So finally, we have arrived in Kyoto. We were kindly greeted at the train station by Chie’s mother, who chauffeured us to their house. We quickly settled into our room, and went to sleep straight away; the hour was late… We got up a bit later than usual, after some well-deserved rest. We spent the morning acquainting ourselves with Chie’s family – including her sister, niece and nephew.
In the afternoon, it was time to venture to Osaka (which together with it’s metropolitan area has an impressive population of 20 million). Chie’s sister, who used to study and work there, was kind enough to come along as our guide. An efficient train ride later, we arrived. We started off by walking around the Osaka castle area for a bit. Osaka castle is very historic, and was in its day one of the most important and imposing castles in Japan. But unfortunately, it has been destroyed, and rebuilt, several times over the last few centuries – and the last incarnation is unfortunately constructed in concrete.
After our short walk, we took the Osaka boat tour, which took us along the main canal crossing Osaka. It was a nice way to get an overview of Osaka – but one has to admit that the boat tour is somewhat less impressive than the London one along the Thames, for example. Unfortunately, not much of historic Osaka remains, as the city was very heavily bombed during World War II.
Our next stop was the Umeda Sky building, an impressive skyscraper. Well, two actually; united by a kind of bridge; forming what one might call an “arc de triumph”, a bit like in Le Defence, in Paris. We took the ultra-rapid and –smooth elevator all the way to the top floor, from where we had some amazing views over Osaka. We could even spot the castle among the skyscrapers.
By now it was getting dark, so we made our way to the Dotombori district, which is where it all happens night-time in Osaka. I was again struck by how Japanese cities transform themselves in the evening – when the neon lights are lit, and the people go out to play at the arcades, have dinner and otherwise have a good time. Western cities are almost boring by comparison. We ended our Osaka visit by a walk around Amerika-Mura – a Japanese vision of an “American village”. Hmm, they might be surprised if they actually go the US one day ;-). Then it was time to hop on the train, to be back home by dinner. Visiting Osaka, although not the prettiest of cities, made a very nice change from all the temple-hopping we’d done the last few days. That’s what’s so fascinating about Japan – the contrast between the traditional and the modern.
The dinner was a real feast, Chie’s parents had prepared quite a dinner for us - barbequed wild boar (caught by Chie’s dad, who hunts – but with snares!). A real delight!
The next day, it was time to tackle Kyoto. Kyoto is, of course, what for many people is the highlight of a trip to Japan, the cradle of Japanese civilisation. In spite of its turbulent history, it’s one of the most well-preserved cities in Japan (having been spared allied bombings during World War II), with no less than 2000 temples and shrines to visit. So a fair bit to see then, maybe even too much for 2 days ;-).
We started our visit with one of the most famous temples in Kyoto, called Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavillion). Famous unfortunately also means touristy – very touristy. This was probably the first time we really felt overwhelmed by the tourists – and actually it was also the first time we saw significant numbers of foreign tourists. There’s a very good reason for all those tourists though – Kinkaku-ji is a pretty stunning temple (the Golden Pavillion is a pretty appropriate name for it, that’s for sure). The surrounding gardens are pretty stunning as well, a real pity about the overwhelming crowds.
The next stop was Ryogen-in, another famous temple near Kinkaku-ji. Ryogen-in, is quite different. The gardens are more spread out, and as a consequence of this (and the fact that it’s less famous), the place felt less crowded than Kinkaku-ji. The main reason for the fame of this temple is its dry landscape rock garden (aka Zen garden). Basically the gravel of the garden represents the ocean, and the rocks represent the islands of Japan. Composition is of utmost importance – but the interpretation of a Zen garden is individual. In spite of my utmost efforts, I was unable to get much of a reading about the garden, unfortunately. Perhaps it was due to the surrounding people posing & taking pictures (damn tourists!), or perhaps my skull is just too thick.
The plan was to do a bit more sightseeing in downtown Kyoto, but it was not to be. Kyoto is very spread out, so travelling around the city takes a long time. So by the time we got to where we were supposed to continue our tour, it was getting dark, already. So we decided to head back home instead and save the rest of it for the next day.
