Kims in Kyoto

We slept early and so well, that waking up to observe the Buddhist morning ceremony wasn’t too difficult. We weren’t able to take photos during, but we enjoyed the chants huddled around a heater that started at 6:30 am and ended around 7 am. We were able to take photos before and after the ceremony at Jokiin Temple:





I had made a donation and checked off prayer requests on sheets provided in our room for safe driving, good relationships, and family well-being to name a few and gave it directly to the monk. Shortly thereafter, another employee rushed to the room to give me an amulet with well wishes and incense as a thank you gift:



Our temple breakfast was again vegetarian and very well prepared with fish cake, pickled vegetables, and soup:



Their version of Catholic guilt: “Good morning. Please remember, even one grain of rice has a power of the universe. Please remember, even one drop of water contains heaven and blessings. Please appreciate nature. Enjoy your breakfast.”:



After packing up the car, descending the mountain was easier than yesterday’s climb and we headed north to Kyoto which took about 2 hours. I had been to Kyoto in 2017 as well and reread my posts to prepare for this trip: http://leadingalifeofcyn.blogspot.com/search/label/Kyoto

Our first stop was Fushimi Inari Taisha which is famous for its many torii gates and is south of Kyoto:









After realizing we didn’t properly activate the parking sensor, we properly paid and traversed the city to Kinkaku-ji Temple, otherwise known as the Golden Pavilion. This is a Zen temple covered entirely in thin layers of pure gold:





It was idyllic as we saw this egret standing in front of the temple:





After being disappointed by their snack options, we went to nearby Ryoan-ji and found a snack stand in front of the temple complex. We noshed on mitarashi dumplings or rice flour dumplings and yuba-man or steamed pork bun:



Then we were ready to enter and the garden and lake at the temple were littered with cherry blossoms:











There were other flowers in bloom too:



But the purpose was to see the world famous zen garden; as my mom points out, they sell replicas at the Metropolitan Museum gift shop:

A basin for ritual hand and mouth washing:



On our way out, we stopped by the same snack stand for frozen yogurt and I ordered the black sesame:



We then headed east and parked near Philosopher’s Path. Here’s a photo of when I visited in December 2017:



And here it was today:















We walked up the nearby hill to the “Silver Pavilion” which is called Higashiyama Jisho-ji:









Justin and I walked up another hill behind the pavilion on the scenic route which has a nice view:





After exiting with hordes of tourists, we walked down the hill and delighted in strawberry snacks:



And popped into a café where my mom ordered another red bean and mochi snack, and Justin and I had green drinks - matcha latte and melon soda:



By this time, all sight-seeing spots were closing as it was around 5 pm and we were beat. So we headed to our hotel. I had booked Kyoto Takasegawa Bettei which is a mix of old and new Japanese - for instance, our futon style beds are elevated (not on the floor) and we have a cypress wooden tub replete with L’Occitane toiletries:





I stumbled upon this option and with hotel prices being astronomical, instead of the usual two rooms, found a family room and needed hotel parking. After resting, my mom and I grabbed a bus a few blocks from our hotel and headed north to Shijo and Kawaramachi streets famed for shopping. We also stopped by Nishiki Market which is noted for its Japanese wares, but most shops were closed.

After buying some needed toiletries, we stumbled upon a yakiniku restaurant that may have been run by Koreans. My mom had bibimbap and I had a few Yakitori sticks. Then we hopped back on the bus back to the hotel.

The Kims had a full day today and despite the warnings of traffic and parking difficulties, did great. Although taking public transit is pretty easy here, with the 3 of us and Justin’s Japanese, we’re able to figure out the parking and hop around easily. I think our threshold for congestion is also higher, but the Japanese definition for traffic is much lower - when the Google maps line showed red, the traffic actually keeps moving just like us!

Temple Stay in Koyasan

On Instagram, I learned that Gayle King and Oprah just visited Japan for the first time and to see the cherry blossoms. With the longest delayed bloom in 10 years, they only got to see them at the very end. I’ve also seen Instagram videos where folks are mocking their discontent due to the last minute cold snap. So far, we continue to see them as we head south and I love that Gayle and Oprah were just here.

