Morning in Kyoto

After an early breakfast, D and I decided to walk to a nearby temple since we had the time and that particular temple was not on our itinerary for the day.  It turned out to be a great decision. The first photo is the Shoren-in Temple early enough in the morning so there were very few people about.

One monk was up and headed in the same direction we were.  The map could have been quite useful, but we decided just to wander.

As we went around a corner, my attention was snagged by these wonderful bell shaped windows.

Then there was this unique view through the back of the temple to the front.

As you can see, the landscape was lovely!

I like rocks, too - especially when they provide a home for a flowering plant that happens to look a lot like wild violet.

Hidden in a corner that we almost missed was this Buddha with bells and a floral offering.  Just look at the stone wall behind him!  I haven't found out the significance of the purple "bib" on the statue, yet.

On our way around to the front we found another "straight through" view.  Gorgeous wood.  And there's that landscape again!

Another roof edge?  Yes, but just look at that ornamentation!

Then, because we still had some time before we needed to be back to the hotel to meet up with the others, we decided to get to the big temple we had seen on our way in.

There were two guardians on either side of the Torii gate.

Remember the photos of the place where people washed hands for purification before visiting a temple?  Here are better photos of one such place.  First the whole building:

Then a close up that shows the bamboo pipe, spigots, and ladles as well as the stone "sink".

On the way out we passed this statue of a Chinese Lion (sometimes called a "Foo Dog").  He look as though he's about to take a bite out of that small branch, doesn't it!

On the way back to the hotel, we passed a great chance for an interesting photograph.  The Japanese are great bike riders; they use their bicycles to go anywhere, any time.  This bike was on the third floor. 

I think it made a neat picture and the wires give quite a modern feel to the composition.

Afternoon of the First Day in Kyoto: Tenryu-ji Shrine

Taking a trip like this one to Asia is stepping into a different world.  Few of us had any real understanding of the history that has formed the Japanese culture let alone an understanding of the spoken or written language.  Simple things, like D saying one day that now that he's seen the trees in Japan, he has a better understanding of the classic shapes in the art of bonsai.  It's because that's the shape of the full size trees in Japan.  Or how the facts that 73% of Japan is mountainous and 78% of the population live in urban areas may have influenced the culture as well as the manners of the people.

The Japanese we met were scrupulously polite for the most part.  Any time we tried to use a Japanese phrase no matter how we might mangle it, they were delighted and politely tried to help.  Mistakes were either overlooked or, what was even more frequent, were gently corrected. We found ourselves bowing as they did and gesturing to encourage them to precede us or to take a seat.  Indeed those courtesies we practiced in their country were continued by us in South Korea and Hong Kong.  I found myself wondering if their historically rigid forms of etiquette possibly born of class differences continued in part because the growth of their population forced people to live in more and more crowded areas.  It's probably an over-simplification, but it made some sense to me.

Anyway, here are photographs from our second day of touring.  The sight of the sampan on the river surprised me until I realized that even the Japanese like to experience so-called "touristy" things. You know this will appear in a painting at some point!

This thatched roof is really thick and precisely constructed. Given the shape of this roof, the thatching had to be a bit of a challenge!

Now this is a rather curious sight.  It is a graveyard for monks, and the grave stones are primarily individualized stone statues of Buddhas.  While I have other pictures of this place, I chose this one with the flowering trees in the background.  We missed the big cherry blossom time, but were lucky enough to see many in bloom (we also ate a cherry blossom "jello" dessert and drank cherry blossom tea).

You will have to tolerate and forgive my fascination for everything "roof" - from decorations, to style, to color, to intersections of several roofs and so on. I can only imagine that the creature below is a guardian spirit.

The torii gate has significance which I had not realized until our guide explained.  When one walks through such a gate on the way to a shrine, one leaves the profane world behind and enters a sacred place.  It's similar to the notion of "leaving your troubles at the door" but with a spiritual emphasis.  The color also has something to do with blocking bad spirits from passing through the gate into the shrine area.

What can I say?  Roof lines with lots of decorative touches.

 

A type of iris, I think.  They were wild and grew in profusion in many places we visited.

This is a camellia - a very lovely flower.

Two views of the ornamental lake.

Here is one of the many volunteers who work in the gardens.  This man is weeding the moss (!). Behind him on the hillside are rhododendrons in bloom.

Here's a lovely spot!

Proof that the cherry trees really were in bloom!

The bamboo forest is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, and here it is made lovelier by the two young ladies in traditional kimonos.

Here is a close-up.  We were fascinated by the bamboo with white rings and those with black.  There's probably a simple explanation, but I don't know what it is.

