Our first site to visit was Nijo Castle. This castle was originally built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu. It was completed in 1626 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu, with the addition of some structures trasferred frm Fushimi Castle. In 1867, Yoshinobu, the 15th Tokugawa Shogun returned sovereignty to the Emperor in this castle's main hall ending 270 years of Tokugawa military rule (shoguns). In 1994 Nijo Castle was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nijo Castle has 'Nightingale Floors' in the Ninomaru Palace Corridor. When one walks on the corridor it chirps. This is deliberate and caused by the method of construction.
We would remove our shoes to walk through the castle. We were not allowed to take pictures on the interior of the castle. Therefore, all my pictures are of the exterior where we were allowed to take pictures.
First, Kelly pointed out to us the area of the castle grounds we would tour. Basically it is the bottom square of the diagram. Ninomaru Palace is the gray buildings and the blue area at the top of the square Kelly is touching is the Ninomaru Garden.
We're walking, we're walking, we're walking...through Kara-Mon. This is an absolutely beautiful gate. The first picture is where we entered. The next is a close up of the entrance side. The third and fourth are looking up inside the entrance. The fifth and sixth picture are the inside view of the gate and wall.
The entrance to Ninomaru Palace.
We took our shoes of and walked through the entire palace. We saw the various reception rooms, how the walls could be moved to change the size of a room, the tatami mats, the room where, in October 1867, the 15th Tokugawa Shogus gathered the feudal lords and declared that sovereignty would be restored to the Emperor, heard the sound of the Nightingale Floors, noted the Shogun always sat a little higher than everyone else. The walls were covered with beautiful paintings. Claude and I left feeling we needed to go home and simply our lives...a LOT!
Some exterior features.
We exited Ninomaru Palace where we entered after putting on our shoes. Then we walked around the outside to the Ninomaru Garden.
We ran into some school children. The middle school and high school age children are grouped into small groups of 4-6 kids. They are given assignments to go out and study the history. They hire a taxi driver or guide to take them to each site. They tour and answer questions and record the things they learn. We ran into a group of kids on their learning assignment for that day. They are taught English so we talked with them, exchanged some business cards and small gifts, all the time letting them try their English on us. Kelly, who is a teacher and speaks fluent Japanese said nothing in Japanese. Until...we were saying good-bye to them. Then he broke out in fluent Japanese to their total delight. Ever the teacher, Kelly knew that once he spoke in Japanese they would not practice their English. It was a very nice moment.
This is the Ninomaru Garden. The last picture so the meticulous care they give things in Japan.
These final pictures are of our walk around the back of the Ninomaru Palace to find our bus. We did make a pit stop. Please note the signage. If you visit Japan, please keep this important sign for Western style in mind.
Our second stop was Ryoanji Temple. This was originally a country house and was acquired in 1450 by Hosokawa Katsumoto to be used as a Zen training temple. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1499. It 1994 it was designated a World Heritage site. Our visit was on a rainy day and I have no pictures of the entire front of the building. It is covered by trees and hard to get a photo. However, we were free to take pictures of this inside of this building. Loved these tree covered paths after the entry gate. They just invite you to come and walk a bit.
We walked past the Kyoyochi Pond to get to the main building. This pond was made in the late 12th century. Until recently, mandarin ducks were seen on the pond giving the Ryoanji the name Oshidoridera, the temple of mandarin ducks. The water for the pond come from around two rocks in the south. The is and islet named Bentenjim with a hall house an image of Sarasvati. We did not walk out to the islet but you can see it and a bridge going to it in the pictures.
A main feature of this temple is the Rock Garden. It is made up of 15 rocks carefully placed in a 25 meter by 10 meter garden of white gravel. The walls around the garden are made of clay boiled in oil. When Claude worked for the Peace Corp, I bought him a small rectangular Zen Garden. It was a wooden box filled with sand. It came with four implements to shape the sand and several ornaments to place in the sand. Every time I visited him for lunch, he would have rearranged the sand. There is a rock garden like this at Yuko-En in Georgetown, Kentucky. Caught these two ladies (not in our group) enjoying a peaceful morning sketching the garden.
