Kyoto, Japan

At Fushimi Inari Taishi

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for many years before Tokyo, and is now considered its cultural capital. But this is not just a quaint historic relic of a town - it's a very busy city especially at rush hour when we arrived. Our hotel room was tight but included a washing machine, kitchen, and many great features in the bathroom. More on that later.

For our first dinner in Kyoto we found a restaurant near the hotel with the grill in the table and we sampled the condiments and spices and cooked our food right in front of us. We had a busy night posting the blog, catching up on some responsibilities and researching Kyoto.  

After breakfast the next morning and catching up with family, we headed for Kiyomizu-dera which is a very famous temple. Many people dress in traditional Japanese outfits to visit the temple. On the walk there we passed many smaller shrines and shops. The streets became more crowded with people as we approached the site. People pray, purchase items, and perform various rituals as well. Inside the main temple there is a solemn, pious atmosphere and no photography is allowed but click the following link for more information and photos: Kiyomizudera

In the smaller shrines and shops you could buy items for just about anything including passing examinations, finding love, conception, easy delivery, good health, long life, etc. We didn’t understand most of the religious significance, but there was nearly a festival atmosphere about it all. Dermot and I enjoyed people-watching nearly as much as the temple. At the end of the visit, I started trying to photograph couples who were both dressed traditionally.

The next day we toured the very historic Nijo-jo Castle, once again, photography was not allowed inside the castle but the painted screens were beautiful. A search of “Nijo Castle Screens” on the internet will give you a taste of the opulence. Our photos are of the exterior and the gardens which were also lovely.  The audioguide helped explain the history and significance of the architecture and art.  Here's more info: Nijo-jo

As we walked back to our hotel we toured a water garden shrine, a street market and then you’ll see just general things we thought were interesting along the way. The streets of Kyoto are a mash-up of old and new.  Older style houses of two stories are sandwiched between much taller modern buildings with no rhyme or reason. Many of the entryways are unique. 

The following day we visited Kinkaku-ji the iconic Zen Buddhist temple covered in gold. Its popularity makes it a bit less zen and a little more tourist hot-spot but you can’t blame the tourists - it is a wonderful sight to behold. We walked around the garden taking shots from various angles then browsed the goods on sale before heading to a late lunch. More information here: Kinkaku-ji

We’ve enjoyed stopping at whatever restaurant happens to be nearby when we’re hungry and haven’t been disappointed yet. The place we stopped for lunch had no English menu so we took a leap of faith and enjoyed the outcome. 

A Chinese man at the next table highly recommended we stop at Toji before we left and we decided to make it the evening stop. The gardens and shrine were all lit and it was beautiful.

All of Japan is anticipating the Sakura (cherry) blossoms. Plum trees blossom in February and as they fade, the cherry trees bloom. Photography of the temple statues or anything under the roof was not allowed. It was a place of prayer for followers. Here's more info and pictures: Toji Temple

We left and had dinner of fish and chips at an Irish pub to see what it would be like.  Dermot still wouldn't chance trying a Guinness though!

One night’s dinner stands out though in our memories - the place right across from our hotel had counter seating for 10 with a cooking surface in front of each person and two tables. We got seats right in front of the cook and got to watch her prepare every meal.  Though some of the raw foods were mysterious, our seafood teppanyaki was delicious. It was dinner and a show.

Click here for our photos

We've used Google maps to get around and that's worked pretty well once we got used to it here. Of course, it will take you down back alleys if that's the quickest way and we noticed that no matter how dark  or deserted it looks, we still feel safe here.  Japan has the reputation for being a very safe place to travel.

Our last day in Kyoto we took the bus to the train station and put our bag in storage, picked up the tickets we had reserved on-line then got a quick breakfast. The train station is huge and crowded but we were able to get directions in English.  The train dropped us right in front of Fushimi Inara Taishi. The weather here has been warmer and more pleasant to walk. This is a favorite temple of many and there are many shrines all along the way. This one has thousands of shrines all erected by businesses hoping for success.  Click here for more information:  Fushimi Inari Shrine

We had read that it's difficult to get a picture without other tourists until you get higher up but the higher you go, the more they warn you about the wild boars and monkeys!
 We went all the way to the top of Mount Inari and were rewarded with sweeping views of Kyoto and quite a workout.  My step counter reported we climbed 52 floors!

The train whisked us back to Kyoto train station where we had lunch and did some shopping. We noticed one kiosk had a perpetual line of people buying boxes of something that looked like a cookie.  We had no idea what they were but picked some up as a gift for Rie and her family.

We were very excited to try the bullet train for our return trip to Tokyo.  Dermot took a video of it as it arrived.  Once on board we enjoyed plenty of legroom and a very smooth ride. The speed was pretty surprising. We traveled from Kyoto to Tokyo in two hours.

Okay, I promised more on bathrooms and I'm sure you were just holding your breath for me to get back to that. Bathrooms in Japan need a whole blog page. I could wax poetic about the shower/bathtub and toilet but it would take too much time to write all the pampering features that are built into the home. These links will get you started on the wonders:

Click here for info on bathing in Japan

And more here.

Public toilets are no less surprising. In rest stops, they have a holder for your umbrella, special seat inserts for toddlers and even a baby holder so you can wash your hands while the baby safely sits close by.   

A tap on top of the tank of flush toilets allow users to conserve water by washing their hands in clean water flowing into the tank destined for the next flush. Genius! With all the emphasis on conservation, why don’t all new toilets in the U.S. have this feature?! 

Public bathroom info here

Not all public toilets are so nice though, at the Fushimi Inari Shrine there were mostly squat toilets and a long line of women waiting for the one "Western toilet." 

Well, this post has certainly gone down the toilet!