Kyoto: Day 1

Taking an overnight bus is miserable.  We arrived at Kyoto Station at 7am and found our hostel, but couldn’t check in until 9am so we sat in a tiny coffee shop next door.  Over breakfast we decided to start our day at Ginkakuji: The Temple of the Silver Pavilion.

*Transportation in Tokyo relies on the trains and subways, but in Kyoto, buses are the way to get around.  Even with a colorful map, complete with cartoon pictures, finding the correct bus stop was often a problem. 

Ginkakuji Temple

The street to the Ginkakuji’s main gate is lined with traditional-styled shops selling Japanese crafts and sweets.  We had to try some, of course.  As I entered the pavilion, I realized that Ginkakuji is more about the garden than the temple.  It is absolutely stunning in the morning.  There are Zen sand designs surrounding the pathway and beautifully sculpted gardens up the hill to the temple viewing area.  Despite its name, Ginkakuji is not actually silver.  The shogun died before it could be completed.

Sand Sculpture

Afterwards we attempted to walk down the Philosopher’s path (a cherry-tree lined pathway along the canal to Nanzen-ji Temple, where influential Japanese philosophers were thought to walk along and meditate).  To give us some credit, we did find the Philosopher’s path…we just walked down it in the wrong direction for 40+ minutes.  We ended up considerably far from Nanzen-ji and had to take a bus back.

However, our luck didn’t improve much, as we got lost in a forest of giant spruce trying to find the temple.  It was very calm, Zen-like, and full of random temples, so it wasn’t a complete waste though.  Continuing our walk, we passed under a giant vermillion torii to Nijo Dori and into The Kyoto Museum of Modern Art.  I should have known that the Japanese wouldn’t have the same vibrant, mix-media artwork that the Portland Art Museum has.  The exhibit on display was inspired by the avant-garde movement around World War II.  Severely depressing, not to mention awkward…Afterwards we were so tired that we just returned to Gion.

That night we crossed the river to Pontocho.  Geisha have existed in Pontochō since at least the 16th century, as well as prostitution and other forms of entertainment.  The area is lit by traditional Japanese lanterns and contains a mix of very expensive restaurants—often featuring outdoor riverside dining on wooden patios—geisha houses and tea houses, brothels, bars, and cheap eateries.  As we walked down the narrow cobblestone ally, we realized fairly quickly that we were out of place.  The bouncers (if you can call slender Japanese men dressed in suits “bouncers”) glared, daring us to try and enter their establishments.  We never found out if they were strip clubs, brothels, shows, etc but women definitely were not allowed.  I wonder if the situation might have been different if Kirby was by himself.  I’ve heard stories of bouncers and hostess’ luring male foreigners into such establishments in Kabuki-cho, Tokyo.  I’m glad I’ll never find out.

Exiting Pontocho leaves you on the busy streets of Shijo-dori or Sanjo-dori, where we found Kirby’s favorite restaurant – Kappa Sushi!  If anyone from Japan is reading this right now, they would gasp and say “hontou..?” (really?).  Kappa Sushi is probably one of the most average (aka cheapest) conveyor-belt-style sushi restaurants.  But for a boy who never feels full, getting that much food for only 100 yen (about 90 cents) per plate is practically unheard of.  We ended up going here several times during our stay in Kyoto.

After staying up for 36 hours and a full day of exploring, we were exhausted and went back to our hostel to sleep.