Japan-Grace, John, Ruth

As I write this I’m on a train bound for Tokyo, the airport, and an Air Canada plane. We’re travelling at a medium speed of about 220 kph—our Japan Rail Pass doesn’t cover the really fast trains. This travel in Japan has been getting very comfortable, and we’ll miss it. Things run efficiently, yet are relaxed, at least to my western eyes. No doubt, there’s a whole set of rules we’re contravening, yet are blissfully ignorant of. People have been incredibly helpful and friendly. The Japanese aesthetic sense seems to be intertwined in everything from the care taken to perfectly align the packaging on the shelves in shops to the gorgeous clothes and carefully coiffed hair-styles. Wearing kimonos may be on the decline, but the refinement in the decidedly feminine fashion is a very Japan interpretation of western dress. Kyoto was an amalgam of all that we’ve seen and did on our visit to Japan, and so reinforced yet gave greater nuance to my impressions of Japan.

We’d hired a guide to accompany us for a couple of days, who showed us many temples and shrines—it’s hard now to keep track of all that we saw. With the help of Yuki, our guide, and Tammy Ota, who helped us with our itinerary, we saw, did and understood more than we could ever have achieved on our own. The cultural highlights included visits to the Golden Temple and the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple—there are over 1600 Buddhist temples in Kyoto, many of them set in a beautiful Japanese garden. The Shinto Shrines each dedicated to a different god were everywhere, too, the most popular with the hundreds of middle-school children we saw on their annual school field trip were those dedicated to match-making. We walked on the nightingale floor of the Nijo-jo Castle, the home of the Shogun. Under another guide’s direction, we visited the private home of a descendent of the imperial family where Ruth and I got to participate in a shortened version of a tea ceremony—they can last for 4 hours—and had a calligraphy lesson. Later we feasted on shabu-shabu (?), while a Maiko--a Geisha-in-training--entertained us. We also painted flowers on cotton handkerchiefs—Japanese women carry them around in their purses to use as napkins and handtowels, instead of the usual paper products, a practice that should be exported--and watched a guy decorate obis. It’s all a bit of a blur right now. The shopping in Kyoto was very cool. There are plenty of gee-gaws and doo-dads, but the quality of most stuff was really good. Canada customs will be happy with our contributions to the Canadian economy...

Here is an assortment of photos of Kyoto, probably the highlight of our visit to Japan.

Geishas, or rather as I was informed 'Geikos', seem to be more than a tourist attraction. These posters advertize a festival of Maiko dancing. I'm not sure what to think about it. We saw several geishas up close, who were captivating, but our guide said that she'd rather have her daughter be a doctor.

This is a pagoda at the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a World Heritage Site, located on the side of a mountain overlooking Kyoto. It's constructed entirely of fitted joints, without any nails.

The little ledge on the perimeter is designed to prevent people from plunging 50 feet to the ground. It's said that if you survive, you will have good luck and if not, you'll go straight to heaven. I think I'll take a pass on this win-win offer.

Here's an example of the hundreds of school groups we encountered in Kyoto. Despite their co-operation in assembling themselves for the photo, they behaved like any other group of school kids... on a break from school... exploring religious sites...

This picture doesn't really give justice to the actual object, a series of lacquered boxes used for cherry-blossom viewing lunches about 350 years ago by the royal family. A far cry from the Hello-Kitty bento boxes we saw at the 100-yen store.

My fascination with man-hole covers rather embarrassed my daughter

Ruthie's fascination with Mac-a-don-a-ruda, where they serve McHotdogs--skinny wieners served on a bun with ketchup and scrambled eggs.

A formal kimono, hand-dyed and hand-painted. Utterly beautiful.

A welcome diversion: a public footbath on an outdoor Kyoto city train platform.

How street cleaning is done in Kyoto. These bamboo brooms are also used to sweep the gardens of fallen debris.

These are for you, too, Dad. This is why Japanese houses don't fall down.

Relaxing at a tiny tempura restaurant. The food was exquisite.

