Issue 21 - castles and a cold mountain
A possibly weekly email about what's been going on in my brain
9 - 15 April 2023
Why are you stopping? Oh you're looking at your phone right at the top of the escalator. Oh you're unsure which way to go so you're standing right in the doorway. Oh you're looking at a map right as you get off the train. Wait, are you in a group? Is that a tiny flag I can see, well there'll be no moving you then. No, thank you for walking into me, that was super. Why are you touching the sacred relic? Why are you taking photos when it's clearly signposted that you shouldn't? Why are you going the opposite way of the marked route? Why are you taking a selfie and then standing there and checking the photos instead of getting out of the way? Oh all of you are taking selfies. Why are you walking three-abreast when it's a two lane walkway? Why are you talking loudly on your phone in the middle of a temple? Why are you flying a drone in the middle of a cemetery?
I said last issue that the crowds were manageable, I didn't say that they weren't infuriating. Sometimes I want to pick some of them up by the elbows and gently place them off to the side, othertimes I want to shake them by the shoulders and demand answers as to why they're like this. I can't wholly direct my disappointment at foreign tourists either as I've had native Japanese absolutely bamboozle me (sometimes purposefully, different rant), though the two times I've been walked into have been by foreigners. Retrospectively, being one of only a few foreigners in a place was kind of nice, Kyoto though is definitely on the far end of the "number of tourists x pleasantness" gaussian distribution.
Thankfully I'm on a nice little break from the Kyoto crowds before I encounter the Tokyo ones - I've just finished up Mount Koya, and I'll soon be undertaking some of the Kumano Kodo walking trails.
Kyoto (part 2)
The move from machiya to hotel shifted me from the quaint, wood-panelled part of Kyoto to the more concrete and glass urban centre. This made it easier to get to certain places but every venture out meant navigating a maze of subway stations, underground malls and construction work. I've described Kyoto as a "city-sized village" before, which I still think is true if you stay in the eastern Higashiyama area, but Kyoto is a major city and that also means a glitzy CBD and kilometres of sprawl. It's still a thoroughly pleasant place to stay, but its proliferation of temples and shrines don't magically make it a panacea for city trappings.
Arashiyama
It's one of the quintessential photos of Kyoto - the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. I knew it got busy throughout the day so, like Fushimi Inari last week, I set my alarm for a profane 4:30AM and made the chilly hour-long journey to the grove. It was... underwhelming. There's no way I can describe it without sounding snooty, but it really was just a path through a bamboo grove, and not that long a one either. By the time I arrived there were already photographers with tripods packing up now they sensed the horde approaching, and after I'd snapped my own photos (including some with the loaned fish-eye lens), there was little else to do except get out of the way of everyone else's shots.
Arashiyama the area was lovely though, with barely a two storey building in sight, broad roads and streams running down either side, it's home to some gorgeous looking temples from when the area was the gentrified part of Kyoto. Unfortunately nothing nearby would be open for another three hours meaning after a brief wander to make sure I hadn't missed anything, it was back to the hotel for a hot shower and some well earned breakfast.
Castles
I visited Nijo-jo in central Kyoto after switching hotels, and Himeji-jo on a half day trip later in the week, the former a reconstruction of an imperial villa (though still described as a castle) and the latter an imposing, original construction (i.e. not burned down and rebuilt) often called the White Heron Castle.
Nijo castle had the standard "take off your shoes, follow the arrows" area that ran you through the history of the castle, but this one also had a "nightingale floor" that squeaked when walked on, supposedly to warn of approaching ne'er-do-wells. With a few hundred tourists clomping about on it, it somewhat lost its majesty. Outside there were some lovely gardens that I was expecting to spend an hour or so wandering until I stumbled upon a recreation of a period archery competition. The weather was glorious and the skill on display from all the - performers? actors? archers - was superb, if not highly ritualised. Horse archery (yabusame) was also attempted, though they didn't have the space for a full run so they used a static wooden horse with an assistant spinning it to introduce some difficulty. It was a great show and totally unexpected.
Himeji castle meanwhile is not only one of twelve original castles in Japan, but one of the few that has multiple wings within the inner keep. Situated on a hill overlooking Himeji town, it's the first thing you see when you leave the train station and it dominates the skyline from all around. It's a gorgeous building and in the bright sunshine and waning cherry blossoms, the surrounding grounds are lovely to wander and soak up the atmosphere. There is a route through the interior of the main keep up to the top, but due to the number of people inside this was more a march than a saunter and all of the windows at the keep's pinnacle were blocked off by thick gratings making photography impossible. The trip around the wings was far more peaceful with plenty of information and some phenomenal views.
Nara
Another day trip from Kyoto, Nara is the old capital of Japan and has an entire period of history named after it. Best known for it's giant bronze Buddha statue and the wild deer that wander freely throughout the town, it's a lovely little city with some quirky sights which I sorely needed after feeling a bit temple'd out in Kyoto.
