Kyoto-Or what I can Remember if it

So, I thought that Jonathan was being a bit melodramatic in his post. I might have been a little drowsy, but come on, I remember what happened during our stay in Kyoto...or do I? As I sat down to write this post I began to realize that I really don’t remember much about the first or even the second day we spent in the city. Jonathan quizzed me about the details just to measure the extent of my memory loss:

Jonathan: What did we eat for lunch or dinner?
Amanda: We ate lunch?
Jonathan: Uhm....yea.

It’s not like me to not remember food. Although I don’t remember all the details of our first few days in Kyoto, I do have specific recollections of the things that were interesting to me. I’ll share those...and lots of pictures.

First, I want to mention how lucky Kyoto is. During WWII most of Japan was firebombed, erasing most of its pre-war architecture. Sure there is still a lot around, but most of Japan is new and ultra modern. Kyoto however was spared much of the firebombing that the rest of the country experienced, and when considering which city the US should use its atomic bomb on, Kyoto was again spared even through it was at the top of the list. What made Kyoto the protected promised land of Japan? Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, had spent his honeymoon in the city and fell in love with it. His personal connections there would not allow him to order its destruction. It seems almost comical that one group of 150,000 people were spared while another group was killed because one man had a “good time” in Kyoto.

Just in case you want to see where all these places are here is a map that is numbered. To make it big, just click on it.

1. Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle was built in 1603, making it just over 400 years old. I think it’s most interesting to people who are actually into Japanese history and culture (Jonathan, not necessarily me). It was originally built as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun, the warlord that runs the whole country. Until around 1868, warlords ran Japan instead of the Imperial Family.

What I remember most about this castle: The Nightingale Floors. Seems the Shogun was a bit paranoid of assassins and of his women sneaking away, and so he built his castle so all the walkways would let out delicate little tweets when walked upon. This was no ordinary squeaky floor, it was melodic.

Don't miss tiny Jonathan at the opening of this giant gate.

The Castle also had beautiful gardens.

2. Arashiyama-The Bike Ride.

Jonathan and I rented bikes to tour around Arashiyama, which is a big park of sorts with lots of temples, ancient bamboo forests, scenic countryside, and most importantly, a monkey refuge!

Arashiyama Monkey Park

This was one of my favorite things we did in Kyoto. This park has over 150 Japanese monkeys, and although it claims to be a zoo, of sorts, you definitely get the feeling that we humans are intruding on their natural habitat. The monkeys are not caged. They wander around in the trees above your head as you walk by, or scamper around your feet if they think that you may have food.

We were also able to feed the monkeys from inside a protected area. The monkeys would reach through a fence and take the food right from your hand. Their little hands felt like a rough little infant's, greedily grabbing a cookie you were already offering. A few times, I pretended to offer the monkeys food but only had a empty hand. They were too smart for this trick and swatted my hand away with this look that said, "B$%#h, Please..."











Tenryu Temple

Or Temple of the Heavenly Dragon (1339) is the head temple of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. It had gorgeous gardens.

The Eminent Zen Master Muso Soseki, the temple's founding abbot.

Labeling the many kinds of moss in the garden (they all looked the same to me).

We met this guy:

This man was out walking his dog when we were riding our bikes through the Arashiyama neighborhoods trying to find our way back to town. We (Jonathan) stopped to compliment his dog which turned into a tour of the retired gentleman's wildflower garden. He's also a photographer and he took Jonathan's and my pictures and he gave us some of the photographs he has taken of the Japanese countryside. The Japanese are very generous people.

Pics of the countryside while riding our bikes:





3. Kyoto Imperial Palace

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 1000 years. The Imperial Palace was later moved to Tokyo. This building is still used by the Imperial Family if they happen to come to Kyoto. This was not my favorite tour, but if you are into Japanese history you should appreciate it.

We took a tour given by a woman who seemed to be from a different era. Her dress, her posture, her voice, or walk....it was all like something from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

These roofs are made from stacking 80 levels of little .5 cm cedar planks together and nailing them together with a bamboo post. Masochistic Japanese.

Our guide. You see what I mean?

4. Sanjusangen-do

Sanjusangen-do is one of the must see sites of Kyoto. Inside this temple is 1001 golden statues of the Buddhist deity, Kannon, a Bodhisattva (which is an individual who, having reached enlightenment, demurred from becoming a Budda in order to help people on earth--sort of like a one of the 3 Nephites?). 1000 are slightly larger than human size, but in the middle sits one giant Kannon. They were constructed out of Japanese cypress in the 12th and 13th centuries. Although at first glance the statues seem identical, when you really look each statue has her own unique face, hands, and dress. The statues are guarded by 28 mean-looking Muddhist gods/protectors.





5. Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine

Lots of Torii gates...lots of them. And there was some kind of processional going on. At this point I had to pee really bad...that's all I remember.

Cool fox (Shinto god Inari) guarding the Toriis.

6. Katsura Imperial Villa

If you are going to see only one thing Imperial while in Kyoto, you should come here. The Villa was an elaborate array of romantic gardens and quiet tea houses. When we visited it was barely raining, which added to the whole Japanese-ness of the experience. I loved it here.

This is looking out from the guest house onto the garden. The Imperial family planted this tree in order to block the view for their guests, preserving the experience of the garden from being tainted by a casual glance. The idea of the Japanese garden is that it should be experienced in stages, as you proceed through it, unfolding like the passage of the seasons.

This guy stole Jonathan's umbrella when we were leaving for the tour. We were like, "Are you kidding me?" We took this picture as evidence. Luckily the guy gave it back when we returned from the tour.

Our last morning in Kyoto we met up with one of Jonathan's Japanese friends from law school who took us around to some fun traditional shops in Kyoto. We also ate (and I do remember this) a delicious lunch at a little hole in the wall restaurant. Although I do love Ramen and Tonkatsu, this restaurant served the kind of Japanese food that I love most. Fresh, subtle, and lots of little dishes. I absolutely adored it.

MMM....So delicious. We had chicken in a sesame sauce with salad on top, rice, pickled veggies, miso soup, cooked eggplant, tempura of eggplant, kabocha (squash), and a leaf, coconut pudding, and fresh radish salad.

This little shop had an immense variety of roses. Which one is your fav?