Kyoto #3: Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, and Gion Corner

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Up early this morning as we had another busy day planned. Before we left Korea, when researching what to do in Kyoto, Mel suggested the Imperial Palace. To visit the Imperial Palace, you have to make a reservation online as they restrict the number of people that can visit at one time, and you have to do a guided tour. We hopped on the bus near the hostel, it took about half an hour, I think, but that traffic wasn't bad, which was good. We arrived with plenty of time to spare so we scoped out the nearest Family Mart and stocked up on breakfast supplies. We sat on a bench in the park surrounding the palace. We scoffed another load of stuff from the wondrous Family Mart.

We headed in to a random office, and were redirected to the Palace proper. Me and Mel were let in as we had our print-out of our reservation. Malia didn't have hers, so she had to go back to the office, that we'd went into before to sort it. We had our passports checked next at a little ticket office and then went to a big room, to wait until everyone had arrived. I thin the tour was meant to be limited to thirty or maybe forty people. But the room was packed, there was a lot more people than that in the room. Malia turned up about five minutes later. The guide arrived and explained that she had crap English (she didn't) because the English speaking guide had rang in sick. Well that explains why there were so many people on the same tour. We think there was meant to be a Japanese and a separate English tour.

Since there were so many people, we decided to hang at the back and forgo listening to the guide, so we could get some decent photos, free from the hordes of people. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for about 1,000 years. The palace was built in the centre of what is now Kyoto city. The palace has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. The palace that stands today was built in 1854-1855. We walked round the outside of various palace buildings. We must of took about a million photos. We were waiting at the back until the bulk of the group had gone, but there was a security guard at the back, whose task it was to hurry us up. However we were pretty short with him all the way round. Just chill and let us take photo man. The Oikeniwa Garden was beautiful, it would of been lovely to of wandered around there alone and at our own pace, or even have a picnic there. Well, a girl can dream!

After the tour we decided to chill for a bit. We walked around the park surrounding the palace, I think it is all still part of the palace's grounds, but open to the public for them to use and come and go from as they wish. We had a good old chat and plotted our next move. We would take the bus over to Nijo Castle, as it wasn't far away. As we were leaving the park we saw an old guy by the gate, sketching. What a beautiful place to do it.

The bus was heaving and we all squashed in. just like the stories you hear of Japanese transport. We got off at the castle bus stop, crossed the road and bought our tickets. It was quite expensive to get in, but worth it. We wandered into the castle and pretty much sat down straight away in the shade, as it was boiling. We got talking to two Australian women and we were telling them about life in Korea. Although there are nice places in Korea, we felt like nothing could compare to Kyoto, so we were a bit negative about Korea, although we managed to come up with a few good points.

The castle was started in 1601 and it was completed in 1625. It took a canny long time to build. We took a walk around the castle and its ground. It was beautiful, so ornate. Stunning! We walked around some of the grounds, then in the castle, it was very similar to the one in Kumamoto. We then walked around the gardens. They were beautiful, but it was far too hot. Can't believe it's nearly the end of September. We had a mooch around the gift shop and then headed to get some lunch.

We were ravenous and we found a restaurant on the corner opposite the castle. I think our eyes were a bit bigger than our bellies, but it was about three o'clock and we had breakfast before ten. We perused the menu and all ended up ordering the same thing. We ordered a bowl of ramen with pork, egg, and bonito flakes. The set we ordered also came with a bowl of pork and rice, too. To top it off we also ordered two plates of giyoza (dumplings). Fat bastards! Well the food was amazing and we polished it all off. We entered a bit of a food coma, and forced ourselves to move.

We hopped on the bus and headed back towards Gion. Malia realised that she had left something at the capsule hotel, so we went back there, but her stuff had been binned. We decided as it was about five o'clock we would head over to the dressy up place, and have a go at being Geishas. We spent a while wandering around the streets, it's such a cool neighbourhood. We found a street temple and spent a while in there. We took a billion photos and got chatting to a lovely old gent, who had just popped into say a prayer. I love the way people are just walking down the street and pop in, donate some money, say a prayer, and then continue on their way. No pomp and ceremony.

By the time we got the Geisha place we were too late to do the dressing up, so we made an appointment for the next morning. We spent a bit longer wandering around Gion and we decided to go to the show of Taditional Arts at Gion Corner at seven o'clock. The show was quite expensive at 2,500 yen, and I think it only lasted about an hour, but it was well worth it. We got there early and queued up for tickets, the queue was quite long, and out of the door before they started selling tickets.

