This morning, I awoke very early to make my way to Tokyo subway station for 7am. Courtesy of the Australian couple I had met two days ago, I had a return shinkansen (bullet train) ticket to Kyoto. However, I wasn't too sure as to where I needed to go in Tokyo station or how to find the appropriate train, as I was aware there were a number of different bullet trains, that all provide different services (some stop more frequently than others) depending on the ticket you have purchased.
After asking a few people for help, I managed to find my way to the shinkansen and was fortunate enough to have a seat for the journey. I had heard nightmare stories of people who had not managed to get seats on a shinkansen and were forced to spend 3-hours crammed in a tight passage between the train compartments. Riding the bullet train was an experience. It truly epitomises the slick advancements of Japanese technology. The ride was so smooth and so quiet that had it not been for me regularly looking out the window to enjoy the scenery, I would have sworn I was sat in a room. The comfort of the ride made it hard to really appreciate just how fast we were travelling. One highlight of the journey, was getting a good view of Mount Fuji after leaving Tokyo.
I arrived into Kyoto late morning, ready to explore the city. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over a millennium (up until 1868) and is argued to be its most beautiful city. With the important role it played in hosting much of Japan's culture, tradition and power throughout history, it has accumulated a number of temples and shrines, built for emperors, shoguns and monks. However, like most cities in Japan, while Kyoto has a vast display of heritage sites, much of the city has become very modernised and cutting edge. Arriving into Kyoto train station exemplified this with its unique glass and metal structure.
I had been told that in order to discover Kyoto's beauty, you need to dig outside of the city centre and search in it's outskirts away from the urban jungle. Therefore, on arrival into the train station, I found the subway and headed North to venture to some of the old temples and shrines.
Since there are so many temples to view in Kyoto, and I was only there for one day, I had made a rough plan of which ones I hoped to visit. However, before doing so I came across some geisha, the traditional female Japanese entertainers, known to wear pale white make-up and a kimono. This made for a good photo opportunity as it was not something I had yet seen in Tokyo. I then began at Kinkaku-ji Temple, also known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. This is the most popular attraction in Kyoto and the true iconic image of the city. It had originally been built as a retirement home for a Shogun in the 14th century. I took my time wandering around the garden leading up to the temple and enjoying the views of it from across the pond. Unfortunately my camera was low on battery so I only managed a few photos.
Next stop was the Ryoan-ji Temple, famous for its Zen garden consisting of 15 rocks laid out on individual pieces of moss (You should check out the photos because my description doesn't do it credit). The origin and meaning of the garden is unclear. Some believe the garden to symbolise something abstract like infinity or life, while others take it to depict something more obvious like islands in an ocean. Behind the garden was a quaint looking washbasin inscripted with kanji to mean 'I learn only to be contented.' I felt the common theme from my temple visits was that each one provided food for thought - ideas and notions to ponder over for hours!
The final temple that I went to visit in depth was the Ninnaji Temple. This was one of the most interesting temples to view as it featured a number of different buildings and gardens. It was originally built for the imperial family but like most historic buildings in Japan, it suffered repeated destruction during various wars and battles. Among the various buildings on the temples grounds, lies a five-tiered pagoda that is simply magnificent to look at. Sadly, it was at this stage that my camera battery completed died so I only managed to capture a couple photos of the pagoda.
After spending pretty much an entire day walking around North Kyoto and viewing the various temples and shrines, I headed back to the train station and caught a late afternoon shinkansen back to Tokyo. I pretty much slept the entire journey back, which from my earlier description of the train ride, isn't hard to imagine!
So that about sums up my day. Tomorrow, I'll be back training at the JKA Honbu again and hopefully my next blog update will go into more detail on what it's like to train at the Honbu and experience shotokan karate in the heart of Tokyo!
Much love
Sam
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