The Ancient Heart of Japan- Kyoto

Kyoto is a like a tapestry interwoven with shrines, temples, maiko/gaiko, Starbucks and Fridays, so your senses tingle and throb with the ancient, modern, traditional, cool, glitzy, and natural in split second increments.

We started our tour of Kyoto, Mr. Fujita and I, at the Fushimi-Inari (Fox) Shrine, which is one of the most famous Shinto shrines in this star-studded city. Shintoism is the traditional, animist religion of Japan. According to Mr. F, few people are still Shinto; although, many Japanese still follow it for tradition and morals. The Fushimi-Inari is dedicated to the Fox who is considered the messenger of the Gods. There were hundreds of icons of fox throughout the shrine complex; mostly the sculptures depicted the fox with a scroll in his mouth. Complex is the best word for the shrine as it spans miles up a mountain with winding stone paths and orange gateways lining the route. At random intervals there were eye-catching shrines, graves, sculptures, stone monuments, pools, ponds, bells, candles, incense burning, lanterns, and food stands. Before one can begin the lengthy trek to the mountain top, one must ritually wash one's hands and rinse out your mouth at a fresh trough-like fountain. There were even directions for visitors unaccustomed to the practices of Shintoism. Once inside the complex, there were stages for weddings, shrines for various prayers, like one for schooling, locations were monks were conducting services, and stalls for purchasing souvenirs, charms, or talisman. At one place, you can call the gods by ringing a bell that has a long brightly colored ribbon attached, then you can pray for something. This is not the quintessential quiet and serene monastery; rather, it felt like a joyful, family place.

Sensations that I will play in my mind from the Fushimi-Inari: the scent of incense on the air, moss-covered and misshapen grave stones, rows of orange gateways spanning the paths that appear like a large caterpillar from a distance, foxes big and small and all smiling, the little lady at the tea stand across from the duck pond who sold duck food for Y200 and cold lemon tea for Y120, the horse sculpture that brought the gods to earth, prayer sticks, wish papers, bright sunlight on the trees, brooks, and moss.

I thought that our day was over when we made our way down the winding mountain paths and reached the intertwined residential part of the shrine, but I had no idea what other delights awaited me. Mr. F and I walked back toward the car, passing the walls of shrine patrons, souvenir vendors, tako ball vendors (we ate some on the way up and they were tasty delicious street food), eel grillers (would have eaten the aromatic grilled eel, but it was $20 for a slice), cute fox-shaped bean curd candy vendors, shops, restaurants, tea houses and bars.

After parking Mr. F's Citoyen at the famous Kyoto University, we headed off in search of sushi for a late lunch. We walked a long way to the subway, seeing temples, people on bicycles, many taverns, and cool houses with Seussian pompom trees in the yards. I thought we weren't going far-wrong! Mr. F was going to show me the town! I was tired, but it was totally worth it. I found my inner physical strength and we just kept going and going. We crossed over the river on an old dark brown, weathered wooden beam bridge Sanjo-oohashi(三条大橋) ("one of the bridges connecting the centre with the eastern part of Kyoto. The bridge is historical and the starting point of Tokaido, a road connecting Kyoto with Tokyo") and arrived at a shopping area, Fujii Daimaru - Shijo-Teramachi. This arcade like covered market was for me reminiscent of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar in that it was colorful, maze-like, crammed full of merchandise beyond all possible description, noisy, frenetic, and exciting. While the Grand Bazaar is Turkish through and through, the Shijo-Teramachi is wholly Japanese, with only the occasional Friday's or Starbucks. I particularly loved the thrift store, Chicago, that sold secondhand kimono. I bought a gorgeous gray, black, red patterned one for me and a silky red one for Maddy. I couldn't resist at those costs (Y1,500 and Y2,600). There were hundreds of them from jackets to robes, and informal to formal attire. I was sorely challenged not to purchase the magnificent 50 year old ones for decor in my home, but I'm running out of wall space as much as luggage space. Besides my wallet is just not that deep. I saw so many things I wanted to buy. Another super cool place made t-shirts with diverse statements in Japanese Kanji characters of your choosing. I had one made that said "Billiards Master" in gray with white characters. It's pretty cool.

