Platinum Week '06 - or - Krystene Komes to Kyoto

Be prepared for a posting of epic proportions. This took me weeks to write, and is as much for my own memory as it is for your entertainment, so please bear with me. You have been warned. The events herein took place from May 20th to the 30th.

It’s Saturday night, and I hadn’t heard from Krystene since she left the airport in Toronto, so at this point I was assuming that everything was going OK. I’m at Kakegawa station, where we have planned to meet, and I see people start to come down off the platform. The swarm comes and passes through the gates, but even after the last few stragglers trundle by me I don’t see her. At this point I’m starting to worry, and wondering what my next move should be. Before I get too frantic, I look over and notice that the platform this group of people descended from was not the one from which Krystene was expected. Phew. Lo and behold, two minutes later she walked off of the escalator and our adventure began.

The first order of business, since it was Saturday night and we were already in Kakegawa, was to call my buddy and owner of Mal’s Bar, Mr. Mal Adams. He arrived promptly at the station a few moments later and whisked us over to the bar. There were a few folks sitting around enjoying the fare and not long after we had arrived my friend Aaron showed up. We had a nice time quaffing a few drinks and shooting the breeze. It had been more than a year since the last time I’d seen Krystene so there was plenty to catch up on. Our time was fairly limited at Mal’s because the trains in Japan stop running around midnight, so we paid up and hopped a cab back to the train station and made our way to Fukuroi and my apartment.

I had intended our first full day together in Japan to be a slow and gradual introduction to the Japanese experience, and it turned out to reflect that quite well. We began with a walk around my neighborhood including a stop by my closest classroom so that I could show her where I worked and how I taught my students. We proceeded north along the main road and eventually veered off Eastward toward Kasuisai. I figured what better way to introduce someone to Japan than to show them a local temple. I really enjoy Kasuisai temple not only for its natural beauty, but because I think it is simultaneously low-key and yet perfectly representative of the majority of temples right across this nation. We walked around the grounds and she was able to snap away the first set of what was to be many pictures on her new digital camera. By the time we were finished touring the temple we were both hungry so I proposed we go for sushi. To my pleasure and amusement she was completely unprepared for the true Japanese conveyor belt sushi experience. We had to wait quite a while at the restaurant, even though it’s a huge place, because we had arrived smack dab in the middle of lunchtime. Eventually we were seated at a table and began our feast. Krystene was so impressed with the conveyor belt system that she proposed starting something similar back in Toronto where the concept has not yet been attempted to my knowledge. Although I’m sure it was just an idea, I think it could really be viable there.

When we returned to my apartment Krystene pointed out my sorely sunburned neck, the pain of which lasted for the duration of her stay. She was tired so I let her nap for an hour while I caught up with emails. I woke her up at around 4:00 p.m. and we got ready for a night out in Shizuoka city. We took the local train into Hamamatsu so we could get her train pass sorted out and then hopped on the bullet train to Shizuoka. There we met my buddy Brad and made our way to our favorite pizza place to eat dinner. Afterwards we spent a few hours tooling around downtown Shizuoka waiting for Shiho and Tetsu to finish work at the Stussy store so we could all go out for drinks. Once they were done we all got together and proceeded to Doma Doma, which is a nice izakaya (Japanese style pub) fairly close to the station. We settled down into our booth and proceed to let the libations flow. Tetsu made several interesting selections from the menu for us to try including raw horse meat and some sour mackerel sashimi (raw fish), both delicacies here in Japan. Up until this point I had been able to avoid the notorious busashi (raw horse) but I was pleasantly surprised by its tenderness, and now I order it every time. Once we finished our food and drinks we walked around the corner to another bar where Krystene and Tetsu proceeded to have their way with a bottle of tequila. Only later did I hear that Tetsu was sick all over Shiho’s driveway that night. Poor guy. I appreciated that he was having a good time hanging out with us, but Brad told me he had never seen him drink so hard before. It was definitely a good time, but I will encourage Tetsu to control himself a little bit better in the future when we hang out together. When we left Shiho and Tetsu, the rest of us hopped in a cab and beat it back to Brad’s place in Shimizu to sleep because the trains had stopped running. Although we were exhausted after our long first day, Krystene and I were both still very excited to be on our way to Kyoto the next morning.

