Day 16 detailed - Nijo-jo Castle and Palace, Kyoto and Nara deer park

 Friday, 13 May 2016 in more detail

Original posted LIVE here.

This morning we went just a few hundred metres from our apartment to visit Nijo Castle. This map shows the location of our apartment and this Castle is clearly shown to the west.

Nijo Castle (二条城, Nijōjō) was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His grandson Iemitsu completed the castle's palace buildings 23 years later and further expanded the castle by adding a five story castle keep.

After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace for a while before being donated to the city and opened up to the public as a historic site. Its palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era, and the castle was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994.

Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens that encircle the Honmaru and Ninomaru. The entire castle grounds and the Honmaru are surrounded by stone walls and moats.

I hired the english language audio guide which helped me appreciate the history and background. More detail here.

The Ninomaru Palace served as the residence and office of the shogun during his visits to Kyoto. Surviving in its original form, the palace consists of multiple separate buildings that are connected with each other by corridors with so called nightingale floors, as they squeak when stepped upon as a security measure against intruders. The palace rooms are tatami mat covered and feature elegantly decorated ceilings and beautifully painted sliding doors (fusuma).

Unfortunately no photos could be taken inside but the art works were amazing. I saw a bit of the movie The Last Samurai (with Tom Cruise) the other night and the scene where he meets the Emperor appears to have been filmed in the main room of this Palace. I could be wrong of course, as I am no expert.

Some local high school students and their teacher stopped to talk to us and asked if they could ask us some questions as part of an assignment. They asked where we were from and if this was our first visit to Kyoto, plus where else in Japan we planned to or had visited. At the end they asked if they could take their photo with us and we asked to take one too, which is below . . . .

We spent over an hour exploring the gardens . . . .

We climbed to the top of the nearby moat wall where a five story keep once stood before being destroyed by lightning. Here we can see back towards our apartment building . . .

Check back later for more updates on our adventures today . . . .

Day 15 detailed - Manga Museum, Tofukuji Temple and Fushimi-inaru Shrine, Kyoto

Thursday, 12 May 2016 in more detail

Original posted LIVE here.

Time to visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum which was only a 400m walk from our apartment.

Manga (漫画 Manga) are comics created in Japan or by creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. They have a long and complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art.

The term manga in Japan is a word used to refer to both comics and cartooning. "Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers to comics originally published in Japan.

In Japan, people of all ages read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action-adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, historical drama, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, sexuality, sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has steadily become a major part of the Japanese publishing industry, representing a ¥406 billion market in Japan in 2007 (approximately $3.6 billion) and ¥420 billion (approximately $5.5 billion) in 2009. Manga have also gained a significant worldwide audience.

Inside the Kyoto International Manga Museum are thousands of manga, with entire series organised like this. This is likely the most comprehensive collection of manga in the world.

After I took the above photos inside the Manga Museum a staff member politely asked me to stop taking photos, as apparently they are not allowed.

Overall this museum is well worth the visit as it includes exhibits which show the history and development of manga. There was also a scale model exhibit on the day we were there. Many locals buy an annual pass to gain access so they can come in and read manga all year around.

Famous manga artists had also been asked to draw a geisha and above are some examples.

We got on our pushbikes and headed to southern Kyoto. We ride next to the Kamo River.

India recorded some of our bike ride today on her GoPro strapped to her chest as she rode (you can hear her heartbeat).  Enlarge and enjoy India's excellent commentary and the view as you ride through Kyoto!

We visited many beautiful temples and shrines towards southern Kyoto today, starting with the Buddist Tofukuji Temple located here.

We ride further south until finally we arrive near our main destination for today . . . first we find somewhere near these shops to lock up our bikes . . .

Finally we arrive at the most popular tourist attraction in Kyoto, the famous "thousand gates" shrine of Fushimi Inari-Taisha.

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds.

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.

While the primary reason most foreign visitors come to Fushimi Inari Shrine is to explore the mountain trails, the shrine buildings themselves are also attractive and worth a visit. At the shrine's entrance stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Behind stands the shrine's main building (Honden) and various auxiliary buildings.

