Kyoto

June 1, 2014

Early this morning I got up, packed a two-night bag, left my suitcase at the bag check, and headed to the subway to take the bullet train to Kyoto!

Kyoto, sometimes referred to as “the ancient city,” was the capital city before Tokyo, back in the days of Shogun and samara. The bright lights and busyness of Tokyo are replaced with rice paper sliding doors and matcha (green tea; popular all over Japan, but especially in Kyoto!).

Our first stop was the old Shogun’s Palace. This place. Is. Spectacular! 

For those that are unfamiliar with Japanese history, the Shogun was the ruler of Japan before the emperor became the primary leader. For a while the two would rule at the same time, the Emperor being the public face and the Shogun being the real decision-maker, but, through a peaceful revolution, the capital was changed to Tokyo and the Shogun was removed from power entirely. 

The Shogun’s Palace in Kyoto is now open to visitors. 

Every detail is incredibly ornate. The walls are painted with beautiful scenes, the moldings are intricately carved, and everything that isn’t carved and painted is covered in sheets of gold. I wish I could’ve taken pictures inside! It was really something. 

Another fun thing about the Palace: the floors sing! They’re called “nightingale floors.” Not only is it pretty, but it’s designed to warn the Shogun and his staff of any intruders. It’s the oldest security system in Japan!  

Outside of the spectacular Palace was a breathtaking garden. I love asian gardens! Lilly pads, bonsai trees, and turtles… just fantastic! I hear it’s even more beautiful in the spring when the gardens are in bloom! 

These funky, Seuss-like trees (below) are called Phoenix Trees and come with a pretty cool story! They are offspring of Phoenix Trees which survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb despite being 1.3 kilometers away from the center of the explosion. More offsprings of these trees are planted around Japan to represent the importance of peace and life for the next generation.

Finally, the time came to leave the beautiful garden… and head to another garden!

The next stop was another Shinto shrine. This one was uniquely painted orange and green! The shrine also featured 4 different gardens. Despite the heat of the day (we were there for Kyoto’s hottest day of the year; just under 100 degrees Fahrenheit), I really enjoyed the beauty of these gardens. 

 Next on the agenda was more sight-seeing from the bus (yay air conditioning!) and a little bit of walking through the streets of Kyoto. During our tour, our guide told us some about geishas as Kyoto is a big city for them and for geishas in training. 

Basically, I learned that every Western interpretation of geishas I’ve ever seen is totally wrong. They aren’t prostitutes at all! Memoirs of a Geisha is pure fiction! I feel very lied to. 

I ran into these two geishas in training on the street as I did my touring and snuck a picture! 

 Between the heat, hours of walking the gardens, and exhaustion from karaoke the night before, I was pretty beat for the day! I did a little window shopping with friends after dinner (where I found this gem:)

and then I headed in for an early night, ready to recharge for our full day of sight-seeing tomorrow!