I started with the headline attraction: the big Buddha, and yup, that's big. At 15m tall, just one of its hands bigger than me, and it's a marvel of ancient bronze casting and ongoing maintenance. For me though it was the structure that housed it that was the stand out. The largest wooden building in the world, the hall from a distance looks like any other temple building, up close though it takes on absurd but impressive skyscraper-like proportions.
From there I followed Lonely Planet's recommended walking route that takes in a number of small out-of-the-way temples that had pleasant circuits around their complexes including rooms of lanterns, nice views across the city, and plenty of honking great torii gates. With pleasant weather the deer were out in force and most had thankfully shed their winter fur so looked less drowned animal and more forest spirit. This didn't stop them harassing every meek looking pedestrian for food and seeing someone mobbed by eight at once wasn't uncommon.
A fun little excursion and there's certainly merit to what the guides say about staying overnight to beat the day-tripping crowds in the morning, but apart from some idiosyncrasies I don't think there's more than a day's worth of sightseeing if you aren't willing to go to some of the more remote temples, and even then Kyoto probably has you covered.
Miyako Odori
My last day in Kyoto I attended the Miyako Odori - spring dances that run throughout April. These are put on by the maiko and geiko of the various city districts and are a performance of music, dance, and drama. The last time I attended was in 2009 and it was a standout moment from that trip. This time I was lucky to even get a ticket, my seat was in the back row but thankfully only slightly offset from the centre. That last part is important as the wings of the stage host the orchestra and singers, as well as act as introductory on-ramps for the performers.
It is, without hyperbole, one of the best things I've ever seen. It isn't for everyone, but for me it lives in the space between the graceful movement of something like ballet, the performative thrill of live music, and the ethereal draw of classical painting. I'm not even that enamoured with geisha as a concept either - I tried photographing them way back when (unsuccessfully) and I fully respect the artform, but I don't track the names and careers as some watchers do. Thankfully there are few, if any, amateur videos of the Miyako Odori online to spoil the performance as the "no photography" policy is judiciously enforced. What was lovely to see though was the number of visitors in full kimono regalia, opting to make this an event rather than just a rock up in jeans and a baseball cap like some of us did.
I can absolutely recommend it if you ever have the opportunity, even if you have no interest in geisha.
Mount Koya
Koyasan built up around the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, a hugely important religious figure and founder of the popular Shingon sect of Buddhism in Japan. Staying within the town means bunking at one of the numerous temple lodgings (shukubo), something I was wary of but my travel agent assured me it was encouraged as it directly supported the temples.
Every guide I read about staying on Mount Koya warned how much colder than the surrounding cities it was, to pack warmly, that the accommodation would be "basic"... I needn't have fretted. Not only was my room well appointed with an air conditioner and all the mod-cons, I was one of a number of foreigners staying both on the mountain, and in the same temple.
Part of the experience of Mount Koya is getting to it, and the journey from Kyoto involved three trains of decreasing carriages, a funicular, and a twenty minute bus journey. After the pouring rain I arrived in had abated I visited Okuno-in: often described as a cemetery, it is the area surrounding Kobo Daishi's mausoleum that is populated with monuments - statues, stupas, torii and the like - by people (and now companies and corporations) wanting to be close to the religious leader's place of repose; so nothing more than locks of hair are buried here. It's a fantastic place, tranquil and curious; all three times I visited it: after the rain, first thing in the morning, and just as night fell were wonderful experiences. Before the crowds came. Yes even up a mountain and in a sacred place I couldn't get away from them.
Staying within a temple involved vegetarian meals (each one phenomenal, and anything unidentifiable I didn't have to wonder if it's a, ahem, part of a fish) and also getting up early for morning prayers. Technically optional, but the bells and general clatter of bleary eyed tourists would have woken me regardless. You are welcome and somewhat encouraged to participate in the ceremony. I chose only to observe, primarily as I thought I may burst into flames were I to approach - no gods or kings you know. It was a fascinating look at an organised religion I really have no insight into but it wasn't about to make me a theist.
Outside of Okuno-in, Koyasan is a petite little temple town which, honestly isn't much different to some of Kyoto's but writ large with imposing pagodas and grand gates aplenty. Temple fatigue twisted my thinking away from the grandeur and artistry and towards the thought that maybe all the money spent on constantly rebuilding these opulent structures would have been better spent directly helping people. It was a sour thought to have in what is a hugely spiritual place for many, and while I appreciated the quiet, I'll be glad to get out on the walking trails over the next week.
The next ten days
Note: in the last issue, April 18th was marked as transferring to Kii-Katsuura, that day is actually another one in Yunomine Onsen and has been updated below.
- 16th Apr - transfer to Kawayu Onsen
- 17th Apr - transfer to Yunomine Onsen
- 18th Apr - Yunomine Onsen
- 19th Apr - transfer to Kii-Katsuura
- 20th Apr - Kii-Katsuura
- 21st Apr - transfer to Nagoya
- 22nd Apr - Nagoya
- 23rd Apr - transfer to Tokyo
- 24th Apr - Tokyo
- 25th Apr - Tokyo
This was hand-crafted by John.