Japan, Part 2

Traditional Wedding in Gion, Kyoto ... may have been for tourists

I left Hiroshima in the morning, feeling that having just one day to visit there was not enough. I think Kayo and Asuka were a bit surprised that I had planned such a short visit, but ... who knew? I took a bus to Kyoto. I think the trip was 3 or 4 hours. The bus was not crowded, with only 10 or so passengers; however, my assigned seat was next to someone, who kindly relocated. I had no idea if we were stopping and picking up others, so I was happy he made the move. Our driver was extremely formal and bowed and introduced himself and said some other things at every stop that we made. And wore white gloves, which many professional drivers (taxi, bus, and truck) tend to do. We did swing by a couple of other pick-up points, but nobody joined us and so we set off on a freeway that was well-maintained and not too heavily travelled. We made a pit stop after an hour or so and I was amazed by this. The folks who run the rest stops along the 401 should definitely come and see what the possibilities could be. First there is lots of food choice and it all seems quite healthy. Then there are the washrooms ... well, we stopped twice and both loos were immaculate, had fresh flowers, and had the snazzy toilets that I became so enamoured of. And the people were so friendly ... enforced hearty greetings aside.

Ikebana at the Roadside Rest Area

The ride on that sunshiney morning was great ... although my bus window was somewhat dirty, the fields and valleys, especially, were really beautiful.

The terrain was largely mountainous and hilly at first ... we went through many tunnels,.  Gradually it started flattening out. We made a brief stop in Osaka and I saw signs to Iberaki, a place where Fanshawe has a school connection. I was very excited to see the road signs, but couldn’t get a clear shot. Osaka is an industrial city and a financial engine in Japan, so it was pretty built up and urbanized for the rest of the trip. Some pretty incredible architecture in Osaka.

A Building that the Road Goes Through

We got to Kyoto Station in good time. I was a little nervous about getting to the hotel I had booked, but people were very kind and they pointed me in the right direction and off I went ... only one subway stop in fact and a few minutes to find my bearings and I got checked in. Kayo had arranged for her friend Akiko to meet me and take me out for dinner, but I got in earlier than expected, so I availed myself of the public bath down the hall from my room. I had never been in a public bath before and so I wasn’t sure what to do, but there was an information sheet and I followed it to the letter, so I felt good about following the rules and felt really good soaking my bones. In fact, I loved it so much I had one or two baths every day I was in Kyoto. Why? Because .......


You didn't really think I was going to show a pic of me in the bath, did you?

I walked my foofoos off in Kyoto. Omigoodness, I walked and walked. I had left my runners at Kayo’s, not wanting to take all my stuff with me on this jaunt, and I thought my walking sandals would suffice. How wrong I was ... but I digress.


Matsutake Mushrooms in Nishiki Market

I met Akiko at my hotel and we started walking to a restaurant she had heard about that served very traditional food. Kayo had told her I was interested in washi and chiyogami paper and so she took me to a store where there was some exquisite paper ... but it was made in a Chinese style and was not exactly what I was looking for and very pricy. But so gorgeous! And we strolled around some of the back streets, checking out the Nishiki food market, but it was largely shut down for the evening. We passed many tiny little places that Akiko mentioned were famous for tofu, or seafood, or some other specialty. Finally we arrived at our destination, the name of which I never learned. Akiko said it served traditional Kyoto food, and I think it was what might be called Kyoto soul food or comfort food - obanzai cooking. This type of cooking starts with Kyo yasai or vegetables grown right in or near Kyoto ... Akiko says the chefs go to the Nishiki market for fresh vegetables every day. It was a small restaurant, with a counter for six or seven people and just three or four tables. We sat at the counter and in front of us were about 10 or so large ceramic bowls filled with various dishes ... peeled eggplant in broth, yuba, carrots and daikon and ????

Traditional Kyoto Food

Akiko ordered for us because, in fact, I know very little about Japanese food, except for my favourite, umeboshi onigiri (and can you believe it, I didn’t take one picture of a rice ball the whole time I was in Japan ... and here is an even worse infraction – I didn’t take even one picture of Akiko!) The people working in the restaurant were very efficient and brought us numerous dishes ... one after the other ... each one so tasty and so beautifully served.



