Bridge to the Nara neighborhood shrine

We had a bit of time in the morning, and Non had one more treat in store for me.  She took me on a walk in her neighborhood to visit her “local shrine”.  I was expecting something small and modest, but the shrine was absolutely beautiful.  Best of all, we had it all to ourselves.  Frequently when looking at these beautiful places in Kyoto, I was sighing to myself about how the crowds took away from the experience, and thinking how wonderful it would be to visit in peace and stillness.  Today I got my wish.  The only other person around was a monk, chanting and beating a drum from within the shrine.  Non explained the significance of the various statues and writings around the shrine, and showed me a round marble ball engraved with good wishes for various aspects of life (including one for successful travel).  (I thought it would be easy to look up the name of this shrine, but I have been foiled — so I’ll need to ask Non and update this later.)

Soon it was time to say goodbye.  We met the other members of the Nara club at the station.  As always, they demonstrated their kindness and generosity by sending us off with individually packed lunch bags for the train.  We very much hope that they’ll take us up on our offer to visit us in New Hampshire soon.

We had to take one train from Nara back to Kyoto, then get on the bullet train (Shinkansen) bound for Tokyo.  We had a bit of a snag because we’d lined up in the wrong place for our assigned seats, and had to race to get everyone on the train in time.  (Japan trains are extremely reliable — even one minute late is considered unacceptable — so there is no wiggle room if you’re too slow to get on.)  We were still on the wrong car, so we had to traipse through several cars full of curious school children, hauling our luggage behind us and probably bumping into people left and right.  Despite some trepidation we managed to navigate Kyoto Station successfully, figure out where to line up, and get onto the right train car.  (In Japan, people line up in neat queues when waiting for a bus or train.)

Robot assistant at Kyoto Station

The bullet train was a fun experience — clean, fast, and comfortable (like all the trains here).  Our Nara hosts had told us what time to look out the window, and we were very excited to catch a glimpse of the top of Mt. Fuji, emerging dramatically above the clouds, seemingly impossibly high up.  It was also very interesting watching the conductors.  First off, there were multiple train staff walking through the carriage throughout the journey, ensuring that everything was clean and in order.  We were sitting at the front of the carriage and saw that they would stop and bow before entering each time.  They also performed a set sequence of movements — with a sort of military precision — where they would point to each item on their checklist (bathroom, trash bin, etc). as they went through their checks.  We’ve noticed that people seem to really take pride in their work here, even jobs that we would consider fairly menial.

Peak of Mt. Fuji above the clouds!

In under three hours, we had arrived at our destination west of Tokyo.  Our hosts are the “West Tokyo” group, and we found that this is not centered in a specific town, but rather a collection of people who live in the western suburbs of Tokyo.  We got off the train to find an enthusiastic welcome committee smiling and waving.  From there we dispersed with our hosts to various train lines leading to the different cities and towns in the area.  I’m very glad we didn’t have to figure out the train system on our own — it was extremely efficient and brought you anywhere you wanted to go, but also seemed fearsomely complicated.

Margaret and I are staying together, with a host named Yoshie.  She is a very interesting woman who has traveled all over the world and lived in Qatar for a time when her husband was a diplomat there.  We took the train to nearby Yokohama, where Yoshie lives.  Yokohama is a major city in its own right — the third-largest in Japan.  Yoshie was a wonderful host.  Despite being in a more urban area where space is at a premium, we each had our own comfortable room.  Yoshie took us for a walk around her neighborhood and to a cool, tree-lined park, which was just the right antidote to a day of travel.

A little later on Yoshie’s daughter came over to help prepare dinner for us.  She made okonomiyaki — Japanese pancakes with cabbage, egg, yam, and seafood (which Yoshie calls “Japanese soul food”) — similar to what we’d had in Nara.  It was delicious, just as before. Yoshie’s daughter was also very kind and welcoming (and as seems to be the norm, looked far younger than her age of 38).  Later on Yoshie’s granddaughter, age 12, joined us as well, after completing her school day.  She goes to a private school, and has class 6 days a week — plus long days and homework.

We loved the hustle and bustle of our time in Nara, but it was also nice to have a more laid-back day today as well.  We’re resting up for more exploration tomorrow.

