Day 10 - Kyoto

 My last full day in Kyoto was another amazing day of visiting beautiful temples and shrines. At the end of this post are a couple of typical tourist photos. I would like to mention some of the small details that I saw in just one day. Sometimes the little things bring a place to life. On the way from my hotel to my brother-in-law's home, there is a small corner business. He explained that tofu is made there. It is also the home of the proprietor. The residential streets are extremely narrow by American standards and can have electric poles and other posts in the way so you have to pay attention.

Buildings, especially Shinto shrines, will have decorations with  chrysanthemums, the symbol of the Emperor. There are so many different styles that I will need to do some research to see if that is an indication of the time period. This is a metal covering on the end of a beam.



On temple grounds there are usually many small statues. The devout will dress them as protection against the elements. Even in summer, you can see the scarf this bronze cow wore last winter. The particular temple seemed dedicated to cows given the statuary.

Worshipers will chant, bow, clap their hands twice and ring a bell as part of their prayers. The truly devout are the older generation while students and younger people will go to pray out of tradition or before a big exam - why take any chances?




This monk is removing the colored papers that were part of a festival in August. It is laborious work and he approached it with a rhythm and purpose.




The beautiful gardens do not happen by chance. They take many years of careful planning and execution. The work is done by hand, each blade of grass carefully sculpted. Branches are gently coaxed, never forced, into position with natural material used so unless you look, you may miss the scaffolding that creates the layered trees.

Most of the places that I visited had many tourists. It was fascinating to see how people visiting for reasons other than a selfie would act. Most of the time it did not seem right to photograph someone praying. At the Rock Garden of the Ryoanji Goryonoshitacho, I noticed a westerner who was mediating around the corner from all the tourists. She kept the same position for over half a hour.


Lunch was at what I can only describe as Japanese fast food. This sushi restaurant has a conveyor that brings various plates past your table. When you see something that you like, just lift the cover and take the plate. The touch screen allows you to place a special order which is delivered to your table via the upper track. There is a slot to place your used plates and after every five plates a video is played which could result in winning a small prize.


Many of the buildings have thatched roofs. Because some of the smaller buildings were a single story, I could see how the roof was constructed. While this is not exclusive to the Japanese, it was very different from anything I have seen up close.The first layer is vertical slats over which the actual thatch is placed. It amazes me that there is not an issue with leaking but since the method has been used for centuries, it must work.

At home you would never get three meters away from a crane. In Japan they are used to having many people around and not being disturbed. This fellow was looking to reduce the koi population in the moat around the Byodoin temple. Also on the temple grounds was a large bell that is rung by pulling a long timber back and letting it swing to strike the bell. This makes the ringing a slow affair since every time the timber must be pulled back and released.

 Every though it was outside a store, this face is used to bring good fortune to an endeavor. The first eye is painted or drawn at the start and the second eye is only put on once you have been successful. I am thinking this might be a good tool to bring back to work.





Okay, it is time for the obligatory tourist photos.  This is Kinkaku-ji temple. It is a beautiful place and often seen in photographs after the first snowfall. When you visit, there is a circuit to follow that takes you one way through the grounds. It works well and keeps things going once you realize how many buses are parked outside.

The Byodoin temple appears on the ten yen coin. It is a on the outskirts of Kyoto so there are not many tourist there. We went by car, happily enjoying the air conditioning after a day on bicycles. At several of the sites you would see visitors in traditional clothing.

Day 9 - Kyoto

Sunday started slowly with brunch at the Manga Museum cafe. It was already getting hot and humid.  My niece grabbed an umbrella to have some shade and took me for a walk through the Toyosaka-no-Niwa Garden on the grounds of the Imperial Palace. There was a small temple which had several hanging sets of 1,000 cranes. Our imaginations considered the possible things the person who made the cranes was praying for.

 

After that, my brother-in-law took me by bicycle to a bamboo forest on the west side of Kyoto. Pictures do not do justice to the size of the bamboo trees. It is amazing how tall and straight they grow with no leaves except for the very top.

The area is popular with tourists including men and women in traditional attire. A boat tour of the Katsura River or through the streets by rickshaw are things to do when you have more time.


The wooden bridge crossing the river is quite old and has weathered floods caused when a tsunami quickly raises the water levels.

 We went back to closer to his home to visit several local temples after dinner.  The sunset is just after 6pm which brings a relief with cooler temperatures and lower humidity.

Day 8 - Kyoto

 After a last visit to the hotel garden, it was time to take the train from Tokyo Station to Kyoto. I had never been on a bullet train before and was impressed that you could not feel the acceleration or deceleration. I missed the first train from my platform as I came up the escalator ten cars away from where I needed to be.

The next two trains left from different platforms so I waited less than 15 minutes for the next one from mine. This meant I was able to get on first and pick my seat. I knew from research that I wanted to be on the right in order to see Mt Fuji. I was very happy about that tip as it was a beautiful morning.

Once in Kyoto, I had a bicycle tour with my brother-in-law. We went to the Manga Museum. Since the books are in Japanese, I was "limited" to appreciated things such as the cafe where famous Manga artists have decorated the walls.



What impressed me was how narrow the streets were, with small businesses operating among the
homes.                                           



In the evening we went to a show that demonstrated different aspects of Japanese culture (tea ceremony, traditional music, dance, comedy, puppets). I quickly volunteered for the tea ceremony which I had always wanted to try.


Afterwards, we had dinner on a Russian restaurant on the rooftop of a building. The night breeze was wonderful after a hot and humid day.

Day 7 - Follow-up

With the presentation behind us, there is still lots of work to do. I went to our Tokyo office to meet with the local team. I was fortunate enough to get a personal tour of our Customer Experience space. It had everything from a robot greeter to AI that analyzed your gait to real-time facial recognition that followed you to determine your age, gender, and mood. The office is near a river in the northeast of Tokyo.

Once we were done, I went back to the hotel to change, leave my computer and head to a different neighborhood near the government center. From there, I got a different view of Tokyo on what was the most clear day of the week. 

I had to hurry to catch the last show at the Samurai Museum. It was challenging since there is so much to see just walking down the street.

When they asked for audience volunteers, my hand went up (even without my family there to embarrass).  I got to defeat two Samurai, surprising them during the instructions when they told me to yell as I attacked. I guess most tourists are too quiet but they never had someone from the Bronx participate. For a small place, I learned a lot and was there almost two hours.

My phone battery had just enough power to get me back to the metro so I circled the area to get a feeling for nightlife in that part of the city. In one word - crowded. It is amazing to watch the sea of people crossing in every direction, including diagonally, when the light turns green. 

I went back to the metro stop near the hotel and followed the same search pattern so I would not get lost (I was not confident that I could recognize the street names because the fonts on the signs were not similar to those on my map). I noticed some game rooms, learning that for some reason, they do not like pictures being taken.

In a narrow street, I found a ramen place and was able to order something for dinner. With a full stomach, I went back to the hotel to repack my things.