3 Traveling Jersey Girls In Ancient Japan
April 4, 2007
We had finally started to get onto Japanese standard time. And by we, I really mean Mom and Nana. But once the two of them are up at the same time, it usually means it's time for me to get up. We were dressed and ready to go 8. Today we decided to skip the Hotel's Western breakfast, and get something closer to the station. Yesterday when I anxiously searched for the Maiko company place, I stumbled into the subway station for the nearest ward, in which we were staying at, Higashiyama. I also read one of the Japanese signs that said the last stop on the line was Nijo Castle, the place I had wanted to visit on today's journey. I'd beasted the Taxi's, Bus's, and now I was going to conquer the subway station to become the queen of the Japanese Public Transportation. But before I get ahead of myself, back at the hotel, we departed and decided to take the new found short cut alongside the Sakura and gushing stream in the middle of a living quarter in Kyoto. Beside the station, I spotted a sandwich place, which Mom and Nana decided to try. Mom ordered a Strawberry Whip Cream sandwich, while Nana got mixed fruit. I was happy with my daily coffee and then watching the woman struggle to eat what they had in front of them. I ended up eating some of the strawberries from Mom's sandwich. When we were finished, they followed me down into the underground station, where we purchased 3 tickets heading to Nijo station. Onto the platform, we next boarded the train. Looking at the schedule, I switched stations for an easier walk on Nana. Soon enough, we had arrived and were filing out of the car. It was just about time for the early morning rush, and I could already see the cars fill up like Sardine cans. Out of the station, we were almost directly in front of the already crowded Nijo Castle. After Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he started the building of Nijo Castle as his residence in Kyoto. As the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, leader of a united Japan, Nijo Castle came to represent political and military might. The sprawling area known as Nijo Castle is a 400-year-old complex, with buildings from various periods in its long history. Mom, Nana, and I purchased tickets, and then walking inside the beautiful and interesting Nijo complex. Surrounding Nijo is a outer moat and high protective wall complete with guard towers. To enter the castle we walked through the Main Gate located on the eastern side of the castle. Following the wall around will bring you to the Kara Mon, the entrance into the Ninomaru Palace, which elaborately decorated by cranes, flowers, and butterflies on the outer panels and Chinese tigers, lions and a dragon on the inner panels. After walking through the Kara Mon we arrived at the main complex of Ninomaru Palace which is a group of five buildings, all that housed certain ranks according to the decision of the Shogun. It really all depended on social hierachy. It is obvious that Nijo was a fortress and one can see how a feudal lord and his soldiers could take up a position of defence in times of war. With the moat, guard houses, and high walls you cannot help but envision one of the Shoguns holding off an enemy until reinforcements arrived. The shoin-zukuri style reflects the social heirarchy within the feudal period of Japan. As mentioned before, the higher ranking and more distinguished a guest was, the further they got into the compound. Moreover, their position allowed them to be on a higher floor level. Each building has a slightly higher floor than the previous building, reflecting the social status of the guest. However, each building also had a raised platform on which the shogun would be seated during an audience so no one's head was higher than his. Adding to the security of Ninomaru Palace, aside from secret rooms and corridors where guards could keep watch, guard towers, and the moat, were specially designed wooden floors called "uguisu bari" or Nightingale Floors. Designed to creak and squeak whenever walked upon, the floors prevented anyone from sneaking around in the castle without being heard, even if they were in bare or padded feet. Mom made a comment that she thought the idea of this was brilliant for such an ancient civilization. Looking at the design of Nijo Castle I came to the conclusion that either Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu was extremely cautious, planning for an attack at anytime or he was simply paranoid. However, the squeaking floors, secret passages, towers moats, and walls were simply not enough for the first shogun. In case all of the defences of the Ninomaru Palace fell he had the Honmaru Palace as a fall back position. Honmaru Palace is located behind an inner moat and yet another wall, creating a castle within a castle. In case of an attack the shogun could retreat to this inner castle and be safe until help arrived from the outside. The Ninomaru Palace is decorated in both art and architecture. The most distinctive style of art was the painted expansive landscapes on the sliding doors of the room. By some stroke of luck the palace was not stuck by fires and each building in the contains these amazing works of art. All of the buildings have paintings that use brilliant colors and heavy amounts of gilt. Tigers, birds, flowers, and massive trees are some of the themes displayed in