After returning to my apartment to get changed, shower and pack up our things we made our way to Hamamatsu and got on the bullet train to Kyoto. It’s not a very long trip, but we were both still tired from the previous night so we nodded off for a bit but woke up with about fifteen minutes to spare before the train pulled into the station. I guided us through the train and subway stations until we got up to the northern end of the city and boarded a local bus. Three stops later we arrived in front of Daitoku-ji temple and made our way around the corner to our accommodations. I had found this place while searching through the Japan travel guide Krystene had brought, and boy was I glad we ended up staying at the Tani House. The hostess, Mrs. Tani, has been running this place for at least 30 years and it was as pleasant and quaint as one could expect. We were shown to our large, traditional Japanese style room in the back of the house on the first floor. Not only was it relatively inexpensive to stay, but it was an authentic Japanese house and Mrs. Tani was a superb hostess, bringing us fresh green tea in the mornings and helping us navigate around the area. There are pictures of the place on my photo website, so have a look, and I would definitely highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Kyoto.

By the time we were settled in and had turned around to take the bus down to Kiyomizudera it was close to 5:00 p.m. This meant it was too late to do the East-Higashiyama district of Kyoto as I had planned. Instead we ended up walking around Gion and doing a little bit of shopping. I took her to one of my favorite shops called Sou-Sou which specializes in tabi shoes (split-toe or ninja shoes) and wonderful clothing including jimbe and yukata (Japanese robes). We both bought a few things and then settled down to dinner at a local restaurant somewhere along the shopping arcade just off the main road in Gion. Once we got out of the restaurant it was dark and the shops were closing up for the night. Since there wasn’t much more in the way of tourism or shopping we could do, we hopped on the subway and made our way back to Tani House. Earlier in the day I had seen a sign in the foyer about a local public bath, so I suggested that instead of bathing at the Tani House we make our way down the street five minutes to the Funaoka onsen. Coincidentally, this was the exact same onsen I had read about in the Lonely Planet guidebook of Japan and the one I had intended on taking us to during our stay in Kyoto. Since public baths are segregated by sex, we each went to our own side and enjoyed the clean and the soak for about an hour. After meeting up by the front desk at the appointed time we were both very relaxed, mellow, and ready for bed. We stopped at the convenience store across the street for some ice cream and then meandered our way back up the street before crashing hard on our piles of futon mattresses.

Reaching Kyoto station, we took a peek at the train map and figured out the quickest way to get to Nara. There was a special rapid train that would get us there in an hour, so we got our tickets and hopped on board. Nara is the one place on the entire trip that I had never been to. I was very much excited to see the old capital of Japan, and all the famous old temples there. The train ride was over in the blink of an eye, so we got out of the station and approached the information desk so we could get a map of the area. The kind lady behind the counter not only gave us a map but gave us a little explanation of the best places to go and marked them off for us on our map. Not ten minutes after we had started up the main drag towards Nara Koen (park) it began to rain. We stopped in a dollar store and picked up a pair of shoddy umbrellas and continued our way up the street.

The first stop on our Nara adventure was the central park with both the 3-tiered and 5-tiered pagodas, as well as many other temples and shrines. I took lots of pictures there, which can be seen on my photo site. This was also our first contact with the domesticated deer of Nara. These are “sacred” deer that are basically given free reign to wander wherever they please in Nara Koen and the surrounding area. Let me make this clear… there is no specific pen for these animals. They are free to wander wherever they like, and there are people scattered all through the area with wafers to buy so that you can experience feeding the deer. At first, the whole experience of chillin’ with the deer was alright, but after a while we were a little put off. These animals are not afraid of people at all, and in fact are quite greedy and pushy when it comes to getting fed. Let’s just say they went from being cute to being annoying in a tremendously short amount of time.

After snapping some photos of the 5-tiered pagoda, which is the symbol of the city of Nara, we continued on deeper into the park. Along the way we found the Nara National Museum, and since it was raining fairly hard at this point we figured it would be a good idea to get in out of the rain. We also had been seeing banners all over the city advertising a new exhibit, so we went to check it out. The exhibit was focused on this man, Priest Chogen, who was responsible for the restoration of Todai-ji temple and many other buildings in Nara after they were burned down in an attack hundreds of years ago. The halls were filled with statuary and relics retrieved from the surrounding area temples before they were rebuilt. Krystene was in heaven at this point because she had been studying Asian art in a class before she came over to visit, and she was able to see some of those very pieces up close and personal. I was most impressed with the tapestries and statuary that had been donated to the museum from various temples around the country.