These are pictures of the building and the grounds around it.
Again, Simply Beautiful! We passed the Kyoyochi Pond on the way back to our bus.
Our third stop of the morning was The Gold Pavilion - Rokuon-ji Temple. I have to say here that Kelly explained to us that 'ji' means 'temple. When we say something 'ji temple' we are actually saying 'temple temple'.
Rokuon-ji has the Kinkaku or Golden Pavilion on the grounds. That was the focus of our visit and then a walk through the grounds back to our bus.
Kinkaku is a Buddhist hall. The Kinkaku is part of the temple that is formally named Rokuon-ji Temple. The area was original the site of a villa owned by a statesman. The 3rd Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, liked the area and acquired it from the statesman and built his own villa on the property. Yoshimitsu willed the villa to be a temple. The priest Muso-kokushi followed through with this request. The garden and building, centered on the Golden Pavilion, are said to represent the Pure Land of Buddha in this world. The temple's name, Rokuon-ji, was derived from the name Yoshimitsu was given for the next world, Rokuon-in-den. In 1994, Rokuon-ji Temple was registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site.
As we walked to the entrance I heard my hubby say, "I see a major design flaw here. Do you see it?" Can you see a problem with appears to be a boat?
We next passed a bell on our way to the Golden Pavilion. This brought back memories of our trip to Hawaii. While on the Oahu, we had some time before our plane left for home. Our bus took us to a cemetery. In the back of that cemetery is a section of graves for Japanese people. In this section is a beautiful red temple with a Buddha inside. There is a peaceful lake and rock garden in front. As you walk the path to go to the Temple, there is a big bell to the left. I have pictures of Claude ringing that bell. This one reminded me of that experience and how the things learned there are exactly like the things we were experiencing in Japan.
After we went through this building, we found the lake and the Golden Pavilion.
Here are pictures of the lake and the Golden Pavilion.
We would then walk through the grounds to get back to the bus.
As we walked this path, I caught this picture of the Golden Pavilion. The bird on the top is a Phoenix.
Our afternoon experience would be a 'once in a lifetime' experience. Kelly McKuen, our guide, knew the family in Kyoto who owns Suetomi. He had taken others to their little shop in Kyoto to purchase their 'wagashi' (Japanese sweets). He phoned while making plans for our trip to let them know he was bringing an American group to visit their shop.
When we arrived the most regal looking lady I have seen came to the counter. She is the wife of the family. I did not keep their names straight in my head. But the name Kelly gave us was Tomoka Yamaguchi and the booklet we were each given about the shop was Yamaguchi Tomizo. The family name is Yamaguchi and they have owned this shop for 3 generations. They prepare Japanese sweets for the Emperor.
There was the traditional exchange of business cards. This is Claude exchanging his card with the younger Yamaguchi.
Then the very kind and very gracious mother and wife invited us to come behind the counter to where they make the wagashi and see their work room. We went through a door, took off our shoes and put on slippers. We walked in those slippers across a short walkway that included the sales counter. Then we were asked to leave those slippers there and put on other slippers for walking on the work area floor.
We observed two men preparing the Japanese sweets and the work area. Then the son, who has got to be in his 50's at least, came out with three balls of dough in pink, yellow and green. He did a demonstration of making several different kinds of sweets. They are made for the season in which they are served.
These sweets have minimal sugar. A bean paste from azuki beans is used for many of the confections. These would be used in a tea ceremony. Our booklet tells us that the bitterness of the tea is mellowed perfectly by the lightness of these sweets.
After watch Mr. Yamaguchi prepare these delicacies, he looked at us asked us if we wanted to try. He had prepared 9 items. We thought he wanted us to taste them. Not so. His invitation was for us to try our hand at creating a real wagashi. We all agreed we would like to see if we could do this. We were instructed to wash our hands. Then we were each given a ball of dough to grate and chop sticks with which to prepare and autumn colored treat. Here is Claude working with the senior Mr. Yamaguchi and one Claude took of me grating the dough through the straw basket grater.
