July 25, 2018 - We're on the third leg of our Korea/Japan trip and today we're taking the Bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo to Kyoto. It's a two and a half hour trip (280 miles) and the train can travel up to 200 miles/hour. The Shinkansen goes by Mount Fuji on the way to Kyoto, but sadly, it was too cloudy to see. We bought bento boxes to eat on the train and enjoyed the scenery on the ride. We have an AirBnB in Tokyo that looks like it will be in a good location for us to do some exploring during the 5 days we're there.
Last plate of waffles before we leave for Kyoto
We liked our Tokyo apartment
We had some nice city views
out all of the BIG windows
We even had a balcony (which we didn't use much, because it was pretty hot while we were there.
Meg and I loved these chocolate wafers
This was a loft for extra sleeping (that we didn't use)
the loft looked down on the rest of the apartment
and the trains were so fun to watch, especially at night
We made it to the train station
The train schedules in Japan are accurate to the minute
Meg used her train time for some sketching
nice mountains and rice fields
dinner out
Yummy kabobs
our first walk around Kyoto, near our apartment
It's quite a bit different from Tokyo!
It was a short walk to the nearest grocery store
Grocery stores in Japan are like Aldi, where they ring up your purchases and put them back in your basket and then you take your basket to a packaging area. We're getting a little better at finding things at the grocery store. We've been buying things for breakfast and sometimes lunch to take with us while we're sightseeing.
We had a beautiful sunset on our walk home
July 26, 2018 - Today we're going to visit the Buddhist temple Kiyomizu-dera. The temple was built in 778 during the late Nara Period. Many of the temple's current buildings were constructed in 1633. There weren't any nails used during construction. After Kiyomizu we will visit Chio-in Temple. It was originally built in 1234 and is headquarters of the Jodo-shu. Chio-in is home to Japan's largest bell.
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breakfast and plans for the day
we made it early to Kiyomizu-dera
Niomon gate to Kiyomizu-dera
lots of steps up
Meg made it to the top
view from the gate
there was lots of exploring on the temple grounds
The 3 story Koyasu Pagoda
more views of the city
The temple is located in the foothills of Mount Otowa part of the Higashyama Mountain Range in the eastern part of Kyoto.
nice view
lots of steps down
Tea House at the temple
Each table comes with a pillow to sit on
Time for more sketching
a big part of Kiyomizu-dera is covered with scaffolding for restoration before the 2020 olympics
and more city views
I liked these steps
One last look
The road leading to Kiyomizu is full of little shops, we had fun wandering as we left
pretty little alley
another pagoda, another selfie
kimonos and umbrellas
another pretty alley
more steps, this time we're headed to Chio-in Temple. This is the main gate (Sanmon). It was built in 1619 and is the largest surviving structure of its kind in Japan
Chion-in is home to Japan's largest temple bell which was commissioned in 1633. It weighs 74 tons and it used to require a 25 man team to sound it. (It now only requires 17 men for some reason)
Here is the hanging log that they use to sound the bell
Home with some noodles, egg rolls and bread for dinner
Our cute little kitchen in our apartment, it had everything we needed
Our front door
there are lots of sliding doors with rice paper coverings
making plans for tomorrow
June 27, 2018 - Today we've got another busy day. We're headed first to Nijo Castle, which was built in 1626, as the Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa shoguns. For lunch we're meeting Meg's friend Jordan, who is also traveling on a fellowship with the Berkeley Architecture program. After lunch we're going to Kinkaku-ji the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, which is a Zen Budhist temple. It is officially called Rokuon-ji. Then for dinner we're going to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
Nijo Castle (built by shoguns)
The gate is very ornate
We enjoyed walking through the castle grounds
The moat wall
We met Jordan at Sarasa Nishijin, which was a cafe built in an old sento (public bath)
Mosaic tiles in the cafe from when it was a sento
Kinaku-ji buddhist temple - The Golden Pavilion. The top 2 floors of the building are covered in pure gold leaf. It serves as a Shariden, housing Buddha's ashes.
Dinner at the Kaitenzushi.
Sushi chefs would prepare sushi plates and then put the sushi on the conveyor belt. If you saw something you wanted, you could grab it as it went by. At the end you paid based on how many plates you had.
We walked along Pontocho Alley, which runs along the Kamo River. The area was full of restaurants, shops and people
June 28, 2018 - We're going to Heian Shrine today after a walk through Nishiki Market, which is a covered market that has over 100 stalls selling produce, souvenirs, Japanese snacks and crafts
More planning before we head out for the day
Nishiki Market and it's iconic ceiling
so much to see
we stopped for some snacks
more market pics
Next we visited the Heian Shinto Shrine. This is the Soryuro Tower
Heian Shrine
After Heian Shrine we stopped at the Kyoto Museum of Traditional Arts, in Okazaki (a short walk from the Shrine). It was an interesting spot, with all types of traditional pieces, like dolls and textiles.
Somebody has a blister after all the walking we've been doing
June 29, 2018 - Today we're going to see Kyoto by bike! I love a good bike tour and Kyoto seems to be a great spot to do it. We booked a tour with Cycle Kyoto and we were lucky that we were the only ones on the tour. It was great! It was a 4 hour trip around the South end of Kyoto, stopping at the central temples of Toji and Hongangi, as well as the Takase Canal, Gion area, Tofukuji Bridge and Fushimi Inari Shrine.
Toji Buddhist Temple
We're so lucky to have a photographer (our bike guide, Tiery) to take our pics all day!
Lotus flower
Our helmets are a bit wonky
Meg is following Tiery along the wide sidewalks of Kyoto
Nishi Hongan-ji Buddhist Temple
This Ginkgo tree's branches are so long and so heavy they are being held up with braces. The tree is over 400 years old
Amidado, the main worship hall of Nishi Hongan-ji
Our bikes are right where we left them
Ready for more biking
We spent a lot of the day on these tiny little roads
Tiery took a lot of pics for us!
Nintendo was founded in this building in 1889 by Yaumachi. The company originally sold hand-painted playing cards called flower cards. It is now a hotel.
The Kamo River. Off and on all day it was overcast, but we were lucky that the weather held off for us.
Tatsumi-jinja Shrine is the location where authorized apprentice geisha make their first public appearances
Yanaka Shrine
Tofuku-ji bridge
The views here in the spring are amazing during cherry blossom season
The gate to Fushimi Inari Taisha a Shinto shrine
Inari Fox statue
Fushimi Inari is famous for it's thousands of torii gates
they went on forever
one right after the other
the tori gates lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mt Inari
We had a lot of fun wondering through the gates
The torii gates are given as donations. Each gate has the donors name on it as well as the date of donation. The smallest gates cost from 400,000 to the largest gates, 1 million yen ($2500-$6200)
Final group pic with Tiery, who was a great guide for the day
For dinner we met up with Jordan
Yum
June 30, 2018 - Today we're headed to Arashiyama to see the Bamboo Forest.
The front of our cute apartment
Arashiyama
lots of bamboo
it's a bamboo forest!
We enjoyed the walk around Arashiyama
The Arashiyama train station has a foot bath
I can't think of a better way to wait for a train
Meg was headed to a Kyoto onsen for her project and we decided to have some ice cream while we waited.
While we were waiting for Meg we watched a man across the street in front of a grocery store make something on his grill. We decided after an hour of watching him (and he sold quite a few), that we wanted to buy whatever he was making. This is what it was.
beers before dinner (lots of people dressed in kimonos on the street)
Yummy tempura for dinner
