Departure, Arrival, and Trains:Day 1
Spring passes
and the birds cry out--tears
in the eyes of fishes
With these first words from my brush, I started. Those who remain behind watch the shadow of a traveler's back disappear.
-Matsuo Basho, in Narrow Road to the Interior
A Note on Basho
After years of hearing about Matsuo Basho’s travelogue Narrow Road to the Interior, I was finally able to sit down, open up this short book, and begin reading. Basho, who lived in the latter-half of the 17th century, wrote several beautiful travel memoirs interspersed with poetry. Narrow Road is by far his most popular work, but he also wrote Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones, The Knapsack Notebook, and more. His expeditions took him back and forth across the entirety of Honshu (Japan’s main island). He weaves magnificent Zen imagery and feeling into stories of his travels—though some are clearly hyperbolic or made up wholesale—by combining short prose with haiku and other forms of poetry. Though he wrote lines for a literate audience aware of double entendre and hidden meanings, it is easy to gleam some value out of the poetry he writes.
It may seem strange to bring up Basho and his journeys on my first traveling blog post. After all, isn’t this supposed to be about my trip to Japan, not some poet who wrote pretty words almost 350 years ago? Don’t worry, it is. I just want to make it clear that I have a newfound admiration for Matsuo Basho, and that his words are partly to credit as the inspiration to go on a trip that I never thought would happen. I cannot recommend his works enough. I mention Basho only because I hope to emulate the spirit, though not the writing, of his best work. In the absence of erudite, compelling poetry, I hope my simple, short descriptions of my time here will be worth reading.
The Journey Begins
The 16+ hours of traveling don’t contain very much excitement. To describe it would be to tell you a boring story of sitting for 3 hours, moving to a slightly different location, then sitting for 11 hours, then switching locations once more to a train to sit for an hour. With the exception of a little reading and listening to podcasts and watching movies, it was uneventful.
I did eventually arrive at my first hostel safe and sound. I’ve never stayed in a hostel, but I have to say that this made a good first impression. Clean quarters, friendly staff, ease of access to a train station, and location above a coffee shop make it a perfect mix of what I like and want.
My first night I passed out at around 7 pm and woke up at 4 am. Needless to say, a day of travel wore me out, and I haven’t adjusted to the difference yet. However, this put me in a unique position to travel the city on a Sunday, just after dawn, when neither locals nor tourists had crowded the streets or attractions. Also, I got to explore on foot while the day was still cool and cloudy.
I departed from Shijo station and started exploring West Kyoto. Kyoto was the ancient capital of Japan, and hence there is history throughout. For the most part, yesterday was about visiting temples. I started with a short trek to a Shinto complex (of which I still don’t know the name), then slowly meandered the streets. I found Kinkakuji, but couldn’t go in because I was there 3 hours before they opened.
Hirano-Jinja Shrine
After walking aimlessly, I came across Hirano-jinja Shrine. The entrance is surrounded by tall cherry trees, with curving paths cutting through a park. As I came upon the temple, I found the wash basin. At all of the temples, there is a basin filled with cold, running water with which practitioners or visitors can rinse their hands, splash their face, and even get a drink. I wasn’t sure how strict the use of the water, and was hesitant to use it. Eventually, a nice old Japanese woman helped me wash my hands using the ladles provided and assured me that is what you are supposed to do. I couldn’t understand hardly anything she said, but through miming and hand gestures she even suggested wetting down my handkerchief.
After a great first meeting by the basin, she showed me how to pray at the shrine. First, you bow with your hands at your side. Then you clap your hands (I’ve seen some clap once, others twice), hold the hands there in front as you pray, finishing with another bow. At some shrines, there is a bell with a heavy rope attached. In these cases, you would grab the rope and shake it until the bell rings, then bow, clap, bow. After this encounter I found a helpful visual guide at a different shrine.
Also in Hirano-jinja is a huge tree with a platform built around the base. On the sides of the platform hang prayer ribbons. A sign indicates that one should walk counter-clockwise around the tree. Unsure how many times one should circumambulate, I stick with three rotations, which seems like a reasonable number.
Next I explore the park portion of the complex. This area is split into 3 different paths which twist and turn and combine into one another. A short walk, I find a friendly cat that says hello.
Kitano Tenman-Gu
The biggest Shinto complex that I explore is easily Kitano Tenman-gu. The gate has giant, with a stone walkway leading to the entrance. On either side of the path, stone statues of tied bulls, stone lanterns and trees with ribbons greet visitors. I explore the courtyard and see devotees, dressed in all white, selling candles and charms and other knickknacks. It is still early, so the crowds have not overtaken the beauty of the shrine, the trees, or the bamboo that grows along the river, just a short flight of stairs down to a river below.
After exploring the shrines themselves, I find a tree larger and more solid than the one I circumambulated earlier. Again, I find a platform built around the base, and a lone American woman reading on it. I say a quick hello, have a little small talk, and then walk down to the stairs to the river. They have a walk-way that goes upstream, then a bridge that crosses so one can walk back on the other side. Here I find bamboo, and reach out to touch the smooth, cylindrical surface.
Once I finish exploring the river, I walk back up the steps and leave, my feet starting to tire and my stomach starting to growl after 4 hours of walking and no breakfast. I start to make my way to the closest train station, but come across a grocery store. Thirsty and hungry, I duck in (literally, I had to duck in), and grab a 2L bottle of water and a piece of panko fried fish. I eat in the seating area and pour the 2L into my Camelbac, spilling a little of it embarrassingly.
Nijo-jo
I leave the grocery store with the intention of going back to my hostel to cool off. Instead, I come across Nijo-jo, or Nijo Castle. The castle is on the top of my list anyway, so I pay for a ticket and an audio guide and begin exploring. As you walk across the bridge through the outermost walls, one comes across an inner wall with a beautifully adorned gate. Painted with ink and decorated with bronze, the pillars of the gate hold up colored carvings of cranes, butterflies, flowers, and more.
The highlight of the tour is the inner palace, though. Everyone is required to remove their shoes for this in-door tour, but I as more than happy to get out of my shoes after all the morning walking I had already done. I couldn’t take pictures, but the combination of utility, symbolism, authority, and meaning that the layout of the castle represents is beautiful. For example, there are four chambers, each with scenes that change from spring to summer to autumn to winter. The rooms are split in two, with an elevated floor for the emperor to speak with the daimyo and local warlords on the lower.
When leaving the palace, you go through a garden that has been built section by section, slowly and arduously over 500+ years. You are left to explore the perimeter, which is sad, because I would love to walk across the stone bridge onto the 3 islands that are in the pond. However, there is yet a third layer through which one must pass on a bridge within the Castle walls. This takes you to lawn, teahouse, and more that are meant more for lawn parties than anything else.
Alas, at the end we reached the gift shop. I peeked in, and while I didn’t buy any gifts, I did get a matcha green tea ice cream cone. Delicious, not too sweet, and served with a nice little cinnamon wafer that is used as spoon. Delicious!
I exited the castle and took the train back to the hostel to cool off and then was right back out the door to Fushimi Inari Taisha.
(A Preview Of) Fushimi Inari Taisha
This complex is world famous, and it is overrun with tourists. It is beautiful, though, and it is without a doubt worth the trip. Unfortunately, I was rained out and had to leave shortly after arriving, so I won’t be writing much on it yet. I plan to go back early, on a weekday, when it isn’t so crowded and it isn’t so rainy, so wait for more on these gates.
Exhausted, I got back to the hostel and went straight to sleep at 6 pm, not meaning to. I guess I’m still not adjusted to the time change.
