Kyoto & Nara
Trip Start
Jul 26, 2008
1
5
12
Trip End
Aug 03, 2008
Kyoto,
Japan
Saturday, August 9, 2008
On the first day, I got up early in the morning and headed for Kyoto. When I got there, it was almost 12 at noon. I had eaten lunch on the train, and so I was able to leave for my first destination, Fushimi Inari Shrine, as soon as I got to Kyoto. My pass was valid only for Kintetsu lines and so I walked in the heat of summer for 30 minutes from Kintetsu Takeda station to the shrine.
There were a number of attractions in Kyoto, but I chose Fushimi Inari Shrine for the first destination
Fushimi Inari Shrine
. Why? A few weeks ago, I had visited Toyokawa Inari Shrine, Aichi. It was one of the nation's best and I liked it, but at that time, I heard that Fushimi Inari Shrine was the best of Japan. In addition, they didn't take any entrance fee, although a lot of Kyoto shrines took 500 or 600 yen for an entrance fee. By the way, the picture of Fushimi Inari Shrine is shown on the cover of Lonely Planet Kyoto, which may mean it is one of the most picturesque places of Kyoto. Actually, it was absolutely impressive with red Torii gates, but a little bit different from what I had expected. The main shrine was located at the foot of Mt. Fushimi, but a thousand of Torii gates were arranged continuously to the top of the mountain and made kind of hiking trails. I felt it was ridiculous to go up the trail, because I just intended to visit the shrine, not to take a hike. I realized something strange there: a lot of Europeans were taking the trail, while less Japanese were not. Probably Europeans were expecting something special at the end of the trail. I didn't know what was it, though. At least, I was not interested in the overview of Kyoto city.Then I took a JR train from Inari station to Hanazono, which was close to Ninnaji Temple and Ryoanji Temple. Both of them were designated as UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, but the main destination was latter one. First one was famous for Essays in Idleness by Kenko Yoshida, but that's it
Stone Garden, Ryoanji
. I had heard it had a beautiful garden in the precinct and it was worth a visit, but unfortunately I skipped it and regretted it later. I just stopped by the temple for a while on my way to Ryoanji temple, which had a more interesting Zen garden, or dry garden. It was a must-see in Kyoto, but I had never seen it, although I had visited Kyoto twice before. Just beyond the entrance, there was a beautiful pond on the left side, which led me to the ancient Japanese world. The entrace ticket was 500 yen, but the garden was still worth a visit. The garden was strictly off-limits, because it was not for a stroll, but for a view. There were a crowd of people sitting on the veranda facing the garden, but if possible, I could have stayed there alone for a long time. On the opposite side of the garden, there was a hand-wash basin presented by Mitsukuni Mito, which had four character Zen proverb "I only know richness" meaning that if you are sagacius, you must be rich at heart.It was half past four in the afternoon, when I finished sightseeing for the day. In fact, I had not reserved a guesthouse yet, because I could return home to save money. However once I had gone back home, I wouldn't have wanted to get up early again to come back to Nara. So I made a call for a reservation at Tomato guesthouse, which had one of the cheapest rate of Kyoto. Luckily they had only one dormitory bed available and I decided to stay there on the spot
Hand-Wash Basin in Ryoanji
. The rate was 2200 yen nightly per person. After I checked in there, I made a plan for the next day, checking what to see in Nara with my guidebook and brochures picked up at the tourist information of Kyoto station. It was half past seven in the evening, I found an interesting brochure about Tokae Lantern Festival in Nara. The festival was held between seven to ten in the evening during early August. I was still in the middle of Kyoto, but I knew it was possible to reach Nara in one hour. So I got up and headed for the festival venue of Nara. At that time, however, I didn't know I couldn't come back on the day.It was the first time in 20 years to visit Nara. Compared with Tokyo, Kyoto, or Hiroshima, Nara is less popular among foreigners, but the oldest capital has a lot of historic attractions. That's why Nara has been chosen as a destination of school expeditions, in particular Nara Park including Todaiji Temple, Yakushiji Temple, Kasuga Grand Shrine, Sarusawa Pond, and Mt. Wakakusa. Fortunately I didn't have any memories of the first time visit and it made the area more enjoyable. There were some venues in Nara Park for Tokae Lantern Festival, but Saursawa Pond venue was close to the train station. So, first off, I stroll around the pond, where a lot of young couples were rowing boats and viewing the beautiful landscape with the lanterns. I didn't have enough time to appreciate the view for a long time and so I left there for Kofukuji Temple, which had a lit up pagoda, but the lantern festival had already finished in the venue. So I rushed to the Shosoin venue to see the most attractive lanterns. This year, it had not only original lanterns scattered around the spacious area in front of the Shosoin Imperial Repository, but also an image of phoenix of variously colored lanterns. The festival was the 10th anniversay and the image was special for this year
Phoenix in Tokae Lanterns
. It was the extraordinary beauty and never ever miss it if you have a chance to join the festival. Todaiji Temple was a 5 minute walk from there, where I got a night view of Nandaimon Gate and Daibutsuden Great Buddha Hall. It was unusual to visit there at night, but the lit up views were splendid there. At 10 o'clock, all the illuminations to light up the buildings were put out, which meant the end of the festival for the day.On my way back to the station, I found a dear eating the brochure thrown away by a visiter. It was disappointing to see things like that. As a matter of course, it was not the deer's fault, but the visiter's fault. After a while, a guard came up and hit to help the deer throw it up. I reached the train station at 20 past ten. I thought I had enough time to go back to Kyoto, but I was so tired that I didn't realize that I took a wrong train...
