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Published: July 28th 2018
Dear All
Greetings from Kyoto! One-time capital of the country, for around a thousand years between the 8
th and 19
th centuries, but if not the political, administrative or economic capital nowadays, it certainly remains the cultural and spiritual capital of the country. I arrived here on Wednesday from Kawaguchiko, and am planning to leave for Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku tomorrow. That is, if circumstances allow.
Indeed, as the title of this blog suggests, I arrived in Kyoto during the hottest point of the Japanese heatwave this summer, and leave tomorrow just as Typhoon Jongdari (meaning "skylark" in Korean) is expected to have battered the region. Although when I arrived in Japan I realised it was hot, I didn’t actually realise it was hotter than normal for this time of year, and earlier this week the Japanese government declared this current heatwave a natural disaster. I ended up reading about it on the BBC news app. Following on from the devastating floods which hit the western part of the main Japanese island of Honshu last month, the heatwave which began pretty much as I arrived is unprecedented, and record temperatures of 41 degrees were reached near Tokyo earlier
this week. 65 people were apparently killed by the hot temperatures, mainly the elderly, and 22,000 were hospitalised. I arrived in Kyoto as the BBC weather app had it down for 39 degrees that day, but by today the temperature has “cooled” somewhat to around 31 degrees or so. But this is no cause for relief, as the cooling is occurring as the region braces itself for the arrival of Typhoon Jongdari, currently a category 2 typhoon with winds reaching up to 90mph just off the south-east coast of the mainland. It is apparently expected to speed up before it makes landfall around 80 miles southeast of here in the region of Tokai at around midnight tonight, and then travel westwards from there, passing Kyoto, where I am now, and then on to the island of Shikoku, where I’m heading to next. This is apparently a very unusual path for a typhoon, as they normally travel up the country in a north-easterly direction. I do seem to have a knack of finding trouble in places where I travel…
I’ve been doing as much research as I can, and it seems that by the time I’m due to set off
The Golden Pavilion
Kinkaku-ji Buddhist Temple, Kyotofrom my hotel tomorrow, around 10am, the worst of the winds and rains should have passed by Kyoto already. And if my experience of Hurricane Earl in Guatemala in 2016 is anything to go by, the wind, if not the rain, pretty much stops immediately after the storm passes. I am due to take two shinkansen trains, first to Osaka and then to Okayama, and apparently shinkansen trains are not always affected by typhoons. From Okayama, I am due to take a local train across to the island of Shikoku, but due to stop at Todatsu to change for a bus which will bridge a part in the railway which was damaged by last month’s heavy flooding in the region. The bus is due to take me to Kanonji, where a local train is due to take me onwards to Matsuyama, the largest city on Shikoku. I’m not too sure how this last part, or the whole part to be honest, of the journey will go, so I’ve also done some research into buses which run five times a day from Okayama to Matsuyama, and a number of cheap business hotels as well as capsule hotels in Okayama should the
need arise. Ah well, I guess this is part of the Japanese experience really, typhoons are common here in the summer and autumn. I am sure I will be writing up about the next stage in my adventures in my next one!
The heatwave and oncoming typhoon, as well as last month’s floods, have reminded me of how amazing and resilient the Japanese people really are. Their country is regularly affected by all kinds of natural disasters, from the current heatwave, to floods and typhoons, to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and even tsunamis. Yet the country seems to continue on, highly efficient, highly prosperous and as gracious as ever. Testament to a resilient, hardy and just good people I believe.
