On the Edge of Typhoon Malakas with Bengal Cats and Japanese Arts

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The day started with rain, lots of rain and continued with more rain. I just don't know how rain can keep raining so much without running out of rain. I really don't. Looking out of the window this morning, my heart sank a little as it was raining as hard as rain can. Never mind, I said, a bit of rain won't stop us seeing Kyoto - we've come a long way and as always, no time to waste. But it wasn't just a bit of rain.

Kyoto Station is pretty awesome and gets a few paragraphs (a futuristic entry into Japan's old imperial capital, etc) and a photo in my guidebook which proved to me that this was a station to see - although I'd already seen much of it. It has many floors, shops and is bigger than some airports. So we checked it out and yeah, pretty impressive to take a few photos of.

Hoping that the rain would ease off (ha ha), we walked to Sanjusangen-do Temple and got soaked in the short time it took to get there - as it goes the rain was coming down so hard, it was bouncing off the roads. I managed to remove my shoes as I entered before I was told off but then messed up by not putting my brolly in a rack, and had to be led to one, sigh.

Inside the temple were 1001 Kannon (wooden goddesses of mercy once covered in gold but now rather worn, roughly human height) and 28 of the angriest looking gods you never want to meet. I tell a lie, some were not so angry looking but totally barking mad in appearance gurning with terrifying grins. Glyn was most impressed and even said so. The whole building dates from 1164 (when they say things 'date from' it usually means it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times and is probably not that old) and is the longest wooden structure not only in Japan, but the world - hard to believe I know.

We were going to visit the Kyoto National Museum just to get out of the rain but it was closed due to terrorism, what terrorism exactly was not specified. I'm not up on my Japanese current affairs to know who they've annoyed recently, so it was news to me. The rain was getting to the point of winding me up, it's so hard to carry an umbrella, take photos and not drop lots of thing. Our camera bags were getting soaked and we covered them with our cag-in-bags to protect the gear we'd spent years collecting, I wrapped my camera in a plastic bag too. Brollies were clashing with brollies as the wind started to get up. Surely it must ease up soon?

We came across a couple of Buddhist Temples and visited them as they were free entry and it was a respite from the rain. The plan being to move on when the rain let up, but we soon realised that the rain was never letting up and we just had to deal with it. The Japanese seem unperturbed by all this weather; under their brollies they were clean, dry and tidy, whereas the tourists were uniformly bedraggled and windswept.

My planned route to Kiyomizu-dera Temple was blocked by a landslide so the alternate route meant more time in the rain, but by now, it meant little difference as we trudged uphill on narrow pavements. The only sound louder than the rain beating on my brolly was the occasional clack clack of wooden flip flops (geta) that some Japanese were wearing along with their kimonos. I was surprised at just how many were in kimonos, mostly young women in their teens and twenties, but a lot of older women too. Plus a few men, the kimono wearing men were mostly in couples with kimono women but I did see a few groups of lads wearing them. The women's kimonos were usually brightly coloured with floral patterns whereas the men's were mostly plain navy blue or grey (boring!)

Kiyomizu-dera Temple is atop a hill looking over Kyoto which would be a great view ff there were no clouds - I say 'clouds' but I mean thick banks of black fog that would not look out of place come the apocalypse. There's a Sacred Spring (like we need more water) and the hall's veranda is a 'nail-less miracle of Japanese joinery' - a DIY nightmare if you ask me. There were shrines galore and some myth about walking between two stones with your eyes closed to find true love or some such - young girls were floundering about in the rain looking for love only to find a cold wet rock. But it only cost three quid (or thereabouts) to get in as most attractions here are cheap.

Heading downhill with the rivers of rain, we decided to stop for lunch and found a sushi bar with conveyor belt where you are not allowed to take photos until after you have eaten. Each table had it's own hot tap to make your own tea. I'm not into this hippy green tea lark, but I needed warming up.

Afterwards I'd planned to wander around East Gion, but my creaking brolly was losing the fight against the wind and the sound of Glyn's sodden shoes squeaking and squelching were a sign to find somewhere dry for a long time. But that's where Glyn fell into my trap as the Bengal Cat Forest is indoors - hurray - just we had to walk there first. I needed the loo and headed down to a subway station to use one, I had to go through the ticket barrier to use it and the staff have no problem at letting you through without a ticket for this very purpose. Imagine my sheer pleasure at sitting on the loo to find the seat was heated - oh deep joy - had I something to read, I could have stayed for hours. And the subway was an underground warren of many corridors, lines and shops so we emerged further down the road and avoided some rain. But still got blown across the bridge where my brolly turned inside out and the metal bits stuck out and got caught in my hair.

We had to wait 30 mins for our slot to meet the Bengal cats as it's limited numbers but worth the wait. Inside was a fake jungle with army type netting and many branches for the cats to escape from humans wanting cat love. Upon arriving, a young woman brought us a cat each and convinced mine to sit on my lap. Glyn's wasn't hanging around but another cat soon joined him and continuously washed beside Glyn's leg. There was no information on the cats, so all I can tell you is that they are spotty, rather small and incredibly soft. Glyn discovered that if you don't try to stroke them, they will come to you - but it's so hard to refrain!

Feeling uplifted after all the kitty love, we went back into Gion and noticed that the rain had eased but we refused to believe it. It was 5.30pm and the rain had been a continuous torrent all day. I was beginning to worry that it would be like this all holiday and was getting a bit down, my weather app said rain every day in Kyoto until next Tuesday. I wondered how can Japanese people live with this and stay happy? So I googled the weather in Japan and discovered that we were on the cusp of Typhoon Malakas that had been flooding Shikoku and other southern parts of Japan. Looking on the BBC site, the red swathe of bad weather bordered on Kyoto. That explained it! And better still, it was due to subside by tomorrow.

The evening was rounded off with a trip to Gion Corner for a tourist taster of Japanese arts. The audience was asked not to talk between each section when they were explaining each section but naturally as with all clunker tourists, this request was ignored.

First was Chado (tea ceremony) but I couldn't see that as it was across the room from me. Then Koto: two women playing a Japanese harp and that was pretty good and complicated looking. But Kado, the flower arrangement was abysmal - a woman sticking small branches into a vase, and bending them a bit. Not a flower in sight. I guess she thought she could get away with it because she was donning a kimono and the koto was still playing - not with me she can't! Next was worse: what sounded like a five year old learning to play the recorder with her younger brother playing a broken set of bagpipes whilst a toddler whacked the furniture with a wooden mallet, but was in fact 'Gagaku' which was some elderly men playing 'elegant ancient Japanese music'. They claimed it never really caught on because it was only played in the courts so commoners didn't get into it, but they are wrong - it never caught on because it's an affront to the ears. The Kyogen (ancient comic play about two serval the getting wrecked on their master's saki despite him tying them up) was actually funny and the Kyomai (Kyoto style geisha dances) was as to be expected and interesting enough. Finally it ended with part of a puppet play that was well done.

Outside it still wasn't raining so we risked it and went for a wander around East Gion, stopping for snacks and wondering where to eat them. Japanese don't eat or drink in public places (I wonder if this is why there is no littler?) so we were being shifty trying to eat in a dark corner. After last night's two hour walk, we decided to take the trains back to our apartment instead, but after three different lines plus Kyoto Station which it took longer to traverse than walking all the way back I'm sure!

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Rained on...
There's a spring rain storm raging outside here in Southern Australia, so reading your rainy blog was quite apt :) Despite the rain, everything sounds so fabulous...except maybe the gagaku thing. I'm always nervous about going to see traditional music events when we travel for exactly the reason you so neatly articulated - 'it's an affront to the ears' :D