Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Sunday 13th October perfect weather 28 and sunny.
Our guide Mazda-San meets us at 9am and has a plan to take us to "off the beaten path" places that are not too touristy. He knows we have a few days here and because it is Sunday and a long weekend in Japan, there are many visitors to Kyoto making the usual tourist spots very crowded.
From our hotel we begin what will become the first of our 20,000 steps for the day. Quite close to the hotel is the Nishika Food Market. It is under cover and runs about 1km east-west with traditional and some modern stalls. Mazda shows us some of the art work on the shutters and flags from a well-known artist Itō Jakuchū who lived over 300 years ago.The array of foods was also very interesting, once again huge oysters, lots of prawns, dried fish and pickled turnips.
After leaving the Market we entered Kiyamachi Street, it is a picturesque street with a river running parallel where you'll find some of Kyoto's best restaurants. It is so narrow that deliveries are made by carts. Honda pointed out a couple of his favourite restaurants which are reasonably close to our hotel. The businesses are all closed this morning and will come to life at night time.
From here we walked north and cross the Kamo River and follow the canal that has 2 hydro power stations on it and it also is used for the city's fresh water.
We arrive at Heian Jingu Shrine. This is a very large Shrine but today there is a competition of young performers near the entrance and there are groups of young people preparing to perform in costume.
It is crowded and a stage has been erected in front of the Shrine and seating for hundreds.
Once we enter the main gates Honda notices one of the halls is open with an Ikebana floral display, we view the arrangements. Behind the Shrine is a beautiful garden and we pass through it and stop for iced coffee and macha cake at a small tea house in the grounds.
This is a beautiful and typical Japanese garden with stepping stones, bridges, lantens and shrines through the garden. We meet a bride and groom on one of the bridges having photos taken. There are many great vistas over the gardens and some of the maple trees are beginning to turn golden for Autumn.
There is a bus that takes us to Jishoji Temple where the Silver Pavillion is. This is not actually silver, it was originally covered in black lacquer which is now almost all worn off. It once was so reflective it was believed to be silver.
Before we visit, we have lunch at a little restaurant selling noodle and rice bowls. Then its up the hill towards the temple. On the way we buy a skewer of sweet Strawberry's which were very tasty. You do not enter the Silver temple, it's just the garden you come to view along with other gates and halls. The gardens near the entry are raked gravel and we view some of the designs being created near the entrance.
The waves in the gravel represent water, then areas of deep grooves may represent oceans. There is a mound of gravel, perfectly smooth with a flat top that appears as Mt Fuji with rippling gravel below forming Lake Ashi.
We move onto a circular walk that takes us through a moss garden. The moss covers the ground where bonsai trees and shrubs grow. They need to water the moss twice daily to keep it growing, water is not scarce in Kyoto.
We leave this temple set out down the Philosophers Way, called this because the University is nearby and the lecturers and students use this path. It's narrow and passes along a small waterway making it very peaceful.
We enter a secret garden which has some lovely buildings and bridges over a stream, it was built by a resident who lived there. We are entering a prestigious area in Kyoto where the houses and their grounds are large and hidden behind fences.
Our last stop of the afternoon is at Eikando Zenrin-ji. We both feel this was the most striking of all the Buddhist Temples we have seen. Unfortunately, we are only able to take photos of the gardens not inside the temple. The golden buddha, the lanterns and the decorations in the temple are primarily in gold leaf and are magnificent. The buddha here is famous as his head is turned to one side.
The gardens are very pretty with the Shrines and the Buddhist Temple together here. The maple trees are everywhere and will be very colourful in a couple of weeks.
We arrive back at our hotel around 5.15. It's been a huge day again, hopefully we can take it easy tomorrow.
2025-03-19