It was still raining when we had finished our tour of the museum, but we decided to brave it anyway. Another few blocks up the road and we came to the causeway approaching Todai-ji, jam-packed with people, umbrellas in hand and filling the width of the path. As we approached the gates we saw another large group of deer. The cobblestones were covered in a thin wet layer of their liquefied crap, and it was unavoidable to step through this stuff on the approach to the temple gates. This is the point at which my awe of the deer turned to disgust. But once we reached the gates the dirty deer were swept from my mind. Up a few steps, under the roof of the gate, stood the two massive guardians. I got Krystene to take a picture for size reference. Once past the gate we made our way up the main path to the front of the temple wall. We joined the throng of people crowding their way inside and once we finally got past the entryway we were treated to a spectacular view of the main temple building. I was later to learn that in its current, rebuilt state it is only half of its original size; regardless, it still remains one of the largest wooden structures in Japan, perhaps even the world.

Although the size of the building itself is impressive, nobody can prepare themselves for the massive presence of the bodhisattva itself. This gargantuan statue was also rebuilt after the temple was burned, but the head is still original. I took many, many pictures both before and after trying to spend a moment gathering myself and trying to wrap my head around the scope of what I was seeing. That day was busy at Todai-ji, so it was hard to just allow myself to feel the inherent energy with the gaggle of people about. We walked clockwise around the main statue, and its two flanking statues, snapping photos all the way. Behind them were another set of guardians like those at the gate, made out of wood, along with a scale model of how Todai-ji used to look and some other random statuary. Once we reached the other side of the bodhisattva there was a large gift shop and fortune booth set up where we saw a sign advertising Eternal Happiness for $10. The idea is that you use a paintbrush to write your name and personal message of peace on a roofing tile that they use for repairs. Both of us paid our money, scribed our tiles, and I know at least I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that Buddha comes through for me.

We ate lunch at a local place and then decided it would be fun if we hopped in a rickshaw and had them take us to the last locale on our agenda. A wonderful chap named Kou-chan gave us a lift and a mini-Japanese lesson to boot. In the ten minutes we had on the way to Kasuga shrine we learned the Japanese terms for rickshaw (jin-deki-sha, which literally means human-powered-car,) and some greetings and other pleasantries in the local Kansai dialect. He dropped us off at the parking lot near the shrine and we made the rest of our way on foot. The shrine itself was a bit underwhelming, but had a few details that are definitely worth mentioning. The first was an ancient tree inside the complex itself. I’m not sure of its age, but it was massive and beautiful. Secondly, and what this particular shrine is famous for, were the hundreds of stone lanterns just outside the southern gate. They extend into the surrounding forest and give a solemn and ancient air to the place. Some are cracked and broken; most are covered with vibrant emerald moss. At this point, since we were both templed-out for the day, we made the walk back through the city to the train station, and eventually back to Kyoto highly satisfied with our rainy day in Nara.

Having been in Kyoto for two days and nights I was glad to finally be able to show Krystene some of the real sights. We got up and out early and made our way over to Ginkaku-ji, the silver pavilion. This is the starting point for a 1.5 km route called the Philosopher’s Walk. It is named thus because a Kyoto University philosophy professor used it for his daily constitutional. Lined with cherry trees, the path winds its way along a canal at the foot of Higashiyama (Eastern Mountains). Ginkaku-ji itself was very disappointing for me, but worked well as a starting point for our journey. It has an interesting rock garden, and the grounds are nicely landscaped, but the setting and the pavilion are wholly underwhelming. We did the tour of the grounds fairly quickly and then found the canal and worked our way south alongside. Although the cherry trees were not in bloom it was still a very beautiful and peaceful walk; worlds apart from the bustling shopping mecca of Gion mere blocks away. We passed small boutiques selling clothes, kimono, sculpture and other artwork as well as quaint little cafes and restaurants. We stopped a few times along the way to see some of the local shrines and temples, which line the entire length of the trail. None of them were overly impressive, but I was more than pleased just to be outside on what was a gorgeous day, especially compared to the rain of the day before. Eventually we made our way to Nanzen-ji temple, where I would have liked to spend more time examining the architecture including the impressive old aqueduct the runs through the grounds, but we were on a tight schedule at this point because we had arranged to participate in a traditional tea ceremony nearby.