After another delicious dinner at Chie’s place, it was time for a bit of bowling! So off we went to meet up with some friends of Chie. We started off in a sports bar (a real sports bar this time, unlike the place in Roppongi!), where we had a couple of drinks and played some darts. Geoff beat us all, naturally, being British and having been a student in Britain. (means you automatically get a lot of practice at darts and pool). I probably didn’t have enough beer to calibrate my aim. The bowling later on didn’t go much better for me (even though I got a strike during the “special round” so got “a flower arrangement” around my neck, and we all got to pose for the camera), in spite of even more beer to calibrate my aim. Geoff was once again the hero of the night. But regardless of this lack of success, we had an absolute blast! We finished off the night in style with a perikura. This term requires some explanation. A perikura is a kind of photo booth/kiosk, where you select silly frames to go with the photos, and then you pose with your friend, making silly faces and stuff. And afterwards, you can spend AGES editing the photos. It’s all completely silly, very Japanese, but strangely enough, great fun (in spite of the fact that it’s obviously geared to teenage girls)! At this point we headed back home with Chie’s sister, whereas the other stayed in town for a bit of karaoke action.
We got up pretty early the next morning, wanting to get some more Kyoto sightseeing done before the traditional New Year ’s Eve celebrations. We started off by visiting what is probably the most famous temple in Kyoto - Kiyomizu-dera. It’s one of the most iconic temples of Kyoto, which is very much reflected in its popularity. Possibly the fact that today was new-year’s eve had something to do with it as well? Apparently the famous Japanese expression “to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu” (??) refers to the ancient practice of executing a 13-meter jump off the temple veranda. Apparently the survival rate during the Edo period was 85.4% (sounds quite high?). It was certainly a very impressive temple; a pity about the crowds again, though.
From there we walked down towards the older parts of Kyoto, along some traditional, very picturesque streets. On the way we popped into Kōdai-ji, yet another temple. It’s less famous than the other temples we’d visited in Kyoto; which is also perhaps why it wasn’t very busy. Maybe for that reason; I reckon it’s, on balance, my favorite temple in Kyoto. Not the most impressive one, but the one I enjoyed visiting the most. For sure the setting is great; though, with its lovely garden and pool complementing the beautiful buildings.
After a quick ramen lunch, we carried on towards Yasaka-jinja, a shrine which kind of acts as the gate to the Gion district (the geisha district). This shrine was extremely busy as well – this time most likely due to the approaching new year (apparently it’s a very important shrine for welcoming the new year). We even spotted a couple of wanna-be geishas there…
Our walk then finally took us into the Gion district; the famous geisha district of Kyoto (Memoirs of a Geisha took place there, for example). There’s not much left of the historic Gion, apart from a couple of very picturesque streets. Those two pedestrian streets do evoke some of the old Kyoto atmosphere, perhaps. We spotted some more geishas; who were very happy to pose for me at a bridge (in fact, they almost insisted I take a picture – OK so maybe these were also wanna-bes then…). It all made for a very nice picture, fake geishas or not ;-). We also found the street where geishas do their shopping (there was a shoe shop, a kimono shop and a hairdresser’s – all specialized in Geishas). Apparently there are still few real geishas around – a few hundred in Kyoto, even. I think we may have seen a couple of actual Maikos (apprentice geishas) earlier in the day, who seemed to have quite a tough time walking in those geisha shoes. After a bit of souvenir shopping; it was time to head back to Chie’s family’s place for the traditional New Year ’s Eve celebrations; something we were really looking forward to. We absolutely loved Kyoto – clearly we need to come back to Japan again; since Kyoto definitely merits more time than two days.
It was all a very nice family-oriented affair, with Chie’s brother’s family present as well. As always; the meal was delicious, as was the sake and the plum liquor. After the delicious meal; we watched the traditional Japanese New Year’s show on telly (lots of celebrities on air, apparently. The only ones I recognized were Michael Jackson and Susan Boyle – both absolutely huge in Japan!) and played Japanese card games. We especially enjoyed Hanafuda – the flower cards. In fact, we enjoyed it to such a degree that we bought a few decks and now play regularly in France. Unfortunately we couldn’t do the traditional “visit a shrine” routine after midnight, since the weather was too cold for the children (apparently, even the trains were delayed in Hiroshima due to heavy snowfall – I can’t believe it!).
