Japan 2024

Tuesday in Kyoto began with a simple honey toast breakfast at the nearby Murmur coffee cafe.

We visited the Ginkaku-ji temple (aka: Silver Pavilion), a Zen temple from the Muromachi Period (1336-1573), and its gardens. The temple is famous for its “wabi-sabi” style (beauty in imperfection, recognizing 3 Buddhist realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect).

From the temple - after small stops along the busy shopping street en route - we walked the Philosopher’s Path, a peaceful stone walkway parallel to a creek running through residential neighborhoods. It is so-named after a scholar of yesteryear who daily walked the route to work, thinking about life’s mysteries as he went.

We also visited the Eikando Temple, another Buddhist temple built upon the hillside. Again, with beautiful gardens surrounding it. There were paintings from competing schools and well-preserved tatami mats. Here we were lucky enough to observe a purple-clad monk chanting prayers.

For an afternoon snack, we enjoyed crepes at a French bakery, part of a small chain Eric had visited in Paris. Then back to our hotel/ryokan for a rest before another great meal: Yakiniku/Wagu dinner with meats cooked for us table-top.

On Wednesday, we began our day with a cooking class (Narita’s cooking school), conducted in her modest apartment) where we made gyoza, and learned about making ramen, too, enjoying both dishes for our lunch. From there, I went with Sarah and Matt to a small museum of netsuke, then back for a rest before our evening walking tour of the Gion neighborhood, known both for its Geishas and traditional architecture.

Our wonderful tour guide, Richard, led us around the area for well over 4 hours (beyond the expected 3-hour tour we booked)! Richard is half-Japanese and half-American and a fountain of information. Though we did not see any of the about 100 active Geishas, we learned about their exhaustive training and rigid lifestyle. After training for about 5 years (aged 15-20/21) they can work as a Geisha for no more than 15 years. We also toured temples and learned more about the traditional Japanese architecture. As Kyoto was spared the bombs of WW2, the older areas are particularly beautiful.

For dinner, we stopped at a local convenience store for bites to eat in our respective bedrooms. Before bed, we all enjoyed deep soaks in our cedar tubs!Read more