Kyoto - coffee, alcohol and more shrines...

A Kyoto bus turns around Gion Corner in front of the Yasaka Jinja Shrine.

Our hotel for 5 nights has been the Okura Kyoto, at the corner of Oike and Kawaramachi Streets, was a taxi ride from Kyoto Station for us and our luggage. The Okura is possibly the best we have stayed at so far on this trip. Our room is a big suite, the bathroom was spacious, the shower was hot and forcefull etc etc. Thanks Alan for arranging this stay! A great buffet breakfast was in the top floor restaurant with a great view to the east across the river, and a leaflet explained what all the landmarks are. The Okura let us check in early, and has direct underground access to a shopping centre and a subway station.

One of the very best hotels on this trip, the Kyoto Okura.

Origami cranes let for us by staff at the Okura.

The Kamogawa River travels in a straight line south down the east side of Kyoto and no doubt helped to define the rectangualr grid of this city.

Earlier crossings of the Kamogawa River have been replaced by modern bridges and even stepping stones.

Early cherry blossoms at a high school in downtown Kyoto.

Most of the tourist hotspots are in the hilly rim surrounding Kyoto, but this shrine is right in downtown on Oike-dori.

Coin laundry we used in Kyoto was tiny, modern, clean & tidy and we had to take our shoes off.

After some exhausting days on Kyoto buses, we decided to have a relaxing, walking day assisted by the subway. Higashiyama Station is only a few stops away from the hotel, and from there we walked to Shoren-in Temple just to look at its very old sprawling camphor trees, and we found a nice quiet little zen garden there too. This is a pleasant spot bypassed by most visitors, it seems.

Ancient camphor trees outside the Shoren-in Temple.

Serene zen garden at Shoren-in.

Virtually next door is Chion-in a huge and popular temple complex where the major shrine Mieido is undergoing a massive renovation and is entirely covered by a huge scaffolding shed which almost dominates the skyline. The works are not discouraging visitors - the place was quite crowded with both visitors and worshippers. Chion-in has yet another massive san-mon gate at the front steps.

Another huge but characteristic san-mon gate at Chion-in.

Bamboo grove at the Chion-in Temple complex.

Mossy ramparts on the hike upto Chion-in.

Created from wasteland only 300 years ago, Maruyama Park is very popular year round.

Under guidance of a walking map, we found Maruyama Park, a wasteland when developed some 300 years ago, now a paradise of a Japanese garden whose cherry trees must be a picture in spring. But our main objective of the walk was a giant buddha backing into the hills that we could see from our breakfast room, and which (from the hotel's annotated flyer) we figured out to be the Ryozen Kannon temple, which doesn't feature much in Kyoto highlights.

Considering the crowds nearby, it was very quiet at Ryozen Kannon, and maybe we discovered why. It memorialises some unleasant truths. The 24m high buddha is "A Tribute to The Unknown (Japanese) Soldier - World War II" according to the brochure, and an adjacent memorial is for unknown allied soldiers who died on Japanese soil or occupied territories during the war. A large card index purports to contain the names, one to a card, of every such allied soldier. And, within the temple, there is a sad memorial to miscarried babies. There are cases of tiny statuettes, which now number just under 5000.

Giant buddha at Ryozen Kannon is a tribute to unknown Japanese soldiers who died in WW2.

This memorial at Ryozen Kannon is for allied soliders who died on Japanese territory during WW2.

Side view of the buddah Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Making wishes at Ryozen Kwan-on Temple.

Many of nearly 5000 statuettes at the memorial to miscarried foetuses.

Just south of Ryozen Kannon we stumbled on a shopping/cafe area which is one of the prettiest we've seen. The main street in this area was labelled Ninen-zaka Path and in that area we also saw the Yasaka Pagoda, apparently the third highest wooden structure in Kyoto.

Unheralded Ninen-zaka Path is one of the most pleasant streets in Kyoto.

We figured we would walk home from here, even though snow was still falling. We passed through the area called Gion, a very popular touristy district, found some lunch, and walked along Shimbashi Street, a reputedly beautiful historical street. It was virtually closed - obviously Sunday is not a working day along here.

These two schoolgirls asked us to participate in a survey about our favourite foods in Japan and at home.

Drip falling from a bamboo pipe at a frozen washing fountain. Note that trapped leaf!

Tasteful craft store near Gion.

The "Happy Bicycle" shop specialises in tiny models like these.

The Yasaka Pagoda overlooks a popular shopping lane near Ninen-zaka St.

