The Japan Chronicles: Part 2

**photos to be added later

Kyoto

Annie’s friend, Ben, met us outside of Kyoto Station, but not before we were scolded by a guard for sitting against a wall – there were no benches in sight! We found a low raised wall and lounged there like a few vagabonds next to an old man with his trousers around his ankles, to give him some credit it was ridiculously hot (but it wasn’t humid, another thing that was magical after being subjected to outdoor shower-like conditions in Korea) and he was wearing boxers. The guard approached our area again, but luckily he was after the old man this time.

Ben showed up and we took the train to his area, central-west Kyoto, and we rented bicycles for that night and the next day. BICYCLES!! Everyone rides bicycles in Japan!! Drivers follow the traffic laws and pedestrians have the right away – I tell you, this place, this place was one long, phenomenal dream.

We rode our bikes back to Ben’s, dropped our stuff off and headed out into the sunset with Ben and his roommate, Miguel, as our guides to the Gion area (where the geishas are!). My heart is still in Kyoto; the architecture was incredible, nature was woven into the city at every chance, and the people were kind.

Sushi for dinner! Fresh and tasty. Then Ben and Miguel showed us Kyoto’s local late-night flavor. Our first stop was a bar called Hachimanjiya which is this photographer’s (Fusayoshi Kai) bar. Notes from that experience: a strong odor of urine [and rats, as Gloria described it] overwhelmed my nostrils before I stepped foot into the book-piled bar. Like something out of a Murakami novel, the bartender rubbed his nose and pushed his finger-smugged glasses up to his eyes and he nodded and grunted a greeting. Jazz music wafted through the air as we wove our way through the organized clutter to sit around the marble tables graffiti-ed with images of the owner. A glass of plum wine accompanied each of us with stacks of [his] photography books set on the table. Ooh. Ahh. A true hole in the wall kind of place.

oboes

open bathroom door

posters peeling off the walls and ceilings

ripped chair backs

worn

images seen through years behind a lens

The shadow of my hand danced across the page in the flickering candlelight as I tried to scribe the scene ahead.

            “I want some postcards.”

            “Dig in.”

Sorting through images of Japan’s past, packed with dust, awakening sneezes.

Ben and Miguel shook hands with the man, said their good-byes, we bowed in appreciation and everybody moved on. The next place they took us to was a bar called “ING” and it’s a bar dedicated to the Rolling Stones. The owner dude prefers music from the 60s and 70s – obviously the Stones. He will close the bar down for three months at a time if the Stones are touring and follow them around England; he’s a purist and he will only see them play their motherland. Japanese; waif; long, luscious hair speckled with silver; rocks; kindly; prefers “See you tomorrow!” to “Sayonara!” It was a dark and seedy place with a soul of its own; Stones paraphernalia throughout.

The next place we went to technically doesn’t exist. It’s a sort of speakeasy place, a bar without license. I don’t know if it was to keep it discreet or to set the atmosphere, but the place was only lit by candles that would go out from time to time, especially if someone used one to light a cigarette.

That was Sunday. Here comes Monday; hold onto your hats!!

ON bicycles…

#1 – the Silver Pavilion: simplistic zen gardens. A lot of greenery, with a forest fenced inside and out. Beautifully manicured, we saw a lot of workers quietly caring for the grounds. Probably my second favorite place in Kyoto – temple/shrine-wise; Kyotoans prefer it to the Golden Pavilion, and I would have to agree. The Golden Pavilion was nice and all, but oh, we’ll get to that later.

#2 – Heian-jingu Shrine: BRIGHT!! So, so, so bright in the main compound area because it’s this vast area covered by white gravel with red-orange and green structures rising out of the ground. The main area seemed like some sort of desert mirage and caused sweat to pour just being out in the unrelenting sun with a mirror basically at your feet. There were four gardens behind the desert that allowed some relief from the heat with huge trees shading us from the sun. As you can see, it offered a lot of great photos, with a couple of “family shots” thrown into the mix. I like to have fun with the self-timer, and I can be slightly boss-y (but fun!) when setting up photos. It’s all about the memories folks, real and forced.

