Cherry blossoms everywhere

Okay.  And one more post about the cherry blossoms of Kyoto.

My friends and I visited so many temples...Todai-ji, To-ji, Koufuku-ji.  And one more my friends and I visited was Ninna-ji. The architecture is different from temple to temple, different sects, different nobility supplying funds.  The Ninna-ji temple was originally a villa for Heian nobility (this was in the 800's years!) and later was turned into a temple with sections being added.

The rooms we passed through were connected by gleaming wooden outdoor corridors and the whole complex surrounded numerous indoor gardens.

I found this rock garden fascinating with the carefully groomed pebbles laid out in a check pattern.  How do they do that?  And someone must re-do it daily because not a leaf was anywhere...  It's not like you could just walk across the pebbles and pick up fallen twigs along the way.

I had trouble catching the shadows just right to photograph the pebble pattern, but you get the idea.

This temple must have had connections with the cherry blossoms as everywhere I looked there were blossoms carved into the wood work or painted on the room screens.  I discovered a demure cherry blossom pattern along the eaves of the thatched roof.

And another one hidden away between the slats of the gardens.  Searching for the cherry blossom patterns was great fun while I wandered through this temple!

Cherry blossoms painted on the gold leaf screens.

Cherry blossoms on the roof tiles.

Fading cherry blossoms carved into the wooden doors.

 Of course the real beauty is in nature.  I can see how some architect would be inspired!

There was rebuilding going on in some places.  I thought it interesting how the wooden poles were erected to make a climbing area for the traditional carpenters.

Oh dear...  I don't know where this was... but the orange building and the pink cherry blossoms were very striking.

The cherry blossoms weren't just at the temples...  Along the railway heading back to the center of the city, the cherry blossoms practically formed a tunnel.

Back at the bullet train.  Time to go back home.  No cherry blossoms here...

But wait!  What's that I see on the cap of a bullet train janitor?  Cherry blossoms! 

Kyoto and Nara is a trip to remember.  Back to normal life!

Kyoto cherry blossoms

If one is going to visit Japan and especially the famous temples and grounds of Kyoto and Nara, then the time to do it is during the cherry blossom seasons or when the leaves are changing.  But it is hard to know exactly when those seasons will be...  The climate has been changing so though the cherry blossoms were expected in the middle of April, they bloomed early, and my friends and I just happened to be in Kyoto at the right time. 

I can't remember all the names of the temples that we visited...  This one had an absolutely gorgeous garden.  I followed real photographers around who were carrying humongous cameras and when they stopped to take a picture I tried their angle after they'd left.

So many different types of cherry blossom trees.  This was a hanging type with darker colored flowers than most.

I was quite pleased that I caught a carp in this picture.

A vendor was out by the cherry blossom trees giving out samples of Japanese sweets and sakura tea.  The tea had gold leaf drifting around the bottom of the tea cup!

There seemed to be tour buses of elderly people making a pilgrimage  to the many Kyoto temples.  The tour members were all wearing white vests and were carrying wooden staffs.  Most of them made a beeline for a place to sit within the dark temple room but they all chanted their mantra together as they paid their respects before they boarded the bus to go on to the next temple.  No pictures allowed inside the temple itself.

A happy bird singing to the tourists.

And three large turtles in a pond sunning themselves!

Kyoto at night

While my friends and I were visiting, Kyoto and Nara were at the peak of cherry blossom season.  We really hit the two cities at the perfect time though we had thought we might be too late for cherry blossoms... Of course all over Japan people are enjoying the cherry blossoms by strolling through parks and temple grounds during the day.  But the larger parks have night Cherry Blossom Viewing parties and after a quick stop at our hotel we six ladies hit the Kyoto streets at night.

Though Kyoto is a modern cosmopolitan, there are little side streets here and there and small alleyways filled with eating places and traditional tea houses.  And there is a section of Kyoto called Gion where night life is always bustling.  Gion is famous for its geisha.

Recently I have been re-reading the book Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.  (The movie Sayuri was based on this book...  but I didn't see the movie.)  The book is excellent and I wanted to read it again to understand a bit of the flavor of the Kyoto geisha district. 

So here I was passing through Gion and peering into the alleyways leading to exclusive tea houses.  I imagined pretty geisha tripping lightly down the steps on their way to different parties.  Any geisha around here?

Oh my!  A geisha!  Or maybe a Maiko (there is a difference but I don't know what).  She was hurrying down the street before turning into a small cobbled path and this was the best I could do for photography.  I did see one more geisha like figure swishing herself gracefully into a taxi but she was gone before I could get out my camera...  Well I am satisfied that I saw a geisha in the geisha capital of Japan!

Not as glamorous perhaps, but a delivery boy carrying boxes of noodles or sushi or something deftly manuevered his bicycle down the street and parked right in front of me so I asked if I could take his picture before he hurried on.  Imagine balancing all that and weaving through the little streets filled with motorcycles, cars and tourists like me who are not looking where they are going!

