China and Japan

Day 10 Thursday, November 21, 2019 Kyoto

A highlight today was the traditional tea ceremony, and Janet was one who volunteered to prepare the tea herself (with assistance). We were impressed with how exacting the ritual was, and the hostess there in the photo made sure everyone did it correctly. Our other highlights today included walking through Gion, the center of old Kyoto, eating a traditional lunch, doing the prayer ritual at a shrine, having a conveyor-belt sushi dinner, and taking a Japanese hot bath!

Following breakfast, we bused a short ways to the Nishi Hongwanji Temple. Along the way, I took this photo of a shrine from inside the bus. This entire day in Kyoto was an optional tour, and most of us took it.

Kyoto (a two-syllable word, not three..."kyo-toe") was Japan's capital from 794 to 1868. You might remember that 1868 was when control of the country changed from the Takuwara Shogunate to the Emperor. That is when the capital moved to Edo, when they also changed the name to Tokyo (also a two-syllable word; "kyo" is a single syllable, not "kee-oh". My lesson of the day!).

Inside the temple grounds, after we had entered through a huge gate at the street, were this Founder's Hall (Goeido), and beyond is the Hall of Amida Buddha (Amidado). This Goeido is one of the country's largest wooden structures. It was built in 1760, and was completely restored in 2009. The Amidado is even older, dating from 1636.

The Goeido inside was certainly ornate! We had to remove our shoes at the bottom of the steps outside, before being able to enter. The entire temple (there was much more to it than my photos indicate) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our group were the only people there, since it was so early in the morning. Still, Gary had to remind us to stay quiet and respectful.

Inside the temple grounds. It was quite extensive.

In the temple grounds were lots of pretty floral displays.

Now you can see the huge gates, as were were leaving. It's called the Goeido Gate. We crossed the street out there, and walked a short distance beyond to our Tea Ceremony.

This is the building where the Tea Ceremony was, on a quiet, narrow street. From the outside, one would not think it was anything too special.

We ascended stairs to the second floor, removed our shoes and left our bags outside the room, and then sat on chairs or the floor. The hostess started by bringing out little treats to eat "to balance the bitter taste of the tea."

The main host is demonstrating the process of making tea. It's all very precise, as a choreographed ritual. He explained the deeper, spiritual meaning behind every step. He spoke only in Japanese, so Gary had to translate for us. As our itinerary stated, "The process is not about drinking tea, but is about aesthetics, preparing a bowl of tea from one's heart." As you can see, he is pouring the hot water into the tea cup, which he has gotten from the pot sunk under the flooring. His ladle looked just like the ones we had used at the shrine for our cleansing ritual.

She is now whisking the tea powder into the hot water, to create a froth.

When the hostess was done demonstrating, she asked if anyone would like to do it themselves. Janet was the first. As she went through each step in the process, the hostess usually had to assist to make sure it was all done exactly correctly.

The hostess is making sure Janet is pouring the hot water correctly!

In this photo, she stepped in to whisk Janet's tea, because Janet had not done it briskly enough. About six or seven from our group took their turns making the tea, and for everyone except Jeanette, the hostess had to finish whisking the tea for them.

When everyone was done, I think we all got our photos with the attractive and friendly "tea hostess." I'm lucky that my socks did not have holes in them. Based on how many times in our China and Japan tour we had to remove our shoes, I think UTO should make sure their itinerary documents warn about the need to bring lots of socks that they won't mind being seen in. LOL

Our next stop was the famous Kinkakuji Temple, and these trees in full fall color were along the walk to it. The walk through these grounds was jammed with tourists.

Here's a close-up of the "ritual bell", or Konsho, which is part of every temple, located somewhere in its grounds. It is rung before any ritual service, most usually funerals. The sound lets the priests know to enter the "inner altar" area.

The beautiful pavilion (Kinkakuji means, literally, Temple of the Golden Pavilion). It's one of the most popular buildings in Japan, designated as a National Special Historic Site. The top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf; gold was an important addition to the pavilion because of its underlying meaning, used to mitigate and purify any pollution or negative thoughts and feelings towards death.

Even though there were "millions" of tourists taking these photos, Gary motioned a few us over to a spot he knew where no one would be standing, so I could get my shots without crowds and heads in the foreground. The temple dates to 1397, but the current structure was rebuilt in 1955. In 1950, the pavilion was burned down by a 22-year-old novice monk, who then attempted suicide due to his shame (he was sentenced to 7 yrs in prison for arson).

