July 2, 2008

Kyoto JAPAN

Touring the Temples and Gardens of Kyoto, Lunch at the Garden Oriental, and Traditional Japanese Cormorant Fishing

Every day during SAKURA season I was blown away by the beauty of the Japanese cherry blossoms in full bloom. Even in Tokyo, a sprawling metropolis, the cherry blossoms made one feel as though one is floating through an imaginary dream world. Well, little did I know that I was to re-encounter such a swell of emotions in Japan's ancient capital city, Kyoto.

In order to maximize my time in Kyoto, Maki-san prepared a detailed itinerary of things to do and emailed it to me early this morning. I subsequently printed off the list of locations, phone numbers, and corresponding background information in the business center of the New Miyako Hotel. At 10:00 a.m., my mother and I set off for a full day of touring Kyoto - with nine pages worth of documents in hand.

Our first stop was at TOFUKUJI (1236), which is a massive compound containing buildings, temples, and gardens all built in the ZEN style. We had a difficult time locating the attraction because it is tucked away in a walled neighborhood in an old part of Kyoto, which is really not saying much because much of Kyoto is so old. Anyway, it took about 20 minutes of searching and the help of numerous Japanese locals. As another demonstration of the kindness of the Japanese people, there was one elderly woman who gave me directions, and then three minutes later pulled up alongside me on her bicycle to say that I had made a wrong turn - she had actually followed me to make sure I did not get lost!

TOFUKUJI was built by a famous statesman, KUJO MICHIIE, during the KAMAKURA ERA. He was attempting to create similar zen temples found in NARA, a former Japanese capital city south of Kyoto. Each letter of TOFUKUJI is a combination of one character from each of these zen temple names in Nara.

We approached the compound after crossing an old wooden bridge, pictured to the right. Then, after passing through an imposing gate (old homes in Kyoto are all walled along the perimeter), the complex opened before our eyes. We bought tickets at the ticketing counter and proceeded through the zen gardens, saving the National Treasure architecture for last.

While while most people try to emulate the beauty of Western gardens, with exotic flowers and ornate arrangements, I doubt anyone fails to see the beauty of a Japanese garden with all its elegant simplicity. The weather-worn wood, historic design, perfectly sculpted landscape, immaculately raked stone gardens, and the calming sensation created by hand-planting every last flower and tree is something that represents much of what I love about Japanese culture. Once more, I was discovering the feeling of MONO NO AWARE.

The latter pictures above show the zen architecture, including what is widely viewed as the best example of all "Zen Buddhist Gates." I don't know enough to comment on this, but I will say that it is far more imposing than the pictures make it seem.

Since our schedule was packed with different places to visit, we could not afford to waste any time walking back to the train station and transferring. Instead, my mother and I hopped in a taxi for the 10 minute drive to SANJUSAN-GENDO, which is the longest wooden building in the world (nearly 120 meters).

What makes this such an amazing attraction is not so much the long building, or even the equally impressive architecture in the surrounding complex, but the collection of over 1,000 Buddhist statues. These statues, carved out of cypress and layered in gold leaf, are ten statues deep, and stretch the length of the hall. Additionally, there are larger statues of important BODHISATTVA every meter or two. Pictures were forbidden inside the hall, but I conducted an internet search that yielded the photo to the left.

By the time we finished the second main attraction for the day, it was already 13:00, and I had made a lunch reservation at Kyoto's famous Garden Oriental restaurant for 1:30p.m. Once more, we hopped in a taxi and rode to one of Japan's most famous streets, NENE NO MICHI (The Path of Nene), which is where the restaurant is located. There were several men in business suits waiting at the gate, and after calling inside to confirm our reservation we were allowed through - such is the prestige of this restaurant.

I ordered another full-course meal with most of the dishes being Japanese-prepared Italian, along with the obligatory wine that I can only afford to drink when someone else is paying. The food, ambience, and service were first class, as is indicated by this newspaper article I found on the web.

After lunch, I was feeling considerably more relaxed and was less worried about "checking off all the boxes" on the itinerary. Instead, I decided to slow down the frantic touring pace, and so we embarked on an hour long walking tour through downtown Kyoto. We started near NENE NO MICHI, where a collection of up-scale shops were selling rare Japanese cultural items. My mother was tempted by the wood-block prints that hang on silk screens, but as they were actual antiques - the kind of artwork a connoisseur would appreciate enough to justify the high cost - I persuaded her not to make any purchases. The photo to the right, although different from what we saw, is of the same general genre.

We continued walking through the quiet backstreets of Kyoto until we reached Yasaka Jinja, which lies at the heart of the city. The shrine has long been connected with the geisha community, for which Kyoto is famous, but today I was not lucky enough to see any firsthand. Perhaps I will just have to save my pennies and pay for one's services in the future, although with a minimum cost in the thousands of dollars, it may take a while to justify the cost. Maybe I will just ask for a bigger allowance... Or take up a life of crime.

The rest of the afternoon and evening's sights are located in Western Kyoto, so we rode the subway system for about an hour until we reached Arashiyama. Riding Kyoto's trains made me realize how spoiled I am in Tokyo where everything is so efficient - trains come every few minutes and there are so many to choose from that one is always rushing to keep up. Whereas Tokyo is a mad, rush of a city, Kyoto is more of a placid, calm city, and the public transportation system reflects this.

I alighted from the train at around 4:00 p.m., whereafter it was a 20 minute walk to what is commonly accepted as Kyoto's finest Zen temple, Tenryu-ji. Founded in 1339, the temple and corresponding Zen garden have become a UNESCO World Heritage Sight that remains unencumbered by numerous tourists because of its out-of-the-way location. I cannot imagine exploring Kyoto's temples if there was not such quiet solitude - the gardens and architecture have a captivating lure that would be easily destroyed by pesky crowds and ignorant tourists - but it may be unavoidable in peak tourist season.

One would think I would get worn out after all the temples, rock gardens, and walking tours, but Kyoto really is something special. Perhaps more pictures will give an indication as to why.

The temple complex closed at 6:00 p.m., but my mother and I could not leave the Arashiyama District because we wanted to experience UKAI, or Japanese cormorant fishing, which would begin at 7:30 p.m in a nearby river. We spent the next hour or so touring the nearby shops - actually, I spent the hour sending off text messages while trying to kill time - allowing my mother to do some "much-needed" shopping.

We bought tickets just after 7:00 p.m., and spent the next 30 minutes chatting while the Japanese fisherman prepared the boats and cormorants. Cormorant fishing is an interesting style of fishing, and one that I have never seen before Asia. The way it works is the following...

The cormorant's neck is tied with a small string, preventing it from swallowing any objects (such as a fish). A separate string is tied around the bird's leg so that it cannot fly away. Then, the bird is released in the river where it dives to catch fish. Once the fisherman sees the bird has a fish in its beak, it pulls the fish in, and opens the birds mouth, releasing the fish into the fisherman's neck.

Apparently nighttime is the best time to fish because the fisherman can provide artificial light, which makes the fish easier to spot. I am not sure if I buy into this reasoning as the more likely rationale is that the burning fires on the boats makes a greater spectacle for paying tourists.