Kyoto Day 2

Mr. and Mrs. Oki (grandparents of Aika Oki who is going into fifth grade) were wonderful hosts on my second day in Kyoto!  Mr. Oki prepared his own guidebook for me and played English travel information for me as we rode in the car.  There is so much to notice in Kyoto, I was not able to see it all (but we tried!).

We began our driving tour by driving past many sights such as the Kyoto Tower (built 131 meters tall to represent the 1.31 million people that were in Kyoto at the time) and the Imperial Palace.  Our first stop for photos was at the Higashi Hongan-ji temple with a room 927 mats large.

Mr. Oki explained that many ancient buildings were measured in tatami mats which are always 90cm by 180cm.  

Our next stop was at Kitano Tenmangu, a shrine to a revered scholar.  This shrine was very crowded with school students coming to bring their wishes and prayers for success in school and in their exams.  Some even wore kimono, showing that this was a very important occasion.

Next we went to Kinkakuji (Golden Pavillion) which is actually covered in gold leaf.  It is so beautiful from many angles, especially because of the water that surrounds it.
It was a palace for a Shogun that was later given to be a Zen Buddhist temple.  Each of the three layers of the building have a different architectural style and a different purpose.  We were not able to go in.

Our next stop was Ryoanji Temple.  Here there is a famous rock garden which has 15 stones which are arranged in such a way that from any viewpoint, only 14 can be seen.  It is an ancient mystery.

The green gardens at Ryoanji are also beautiful.  In the middle of them there is a restaurant where we met Mrs. Oki for a magnificent traditional Buddhist vegetarian lunch.
















We ate seated on pillows on the tatami mats of the beautiful room with screens that opened to the gardens.




















In the center of the table was a special boiled tofu that we added to soup.  On our trays were other excellent dishes including shaved cabbage with peanut sauce, sesame tofu, pickled vegetables and the stems of wild plums.  Everything was delicious.

 
After a luxurious meal we were ready to tour Nijo-jo Castle.  This castle was built as a palace for the first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early 1600s.  It is a grand palace with different sized tatami rooms with beautifully painted screens.  Here I learned that when visitors came to have an audience with the Shogun, most sat in the low level and only the very important people and the Shogun sat on the high level.

Bells used to communicate alerts and announcements to the local people around the castle

The floors of the hallways that run between the rooms and the gardens are made with a particular kind of nails that chirp when you walk on them.  They are called Nightingale floors because of this sound.  

This was the last stop on our driving tour.  Then Mr. and Mrs. Oki brought me back to the train station to take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima.  What wonderful hosts they were!  And what a beautiful city full of both ancient treasures and modern wonders.