Of Markets and Temples
Any trip where you return energized and at peace is a good one. My two weeks in Nagoya and Kyoto did just that. Here are a few highlights from my trip with Kyoto Kimono. I will be adding some links for some of the people and places in the coming weeks:
San Francisco Airport
Well, not Japan but the international wing was already not American. Already I felt as though I was leaving my everyday culture. Waiting for my flight to Nagoya was a time to transition and set goals for my trip.
Nagoya
My plane arrived on time and so did my luggage! Centrair international airport just opened this spring so everything was sparkling and new. The Information Desk pointed me in the direction of the bus to Nagoya station and a taxi from there had me at the Ryokan Meiryu within 90 minutes of setting foot on Japanese soil. My goal for the evening was to visit my Sensei at his Kokikai Aikido dojo for evening class. I decided to be brave and learn the subway system. It looked like a simple five stops to his dojo from my ryokan. A friendly subway guard helped me with a ticket and soon I was greeting my Sensei and preparing for class. Another American student, Winston Oh, was also visiting for the evening. I recognized several students from a previous visit so already my first night, I felt comfortable. Maruyama Sensei is a wonderful instructor and I so enjoyed his students. After class, we went to a local restaurant for a great meal.
Wednesday, March 18 - This was my day to relax and adjust to the time change. My room at the ryokan was perfect for me. The futon and tatami were comfortable. The bathroom/toilet arrangement understandable. Feeling well rested, I explored a bit of downtown Nagoya and then visited Nagoya castle. The castle was destroyed in the war but has been rebuilt. There are displays on four floors and a movie with English subtitles that tells the history of the castle. Most notable are two Golden Dolphins that were thought to protect the castle from fires and are atop the roof. Replicas are inside for close up viewing. In the evening I was able to attend a special aikido class that Sensei arranged for me. Again it was great and after we went to the Sakae area for a special dinner.
Kyoto!
Thursday, May 19 - After a quick 30 minute trip on the Shinkansen, I arrived at Kyoto station. I opted for a taxi after my first try at the subway token machine failed. Soon I was in a modern room with private bath at the Palaceside Hotel. The hotel is so named as it borders the Imperial Palace park Ð a perfect place for a morning walk.
I was due to meet my group on Thursday for dinner and spent the afternoon seeing Nijo Castle, a place I had missed on my last trip. The castle dates from 1603 and within it is Ninomaru Palace. Within the palace are a wonderful display of wall paintings by Kano period artists. The gardens of the castle were beautiful to wonder within.
My evening did not go as planned. Weather in the U.S. delayed flights and so I had the pleasure of a quiet dinner at a Thai restaurant with Gary, the buyer for Nancy, the woman sponsoring the trip. After dinner, one of the group, Pat, arrived and we listened to her adventures with United Airlines. I was grateful I had come in a few days early.
Friday, May 20 - This turned out to be a day to meet some more of my group, Nancy and Trish , and await Mabel who had been delayed in the States for a day by weather. I had my first reminder of why I love Kyoto so much. I walked over to a temple I had found in my tourist guides - Rosangi Temple. It turned out to be located in the precincts where the famous novelist, Lady Murasaki, had lived. I treasured reading her stories of palace life in Tales of the Genji and was delighted to find myself where she had lived. The temple had a small pristine garden with a viewing platform where I was able to sit quietly and quiet my mind. What a wonderful start to a day!
Later in the day I joined Nancy, Trish, and Pat for lunch in the Gion district. Bento lunches with a most delicate sake were served on porches that extended over the Takano river banks.
Later we walked the narrow streets of the district, catching glimpses of ladies in kimonos and then went to a special show by 'geishas in training' where we participated in a tea ceremony and watched a performance of some traditional dances.
Saturday, May 21 - Market Day! We were up and out by 6:30 a.m for the Toji Temple Market, held on temple grounds. It got extremely crowded as the day went on but when we arrived it was relatively calm. Within minutes, we were looking at kimonos with one of Gary's favorite sellers. I learned quickly about 500Yen kimonos - some would be slightly stained but there are 11 yards of fabric in a kimono, not to mention lining. Many are silk. My primary interest was fabric for sewing projects. The other women were interested in kimonos for wear and they quickly were finding many possibilities. We wandered to other sellers that Gary knew and wound up with Nancy purchasing 4 boxes of scraps. I was glad we did as much as we did early as it got sunnier and hotter as the crowds grew. Toji is a sprawling market with food, plants, antiques and fabrics. It was easy to get turned around and disoriented as the day wore on. I was glad when we called 'enough' about lunch time and took a cab to a Japanese restaurant for a bite to eat.