This morning, we headed to Nara Park which I also visited in 2017 (http://leadingalifeofcyn.blogspot.com/2017/12/gates-deers-and-lanterns.html). Justin had not been and we were greeted by the famous and sacred deer that wander freely:





They are very Japanese as they will actually bow to you:



Wafers are sold so you can actually feed them and although eager to eat, they are pretty tame:



We also saw many cherry blossoms along the path to the southern gate:







Below is the southern gate to Tōdai-ji (Great Eastern Temple), famed for its Great Buddha Hall:



And here’s the hall which is one of the largest wooden buildings:





There were more fully bloomed cherry trees here as well:





The crowds arrive to see one of the largest metal buddhas in the world:



There’s a column in the building that has a hole the size of the Buddha’s nostril and if you climb through it, you will reach enlightenment. We saw both kids and adults try to get to the other side:



The view as we left the building:



We found 1010 Cafe near the park where we ordered omelette rice and beef. The restaurant was more expensive than other places we have tried on our trip and was cash only. We agreed it made sense as we were in a restaurant plaza catering to tourists, but enjoyed our breakfast nonetheless. A collage below:



It took us a little bit to figure out how to pay for parking, but at least we got the credit card to work. There are metal sensors underneath the car that tracks the time at your space and a barricade that doesn’t lower unless you’ve paid - very clever and efficient!

Since we moved Nara Park to this morning, I decided to skip the drive down to Mount Yoshino which is famous for being covered with over 30,000 cherry blossom trees. It’s in the same direction to Mount Koya, but would have eaten into our time at Koya.

So we drove the two hours to Mount Koya which is a large temple settlement and the headquarters of the Koyasan sect of Shingon Buddhism. The original monastery was founded in 819 by the monk Kobo Daishi also known as Kūkai has now grown into a town with over 100 temples. A photo of our drive which included about an hour climb up the mountain on “Road to Hana” type turns:



We dropped off our luggage at our lodging and headed to Okunoin which is the largest cemetery in Japan with over 200,000 graves, many for monks and feudal lords:





We walked up the path to Gobyō-bashi bridge which marks the entrance to the inner sanctum of Okunoin. Here we poured water over the bronze statues of the Jizo to pray over the souls:



From here on you’re not permitted to take photos of the inner sanctum, but saw several tourists doing so. I just took one at the bridge which is lined with the old conifer trees and where I bowed out of respect:



The path ends at Tōrō-dō, the main hall of worship, built directly in front of the Gobyō, Kūkai's mausoleum. We’re not able to go into the mausoleum, but the main hall was very dark and felt very holy compared to other places that are overrun with tourists. Also in an hall nearby are over ten thousand lanterns, donated by pilgrims and worshippers, and lit in the hall in perpetuity. We took off our shoes and walked amongst the lanterns.

There’s a large number of corporate tombs at the cemetery with the first one established by Panasonic for their employees and families. They are meant to attract the attention of visitors. There’s a grave for termites for an extermination company and I took a photo of the one for Nissan and what I think is a coffee company:





We then drove to the head temple which is Kongobu-ji which had beautifully painted screens which we could not take photos of and the largest rock garden in Japan. Some photos of the visit of what we could take:









We then walked over to Danjogaran which is a sacred area. Konpon Daitō is the "Basic Great Pagoda" that according to Shingon Buddhist doctrine represents the central point of a mandala covering all of Japan. This pagoda and the Okunoin Temple form the large sanctuary:



The main hall and bell tower:





Nearby is also the family tomb of the famous shogun Tokugawa. Although we thought and saw that everything closes at 5 pm, when we arrived there was a sign saying it was closing at 4:30 pm today. We didn’t get to see it, but it was cool that they are buried here. It just shows how special this place is and validated by the many Japanese tourist groups.

We returned to Jokiin Pilgirm Lodging which I found on booking.com and I thought it would be interesting to experience a temple stay. You can see our white Prius parked all the way inside:



They were expecting us as our shoes had reserved spots as we changed into slippers:



The lodging and our room shown to us by the monk who checked us in:







Part of the experience is to try the temple cuisine which is strictly vegetarian. The vegetables were fresh and very nicely prepared as we enjoyed the tempura, the pickled vegetables, noodles, and etc. We rocked the provided Yukatas to get into the mood:





Our futons were laid out for us by a young monk and we opted to shower in the private bathroom. The bathrooms are shared here and most use the public bath like they do in Korean saunas. But there was no line for the private bathroom so we took advantage.

This is a once in a lifetime experience to get here and to observe the Buddhist way of life as we are lulled to sleep by the sound of a gonging bell…