Wandering further into the maze, in the food part of the market, we finally found an acceptable sushi restaurant and had a nice small meal with saki. It was quite reinvigorating! I had several kinds of sushi I have avoided eating before, but what the hell, right? I ate a slice of raw octopus, sea eel, sea bream, squid, and some other random stuff I don't know what they were. Some of them were so thick and chewy, I finally just gulped them down so I didn't yack. I think I'll stick with my old sushi standards in the future: maguro, unagi, salmon, smelt roe, tamago, and spider rolls. ;-) The saki helped it all go down anyway. We debated ordering one more piece each, but ended up leaving as the restaurant didn't have bonita, salmon or smelt roe.

Next, even though I begged Mr. F not to let me spend anymore money, we stopped at a saki stall where they were sampling saki and rice wine. Damn. I loved one they offered, so I ended up buying two bottles, one of saki and one of rice wine. I'll share them with friends at home. They were delicious! ;-)

Feeling a bit lighter on my feet after the saki, we walked on and came across a stall selling fresh oysters roasted on a grill. They were shucking and cleaning them right off the walkway, grilling them less than 1 foot away and serving them the next foot over. The place was packed with salivating diners. At a cost of Y180 per oyster, we couldn't refuse. It was a smart choice as we had the last bite we needed and met a friendly couple from the Philippines. They overheard us chatting and immediately struck up a conversation with us. It was really cool. Food was being handed this way and that, folks were nestled thigh to thigh, elbow to elbow, but everyone was amiably chatting and munching contentedly. The Philippino couple have been to Japan before, but not Kyoto, so they solicited my friend, Mr. F, for information. I shared with them my thrift store find, Chicago, and they were very happy about it, just as I was.

Once we left their friendly company, we decided look for green tea mochi while heading back to the car and eventually the hotel. At least that's what I thought!

On our walk, we saw a beautiful, bedecked old women in a kimono who was kind enough to let me take her picture. She told Mr. F that it made her happy to be asked! Cool. My pleasure!

We sought green tea mochi and eventually came across the Green Tea Cafe that sold a selection of green tea cakes, mochi, ice cream and other green tea infused desserts. We ordered a sample plate of green tea mochi, green tea ice cream, cake with a green tea layer in the middle and red bean pudding. To drink, we had iced green tea. Yep, I'm swimming in green tea now. At least it's full of antioxidants. I think I liked the green tea ice cream and cake the best. It was a nice dessert and I didn't feel too guilty eating it.

Back onto my poor tired feet and we were again crossing the Sanjo bridge, but this time it was dark. We stopped momentarily to listen to 4 women playing blues harmonica and singing. It was really good music.

Then, Mr. F said we were going to find maiko (or geisha if you are in Tokyo). He seemed to think that you could go to Gion, a very old district, and walk around and you'd find one. I was a bit suspicious, but thought, he lived here, he knows this town, and let's have an adventure! So, we walked to Gion, AND I'm so glad we did! It was probably the coolest part of Kyoto in my opinion. The ancient dark wooden buildings were no more than two floors tall and pressed closely together in their lantern lit neighborhood that looks like it did one hundred years ago when the Emperor still made Kyoto his primary home. My pictures probably do more justice to this cool locale than I can with words.

We saw several women decked up on kimono, but Mr. F knew immediately that they were not maiko. It took only a second for him to see that they didn't have the hair piece or the pristine white chalk makeup. I learned quickly. We did see a house that had several maiko's names written on small planks of wood above the front door. We also saw some gorgeous family shrines, very expensive restaurants and private clubs, and a beautiful creek. Then, on one of the last streets we were walking down, Mr. F saw a reserved cab parked with its flashers on. We inconspicuously waited several feet away and watched the formally attired, white gloved driver and his handsome black taxi. Within a few minutes, out of the door came two maiko dressed in stunning pastel kimono, head dresses, slippers, white pancake makeup, etc. They genteelly entered the car when the cabby opened the doors. The cab pulled right in front of us and paused, which gave Mr. F a thrill and me an opportunity to note the details of the layered silk kimono and the perfection of their makeup. This experience was really unique.

My fear of walking miles back the way we had come was unfounded. At the end of the Gion street, we jumped a public bus that had us back at the Kyoto University in 10 minutes. Then it was just a short walk to the car. I love to walk, I really do. Can you imagine if someone didn't? LOL!

In my modern, small and comfy hotel room, I immediately washed off the trail sweat, and put my feet up! And here, I leave you for the evening. Off to dreamland for me!