June 5, 2016

Today we took a bullet train (Shinkansen) to Kyoto, where we will be for two more days (leaving Tuesday night for Yokohama.) This allowed us travel in two hours what Natsuko said would have taken us 8-10 hours by car.

The temples and gardens in Kyoto were listed as the No. 1 thing to do in Japan in the Lonely Planet book, so I was really excited to go. We also were able to cross three more things in Japan's Top 25 - castles (!) (No. 6), Arishiyama's Bamboo Grove (No. 8), and Daibutsu (Great Buddha) of Nara (No. 11).  We were also able to meet Natsuko's sister this way, as we stayed at their family home in Ashiya, a train ride from Ashiya, which took us past Osaka.

From Kyoto Station, we could see Kyoto Tower.

Our first stop in Kyoto was the "Golden Pavilion," Kinkaku-ji.

This was a spectacular sight, with the gold building glistening across the pond against the blue sky.

 
This is a 1955 reconstruction of a shogun's 1397 retirement villa, which his son turned into a temple. A monk burned the original to the ground in 1950. We then enjoyed green tea (macha) twist ice cream cones.

We then walked 15 minutes to Ryōan-ji, a temple which features a rock garden believed to have been built in 1499. Along the way, we came across several vending machines. These machines, full of cold drinks, are every couple of blocks. They are definitely a "Japan Cool."

The website lists many different guesses as to what the 15-rock combination means, and even who built it. We searched for a spot where we'd be able to see all of the rocks from one vantage point.

 
This was the first temple where we got to observe the tradition of removing our shoes before going in, as you couldn't go into the Golden Pavilion. My favorite part was the beautiful garden surrounding the temple.

 
Our last stop before boarding the train to Ashiya and a sukiyaki dinner, served in a nabemono, was a castle - Nijō-jō.

 
This place, built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, was huge, and surrounded by a big moat.

Natsuko pointed out the "nightingale" floors - floors that squeak when you step on them too hard so as to warn the guards about intruders. I couldn't believe how each room of the Ninomaru palace seemed to be a waiting room for the shogun. There were only two rooms that were open that were for living quarters. As for the sukiyaki, my favorite element was the mushrooms! -- POSTED BY COLLEEN