My friends and I finally reached our destination of Yasaka Shrine where a humongous cherry blossom viewing festival was in progress.  We didn't see much of the shrine through all the booths selling food and drink along the approach and in the center of the grounds the crowds were parked under the trees in full drinking atmosphere!  The red low seat area seemed to be reserved places for company parties while private parties were held if and where one could find space.

I wonder how much cherry blossom viewing got done with all the drunken gaiety...

We finally reached the famous weeping cherry tree, a huge, old tree near the shrine grounds.  It looked like the branches were supported by hundreds of wires which were interesting with the night lighting, though I couldn't tell how exactly the wires were rigged.

My friends and I were tired after a day of walking (18723 steps this day!) and after a noodle dinner we took a taxi back to the hotel and played card games until we dropped off to sleep one by one...  Dreams of cherry blossoms and geisha that night!

Todai Temple in Nara

So... to continue on with our Kyoto-Nara trip... though not in any particular order.

If nothing else, my friends and I did a lot of walking this trip... But we used many forms of transportation;  bullet trains, regular trains, subways, taxis, street cars.  We would step out of a station and walk, walk, walk in whatever direction all the other tourists were walking.

I thought this was great incentive to use the stairways rather than the escalators.

My friends seemed to have a destination in mind, and Kaoru-san is a definite map enthusiast, but I just followed along taking pictures and making a mental note of the places we visited (and now two days later have forgotten why a place was famous...)

Kyoto and Nara has countless (COUNTLESS!) temples and shrines filled with ancient statues and artifacts.  I have no idea what the different denominations are nor what is the difference in architecture.  There seemed to be many pagodas, but the strikingly beautiful cherry blossoms in the temple and shrine gardens were breathtaking against the historical buildings.

This is Todai Temple, and until recently, the world's largest wooden building.  It is really a must to see if visiting Japan.  Just standing at the gate all I could say was "Wow!"

You can get an idea of the size of Todai Temple with all the tiny people at the entrance.

We were very fortunate to be able to visit Todai Temple at the peak of the cherry blossom season.

And inside the temple is the world's largest bronze statue.  I'm afraid my photos don't do a good job of showing the scale though my camera did manage to catch the image in the very dark hall.

There was an explanation of the size of the statue...  His hand is about the size of a 4 1/2 tatami mat bedroom!  Ah... Can you spot the man lighting incense at the front altar?  That gives you something to compare the Buddha with.

Look how steep that stairway is!  And no handrails!  Not for tourists though...

The temple is built on wooden pillars and there is a hole in the base of one of them that is supposedly the same size as the Buddha's nostrils...  The legend is that if you manage to pass through the hole you will be blessed with enlightenment.  I did NOT try this...  Too embarrassing to get stuck in a post!  We watched a few people try and have to back out...  I guess if I want to have enlightenment I'll have to go on a diet first...

 
 A cherry blossom post tomorrow.

Nara Deer

Oh dear!  I have too many pictures!  Where to start?!

My friends and I have been planning a trip to Kyoto and Nara for a couple of months.  These are ladies who have been coming to my house for years and years though one friend and her husband retired to another part of Japan.  We all coordinated our schedules and spent two happy, laughter filled days!

It takes about an hour by Bullet Train to get to Tokyo from the station.  Even though it is not that far away, I can count the number of times I've been to Tokyo by Bullet Train.

From there we took another Bullet Train to Kyoto, and our friend Sachiko-san boarded the train half way there.  In Kyoto we left our luggage in a locker and went on to the city of Nara which is famous for its historic temples... And its deer!

I considered myself very foresighted to have worn a bright red coat on this trip.  I do not want to get lost!  I don't know why all my friends wore neutral colors...

"I can't see you guys!"

Kaoru-san, Eiko-san, Sachiko-san, Mari-san and Yumiko-san.  (Do you notice that I call these friends by their first names whereas I don't with my patchwork friends....  I don't know why.  Maybe because we normally speak English when we're together...)

Kaoru-san made sure I was well taken care of during the two days...  Not unlike leading a child by the hand and keeping track of the many train tickets.

Anyway... Nara has free-roaming deer.  I even remember seeing the deer when I visited Nara as a child with my family.  The highlight of that Japanese trip was seeing my father being chased by a deer!  I hope I am a little more cultivated now in my old age and can say that the highlights of the this trip are the historic temples and statues and gardens.  (But I did enjoy the deer...)

Nara deer just roam the park freely.  There are no fences, there don't seem to be any places they are not allowed to enter.  Hundreds?  Maybe thousands!  They nap where they wish to, they wander around looking for unsuspecting tourists.  The deer seem to know perfectly well that the tourists are visiting Nara in order to feed them and if a tourist hasn't bought a pack of deer crackers from the many vendors, then they are not worth talking to.  Ho-hum...