Fish, potato and lotus ... delicious!

I should also mentioned that this was the place I was intorduced to ume shu, a plum liqueur that is very delicious. Akiko, who is a university teacher with courses at universities in Kyoto and Kobe, is a delightful young woman and we spent a few hours chatting about travelling and teaching and about what to see in Kyoto. She told me what temples and shrines she would recommend and where the best gardens were. I found out later that she just made the last train to Kobe ... but she never let on that she needed to get going. I just don’t know many people who would spend an evening with a total stranger and be so gracious and charming. So very kind!

Machi at Kyoto Station

The next day I walked from my hotel to Kyoto Station to meet Machi Okamoto, a former student at Fanshawe. I hadn’t seen Machi for five years or so and we spent the day together. We met at the absolutely incredible Kyoto Station and had no trouble recognizing each other. After a tour of the rooftop garden, we hopped on a bus and went to a very traditional part of Kyoto called Gion. We saw statues and graveyards and museums and temples and shrines and gardens and canals and stores and courtyards and ponds and climbed hills and walked down flagstone streets.


Ryozen Kannon

And ate lunch. And green tea soft serve ice cream. What beautiful sights. What a full day. It was great to see Machi and get caught up with her and she was a fine tour guide. I was so grateful that she was able to spend time with me. We parted when we were both rather exhausted ... Machi took the train back to her hometown (about 20 minutes from Kyoto) and I staggered back to the hotel and immersed myself in the public bath.


Ginkgo on Kigashiyama



Machi near Yasaki Shrine

For the next few days I saw as much of Kyoto as I could, but it was impossible to see very much because it is such an incredibly culturally rich environment. I cannot begin to imagine how many shrines and temples there must be, but I have read over 2,000. I did go to one big and famous temple, Ginkaku-ju (Silver Pavilion) but it was so crowded with visitors that I was just crushed ... I quickly found a less used path and vowed to avoid the major tourist draws thereafter.



Honen-in, a Jodo sect Buddhist Temple

But with so many shrines and temples, there were plenty to choose from. I absolutely loved the Philosopher’s Walk, which leads off from Ginkaku-ju and meanders along a canal. There were houses and inns and more little shrines all nestled into the heavily treed Higashiyama, or Eastern Mountains. I got quite used to the #5 bus, as I tended to focus on the eastern part of Kyoto and I really loved poking about.

Folks I saw as I was going to the Philosopher's Walk



Antique Kimono Shop along the Philosopher's Walk

I was looking for a store that was famous for washi paper when a friendly guy came out and thinking I was lost insisted I go into a store to ask directions. He proceeded to send me in the wrong direction and told me if I needed help I should ask at a koban, or small police station that are quite common in Japanese neighbourhoods. People were consistently friendly and very responsive to requests for help, but not many came running out of their shops to offer it unsolicited. However, I very much appreciated the sentiment. I did end up finding the paper shop and was amazed at the range of paper. The crafts in Kyoto were amazing along with everything else. I just loved my time there.

Washi Paper Dolls

I think a trip to Japan would not be complete without a ride on the Shinkansen, or bullet train. That is how I travelled from Kyoto back to Tokyo. It was a very fast, smooth ride back to Tokyo. The only scary parts were when we would pass a train going very quickly (200 km/hr) in the opposite direction, like 6 “ apart. That was a bit terrifying.
Once I got back to Tokyo Station I really knew what to do, which of the many subway lines I should go to, how much to pay, and where to get the ticket. I was very proud of myself. However, not cocky, because it is so well-organized that it is pretty easy (i.e. does NOT take a degree in Geography or an internal GPS system) to figure out. I made my way back to the Sakura Hotel in Ikebukuro ... as I left the West gate, I was surrounded by street dancers taking part in some sort of festival ... it was incredible! There were dozens of groups and hundreds of dancers, drummers, singers, and flag wavers. It turns out they were taking part in the Yosakoi event of a two-day festival called the Fukuro Matsuri Festival. Yosakoi is folk dancing native to Kochi Prefecture in Shikoku Island. Wow, it is great.