The next day was sadly our last day in Japan. The plan was to visit ancient Nara – yet another former capital of Japan (during the 8th century). Nara is again all about temples and shrines. We started our visit by checking out a couple of shrines (the names of which escape me), located in a very pleasant forest (populated by numerous deer, like in Miyajima). The shrines were even busier than the ones we'd visited earlier in Kyoto. Not many tourists this time – today people came because of New Year (perhaps they had all been put off by the cold last night, like us). So the shrines were absolutely crammed. So no tranquility to be had, then, and no time for quiet contemplation. Still; it was all quite special. And I got to drink some special blessed new year’s sake ;-)
We naturally couldn’t leave Nara without visiting Todai-ji; a massive temple which houses the second biggest Daibutsu (Big Buddha) in Japan. It is only very slightly smaller than the one we saw a few days ago in Kamakura. But boy is it impressive – 437 tons of bronze, 16 meters high (and 130 kg of gold). It was originally cast as long ago as 746 – although it’s had to be repaired several times since, due to earthquakes, fires, and losing his head a couple of times (!).
The other cool thing we did in Nara was visit a traditional knife-making shop; where the knife-master and his son (who works as a doctor in the USA) demonstrate the noble art of knife-making. Since the guys were very nice, I half-jokingly asked whether they sold any Katanas (samurai swords – now that would be some souvenir, eh?). Unfortunately they didn’t – but they did let me handle a 500-year old wakizashi. The wakizashi is the short sword samurais also used to carry, used among other things to commit seppuko (ritual suicide). Unfortunately, the price of 500,000 yen was a wee bit much for a souvenir… But, we bought plenty of other souvenirs (another big plus for Japan – it’s one of the only countries I’ve actually enjoyed doing souvenir shopping!).
We finished off the day with another great dinner at the Shimizu household. This also brought and end to a fantastic and memorable journey and holiday. The trip of a lifetime? Perhaps… And what was the highlight then? It’s hard to pick out a particular one, everything in this country is so fascinating. There just isn’t a boring moment to be had; everything fascinated me. The temples, the shrines, the trains, going to a shop, having food, the cities by night, the Ryokans, onsen, bowling, karaoke – I loved it all.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all who made this such an unforgettable journey. We will be back!
In the afternoon, it was time to venture to Osaka (which together with it’s metropolitan area has an impressive population of 20 million). Chie’s sister, who used to study and work there, was kind enough to come along as our guide. An efficient train ride later, we arrived. We started off by walking around the Osaka castle area for a bit. Osaka castle is very historic, and was in its day one of the most important and imposing castles in Japan. But unfortunately, it has been destroyed, and rebuilt, several times over the last few centuries – and the last incarnation is unfortunately constructed in concrete. After our short walk, we took the Osaka boat tour, which took us along the main canal crossing Osaka. It was a nice way to get an overview of Osaka – but one has to admit that the boat tour is somewhat less impressive than the London one along the Thames, for example. Unfortunately, not much of historic Osaka remains, as the city was very heavily bombed during World War II.
Our next stop was the Umeda Sky building, an impressive skyscraper. Well, two actually; united by a kind of bridge; forming what one might call an “arc de triumph”, a bit like in Le Defence, in Paris. We took the ultra-rapid and –smooth elevator all the way to the top floor, from where we had some amazing views over Osaka. We could even spot the castle among the skyscrapers.By now it was getting dark, so we made our way to the Dotombori district, which is where it all happens night-time in Osaka. I was again struck by how Japanese cities transform themselves in the evening – when the neon lights are lit, and the people go out to play at the arcades, have dinner and otherwise have a good time. Western cities are almost boring by comparison. We ended our Osaka visit by a walk around Amerika-Mura – a Japanese vision of an “American village”. Hmm, they might be surprised if they actually go the US one day ;-). Then it was time to hop on the train, to be back home by dinner. Visiting Osaka, although not the prettiest of cities, made a very nice change from all the temple-hopping we’d done the last few days. That’s what’s so fascinating about Japan – the contrast between the traditional and the modern.
The dinner was a real feast, Chie’s parents had prepared quite a dinner for us - barbequed wild boar (caught by Chie’s dad, who hunts – but with snares!). A real delight!