BUT... if a tourist buys crackers (and we all do) suddenly any nearby deer will pay close attention as money exchanges hands and then the tourist better beware!  A deer has a second sense about when a cracker has been hidden and will pursue the tourist earnestly!  There are signs around to warn the tourists and it is all in great fun but you do hear an occasional scream as a tourist runs through the park with a couple of deer in pursuit.

A tourist surrounded by deer.  If he's got crackers he's not going to be able to do much cherry blossom viewing!

Aww...  A baby deer...

I was amazed that the deer were just standing by the main intersections and didn't seem to wander out into traffic.

Such a nice quiet deer.  Shall we feed it?

Kaoru-san bought me crackers so that I could have the feeding "experience".

Oh my!  Here they come!

 

"Okay, okay!  Here's one for you... and you... and you...  Stop biting my coat!  Hey! Don't push!!!

"HELP!!!"

The Nara deer are wonderful.  Expect to be popular if you feed them.

Tomorrow's post will hopefully have a bit more of a cultural view of Kyoto and Nara. 

Kyoto trip

Hey friends!  Guess where I am this bright early morning!  (In Japan).  I'm in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan.  Yesterday at day break I left with a group of 4 other ladies, met up with another friend half way across Japan and the 6 of us are spending two days exploring Kyoto and the nearby Nara (with lots of World Heritage temples).  Tetsu shudders to think what 6 ladies traveling together might be like!  Noisy for sure!  A bit intimidating as we take over train seats and small noodle shops.

Well, I'm taking picutres but I:m afraid my camera battery will give out if I'm not careful (and yes, I recharged the battery before I left...  I'm just taking a lot of pictures.)  This morning while my friends are still asleep, I've come down to the hotel lobby and discovered Internet service for 15 minutes of Internet service.  But that doesn't include photo download... I don't think.  Wait a minute... Maybe it does, but I can't figure that out...  I'll be back in Nikko late tonight so maybe I can post photos tomorrow.

Bye!  15 minutes are up!

Old-fashioned

Mrs. Furui and I have always been a bit reticent about embracing technological advances.  That's putting it nicely.  In other words we're a bit old-fashioned.  Mrs. Furui more so than I.

When Takumi was in kindergarten the world was just coming into video games.  A group of about four of us mothers decided we did not want our sons to be consumed by video games and so we refused to have them in our house.  Of course we were all met by wails of disbelief from the sons and told how mean we were and how EVERY other boy in the world had video games but them.  The mothers rallied though and we often sought support from each other about the decision.

However as our boys grew older, one by one the mothers fell by the wayside and gave in to the family's wants.  By the end of kindergarten Mrs. Furui and I were the only ones who still hadn't bought video game machines and games.  (But both our sons outsmarted us and somewhere along the line in upper elementary school grade the boys bought their own hand held games with their own allowances...)

Mrs. Furui's family also didn't need to have video players or DVD machines though my family gave in to that trend early.  And Mrs. Furui isn't a camera buff like me nor a blogger.  She still has her husband print things for her from his office computer.  If you want Mrs. Furui, you have to call her house phone.

Our reticence about technology extended to cell-phones for many years.  I happily lived without one when my friends were sharing their new cell phones and available do-dads.  Finally I inherited Leiya's old cell phone when she went to the States (that's been awhile now) and a couple of years ago I actually went out and BOUGHT my very own cell phone that has cute animation and lovely melodies.  But Mrs. Furui has resisted conforming to the new world...  And I love her for her stubbornness.  It seemed like she was a pillar of a past lifestyle standing in the whiz of the modern world.

So imagine my surprise yesterday when I stopped in at her house before running some errands and she pointed to a bag...  with a cell phone in it!  MRS. FURUI'S VERY OWN CELL PHONE!!!  She has joined the cyber world!

Mrs. Furui's husband (who, as a physicist is more adaptable to technology) is going to Europe next week for a conference.  And he will take his iPad with him and wanted to be able to e-mail Mrs. Furui.  (No wi-fi in the house) so, this weekend he dragged her into a cell phone store despite Mrs. Furui's protests and now she has a cell phone...

Which she doesn't know how to use...

I am proud to say, that despite my very limited knowlege about cell phones, I was able to link our cell phones to get Mrs. Furui's e-mail address and other pertinent cell phone information.  And send her a text message.  And show her how to send me one.  And register my cell phone information in her cell phone directory.  Don't I sound masterful?  That's all I know how to do and I made so many mistakes while trying to show her, we lent new meaning to the term "blind leading the blind".

I will miss not being able to say,

"I have a friend who still doesn't have a cell phone."

But I will now be able to contact her and probably drive her to frustration when she tries to reply to the text messages I'm going to send her.

You will notice that neither of us have even considered joining the iPhone world of touch panels.  We are still both pretty old-fashioned.