Needless to say, Kyoto is one of the most popular traveler's destinations in Japan. You will see the mixture of old and new atmospheres of Japan in Kyoto. It's hard to choose where to visit if you have only a couple of days. So, I thought that I might give you a traveler's story, in hopes that it will inspire you. Now, Latha goes to Kyoto, Japan's old capital city.
Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku Temple)
Our next day trip was to Kyoto, the former capital of the country. This was part of our study tour to a couple of manufacturing plants around the area. I found the city very charming with an old world characteristic of old houses along the banks of the River Kamo. First we visited the beautiful Kinkaku-Ji Temple which translated literally means 'Temple of the Golden Pavilion' and its proper name is Rokuon-ji. The history of the temple is very interesting. In the 1220s it was the comfortable villa of Kintsune Saionji. In 1294, Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of Ashikaga abdicated the throne and started building Kitayamaden and took special care to make Kinkaku a breathtaking site. He lived the life of a hermit or "vanaprastha" as it is known in sanskrit in the serene setting. In due accordance to his will, Kinkaku was made into a Zen monastery after his death.
This building consists of three types of architecture. The first floor is Shinden-zukuri, the palace style. It is called Ho-sui-in. The second floor is Buke-zukuri, the stule of the Samurai house and is called Cho-on-do. The third floor is Karayo style or Zen temple style and is called Kukkyo-ch. The second and the third floors are covered with gold-leaf on Japanese lacquer. The roof, upon which the Chinese Phoenix settles is thatched with shingles. A number of renovation projects were done on this building and the building as it stands today was completed in 1987.
There is also a beautiful pond called Mirror Pond or Kyoko-chi. This pond contains many large and small islands. Climbing a few steps, there is another small pond, An-min-taku with a small pagoda called Hakuja-no-tsuka. There is also classic teahouse called Sekka-tei, which has a celebrated pillar. On the exit of the temple Fudo-myoo stands guard.
Nishijin Textile Center
We then went to Nishijin Textile Center where there is a fabulous display of various Japanese handicrafts, jewellery, silk fabric and even varieties of tea. A demonstration of how Japanese silk is made is also given. This place also has a fantastic collection of silk kimonos costing even up to $10000. The most exciting event of the place is the Kimono Show where some gorgeous women catwalk or slow amble wearing some of the most traditional and beautiful kimonos to authentic Japanese music. This event makes your worth the visit to the shop even if you don't buy anything there. We then lunched at a traditional Japanese restaurant with the tampura. Eating the slippery and soft Tofu with the chopsticks I wondered if this is like the Japanese martial arts which use controlled and subtle aggression with infinite amount of grace.
Sanjusangen do Temple
Our final leg of the trip was Sanjusangendo temple and this was also a beautiful temple with three levels. The specialty of this temple is that it has shrines for health, love, happiness, safe journey and what not. There is an interesting love walk occupied fully by teenagers. The story is that if one can walk eyes closed between the two love stones and reach the other one safely he or she would be successful in love. If this person takes the help of another to do this, he or she would need someone's help to achieve love. I could really identify with the dichotomous nature of the country, one side being so scientific and automated in almost every walk of life and still nurturing this kind of belief. I could recall the youngsters in my city all dressed in the MTV Style to hit the disco on a Saturday evening and still stopping at the local temple to offer prayers before leaving and applying the vermilion on their foreheads very religiously.
A Day in Tokyo (A Traveler's Story)
