This past Saturday I made
the other trip I'd been looking forward to even before I left the States: going to Kyoto to see my friend Jenny!
Jenny and I have been friends since middle school and although we go to college in the same state, we haven't really spent time with each other in over a year. It was a wonderful coincidence that we both decided to study abroad in Japan this summer!
All I wanted to do in Kyoto was see Kinkaku-ji, visit Ritsumeikan (the school Jenny studies at), and go to Fushimi-Inari Taisha, and we did all of those in that order. To be honest, with the exception of Ritsumeikan these are typical tourist-y things to do, and in terms of the all that you can do in Kyoto, it wasn't that much. But eh well.
On Saturday morning Jenny met me at Kyoto station, and after I bought my one-day bus pass we hopped on a bus to Kinkaku-ji.
Side Note 1: Out of all the cities in Kansai that I've been to, Kyoto has the most well-organized and efficient bus system I've seen. And you ride city buses in the opposite manner of how you ride them in the States. I don't know if it's the same in the rest of Japan, but in Kyoto people board buses from the back, and once they arrive at their destination they pare fare as they exit from the front.
金閣寺 (Kinkaku-ji) is a Zen Buddhist temple whose top two floors are covered in gold leaf. It's been around since the late 14th century and is surrounded by a huge garden. The "Golden Pavilion" sits on a pond and you can't enter it, so all you can really do is admire its beauty from the outside and enjoy the scenery of its surroundings. But even that in itself is a pleasant and calming experience, I think.
After walking through the Kinkaku-ji grounds we walked to 立命館大学 (
Ritsumeikan Daigaku/Ritsumeikan University), where Jenny takes Japanese classes. Ritsumeikan doesn't have dorms, so Jenny lives in a hotel-like apartment and commutes by bus to school everyday. Ritsumeikan is a small campus, but it's still nice to look at and has some open spaces.
We had some time before the bus back to Kyoto Station was to arrive, so for a little while we looked around an art museum across the street from Ritsumeikan called Kyoto Prefectural Inshō Dōmoto Museum of Fine Arts. Lucky for us, admission was free that day! This museum is named after a Japanese artist named Inshō Dōmoto, and was founded by him in 1966. Its two floors contain works of his including paintings, drawings, and handicrafts. The current special exhibit is called "The Possibility of the Monochromatic Drawings".
We returned to Kyoto Station then hopped on another bus to Fushimi Inari Taisha.
Side Note 2: We got off the bus and while waiting at an intersection, I noticed a 20- or 30-something Japanese guy biking in our direction. He was about to pass by until he saw us, stopped abruptly, got off of his bike and said to me in English, "Sorry, excuse me. You ride, I take picture." Say what now? "You ride, I take picture" he repeated, as he motioned toward his bike. Oh, ok. Maybe he's never seen a black person before and he just wants me to take a picture standing next to his bike. This is little weird, but what the hey. So I stood next to his bike. But that wasn't what he'd wanted me to do. "No, you RIDE, I take picture". Huh? This dude seriously wants me to get on his bike? What is this? But I was surprised and confused and didn't know what to do, so I got on his bike. He took out his phone, had me adjust the handlebars so they were angled just right, told me to smile, then snapped a picture. I got off his bike, he hopped back on, yelled "Sorry. Thank you. Enjoy Kyoto!", and was gone. And there you have it, the most bizarre thing that I've ever experienced in Japan.
伏見稲荷大社 (Fushimi Inari Taisha) is a Shinto shrine that's been around since the early 8th century. It contains trails leading up Mount Inari, and many smaller shrines line these trails. Fushimi Inari honors Inari, who is known as the god of rice and patron of business, merchants, and manufacturers. So along the path you will also see thousands of orange Japanese gates (
torii), that have been donated by businessman over the years. We also came across quite a few stray cats, so that's something to look forward to for some people. As far as climbing the mountain goes, we were too sweatily exhausted and crunched for time to make it to the top, but we went as far as we could.
Side Note 3: It costs about ¥500 to enter Buddhist temples in Japan, but it's almost always free to enter shrines. I don't know what the reason is for this, but Jenny brought it up and made me remember pondering this before when I was in Nara, so I thought I'd share.
On the way back to the bus stop I bought milk tea and a set of mixed mini-sandwiches at a bakery/cafe called Eiffel. After I ate we sat on the curb waiting on the bus and reflecting on how we think we've changed since high school. At one point Jenny told me, "You seem a lot calmer," and she has no idea how much it meant to me for her to say that. I've always been really high-strung, making simple things a big deal and needing to be perfect. I'm still working on this, but it made me feel so good to know that an old friend of mine noticed that I've changed.
