Day 3: Temples, Palaces ... and Blossoms, Blossom!!

This morning we had to check out from our Kyoto hotel which was an interesting experience as we have booked our suitcases through to Tokyo and packed our backpacks with jammies, toiletries and clothes for tomorrow. The suitcases are then couriered to our hotel in Tokyo and will be waiting for us on Wednesday night when we get there. So we left our laden back packs in the hotel cloak room and travelling light, went in search of breakfast and our pick up spot, the hotel on the other side of Kyoto railway station. Have to say it was like running the gauntlet as were were jostled by peak hour commuters on the way across the railway. We grabbed some bread products for breakfast at the bakery, found the tour desk at the rival hotel and boarded one of 7 buses that was doing the Kyoto morning tour. THIS was going to be busy and evidence of the fact that every hotel in Kyoto is booked out at present.

On our way to stop one, our tour guide Yuki shared some interesting information with us about Kyoto and its religious significance. Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from 600 until 1868. It is the capital based on the fact that the emperor lived there. It is a centre for both Buddhism and Shinto with over one quarter of the temples and shrines located in the area. All uo in Japan Buddhism features 1600 temples and Shinto shrines clock in about 500. En route to our first stop we learned about one of the over 100 sects of Buddhism, one for the "commoners" which is the sect of Buddhism represented at the Namuami Yamatsu temple which we passed. The other thing that our guide said about Buddhism and Shinto is the fact that many Japanese exist comfortably in both belief systems... while Shinto gives you direction and inspiration for the here and now, Buddhism look after the afterlife. A neat arrangement me thinks. 

Stop one on this morning's tour was the Ninomaru Palace within the grounds of Nijo Castle, otherwise known as the Shogun's palace. This was the "temporary residence" for the Shogun when he popped down to Kyoto to see the Emperor, because Kyoto was the Imperial Capital until 1868 and Tokyo was the permanent home of the Shogun.  The Shogun was the power man in Japan, having total administrative power in the country until 1868. It was a position gained sometimes through deviant means and sometimes through brute strength.... but because the shogun liked to keep his friends close and his enemies closer there were interesting things about the palace.

Firstly it is very old.  A rustic building in traditional Japanese style it has large wall murals, most of which are being restored, but in the first reception area we were able to see some panels before restoration. given that this palace dated back to the early 18 century and has no sealing due to no windows, it is phenomenal. The floorboards are called Nightingale style in that they are drilled and nailed such that they  "sing " like a nightingale if someone walks on them... warning the Shogun of approaching enemies.  The walking tour through the palace was conducted in socked feet... ouch and chilly too on such a cold day. As we went further on the tour we went closer into the private world of  the shogun. The distance between the visitors and the shogun was furthest in the welcome hall for the outer warlords. the inner warlords got much closer and then there was the Shogun's personal space, but at every level there were the red tasselled doors, concealing the body guards who would jump to the aid of the shogun should any warlord get a bit tetchy. The paintings also revealed a more aggressive feel in the outer chambers featuring tigers and eagles, but in the interior world there were cherry blossoms, for the shogun getting in touch with his feminine side. 

Another thing we learned about was the personal symbology of the Shogun and the emperor. The Shogun used the three leafed Hollyhock as the symbol on all of the metal work and also on pottery pieces. The emperor on the other hand used the chrysanthemum. When in 1868 the Shogun relinquished all power in Japan to the Meiji emperor, the Shogun's palace was taken over by the emperor and many of the external symbols were changed from Hollyhock to chrysanthemum. So there is mix of symbols on the exterior. Flower power!!

With our toasty warm shoes back on our freezing cold tootsies, it was off to stop two on the tour, the Golden Pavilion within the Kinkakuji Temple. This is a magnificent Buddhist pagoda located in the middle of a lake with magnificent gardens surrounding it. Unfortunately the serene sounding vista was not quite as it should be... in fact it was not quiet at all as busloads, probably over 50 of them bustled around the site. The pagoda was used by the Shogun when he visited Kyoto. The lower level received visitors, the middle level was used for cultural pursuits such as reading and writing poetry and the upper level was reserved for meditation. The entire building is covered in 22 carat gold leaf and it glimmers on the water. It has a phoenix on the top showing the rising from the ashes a previous pagoda had burned down. We would have loved some more time here in silence, but that was not to be... guess it was a case of Zen in the real world.

