Kyoto Part III: Shrines and Monkeys and Geisha (oh my)

We’re only mentioning a few highlights here. Of the three thousand shrines in this city, we visited two-thirds of them. (Kidding. But it sure felt like it at times.)

Chion-in

Chion-in is a Pure Land Buddhist temple, which is the headquarters for the Jodo sect. Pure Land Buddhism revolves around a belief that if one calls on Amida Buddha, he/she will be reborn into the Pure Land (a good thing). You just gotta repeat “Namu Amida Butsu” over and over again. (I’m simplifying; Mark's work centers on this form of Buddhism. Just ask him about his dissertation sometime and you’ll get ALL the details.)

Purification before entering Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera, a Hosso Buddhist temple, is a famous landmark in Kyoto. There were about a hundred groups of middle school

The walk from Kiyomizu-dera

students at the temple, and we were interviewed by several of them so they could practice their English. (We tried to practice our Japanese, too.) They always asked if they could take our picture at the end of the interview, and we started insisting on taking their photos, too. There were lots of fun and funny things to do at the shrine. You’ll be happy to know both girls have ensured success in finding true love by walking with eyes closed between two stones set quite far apart. We told them to wait until they’re 30.

Bodhisattva Kannon (Bodhisattva of Compassion)

There’s also this really amazing walk under the temple that we highly recommend--it’s completely pitch black, and you’re descending down a ramp until you get to a stone with light emanating from it where you get to make a wish and rotate the stone.  The walk symbolizes traveling through the womb of a female bodhisattva and the light is birth. It would have been a lot calmer--and a lot scarier--had there not been forty thirteen year olds experiencing this at the same time we were.

Family fun at Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

As in most cases, the walk to/from the temple was lined with restaurants, street food stalls, gift shops and ice cream. (Note: You will not believe how many temples these kids will visit with the promise of ice cream during the day. Truly incredible.)

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Arashiyama Monkey Park

Arashiyama Monkey Park

Tenryu-ji temple

World War II Shrine, is dedicated to Japanese who lost their lives during the Pacific War, especially those whose remains were never identified. There’s also a memorial for foreign soldiers who lost their lives on Japanese soil during the war. If you have a relative who died during that conflict, his/her name resides on an index card in a card catalog in the shrine. There’s also a small shrine where people ask for a healthy marriage, which we made use of. Not sure why it’s in a location with a war shrine, but that question didn't translate easily, so we didn't ask. 

Jizo at Nanzen-ji

Torii gate at Heian Shrine

Geisha sighting in Gion

Tenryu-ji, a temple associated with the Ranzai school of Buddhism, is a beautiful and much more subtle place to visit.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park included a hike up a mountain to get to the monkeys. The bamboo grove is truly majestic --it's the photo on the front of our Lonely Planet book that's been our "fifth wheel" on this trip. Fun to walk through it in person on our way up the mountain to see the...monkeys! The park boasts 160 monkeys, which will eat from your hand. There are lots of rules when it comes to these critters--the girls found a great sign that said they don't like: (1) to be touched roughly; (2) to be stared at in the eye or (3) to have rocks thrown at them. (We have a lot in common with these little guys.) They also don't like when you don't pay attention to them, as Maura and Mark found out after having a little monkey business thrown their way.

Heian Shrine has the biggest torii gate in Japan and is the grandest of shrines in Kyoto. 

Nijo-jo is a castle built in the early 1600’s, when shogun had overthrown the emperor and were ruling various parts of the country. This particular castle housed one of the shogun, and has “nightingale floors” that are designed to squeak every time a foot touches them--very useful in guarding against ninja!

Gates of Nijo-jo

Kyoto Part II: The Human Side

As you probably know, Mary will talk to anyone. That being the case, we've met plenty of Japanese natives and foreign tourists (like us) from all over the world -- Pakistan, Bulgaria, Taiwan, China, France etc. However, having what she'd characterize a "real" conversation has been a challenge.

