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Published: March 22nd 2019
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Off to Kyoto on the Shinkansen (Bullet) train passing Mount Fuji as we hurtle by - strangely given this is the land of technology it was a surprise there was no WiFi on the train.
First full day in Kyoto we spent in the company of Fumo and Mari Ono - two old friends of Mie my brothers wife. They kindly took us to Arashiyama and the bamboo forest which we walked through towards the Tenryu-ji Temple. This was a sprawling Zen temple with one of the finest gardens in Kyoto and wonderful mountain views. Above there we went to another set of gardens this time developed by a Japanese samurai movie star from the silent era - Oh-kohchi Denjiro. As you had to pay to get in we left the crowds behind and it was definitely worth it as we went higher up the mountain & it included the tea house.
For lunch we stopped at a small eatery where Fumi and Mari chose our food for us. This consisted of Mackerel Sushi, which was good, and an array of Japanese desserts which weren’t - not sure bean paste has any place on a sweet menu.
Heading
back to Kyoto central we stopped at Arashiyama Station and bathed our feet in a hot water spring on the platform - very welcome after a long day walking. The station also had rolls of kimono material lit up wrapped round poles forming an alleyway through the station - impressive and warming on a cold day.
Next for us the following day was Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine - famous for the countless red torii gates and fox statues. The shrine is probably best known for “Senbon Torii” which is formed with over 5,000 red torii gates and looks like a tunnel. A 4K trail through the gates up and over the hill took us a couple of hours with the various photo stops but well worth it.
Back into town and we headed out to Gion and Nishiki Market. First stop was Pontocho alley which apparently is the only street in Kyoto which isn’t allowed telegraph poles, wires or bright neon signs. It’s very narrow and lined with bars, restaurants and shops and because of the height and style of the buildings it has a unique feel for Kyoto. It is here that you can spot Geishas as
they hurry to their appointments around dusk and we did manage to get a glimpse of one before she shot down an alley and out of sight.
Nishiki Market was also interesting - an old market tangential to a new one with very narrow walkway between the stalls. We managed to sample the ‘sake’ as we walked - not bad.
Later as we wandered the area looking for somewhere to eat we found a small bar where we sat at the bar chatting with an Australian, Aiden (looked like Thor) and his girlfriend Scarlet (the descendant of a Polish Princess) who as well as showing us a few places to go when we get back to Tokyo, also introduced us to the art of sake drinking in Kyoto, ie full cups - several cups later I think we got the hang of it -hic!
Naoshima island was our next call so we caught the Shinkansen to Okayama and then 2 more trains and a ferry to the island. Sounds easy unless you get on the wrong train and have no WiFi. A tense morning but we made it.
Once there, carrying our clothes etc in a
couple of backpacks ( we left most of our stuff in Kyoto) we visited the Art house project in Honura. First stop was the Minamidera which housed ‘Backside of the moon’ by James Turrell. Very effective and interesting exhibit where you enter a room in what appears to be pitch black darkness and your eyes eventually adjust to the light that is there over a period of minutes. You then walk up to what seems to be a blank wall and find the wall doesn’t exist - Great effect.
There were 5 other installations on the Art Project route and we managed to visit them all - some better than others but all worth a visit.
In particular we liked the Ando Museum which was about Tadao Ando - the architect of most of the art museums on the island primarily using concrete, steel, wood and glass. The museum gave more information about his style and approach plus his early drawing and scale models of the buildings we were going to visit over the next 24 hours.
Chichu was one of his buildings and next morning we walked around the island to visit it and see the
Claude Monet, Walter de Maria and James Turrell exhibits. The concrete building is almost totally underground yet let’s natural light in to the artworks.
We then went on to Benesse House Museum another Ando designed building and again while the art was interesting the building itself stole the show.
Then we headed back to the port on the local bus after spotting a few installations including the red pumpkin and then found a local bar for a well earned rest before heading back.
In the evening we visited the only restaurant open in town and enjoyed a good Japanese meal with a couple of Israelis.
Next day we were off to another art island, Teshima where we found our first installation, a house by the artist Yookoo which was fabulous. Both inside and outside the art was strong with red rock and a water feature running through the garden and then through the house - you could walk above it on toughened glass. Then there were the the metallic clad loos and the circular outbuilding which had small images of waterfalls throughout and a floor mirror which reflected everything. Fantastic.
Unfortunately it went downhill fast
from there. Of the remaining 12 art projects we walked to across the island 2 were open ( one was outside so couldn’t be shut) and the other was the Teshima Art Museum. The latter had great looking buildings and the dome shaped gallery itself was spectacular. The art itself was ingenious as it was water on the ground propelling itself around the gallery linking with other pools or droplets of water and carrying on in an almost perpetual motion. But you can only watch water for so long so we then decided to hit the port and get the ferry back to the mainland and instead of staying there for a night we also decided to head straight off to Hiroshima which we had planned on doing the following day.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Longing for Kyoto
This is a town we really want to go to. I'd be willing to try mackerel sushi.