Joan and Annie under attack

The Nara group has planned our trip so well, starting from the more simple activities and working up from there.  Today was our last day in Nara, and we went to Nara’s headline attraction — Nara Park.  Nara Park is huge — about 1.5 times as large as Central Park — and has much to see.  We barely scratched the surface in our day here, so it’s on the list to return to someday.

The park is perhaps most famous for its many, many deer.  There is also a shrine in the park, and based on an ancient legend, the deer are seen as divine messengers.  They have been protected in this park for over 1300 years, and have become very tame.  Yoshi, the club member who was our guide in the park, told us that the deer have been studied, and have different DNA than regular wild deer.  Tourists come to the park to feed the deer special deer crackers, but one of our hosts kindly took the time to gather each of us a large bag of acorns to use as deer food.  Amazingly, the deer have learned to bow to you when asking for food.  It’s very cute — until you come upon one of the few aggressive deer who doesn’t want to take no for an answer.  Then you have to make a quick retreat before your acorn bag is snatched from your hand.

The park is also home to multiple World Heritage sites, including the amazing Todaiji Temple.  As you approach the temple, there is a central stone path, flanked by a

Todaiji Temple with striped stone path

strip of different stone on either size, with another strip beyond that, then the stone of the main plaza.  Yoshi told us that the stone was designed to represent the spread of Buddhism.  The central path is stone from India; the next layer is from China; the one beyond that Korea; and the main plaza stone is from Japan.

The main building is huge, with soaring ceilings, to accommodate multiple enormous statues, including a huge golden Buddha. Until recently it was the largest wooden building in the world — but prior to its destruction by fire a few hundred years ago, it was 1.5 times larger!  Yoshi led us through and explained the significance of all the different elements.  At the base of one of the pillars is a hole that is the same size as the giant Buddha’s nostril.  You can squeeze through it for good luck.  None of us attempted this feat, but we saw many schoolchildren doing it.

Like many of the temples and shrines we’ve visited, the pathways of the park are lined with old stone lanterns, statues, and attractive vegetation.  It was funny to see the omnipresent deer wandering freely amongst the lanterns and Torii gates.  We were lucky enough to see one wobbly newborn deer, possibly born that day.  The deer here are fairly small already, so this baby was very tiny.

For lunch we were provided with another classic Japanese experience — the bento box. In the kind of

attention to detail that is common here, the chopsticks were wrapped in a piece of beautiful folded origami paper.  (We’re all getting quite good at using chopsticks!  No forks here.) It was quite a feast and most of us couldn’t finish them.

After the park we did a little shopping then refreshed ourselves with lemonade and iced lattes at a nearby cafe.  (It was a pretty hot day.  Even though the thermometer only registers in the seventies, we’ve found the “real feel” to be much hotter here.)  When we got home, Non said we had 30 minutes until leaving for dinner.  I was thinking about a bit of a rest and cleaning up from the day, but not five minutes later she was calling me to head out.  Toko and her husband had arrived in a bright pink car to ferry us to the farewell dinner.

At the house where the dinner was being held, preparations were in full swing by those members who hadn’t gone to the park.  They had set up stations so we could try rolling our own sushi, and also making some kind of fried balls involving octopus.  (At least, they were supposed to involve octopus.  Apparently the store was out of octopus, so some other kind of fish was substituted instead.  There was much eating and drinking, a few tears, and gratitude and invitations for the Japanese to visit New Hampshire.  We would love to be able to show them a fraction of the hospitality they’ve shown us.

Today began with a hike and picnic in a nearby park.  We walked along a path around a pond, and up quite a lot of stairs to get to a viewpoint across Nara.  Many of the Japan club members hiked with us, including their oldest member — who we think we heard was 85.  It was amazing seeing her climb all those steps.

For lunch the Nara club had packed us our own separate little lunch bags, complete with ice packs.  (This was emblematic of the care they provided for us every moment of this trip.)  We each had yogurt, a banana, cheese, and crackers — and then they handed out hamburgers from Japan McDonald’s!  Some people got teriyaki burgers, and some had fish.  They also brought each picnic table a plate of more traditional Japanese food (totally unidentifiable to those of us at our table, but we gamely each tried a bit of each item).

