Kyoto

Kyoto is an amazing place. It's completely different from Tokyo. Where Tokyo is modern, crowded and fast paced Kyoto is serene, traditional and much more sparsely populated. The city is very concentrated and there is a building limit so from our 6th floor room in the hostel we can see all the way to the densely forested steep mountains that surround the city on two sides. Many of the famous temples are nestled at the base of these mountains and you can ride to the edge of the city in as little as half an hour.
Despite a tumultuous history as Japan's feudal capital, Kyoto was spared much of the WW2 damage inflicted on other Japanese cities leaving many of the traditional houses, castles, canals , theaters and many many shrines and temples. This has made it the Capital of traditional culture in japan.
Kyoto people seem to us a little colder than the people in tokyo which adheres to the stereotype. We certainly seem to get a lot of long stares. However I think this may be more to do with the fact that almost all the foreigners here are tourists (as opposed to Tokyo where many are expats). I can see how this would give Kyoto people a worse impression of foreigners or at least make them seem more of a novelty. Especially if most of the tourists are like the American guys at our hostel ( they are nice but obnoxious and loud. Very loud.)

The philosophers walk.

We took a bike ride along the famous philosophers walk. It is a walk that runs along an old canal surrounded by beautiful forest and temples on one side and a panoramic view of the flat Kyoto valley on the other. It is hands down the most beautiful place I have ever been and even despite it's tourist status it is not overdeveloped, just dotted with nice restaurants.

The manga museum

We went to the Kyoto manga museum, an ambitious museum which explains the history and concepts of manga (and it was co-founded by a brain scientist). It is however mostly devoted to amassing a huge collection of manga for the public to read. It has now over 200 000 titles and 800 yen will give you a free pass to read manga on the lawns all day. It was so relaxing lying on the fake grass in the afternoon light and reading from the huge selection of manga in English.

Kinkakuji

We also went to the kinkakuji temple, known in English as the golden pavilion. This group of temples was constructed initially as a retirement villa for the shogun yoshimitsu in the 1200s. It was later taken over by a sect of buddhist monks. The actual pavilion that gives the area it's name is a magnificent three leveled pavilion covered in gold leaf. The whole area was so beautiful and detailed. We saw it on a day shrouded in mist which created the perfect effect: the surrounding forest and moss covered hills dripping with the last night's rain.

Gion district

We spent a day in gion district: a shopping and restaurant area famous for it's traditional food crafts and its many geisha houses. Everywhere we went we saw maiko (geisha in training) . It's strange to see them in their kimonos shopping and smoking, but in general I think japanese people see less of a partition between traditional and modern elements. To the people of japan a Shinto shrine with a vending machine at the base is not so incongruous. The food in gion (and Kyoto in general ) is great and we have eaten some great local dishes like folded Kyoto omlettes and delicious brown rice which is somehow turned violet.

The imperial palace

Luckily the day we arrived in Kyoto the imperial palace was having it's autumn open days. So we got a rare treat. It was amazing walking around the huge stark and beautiful palace complex. I couldn't help imagining the emperor Meiji living there as a boy totally isolated while the world changed outside. Japan transformed in his lifetime from a feudal isolated nation to an industrialized world power and by the end of his life he would be wearing western clothes eating western food and living in his new modern Capital Tokyo. But when I saw the emperors private garden I imagined him as he is never shown. A child in a traditional world. It's amazing so much of his world is preserved for tourists like us to see.

Tomorrow we are off to Osaka. I'm sad to leave the peace of Kyoto but I'm itching for some more Tokyo style craziness. More posts to come so watch this space!

Luci