginkaku-ji Temple, we’ve come to another stroll garden. The journey takes you around the property. There is a goal; reflect on the landscape from many perspectives. A well-defined walkway is your guide. Start the stroll near the pond. The adjacent building is a former residence that has become a temple. The dry-garden extends between the structure and the pond. You continue the walk by heading up the hill. Moss covers the ground here. This is a soft, dark-green carpet. The color is a bold contrast to the reds of the maple trees. The path takes you up the mountain, then across the slope so you can see the water and the building structures from above. Then the pathway dips down. View the small lake from other side. Another loop through the garden, around a temple, and you’re at the exit. That was a fantastic experience. You need to ponder not only what you’ve seen, but also the process that created these visual experiences. They planted maples in these gardens for a distinct purpose. Few, if any, flowering trees are in the nearby forests. Here, maples are abundant in both number and genetic variability. Creating these garden landscapes required careful planning. We are fortunate. Long ago, they reserved these sights for secular and religious leaders, along with artists. Now, everyone can enter. An astounding number of people enter the gardens during this peak period of fall foliage colors. The entrance fees, ranging from about $3 to $10 for each visitor, benefit the temples. Add up the massive influx of visitors and you get an idea of the revenue available for garden maintenance.
We’ve finished our temple visits for the day. We stop. Let’s consider the time. It is nearly 3 PM. The morning weather forecast predicts rain starting around 4 PM. We have concerns. Let’s be safe. We should head toward the hotel. The food vendors that line the street near the temple offer interesting temptations. We’ve got to try something. How about the green-tea custard filling of a cream puff? That’s an item worth sharing. Yummy. We planned on getting green-tea ice cream. It’s a unique Japanese treat. But the pastry is enough. No need for ice cream. Let’s return to the hotel via one of Kyoto’s department stores. The shopping center is far away, but we’re OK with exercise. Off we go. The route retraces some of our steps along the Philosopher’s Walk. Then we turn downslope and head toward urban Kyoto. On the walk, we stop and watch firemen at small station. They are running a training drill. They get out of their truck, put on protective gear, and then go through the motions of connecting a hose to a fire hydrant. They are fast and do this with enthusiastic shouts and lots of action. It is interesting to watch.
We march on and on. Most of the streets are drab. Perhaps our senses have been saturated by seeing all of the bright colored trees at the temples. Here, on the streets, there is little evidence of the colorful autumn foliage. There is an occasional store that grabs our attention. But our focus is on getting to the shopping center. It is important to keep an eye on the sky as we walk. Remember, the forecast says to expect a shower. A light sprinkle will be OK. We’re unprepared for a deluge. We keep thinking, “Where can we buy an umbrella if it starts raining?” We make a turn onto a major east-west street that gets us closer to the shopping district. We want to go to a department store to buy something, like a bento, that we can take to the hotel for dinner. This avoids going out in the rain. Now, however, the “feel” of the weather tells us we’re running out of time. The weather front must be nearby. We opt for a change of plans. Quick. Head to the subway; it is just a few blocks away. The subway trains run far below ground. You need to walk down many stairs to reach the platform. It is only a short wait for our subway train. This is Sunday afternoon and we expect a light load on the train. Wrong. We get on and find ourselves inside a packed subway car (read: bodies pushed together). That’s OK. We are going only two stops. We’re glad to decompress and depart the station. Next stop: the 7-11 store across the street from our hotel. Buy a bottle of wine and some chips. Surprise! The wine is inexpensive. Our purchases go back to the room with us. Drink the wine, nibble chips and debrief. It has been a big day. We expected rain about now. Look out the window. Amazing. It is still dry. Check the weather radar. The storm has not arrived. It may even miss Kyoto. Whew! That makes it easier for us.
Time for dinner. We know of a few restaurants near our hotel. We head back to the street to check them out. One of these will serve our purpose. They are basically fast food places, but with a Japanese twist. We chose the one that mostly offers noodles. No need to read a menu. The pictures outside show you the dishes they sell. There is no English name for this restaurant. The best we can decipher (thanks to Google and some imagination) is “The 24 Hour Meat Shop.” The name isn’t important. The type of food (noodles), the location (next to the hotel), and complexity (quick & easy) guide our choice. In we go. It is important to follow the routine. You choose your meal and pay for it using a vending machine located just inside the door. The machine dispenses a small ticket. Sit at a table. An employee comes and takes part of your ticket. Tea arrives at the table right away. The food follows soon. So far, we’ve done everything correctly. Great! All of this with minimal interaction with restaurant employees. We bought tickets for interesting dishes. Kim gets udon noodles served in an iron pot. Burners under the pot keep the sauce boiling. Rice and a small piece of tofu accompany the main dish. Nancy has a beef and chicken combination, along with bean sprouts, rice, and miso soup. Unlike most restaurants, we leave when we are finished eating. We didn’t have to wait for a check as we’ve already paid. (Leaving a tip is rare in Japan). The overall experience is one of simplicity. It was a good value (although, perhaps, not the tastiest meal).
Back to the hotel. It is practically next door. Still no precipitation. We think the showers will bypass Kyoto tonight. Today was another busy day. We saw a lot. Our step count today was about 25 K. Best to get sleep now. The plan for tomorrow is to travel to the other side of Kyoto. This final excursion is to the mountains in the west. There is a very famous temple there. One last note. It didn’t rain. The forecast for the rest of our stay in Japan: clear skies! Lucky, again.