One more shrine and the Daimonji Festival

Today was another scorcher, hot hot hot! I hear that it has been hot back home, too, so I won't go on and on about it. We had a slow morning but eventually we pushed ourselves out the door and onto the bikes for a visit to the Fushimi Inari shrine. We had seen pictures of this place and it looked and sounded really interesting. It was a hot day for biking along the river!



All the tourist guides say to get to Fushimi Inari on the train. We have been trying to ride bikes and conserve money so we were a bit conflicted about how to go because it looks pretty far on the map. In the end we decided to ride together part of the way, then split up so Jana and Aleeza could take the train while Benna and I rode the rest of the way. It went well, Benna and I had a fun adventure getting kind of lost but eventually making our way along a canal where we had to follow a really narrow path and duck under some low bridges. We arrived before them even though we rode (and got lost) and they took the train!

Anyway - The lower part of the shrine was beautiful but there were renovations going on so several of the buildings were shrouded with scaffolding.



The temple honors a god of rice, and the messenger of this god is a fox, so there are statues of foxes all around.



But the main feature of this shrine are the hundreds and hundreds of Tori gates.



We had read about the long paths lined with gates, but seeing them in person was overwhelming. The paths were lined almost continuously with these gates.



Every ten minutes or so there would be a set of shrine buildings, in some cases a pond or waterfall. We hiked for maybe a kilometer before turning around, but the paths went on for more than four kilometers to the top of the mountain!



Tonight is a special night in Kyoto. As part of the end of "OBON" a series of bonfires are lit on the sides of some of the mountains surrounding the city. The tradition is very old, and it is cool to note that several old Kyoto families organize the bonfires in a tradition that has been passed down through the generations. When I came here in 1975 I hiked up the mountain and saw the fireplaces, and I remember thinking that one day I'd like to see the bonfires in person. That day was today!

Unfortunately, distant bonfires don't photograph really well! But here are some pictures from tonight. We went up on the roof of the building along with most of the neighbors. All around on the streets people gathered to look up at the hills.



Traffic came to a standstill as the first fires appeared promptly at 8pm. From east to west, every ten minutes more mountainsides lit up in different shapes. It was cool!



The past few days have been hot and long, and our nerves have started to wear thin. Aleeza and Benna were both in foul moods tonight. Aleeza managed to pretend to be smiling long enough for me to take this sweet picture.

Weekend in Kyoto

Greetings once again from El Park Square!



Kyoto is such an interesting city. Here I am at our modern apartment building. Yet, a few minutes on our bikes and we can be lost in one of dozens of shrines and temples that are scattered around the city. Speaking of bikes, it is remarkable just how many bikes are in use, and how deeply integrated the bicycles are into the lifestyle. For example, outside the supermarket, here's what you'll see....



Anyway....

Yesterday, Saturday, we rode a short distance to "ginkakuji" which is "the silver pavillion." It is one of the most popular temples in Kyoto so it was very crowded. It was so crowded, in fact, that it was difficult to get a clear picture of the place! However, I really enjoyed the place, as I remembered enjoying it 35 years ago. There is something very precious about the place. It is a prototype for Japanese tea rooms and gardens, and with some imagination (OK, a lot of imagination) you can imagine it as a peaceful retreat from the city, as it was hundreds of years ago. Enjoy these pictures.







After the temple, we had to walk back down the hill to our bikes, We had promised the girls a treat, and we searched the many stalls for the perfect treat. There was this cool shop selling all kinds of pickled vegetables, including what looked at first like plain cucumbers on a stick. They turned out to be soaking in seaweed and brine, and they were really crisp and refreshing!



But for the girls, crisp and delicious pickles did not take the place of ice cream. And after all, you can't "wear" pickle like you can "wear" ice cream!
(This is one of those pictures that Benna will want me to get rid of when she grows up!)



Today, Sunday, we went to a flea market at a shrine that was even closer to the house, about three minutes by bike. There were dozens of vendors, lots of handmade things like pottery, carved wood (chopsticks, platters, etc.) woven stuff, handmade clothes and shoes, glass, ink-stampers, the list would go on for a while. Then there was the food - many types of fresh pickled vegetables, baked things, honey, coffee, dried fish things, and more pickled vegetables. It was really fun!



The only downside was the heat - it was really hot and really humid. This is the "kyoto summer" that we were warned about! The kind of heat where you are damp with perspiration within minutes just standing in one place! The girls were not in the mood to walk around looking at the crafts and foods, so we got them cold drinks and told them to wait at the entry gate. We left them for quite a while. When I went back to check on them, I found them like this - playing hand games in the shade. Aleeza told me that some Japanese people had stopped to take their picture! She whispered that "we might be famous!"