Gary shopping at market
After lunch, Signe, a young American living near Hiroshima who had joined our group walked back to the hotel with me. It was nice to have her knowledge of Japanese as we searched for a paper store I had read about that sold washi - handmade Japanese paper. We found it and I bought a small amount to bring home. Finally we arrived back at the Palace Side hotel and I treated myself to a Thai foot massage. Soon my feet had forgotten every ache and pain of the long day of walking and toting bags.
Saturday evening we went over to Gary's home to meet some of his friends - a combination of Japanese students and English teachers. It was great to relax in a friendly atmosphere and listen to some of the adventures of the ex-pats living in Japan.
Sunday, May 22 - The best day yet. We went back to Gary's house and looked through both his incredible collection of kimonos and the four boxes of scraps that Nancy had bought at the market. I bought some more fabric and realized the advice to bring an empty suitcase was very smart.
Kimono shopping at Gary's
Gary lived in Northwestern Kyoto in a peaceful neighborhood. After going through kimonos all morning, we walked through his neighborhood to the Daitoku-ji temple complex for lunch.
This was one of the high points of the trip for me. First we met a group of school children who approached us for an interview. They had a set of specific questions such as where we lived and they totally expected all of us to give them the standard answers. They didn't expect Gary to tell them he lived in Kyoto and to then begin to interview them. Since he spends part of his time as an English teacher and was familiar with their studies, it was a big surprise. Then after the interview we gave them some small presents which they also didn't expect. It was a merry start to the afternoon.
Next we had an amazing lunch at Izusen, a restaurant in the temple complex where vegetarian food was served in a series of round 'Teppatsu' bowls.
After lunch, we toured two of the sub-temples temples in the complex, Daisen-in and Koto-in. Daisen-In has a beautiful rock garden, an elegant example of 17th century karesansui style, but the garden which truly amazed me was the Koto-in temple in the western part of the grounds. My guide book described it as a moss garden but it was so much more. Sitting on the temple verandah gazing into the garden, I had the feeling of incredible depth of the universe. The main garden was again a backdrop of a bamboo forest and the total experience was of lush, dense, green in endless shades and forms. It was totally magical.
Monday, May 23 - Thanks to the wisdom of Nancy, our tour director, we were at the gates of Ryogen-ji temple at 8 am. Ryogen-ji has the famous Rock Garden that is most often shown as the example of this art. By arriving early, we were able to sit quietly in meditation - a feat far more challenging after about 9 am when the school children begin arriving.
Every Japanese child visits Ryogen-ji as well as many of the other important cultural sites in Kyoto. Once the children arrive, there is a constant flow of kids, typically in blue uniforms. Most travel in small groups in a taxi where the driver doubles as a tour guide. As at the Daitoku-ji temple complex the day before, many of the children had an assignment to interview visitors to their country and practice their English. Our small group delighted any number of students by willingly answering their surveys and posing for photos.
As we visited with the different student groups, we got to enjoy the grounds of the temple which were equally beautiful to the famous rock garden. Everything is meticulously cared for and creates a feeling of peace and tranquility despite its location in a bustling city.
From the temple, we went to visit the Aizen Kobo workshop where we met Kenichi Utsuki, a master indigo dyer. It had been too humid for the proper fermentation of the indigo plants used for dye so we were unable to try the dyeing process ourselves but Kenichi explained the history of natural indigo dyeing to us and showed us many examples. His wife, Hisako, creates beautiful designer clothing from Kenichi's dyed fabric and a few of us just had to buy something in their on-site store.
After our lesson in dyeing, Kenichi walked us down the road to a local noodle restaurant and made sure the owner could understand our orders. It was a reminder of the gentle way that the Japanese kindly helped us with directions and information throughout our trip. One day while we were having tea, we asked about a phone for an overseas call. After much debate among all the customers in the small restaurant, one gentleman was ready to walk us to the nearest phone, just to be sure we would find it.
Since we weren't able to actually dye any cloth at Aizen Kobo, Nancy took us to the Yamamoto roketsu dyeing workshop where we used hot oils to sketch out designs on cloth before it was immersed in a vat of dye.
The family was incredibly friendly. When they learned of our interest in kimonos, they gave us a more detailed tour of their workshop. We learned that they also work on fabric for kimonos and got to see the huge wooden stencil rollers use for printing on the fabric and their press.