After lunch we traveled to a Japanese cultural center.  It was a traditional Japanese building with tatami mats on the floor and Japanese paper walls.  As we moved down the hallway, we were enthusiastically welcomed by other club members who hadn’t been on the hike.  They were dressed in beautiful kimono, and whisked us into a dressing room to be prepared for a Japanese tea ceremony.

The members had brought their own kimono to share with us, which made the event even more special.  Non’s friend Toko brought me a kimono to wear that had been hers when she was 20 years old — over 50 years ago!  It was still in perfect condition.  Toko used to work in a kimono shop, so I had a real professional taking care of me.  I have no idea how women manage to put on a kimono by themselves — both Toko and Non were working hard, one in front and one in back, to get me strapped in.  There were innumerable belts and ties to hold the kimono (and your ribcage) tightly in place, and many many different layers of fabrics.  We felt a bit like the women in the old movies who had to hold on to the bedpost while their maids laced them into corsets.  My kimono fit me reasonably well, but I couldn’t take a very deep breath and had to take very small steps.

I’m not sure what kind of shoes were traditionally worn with kimono, but nowadays it seems to be flip flops.  We were given special flip-flop socks with a division between the big toe and the other toes.  Unfortunately, the Japanese flip flops are not designed for our big American feet, and most of us were hanging off the back by multiple inches.  (We only wore the flip flops when walking in the hallway or on the pathway to the outdoor garden — we had to take them off when entering any of the rooms.)

The building featured a beautiful Zen garden with lovely landscaping and the ground covered with stone raked into a spiral pattern.  The traditional tea ceremony room looked out onto the garden.  One of the members led a traditional tea ceremony, with others helping to serve.  We had the customary sweet Ichigo Daifuku, which is mochi (a rice dough) stuffed with sweet bean paste and a whole strawberry inside.  This was meant to counteract the bitterness of the bright green matcha tea that was served next.  We all really enjoyed the whole experience and were so grateful to the Nara club members who worked so hard to make it happen.  (We were also grateful to get out of our kimono and back into our own comfortable clothing after a few more pictures!  It was amazing to watch the Japanese ladies pack up the kimonos so efficiently and yet with such precision — it was almost like they were doing origami.)

For dinner, I went out with Non and Toku to a yakiniku restaurant walking distance from their houses.  At this restaurant, there is a small charcoal grill at your table when you arrive (with coals in just the right state; you have to reserve ahead).  You order various kinds of meat, fish, and vegetables, and grill them yourself right at your table.  Non and Toko ordered us a nice variety of things to try and everything was delicious.  We’ve also been sampling sake at each of our dinners — this time we had sweet sake, served warm, at the end of the meai.  As a special treat, on the way home we stopped for tea and to check out the house that Toko rents out on airbnb — highly recommend if you are coming to Nara!

My day began bright and early with a delicious and substantial breakfast, excellently prepared and meticulously presented.  It was a lot more food than I usually eat in the morning, but my inner clock is 13 hours off, so I was actually somewhat hungry.  Soon, Kazumi and Margaret picked us up for the day’s activities.

We headed to the community center, where the non-hosts in the group had been hard at work preparing stations for us to learn traditional Japanese crafts.  The Friendship Force group is so talented — they had at least a couple of people who were expert in each activity, and many more who were capable — so they didn’t need to bring in any outside instructors.

Carolyn and Judy try necklace-making

Annie and Joan

My first stop was calligraphy.  An older woman in the club had made us all lovely depictions of our names, with the translation written on them.  We were told to choose a word to learn from the samples provided.  A man there suggested that I choose “love”, but once I did he laughed and said, “very hard!  very hard!” so this was probably a mistake.  The instructor would grab our hand firmly and walk us through how to make the characters, but once through wasn’t enough to cement the sequence in my brain.  Luckily a lovely and patient woman who I’d met the previous night was willing to sit by my side and walk through it step by step with me, so I could copy each of her movements.  This still wasn’t enough — the expert at one point looked at my attempts, laughed loudly, then grabbed my hand for another practice round — but eventually, I think due to time constraints, they declared me ready to move on to making the final piece.  This also involved copying my name, which necessitated another long round of painstaking

Carolyn and Judy making necklaces with help from Non

practice with my new friend.  In the end everyone was complimenting my work, but they are very polite here.