We rode back to the station and parted ways there, since Jenny had an event to go to. Before catching another bus Jenny hugged me and said, "Let's not limit our meetings to foreign countries, ok?" Will do!
After that I wandered around the many levels of Kyoto Station for a couple hours, bought a book, went to the very top of the station to look out over the rest of the city, then came down and bought my ticket back to Hikone.
 |
| Looking down at the rest of the station |
This was my last free weekend in Japan, and my last chance to spend a day in Kyoto, and there's so much to do there. I could've found my way to Gion and seen whatever final Gion Matsuri festivities were going on. I could've just walked around the city. But for some reason, I just wasn't feeling it. I accomplished what I'd come to Kyoto to do, I was tired, my head hurt, I didn't have any plans, I was alone, and I just wanted to go back. So I did.
I really don't know what this means. Maybe I'm just fresh-out on day trips. Maybe, despite what I've been telling myself and other people, I actually am ready to go back home. Who knows. Alas, my second attempt and I still wasn't motivated or interested enough to go exploring and experience what Kyoto is all about. Call it a missed opportunity if you will, but I can't say I'm all that disappointed about it. Maybe next time, Kyoto. Thanks for taking time to hang out with me, Jenny!
70 Days in Kansai photos (JULY/AUGUST) \
70 Days in Kansai photos (JUNE)
Matsushima-sensei was the instructor in charge of the fourth level, so I spent most of my time with her. She teaches in New York City, is very cultured and has this chic, cool, sophisticated air about her, but she's also extremely approachable. I found her to be surprisingly patient and understanding, and during those times when our conversations digressed from the course material I was amazed by the fascinating things she had to say about cultural studies, film studies, and other topics and issues that she knows a lot about. Matsushima-sensei is one of the most fascinating people I've ever met. Even though being in a class by myself was extremely lonely at times, I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to learn from her.
Next is Melville-sensei, who taught reading comprehension. Melville-sensei is... something else. She's incredibly animated and is louder than most other Japanese women I've met. In class she would go from joking about something loudly to speaking in a low voice about something serious in a split second, and those highs and lows could be intimidating at times. She also likes to push people to think clearly and develop their ideas, which was often frustrating but proved beneficial to me. Once I got used to her, I realized that she is actually a really amiable person who wants her students to succeed.
After we'd gone through the whole aquarium we walked behind the building to look out over Osaka Bay for a while before leaving. We'd planned on eating okonomiyaki and takoyaki since we were in Osaka, but by the time we left Kaiyukan we were so tired and hungry that it didn't matter to us what we ate. So after getting to Osaka Station we ended up eating at some Italian restaurant in Umeda Station (the next building over). Then we returned to Osaka Station to board a train for Hikone.
All I wanted to do in Kyoto was see Kinkaku-ji, visit Ritsumeikan (the school Jenny studies at), and go to Fushimi-Inari Taisha, and we did all of those in that order. To be honest, with the exception of Ritsumeikan these are typical tourist-y things to do, and in terms of the all that you can do in Kyoto, it wasn't that much. But eh well.
We had some time before the bus back to Kyoto Station was to arrive, so for a little while we looked around an art museum across the street from Ritsumeikan called Kyoto Prefectural Inshō Dōmoto Museum of Fine Arts. Lucky for us, admission was free that day! This museum is named after a Japanese artist named Inshō Dōmoto, and was founded by him in 1966. Its two floors contain works of his including paintings, drawings, and handicrafts. The current special exhibit is called "The Possibility of the Monochromatic Drawings". 
伏見稲荷大社 (Fushimi Inari Taisha) is a Shinto shrine that's been around since the early 8th century. It contains trails leading up Mount Inari, and many smaller shrines line these trails. Fushimi Inari honors Inari, who is known as the god of rice and patron of business, merchants, and manufacturers. So along the path you will also see thousands of orange Japanese gates (torii), that have been donated by businessman over the years. We also came across quite a few stray cats, so that's something to look forward to for some people. As far as climbing the mountain goes, we were too sweatily exhausted and crunched for time to make it to the top, but we went as far as we could.
To wrap up the weekend on Sunday, I went to Hikone Cultural Plaza to watch kabuki theater with Loritta. Kabuki is a traditional Japanese form of theater that combines drama and music/dance. Casts of these plays are usually all male. Tickets to see kabuki can be pretty expensive, but we only had to pay ¥2000 to see this performance.
