Nihongo-a-Go-Go :: Mandy's Journal

Kyoto:Day 2-Conspiracy!

Our second day in Kyoto, we woke up to an early morning beautiful sunny day. We decided that the game plan was to go to the Imperial Palace (right across the street from the hotel, but completely unviewable behind the high hedges), then go to Tenshi no Sato, then come back into the city center and go to one of the big temples, probably Ginkakuji. Alas, the day was not quite like that.

After dropping off our key at the desk, we headed across the street, into the luscious green park of the grounds. There were lots of little kids, which confirmed out belief that all children in Kyoto are free range. They're always trying to escape and just randomly running across one's path. We made it up to the Palace as the sun was mounting. It promised to be a rather toasty day, and I regretted my decision to wear my hoodie. When we got to the gates, a man informed us that as we had not registered, we needed to walk to another spot in the part, register for a tour, and that the next tour would begin at 2. It was 10 am at the moment. Annoyed, we decided that we couldn't plan our day around that, so we regretfully abandoned the tour of the palace. We decided to head to Tenshi no Sato early, then see what else we could do. Luckily, we made another discovery on our way back to the hotel.

There is a legend in Japan about Lord Wake no Kimura (I butchered that spelling). When a vassal seduced the widowed queen of Japan, he intended to step up to the throne. Our hero beheld in a dream that no vassal should ever attain the throne (so much for democracy, heh) and that it was his job to stop the perpetrator immediately. He was in a skirmish on his way there, where he was severely wounded in the leg. Before the bad guys could finish him off, a thousand wild boars came to his rescue, escorting him to the Palace so he could fulfil his sacred charge.

On the walk, we noticed a small shrine, with a big guardian pig in front. We were going to pass by, but on reading the little posted sign, it fascinated me. We paid a bit to go in, and walked around. The place was covered with boar images. Because of the legend, foot and leg healing is said to come of visiting this shrine. The image of the foot was found in many places.

Each little shrine house within the larger enclosure has a special thing. Most shrines have guardian dogs, or lions. This shrine, Goo Shrine (pronounced "Go") has guardian boars all over.There were also many glass cases of boar mascots, carvings, pictures, plushies, anything. It was a random discovery, but very interesting and unique. Very cool piggies!

We headed on the slooooooooooooowest train out to the west of Kyoto, where Tenshi no Sato is located. I know, I know, you don't want to hear dollie things, but suffice it to say we had a great time. I sold one of my dollies to pay for a new FCS one, and ordering him was so much fun! The girl spoke English, so this third version of Thomas (his older version is getting mailed out tomorrow) has an image concept. The artist painting him will know he's a poet and a romantic. Yay! I don't know if I can wait the whole month for him! Here is cute pic of Harlequinn in the gardens there. In his jester costume, he got many "Kawai!"s from the staff.

Again, we rode the slowest train back to the city center, and decided that we could make it to Ginkakuji, the Silver Temple, before it closed. Everything in Kyoto closes at 5, which makes it hard to get anywhere, especially with the lack of subways. And whereas maps of Nagoya make things look further apart than they are, maps of Kyoto tend to make things look closer. So...we walked for an hour only to get to the temple five minutes after it had closed. I could have cried.

Too tired to make the long trek back, we walked around the area a bit. Tempted by a shinto gate over one road, we wandered down a bit and up some steps to a little shrine area, hidden in the trees a little ways up a hill. This place was quiet, if mosquito infected, and seemed more private and personal. As if the people who came here to tend to the shrines really believed. It was getting dark, so unfortunately my pictures were mostly blurry, but again, it was an accidental discovery after a disappointment that proved really interesting.

We headed back, this time braving the bus. We went to Kyoto Station to find dinner and do some shopping, and found a great candy and traditional sweets shop. Yum! Yatsuhashi! I think that cinnamon delicacy is my favorite food I've found in Japan. Have no fear, family, I'm sending some home to you. We also found...a Subway! Yes, the sub place! And though I should have been eating tofu tempura and green tea ice cream, I very happily purchased a 30 cm turkey sub. My first taste of turkey in 8 months. Mm...turkey...

We ate back at the hotel, exhausted, and a little disenchanted. We played with our purchases, and planned out the next day. Only one day to go...stay tuned tomorrow for Kyoto: Day 3-When Good Tour Busses Go Bad.

Posted by Mandy at June 7, 2005 01:32 AM