The next day, it was time to tackle Kyoto. Kyoto is, of course, what for many people is the highlight of a trip to Japan, the cradle of Japanese civilisation. In spite of its turbulent history, it’s one of the most well-preserved cities in Japan (having been spared allied bombings during World War II), with no less than 2000 temples and shrines to visit. So a fair bit to see then, maybe even too much for 2 days ;-).We started our visit with one of the most famous temples in Kyoto, called Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavillion). Famous unfortunately also means touristy – very touristy. This was probably the first time we really felt overwhelmed by the tourists – and actually it was also the first time we saw significant numbers of foreign tourists. There’s a very good reason for all those tourists though – Kinkaku-ji is a pretty stunning temple (the Golden Pavillion is a pretty appropriate name for it, that’s for sure). The surrounding gardens are pretty stunning as well, a real pity about the overwhelming crowds.
The next stop was Ryogen-in, another famous temple near Kinkaku-ji. Ryogen-in, is quite different. The gardens are more spread out, and as a consequence of this (and the fact that it’s less famous), the place felt less crowded than Kinkaku-ji. The main reason for the fame of this temple is its dry landscape rock garden (aka Zen garden). Basically the gravel of the garden represents the ocean, and the rocks represent the islands of Japan. Composition is of utmost importance – but the interpretation of a Zen garden is individual. In spite of my utmost efforts, I was unable to get much of a reading about the garden, unfortunately. Perhaps it was due to the surrounding people posing & taking pictures (damn tourists!), or perhaps my skull is just too thick.The plan was to do a bit more sightseeing in downtown Kyoto, but it was not to be. Kyoto is very spread out, so travelling around the city takes a long time. So by the time we got to where we were supposed to continue our tour, it was getting dark, already. So we decided to head back home instead and save the rest of it for the next day.
After another delicious dinner at Chie’s place, it was time for a bit of bowling! So off we went to meet up with some friends of Chie. We started off in a sports bar (a real sports bar this time, unlike the place in Roppongi!), where we had a couple of drinks and played some darts. Geoff beat us all, naturally, being British and having been a student in Britain. (means you automatically get a lot of practice at darts and pool). I probably didn’t have enough beer to calibrate my aim. The bowling later on didn’t go much better for me (even though I got a strike during the “special round” so got “a flower arrangement” around my neck, and we all got to pose for the camera), in spite of even more beer to calibrate my aim. Geoff was once again the hero of the night. But regardless of this lack of success, we had an absolute blast! We finished off the night in style with a perikura. This term requires some explanation. A perikura is a kind of photo booth/kiosk, where you select silly frames to go with the photos, and then you pose with your friend, making silly faces and stuff. And afterwards, you can spend AGES editing the photos. It’s all completely silly, very Japanese, but strangely enough, great fun (in spite of the fact that it’s obviously geared to teenage girls)! At this point we headed back home with Chie’s sister, whereas the other stayed in town for a bit of karaoke action.
We got up pretty early the next morning, wanting to get some more Kyoto sightseeing done before the traditional New Year ’s Eve celebrations. We started off by visiting what is probably the most famous temple in Kyoto - Kiyomizu-dera. It’s one of the most iconic temples of Kyoto, which is very much reflected in its popularity. Possibly the fact that today was new-year’s eve had something to do with it as well? Apparently the famous Japanese expression “to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu” (??) refers to the ancient practice of executing a 13-meter jump off the temple veranda. Apparently the survival rate during the Edo period was 85.4% (sounds quite high?). It was certainly a very impressive temple; a pity about the crowds again, though. From there we walked down towards the older parts of Kyoto, along some traditional, very picturesque streets. On the way we popped into Kōdai-ji, yet another temple. It’s less famous than the other temples we’d visited in Kyoto; which is also perhaps why it wasn’t very busy. Maybe for that reason; I reckon it’s, on balance, my favorite temple in Kyoto. Not the most impressive one, but the one I enjoyed visiting the most. For sure the setting is great; though, with its lovely garden and pool complementing the beautiful buildings.