#3 – Sushi stop!!: Conveyor belt sushi, and it was so-so-so delicious. This being the only photo I took, you can believe that to be true, as I was too busy eating to snap any more. Rule – or order rather – I didn’t know about sushi, you’re supposed to start with the lighter fish and work your way up to finish off with the dark fish, like tuna. Huh! How about that!? Maybe you already knew, but I found it to be handy information.

#4 – Geisha Hunting/Chasing in Gion: We found a couple, too!! To be considerate of the other pedestrians we were walking our bikes through the area in hopes of spotting a geisha or two, I was lagging behind the group taking photos when I turned around to Annie yelling, “C’mon, Kate!” and saw my friends hopping on the bikes. I threw my camera in the basket, forgetting what we had come to do until Gloria turned around and pointed ahead of her excitedly, “We got one!” I picked up my pedaling pace and rounded the corner just in time to see a blue Yukata-clad (I can only imagine that’s what she was wearing as Kimonos are the traditional winter wear) woman gliding up the street and out of sight. Riding on euphoria out of Gion we joked money to the next person who spotted one. I can’t remember who it was, but someone called out and pointed to a couple fakers on the sidewalk and got deducted points (apparently it’s popular for Japanese women/tourists to dress like geishas and walk around the city) – we knew they were fakers because they were walking all clumsy-like. As we rounded the corner we saw a woman walking on a cloud and immediately everyone’s pedals began to churn like they were attached to an Orville Redenbaucker’s movie theater butter popcorn factory. I raced again and caught a couple shaky shots of the geisha and my friends in hot pursuit. Ben, being conversational in Japanese, stopped her and asked if we could take a photo, she declined but seemed to hesitate which gave us the perfect amount of time to shoot off as many pictures as we could. Turns out she was a miko (sp) or geisha apprentice, but wasn’t in full face probably because the heat would’ve melted it off anyway.

Sidenote: Geisha hunting (or “disturbing”) is illegal in Kyoto, so if you ever find yourself on bikes in Gion, be wary not to harass.

#5 – Kiyomizu Temple: nestled above a long, bustling street full of vendors and tourists milling around. Surrounded by forests, (which seems to be common in Japan, or at least Kyoto, which is in a valley) the temple was beautiful and provided good – but what could be great on a less humid day – views of the city. There was also a spring that I think the temple was built around… something about a monk finding a hermit who led him to this well… There was a line for the spring and I waited in it and filled up my water bottle; cool and fresh. Cats everywhere and Haruki on my mind; also felt euphoric from riding a bicycle around, and perhaps delusional from the heat, but I wrote “Riding a bike felt so good, and as if I was at one with Kyoto and its people.”

#6 – Fushimi Inari Shrine: We biked here through a Kyoto that isn’t seen by many [visitors, let’s say]. Breath-taking forest with hundred upon hundreds – dare I say thousands of red-orange gates intertwining through the trees. It really was a sight to be seen, and I think my most favorite place in Japan. The serenity of the place might have been due to the fact that we arrived close to sunset so it wasn’t teeming with tourists. Unfortunately, given the timing of things – we had to get our bikes back and we were with a couple of Sweetbloods (Jennie and Gloria were being relentlessly attacked by mosquitos) – we were unable to trek the whole way around, but one day I will be back – I hope (there were so many instances that Japan was begging me to come back, this being one of them, and the failed sumo tournament attempt, and the failed Mt. Fuji attempt, and the failed kabuki theatre attempt… but we’ll get to those others in time).

I love this place. The people, the sights, the sounds. Very much like the West – expensive, too. Eesh! That bike was good. Ice cream all the time.

Seriously though, we ate ice cream at least once a day. At least.

We had Mexican for dinner; enchiladas with CHEESE!! It’s the little things.