The third stop on the morning tour was the Imperial Palace. This palace was used by the Emperor until the seat moved to Tokyo. We were very lucky as the Imperial Palace is only open to the public on 10 days per year... 5 in Spring and 5 in Autumn and we happened to be there!! The grounds are covered in crushed white stone... and Chris describes the sound as very noisy rice bubbles with every step you take. The buildings are imposing.. You can only view them from the outside but they are so open that you can view the interior to an extent too. There is a part where a "new" portico needed to be added for the coronation of an emperor in the modern times, because people now arrived in cars and the horse and carriage gate was not good enough. The coronation hall is huge and imposing and is flanked by a Cherry Blossom tree on one side for peace and on the other by a Orange tree for health and longevity.

 

Behind the palace we wandered the most exquisite gardens with little bridges and nooks, almost out of scale with the size of the palace. 

Palace finished it was lunch time and those of us completing the afternoon tour too were dropped at a Washuko restaurant not far from the railway. We walked in to find each table set with a selection of condiments, and a paper filled "soup" over an individual burner. The photo tells it all...  it was amazing. And then back on the bus for round two.... lots more temples.

Stop one was the Heian Shrine, a HUGE shinto shrine deifying the first and last Kyoto emperors. Again it felt like rice bubbles underfoot, but the expansive building and grounds hosted the crowd comfortably. This shrine was built "to lift the spirits" of the Kyoto people in the 19 century when their emperor moved to Tokyo. There were the tree with votive requests tied to it and the plaques board asking for good luck.

The Tori is very large.

En route it was absolute chaos, but we did see lots of  Cherry blossoms as we passed through the Gion district that we had visited last night. We even saw a group of people travelling on a Thames style barge having a cherry blossom viewing. 

As the traffic was so bad today, we didn't go across town to our next stop, we went up and over the mountain and it was a very winding road with very limited clearance for passing busses. Scary. Stop two was well worth it though. There is no photographs as one is not allowed to photograph in the temple to the 1001 buddhas or Sanju-Sangendo Hall. But wow. The wooden structure is almost 500 years old and contains individual buddha statues with a large Bodhisattva in the centre. The other thing that is striking about this place is the deities that overlook the temple. They are mainly Hindu in origin, like the God of War and the God of Thunder, and yet they sit quite comfortably in this Buddhist environment. There were many places where one could make offerings and it was quiet-ish in spite of its busyness. Our feet were chilly again after this one, and it was good to get on the way to out final stop... literally at the top of a mountain.

The final temple was the Kiyomizu Temple built literally on the top of the mountainside. It is fairly typical in design but the view is truly amazing and setting amidst the cherry blossoms is gorgeous, At this place, as well as having the main prayer hall where offerings are made and joss sticks are shaken there is also three natural stream of water. One for wealth, one for health and one for happiness.

People queue for ages to drink the water from one or more of the streams as it flows out from the rock. They dangle panniers on long sticks. An interesting sight. The pagoda here is also beautiful nestled among the fir trees and cherry blossoms. It is customary for young Japanese visitors to get dressed in Kimono and visit the temple, so there were many young girls wandering around hair done as part of the deal. It reminded me a little of the Bibbity Bobbity Boo salon in Disneyworld except that the clientele were much older, and it seemed an interesting contradiction to see a young Japanese woman so traditionally dressed but on her mobile phone too!!! After hiking all the way up, it was then the hike down, competing with the crush of tourists as the picture shows.

A hot cocoa and custard puff for afternoon tea on the way down as it was far too cold for an ice cream and back to the bus to be dropped at the station. We grabbed dinner in the food court, went back to the hotel to collect our day packs and boarded the Thunderbird train for the two hour train trip to a mighty chilly Kanazawa.

The entrance to the Kanazawa Railway Station