After a quick ramen lunch, we carried on towards Yasaka-jinja, a shrine which kind of acts as the gate to the Gion district (the geisha district). This shrine was extremely busy as well – this time most likely due to the approaching new year (apparently it’s a very important shrine for welcoming the new year). We even spotted a couple of wanna-be geishas there…
Our walk then finally took us into the Gion district; the famous geisha district of Kyoto (Memoirs of a Geisha took place there, for example). There’s not much left of the historic Gion, apart from a couple of very picturesque streets. Those two pedestrian streets do evoke some of the old Kyoto atmosphere, perhaps. We spotted some more geishas; who were very happy to pose for me at a bridge (in fact, they almost insisted I take a picture – OK so maybe these were also wanna-bes then…). It all made for a very nice picture, fake geishas or not ;-). We also found the street where geishas do their shopping (there was a shoe shop, a kimono shop and a hairdresser’s – all specialized in Geishas). Apparently there are still few real geishas around – a few hundred in Kyoto, even. I think we may have seen a couple of actual Maikos (apprentice geishas) earlier in the day, who seemed to have quite a tough time walking in those geisha shoes. After a bit of souvenir shopping; it was time to head back to Chie’s family’s place for the traditional New Year ’s Eve celebrations; something we were really looking forward to. We absolutely loved Kyoto – clearly we need to come back to Japan again; since Kyoto definitely merits more time than two days. 
It was all a very nice family-oriented affair, with Chie’s brother’s family present as well. As always; the meal was delicious, as was the sake and the plum liquor. After the delicious meal; we watched the traditional Japanese New Year’s show on telly (lots of celebrities on air, apparently. The only ones I recognized were Michael Jackson and Susan Boyle – both absolutely huge in Japan!) and played Japanese card games. We especially enjoyed Hanafuda – the flower cards. In fact, we enjoyed it to such a degree that we bought a few decks and now play regularly in France. Unfortunately we couldn’t do the traditional “visit a shrine” routine after midnight, since the weather was too cold for the children (apparently, even the trains were delayed in Hiroshima due to heavy snowfall – I can’t believe it!). 
The next day was sadly our last day in Japan. The plan was to visit ancient Nara – yet another former capital of Japan (during the 8th century). Nara is again all about temples and shrines. We started our visit by checking out a couple of shrines (the names of which escape me), located in a very pleasant forest (populated by numerous deer, like in Miyajima). The shrines were even busier than the ones we'd visited earlier in Kyoto. Not many tourists this time – today people came because of New Year (perhaps they had all been put off by the cold last night, like us). So the shrines were absolutely crammed. So no tranquility to be had, then, and no time for quiet contemplation. Still; it was all quite special. And I got to drink some special blessed new year’s sake ;-)
We naturally couldn’t leave Nara without visiting Todai-ji; a massive temple which houses the second biggest Daibutsu (Big Buddha) in Japan. It is only very slightly smaller than the one we saw a few days ago in Kamakura. But boy is it impressive – 437 tons of bronze, 16 meters high (and 130 kg of gold). It was originally cast as long ago as 746 – although it’s had to be repaired several times since, due to earthquakes, fires, and losing his head a couple of times (!). 
The other cool thing we did in Nara was visit a traditional knife-making shop; where the knife-master and his son (who works as a doctor in the USA) demonstrate the noble art of knife-making. Since the guys were very nice, I half-jokingly asked whether they sold any Katanas (samurai swords – now that would be some souvenir, eh?). Unfortunately they didn’t – but they did let me handle a 500-year old wakizashi. The wakizashi is the short sword samurais also used to carry, used among other things to commit seppuko (ritual suicide). Unfortunately, the price of 500,000 yen was a wee bit much for a souvenir… But, we bought plenty of other souvenirs (another big plus for Japan – it’s one of the only countries I’ve actually enjoyed doing souvenir shopping!).We finished off the day with another great dinner at the Shimizu household. This also brought and end to a fantastic and memorable journey and holiday. The trip of a lifetime? Perhaps… And what was the highlight then? It’s hard to pick out a particular one, everything in this country is so fascinating. There just isn’t a boring moment to be had; everything fascinated me. The temples, the shrines, the trains, going to a shop, having food, the cities by night, the Ryokans, onsen, bowling, karaoke – I loved it all.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all who made this such an unforgettable journey. We will be back!
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