For those of you who skipped History of Japan 101 here are some highlights: Kyoto, which sets on the West coast of the main island of Honshu, was once the capital of Japan. The shogun Tokogawa moved the capital to Edo around 1600. Edo was renamed Tokyo around 1868 when the Imperial family regained control and set up shop in Tokyo. Tokyo was basically leveled during WWII while Kyoto was largely spared leaving the cultural center of Japan in tact. So while Tokyo is now just an obscenely large, modern city with tall buildings, Kyoto still has remnants of an older more stereotypical Japanese town.. The area around Tokyo and Yokohama is often referred to the Kanto region. The area around Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe is called the Kansai region. Last weekend we were in Kyoto and Nara. Next month we have a trip planed to Kobe. So I thought I would write some tales about these trips and lump them under an Exploring Kansai section. This first entry is from a trip we took to Kyoto in 2004.
Kyoto is about two hours away from Tokyo by shinkansen, the bullet trains. Kyoto, proud of its cultural capital status, touts seventeen UNESCO World Heritage sites, the most of any city in Japan. Our rain shortened trip only took in three:, Kinkaku-ji, Nijo-jo and the Gion district.
We were greeted at Kyoto station by Maeda-san. The Maeda’s were my wife’s second host family during her junior year abroad in Osaka. Kyoto station is only a decade old; a mere baby compared to the ancient structures that dot the town. The futuristic styling of the glass fronted Kyoto station (the second largest train station building in Japan) continue to be controversial in a city steeped in tradition.
Eating in Japan is always interesting, but one of the greatest treats is sampling local specialties and seasonal offerings. Maeda-san took us to a traditional Japanese restaurant. We were shown to a private room where we sat on pillows on tatami mats – straw flooring mats – eating from huge round black lacquered bento boxes full of seasonal jewels and symbols of the season and the area. There were small sponge-like blossoms representing the coming of spring. There were the small sweets with gold foil to indicate that we were just blocks from the Golden Pavilion. There was sashimi and sushi and miso soup.
We walked over to Kinkaku-ji or the Golden Pavilion, a Buddhist temple compound. 
The main feature of this compound is a gilded pavilion sitting on a small peninsula extending into a small pond. Despite this being a holiday, the light rain had deterred many from visiting that day, enabling us to actually take in the small nuances of the gardens, the small ponds, and the traditional tea house on the grounds. This, combined with Kinkaku-ji location on the outskirts of town, away from buildings and traffic, gave the entire compound a unique sense of tranquility. Time seemed to slow as individual rain drops lightly disturbed the reflection of the pavilion in the water. The front mon – gate – and bell tower are always points of interest in a compound like this, but it was a pine tree that really captivated me. A three-hundred-year-old pine tree had been pruned so that a single bough extended out about ten meters. This bough swoops down and hovers over a raked sand and rock garden.
There is also a traditional tea house on the grounds. These small intimate structures usually contain two or three rooms, with each room serving a designated purpose during a tea ceremony. It is quite common in garden settings like this to have a tea house for the tourists. These tea houses generally have bamboo walls, or walls made from shiro screens – the wooden doors with white rice papered panes. The floor is covered with tatami mats – straw mats. Shoes are never worn on tatami mats. Once inside you kneel down in front of a low table that sets about a foot off the floor. Our waitress, wearing a kimono, brought us macha and okashi.
In Japan, you can drink green tea that has been steeped from leaves, or you can have macha. Macha is a 
green powder made by grinding the green tea leaves. Hot water is added and the macha is then mixed using a bamboo whisk. It makes a frothy forest-green-colored tea that is very thick and has a bright bitter taste. Macha is traditionally served with a small very sweet confection – okashi. Ours had an impression of the Golden Pavilion on it and some gold leaf. Imagine combining icing, powdered sugar and honey in a small one-inch square and you start to get an idea of just how sweet these things were; the perfect match for the strong bitter tea. The tea house was open on one side, so while getting hopped up on sugar we gazed out at a wooded area, contemplating the tranquility and quiet beauty that surrounded us. Forcing ourselves out of the sugar haze, we managed to untangle our numb legs; there is nothing like raw sugar hitting blood deprived legs. It was like getting off a roller coaster at an amusement park, you know, when you try taking a few steps before equilibrium restores everything to order.
Our next stop was Nijo Castle. Nijo-Jo is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, 
meaning the UN has determined it to be of immeasurable historical value. This wooden castle was built around 1600 by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu, started the Tokogawa Shogunate. This castle was built to show the imperial family, who was allowed to continue to live and use the Imperial Palace in Kyoto that he was in control. This is an old, Japanese style castle, that is only one story tall, but the buildings and grounds are extensive. Once over the moat and inside the walls, you need to don slippers to walk through the castle. The original paintings on the screens that hide secret inner compartments are exquisite. The floors around the tatami matted rooms were specially designed to squeak and sound like a nightingale. This was done to serve as an alarm system against intruders. I suspect it was also used to encourage visitors to use the facilities before going to bed, because if you woke anyone up while sounding like a nightingale, you could end up with parts missing. I found it particularly interesting that the quieter you tried to be, or the lighter you tried to walk, the louder the floor boards squeaked.
Kyoto is full of mandatory stops for the tourist. 
And the Gion District may be the most well known. It is renowned for being the last bastion of the Geisha world. Geisha, it should be noted, are not prostitutes but rather entertainers trained and skilled in all types of traditional Japanese music, plays and tea ceremony rites. It takes years of training for women to move through the ranks to reach the registered geisha level. In addition to small shops selling trinkets to tourist, the side streets provide a glimpse of stereotypical Kyoto-style housing.
Yasaka-jinja, the Shinto shrine at the end of the Gion District, is rather extensive, with a seemingly endless number of sub- shrines dotting the long walk up the hill to the bell tower. Each sub-shrine (by this I mean a little orange shanty) generally represents a different Shinto god. Bell towers are popular destinations for New Year’s Eve. The bells are tolled 108 times each New Year. This is believed to drive out the 108 evil spirits or impurities for the New Year.
Written October 5, 2007