Day 3: Sanjusangendo, Frolicking Animals, Jidai Matsuri and a Heian banquet at Rokusei

https://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/sets/72157648503484419/ is of the parade only. I shot the exteriors of Sanjusangendo Temple using internal camera memory - and didn't pack my cable, so I'll have to download them after I get home.



Sanjusangendo is an old Buddhist temple with a main hall so long, the veranda was historically used for archery competitions. Inside (where I could not take pictures as it's an active worship site and a priest was chanting at the main altar), the hall is filled with statues of Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. (Japanese Buddhists venerate bodhisattvas other than the historical Buddha.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanj%C5%ABsangen-d%C5%8D has some information. It's incredibly beautiful, particularly viewed as we did while a service was in progress. I lit a candle. And incense.





Across the street is the Kyoto National Museum, which was exhibiting the restored "Frolicking Animals And Humans" picture scrolls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%8Dj%C5%AB-jinbutsu-giga One of my favorite pieces of art, it features animals aping human behavior.

We stopped for lunch at the cafe near the house, then walked back up towards the parade viewing stands where we had reserved seats. It was raining quite a bit as we got settled, but I managed to keep my camera dry and the rain did abate as the procession got to our part of the street. The Jidai Matsuri, literally, Festival of the Eras, commemorates the founding of Kyoto as Japan's capital in 794. The festival was conceived partly because the capital was moved to Tokyo in the late 19th century. The Heian Jingu shrine was built and the festival has been held annually since 1895, with costumed participants representing various periods and famous figures from the Meiji Restoration (mid 19th century) and going back to 794. I was in costume-geek heaven, needless to say. Though it was a tricky challenge to photograph, with the weather, the people in front of me that I had to shoot around and so forth. While I didn't get pictures of everything I would have liked, I got some I'm pretty pleased with.

Home to dry off and get cleaned up, then we walked back up past Heian Jingu Shrine for our big-splurge dinner at Rokusei. We were escorted into an elegant, modern foyer by a hostess in kimono and into a sitting room where we were presented with descriptive menus in Japanese and English to prepare us for the sort of feast that might have been served to nobles in the capital 1000 years ago. The attached cell phone picture is the tray I received. Morsels included venison, pheasant, fish (broiled, dried, raw), octopus, abalone, fresh fruit, pickled and raw vegetables, even a sort of seaweed pudding. While not everything was to my taste, most of it was amazing, and I couldn't finish it all. It was incredible.

Day 4: Theme park cheese and the delights of nature in Arashiyama.

I went out early yesterday and shot some sights of the neighborhood, including the little temple on the other side of the alley wall, and the little stream that runs under Sanjo-dori on the way to the subway.

If you take the Tozei line as far west as it goes, you can pick up the Randen tram line, which wends its way through the suburbs towards Arashiyama. In a concession to the fact that not every day needs to be shrinetempleshrinetemplemuseum, we hit the Toei Studios theme park, where I came to the conclusion that I am too damn old and cranky to be a ninja. Seriously: the guides through the Ninja Mystery House were about as threatening as Mousketeers as they encouraged us in chirpy, rapidfire Japanese (with Josh translating), to find all the secret passages through the house. Cheesy, commercial, and happy to take your yen for refreshments and souvenirs, but they do still shoot movies and tv shows in parts of the park and there was a section cordoned off with a shoot going on while we were there. And that's cheesy in a good way. http://www.toei-eigamura.com/en/

We hopped back on the Randen and took it to the end of the line in beautiful Arashiyama. (Storm Mountain), along the Oi River. You exit the tram into the prettiest transit station ever, decorated with a "kimono forest" of beautifully patterned tubes that light at night, and lined with neat little shops selling sweets and snacks. A tourist destination since the Heian period, the Oi river valley is surrounded on all sides by wooded mountains just starting to get their fall color.

As you exit the station through crowds of holiday goers, you will be frequently greeted by photogenic men in skintight shirts, short shorts and tabi waving brochures with big smiles, inviting you to see Arashiyama by rickshaw. The occupation necessitates fitness and I saw these guys loping up and down the street with passengers all day. (Rent or stream "The Rickshaw Man" with Toshiro Mifune some time! It's a charmer.)

We found a place by the Togetsukyo Bridge for lunch. Mine was paper thin slices of white pork and a raw egg in broth with tender soba noodles. Stir the egg into the broth and it gets very rich and hearty. Washed down with a small glass of Asahi Super Dry.

That set us up well for the next adventure. We took a trail up past a little Shinto shrine guarded by a handsome bobtail cat and up to the Iwatayama Monkey Park. The semi-paved trail climbs 160 meters (about 525 feet) through the trees. Just when you need to catch your breath, there is an inevitable Monkey Quiz signboard with questions about the life and habits of the Japanese macaques that live on the mountainside. There's a troop of about 130 or so of these beautiful animals, all given individual names by the park staff, and they are quite fearless about sharing the mountain with tourists. When you reach the top of the hill, you are rewarded with a sweeping view of Kyoto spread out to the east. Attendants were breaking up aggressive monkey squalls, from time to time, it being breeding season right now.  You can enter the hut and buy 100 yen bags of peanuts or apple chunks and feed the monkeys from inside. This works brilliantly - the monkeys know to expect food from people inside the wire. Since they don't get handouts from visitors outside the hut, they know not to accost  you there.

I developed a two-handed feeding strategy so I could assuage more aggressive, larger monkeys while still getting pieces of apple into the hands of the littler ones. And I have to confess I felt a thrill as those little hands took apples from my palm. It's hard to describe.

Fortified by cooling breezes on the hike back down, and a cone of soft serve ice cream ("softu" is a big thing here and so far I've had green tea, hochicha (roasted brown tea) and mango flavors), we crossed the river to climb to a lovely spot overlooking the Oi river gorge, wended our way through an impressive and beautiful bamboo grove, then finished up with the lovely gardens at Tenryuji.

We split up to browse some of the shops (I was good and only bought post-cards), then met back in front of the Randen station to use the foot spa. This is a real thing! You pay 200 yen for a towel at the information center, then walk along the tram platform until you get to a communal pool where you can soak your tired feet in soothingly hot water. http://kyoto.traveler-s.net/items/176

Dinner at "Randon" above the station, a donburi place (stuff over rice). Mine was salmon sashimi, salmon roe, nori and some sort of green, clovery looking plant. Yum.

Then back to Kyoto by Randen, subway and our tired feet.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/sets/72157648925741001/