Kyoto

Kyoto is home to a few hundred shrines and temples and we managed to visit a handful of them during our weekend visit. First was the Fushini Inari Shrine, pictured left. I read that there were over 5,000 of the orange gates, some big and some small. They are donated to the shrine by families and companies. It offers a nice walk through the gate lined trail that winds through a forest and up the hills surrounding the city. This was one of my favorite shrines.



Next was the Kiyomizu Temple. This is a very popular temple that is situated in the hills overlooking Kyoto. It's central building is built somewhat on stilts on the hillside. Several other buildings and paths are also located in the hills and it has a kind of a waterfall fountain that is used for cleansing. Great views of the beautiful mountains.

The next temple we visited was the Ginkakuji, or Silver pavilion. This was quite a contrast to the Golden pavilion as seen below. Mostly it is a garden of sand sculpted to hint of Mt. Fuji (see left) or groomed to look like water. It is a peaceful reflective place.

The Kinkakuji or Golden pavilion, was a very impressive building, set beside a reflecting pond. It is a very popular tourist attraction so the crowds were thick with picture takers. Still the gold flecked paint on the building shone brightly in the morning sun and made for a striking vista.

Finally we visited Nijo Castle. As we toured the main building the wooden floor squeaked beneath our feet. This was by design so any spies sneaking around the castle could be caught by the guards. Four hundred year old paintings lined the walls where pictures were forbidden and the odor of feet was tangible. Not because of anything from the castle but because everybody was required to take their shoes off and shuffle about in stocking feet. Outside, the castle had notable walls, gardens and ponds.

In all Kyoto was a fun place to visit although different than we expected. It is a modern city dotted with many, many historical, noteworthy locales.

May's Going's On (is that right?)

Sorry the blog has become a little stale the last couple weeks. I'll try to do better. School year is winding down now, picnics, field trips etc are filling up the calendar. Last week Cole went to the Tama Zoo with his class and Kaori's school had Sports Day. That involved the teachers putting on games for the students (and parents). The kids got stamps and once they filled up their card, a gold medal. The parents got nothin'. Then on Saturday night Robyn and I went out with parents from Cole's class and his teacher to thank him for his efforts for the year. Next week Kaori will be on an outing to Children's Castle here in Tokyo and then conferences the week after that. Cole will be having portfolio sharing day where Robyn and I'll be going out to his school so he can show us the work he's done this year. I'm sure there's more but I can't remember it all.

Big earthquake just off the coast last week. I felt the first shock at about 1 AM as it woke me up and just kept shaking and rattling the apartment. About 45 minutes later the second wave came through and Robyn and I both woke up. She said "That was a big one" but of course I had to tell her the first one was bigger. It registered 6.8, pretty big indeed. No damage though, just loss of sleep.

This weekend we are going to try to go to Kyoto. Shouldn't be a problem, just if we can make all the arrangements in the next few days. We'll go on the Shinkansen, the high speed train. Kyoto has many old temples and castles and is close to Osaka. Robyn has wanted to visit there since we've moved. Finally.

Next month we are going to Oshima, an island just south of Tokyo. We'll have to take a jet boat to get there. I've been wanting to visit one of the southern islands. Actually I'll be doing my very first triathlon on the island. Probably going to be nerve wracking until that is over and then fun.