The gold on Janet's vest matches the pavilion! I don't know how I got this photo without a trace of the other gazillion tourists crammed into the pathway as we walked through the grounds.

One final picture to show the pretty lake and setting surrounding the pavilion. Of course, Japanese are famous for their artistic approach to everything, but especially their gardens.

We next went into the old central section of Kyoto called Gion. We had a bit of a walk from the bus drop-off to our lunch restaurant, and along the way, Gary told us how this area is known as Kyoto's most famous geisha district. He said we would likely see geishas everywhere (actually called geiko here in Gion), but that we should not take their photos because they were "professionals" flitting about the streets on their way to their appointments, usually as singers, dancers or general entertainers in the teahouses.

However, oftentimes they are high-priced hookers, and it was a humorous struggle for Gary to talk about this topic. If these particular geiko are posing for photos, it's part of the fee they get paid for their "services", which can command, as I recall, about $2000 per client. Interestingly, we did come across one of these women all dressed up and posing, and she was actually okay with some of our group taking her photo, although I did not.

The restaurant was called The Aglio Garden, and we had this room to ourselves. You sit on the floor, but the tables are above a recession so that your legs get to drop down normally. Each table was for four, and our mates were Mike and Jeanette. At each table were bowls of kobe beef strips, raw eggs, and greens. In the center was a bowl of seasoned water over a boiler plate where you cooked everything. And we all used only chop sticks at first, but later Janet and Jeanette got forks.

This photo is from near the end, when we were cooking and eating the cooked greens. The first thing we did was cook the beef strips a few at a time. You were supposed to dip the cooked beef into your bowl of raw egg before you ate them, but I think I was the only one of us who did this. It sorta grossed the others out to have raw egg on each bite. We later cracked their eggs into the boiling pot and cooked them before eating them. We then dumped all of our bowls of greens in there at once, and served ourselves.

We later looked around the room and saw that we were WAY ahead of everyone else, because Jeanette and Mike had taken charge and cooked all four of our servings at once rather than each person trying to cook his own stuff individually. Ours was Family Style! Anyway, we all enjoyed the experience and the food.

We then took off on foot to explore old Gion, the city’s most famous entertainment district and the center of its traditional arts. This area was first built during the so-called Sengoku period, during the 1500s and early 1600s, a time of social upheaval and near-constant military conflict. The Japanese feudal system had collapsed under the shogunate of that time, but it was re-established under the Tokugawa shogunate (remember him?) that began in 1603.

One of the sights along our walk in Gion, that I thought looked pretty cool.

What? An Irish Pub (purple, not green?) in old Gion?

Eating their lunches during their rickshaw ride. Pretty funny. I wonder where they'll throw their trash? No trash cans, of course.

Quiet during the day, but this area is a major entertainment area at night. Gary said this was the less-busy side of Gion, but that we would soon reach the busy area.

Loved this fence and the attractive gardens. They recently renovated this street and general area, moving all the overhead wiring underground as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the original beauty of Gion.

Our walkway was next to this Shirakawa Canal, and luckily there were some gaps in the trees to be able to capture this picturesque scene including the backs of all these teahouses (ochaya). Gion is famous for its old wooden houses.

Haha. Some of the old dwellings are turned into modern franchises.

Another view of the Shirakawa Canal and the teahouses.

Our walk eventually reached the Kamo River, which means duck river. These walking/biking pathways extend most of the way through the city.

This is one of the city's best known and most popular landmarks, the Yasaka Shrine (begun in 656 AD). After we were at the Kamo River, we walked back west again down the busiest main street of Gion, Shijo Street. I don't have any photos along Shijo St, but at its end was this glorious two-story vermilion entrance gate to the shrine. The grounds were extensive, including 12 sub-shrines.

This food stand was inside the shrine. I still had a hard time thinking that everyday commercialism would be inside a shrine. It's a SHRINE, for goodness sake!

This was Yasaka Shrine's famous Buden Hall, with these paper lanterns that make quite a display when lit for ceremonies such as weddings.

I stole this photo from the Internet to show its glory with all the lit lanterns.