the paintings. Unfortunaterly I was not aloowed to take on photographs of the amazing inside paintings. We toured alot of it and were lucky enough to be able to see most of the great artwork. Even a rude German tour group, did not stand in our way of enjoying the castle. When we were finished touring the inside, Nana and Mom took their time putting their shoes back on. It's funny what a simple task it is, and yet how much they hate doing it. Mostly because it seems like every temple complex in Kyoto asks for you to take them off. It doesn't bother me, but because I'm so used to it. Afterwards we strolled through the gardens, and I learned a fair amount of my family history. They came all the way to Japan, and here we were talking about aunts and uncles. But it was nice to talk to them again after such a long time apart. Mom and I eventually climbed the inner moats steep stairs to doscover that there was nothing important on the the top. Can you imagine having not one one, but two moats? When we were finished touring the grounds, it was time to head the next destination, Arashiyama. The long walk to Nijo Station found me echoing my new famous words, "It's not far." But we did eventually get to the station. Mom and Nana's railpass came is handy at ticket gate, while I had to pay the small fee for the local train. We almost missed the train because Nana had to go to the bathroom. Soon on the train, we made it to Arashiyama. The day was rainy, blustery, and freezing, and no one had told me that the weather would be so miserable. Nana and Mom were siffering as soon as left the station, while I tried to push forward. I thought Nana and Mom could handle the Sangano ROmantic Train, which I had heard was an amazing experience. SO we bought tickets for the train and then realized we had about 40 minutes to do whatever we wanted. SInce noneof the temple complexes were nearby, Nana and Mom thought it was a good idea to get lunch. The problem: what to feed them. But we were lucky in that just a few steps from the station was a Lawsons, convenience stores, my secret to success in Japan. I brought them in and showede them the food, most of which they thought was edible. Nana settled on a Chicken sandwich, while Mom got Chinese dumpling. Both split a French fries and a STrawberyy SHortcake. I was very happy with my Onigiri, Seaweed wrapped rice ball with Tuna inside and green Tea pudding. When we had finished, the two woman were fed and significantlly happier, it's a real wonder what food does to people. Back in the Torroco Station, the train aboard to board, we got in line for our seat. You couldn"t believe the relief when the red train pulled up the platform bearing glass windows to keep out the blistery chill. The Sagano Romantic Train closely follows the course of the Hozu River through the idyllic canyon from Arashiyama to Kameoka. The canyon really was beautiful, with it gushing river down in the valley, and lush green mountains. The first part of ride, found us facing the rock part of a not-quite-so-scenic mountain. But after a few tunnels, we got the window side. Down below in the valley, little boats sailed along the rapids, with the captains always stopping to send up a wave to the train. Mom, Nana, and I got our pictures taken, though it didn't come out very well. The 25 minue ride was very beautiful, and we were all saddened to see it pull up the a station, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We got off the train, trying to avoid the mass crowds, and then walked the 15 minutes to the main JR station. The place, Kameoka, was really just a giant farm with nothing to see. I wanted to head back to Arashiyama because there was so much stuff there. But when we arrived at the station, frozen to the bones, slightly wet from the drizzles, Nana and Mom informed they wanted to go back to the room. I would have stayed and explored Arashiyama by myself, but they would never have been able to find their way back to the hotel, with all the Train and Subway travel we did. I was really disappointed that I didn't get to see Arashiyama, but I had to make sure that they got back in one piece. So we made it back to Nijo Station, then boarded the Subway. WHen we reached our starting destination, I prompted Mom and Nana to get off, and told them I would meet them back at the hotel in a few hours. I wasn't going to let the rest of the day de useless. So I changed trains a few times, and ended up At Kyoto Station. I had heard a lot of people say that even though it's often crowded, it's definitely worth a look around. The new Kyoto Station building was built on the occasion of the 1,200th anniversary of the Heian Capital foundation. It was opened to the public in 1997 and stands in perfect contrast with many foreign tourists' image of Kyoto as the capital of traditional JapanTons and tons of steel, platforms reaching out in thin air. Escalators taking you up up up, thousands of hectic tourists and locals, hundreds of places to shop... and get lost. Thats Kyoto station in a nut-shell. Upstairs is a hotel and department store. Underground is a big shopping mall along side the local trains. While outide is a large bus stop. Such a futuristic place in an ancient city, seems a little out of place. I do like the futuristic look of Kyoto station and the platforms sticking out in thin air does remind me of a scene in Star Wars when Luke is fighting Darth