Day 3 - Kyoto (cont.)
In my original post, I didn't explain the title, as I ran out of time. It comes from what I spent the evening learning about. One of the most striking images of Japan is always that of the geisha, white faced, serene and dressed in beautiful kimono. Kyoto is the capital of geisha (which makes sense as it was for many years the capital of all of Japan)where they are given the name geiko (and maiko for those in training). It is sometimes called the 'Flower and Willow' world as the women who inhabit it must be beautiful and delicate like a flower, but strong and flexible like the willow trees which line the river.
There are 5 geiko districts in Kyoto but the most famous is Gion, where there are currently about 50 'tea houses' where geiko parties occur and several dormitories for the maiko to live in whilst they train and during their 4 year apprenticeship period before graduating to become geiko. It is also home to the oldest Kabuki theatre in Japan, which, along with the Noh theatre form an important part of Japan's cultural heritage. I went on a walking tour of the Gion district with a very friendly and knowledgeable guide who explained the history of the region and the profession, as well as pointing out the signs outside a building which designates it as a tea house or dormitory. We also spotted a maiko hurrying along to her next engagement, which is apparently quite a feat - they hate being photographed in the street and despite some very impractical shoes, she moved at a very rapid pace. After the tour there was the option to go into a cultural show where several traditional Japanese art forms were on display, but I decided to put that off until the following night. (I do have photos of all of this but I can't figure out how to upload them at the moment - a job for another time)
Day 4 (Kyoto to Tokyo)
I'd signed up for Japanese breakfast at the roykan, so munched my way through hot rice, fried fish, tofu, a rolled egg omlette, miso soup and green tea (I was REALLY full!) before leaving my shell in the bag room at the hotel and setting out armed with a bus pass for the extensive network of buses. Thanks to an early breakfast, I had a bit of time before the next place on my list opened, so i wandered down to the Nishi food market and walked the stalls. With a tiny backpack, I had promised myself I would buy only one souvenir from each place I visited, which had to be small and something I really wanted. I had put a lot of thought into my Japanese present and decided I wanted a 'proper' fan (I bought a cheap one as a necessity on the first day in a futile attempt to stay cool). I bought this from a tiny stall on the food market, where all of the beautiful fans were hand painted. I chose one which reminded me of a sunset in purple, with a cherry blossom branch in the front. I shall look at it on my wall and always be reminded of the beauty of Kyoto.
There are 3 bus routes which are designated 'Raku' or tourist buses meandering through key sights of the city and have announcements in English as well as Japanese. I got on one of these and headed to Nijo castle, the ancient home of the Shogun (warlord) of the area, built to protect the Imperial Palace when it was the emporer's official residence. It is one of several sights I saw which is designated as a World Heritage Sight and is also a National Treasure of Japan. Set inside high, white walls and serene gardens, the Nijo Palace is a series of beautifully painted sliding door rooms, arranged diagonally (as this is auspicious in feng shui) and surrounded by a curious walkway on all sides. The palace is beautiful, in perfect condition and one of the only surviving buildings of the style from that period. The paintings are excellent examples of the Kano school of painting but it is the walkway which makes this palace outstanding - it is called 'The Nightingale Floor' and has been designed, not as a silent walkway where elegantly kimono-ed ladies could glide noiselessly, but to 'sing'(well...squeak) whenever a foot touches it. It surrounds the building on all sides and is at least a metre deep on all sides. It was built to protect the Shogun from the many assassination attempts he was subject to during times of unrest among the clans. I read a book several years ago called 'Across the Nightingale Floor' where a young assassin learns to walk across the floor without making it sound so that he can kill the Shogun, and it is this palace that the story is based. I was unreasonably excited when I realized I was on the Nightingale Floor but despite my best efforts, I couldn't sneak quite as well as the hero of the story so contented myself with trying to make it squeak as much as possible.
From there, I headed to the Golden Pavilion, a temple in the north-west of the city which is covered in a thick layer of gold-leaf.I will admit to being underwhelmed. It was a beautiful setting, on the edge of a lake, glittering in the sun. The Pavilion is three storied, with each tier being in a different architectural style. It was a very beautiful building...but I didn't feel the sense of awe and wonder that had struck me at several of the other temples I had visited. To comfort myself, I bought some green-tea ice cream, which was impressively lime coloured and tasted rather odd.
It was at this stage I went off-plan. I originally was going to take the tourist bus over to the other side of Kyoto and visit the Silver Pavilion, but having been distinctly underwhelmed by the Golden one, I somehow thought that the Silver wouldn't be quite as good. I decided to visit a different shrine...but this involved taking a proper Kyoto bus. With no announcements in English. Hmmm...
It was fine, mostly, and I got off in roughly the right place (makes a change, I've been going wrong ALL WEEK) which happened to be just outside the Japanese Handicrafts centre. Here, my resolve broke (slightly) as there was a beautiful wall handing which went perfectly with my fan...so I bought that too! There are so many beautiful things I could have bought in Japan that I decided I could cheat a tiny bit. Anyway, I posted it home so its not like I have to carry it.. (yeah, by the way mum, dad, expect a package in the next couple of weeks!) Anyway, I wandered past the Imperial Palace but didn't go in as you have to apply 20 days in advance and went to bask in the beauty of yet another shrine. This restored my shrine-faith somewhat and I decided to take a gamble on my final activity. There was still tonnes to do in the main part of Kyoto but the previous evening, our guide had mentioned something I've always wanted to see and hadn't realised was nearby. Ever seen 'Memoirs of a Geisha?' Remember the bit where the young Sayuri goes to the temple to pray to be a geisha and gives the money the Chairman has given her to the gods as her offering? (hey, I love that film!) She runs through a series of red Shinto gates to the temple. Those gates are just outside Kyoto, in a temple whose name means 'Many Gates'. I decided to visit and walk the mountain to the top, through the thousands of gates which have been donated over the years (usually by businesses who want something. Maybe this should have been a clue...)