Aside from natural disasters, I have had a really enjoyable few days here in Kyoto, marred I guess only by the hordes and hordes of international tourists, who just had to be on the whole the loudest, rudest and most self-interested tourists I’ve ever met. I was aware that there are many tourists in various parts of Japan, particularly Kyoto, but I planned to grit my teeth through them as I really do want to visit the main sights
Shin-Yokohama Station
Shinkansen - Bullet Train! of Kyoto. I am really glad that I did, and they are really beautiful sights indeed. I also managed to take quite a few really decent photos, which is no easy feat when you have rude people taking over space and just walking in front of your camera on a constant basis, completely oblivious to all around them but themselves. It has actually been quite lovely to return from the tourist sights back to my hotel and its untouristy, local Japanese area, and continue to contemplate how polite, gracious and good-natured the Japanese people really are. Always aware of other people, always polite and saying the right words: thank you, sorry, excuse me. As mentioned in a previous blog, I believe the British and Japanese are very similar and compatible in this respect.
I believe I last wrote from Kawaguchiko, just about to take my first train trip in Japan, to include a shinkansen (bullet train) experience. I took a total of four trains from Kawaguchiko to Kyoto, the first three were generally commuter or metro trains, the fourth, however, was the shinkansen – what an experience in itself!! Within my 12 minutes of waiting on the platform at
Shin-Yokohama Station
I love the Japanese orderliness and queuing systems everywhere - very similar to the British Shin-Yokohama station for my train to arrive, an additional three previous trains arrived and left all heading westwards in the same direction. Not only are these trains long, I believe 13 carriages each, and not only do they run at incredible speed, their frequency is comparable to urban metro systems – roughly one every three or four minutes. It really was quite amazing to consider this. Boarding my own train bound for Kyoto, taking me 275 miles in just over 2 hours, I found my seat in a very quiet carriage – still many people there, just everyone on Japanese trains is just so quiet and respectful of other people. Indeed, three public transport messages have really stood out for me reflecting this, and making me wish we had similar observances of the respect for other people back home: talking on mobile phones is not allowed anywhere on public transport; passengers are reminded to be mindful of others when pulling wheeled-luggage around stations; and even sat on the train, I saw a notice reminding keyboard users to be mindful of others in the tapping of the keys. My goodness, what respect these people have for others – again, I just
Shinkansen - Bullet Train
Ordinary Car (Second Class) wish these kinds of things were more accepted and expected back home… No sooner had I sat down than the train sped up and was off again – it stopped in stations for about a minute at a time, and in no time at all, we were pulling up in Kyoto. What an experience, and I’m looking forward very much to my next one (hopefully tomorrow, weather permitting…!)
From Kyoto Station, it was a short ride on the number 9 bus to my business hotel which I booked for my four nights here, the Kyoto Horikawa Inn, and an immaculately comfortable and cosy room. Again, very compact, but full of everything the traveller could possibly need, including slippers, pyjamas and a very useful laundry room which I have made use of twice while I’ve been here.
After a really peaceful and cosy night, I was ready to begin my explorations of Kyoto proper.
Day One. On Friday I headed westwards to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a stunning plantation of bamboo trees growing upwards of ten metres, spreading in all directions. It was really quite stunning, aside from the hordes of tourists. From here, a short hop on