Vader in City of the Clouds. It's so futuristic in such an ancient city, that there is no suprise that building it caused many debates amongst historians and city dwellers alike. When I was through exploring the Station, I decided to head to the Fushimi Shrine, best know as the shrine with 1000's of red Torri gates. The only problem was that no one seemed to know how to get there, and I didn't even think to find a Taxi. I was incredibly disappointed because I had wanted to see it even before I found I was coming to Japan. Instead, I bought myself I mocha coffee, closed my eyes, dwiddled around my fingers, which ended up pointing to a bus headed for some temple called Sanjusangendo. Figuring, I had nothing to lose, I boarded the packed bus, and waited as it drive through the heart of the city, passing famous sites like the Higashi Hoganji Temple. The funny part about that temple is it's this ancient wood structure, full of history and religion, and yet it's right in the middle of 3 high rises building. I wondered if the Buddhist monk who founded the temple ever envisioned a high rise above his work. I really don't think so, but who knows. WHen the bus pulled to a stop at Sanjusangendo, I walked to the front, paid the fee, and then got off. I had read about the temple before, but nothing made me really want to see it, nothing made me put it on my must-see list. In the end, I'm thankful I ended up seeing it's golden treasure. This place left a deep thoughtful impression on me. It is popularly known as Sanjusangendo for its famous 1001 statues of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. The statues are housed in the main building which from the outside did not look like much except at 390 feet in length, the longest wooden structure of it's kind in the world. But inside I got to view the statues. One giant Kannon sits in the middle, flanked on each side by 500 slightly smaller statues, all of them in neat rows side by side. The smaller statues are as tall as a human. And very lifelike, except they are painted in gold and have 44 arms each. When entering the hall, I was struck by the silence even though there are sizable crowd inside admiring the statues. The sight is overwhelmingly aweinspiring. The front row of deities nearest to the visitors are identified individually by plagues naming them with info about them, e.g Wind, Thunder, Lightening. These frontal deities actually gave me shivers, because they all looked so angry and lifelike. They also had a Hindu religious feel to them, even though the temple was purely Buddhist. Though there are 1001 statues, all the same to most people, I spent a LONG time looking at them. Every single one was different, but each contained an element of interest. I ended up having to leave the hall because of a huge tour. Otherwise, I would have stayed for hours just trying to discover the differences in the statues. There is no photography allowed in the main hall, so these photos are from the book I bought on the Temple. I also bought Mom, Nana, Shannon, and Me, little gods and fortunes. My little god was the God of Music and Travel. I couldn't help but think it was the perfect figure for me. This year I have done more traveling than the average person, and also taken up playing the wonderful instrument, the Koto. Nana got the God of Ocean, SHannon got the God of Beauty, and I don't remember what Mom got. WHen I was finished with the temple, I wanted to continue exploring. The problem is that most temples close very earlier, and looking at my cell phone watch, it was 3:30! I had spent almost 2 hours looking at the statues! I headed back the bus stop, in which I had begun my adventure at Sanjusangendo, and boarded a bus that looked like it might be heading in the direction I wanted to go. Again I got lucky, and was dropped off right near the always enchanting, Heian- jingu. Back inside the hotel, I hurried up the 4 flights of stairs to the room. Nana and Mom were still sleeping, when I came through the door. I woke them up, gave them their little Gods I bought at Sanjusangendo, and tried to get them ready. It was finally my turn to choose where we would dinner. The hotel had given me a pamphlet on nearby restaurants, one in which was an Okonomiacki place. Okonomiacki is my favorite Japanese food. I was convinced, even though Mom and Nana had thus far declared war on Japanese food, that they would like something nicknamed the Japanese pizza. But Mom was catching a cold, and asked to be left behind. So Nana and I set out for the restaurant. Unfortunately, even I was not thrilled with the food. They put some kind of spice inside the dish that Nana just could not stomach. I didn't even like it very much, but I ended up eating it all. Because it really is just tasty no matter what. After the quick dinner, we headed for another Lawson's Convenience store, where Nana bought every candy within a four foot radius. She happily found her Strawberry Shortcake, which she had eaten successfully for lunch. We also picked up some Tempura for Mom's dinner. She certainly enjoyed eating that because it was fried food! Back at the hotel, we packed up our suitcases, because tommorrow morning we would be leaving Kyoto. Then we called Pop and Dad and Shannon. As Nana talked to Pop, Mom purchased some gifts for the people back home. When I made sure that both parties were all set, I happily trodded off for my Public Bath.
