5 July, 2017
It has been raining all morning but we plan to walk back to Kobe Station from the hotel through the covered malls of Kobe Port. We have plenty of time so we stroll to the station and drop in at a cafe along the way for a coffee before catching the 55-minute Special Fast JR train to Kyoto Station.
The coffee is good and we arrive on the platform about 2 minutes before the JR train arrives. We even manage to get a seat this time.
Lynn wants to visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine and walk the torii path up the hill as a detour on our way back to our hotel. We eventually find an empty station locker and leave our backpacks and overnight bag secured at Kyoto Station. This “yet another shrine” is only 2 stations away on the JR Nara line and since we can’t check into our hotel until 3:00 pm the detour should fill in some time and tick another Kyoto sightseeing box.
Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto.. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari which is 233 metres above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines which span 4 kilometres and takes approximately 2 hours to walk up.
Since early Japan, Inari was seen as the patron of business, and merchants and manufacturers have traditionally worshiped Inari. Each of the torii at Fushimi Inari Taisha is donated by a Japanese business. First and foremost, though, Inari is the god of rice.
The shrine became the object of imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami decreed that messengers carry written accounts of important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines, including the Inari Shrine.
From 1871 through 1946, Fushimi Inari-taisha was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha, meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.
The earliest structures were built in 711 on the Inariyama hill in southwestern Kyoto, but the shrine was re-located in 816 on the request of the monk Kūkai. The main shrine structure was built in 1499. At the bottom of the hill are the main gate, rōmon, “tower gate”) and the main shrine (go-honden). Behind them, in the middle of the mountain, the inner shrine (okumiya) is reachable by a path lined with thousands of torii. To the top of the mountain are tens of thousands of mounds (tsuka) for private worship.
We manage to get back to Kyoto Station and find our luggage locker among the thousands at the Station, then took the subway onto City Hall and a 100 metre walk to the hotel. Check in and then out to buy a cold beer and some supplies for the next two days. Nice to be back in Kyoto and a nice soft bed.
Looking out of our window at the rain we noticed that the motorcycles in the car park behind the hotel all appeared to be “hitched” like horses.
Tonight we won’t be going far for dinner. On our beer and supply run we found just the place less than 20 metres from the hotel. Lynn is doing my ironing and has chosen to sip sake while she has to wait each time for the iron to be hot enough to produce steam and I have just finished off a very cold beer. Life is good.
Time for that dinner. Now that was an interesting restaurant. We dined at the Katsukura Restaurant. In simple terms it is similar to tempura but with a heavier batter and only has prawns or various cuts of pork made as ‘cutlets’. Firstly, you make your own sauce by grinding up sesame seeds with a pestle and mortar then adding either a house sauce or a chili sauce. You also have a citrus dressing to drizzle over your shredded cabbage. You are also given an endless supply of Miso soup and steamed rice. We had different cuts of pork. The food was very good, it was good fun and was quite inexpensive. Great find.
By the way…. that is chilled sake in front of Lynn, not water.
On the way back to the hotel Lynn noticed a shop that sold Tenugui (Japanese Handkerchief) which can be used as a hand towel, tea towel, wall hanging, bandana or scarf. She was particularly taken by the one below of Geishas playing beach volley ball. Imagine that at Burleigh Heads?
6 July, 2017
Lynn is heading out by herself to visit the last of the shrines in Kyoto. I have heaps to do repairing the blog and doing the laundry today so I am happy to remain at home.
(Lynn) A short walk up the road from the hotel to catch the No. 59 bus which stopped right outside the Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion) 30 minutes later on the NW outskirts of Kyoto. While studying my bus route map a young guy sitting across the bus aisle lent over and asked me where I had obtained the map. It turned out that Gi (pronounced Ki) is visiting Japan from Seoul and that he is visiting both the shrines I am today, so we end up travelling together.
After a few steps from entering the temple grounds we are suddenly looking straight at the Pavilion. Unlike its cousin, the Silver Pavilion that Rob and I visited on 1st July, this one is true to its name, the top 2 stories covered in gold leaf that shone dully in the bright sunlight and topped by a gold phoenix.
The Pavilion is a shariden, a Buddhist hall containing relics of Buddha. Formally known as Rokuonji, the temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and according to his will it became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect after his death in 1408. Kinkakuji was the inspiration for the similarly named Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), built by Yoshimitsu’s grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, on the other side of the city a few decades later.
It has burned down numerous times throughout its history including twice during the Onin War, a civil war that destroyed much of Kyoto; and once again more recently in 1950 when it was set on fire by a fanatic monk. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955.
Strolling through the garden we next come upon the Fudo-do which houses a stone statue of a Buddhist deity thought to have been made in the 9th century by the founder of the Shingon Buddhist sect. The image has long been revered for miraculous powers.
After strolling through the garden we exit and have to sprint to catch another No. 59 bus to take us 3 stops to the next attraction, Ryoanji Temple.
Upon entering the temple grounds we are greeted by a large pond covered in pink water lily flowers, with pink and white lotus blossoms at the pond’s edge. Sadly, no mandarin ducks to be seen.
Soon we arrive at the base of a flight of stone steps, dappled by overhanging maples trees. The steps lead to the Kuri, the main building of the temple, where we need to remove our shoes before we can pad across the boards to the courtyard – the Rock Garden.
The internationally-famous Rock Garden was said to be created at the end of the Muromachi Period (c. 1500) by a highly respected Zen monk, Tokuho Zenketsu.
A large tea house overlooks the Garden. At its entrance is Tsukubai, the stone wash basin for the tea room which has a unique inscription: “I learn only to be contented” – an important Zen concept. The basin is said to have been contributed by Mitsukuni Mito (1628-1700), a feudal lord and compiler of the great History of Japan – “Dai-nippon-shi”.
After a slow stroll around the cool and shaded garden we wait at the bus stop for 10 minutes for the good old No. 59 to take us back to town whereupon Gi and I part company and I return to the hotel to a mountain of Rob’s ironing.
picernicbasket 