I was finally ready to move on to the next round, which was making a necklace out of some beads and a fabric tube sewn out of an old necktie.  (They are very skilled at reusing things here.  You can buy many products made from repurposed kimono, and the tie-necklaces were similar.  The women had used old ties previously worn by their now-retired husbands.)  This one was more appropriate to my skill level, as it just involved stringing beads inside and outside the fabric strip to make an alternating pattern.  It was very clever and the necklaces came out much nicer than you’d expect.

Here I am wearing my newly-constructed necklace

Finally, I moved to the origami table.  Luckily my friend joined me again, and walked me through the process of making a crane.  Next up we tried out a peacock, although even she needed a little help with that one.  Some others made deer in honor of Nara’s famous deer park (which we’ll visit later in the week).  We’ve noticed that origami is incorporated into a lot of things here, like a wrapper that comes around chopsticks.

A light lunch

All this time, the non-crafters in the group had been getting ready for lunch.  It was a potluck and each member had brought some kind of Japanese delicacy.  The buffet table was loaded down with all manner of foods.  We wanted to try a little of everything, so it was another large meal.  I liked almost everything, except for a couple of jello-like substances that seemed to be fish- or vegetable-related.

After lunch our hosts formally welcomed us.  After some speeches most of the group got up to sing for us.  They were conducted by one of their oldest members, and accompanied by a woman who played the piano beautifully.  (We later found out that she’s performed in Carnegie Hall!)  They sang some Japanese songs, as well as some sing-a-longs like Edelweiss and It’s a Small World.  They brought down the house with a sing-and-dance-along tune called “Oh, Champs-Elysee”, which I remember learning in high school French class.

Next up they had a game planned that definitely destroyed the stereotype that Japanese people are always very formal.  Four men got up — two sat in chairs and the other two got under large kimono coats with their hands sticking out.  They had to sit behind the other and be their “arms” — trying to feed them a piece of cake while not being able to see.  Then it was our turn.  First the couples went up (with the women immediately volunteering to be under the kimono rather than eating the cake), but then we’d run out of men.  Margaret and I, and Joan and Annie from Florida, were brought up next.  Margaret kindly agreed to eat the cake, even though both of us were very full by this point.  It was difficult work under the kimono but we managed to get the job done with minimal mess.  The activity was such a good ice-breaker and had everyone laughing together immediately (though none of the Japanese women volunteered!)

Later, my host Non and I walked to her friend Toko’s house for dinner.  Toko and her husband were wonderful hosts.  The main portion of the meal was okonomiyaki, a specialty of the area that is cooked on a griddle right on the table.  There is a batter containing eggs, flour, cabbage, and probably other things that is put on the griddle like a pancake.  Then Toko’s husband topped the pancakes with pork, shrimp, and scallops.  When ready they were flipped and cooked on the other side.  To eat, we topped them with mayonnaise, a special okonomiyaki sauce, bonito flakes, and nori flakes.  Then there was a second round of pancakes with leeks and potato.  (They made one with fermented soybeans also.  They gave me a bit to try but told me I probably wouldn’t like it and that I didn’t have to eat it.  I guess it is an acquired taste.)  Everything was delicious, but I felt like I’d have to roll home (especially after we then had dessert).

This was another product we found in our hotel closet. Margaret and I decided to try it out since we were afraid we might have the “anxious smell”.

Saturday morning it was time to end our stay in Kyoto and move on to our first stay with Friendship Force in the town of Nara.  After one last 7-11 breakfast (black pepper fried chicken, rice ball with egg, latte), Margaret and I took a short walk on the path that runs along a stream right next to our hotel.  We’ve seen paths like this throughout the city, making it a wonderful place for running or biking.  We enjoyed watching all the locals walking their perfectly manicured dogs along the path.

After that we headed to the station.  Two of our Nara hosts, Keiko and Kazumi, were kind enough to take the train down to meet us in Kyoto, presumably to ensure that we didn’t get lost on the way.  This was just as well, because I think we may well have done something wrong if waiting for the train ourselves.  First off, when our train arrived, the doors opened on the opposite side (next platform over) to let off the passengers.  On my own, I would have probably been frantically running around the train trying to get on.  But no, this was just an excellent Japanese system that avoided collisions between outgoing and

Morning walk in Kyoto

incoming passengers.  (Not that there would have likely been collisions anyway.  For both buses and trains, the Japanese line up neatly in a straight line while waiting to get on.)  Also, there was a delay before the doors on our side opened.  During that time, we saw a train attendant go through and spin around all the seats on the train, so that passengers would face forward.  Then a man came through with a vaccuum cleaner.  Only once the train was completely clean and ready did the doors open.