After eating lunch at a local okonomiyaki (like a frittata that you cook yourself on a grill built into your table) restaurant, we made our way to the tea ceremony. I had my doubts about whether or not it would be an interesting experience, but Krystene wanted to do something traditional, and in the end I was pleasantly surprised. The room was a small, comfortable and lined with tatami mats, which we were bidden to sit upon. The hostess was very professional and for me it was most impressive just to watch the precision of her movements as she prepared the tea. The air was completely still and I became mesmerized by the ceremony and procedure involved in every little step. First the hostess prepared tea for us, explaining each step along the way, and then we were both given a chance to make a bowl of tea for each other. Looking back, this was probably one of the most memorable moments of our entire stay in Kyoto, and definitely the most evocative.

Since we had had a nice break to rest our feet we were ready for what I think is the highlight of sights in Kyoto: East Higashiyama district. We entered through the Gion gate and made our way up and in. Passing temples and shrines in every direction we worked our way along the old cobblestone streets. Eventually we came to an old stone stairwell that was familiar to me so I bade Krystene follow me up the hill. When we reached the top the object I had brought her to see was still obscured so I told her to prepare herself for something mind-blowing. We rounded the corner of one of the closer buildings and there it was, the Ryozen Kannon, magnificent in her glory. She is the goddess of mercy, and in this case she is a massive 24-meter concrete statue sitting perched in front of the Eastern Mountains, shining her glory down upon the whole city from her viewpoint on top of the hill. What has always impressed me most about this statue is how it contrasts against the lush green trees lining the sides of the mountain behind. Sufficed to say, Krystene was amazed. Although the tea ceremony was the highlight of the day for me, I think this was the brightest moment for her. The only reason I wasn’t as ecstatic was that I had been there before and had already been humbled.

Next, we made our way through the old streets of East Higashiyama, passing innumerable craft shops along the way. This neighborhood has such a wonderful atmosphere, reminiscent of how things must have been a hundred or more years ago. In fact this area of Kyoto has been catering to tourists and visitors for hundreds of years. This area is always bustling with people, locals and tourists alike. Many of the stores carry the usual touristy, Japanese souvenirs, but really I don’t think there is a better place in the whole country to buy stuff like that. There are also specialty shops, including great places to buy mochi (soft, sweet rice cakes) in a plethora of flavors. I definitely indulged myself with a handful of free samples along the way. Eventually we found our way to the main street that winds its way up, up, up to my favorite spot of all in Kyoto. Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple) is comprised of several giant buildings surrounded by woods and overlooking the entire city from halfway up the Eastern Mountain. It was founded in 780 A.D. and was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994. One section of the temple holds the Jishu shrine, which is dedicated to the goddess of love. There are two rocks embedded in the ground and the idea is that if you can walk with your eyes closed from one to the other then you will have good luck in your love life. Krystene was successful on her attempt, and I swear it was nothing to do with my words of guidance. After the love shrine we made our way around the main buildings and walked down to the Otowa-No-Taki (Sound of Feathers waterfall). This is where Kiyomizudera gets its name, and the water from the fountain is one of the ten most famous pure water sources in Japan. After we finished having a drink we made our way back out to the street and meandered our way back out to Gion so that Krystene could finish up some shopping that she hadn’t completed two days earlier. This included buying a beautiful and authentic Japanese kimono from a shop along the main street. When we were done shopping night had fully fallen and we were both loaded down with bags. We found a bus stop and let it whisk us all the way back to the Tani House. It was still fairly early but we were both so tired after walking around all day that we just made a quick trip down to the onsen and then came back and fell asleep happy with having another great day under our belts.