Yosakoi Dancer



Yosakoi Dnacer

Apparently it is becoming popular all over Japan, with more than 200 yosakoi competitions held in Japan annually. The dancing is very high energy, and seems to combine traditional Japanese dance movements and modern music. The dances are performed by large teams (like up to 200 in the case of one team I saw), with people of all ages, and are tightly choreographed. The festival I saw had the smaller teams move down a long block to a stage where the singer and drummer were. In the case of the larger teams, they took up the whole block and performed their routine without travelling too far. Most dancers use naruko, or small wooden clappers, to accentuate the music from the stage at the end of the block and many also had fans, tambourines, and other props. Several groups had a flag bearer at the end of the line who could wave huge flags, just missing hitting spectators (and power lines as well.) And the costumes! Omigoodness! Although there are lots of these festivals, I was very happy to have just happened upon this one.

During my remaining days in Japan, I went to many tourist-y places. I spent the better part of a day at Ueno Park and was amazed by the streams of people flooding into the park to go to the zoo. I wondered what everyone was doing and why people weren’t working ... turns out it was a holiday Monday. The park has lots of wonderful elements ... lake, zoo, shrines, fountains, and several museums. I went to the Tokyo National Museum and spent a couple of hours seeing just part of its amazing permanent collection.


Jomon Figurines



I spent a day looking at the Meiji Shrine, one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan. I also toured the Togo Shrine, because my map-reading hubris was rewarded by my taking the wrong exit from the Harajuku Station and that’s what you get when you start getting too cocky. It was a fortunate wrong turn, because it did take me through a couple of interesting districts I might not have visited otherwise, namely Takeshita-dori, where some of the wildest of youth fashion and behaviour is on display.


Togo Shrine



Takeshit-dori ... in Harujuku ...Could be for Hallowe'en, but I don't think so ...

Meiji Shrine was an island of serenity in some ways ... very wooded , and the torii are huge, unpainted cedar gates and placed along a very long and shady gravel path. The tourists kind of blended in, the scope of the place is so huge. Apparently at New Year’s, up to three million worshippers go there to offer prayers and buy good luck charms. So a couple of hundred, a fair number of which came from China, really disappeared in the massive grounds. There is a beautiful garden, the Nai-en, and I spent quite a bit of time there. It is apparently very famous for its iris, but they were not blooming in October.

I walked a lot that day and found a very high-end district called Omote-sando. Every luxury brand seemed to have an outlet there and many stylish women, pampered dogs, and amazing architecture. And another beautiful gallery called Nezu with a very pretty garden and tea houses ... and many, many ginkgo trees. I got lost again that day and wandered through the Aoyama District and ended up in a very different location than where I thought I was going, but I think that is one of the great things about Tokyo ... it doesn’t matter. The other place will also be interesting!



Hanae Mori Building ... Prada is here

I did some shopping in Ikebukuro and visited Sunshine City and some of the huge department stores, Seibu and Tobu (my favourite) along with a place called Tokyu Hands, which had many household gadgets. Also, Daiso (100 yen stores) stores that had 8 or 9 floors. Overwhelming! And so there were lots of tea shops and various restaurants for respites and breathers.

On the last day I met up with Kayo and Yune and hung out with them. Yune seemed to have grown in just a week! I had dinner with them and was also able to see Yoshi before I left. I had a chance to talk to Asuka on the phone and could tell she was getting excited about moving into her brand new house ... but she said Kota was being no help at all and felt his job was to unpack some of the items she was so carefully putting into boxes. I was so impressed by these young mothers and so fortunate I had had an opportunity to see them and Machi while I was in Japan.


Yune


After good-bye hugs, I took my leave and my last subway ride and made my way back to the hotel. After an early morning wake-up call and I was on the airport bus by 6 ... of course the timing was perfect and it was an easy trip back to Ho Chi Minh City.



I saw these folks in Asakusa, the second time I went there

 Japan has not faded into a dream yet, but it does seem amazing that I was there. However, I am back into the maelstrom of a new semester with a new course and two or three big projects to focus on. It feels pretty full on and so I think I picked the perfect time to visit and experience a tiny bit of what Japan has to offer. I am most fortunate. And grateful.


All good things must come to an end ... such is the life