We’d gotten onto the platform by scanning our credit cards at the turnstile, as instructed by Kei and Kazumi– then grabbed a group of seats together.  After we got onto the train, there was a series of announcements indicating that on this train, you needed both a reservation and a ticket to ride, and if you didn’t have a reservation, you must exit the train immediately.  Again, on our own we probably would have panicked at this point, but Kei and Kuzomi seemed unmoved, so we stayed put.  No one ever checked our tickets, so I’m not actually sure if we somehow had a reservation, or if we were being scofflaws.

After a short train journey to Nara, we arrived and met our hosts, who brought us to a welcome lunch at a nearby restaurant.  It’s hard to capture how kind and welcoming everyone has been.  We’ve been fed, made comfortable, and entertained in every way.  Most of the group is older people, and many of them didn’t start learning English until they were in their fifties or older — but by practicing diligently through weekly lessons and conversation groups, they’ve become more fluent that I would have though possible.  They have so much energy, even those that are in their 80s.  I think of them like hummingbirds — beautiful, dainty, and in constant motion.  (We Americans are more like Golden Retriever puppies —we mean well and try to please, but tend to bumble around and knock things over )

We’re getting to try lots of interesting food, even if we often don’t know what it is.  Our welcome lunch today featured several different dishes, from miso soup to steamed egg to a kind of salad with rice, raw tuna, vegetables, and salmon roe.  Some things are a challenge to eat with chopsticks, but I surreptitiously watch our Japanese hosts to see how they approach it.

Nobuko (Non) and me

After lunch we went back to our individual home stay homes to settle in.  My host Nobuko and her husband Yoshio have a lovely home in a quiet residential neighborhood.  Margaret and her host, Kazumi, came by for coffee and conversation, and two other members who live nearby stopped by as well.  Yoshio

loves American music from the seventies (the Eagles are his favorite), and eventually showed us his hobby area.  We climbed a ladder up into a loft, which was full of speakers, record players, records, and other sound equipment.  Yoshio builds many of his own speakers and loves to come up here to listen to music.

Dinner was a delicious Japanese curry — similar to, but a little different from, curries that I’ve had at home.  They brought out sake for me to try as well, and presented me with gifts from Japan.  (They seemed to enjoy the maple sugar candy that we’d brought from the US, but it’s possible they were just being polite — they don’t seem to eat a lot of sweets here.)  Then, it was time for an early bedtime after a tiring day.

Non and Kazumi

Today we planned a day-long tour to get the most our of our last day in Kyoto.  We had to catch the 7:20am shuttle from our hotel to Kyoto Station to meet our tour guide, so Margaret and I had to get out to the 7-11 pretty early.  We found the selection to be even better.  Today for breakfast I had Japanese-style spicy fried chicken and an egg roll.  Margaret had some salmon sushi.  Once again, a quality breakfast.

Purification ritual

The tour, which was just for our group, covered several sights around Kyoto that it would have been hard to get to on our own.  The first stop had us heading up into the mountains that ring the city, to visit the Buddhist Kiyomizu-dera Temple.  It features a huge terrace built out of the mountainside, constructed entirely without nails.  The views from the terrace, looking out over the forest and the city beyond, were beautiful.  To enter the viewing area for the temple itself, we had to remove our shoes and purify ourselves by washing our hands.  We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the temple itself, but everything was very ornate and impeccably maintained.  Our guide Emiko taught us how to throw a coin offering, then perform the correct series of bows and claps while making a wish.  (Reflecting on how things are going in the US right now, I think many of us shared a similar wish.)  Here we also saw what was to be a constant for the day: huge crowds of tourists.  Much like Florence, we were surrounded by people from all over the world come to see the sights of Kyoto.