two trams took me north-eastwards to a very quiet but highly rewarding temple, the Ninna-ji Buddhist Temple. Walking through the intense heat for a further ten minutes took me to the Ryoan-ji Temple next door, containing the very famous austere rock garden mysteriously created in the Muromachi period (1333-1568). This was my first experience of the minimalism of Japanese Buddhism, and I admire the beauty in such austerity. A final bus ride brought me to the end of my sightseeing for the day, to the stunning Kinkaku-ji Temple with its famed “Golden Pavilion”, one of Japan’s most famous sights. Aside from the heat and the hordes, it was very much worth a visit. My tourist sightseeing for the day did in fact end there, but my activities didn’t. From here, I had planned to visit a nearby, very local onsen, about a mile’s walk into a nearby local neighbourhood to the lovely Funaoka Onsen. I had to remember my readings on Japanese onsen etiquette when going in here, it wasn’t touristy at all. This included stripping down completely, with a very small towel (about 30cm by 30cm) which I used to generally keep my modesty, but most others simply balanced
Shinkansen - Bullet Train
The WC area - two WCs on the left, one gents' room on the right at the back (very handy!), and two wash areas on the right which can be made private with a curtain. on their heads as they bathed. After this, a good old wash and scrub at the cleaning areas, and you are ready to enter the variety of amazing hot tubs all around – some hot, some cold, some bubbly, and even one electrical – very weird, and I didn’t stay in there long (it didn’t quite feel right to my mind to mix electricity with water). Whilst there I got talking to the only other westerner there, who also happened to be the first English person I have met on my trip so far – Dave, from Essex. We got along well, and went for a good beer and dinner afterwards before he headed home to Osaka. I found his story very interesting – he used to be a postman back in Essex, before he decided to make a big change in his life. He decided to come to Japan, and has been here for three years now, working as a kitchen porter in an old people’s home in Osaka, and due to marry a Japanese lady next year. A fascinating story, and it was really nice to meet him. After this, I found a lovely path alongside a stream
Queuing for a Bus
Kyoto Station Bus Terminal which I followed for a mile back to my hotel, passing Japanese families playing in the water, and older people out for a stroll, some with dogs, some not. It was a lovely evening stroll.
Day Two. Yesterday I planned a day outside of Kyoto actually, at yet another previous Japanese capital, Nara, which served as the centre of the country for a mere 75 years in the 8
th century, before it was moved to Kyoto. Despite such a short time as the political centre of the country, it is actually quite an important cultural and spiritual site for Japan, and holds none other than the largest wooden building in the world (the Todai-ji), and the largest indoor Buddha in the world (the Daibutsu, or Great Buddha). Beyond the heat and hordes, it was another real delight to visit, as was the guided walk I followed from my guidebook through its adjoining park and up towards a nearby Shinto Temple, the Kasuga Taisha. What made it even more enjoyable were the hundreds, if not thousands, of deer which also roam the park, having habituated themselves to humans and enjoying a snack or two offered them by tourists purchasing deer
Kyoto Horikawa Inn
My lodgings, a business hotel, in Kyoto food from street vendors. I first saw this in the amazing Wild Japan BBC production which I watched prior to coming here, and it was really lovely to actually be there and see their closeness to humans for myself – I even touched one, for a photo! It was a lovely walk, but actually really sweltering yesterday as there was practically no cloud, and I returned to the train station for my trip back to Kyoto really quite exhausted, with aching feet after around 8km of walking through the heat. I must have rested well on the 75 minute journey back, as I still had the energy to explore the amazing Kyoto Station building, which goes up 15 storeys via escalators, and a huge expanse of space as the roof soars above the station’s main concourse at 11 storeys up – amazing! From here, and finally, I went up the nearby Kyoto Tower for some amazing views over the city and surrounds just as dusk was approaching. Another fantastic day.