We're now pretty adept at “pass the dictionary” and charades when meeting people, ordering food, etc. As you’ve read, Mary’s communication skills have been reduced to intense bowing while bungling even the most basic Japanese words. We have hope for Maura and Kara, although everything they say is met with "Kawaii!" ("cute!"), so they haven't had to work too hard other than to smile and say "konnichiwa" in their most endearing voices.

Some people we've met speak beautiful English. Others have a few words that they probably learned years ago in school. (This is much like our French vocabulary--we can count to ten and Mary remembers some weird poem about cherries from freshman year. That's about it.) But many people have worked really hard to communicate with us -- and vice versa.

Temple in the mountains of Kyoto

New Friends

A friend in Greensboro (thank you, Winston!) put us in touch with her brother who has lived in Kyoto for 24 years. We connected via Facebook several months before our trip, reconnected when we arrived in Kyoto, and Angus graciously agreed to meet the four of us for a dinner on our second evening in the city. This led to some of the most fun and interesting parts of our trip to Japan.

Kids on the deck

We don't want to embarrass Angus and Kayoko-- or drive a flood of tourist traffic their way -- but this is one cool family who made Kyoto a much richer experience for us. They're both great storytellers who love to laugh and are fully engaged in their community. Both were willing to share their experiences and answer a barrage of questions we had about living in Japan. They were so kind to our children that it still brings tears to Mary's eyes. 

Our family with Angus & Kayoko

They also invited us to tag along with them to several things we otherwise wouldn't have experienced -- from a party at their friend's home where Yale University's senior women's a cappella group kicked off their world tour (seriously), to visiting a countryside farmer's market and Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Kyoto. They graciously invited us to lunch at their gorgeous home. And, after a four-hour soccer practice, their 14-year-old son joined us and was equally kind to our girls.

We were having so much fun that we completely forgot to take a photo of the delicious lunch. But we did capture a few photos of our walk to their neighborhood shrine -- the oldest in Kyoto, which is also very beautiful -- where the kids cooled off in the river while we watched a tea ceremony and a few wedding processions.

Whim 'N Rhythm show

Words rarely fail us, but they have. All we can do is say “thank you” and pass along the hospitality shown to us during our stay.

Our family + Proffitt family

Boulder Connections 

We also met up with Aaron, one of Mark's former students at CU-Boulder who is part of the Fulbright Program in Kyoto as he finishes his dissertation. After lunch with Aaron, Claire and their 11-month old daughter, we walked around Nijo Castle and the gardens. They filled us in on history of the castle, and we pretended to be ninjas trying to sneak into the castle. It was a fun afternoon for all of us--especially for Mark who loved comparing notes with Aaron about all things related to Pure Land Buddhism.

"My Name is..."

Post-interview picture

Everywhere we go, we run into packs of Japanese middle schoolers on field trips. Most are in uniform and have a common mission -- to interview a tourist so they can practice their English. "What is your name? Where are you from? How do you like Japan? What is your favorite food in Japan?" Usually, there's a teacher nearby, and the interview always ends with a request to take a picture with the group. We've also started asking the teacher to take a picture with our camera, too, which the students find entertaining.

Meeting Other Westerners

Rule in Japan: If you’re a westerner, you should ignore other westerners you see along the way. Or maybe they just ignore us. We can’t back this with data, but maybe it has something to do with having a lot of luggage. Or children. Or possibly being a little loud and embarrassing. We’d like to test our hypothesis with a trip for two to Japan after the children leave the nest.

Kyoto Part I: Life Here

Overlooking Kyoto

Kamo-gawa

We left Kyoto two days ago and are still processing the goodness we experienced during our stay. It's been difficult to blog for a few reasons: (1) we walked a lot; (2) when we weren't walking, we were talking with new friends about what it's like to live here and what we were experiencing; (3) when we weren't walking or talking, we were asleep; and/or (4) we couldn't tear ourselves away from the game shows. Or maybe it was the news. We're still not always sure.