Our next stop was a Shinto shrine, Fushimi Inari-taisha.  It features ten thousand red torii gates that have been erected along a path that winds up and down a small mountain.  (Our guide told us that long ago, a businessman who was struggling built the first gate as an offering, and his business then succeeded.  Since then, thousands of businesses have constructed their own gates.)  You can walk through the gates and see the names of those that constructed them. Most were in Japanese characters, but we saw a few more modern company names sprinkled in.  Here and there we saw gates that were falling into disrepair, and were wondering what effect that had on the luck of the business that had built them.

Golden Pavilion

We then went to a restaurant by the river for a buffet lunch.  Many of us ate way too much in an effort to taste everything.  In many cases I wasn’t sure what I was eating, but most of the time it was very good.  The huge restaurant, as well as all the sights we saw, were mobbed with crowds of schoolchildren in uniforms, visiting on field trips.

From the restaurant we walked to the nearby Tenryuji Temple.  The best part of this area was the beautifully landscaped gardens.  The attention to detail was stunning.  We saw several gardeners working on different patches of land, literally pulling out blades of grass one at a time in order to create the perfect effect.  Judy, Margaret, and I spent a fair amount of time wandering the various paths around a pond and across a hillside, even though by then it was raining.  The many paths of the garden, and the rain, also allowed us to escape the crowds for a bit!

Next up was maybe my favorite part of the day — the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest.  Walking up the path felt like entering a tunnel, with densely-packed, ramrod-straight bamboo trees surrounding us, the background a constant whisper of rustling leaves far above.  I would have loved to walk through here alone, but alas, many others clearly felt the same way.

Our final stop was one more temple — the Kinkakuji Temple, known as the Golden Pavilion.  This temple is covered in gold-plating, and shines out dramatically behind a large pond.  We weren’t able to go inside, but the grounds around the temple again were stunningly beautiful and meticulously cared for.

By this time we were pretty wet and very tired, so we unanimously decided to skip the souvenir shop that was supposed to be our last stop of the day.  In exchange, we were able to negotiate a drop-off at our hotel, rather than at the Kyoto station.  This was a great relief to everyone, as we were ready for a quick dinner and bed.  We found our quick dinner at a nearby ramen restaurant — very small and casual, but delicous.  Large bowls of ramen cost about $5!

Margaret and I have been gradually making our way through the many amenities provided by our hotel.  In addition to the heated toilet seat, robe, and slippers, today we discovered that we have a shoe dryer!  This came in very handy after today’s rain.

Airport lounge cappucino

So I know I just got done writing about our week in Italy, but I’m now in Japan.  Due to poor planning and the fact that our school’s “April” break stretched ridiculously to 5/4, I had about 26 hours between getting home from the first trip and leaving for the airport (again) for the second one.

This time I’m traveling with a group I recently joined

Airport lounge brunch

called Friendship Force.  It’s a sort of travel exchange program, and I’m here in Japan with nine other members of the NH Seacoast chapter, and two ladies from Florida.  We’ll be hosted by Japanese clubs in Nara and Tokyo, but we planned a three-day pre-trip to see Kyoto first.  So for the moment, we’re regular tourists here.  I’m rooming with my new friend Margaret, retired librarian of Moharimet School.

Our trip out involved a 15-hour flight to Hong Kong (over the North Pole!) and then a four-hour flight to Osaka.  We left Boston at 1:40 am, and for mysterious reasons were promptly

Our train to Kyoto was a Hello Kitty express

served dinner.  Between the long flights and the 14-hour time change, we lost a whole day (resulting in me, through no fault of my own, losing my Wordle streak).  The highlight of the trip was the airport lounge in Hong Kong — -Margaret and I enjoyed a fresh fruit smoothie of the day, a delicious meal, and a very nice bathroom.  (This had the added benefit of allowing me to decline the not-very-good meal we were served on the next flight.)  The lowlight was going through Customs in Japan, which had a line that made Disney World look like nothing.  We thought our trip through US Customs at

Nijo-Jo Castle gate

Logan was bad when we came back from Italy, but it was nothing to the Japanese version.  I counted a total of seven steps/lines that we had to go through, right up till the end when a sprightly, non-English-speaking Japanese customs agent ran off with my suitcase (to put it through the metal detector again, apparently).

