Kyoto

What an amazing and wonderful city; full of beauty and splendor.  Rich in history and culture; Kyoto use to be the capital of Japan.
Ichi-san is briefing us for the trip by Shikansen (bullet train).  We left from Shinagawa and it was about 90 minutes to Kyoto by this fastest of trains.

The Shinkansen approaches.  There are a couple of different types of Shinkansen.  They travel at very high rates of speed; sometimes approaching 200 miles per hour.  The ride is incredibly smooth; more so than any other train, plane, or automobile.  The interior seating is similar to an airplane, but more spacious and comfortable.
Kyoto was Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868. It is now the country's seventh largest city with a population of 1.4 million people; where the ancient world and the new world live together in harmony.

Over the centuries, Kyoto was destroyed by many wars and fires, but due to its historic value, the city was not chosen as a target of air raids during World War II. Countless temples, shrines and other historically priceless structures survive in the city today.

We arrive at the hotel around noon.  Here is Edmun and Ichi-san checking in.  Kyoto may be an ancient city, but the hotels are modern.  Our rooms even had internet.

After a delicious lunch consisting of large, hot bowls of ramen, we hit the streets.  Left to right is Terry, David, Jerry, Theresa, and Emi-san.
Some streets are lined with various shops.  One could purchase just about anything from clothing to food to swords.

After lots of walking up the streets and shopping along the way, we were delightfully surprised to find a beautiful temple grounds at the top.  Below is a collection of pictures from this area with a few comments.
The six of us resting after a long uphill walk.

 

 

 

 

This might be J&T's Christmas card. (right)

 

 

 

 

Here's what happens when you have an ancient city that tries to keep up with modern technology.  I would hate to be the a light-and-power worker in this city!

 

Looking down on the many levels on the temple grounds.

After visiting the grounds of the last temple, we headed down the sidewalk in Kyoto, for our next stop. (Left to right) Emi-san, Terry, David, Theresa, Jerry, and Edmun.
Next stop was Kinkaku (Golden Pavilion).  It is a popular name for one of the main buildings of this temple, which is properly called Rokuon-ji Temple. In the 1220’s it was the comfortable villa of Kintsune Saionji.  We also toured the surrounding grounds which included temples, shrines, and gardens.  The outside of the building is actual gold (gold leaf, I believe).

Here is a map of all the things to see on the grounds, some of which include: The Belfry, Chinese style gate, The priest's living quarters, The abbot's chambers, Shin-un, The Galaxy Spring, Ganaka-sui, The Ryumon Taki (a waterfall), The Pond of An-mintaku, The Sekka-tei Tea House, Fudo-do (dedicated to the god of fire), Hidari-Daimonji Hill, Kinugasa Hill, and the Visitor's Tea House.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the seven of us in with the Kinkaku in the background.  From left to tight: David, Ichi-san, Jerry, Edmun, Terry, Theresa, and Emi-san.

This is called the Ginga-sen (I believe).  It's similar to holy water.  David, being the practical man that he is, takes a moment to wash up!  ...just kidding.  You can drink the water or poor it on yourself.

This is the Pond of An-min-taku.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that this is the Ryumon Taki (waterfall)

The approach to the Tea House / garden.  One could go inside for a very formal tea ceremony, or have tea outside, sitting on these tables with a red cloth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They bring you tea and a small snack cake.
You drink the tea from the bowl.

This is the Belfry.

The Emperor's Palace

It was the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868, when the capital of Japan moved to Edo (now called Tokyo).
This is the entrance.

But you have to cross this moat to get there, first.
Once inside, you see much of the beautiful buildings and landscape.
Shrine in upper left.  Exit from the Palace grounds (above), and three happy women (left); which is what life is all about!

Dinner in Kyoto

Ichi-san took us to a traditional style restaurant that boasted service by Geisha girls.  The men were, of course, interested (for educational purposes)!  So we learned that there are Geisha girls that work in Japanese style restaurants.  They are dedicated to serve our party.  They are elegant and formal.  But, they are not what the typical American thinks of a Geisha.  I suppose some still do exist that provide other services, but we wouldn't know anything about that.
We removed our shoes at the Genkan (entrance hall) and were shown to our own room.  There were two tables with cooking pots on them.

The women sat at one table.
The men sat at the other table.  It has nothing to do with hierarchy or sexism; rather just practicality.  The men want to talk about men things, and the women about shoes...  or some boring something-or-other; who knows?

The dedicated service ladies (Geisha) cooked course after course for the meals.  We could also cook our own food as we ate.  It was similar in experience to Fondue (sorry for using a French word...  I HATE the F... never mind; I digress).
David seemed rather satisfied.

The room is dedicated to our party.  So, after dinner we all spread out around the room.  Funny thing is, I just got done telling everyone that we should be careful not to spill sake on the tatami mats, when I accidentally knocked over a flask of sake!  Oh well.  Maybe I will learn to keep my mouth shut, and /or be more careful!
The four CEOs...  pretty happy after dinner.
I have hundreds of photos from places in Kyoto, and it's a shame that it's just not practical to show them all here.  But, a bigger shame is that, even the best photos do not do proper justice to the beauty and pleasure of Kyoto, Japan.  It's a beautiful and wonderful place.