We're starting with the easy stuff about Kyoto -- background, where we stayed, how we get around, and what our days were like.

A Little About Kyoto

Women wearing kimono

Kyoto (population: 1.5 million) is the cultural center of the country with many universities, museums and more than 3,000 shrines and temples. It was the capital of Japan for 1,000 years before Tokyo became the capital.

Door of the row house

We felt incredibly at ease in Kyoto -- it’s quite easy to get around the city and there’s something beautiful or historic to see on every corner. While Tokyo feels a lot like New York, the energy of Kyoto is hard to define or compare. It's a highly fashionable place -- many of the exclusive stores have signs that say "London, Paris, Milan, New York, Tokyo, Kyoto" on them. But there's an easiness to Kyoto that we haven't felt elsewhere. It feels more laid back. More comfortable with itself and its place in history. And lots of positive, creative energy flowing.

Most people wear western clothing, we also saw women who opted to wear kimono, especially to/around the temples and shrines. (Men also wear kimono, but we didn't see many doing so.) 

Machiya Living

Girls' bedroom and tea room

We stayed in a machiya (traditional, small two-story row house) in the Gion district —the entertainment district featuring restaurants, teahouses and tree-lined walkways. For reference, the book “Memoirs of a Geisha” is set here; it's as idyllic in person as described in the book.

We're six blocks from the Kamo-gawa, which is the main river running through Kyoto. We love to sit and people (or river) watch in the evenings while we have our daily intake of ice cream.

There's no wasted space in the house. Downstairs is a family room with tatami mats (where Mark and I slept on futons), a small kitchen, and a bath/laundry area. We climbed steep (!) steps to get to the upstairs bedroom, which had a western-style bed for the girls and a tea room. After lots of family time, the girls loved having their own space where they could hang out and relax.

The Neighborhood

Tiny kitchen

We were five blocks from Shimbashi, which (according to Lonely Planet) is "arguably one of the most beautiful streets in Asia." It's a gorgeous, tree-lined street with part of the river curving through it surrounded by traditional period architecture. It harkens back to simpler times and took our breath away regardless of the time of day we visited. We walked that street as often as we could with the girls leading the way.

Our bags

Walking and climbing

We were also central to many of the other things we wanted to see in the city. While we didn't visit every temple and shrine, we were able to see many of the most significant ones on Mark's list (a future post).

Okonomiyaki

What We Carry

Kara eating "street food"

The deal was that we had to be able to carry everything on our backs that we wanted during our month away from home. We each have one small backpack (Mark has a large one since he was here longer), and we have one small rolling suitcase. We still feel like we overpacked and shed things we don't need as we go.

What We Do

Family portrait at aqua duct

Each day was a little different, but we tried to get out of the apartment by 8 or 9 am. We typically ate a simple breakfast before leaving. Generally, we've had an idea of what we wanted to do for the day, but left room for serendipity -- stopping in at an art exhibit at the local college, hitting a nearby historical landmark, or strolling in a garden.

We ate lunch and dinner out, and have tried lots of new foods in Kyoto. Octopus on a stick was a one-time thing for the kids, but we've all expanded our horizons and really like "street food" for lunch. Two other unlikely sources of great food -- convenience stores (Family Mart, 7 Eleven and Lawsons) where you can get fantastic grub on the go. (Typically, there isn't "take out" here in Japan.) Second, our friend Angus turned us onto the basement of department stores in Kyoto where you can find almost anything you'd like to eat. Our favorite was Takashimaya, which was within eight blocks of where we stayed.

Dinner was almost always at a restaurant unless we were so tired that we feared falling asleep in our miso. We've had a lot more meat than we typically eat (except for Kara, who is still a full-on vegetarian), and fewer vegetables. Sushi here is amazing,  and we really like cold and hot soba noodles. And there's nothing like cold biru at the end of a long day.

At night, we read, wrote, played cards, washed clothes and planned the next day's adventures. It's all good, and every day, it got better and better.