The next morning we packed up all of our stuff, and this was no mean feat considering the plethora of shopping bags that we now had on top of the luggage we had both brought initially. The lovely Ms. Tani helped us by calling a cab and directing the driver to take us to the main post office right next to Kyoto station. Krystene had bought so much stuff that it would have been impossible for us to lug around all the things she had bought for the rest of the trip, so we had to get a box and ship as much as we could back to Canada. The whole process at the post office took almost two hours because immigration and terrorist prevention laws have changed and now Canada requires all packages to have specific listings of contents including individual item weights. By the time we were done it was already after noon and we were famished. We grabbed a quick bite and then hopped the next train bound for Himeji; it was a quick journey of only an hour or so. Upon our arrival we made our way to our hotel and checked in. We had only intended on spending that day and night in town because I had wanted to get us to Hiroshima the next day, but we were thwarted from achieving our main purpose in Himeji, which was to see the castle, because we had arrived too late in the afternoon. Although I was mighty frustrated at this point, we conceded to dropping Hiroshima off the itinerary in favor of another day in Himeji. Missing the castle meant we had quite a few hours to kill before Christian would be finished work and ready to meet up. Krystene was exhausted so I brought her back to the hotel so she could nap. In the meantime I walked around downtown Himeji in search of some new batteries and a memory card for my camera. When I returned she was good to go, and it was about time to meet Christian so we got ready and left to find him near the castle. It had been decided earlier that we were going to visit an onsen that Christian and I frequent, a mere two blocks away, so we moseyed on over. By the time we were changed and in the bath the place was closing up, so we didn’t get much of a soak, but it was nice all the same. At this point it was already getting fairly late so we pretty much just called it a night. Slightly less exciting than the rest of the trip up to this point, and a bit of a disappointment for me, but at least we got a day off from the hectic pace we had set thus far.

It was nearing 11:00 a.m. by the time Christian met us at the castle gate. I had been to Himeji-jo on my first trip down to visit, but I felt that it was important for Krystene to see since it is the largest authentic castle in the country. We started in the West Bailey, which was a section I had missed on my earlier outing and an interesting preamble to the main attraction. I won’t bore you with all the details again, because I described the experience in my very first blog posting. In the end it was just nice to have Krystene be able to appreciate such a significant part of Japanese culture, or at least significant from my perspective; Himeji castle was definitely one of the places I had intended to be a highlight of her trip.

That afternoon was very low key because I had gotten somewhat sick a few days earlier and was feeling beat. Christian bid us farewell and made his way off to work. Krystene wanted to visit the nearby art museum and then walk around the shops, so I sent her on her merry way and went back to the hotel to take a nap before what I knew was going to be a late night. Hop forward to several hours later in the evening and we all reconvened near the train station for the first stop on our night out. On our way to the hotel I had noticed that there was a Doma Doma above some of the shops there, so we ascended and soon found ourselves in a booth drinking sake and eating some delicious fare, including repeat appearances of several delectable dishes we had had a few nights earlier in Shizuoka. After slaking our thirst and hunger we hopped around the corner to The Sports Bar to pay a visit to the owner Matt (as mentioned in the last blog entry) and some of the other local boozehounds. Another drink or two later and we scooted upstairs to Tiger Pub so that Christian could say hello to some friends. Somehow we ended up befriending a French guy named Julian who ended up coming with us to karaoke. You heard it right. I gave in and went to karaoke, and I did it for Krystene believe you me because although it is a Japanese institution, it is not something I would volunteer to do. And it’s not because I don’t love music; far from it. It’s because I DO love music. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we? Regardless, and again without going into the gory (oh yes it was) details, we were there until near 5:00 a.m., not at my request as you can imagine. In spite of myself I must say it was an enjoyable night, and Krystene had a blast, which was more important than some temporary discomfort to my eardrums.

Early the next day we checked out of the hotel and caught a cab down to the train station so that we could board the bullet train bound for Tokyo. This was to be a four hour journey, so we both settled in with our books and then promptly fell asleep. About twenty minutes outside of Tokyo we woke up and got our things gathered together. Tokyo station was vast and confusing, the people undulating in never-ending waves. Through a trick of pure magic I found the train platform we needed and got us to Ueno station. A few blocks later the cab we had hired deposited us at our hotel. It was really a nice place, somewhat quaint and totally family-run, but by far the nicest western style room we had during the entire trip. As soon as we had dropped our bags off in the room we turned around and walked down the street to a Chinese restaurant. Once we had eaten and returned to the hotel it was agreed that a nap was in order since this was going to be another late night.

