Kansai

Okay, I know. My lack of posting and apologies for such at the beginning of each entry is becoming ridiculous. Nevertheless, gomen-nasai. Spring has most definitely sprung in Tokyo, the cherry blossoms have come and gone, replaced by fresh green leaves that I find equally as beautiful. Two weeks ago I went on my latest, and thus far lengthiest, adventure in Japan. For five days Greg and I explored the Kansai region, the historical heart (and tourist trap) of the country. First on our agenda was Nara, now a small city, but a thousand years ago an early capital of a united Japan. We arrived early, continuing our tradition of traveling through the night, and began ticking off the ruins of temples and castles that populate Nara’s sightseeing list. Throughout the day we were accosted by the mangy tame deer that roam Nara at will. Theoretically, the deer are symbols of good fortune sent by the gods (and excessively merchandisable); practically, they are slightly creepy and dirty. By 9:30 we’d arrived at the star attraction: Todai-ji, home to Daibutsu, the Great Buddha at Nara. Nara’s Buddha is the largest in Japan and is housed by the world’s largest wooden building. I have seen many impressive works of Buddhist art while in Japan but I think Todai-ji takes first place for sheer majesty. From its massive entrance gate to its lush grounds and intimidating guardian statues, Todai-ji radiates power. At the centre of it all is Daibutsu, seated in the lotus position, calm and serene, gladly accepting the prayers and supplications of his worshippers.

After some more exploring and a lunch of okinomiyaki (definitely my fave Japanese food, if you’re ever in the area, give it a try), we considered Nara complete and collapsed from exhaustion late in the afternoon.

Up early the next morning, we headed on a multi-leg journey (2 trains and a cable car) to Koya-San, a mountain top Buddhist temple complex that attracts many students (and even more tourists). Along the way, we met up with a couple of Norwegians who were traveling through Asia. They had arrived via the Trans-Siberian Railway, a journey that Greg and I had considered doing ourselves this summer. Definitely inspiring. We spent the afternoon exploring the many temples and enjoying the relative peace and quiet before checking into the temple where we were spending the night. Never having stayed in a temple before, I was a little uncertain of what to expect. We were met at the door by a tiny, hunch-backed monk with a paralyzed right leg who moved with an awkward waddling shuffle. We later found out that our monk had been an emergency rescue worker until ten years ago, when he suffered and aneurysm. Rather than undergoing medical rehabilitation, he chose instead to devote his life to meditation and now runs the temple as a guesthouse. For the most part, the temple was like any other traditional Japanese inn. We ate our meals with the other guests (a retired Japanese couple and a woman from Kobe and her friends from Germany and Switzerland) in a tatami-mat dining room and shared a scalding-hot communal bath (I’m getting more used to strangers seeing me naked now). However, we also got to observe the monks at morning prayers, ate only vegetarian food, and had to have our lights out by 10pm.

After breakfast the next day, we bid farewell to our monk and hiked to Koya-San’s holiest site, the tomb of Kobo Daishi, who founded Koya-San in 813AD. As a young monk, Kobo Daishi traveled to China and returned preaching a new brand of Buddhism. He is perhaps the closest thing to a Christ figure within Japanese religion. As such, his tomb is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in Japan; the path leading up to it is surrounded by the graves of thousands of the devout, wishing to be buried near their spiritual leader. It was unlike any other cemetery I’ve ever seen. There were no rows of meticulous orderly gravestones. Instead, the granite markers were strewn about the surrounding hills haphazardly, green moss overtaking and reclaiming them back to the earth. It was truly hallowed ground.

Unfortunately, as we approached Daishi himself, we encountered swarms of bus-tour pilgrims who’d skipped the cemetery walk in favour of the nearby gift shop parking lot. Religious sites in Japan seem to attract an odd mix of spiritual seekers, foreign backpackers looking for enlightenment, and camera-happy Japanese tourists. At first I was taken aback by the apparent sacrilege of these would-be pilgrims. However, such religio-tourism seems perfectly normal to the Japanese.

After paying our respects to Kobo Daishi, Greg and I set out for our last destination, Kyoto. Unfortunately, multiple days of lugging around heavy packs and nights of little sleep were starting to take their toll. Add in a sprinkling of rain, a skipped lunch and train confusion and you get two very irritable travelers. When finally we reached our inn in Kyoto we were content to just turn in early.

Kyoto was Japan’s capital from 794 until the Meiji restoration of 1868 and has remained Japan’s cultural centre. This means that there is a heck of a lot of historical sites to see in the city, most of which are temples. Drawing upon our lessons from the previous day, we decided that, instead of trying to pack in as many sites as possible and stressing out, we would instead take a leisurely pace and thoroughly enjoy the buildings we did see. To help us in this effort, we rented bikes from our innkeeper (an odd man who possessed a vast amount of knowledge about Kyoto and was intent on sharing it). Let me suggest, if you’re ever in Kyoto, rent bikes. By far the easiest way to get around and also a great deal of fun.

Our first stop was Nijo-jo, a castle built by the Tokugawa Shoguns. Its most impressive feature was its “hummingbird” floors, which chirp when stepped on, an ancient security alarm. After Nijo-jo we rode up to Ginkaku-ji, which was perhaps my favourite of all the places we visited in Kyoto. A temple that had also served as a salon for artists and poets in the 16^th century, Ginkaku-ji’s main building is quite simple. The grounds, however, including a gorgeous raked Zen garden and flower-lined pathways were a breath of serenity. Our final site of the day was Kiyumizu-dera, a massive temple complex suspended off the side of a mountain. Kiyumizu was by far the most grandiose of the temples we saw. It was also reeming with tourist groups, causing us to longingly wonder what the place must have been like a few centuries back, when its magnificent views and architecture could have been admired free from the screams of school children and souvenir vendors. Thoroughly satisfied with our more relaxed day, Greg and I rested up and prepared for our final day in Kansai before heading back to Tokyo.

Originally, we had planned to take a shinkansen (Japanese for “bullet train”- FYI, no one in Japan calls them bullet trains) home on our last afternoon. However, being that neither of us had to work until 1:00 the following afternoon, we decided to take yet another night bus back home, saving a wad of yen and allowing us an extra afternoon of vacation. After buying our bus tickets and emptying our packs into lockers, we headed for Kinkaku-ji, (also known as the Golden Pavillion), a temple gilded in gold. Though located on the edge of the city, the temple’s grounds are densely wooded, so that you feel as though you have stepped into another world upon entering them. Or you would, except that the requisite bus loads of school children were there, snapping pictures and screaming at each other. No matter, even they couldn’t dampen Kinkaku-ji’s radiance. I had seen pictures of this building prior to coming to Japan and had put it on my list of must-see places. I was not disappointed. The temple itself is rather small but shines like a jewel.

We spent our extra afternoon in the city relaxing in the Imperial Palace gardens and exploring the Heian Shrine, then enjoyed dinner at a gorgeous Indonesian restaurant. Kyoto is famous for its delicious traditional food. I ate none of it. Instead, Greg and I gorged on Nepalese, Israeli and Indonesian fare. Not being much of a fan of the more traditional Japanese stuff (eel? octopus? this is supposed to be food???), I think we made the right call.

Finally, it was time to bid goodbye to the Buddhas and bustle of Kansai and board our bus back to big bad Bubaigawara.