Jana's friend Harufumi was there selling vegan food products and a cool book that his son wrote - a diary of their family trip to Nepal. (Why didn't I think of that?!) Next week we will go to his home for a visit, which I am really excited about. All the places we have been to have been on rail lines, but his town (village?) is not reachable by public transportation at all. The area is very rural and their kids do not speak english, so it will be interesting and challenging but a great way to wrap up this amazing summer vacation.

Temples of Kyoto

Today we invested in all-day bus passes and hit the temples. Being a practical realist, I had the goal of visiting two or maybe three. That was a good plan! Each temple we visited is shown on the tourist maps as a single entity, but in fact when we arrived we found that there were numerous sub-temples involved. Also, even though the bus stop is called the name of the temple, it might be ten minutes on foot, each way, with a potentially whiney child! So two was more than enough for one day, and the second one we didn't even pay the admission fee but just walked around the outer grounds.

I am going to put a whole batch of photos below because visually these places were just unbelievable. The first was "Tofuku Ji" and it is just far enough "below the radar" that there were barely any tourists there. It was a long bus ride and a ten minute walk, but totally worth it. It is very historically significant, and there were lovely gardens. The main gate is one of the largest wooden structures in the world, and it contains several important artifacts. It also happens to house the largest and oldest steambath and outhouse in all of Japan! Those Zen monks had to live here all year round and they were very practical. Anyway, the photos really don't do justice to the place. It was very beautiful, especially the huge yet delicate woodwork.











The next stop was Kiyumuzu-Dera. This place is totally ON the tourist radar, so it was mobbed. Fortunately it is large and spread out. To get there, you have to walk up a long hill along one of several narrow streets. These streets are lined with all kinds of tourist shops. We got the girls ice c ream about half way up the hill, and amazingly Benna made it all the way with minimal complaining.








We saw most of the place, and there was a long line to go onto the big "porch" which has the famous view. It was under renovation and there was scaffolding all over, and it was getting late, so we saved ourselves ten bucks and walked around the back to go down the hill a different way. Again, millions of people and little shops selling all kinds of nice treats and gifts. Along the way down the hill there were other temples of different types and sizes, like for example this five-level pagoda in the middle of a residential neighborhood.



We had intended to walk around Gion, where we could have maybe seen a Geisha, but the "vibe" was "let's go home and make dinner" so that's what we did.

Osaka daytrip

August 11 - we met up with friends from Amherst who are spending the summer in Osaka.

Spent the morning at "pu-ru-zu" (which is Japanese for "pools"), a giant indoor swimming pool complex with slides and hot tubs, basically a small indoor water park. It was a lot of fun, not too expensive. Happily our friend Kana is budget minded and she is a local, so she clued us into the fact that even though they have a strict "no outside food" policy, plenty of people bring their own food anyway, they just don't make a big deal out of it.

I left the place early and visited the "modern transportation museum" right next door. It was pretty cool, actually. there were lots of old train cars and pictures of Japanese transportation history, some old steam locomotives. There were also several train simulators, but everything was in Japanese and there were tons of little kids messing around with them, so I kept walking. The best part was a gigantic layout of model trains. There were models of most of the major Japanese train lines, and the layout included mountains and tunnels and of course switchyards and a cityscape. They did a fifteen minute program where they started the lines one by one and announced each one, where it was going, etc. The lighting changed as the trains moved, and as it got dark the city lit up and the trains all had inside lights and headlights so it looked really cool. there were also cameras mounted at various locations, with the images shown on big monitors mounted around the layout.

After that we took a train to the Osaka Castle park and walked around a while. the four girls had a good time just running around and being crazy. There was a bit of bickering and whining, but overall it was not too bad. We kept them well supplied with snacks and ice cream. I tried a new treat - shaved ice with condensed milk and sweet beans on top. (Actually Jana liked it more than I did.)






Osaka is a big city like Tokyo, it goes on and on, very built-up, trains running every direction, big highways with big trucks and tons of traffic, neon lights, pachinko parlors, etc. etc. Like Tokyo, there are rivers running through the place and many of the major areas are known by names of the nearby bridges.

We caught the express train home and went to the Israeli falafel place near our house. It was a very nice place, but the food was not amazing. The posters on the walls did not do the trick - we felt very far from Jerusalem!

Rainy Day at the beach and other small tragedies

For Benna's birthday she wanted a day at the beach, so we packed up our towels and bathing suits and hopped on a train headed for "Omi-maiko" on Lake Biwa, about 40 minutes from our apartment. The forecast was for a chance of rain, and it was very cloudy in Kyoto when we left, but not raining.

Things started going wrong quickly. Benna's slow movement through the morning and a hot, crowded, slow bus ride to the station conspired to make us miss our intended train. We caught a later train, and that was going fine until I noticed that the station names didn't match with the names on the map - we had gotten on the wrong line! We quickly got off, took a returning train, and transferred to the correct train, but it cost us an extra half an hour. (Lucky for us, the girls were so into their book they didn't notice!)