Many people rent kimonos to wear on special occasions.  Or just because they want to.  It didn't matter why to me because I just loved seeing all that glorious fabric!

  

As I think I mentioned yesterday, it was far more rare to see a male dressed, but the gentleman below is.

If you remember your Gilbert & Sullivan, you'll recognize my title for the next photograph:  "Three Little Maids from School Are We".

And the final gate for today is a relatively plain one, but it has such character I had to include it.

Travel is Officially Over

We are back from our incredible trip to Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, and although we are jet-lagged and D has a cold, we had a wonderful time!  

Honestly, for me the tedium of flying such a distance is exaggerated.  In my opinion, and I do realize others have their own view of the matter, if you are wise in what you take for your own entertainment, and if you can accept the fact that if you want to explore exciting locales, you have to be willing to get there, you can pass the time without wishing for a sharp knife to end it all! In my case, because of the time during which we traveled and my assigned seat, it was too dark to be able to do hand work (shades are pulled down to aid sleep and for the same reason I didn't want to use my own reading lamp while others in my row of 4 were trying to get some shut eye).  So I had to rely on my Kindle for reading and/or games and the in-flight entertainment of music (limited amount of classical music, but enough for both going and coming back), and movies (a documentary and Alice in Wonderland on the way to Japan and Hidden Figures on the way home were my choices).  Of course, meals kept us occupied also.

We landed in Tokyo without any issues and made the connecting flight to Osaka with time to spare. Once we got there, we were very happy to find our room delightful!  Take special note of both the bed and the mural!  Can you find the bird?  Needless to say, we hit the bed like stones and didn't move until morning,

After our breakfast we got on our tour bus and headed to nearby Kyoto.  Once there we went to the monthly market in the grounds of a shrine. This market is held only once a month on the 21st on the ground of the Toji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Temple was founded by a Chinese trained Shinto priest, Kukai, at the end of the 8th century.  It has burned and been rebuilt several times (the five story pagoda, the tallest in Japan, was a magnet for lightning but now has lightning protection).

What an experience the market was!  By the time we left it was very, very crowded, but as you can see from the photos, it wasn't bad when we got there.  I did find remnants of antique fabrics, and D bought a bag of candied ginger (not at all gooey) that lasted almost the entire trip.  The first photo features a knife maker with his knives spread out in front and beside him.  They were gorgeous and very sharp looking, but we decided the TS

A folks at the airport wouldn't be happy if we tried to take any home.

This is the man from whom D bought our ginger.  Did I mention it was the best I ever had?

Here the vendors are making some traditional dish which we didn't try.  Many stands were selling food items - some raw and some cooked on site.

A friend took a photo of me rinsing my hands using a dipper in the traditional way to purify them.

Fabrics, oh be still my heart!  I didn't purchase anything here because the pieces (lengths of kimono cloth) were too long and pretty expensive. Now of course, I wish I had - I could have shared with friends.  Oh well, the fabric was such fun to look at, though!

This photo show part of the shrine with stalls in front.  

Lots and lots of fish were on sale.  These vendors are selling fresh fish.  Colorful, isn't it?

The following pictures are of the locale rather than of the vendors and their wares, but by the end of this entry, I may have come back to vendors.  Here is the five-story pagoda (try to ignore the poles in front!).

A visitor dressed in traditional kimono and obi at the shrine's gate.  We saw many women and some men dressed in traditional garb while in Japan - more than I expected.

This is the time of year that school starts (begins in April and goes until March with several breaks throughout the school year) in Japan, and many students were going on sight-seeing trips.  All students wear uniforms which can be quite expensive. 

The  large shrine was open by ticket only, and we didn't have the time to do that, but there were many smaller shrines around the area.

Here is my favorite photo of D from the market visit.  Not only is it a good picture of him, I love the roof lines behind him.  Oh, his hand is on the railing of a bridge over the canal that you will see later on.

Isn't this a lovely little building?  You will notice red fire prevention buckets by all of these wooden structures even though I tried not to get them in the photos.  It just wasn't always possible!

This is a canal right beside a small shrine inside the grounds.  Behind you can see another building with a great roof line.

One of my favorite photos, it's a detail from one of the roofs I admired throughout the trip.

Another view of the canal - notice the reflections.

Here is another one of the small shrines.  This one I took because of the window on the side of the building and because you can get a sense of the bridge over the canal.  In this photo there is a better look at the bamboo railing on the bridge (like the one in the photo of D).

After the market, we boarded our bus and took off for a new kind of sight-seeing experience.  More about that tomorrow.