Anyway, we managed to get through the airport and onto a train to Kyoto, and from there onto a shuttle to

Art exhibition (oddly, German) at the castle

our hotel.  It’s a pretty nice place featuring amenties such as a heated toilet seat and a shoe dryer.  We managed to stay awake long enough to get to a nearby restaurant for noodle bowls before getting into bed around 7 pm (having been awake god knows how long).

For our first real day in Japan, we planned a visit to Nijo-Jo Castle, which is conveniently right across the street from our hotel.  We thought we might have trouble getting up in time for the 10am tour that we’d booked, but fortunately sleeping 7pm – 7am proved to be fairly refreshing and we ended up with plenty of time.  Margaret and I even ventured out to breakfast — at a nearby 7-11.  We’ve heard that convenience stores are much nicer and have pretty good food here, and we’d both read a Japanese book called Convenience Store Woman  that made us eager to check out the scene.  And we can report that the rumors are true.  I had something very tasty that resembled a hash brown.  Margaret is vegetarian and had fewer options, but she managed to find sufficient snacks to keep her going.  We both approved of the latte.

The castle and surrounding grounds were lovely.  Our guide told us all about the history of the Shogun regime that constructed and defended it, and its eventual transfer to the Imperial family.  It was a very interesting contrast with the lavish palaces that we’d seen in Italy.  Nijo-Jo was lavish in its own way, with much simpler and smaller rooms but elaborately painted with gold.  There was a great deal of thought given to symbolism — what was painted in each room, the level of the ceiling and the floor, and various other factors all held hidden meanings related to status and power.  I was intrigued by the Japanese philosophy of making rooms multi-functional.  When you wanted to do something in a room — say, eat dinner — furnishings like a table would be brought in from a storage room.  After use, they’d be put back, leaving the room empty for another use.

We had another tour booked in the afternoon for the Honmaru Palace within the same grounds, having planned to have lunch in between.  We were foiled by being told that we weren’t allowed to leave and re-enter, so instead of a real lunch we had to content ourselves with a snack from the castle cafe, which mosty consisted of ice cream (which was literally gold-plated, and consequently quite expensive).

After enjoying the complex’s beautiful gardens for a while, we made our way across the moat to the Honmaru Palace.  It was surrounded by high stone walls of incredible workmanship.  Giant stone bricks had been assembled to make the wall, and though they were somewhat irregularly shaped the corners of the wall were a perfect knife’s edge.  The palace itself was also beautiful — we removed our shoes and walked down halls carpeted with tatami mats (the smell of which instantly brought me back to beach trips in the 80s, where we’d purchase bamboo mats to lay our towels on).  The palace’s painting and wallpaper were gorgeous, and the atmosphere was quiet and calm since the number of visitors at a time is strictly limited.

After a brief afternoon rest, we had one more activity for the day — an evening guided tour of the Gion District, famous for geishas.  We learned a lot about the geisha lifestyle, including that it actually doesn’t involve any form of prostitution.  (Apparently Memoir of a Geisha was a lie.)  We walked past the geisha schools and heard about the grueling 5-year program that they have to follow to become a geisha (and the large amounts of money that they make afterwards).  Some interesting factoids: (1) Geishas in training have to wear their hair a specific way that takes several hours of styling, so they can only get it done once a week.  To preserve the hair they have to sleep on these special tiny pillows that looked extremely uncomfortable.  (2) Kimono worn by geishas are hand-made and cost $30,000-$60,000 apiece.  (3) Men can be geishas, but not in Kyoto.  Foreigners can also be geisha, but must be fluent in Japanese.  (I think Margaret is considering a second career.)  We only caught sight of one actual geisha, sitting in a cab, but the walk through narrow, old fashioned streets and along the river was charming regardless.

After the tour we had to find dinner, and this proved a bit of a challenge.  Margaret and I, in search of vegetarian food for her, ended up at a vegan restaurant.  It was extremely tiny — 8 seats total along a bar, with the kitchen right behind.  I think the whole place was smaller than our hotel room.  It was populated almost entirely with Westerners — I don’t think the Japanese are big on veganism — except for this one slightly drunk Japanese gentleman who hit on Margaret.  (His opening line was “You and me — same age!”, which didn’t really get things off on the right foot, since he turned out to be about 80.)  The food was amazing and the two women running the place were friendly and kind.  It was a very memorable experience.