At the very back of the shrine's main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates"). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate.

Fushimi Inari-Taisha shrine in Kyoto

We enjoyed riding our bikes next to the Kamo River towards our apartment in Kyoto

A quick visit to our apartment to freshen up, drop our bikes off and take this photo of the view north-west . . .

Only 300 metres from our apartment, opposite Nijo Castle (which we visit tomorrow) there is an antique store called Kuraya Hashimoto (location here) which includes these authentic swords for sale.

This sword is JPY1,100,000 which is around AUD13,415!  It dates from 1395

Time to go back towards the Teramachi Kyogoku Shopping Arcade (here) we had discovered yesterday where these delightful treats were in a bakery.  India tried one of the "cat" doughnuts and loved it.

We ate a burger, hot dog and fries nearby and made it back to the apartment in time for a wonderful sunset.

Day 14 detailed - To-ji Temple, Kyoto

  Wednesday, 11 May 2016 in more detail

Original posted LIVE here.

Today is our first full day in Kyoto so we caught the subway to central Kyoto to explore. The main Kyoto train station is a gigantic structure which has Kyoto Tower next door.

We found a vending machine next to the bus station which dispensed hot food, so for Y370 we got some hot chips! We then explored the main concourse inside Kyoto Station and bought some delicious ice cream.




















Near Kyoto station we picked up our transport for the next four days, bike hire is about $10 per day each.




Our first destination is the famous Toji Temple.

Toji Temple (東寺, Tōji), literally "East Temple", was founded at the beginning of the Heian Period just after the capital was moved to Kyoto in the late 700s. The large temple, together with its now defunct sister temple Saiji ("West Temple"), flanked the south entrance to the city and served as the capital's guardian temples. Toji Temple is one of Kyoto's many UNESCO world heritage sites.

About thirty years after the temple's establishment, Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism, was appointed head priest of Toji, and the temple became one of the most important Shingon temples besides the sect's headquarters on Mount Koya. Kobo Daishi also added many of the large wooden buildings that stand on the grounds today.



There is a modest entry charge to visit the To-ji Temple and we enjoyed exploring the grounds and beautiful gardens in this peaceful setting.






This is Toji's five storied pagoda, which was originally erected by Kobo Daishi in 826. It stands 57 meters tall, making it the tallest pagoda in Japan, and has become a symbol of both the temple and Kyoto as it can be seen from many places across the city. The ground floor of the pagoda is irregularly opened to the public and houses four smaller Buddha statues.

Next we visited the Shinkumano Shrine found here, shown below.




One of the benefits of riding pushbikes through the streets of Kyoto, is we can discover tranquil gems like the Taikoan, found here.






After seeing all of the above we headed back towards central Kyoto where we were aiming to see a traditional Geisha performance at 4pm.  We purchased our tickets to this geisha show, called Kamogawa Odori at Ponto-Cho at the tourist information area in Kyoto JR station this morning.

After parking our bikes (there are bike parking areas which cost a few yen) we made it in time for the 4pm geisha show. It is a rare opportunity to see one and even though the tickets weren't cheap (~$100 each) we had excellent seats. We could not take photos during the show but this is the stage before hand. Hidden behind curtains to the left was the live orchestra, playing traditional Japanese instruments, which were shown later in the show.

All the performers and orchestra are women (even those playing male roles) and even though the performance was in Japanese, we could understand most of what was happening by the dramatic performance and set and costume changes.

The website for the Kamogawa Odori at Ponto-Cho show we saw is here, where you can see a description and some photos from the performance.  The ticket prices on the website today certainly seem cheaper than when we went in 2016!





After the performance we explored this nice part of Kyoto, that's a canal running along next to the road.




Dinner tonight was Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kyoto style. Note the menu below, including fish coated in the famous herbs and spices.






We head back to our apartment through one of the many covered shopping arcades. No bike riding allowed in here, so you have to walk your bike in these pedestrian areas. We would come back and explore this area a few more times before we leave Kyoto.