It was here I suffered my first taste of disappointment in the way the shrine was presented. Throughout my time in Japan I have been struck with how low-key the commercialisation of the temples and shrines has been - there is an entrance fee for many and you must pay to light a candle or make some other offering but I didn't find this unreasonable. Many Gates, however, reminded me of some of the European attractions I have been to, with stalls everywhere selling tacky souveneirs to unsuspecting tourists. This continued right up to the start of the gates path and I found it slightly sad, just as I sometimes look at shops in Cathedrals in England which sell pencils and rubbers with 'I visited....' on them.
The disappointments rolled...there were building works! You could only go about 1/4 of the way up before the path was entirely blocked. I'd grumble and say they should have put a sign up, but to be fair they probably did and I couldn't read it. Just as I turned back, the light drizzle which had been threatening all day turned into rain. Not just a bit of rain, but sheets of it. And thunder. And lightning.This made the whole thing suitably atmospheric, as I gleefully hurtled back down the mountain with the sky lighting up around me and the little stall people fleeing to keep their stock dry. No such luck for me - my coat was safely in my backpack at the hostel! I got really quite damp but...shrug. It happens.
Back in Kyoto, I didn't really know what to do. The weather was awful but it was late to start out for any museums and my mind was turning to the journey back to Tokyo. In the end I stopped at the post-office and went to grab my backpack early. I trundled back to the station and deposited my bag in a locker, then dashed for a bus with the intention of going to the cultural show I'd skipped the night before. We arrived with about 20 minutes to get from the stop to the theatre, a 5 minute walk. There were a number of police directing traffic, but I assumed this was just the Japanese police being impeccable as usual. Not so - I couldn't cross the road I needed to as all of the traffic had been halted whilst there was some kind of religious procession of a large golden mini-shrine through the streets! It was fascinating - swinging lanterns and incense, chanting men in white robes and a large golden object resting on the shoulders of many men, who were flanked by flaming logs. I didn't make the show and went back to find some internet and my bag instead but I felt, oddly, like I was actually supposed to be there to see it and that it didn't matter at all that I hadn't made the performance. My heart tells me I will go back and I'll catch it then. this has actually happened to me several times in Japan - I've got somewhere and its not quite gone as planned but it felt not just like that was OK, but that it was supposed to be that way. It was a weird, but oddly satisfying feeling.
From there, I caught the bus. What a disaster! No helpful signs, only a lot of people yelling things in Japanese. In the end I just asked and pointed at the number I was given...never again! I will ALWAYS take the train in future - you at least know whats going on. You are also not woken up every 2 hours by the bus stopping, which on reflection is a bonus. But it seems that this is how a lot of ordinary Japanese people travel - its about 1/3rd of the price of the Shinkansen, so its easy to see why. I think most of them rolled their eyes internally at the crazy English girl who didn't speak any Japanese, but they're all MUCH too polite to say anything other than 'If I can help, let tell me'. LOVE polite Japanese-ness
Day 5 (Tokyo)
The bus rolled in at 7am to Tokyo. I'd slept a bit. My plan was to find a locker for my bag, find some breakfast then head to the Imperial Palace Gardens for a wander and to write some postcards. Foiled on all counts - it took forever to find a locker, there was no recognisable food to be had and the Gardens are closed on a Friday. Who knew? Not the Tokyo Tourist Board, otherwise they would surely have mentioned this fact in the 'Handy Tokyo Guide' which was my bible. Its only handly if its RIGHT people! So I wrote in the Imperial Plaza instead. It rained. I tried sitting under trees (coat in bag. Again. You'd think I'd learn...) but this only worked for a bit so anyone with a soggy postcard...oops?
My final stretch in Tokyo (walking to the station) saw the resurgence of kindly little old man syndrome, as a very lovely Japanese man insisted I shared his umbrella so I didn't get wet and told me about his time living in Copenhagen when he was a pilot for Japanese Airways. This sums up one of my favourite things about Japan - the people are just so NICE. Not in the in your face American way either, but very polite and helpful, even to complete strangers. It was amazing.
Japan was never the focus of my journey - it was a bonus add on, but what a bonus! I loved Japan, particularly Kyoto so much. I felt very content there and very peaceful. I fell in love with the big temple near my Roykan and would happily have sat there for several hours, just being quiet. I definitely left a piece of my heart in Kyoto that I will have to go and fetch in years to come. There's so much I didn't see that to not go back would be a crime! I also want to visit other parts of Japan - Nara and Osaka and maybe Hiroshima. I want to see a rice paddy and walk through a bamboo forest. I'd like to be a guest at a tea ceremony and to see maiko dance like butterflies turning in the breeze. I hear its beautiful in spring with the cherry blossoms... Easter anyone?