At the Manga Museum (Japanese print animation), where we saw a great exhibition of the works of Sigiura, a early 20th century manga pioneer. The Museum, operated jointly by the city and Kyoto Seika University, gave me a much greater appreciation of this serious genre, its obvious parallels to Japanese traditional art, and the breadth of its material, which caters to readers/viewers of every age.

This photo was taken by Ruth, a keen observer of the unusual. The 'boulangerie' where this bread was sold, caters to the growing taste among Japanese for bread, which seemed to be either an Italian-French cross or the fluffy MacGavin's-type. The slogan for this chain was 'give us this day our daily bread', which made me oddly uncomfortable.

Here we are with our guide and our host who gave us a lesson in Japanese calligraphy. A descendent of the Imperial family, our host's family has lived on the same property for hundreds of years.

Our host and her friend giving us a little information about the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which we later did a shortened version of.

You might have to zoom in on this one. Again, this is from Ruth's attentive eye. How Japanese can you get?

After a while the temples and shrines blur a bit, so I can't remember the name of this shrine. Just enjoy the picture, k?

Oops. Sorry. Upside-down. What chaos may befall those who try these steps?

Sign posted next to those steps in the pond.

Our guide liked to take our picture in front of famous views. Kinda obstructs the view, though, don't you think? This was taken in the garden of the castle of the Shogun.

This was the only castle we visited, called Nijo-jo, where the 'nightingale floors' squeeked to warm the Shogun of potential assassins. The interior, which we were forbidden to photograph, contained magnificent screens of stong pine trees, tigers and peacocks, symbols of the shogun's power. I wouldn't have wanted to turn my back on him. I think I'll read Michner's book, Shogun, again.

Hey, you can actually see something behind us. It's the Golden Pavilion, the Kyoto landmark. Originally built in the 14th century by a shogun turned Buddhist monk, its power emanates through the ages. It was designed as a guest house to impress the Chinese government, and so the owner covered this exquisite building in gold leaf. Fancy! The Shogun-turned-Buddhist-monk was offed by his own guards for planning to oust the Emperor. Ambition will get you only so far. (An odd thing about historical sites, which to my western eyes is confusing. Shrines and Temples, built of wood as they are, were frequently destroyed by fire and rebuilt, yet they are still considered to be hundreds of years old. This Golden Temple was built in 1955, after a digruntled or deranged monk set it ablaze. New gold leaf was applied in 2003. Still, it's a truly impressive site.)

Our Maiko, a geisha trainee. This 16-year-old gets to become a geisha at age 20. There are only 100 Maikos in Japan.

We had a chance to speak to our Maiko with the help of our interpreter. On one hand, she seemed like a shy teenager, but yet refined and worldly, on the other. Depending on which person you speak to, interest in traditional culture is on the upswing, and so are applications to become a Maiko. Our guide informed us that it's not something most parents would be thrilled to see, as she would have to integrate a traditional approach to entertaining with modern-thinking clients.

Getting a chance to paint handkerchiefs. Donna, you would have loved this one.

Ruthie as art

No, this isn't an igloo or a hairy beast, but a tunnel used to banish bad luck and grant good wishes.

At this shrine, you pasted your good-luck-bad-luck wishes on the mound. You then entered the tunnel--made from the papers of previous devotees wishes--in one direction, all the while meditating on banishing your bad luck. After that, you entered in the opposite direction, this time meditating on your good-luck wish. I think John's wish to banish his arthritis is working, don't you think?

Sorry, but these pictures are out of sequence. Pretend you're in my living room watching slides of our Japan trip. Here's where I stop the projector and fiddle with the cartridges. Perhaps now is a good time for a stretch and a bathroom break. Cheese crackers, anyone?

This picture is taken at the Golden Pavilion. Incredibly, this boat-shaped thingy is one pine tree and is pointed toward the lake surrounding the golden pavillion, sailing off to good fortune. Unlike the pavilion, this tree really is old, 600 years old.

