Another Rainy Day in Kyoto

Another rainy day at Ryoanji, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Feb 13. 2012:

Yes, this entry is not in chronological order with respect to the dates of my trip. Sorry about that...I'll try to keep this one short.

In my past trips through Japan I've been one to cram as much as I can into one day. This time, the day took care of that for me. Or did it?

After our 6am service and breakfast we made our way back to Nishi Hongwanji and paid a visit to the Nishi Hongwanji international affairs office. Following that we were given a tour of a couple of the buildings on the Nishi Hongwanji grounds (we've been through them before but a different guide means you hear about different things). Then we had to decide upon what to see next.

For the simple reason that I wanted to check out the train going there, I suggested we visit Arashiyama. No one else in the group had been there before (or hadn't been there in recent memory) so off we trekked out to Arashiyama for lunch and a short walk around. It started to rain so I purchased an umbrella before following my mom into the Misora Hibari "Za"/Museum. This isn't the sort of place most Canadians would ever set foot in but my mom is a fan of sorts of the late singer so it was right up her alley in terms of interest. She was given a discount on the admission fee for showing her passport (one of the benefits of bantering in English when you look Japanese). Yes, she tried to get a similar discount at other sites. Our other two traveling companions ended up checking out the Zen temple across the street from the Randen Arashiyama station (I believe it is Tenryuji).

The next stop was Ryoanji. We grabbed a cab to get there because I for one wasn't exactly sure how to get there by train or bus. The last time I visited Ryoanji it was raining quite steadily. The same thing this time. Some things don't change.

We briefly debated visiting Kinkakuji but decided we had done enough. There was some thought given to taking a bus back to Kyoto station but I found a sign indicating a close by Randen station. So off we headed to it on foot. Along the way we passed a shop where they made wooden boxes. As I was at the back of the pack I didn't get the chance to explore and so I made do with a quick photograph of the store front. Another place to check out the next time I visit the area...

Welcome to Ekoin

Welcome to Ekoin, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Feb 14th, 2012 - A trip from Kyoto to Ekoin, Koyasan.

The day's events were relatively straight forward. First our group attended 6am service at Nishi Hongwanji and then waited for Mr. Nomura's "Kamisori" ceremony to take place (in the ceremony he was bestowed his Buddhist name or "Homyo"). After that we made our way to Koyasan, our destination for the night's accommodation. That involved a train ride to Shin Osaka, a subway ride to Namba, a wait for the train to Gokurakubashi station, a cable car ride up to Koyasan and finally a bus ride to Ekoin, the Buddhist seminary where we spent the night.

It was a taxing trip and we arrived late in the afternoon. So there was little opportunity to do any site seeing. I took a short walk into the centre of the village and bought some local confections (some of course intended as "omiyage"). I cut that walk short in order to be back in time for a meditation session.

The mediation session was a good experience. I managed to get away without having to latch my feet into the semi-lotus position we were instructed to assume. I could get my (right?) foot latched onto the inside of my left knee but I don't have the flexibility to get my right knee within six inches of the tatami floor. So I opted for a cross legged position. If I were to give a quick assessment I'd hazard to say that the Shingon approach to meditation is not as strident as the one many Westerners envision. There is no master walking behind you to administer a crack on your shoulder with a rod. Or so I recall the monk who led us through our session telling us. The interesting point of practice we were taught was to focus our sight on a point about a meter ahead of us. That facilitated the half open gaze which is depicted in Buddhist art and statues. Of course it also leads one to the danger of falling asleep.

There had been talk of a night time tour up to OkunoIn but the weather conditions, steady rain with a bit of wind, prevented that from taking place. So we settled down for a quiet night after enjoying a vegetarian meal.

This was my second visit to Koyasan and my first night's stay there. It was a much more relaxed affair than my previous visit which was a four hour whirlwind tour consisting of a walk from Ichi-no-Hashi to Okunoin, and visits to Danjo-Garan, Konpo Daito and Kongobuji. Somehow I managed to squeeze a late lunch and time to eat an "ishi-yaki imo" into that. While I did less this day it's not to say I got less out of the experience. Of course, there was the next day's service to come...

Kyoto...Again

Toji Pagoda, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Day one of my February vacation: I arrived in Kyoto anticipating meeting up with my mom and her travel companions. While I was in transit between Tokyo and Kyoto I received a message on my phone from Rev. Aoki advising me that the group's arrival would be delayed by at least two hours. As it turned out they arrived about three hours late. Thus they had spent close to 25 hours on the Twilight Express train for their trip from Sapporo to Kyoto.

On the other hand I had woken up to what was more or less blizzard conditions in Yonezawa. The taxi trip to the station was highlighted by the site of a man braving the elements while riding his bicycle. This was prior to 7am in the morning too. Takes all sorts to make the world go around I suppose. Aside from that the trip to Kyoto was relatively uneventful. I first caught sight of Mt. Fuji from the train somewhere south of Utsunomiya. In spite of the fact that it's "just there" I always seem to attach a bit of importance to each time I catch sight of Japan's most famous mountain.

