Kyoto

Over two weeks in and what have I learnt… clearly not a lot as I refused to take my coat today as it was so hot yesterday and I learnt to regret it when we were walking around more temples in the pouring rain with no coat. In my defence the weather forecast was very misleading.

Despite the rain, we enjoyed visiting the kiyomizu dera or sweet water temple as well as the many temples and pagodas that surrounded it. Unfortunately they had closed off a few sections of the area but we still got to enjoy the vibrant red and orange colours from the temples that painted the landscape.

There were many people lighting incense and praying to the huge golden statues and shrines. It was a very beautiful set of temples with the main hall having a large veranda supported by stilts and wooden beams on the cliff edge that was constructed in the edo period to originally accommodate many pilgrims . After exploring the temple and not really seeing the famous view back across Kyoto due to the rain we retreated back through the winding street markets browsing the souvenirs and goodies. This is where we discovered bean paste sweets which are absolutely delicious and there is a version of them that are unique to Kyoto so we bought a box of those to snack on a little later!

We then ended up outside our tea ceremony building. Greeted by a lovely man in a deep blue kimono we slipped our shoes off and sat cross legged in a simple room with large floor to ceiling windows on one side looking out over a zen garden. It was rather peaceful watching the garden in the rain as the rest of our small groups arrived.

Once we were all settled, our guide explained to us a bit more about the tea ceremony and how the techniques are passed through generations and that it traditionally was done just before battle as a good omen to samurai warriors. He also explained that tea ceremonies are centred largely around the seasons, due to cherry blossom season being just around the corner we were served a cherry blossom tea! Which was not really for me as they sort of pickle the cherry blossom and then put it in boiling water so not as aesthetic or appealing as it sounds!

Our teishu - host of the tea ceremony arrived and began preparing her matcha tea. Taking time to carefully wipe all the utensils she was using and then gently putting them back in very precise places and slightly adjusting them if they were out of place. She then began to prepare the tea by adding the powdered matcha into the water and whisking it with a bamboo hand whisk. She would then present it to each of us bowing but not holding eye contact as apparently this is considered more respectful! We would then have to pick up the tea in our dominant hand and place it in our palm, twist the bowl twice clockwise and then finish it in 3 sips with a small slurp at the end of the last sip to show your appreciation. After this we then watched her “closing ceremony”. During the whole ceremony it was almost completely silent apart from the occasional shuffle from one of us with her attention never straying from her task at hand.

After this she then taught us how to make our own matcha tea and have a go ourselves and not to brag - but mine was apparently “perfect”. (Jacob didn’t get this level of praise) but it’s not a competition or anything! I was surprised that I found the matcha rather inoffensive as last time I tried it I really couldn’t stand it. I didn’t mind it too much this time but I still don’t think it’s something I would have on a regular basis despite it apparently having antioxidants and all sorts in! We thanked our host and bowed in respect and then enjoyed the garden for a while before heading off once again.

To finish off the day we went to visit gion which is home of the geisha girls. The official definition of a geisha girl is a Japanese hostess trained to entertain men with conversation, dance, and song so you can take from that what you like. We walked to gion and enjoyed the beautiful old streets with its traditional wooden houses and small lanterns. We were also very lucky that it was almost empty I’m guessing due to the rain and some of the areas we visited today are being closed next month to tourists. I have to say they have got much stricter here over recent years, with many signs asking you to not take any photos, speak loudly, hold hands in public, eat or drink in the street. Due to this, we took very few pictures and only in areas that we thought would be ok but the traditional old streets did live up to the hype! Having said this, we are very lucky that we did get to visit them even if we couldn’t take pictures as even now there were police stationed along the street enforcing the rules and if we were just a few weeks later we wouldn’t have been able to see the area at all so very fortunate! Sadly no geisha girls appeared today though!Read more