Several phone calls to Brad were needed in order to find the shuttle bus outside of Shibuya station. Eventually we tracked it down and settled in for the half hour ride to Ageha, the largest nightclub in Tokyo. Situated just outside the city proper, it is a massive space with three main dance floors and countless other rooms, VIP and otherwise, not to mention a pool. It was just after midnight when we arrived and I was slightly disappointed with the smallish size of the crowd since I had expected the place to be packed to the walls. We made our way to the bar, ordered our drinks, and then made our way around the entire venue getting our bearings. Once this was accomplished we basically settled into the hip-hip room which to me was possessed of the best vibe. After enough rum and cokes I was definitely letting loose, and I can’t tell you how nice it was to get out on the floor and dance; it had been at least half a year since I had busted out the moves like that. At some point in the night while I was wandering around Krystene had been picked up by a young Japanese fellow named Aki who turned out to be a really cool guy. They were basically inseparable the rest of the night, so I three-wheeled it as best I could. I got his number and we agreed to meet up at some point in the next few days so that he could show us around Tokyo. At 4:00 a.m. we were both ready to leave so we hopped the shuttle bus back to Shibuya followed by the most expensive taxi ride I’ve ever had all the way back to our hotel. Silly us, we could have just waited until 5:00 a.m. when the subways start running and saved ourselves fifty bucks. Ah well. I think we were both just too tired and tipsy to reason that out properly.

The following two days, Krystene’s last in Japan, were a blur of shopping. There was definitely no sightseeing; basically no activities other than sleeping and eating. On the second day we had separated briefly so that I could return to Harajuku, which we had visited the previous day, to buy a pair of shoes while she made her way around Ginza. In the middle of the afternoon Aki called me and we met up before going to find Krystene amongst the upscale shoppes that are the trademark of the Ginza neighborhood. Definitely right up her alley. By the early evening we were all shopped-out and in need of sustenance. Aki suggested his favorite sushi place back in Shibuya, so we made our way over and squeezed ourselves in between the other patrons at the counter and ate our fill from off the conveyor belt. At this point as a quick aside I do want to make it clear that not all sushi restaurants in Japan are of the conveyor belt variety – only the cheap ones. Once we were back outside Aki lead us to Tower Records because I had mentioned earlier that I had wanted to find a bookstore. Let me tell you, not only was there a foreign book section, there was a whole floor! This place was better than some of the major bookstores I’ve been to back in Toronto. Of course the problem was that this was the last place we went to after two days of spendspendspend, so I was nearly tapped out. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to get books - the pickings are surprisingly sparse in Shizuoka - I managed to find more than a few worthy titles but in the end only settled on one or two. Back on the street I made excuses about being tired so that I could leave the two of them alone for a while. I bade Krystene to give me her bags and begged off back to the hotel after instructing Aki to take her to Tokyo Tower, something she had requested doing when we first arrived in town. So I went back and cracked open one of my new books while they went off gallivanting. Just before the last trains Aki dropped her off at the station nearest our hotel and I met up with them to get her safely back. We bid him farewell and thanked him for all his kindness, and in fact I’m going to be seeing him in about a week when Brad and I go up to Tokyo for a big night out at Ageha.

Well… that’s about all there was to the trip. The next day we took a few hours touring around Ueno park, visiting the National Museum, examining some of the Rodin sculptures outside the Modern Art Museum, and getting lunch at the Hard Rock Café in Ueno station. Afterwards I brought her to Tokyo station and got her to the platform where the express train to the airport was waiting. We were in such a rush by the end that Krystene didn’t realize that I wasn’t getting on the train with her; we had enough time for a brief hug and a quick goodbye and thanks and then she was gone. I went back upstairs to retrieve my bags and then got on my own train bound for Shizuoka. As laden as I was, it was nice to be heading home. I surprised myself with how ready I was to get back into the swing of things, a testament to the lulling comfort of routine. I’m glad she came to visit, and that I was able to share some of my experience here. If anybody else wants to come I’d be glad to host. And now I have plenty of experience so please be my guest. Come and be marveled by the land of the rising sun! (Don’t I just sound like the perfect posted boy for Japan tourism?)