Given that I had time to kill in Kyoto I picked a nearby location to visit. My destination was Toji, a temple whose five story pagoda I've seen from trains in the past but never gotten around to visiting.

In the literature one receives when entering the central compound of the temple is the statement which partly reads as "The body is Koya, the heart is Toji". I presume "Koya" is Koyasan, the mountain top headquarters of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Toji, which houses many artistic treasures of Esoteric Buddhism, was passed to Kukai (posthumously known as Kobo Daishi) around 824AD. He had the temple expanded and made it the central seminar of the Shingon sect.

One amazing thing about the collection of Buddhist art and statues at Toji is the simple fact that it exists. The main buildings of the temple seem to have all been destroyed at least once by one form or another of natural disasters in the history of the site. The pagoda which had caught my eye was rebuilt in 1644. Given that some of the statues were imported from China then one can get a feel for the immense cultural value of the collection.

Being a member of a Buddhist sect which generally only features one Buddha in each temple, visiting a Shingon sect temple can be a bewildering experience. There can be a sizable contingent of Buddhas and gods housed in some sites. Sorting them all out when you're not versed in the background of Shingon can be quite a challenge.

The rest of the day was straight forward: meeting up with the rest of the group, having dinner, helping my mom unload the things she had brought over for me and getting to bed early in preparation for an early start the next day...6am service at the Nishi Hongwanji.

It Seems Like Ages Ago...

Man in the Moon Pub, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Yeah, it does seem like ages ago when I had lunch at the Man in the Moon pub in Kyoto. I did a fair bit of traveling after that. Went to Koyasan, Kotohira (home of the famous "Konpira-san" temple), Matsuyama, Okayama and then Tokyo. Of all those, the place which took the most energy out of me was Tokyo. The hustle and bustle of the big metropolis didn't jive with me after all the running around across the countryside of Kansai and Shikoku.

As for Kyoto...it was fine. The days were a bit long given that we attended 6am service at Nishi-Hongwanji each morning. When I say "we" I mean my mother and her two travel companions from Vancouver who had come over to Japan as the Vancouver Buddhist temple group tour for 2012. The original plan had been to for a group from the temple to come over in 2011 but the March 11 disaster derailed that. Nonetheless I managed to visit two spots I haven't visited previously; Toji and Arashiyama. Both were nice but I think I'd like to visit Arashiyama when the season is fall. The autumn foliage is supposed to be very colourful up there.

As for the Man in the Moon pub: the grub is okay and they have a somewhat limited selection of draught beers. I read that their other location is better. But I won't write this location off as a disappointment. It has a nice cozy atmosphere and I could enjoy my pint of Guinness while reading the Japan Times and watching a football match. Can't complain about that...

The Night Before Leaving for Kyoto

絆, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

The On reading for the character 絆 is "han" or "ban". It's Kun readings are "kizuna" or "tsuna(gu)". I'm in a bit of a rush tonight because I'm leaving for Kyoto early tomorrow morning so I don't have time to investigate further.

Anyways, I took a whole pile of photos last night and tonight of the snow sculptures carved for this year's Yonezawa Snow Festival. The festival officially started today so the grounds were much more crowded than last night where it was the last of workers carving their snow lanterns and a handful of the curious wandering around. I did enjoy the energy of the crowd tonight. Plus the light show made things more interesting.

Ah yes, "wandering around". I taught a class yesterday where I wrote "wander around" on the board and said the phrase. One of the students said "Arisu"? That had me stumped because I suspected she meant "Alice". The connection eluded me for half a minute. Then I figured it out. Yes, this student had thougt "wander around" sounded like "wonder land". It happens...I suppose.

Saturday Morning Thoughts

First off: My kotatsu is too comfortable. I've already foregone going to a coffee shop before work. I suppose I have to put away my futon and get ready to go to work...eventually.

Last night I found out something interesting about the two high school students (equivalent to grade 10 students in Canada) I teach on Friday. I'm not talking about how I managed to keep them relatively awake through class either (typically they're dead tired and on the verge of falling asleep). It's that they were born two weeks apart. One's birthday is January 28th and the others birthday is on February 11th. I suppose they're aware of that as they've been attending classes together at our English school for at least 5 years.

As for their level of fatigue late on a Friday evening: that's to be expected. From what I understand they're going to school virtually every day of the week. Not only do they go in to attend classes but they also go in on weekends for a handful of other activities. For example, one of my students showed up early for the class I teach, which starts at 7:45pm, because club activities wound up early. I believe they usually come in after a whole day of classes and club activities. I suspect they don't get home for dinner because they usually show up wearing their school uniforms and carrying their school work. The junior high school students I taught (I no longer teach them on account of a change to my schedule) were roughly in the same boat. One kid was always on the verge of falling asleep one me. One night I just let him pass out.

Oh yeah...my secret weapon for keeping the high school kids awake: Take no Ko no Sato chocolates. (^_^)