We started to see beaches after a while, and eventually we arrived at our stop. We did not really know what to expect or even which way to walk once we got off the train, but then we saw some teenagers in bikinis walking around so we figured it must be the right place. Jana asked a girl "Sumimasen, beach wa doko deska?" (Excuse me, where is the beach?) She replied "Up ahead on your left" in perfect american english! Welcome to New Joisey! We walked along the road in a light rain and signs of the beach were everywhere - boats, parking lots, stands selling inflatable tubes, etc.

So, we get to the beach and it is packed. There are many groups of people, mostly teenagers and young adults. There are jet-skis buzzing around and pleasure boats anchored just beyond the swimming area. There is a row of little food stands, restaurants and shops just above the beach. The beach area has tarps and tents set up all along, with the trees being used as anchors for the tarps. Everyone group seems to have a barbecue grill going. Beer and cigarettes are being consumed all around. Some large groups even have generators set up and music playing. Suffice it to say, it was not exactly a serene beach experience!




Fortunately, Benna and Aleeza did not care about all this. They had two questions - where do we change into our bathing suits, and, can we buy a floatie? Jana and I held up towels for the girls to change and we said no to the floatie things. (They were 6 bucks to rent for half an hour, twenty bucks to buy, for small cheapo inner tubes.) The girls started playing in the sand (which we would probably characterize as "gravel" in the states!) and the rain picked up. Nobody seemed to care! Jana and I found shelter under the trees and looked around at the scene. Jana was not happy but I reminded her it was a "cultural event" and suggested that the memory would be better than the experience. So, we endured. After an hour or so, the rain eased up and I put on my suit and played in the water with the girls. Despite the beach being trashy, the water was clear and warm, actually very nice.



We lured the girls out of the water with the prospect of a nice restaurant meal back in Kyoto. It was an ordeal getting them out and dressed but we managed to stumble back to the station with about four minutes to spare before catching the express train back home. The return trip was smooth and much faster.

We arrived at Kyoto station amid evening rush hour traffic. As we tried to leave the station, the exit gate rejected our tickets so we went to the gate attendant. The woman takes our tickets and says they are no good, we have to pay again - more than twenty dollars worth of tickets. (I had tried to buy round trip tickets from the vending machine on the way out but had inadvertently bought two sets of one-way tickets. I didn't think it mattered, but apparently the tickets specify an origin point. Lesson learned!) It took ten minutes to get this worked out, and by then the girls were already complaining of hunger. Next, we got lost for ten minutes outside the train station looking for the bus stop! At that point it started really raining again, the traffic was absolutely horrible and it took a long time to get anywhere! It was a difficult time in our lives.

We finally arrived at the area where Jana's friend had recommended a restaurant. In his words "it would be a sin to be in Kyoto and not eat there." So we reassured the girls that it would be worth it, and we started searching. Let me explain - there are few "street addresses" in Japan, most places are known by their neighborhood and nearby streets. So we had a general area and a name, but it took a while to find it. The area had a million restaurants, and this one was a very small and cute "yaki-niku" place - meat cooked on a barbecue at the table. We walked in and the waiter-guy looks at us and asks us if we speak Japanese. "Skoshi" we reply. Another waiter rushes over and asks us the same question. The other customers are eying us warily. Something is not right. We are tired and wet and hungry. The waiter does not seat us, but instead starts apologizing "so sorry, so sorry...no children." We look around and see other families there. We are totally deflated by this, it is clear that they just don't want to deal with us. I say to him in clear Japanese without any smile "I understand" and we are out of there.

Standing in the rain, kids crying, what are we to do? We start searching again, and quickly find a big open "pub" place with an appealing menu. We order pizza and wings and beer. Everyone is happy again. Then the food arrives.

I don't know what they do to the chickens here, but apparently they don't grow any meat on the wings. These were basically small bones with tasteless greasy sauce! The Pizza is supposed to be "three cheese" pizza but that doesn't mean that even one of them is tasty! I don't know what was worse, the fact that it tasted bad and was undercooked, or the fact that it was about 6 inches in diameter! And for 8 bucks, the draft beer tasted like flat budweiser. We could not get out of there fast enough.

Another bus ride and we were home. I hopped off a few stops early and hit the grocery store. I returned home with a large load of store-bought sushi. It is half-price after 7pm, so for ten bucks Jana and I had a feast. Oh yeah, and some sake!



The girls had frozen pizza and soup, finally a decent meal. Then we celebrated Benna's birthday.



Along with this cute little berry cake, she received her gift (a beautiful "yukata" robe) and many virtual hugs and kisses from her grandparents and cousins.



Another day, another adventure!