Finally we went to a great Japanese restaurant where we were served a variety of unusual meats and vegetables on skewers. It was a very full day.
O Hara
Tuesday, May 23 - Our day to escape to the country. We met our guide at the train station and traveled about half an hour up in the mountains to Ohara, a pretty farming town.
There we walked up a narrow road line with colorful shops with green tea ice cream, pickles and mochi to the Sanze-In Temple complex.
The temple had a beautiful garden, Yusei-en, which is said to be one of the most photographed temples in Japan. While it was stunning, the gardens of the entire complex were just as wonderful.
We walked down the hill and past many rice fields to a most delightful place for lunch.
After lunch we went to Ohara Kobo where we were able to dye some fabric using vibrant vegetable dyes. The family that runs the workshop was delightful. Trish couldn't find anything she wanted to dye so she asked if she could dye her light colored pants. They said sure and next thing produced some traditional farm pants for her to wear while she dyed her own. At the end, the mother said she could keep the pants.
Kyoto
Wednesday, May 24 - Kitano Temple Market. This market was decidedly smaller than Toji but we still found plenty to buy. Maybe we were becoming pros or the smaller number of merchants made it easier, but we all felt this was the better market. Once again, everything you could imagine was for sale. I remember one person selling old victrolas and 78 rpm records.
We spent many hours wandering in the market and then headed back to our new home - a Japanese ryokan, the Rikiya, where all of our bags had been conveniently move to while we were shopping. The five of us shared a big room filled with tatami and futons. It felt like a big slumber party.
The market pretty well drained our energy but we were still up to the idea of a fun place for dinner. We decided to try Indian food and went to one of the best Indian food restaurants that I have ever been too. It was a nice change from our more traditional Japanese fare.
Hiroshima
Thursday, May 25 - I have always had a imaginary list of places that I would like to visit in this lifetime. Hiroshima has always been on that list. During my last visit to Japan I didn't have the time. So, when the itinerary for this trip included a day off, I immediately knew I would go to Hiroshima. It is only a two hour train ride on the Shinkasen so with a limited objective of visiting the Peace Park, the trip was definitely doable in a day. I left Kyoto early morning and arrived at the Hiroshima train station by about 10:30 a.m. I am usually pretty comfortable figuring out train stations, but the one in Hiroshima was very challenging. I finally located the Tourist Center where a very nice lady marked up a map for me. After wandering about somemore I managed to find the trolley and left for the Peace Park.
I approach the park with a bit of trepidation. I wasn't sure how I would feel or how I would be accepted. As I walked up to the park, I realized that the Peace Park is another of those places that every Japanese child visits and a large percentage of them seemed to be visiting on that day. It was great. The first stop in my walk was the A Bomb dome. It's starkness against the beautifully maintained park jolts you. A photo nearby shows the destruction of the fateful day so you begin to grasp the immensity of the destruction. It was a hard structure to view.
From there I wandered through the park, past a memorial to all the children who died as a result of the bomb, and into the Peace Museum. Using the audio guide, I walked past exhibit after exhibit documenting the destruction, and the after effects of the bombing.
I was interviewed twice by smiling children, "Why are you here? What do you think of the bomb? What would you like to tell people?" If I felt awkward, I quickly realized it was my own stuff. These kids just wanted to get their assignment done.
The Museum has done their job. I rented their audio guide. As I walked past tattered school bags and pieces of uniforms, the audio tape put a name and a family to each of the memorabilia. I confess I could not listen to all the stories. If I had, I would have had to have sat down and sobbed. One diarama stands out in my mind, showing two beleaguered children with the skin dripping off their arms. The museum holds nothing back, but then it's intention is to stand as a testimony to the need to resolve conflicts peacefully.
After the museum, I finally visited the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. This reminded me in part of the memorial for Holocaust victims behind Notre Dame Cathedral. Both are sunken in the ground. The memorial in Hiroshima has a beautiful circular hall, the Hall of Remembrance. 140,000 tiles, the number of people estimated to have died by 1945, create a panorama of the A-bombed city as seen from the hypocenter. Above the Hall is an extensive library and information area with photographs and writings of the victims.
Before I left Hiroshima, I made two other brief stops. I walked over to Hiroshima Castle (a reproduction of course) and to the beautiful Shukkeien gardens which have been restored in downtown Hiroshima. Feeling complete, I headed back to the train station and caught a train back to Kyoto.
