Kyoto

Thankfully we got to sleep in a little later today(3/2). We checked-out of the hotel and started our tour at 8:45am. Our first stop for the day was the Nijo Castle. Construction on the castle was completed in 1626. The buildings purpose was to serve as the home to the Tokugawa Shoguns. After taking the tour I realized that I had been pronouncing shogun wrong. The letter “u” in Japanese is pronounced like the sound of “oo” in the US, so shogun sounds more like “show-goon”. The castle has an interesting defense mechanism called nightingale floors. Every step you take results in a squeaking/chiming sound. This was done to alert guards of intruders. This started to irritate me after a while since it reminded me of the squeaky floors in an old home. Cameras and shoes are not allowed in the castle. This turned out to be amusing for me since the slippers they provided were tailored to Japanese feet. They were a little tight and about half an inch short for my size 9 ½ US feet, but they failed miserable to even get on Mike’s size 12+ feet.

The next stop on the tour was one of my favorite. It was the Kinkaku-ji or better known as the Golden Pavilion Temple. It was originally built in 1397 to serve as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Now it is a shrine that houses some of Buddha’s Ashes. It is called the Golden Pavilion because it is covered with pure gold leaf. A short distance for the temple is a pine tree that was prized by the same Yoshimitsu (meaning that it is over 600 years old).

The Kyoto Imperial Palace was our next stop. Prior to entering we had to line up in 4 precise rows (people were physically moved ½ inches to ensure exact lines) to allow for easier counting by the security staff. We thought this was a little funny at first, but after they asked that we start to balance on one leg, hop up and down and moo like a cow we realized they were just seeing what the gaijins (foreigners) would do if you asked them to. Ok, so they did make us stand in lines but the rest I made up. The only funny movements were made by Anne & Shanna who were very cold and decided that if they walked pressing against each other's sides and walked in unison that this would warm them up. To their dismay it didn't work, but it succeeded in entertaining the rest of us.

Next was a buffet lunch at the Kyoto Handicraft Center. Lunch was a random collection of Western and Japanese foods. It’s most notable item was the beverage Qōo which Mike developed quite a liking for.

We then visited the Heian Shrine. It is one of the newest shrines we saw, only begining constructed in 1895. It was built for the 1,100th anniversary of Kyoto’s founding. Anne & Shanna can be seen celebrating Kyoto’s 1,214th anniversary with their celebratory stepping into the new year pose (or at least that is what I am calling it).

Our next stop was Sanjusangendo. It is a Buddhist temple that was completed in 1164. It has a room filled with one thousand life-size statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon. They are positioned in 10 rows and 50 columns. Once again no cameras and no shoes were allowed. Fortunately all of us remembered to wear socks! I was able to find pictures by looking at Google images if you are interested.

The last temple on the tour was the Kiyomizu-dera. This was Anne’s favorite site of the day. It is a UNESCO site (so are a couple of the temples and shrines listed above and below) and it is important to note that not even one nail was used to build this temple. The temple dates back to 798AD. This building had an ancient tradition in which if you jumped from its 43 feet stage and survive your wish would be granted. Over 234 jumpers were recorded in the Edo period most of which survived.

After a log day of touring we took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and arrived at our apartment around 11pm.