Then we moved along to the Main Hall, which is where we did the prayer ritual. Gary reminded us of the steps, and many of us gave it a try. Mike is looking up at the bells that are connected to the thick ropes that hang down.

Here is the ritual: 1) Toss a small coin, usually a five Yen, over the fence in front of you, 2) swing the rope back and forth to ring the bell above, 3) bow twice (Janet is bowing in the photo), 4) clap twice, 5) state your name and address (?? Do you include your zip code?), 6) say your prayer, and 7) bow once.

Janet is at step 6, saying her prayer. We did this whole thing at two or three more shrines during our tour. I watched Gary do it, and he was slower and more deliberate in all his bows and claps than we were. Some visitors did not quite wait their turns, as Jeanette is patiently, and Peggy had some fierce words for them! Gary quietly said something like, "Let's not do that." LOL

Yet another glorious structure at Yasaka Shrine, as we departed back to our bus.

We next drove a ways to the outer Kyoto hills to visit the Kiyomizu Shrine/Temple, and joined the massive crowds of tourists. This was the narrow city walk leading up to it.

The crowds are still massive as were reaching the shrine/temple on the hill. There's Jack's head in the foreground. This was as far as Janet's sore ankle would allow her to go, since beyond this spot, there were numerous stairs to get to the top. So, she headed back, to leisurely see the many shops and then rest on the bus.

Kiyomizu was formerly a shrine of a Buddhism sect, but it became an independent Buddhist temple in 1965. Thus, it is called both a shrine and a temple, but it officially should now be called a temple. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple was founded in 778 and its present buildings were constructed in 1633, ordered by Tokugawa. There is not a single nail used in the entire structure. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills; Kiyomizu mean "clear water."

Another view, looking back toward the city. These buildings only recently were covered in scaffolding, to be restored preparation for the 2020 Olympics.The largest and most impressive building, behind us farther up the hill, was still in the scaffolding, so we didn't get to see it.

The autumn colors made this view impressive.

There's Kyoto, sprawled out below.

As at all our tourist spots, many Japanese visitors were out in force wearing their traditional costumes. Gary said they rent them, and make sure they get lots of photos of themselves!

OMG, it was so jam-packed on our way back down the hill to the bus parking lot.

I took a side street down a hill just to sight see, since I had time, and came across these young ladies taking selfies in their geisha gowns. It was indeed a pretty spot for photos.

I don't have any more photos until this dinner at the conveyor-belt sushi place. I had seen an inexpensive sushi restaurant near our hotel on a map, so it looked like a possibility. The Lipovetsky family had said they might go there the previous night, so I asked, and they had, and they said it was great.

When we arrived, we gave our name and had a long wait, maybe 45 minutes. There was a display board where they showed whose numbers were coming up, so we could see when we were getting close.

Once seated, we were next to a conveyor belt, with a computer pad hanging there. Little plates of sushi or other items were traveling by us. Our waiter explained that we use the computer pad to scroll through the menu and order our items. They would, in a little while, come down the belt and we had to grab them as they went by. Our plates would be carried on a red bowl, plus the computer pad would announce when it was getting close. What a fun experience this was, and cheap! I think it was $1 U.S. for each two-piece sushi plate.

As the dinner went on, we kept going back to the pad to order more stuff. Janet liked her pumpkin tempura, I loved my nigiri sushis.When we were done, the waitress stacked up all the red plates (100 yen each) and all the yellow plates (150 yen each), measured their heights with a tape measure (as opposed to just counting them), and then calculated our bill based on how many plates of each color we had eaten. We loved this special dinner.

The Japanese Hot Bath! We are in our robes, from our hotel room, ready to go down to the lobby and the baths. There was a routine for these too: 1) Put your robe and any belongings into a locker and keep the key, 2) go into the bath naked, with a towel, 3) go to one of many sinks and sit on the stool, 4) use the flexible-hose shower, and shampoos and soaps, to shampoo, wash, and rinse, 5) walk into the huge open shallow tub, sit down, and soak.

We both loved our baths! We then hit the hay after a long, interesting day.

China and Japan

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Three flights to get home

Another Tokyo tour, including Sky Tower and Tokyo Bay cruise

Touring Tokyo sites

Spectacular Mt Fuji

Bamboo Forest, a shrine, and east to "the middle of nowhere"

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Kyoto ancient culture, with tea ceremony