Day Three. Today, my final full day in Kyoto, I headed a little to the south-east to visit the famous Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shinto Temple complex, with its 4km of
Kyoto Horikawa Inn
My room (very cosy!) torii (Shinto temple entrance gates, quite symbolic of Japan) winding their way up and down the nearby hillside. Again, quite tricky to take photos beyond the hordes, but the heat today wasn’t quite so bad as it was quite cloudy, and getting quite breezy towards the end (arrrr, the storm is a-brewing!). After about a kilometre of walking through the mystical torii and surrounding small shrines and graves, I felt called to go off-piste and followed a path into the surrounding forested hill. I carried on for about half a kilometre to where the hordes were out of earshot, and just sat down and enjoyed the magical sounds of the Japanese forest once more. It really was blissful, hearing the cicadas and birdsong once more, interspersed by the babble of a nearby brook, and the gentle breeze making its way through the greenery. This was peace, and I was again reminded of the Japanese love of nature. After around half-an-hour I made my way back to a nearby metro station to do my final stop on my sightseeing rounds of Kyoto – the geisha-famed entertainment district of Gion. This included a walk along the atmospheric, narrow, lantern-lined alleyway of Ponto-cho,
Kyoto Horikawa Inn
My bathroom (so compact, yet so functional!) to include a delicious sushi meal which actually wasn’t of the fast-food conveyor-belt variety but in fact whipped up by the chef right in front of me. I saw him gutting the very salmon whose raw flesh I was about to enjoy – quite strange to think about it, a bit like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings when he begins to eat fish raw and not cooked, but really quite delicious! It was still a bit on the minimalistic side, so I topped it up with a portion of delicious fried chicken at a nearby Lawson convenience store and a pint of milk! After this I enjoyed a short walk through the Gion district of old, antique shops and restaurants, interspersed by numerous, some rather loud, Chinese tourists in kimono outfits, who were actually quite welcome at this point as they were quite photogenic with the surroundings. I breezed my way through the very touristy Yasaka-jinja Shinto Temple, considered the guardian shrine of Kyoto’s entertainment district, as I was heading to another temple listed in my guidebook as being quiet and untouched by tourism. The beautifully austere, and very quiet Shoren-in Buddhist Temple. I spent about an hour
here feeling the peace, walking around its tatami-floored rooms, beautiful verandah-views, and tranquil, minimalist gardens with rocks and flowing water. I continued to understand the Japanese form of Buddhism as looking to the austere, as it is in the austerity and simplicity that one can begin to look into oneself. If meditation requires an emptying of the mind of thoughts and distractions, I can see the Japanese form of Buddhism as a very effective way of aiming to achieve this. I felt again a connection here with the Japanese, their culture and their spirituality. From here, a short metro ride took me back to my hotel where I am resting up a bit earlier than usual at the end of a sightseeing day, mainly so that I can write this blog entry.
In actual fact, I did think this morning that it may be best to make my journey to Matsuyama today, ahead of the arrival of the typhoon. In the end, I reasoned with myself that it would be better to stay here in Kyoto as planned, and attempt to travel tomorrow. If I did head to Matsuyama today, I would have to spend an additional amount for
Kyoto Horikawa Inn, Kyoto
My hotel has a small garden attached to the side - I actually dreamt about this my first night in the hotel, without even knowing it was there! a night in another hotel (as I have already paid for tonight here). I may have to do this anyway tomorrow if I don’t manage to make it all the way to Matsuyama, but at least that’s still only a possibility, I may in fact make it to Matsuyama. It would also have meant that I’d miss this extra day of sightseeing in Kyoto, and the Fushimi Inari-Taisha which I really wanted to see, and the actual centre of the Kyoto geisha district, Gion. Finally, if the typhoon does end up stranding me, I’d rather be stranded here on the main island of Honshu, with the possibility of taking the shinkansen train which as mentioned is apparently not so affected by typhoons, than be stranded on the island of Shikoku.
And so it is that I end this blog for now, offering up the day and my travels tomorrow completely into God’s hands. I pray for a safe journey, to wherever it may be that I am meant to end up, and I also pray for the country of Japan, which is about to suffer its third major natural disaster within just one month. What amazingly resilient people they
Noodle Vending Machine
Noodle eatery opposite my hotel are.
I plan to write up again either from Matsuyama in a few days’ time, or from wherever I end up, also in a few days’ time…
Sorry that this is a bit open-ended, I can’t quite make concrete plans at this stage.
All the very best
Alex
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A Small Swede in the Big World
Per-Olof Persson
Kyoto and Nara
I really loved Kyoto when I was there. Especially the Philosopher Path, Fushimi Momoyama and Arashiyama. Nara was quite spolied for me due to the very same Chinese tourists, they didn't spoil Kyoto for me though thankfully even though I agree about the hordes. Especially at Ginkaku-ji and Fushimi Inari Taisha. I hope the typhoon don't cause to much damage.