We got our tickets and headed into the theatre. The theatre was pretty small, but because we were pretty early we got seats near to the front (seating isn't assigned). A woman came and announced something in Japanese and English, but she was very loud, so we had no idea what she said. I think she wanted volunteers for the tea ceremony as some people got up. She looked a bit puzzled as to why there weren't more people wanting to do it, don't think she realised we couldn't hear her.

The tea ceremony took place off stage at the opposite side from us, so we couldn't see anything. Nevermind, I know for next time sit further to the right if you want to see the tea ceremony. Then the show began properly on the stage. There were two women playing the Koto (Japanese harp), the instrument was imported form China in the 1300s and was used in the royal court for playing Gagaku, special court music. The music was nice to listen to. While the music was playing there were two women performing Kado, flower arranging. The Japanese love flowers and this love of flowers is linked closely to the arrival of Buddhism from China. Flower arranging in Japan started with people putting flowers next to the image of Buddha or ancestors at altars to console the spirits. Then it progressed to be used in tea houses where tea ceremony were performed in the 16th century. By the 19th century, it had evolved in to a traditional Japanese art.

An orchestra was next and they played Gagaku, the traditional court music. Gagku means elegant music and it covers many things including classical dancing and singing as well as instrumental music. It dates back to ancient China and the Tang dynasty, it was introduced to Japan in the 8th century. It died out in mainland China, but continued to flourish in Japan among members of the imperial families. It was performed at court banquets and at sacred rites in shrines and temples. There was also a bloke dressed up in a costume and a mask that moved around the stage, accompanying the music.

We also watched Kyogen, which is an ancient comic play. These comic plays were performed as an interlude for Noh plays and were spoken in the everyday language of the time. The plays were popular among the warrior class. It attracted the attention of drama critics due to its realism, and therefore became more popular. The story of the play was: The Lord is worried that when he goes away on business, that his servants, Taro and Jiro, will steal his sake, so he decides to tie them up. The Lord calls Taro and they plot to tie up Jiro, when demonstrating his cudgel. They tie him up and Taro then winds him up. The Lord then ties Taro's hands behind his back. Now h feels safe to leave his sake. However they managed to get to the sake, drink it, and dance around very drunkenly. The Lord finds them, and after reflecting, gets angry and chases them. It was a quirky play, not that I really understood it at the time. The leaflet they give you comes in handy for that.

Kyomai, Kyoto style dance, was next. There were two women all done up as Geisha and or Maiko. Maybe there were legit, but I don't and probably won't know. They looked stunning and the dancing was great to watch. The dancing is traditionally performed in spring. The dancing is normally performed in Japanese rooms instead of on the stage. It was influenced by Noh drama. Kyomai started in the 17th century and developed during the very courtly culture of the Tokugawa Period. Kyomai adopted the elegance and sophistication of the Imperial Court. The final part of the show was Bunraku, a puppet play. The puppet play we watched was based on a true story. It was about a pageboy and a girl, who are in love. The pageboy has to sacrifice himself in order to follow his master. The girl's parents want her to marry someone else because her parents owe that man money. She goes to say goodbye to the pageboy, and finds the sword that will free him from his master. As the city gates are closed, she climbs the fire watch tower and rings the bells, to open the gates and reunite the pageboy with the sword. The play was quite sinister in style, but mezmerising and really enjoyable.

After the show we had a mooch around the gift shop, buying some bits and bobs. We then had a wander around some of the shops. We still weren't really hungry after our immense lunch, but there was this really cool looking place that we wanted to try. It was this random place, they only served one dish and beer. We just shared one of the pancakey things between us. The pancake thingy was called Issen-Yosyoku. It's Kyoto soul food, a type of okonomiyaki. It was pretty good, not amazing though. The restaurant had some really random and highly rude decor. We had a good laugh looking at it.

After dinner, we decided to head off down a random street and explore. The first street we walked along was full of bars, restaurants and 'talking' clubs. You know the ones, wher eblokes go to the club and pay to 'talk' to pretty ladies. We then walked along a stream with restaurants on the other side. The restaurants looked canny posh, and the fact there were cars and drivers waiting outside of some of them cemented that fact. Then we took a turn and ended up in the red light district. It was hilarious. I think three white birds walking around raised a few eyebrows. Most of the clubs were canny discreet, but a Thai one and Philippine one had the girls out in front of the clubs. We had a good giggle, especially at the cars driving slowly down the street, perusing the goods.

Then it was home to pack up for leaving tomorrow and get some sleep, as we would have a busy day ahead.

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