Kyoto
Thursday, May 25. I would be remiss to not to mention the wonderful massages that a friend of Gary's gave a number of us at the ryokan on Thursday night. I was delighted as the fellow practiced aikido. He smiled and said, 'I like kote gaeshi.' I instantly knew what he meant and a bond was formed. A small example of how mind/body activities immediately transcent so many barriers.
Friday, May 26. We spent the early morning exploring the neighborhood by our ryokan. Only a few blocks into our walk, we encountered one of the many small temples that populate Kyoto. This one, Yasaka Koshindo Temple, is the home of the hanging monkey. The story goes that Koshin-san aids those who try with all their might to be good people. Throughout the temple are hanging red balls that represent Kukurizaru, a monkey with hands and feet tied together. Legend is that to have one of your wishes granted, you must get rid of one of your desires. So, you must put your desire in the monkey and Koshin will help you to control it (as desires often prevent wishes from coming true). The monkey becomes your ally in becoming a better person.
Further along in our walk, we came to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, set into a hillside overlooking Kyoto. It is a breathtaking vista of Kyoto from the temple grounds. It is also a place which all Japanese school children visit. Interestingly, all of the temple stores sold good luck tokens for cell phones, an acknowledgement of the modern world. After our visit, we walked down the lane past many, many souvenir stores.
After our walk, we went over to the Nishijin Textile Center for a kimono show. This was my big opportunity to see the latest in kimono fashion and how the various parts that I had been buying actually assembled into a full kimono
. Right down the street from the Textile Center, a friend of Gary's had a store. He was a weaver and wove and sold his crafts in the space. He suggested we go to the Infinity Cafe for lunch. Immediately he called for reservations and gave us a map. We never could have found the cafe ourselves. It was hidden down a dirt road in western Kyoto. The specialties were homemade bread and soup and it was delicious. The restaurant seats about 10 and everyone sits around a central table.
After our lunch we went in search of the locale for what we thought would be a yuzen dyeing workshop. However, it turned out to be a loose translation of yuzen. We worked with stencils and paints to create our chosen piece. It was great fun but not quite what Nancy and the other more informed women in our group were expecting.
Saturday, May 27. This was a day for those last minute errands. We began with a walk along the Philosopher's Path. The path received it's name as it connects two well known temples and monks often walked between the temples discussing great problems. These days it is a picturesque walk along a canal with occasional shops that were fun to check out.
At the end of the walk, we visited the Nanzen-ji temple which began as a retirement villa for an emperor but was dedicated as a Zen temple upon his death in 1291. Nancy, Mabel and I toured the abbotÕs hall with some totally impressive screens depicting various tigers. As almost a final treat as our visit to Kyoto was ending, the abbot's hall is also the site of the Leaping Tiger Garden, another classic Zen garden. Sitting appreciately its beautiful was a wonderful completion to my visit.
Finally that evening we attended a cooking class in the home of Mariko Matsuoka. We helped Mariko to prepare a delicious combination of salad, meat, and egg dishes. Mariko explained that she conducts the classes because of both her love of cooking and her interest in interacting with foreign visitors. Many of her students return for additional lessons when they return to Kyoto and she has a number of ex-pats who are in Japan teaching English studying with her. It was a wonderful meal and a great opportunity to visit another Japanese home.
And then, the next day we were on our way home. Back to our separate lives and back to life in the U.S. of A. As I look back now, a few week later on my trip, there are some things that stay with me.
What came through over and over during my trip was the attention to detail everywhere. Whether in the architecture, the gardens, or the arrangement of a store display, there was artistry. And, it was accomplished much of the time with equisite simplicity. Often, what would catch my eye was not a panorama, though certainly I saw many breathtaking views, but the entrance to a home or a simple flower arrangement in a restaurant. All contributed to a serene sense of being and it was clear why in so many temples and gardens, tea was served as visitors could easily spend hours in contemplation. For a photographic essay on these thoughts, please click here.
And, finally, the people. Whether the women in kimono on the streets willing to pose for a photo or the tradespeople teaching a workshop, all were happy to see us and wanting to make us feel welcome. Getting to meet some of the students studying English and some of their teachers made life in Kyoto seem more real. And, of course, there were the five wonderful women who traveled with me. I am not one for tours but this was definitely a wonderful arrangement for seeing Kyoto. We were small enough in numbers that our presence was not disruptive to the natural flow of a place. And, we all managed to understand and work with each other's needs. I left Kyoto with warm feelings for the city and its people having had an opportunity to learn and to grow. Who could ask for more? For a photographic essay on these thoughts, click here.