What's so special about these rocks? The space between the rocks. This is the famous rock garden at the Ryoanji Zen Buddhist temple. Made of 15 rocks, there is no place from which all rocks can be seen at once except by one who's reach pure enlightenment. The rocks are like islands protruding above the clouds. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bamboo forest. I felt like a bug.

Our Ruthie

I stopped in an art supply shop where they grind their own pigments and was gob-smacked by the shelves and shelves of pigment jars. I was sorely tempted to bring some home. Gwen, imagine big jars of real lapis-lazuli. I bought some brushes instead.

Sadly, our last morning in Japan

A shop where they specialized in Daikon radishes, a Japanese staple

Get a good look at this beef on the top shelf. I'll never complain again about the price of meat at home. After all the conversions, I make it out to be $369.21 per kilo or $167.06 per pound for the best cuts. Even the ground beef was $14 a pound. That's why the Mac burgers were so thin.

Enjoying our last supper at a rotating sushi restaurant.

And so we say, Sayonara, from Japan. Thanks for tuning in, folks.

I think I'll go and catch some z's.

Love
Grace

Once considered a sacred island, Mijajima maintains its special place in Japanese culture. The island is one of the top three most beautiful spots in Japan. As you can see from my pictures of the O-torii gate, just a fraction of the ones I took—Miyajima is a jewel. The gate is constructed of massive cypress trunks, still in their natural form, and rest on their own weight on the tidal sands.
As we did in Takayama and Shirakawa-go, we stayed in a ryokan, a Japanese-style inn, where we slept on mats on the floor. It’s actually not as difficult as I thought it would be. Gene, you would love it! Miyajima is a popular day-trip from Hiroshima, just across the strait, but after the tourists leave, the place is relaxed and tranquil, a perfect sleeping spot.
Our guide was eager to show us the important temples and shrines on the island, but of all the shrines we visited in Japan, the Shrine on Miyajima was certainly the most impressive. As it was a Monday the crowds weren’t too bad. Our guide was very surprised to see a wedding taking place at the shrine. Yes, our holiday pictures include someone else’s wedding photos. At first we were a little shy to be gawking at the whole affair, but our guide assured us that it brought good luck to the couple to have others take pictures of the bridal party. I think I took as many pictures of the happy couple as I did of temples and shrines. They were thrilled to have our picture taken with them by their professional photographer. Had I known, I’d have worn a hat.
Much of Japan is covered in mountains, and Miyajima gave us a great view from up top. We rode a cable car up to the top of the mountain, where we could see the spectacular coast, which gave me a better appreciation for how difficult guerrilla-fighting would be. From our vantage point, you could see dozens of little islands, each a little mountain.
Speaking of guerrillas, the monkeys on top of the mountain put on a show for us. They were quite aggressive creatures, but I suppose were just protecting their own turf. The monkeys weren’t the only unusual animals, as you will see. The local deer, about the size of a large dog, hung out on the beach, waiting for tourists to drop their ice cream cones. I twice witnessed them grabbing people’s maps and brochures to munch on, but mostly they seemed to prefer the fallen cherry blossoms. Then, they reminded me of cats licking up tasty morsels.
After leaving Miyajima, we stopped at the Hiroshima Peace Park, the site of the WW II atomic-bomb drop. The place didn’t really invite us to take many pictures; the crowd passing through the museum was eerily silent, of its own accord. Rather than rebuilding ‘ground zero’, a part was left as a memorial to those who died, and as anti-nuclear war reminder. I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but it was a far more depressing place than I’d expected. Sounds dumb, I know. But I was reminded again of the fears that plagued so much of my generation as children. The atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which claimed 200,000 from the blast and related illness was just a tiny fraction of the potential devastation from a mega-hydrogen bomb. The degree of difference is mind-blowing: 17 times greater than all the weapons used during the entire Second World War. We continue to live in insane times. I’m looking forward to seeing a zen-Buddhist Temple in Kyoto...