We walked through Nara Park and arrived at the main reason I went Nara: 東大寺 (Tōdai-ji). Literally, "Eastern Great Temple." Nearly 1300 years old, Tōdai-ji is a world heritage site and is also the world's largest wooden building. In fact, what stands today is supposedly only 1/3 the size of the original structure. This temple also houses the largest bronze 大仏 (daibutsu/statue of Buddha) in the world. 
After wandering around, enjoying the scenery, and taking a break for some food, we went to our last stop, a shrine called 春日大社 (Kasuga-taisha). It's old like many things in Nara are. In my opinion there isn't anything all that unique about it, except for the thousands of stone lanterns that line the pathways leading to and from it. There are also many bronze statues inside the actual shrine, but you had to pay to enter and we weren't about to do that, so we didn't see them. From there we returned to Nara Station and headed back to Hikone.
Our first stop was 興福寺 (Kōfuku-ji) which we stumbled upon by accident. Bryen, Ivy, and Anna saw some stairs lined with red banners, raced up them, and surprise! 1300-year-old Buddhist temple at the top. We entered at one end and walked to the other, where a 5-story pagoda stood. And guess who were chilling right in front of it? Deer! 
Nara is known for its shika (deer), because long ago they were believed to be messengers of certain Shinto gods, and were protected as sacred creatures. Today they are no longer considered sacred, but are still protected as national treasures. There are over 1,000 deer in Nara Park, which is accessible from many major Buddhist temples and tourist attractions in the city, so you'll see them roaming freely around those places too. 
When we reached Nara Park Bryen tried it first and was surrounded by 6 deer, one of which started chewing on his shirt. When I tried it only 2 deer followed me. I wasn't even afraid of them, but they rolled up on me so fast that I was overwhelmed and freaked out. Thankfully you can't tell as much in this picture.
I've decided not to buy any souvenirs for people because I'm too cheap and lazy. First, I don't like spending money. Second, when I buy something for someone, I can't just go anywhere and buy anything. It has to be of decent quality, it has to be special, it has to mean something, and it can't be too expensive. My method of shopping for people takes thought, time, energy, and most importantly money that I'm not willing to spend. Sorry folks. But I can't say no to Ma; she gave me life so I made an exception for her.
Onward to Hikone Castle! 彦根城 (Hikone-jō) was built in the early 17th century, and is considered to be Shiga Prefecture's most significant historical site. It's a Japanese national treasure and is even in the running to become a World Heritage site. In short, it's a very old and important place. We got there just in time to see ひこにゃん (Hikonyan), a samurai cat and Hikone Castle's mascot. Many castles in Japan have mascots, but Hikonyan is known as the most popular mascot in Japan.
'Sazae-san' is the longest-airing anime series, having first aired in 1969. This episode focuses on the concept of "mottainai" (waste/wasteful actions). As the head of the household, Namihei challenges his family to be more mindful and actively reduce their wasteful habits and consumption. A couple amusing shenanigans ensue, and in the end the family agrees that the greatest waste is when people don't get along.
'Ooi' is based on a short story written by Hoshi Shin'ichi, one of Japan's most influential science fiction writers. This short animated piece makes a statement about waste and using space efficiently as well, but does so in a creepy way. After a storm, a shrine is blown over, revealing a large hole. Villagers gather around this hole, with one yelling "Ooi, detekooi" and throwing a rock into it to see how deep it is. Media, police, and scientists gather around to investigate the hole, which appears to be bottomless. At this discovery, a sleazy racketeer buys the rights to the hole and accepts money from individuals, groups, organizations, businesses and even government agencies to allow them to dump their trash into this whole. Garbage, human waste, nuclear waste, money, weapons, you name it. The village makes tons of money off of this operation and transforms into a bustling metropolis. 
We got decently priced takoyaki from a stand-and-eat place called Hana Dako. Takoyaki are fried dough balls stuffed with tako (octopus). They're another staple of Osaka and my favorite Japanese food. I generally don't enjoy eating meat, but I will gladly tear up some tako in a minute. Lord Jesus thank you for making a way for me to come to Japan so that I could realize that I love tako! Ma can look at me crazy and shake her head all she wants, but none of that will change the fact that tako is delicious! We split 6 balls and after I took a quick picture all of it was gone within two minutes.
We passed through Osaka Station and Hankyu Grand Building to get to HEP Five, a huge mall and entertainment complex that's extremely popular among young people. Today was the last day of HEP's huge 5-day bargain sale and... I don't think I've ever seen so many Japanese girls in one place. People everywhere. Employees screaming at shoppers trying to them into their store. Security standing guard at every floor. The loudest yet most orderly pandemonium you could imagine. We went all the way to the top, looked around a bit, then came back down.
