Kyoto I

Kyoto is a city with so many temples that at this time of year the whole city smells like a mix of wood fires and incense. It feels like a truly timeless city. I'm amazed by how everything in Japan seems to escape the plastic stamp of tourism-- the only junkie souvenirs are trinkets to protect wearers against traffic incidents and bad grades, and all barriers between people and the exhibits they look at are natural and blend in with the surroundings. This is particularly true in Kyoto, where most sites are shrines that are still actively in use. The streets are full of young women in Kyoto, and they aren't there for tourists to photograph. Some are contemporary geisha, others are maiko (geisha in training), but most are Japanese college students putting on their kimonos for a trip to the old capital.

I regretfully slept through most of the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto, but Rachel woke me up at one point to point out Mount Fuji. We were very close to the base (although apparently there's a special magnifying effect at the time of year that makes it appear closer than it is), and it loomed crisp and snow-covered above the surrounding villages. I'm still not used to the sight of volcanic mountains as opposed to the ones formed by plates colliding-- it's strange to see a mountain standing all by itself, scraping the clouds, without being surrounded by other mountains.

After putting our bags in a locker in the train station, Rachel and I walked through the Gion district of old Kyoto. Gion developed in order to meet the needs of visitors to the Yasaka shrine, which was built in the the century, and historically has been the entertainment district.

It consisted of a series of winding, narrow, hilly streets full of visitors and merchants. Although some merchants sold novelty t-shirts with Japanese characters, others sold fans, kimono, kitchen sets, and I could imagine similar storefronts back in medieval times when Gion first developed. Several vendors sold sweet bean paste sweets wrapped in green tea-flavored mochi dough. Sweet bean paste is better than chocolate, and I've missed it since being home. In my excitement, I mistook a carefully sliced wax copy for a sample. Luckily I didn't damage it too much when I bit into it. Still an embarrassment to myself.

We then rode a series of old-fashioned trains outside of the city to see the Golden Temple. I apologize for the constant comparisions, but from time to time, I'm surprised by how much parts of Japan look like Arusha. I think it's just the low-lying buildings, a contrast in up-keep but probably built during the same post-war period set against the mountains and the occasional smell of wood smoke. If I knew more about plants, I might say the plants were similar too. Of course, there are major differences. I felt much less safe in Arusha than in Dar es Salaam, whereas Rachel and I didn't hesitate to walk two miles to the Golden Temple at dusk.

My Japanese friends have told me that the best time to view the Golden Temple is at dawn, but given the fact Japan is in sort of an artificial time zone, I expect that would mean waking up painfully early and probably before the trains were even running. We arrived at the Golden Temple just as the sun was setting over it, and the rays lit up the gold, brightening the temple's reflection in the surrounding pond. The pavilion was built as as a shogun villa in the 13th century and was later converted into a temple. In general, I think gold structures are usually a bad idea (see: gold palm trees in Dubai airport), but given the pavilion's well-forested setting, its gold leaf exterior was striking and entirely avoided Dubai-airportitis.

After that, we headed to a ryokan outside of the city for the night. We ordered sake to go with our dinner and the host asked Rachel if we'd prefer one "go" or two "gos." Rachel assumed a "go" was a drink and ordered two. We should have known this was a problem when the host looked shocked. For future reference: a "go" is one of the metal tea kettle containers sake comes in and one "go" is just fine for two or three people, post honors exam celebrations aside.

Kyoto adventures will continue tomorrow, along with other stuff. Have a very happy New Year!