We were each given a little box with our name on it to take our sweet treat with us.
Then Mrs. Yamaguchi asked us to follow her to the elevator and up to the third floor. There we found a Japanese tea room with a tatami mat on the floor and, on the little 3rd floor balcony, a little Japanese garden. We were to sit on the floor and enjoy a little tea with treats. Claude and I were given water as we do not drink tea. I was completely amazed that this dear lady would come in with a tray for one person of samples, then knee with no effort, bow low as she gently shoved the plate in front of each person, one at a time. Then she repeated that action with a cup of tea. Each time she turned the cup so that the design that was the front of the mug faced the person to whom she was offering the tea. The polite thing to do is for the person receiving the cup to then turn the up so the design on the front is to the side before sipping the tea.
What an amazing experience. We went back downstairs and we all purchased lots of wagashi.
This are some of the features on the main floor where the counter and display cases are located.
Outside the front door is this sign stating the store name.
This picture is of the senior Yamaguchi's, Kelly McKuen, Mayor Tom Prather, and the younger Mr. Yamaguchi.
As we prepared to leave, the grand lady, Mrs. Yamaguchi walked all the way down the street with us to the bus. Realizing the bus driver had no treats, she ran back to the shop and quickly put a box together for him. Then she stood and waves as we drove away. I felt so good at this action. Our family has had a tradition of standing on the front porch and waving as our guests leave. It felt like maybe I had a bit of the Japanese courtesy as part of my life already.
Mind you, Kelly had not asked for any of this special treatment. He had only done the courtesy of calling to alert them that he would be bringing American guests to their shop. They just took that knowledge and went above and beyond. We found that same spirit of care and friendship throughout Japan.
Final stop for this day was at the bottom of Tea Pot Alley. The hill in Kyoto had kilns carved into the side of it and pottery was made all down the hill. Hence, the name Tea Pot Alley. Now there are shops and restaurants along this narrow street up the hill to Kiyomizu Temple. Our bus parked at the bottom of the hill and we were told that, due the limited amount of time (our bus driver could only drive until 6pm), we could choose whether to go to Kiyomizu Temple at the top of the hill or just roam Tea Pot Alley. Claude and I were the only ones who chose to go to the top of the hill and purchase tickets. Jennifer and Chuck did walk to the top and roamed outside of the temple to the pieces one didn't have to pay for. Claude and I were happy we made it to the top and saw this unusual construction on the side of a hill. I can't even remember the number of huge timbers they had to get to the top of the hill to make the foundation and then build the temple. You will see the magnitude of that task in the pictures. Also, there is a huge deck from which one can get a magnificent view of Kyoto. Unfortunately, this was our cloudy and drizzly day. We still had great views but a clear day would have been even grander.
Here is Teapot Alley from the bottom looking up and the top looking down toward the bottom. Claude and waded through all that humanity to get to the top for our tour of Kiyomizu Temple.
These are views of the entrance to Kiyomizu Temple. The first is a class of school children. The second is a bell. The third is a gorgeous pagoda-like structure that I do not know the name of. The fourth is little boards on which you write a prayer. A ribbon is through it to hand in the temple. The priest says prayers and after a period of time they are taken down and burned. The fifth is a couple I caught taking pictures. He would say something and she would do a cute pose and they would giggle as he took pictures.
These pictures are inside the temple.
These are views of the Kiyomize Temple.
Then we walked outside and across another platform and began our descent to the level of the entry to the temple.
Believe it or not, we still had time to take a leisurely stroll down Tea Pot Alley. We sat at the bottom and Frank Shoop joined us for a nice conversation before the others came back to the bus.
What a full day. What wonderful things to see and experience. Could it get any better? Wait for the next day's installment.
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