Our day of touring the temples of Kyoto began at 9am Japanese time (i.e., 8:40) when our van and tour guide, Mike, picked us up. Tia asked if she could bring her coffee on the bus, and Mike replied that you weren't supposed to...but maybe you could...leaving us in a dilemma of interpreting Japanese subtle disapproval.
Mike was full of useful facts and history lessons with a sprinkling of commentary and life lessons. Before disembarking at our first stop by the river packed with people, he told us we could tell people apart by looking into their eyes. The Chinese would look back and smile, the Koreans would just look back, and the Japanese wouldn't do either. He encouraged us to test this on our tour. He was quickly proven wrong when a pack of Japanese school children stopped us for a school interview project, asking questions about our experiences in Japan and at our home country, they were armed with full eye contact, smiles, and clipboards.
If Osaka was a working and partying city, Kyoto has a quaint nature-filled old town feel. We saw our first Geisha dressed in traditional kimono as we approached the temple. Mike shared that many visitors rent kimonos for photos while in Kyoto. And you can tell the Japanese geisha because they walk in a very straight narrow line because it is customary not to wear underwear under the kimono. They looked beautiful amidst the fall colors.
One of my highlights of Kyoto was the Arashiyama Bamboo forest. Giant bamboo created a magical serene landscape. The only problem was the thousands of other people shuffling through the forest with us. I told Tia I'd have to meditate to pictures of the forest later when I was alone 😊. Mike offered us the wisdom that the bamboo forest is like marriage... you must maintain it by pruning and thinning it so that some trees can grow strong and tall when not overcrowded.
Just beyond the forest was a small temple where people left love letters and prayers written on tiny cards in all languages.
We visited 2 more temples, Kinkakuji Temple, with a golden shrine in the center and places to drop coins and make wishes, and Fushimi Inari, filled with hundreds of bright orange gates and a children's shrine where kids left colorful origami crane strings as evidence of their effort, as they prayed to the gods for educational success.
Exhausted after a long day, Mike helped us get into a sushi restaurant with the largest most elaborate menu; each meal coming with many tiny dishes of radish, soup, tempura and on and on. Joni, Jeff and I shared sake which Joni warned "can catch up with you if you aren't careful."
We slept well in the traditional Japanese house we rented. Very narrow with mats on the floor and fancy fancy Todo toilets. These toilets are all over Japan, even in convenience stores. There are buttons for hard spray, soft spray, front spray, back spray, dry, and play water sounds; the best is the heated seats. 😊
For breakfast, Trae found the tiniest little cafe. The decor and the menu offered the most beautiful simplicity. They specialized in fresh homemade bread - including matcha bread. The Wabisabi was strong here - valuing the meaning found in simplicity and the beauty in age, silence, asymmetry and empty space. I was a big fan.
After breakfast, we stumbled upon a park filled with Geisha photo shoots. A family with two small children attempted family photos with a professional photographer. But the little boy kept eating French fries instead. Eventually he was put into timeout where he let out slow loud wails dressed in his fancy kimono. Adorable to us, not so much to his parents. Joni, of course, was somehow allowed to take photos of the entire struggle, introducing herself and learning that the family was visiting from Indonesia.
The Kyoto highlight for the kids was the Samurai and Ninja museum tour "and experience". In just under an hour, our guide, Kai, told stories about the history of Japan and loaded our brains with such interesting facts. I asked the kids what they learned:
Poppy: I learned that the emperor didn't actually do anything, and the Shogun had all the power. He controlled the samurai and the ninjas, and ninjas were the farmer people and fisherman during the day and ninjas at night.
Kerai: I learned the point of view the Japanese people had on life and what they did. For example, they thought the soul was in the stomach so if they lost a fight but didn't die, they would kill themselves, to preserve their honor, by stabbing themselves in the stomach.
Enzo: I learned that ninjas didn’t actually wear black. They wore navy blue because it blended in at night and because black materials were too expensive for the poor fisherman and farmers who were hired as ninjas to get information for the Samurai who were too recognizable to do it themselves.
Grayson: I learned that Tom Cruise was not really the last Samurai.
When they announced that the experience would end with a ninja star throwing contest, Poppy's face lit up. We learned that the ninja star was not meant to hurt anyone but to distract. A ninja would throw it to make a noise where it hit the wall and then they would run the other direction to remain undetected. Grayson got second place in the competition, beaten by 1 point. Finally, everyone got to dress up in Samurai gear and put on their most serious faces.
The day ended with dinner at a tiny narrow Tonkatsu restaurant, special donuts, and face masks.
The morning we left Kyoto, Trae and I were able to sneak away to visit the Kiyomizudera Temple just after the sun came up. A very quiet, gloved, laced taxi drove us up to the base of the temple. It felt amazing to beat the rush of the crowds and experience time in the leaves on a hike above the temple in more solitude. It was gorgeous. -- Kim
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