Endless selfies by young ladies in kimonos.

On another day we did some socialising and visited friends of Alan Gibson in the Kyoto area of Saiin. Saiin is towards the middle of Kyoto, so well away from the touristy rim, but near the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. Eddi (Australian born, Italian by heritage) and his Japanese wife Hiromi own a cafe called Caffellatte in Shijo Street and gave us a great welcome. We enjoyed paninis, espresso coffees and gelato, and great conversation. You can find Caffellatte at http://caffe-llatte.com/index_e.php, we can recoomend it. Thank you Eddi and Hiromi!

Hiromi and Eddi at Caffellatte in Saiin.

In the evenings in Kyoto, when not after coffee, we usually wanted something stronger, but found bars were often expensive and (worse) smoky! We know that Japanese are renowned as heavy smokers, but frankly, have scarcely noticed smoking at all, wherever we have been, until we went into a bar. Smoking is clearly now discouraged in cities, and is outright banned in some streets. Restaurants have no smoking, or at least no-smoking areas. But bars! Well, that discourages us from having another drink, which is a good thing!

Steep cover charges are apparently common, and when you are not drinking that much, makes it an expensive tipple. Frankly, we paid too much for a drink or two in several places. Tourists' dislike of the cover charges must be becoming known - we now notice places advertising no cover charges for foreigners.

The Island of the O-torii Gate...

O-torii Gate at high tide.

From Hiroshima, we were to make our way to the island of Miyajima to achieve one of this trips bucket list items, to see the famous O-torii Gate which is "one of Japan's three most scenic spots". It's just a local train ride, and a very short ferry trip to get there.

A wet day to for this portrait at O-torii Gate.

We were to discover that Miyajima is a tourist trap, crowded throughout the day with day-trippers who arrive the way we did, or by ferry direct from Hiroshima. This happens every day of the year, and it completely enlivens the tiny town's main shopping and cafe strip, Omotesando. Outside day-tripper hours, the town is very quiet - we imagine this is not quiet true in summer!

Ferries from two competing companies ply across the narrow strait.

These deer reportedly plague visitors to Miyajima, but we didn't find them too threatening.

The massive O-torii (nearly 17m tall) was first built 200m offshore (at high tide) in the Myojin style in 1168AD as a gate to the Itsukushima Shrine which was first located there in the 593AD. The present shrine dates back to 1550AD odd based on a design hundreds of years earlier.

The location of the gate in the water has very interesting provenance. The entire island was regarded as sacred and commoners were not allowed on shore, but pilgrims could approach through the gate in boats. While commoners (and even foreigners!) are now allowed on the island, purity of the shrine is maintained by permitting no births or deaths near the shrine. People facing such fates are transferred to the mainland.

The gate itself is built of various types of wood, camphor, cedar and cypress pine. It has no foundations but stands on six pillars, supported by its own weight, about 60t. Hollow sections are filled with stones. The gate (and the shrine) are in vermillion colour, which is excellent for keeping demons away.

The gate and the shrine are National Treasures of Japan, and are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1996).

JR ferries to Miyajima head directly towards the O-torii Gate to give arriving visitors a good view.

The best time to photograph the gate is at dusk and at high tide. Our planning was not up to this requirement - high tide for us was in the middle of the day. At low tide, visitors can keep their feet (fairly) dry and walk out to touch or embrace the gate. Coins are frequently poked into cracks and splits.

At low tide, visitors can walk around the base of the O'torii Gate.

In the hope of wealth, health and happiness, believers leave small tributes on the gate.

Not quite the shoes to wear on a muddy tidal flat.

Spectacular view of Miyajima from the ferry. Even the locals describe that skyline as something like an Easter Island maoi in profile.

Apart from the shrine and gate, there is plenty to see on Miyajima. We had a very enjoyable visit to the island's History and Folklore Museum, and walked all over. It's a very hilly town, and there are several car and pedestrian tunnels cut through steep ridges. The five-storeyed pagoda and next to it, the ancient Senjokaku library, are worth climbing a small hill to get close to, as is the Daishoin Temple, up an immense flight of stairs.

The five-storied pagoda dominates Mijyajima's shopping strip, Omotesando.

A combination of Chinese and Japanese styles, the five-storied pagoda dates to 1407.

Coffee and cake at the Sarasvati Cafe.

Dating back hundreds of years, but never quite finished, the Toyokuni Shrine (aka Senjokaku) is a huge library of Buddhist sutras.

Shop specialising in soy sauce.

In ancticipation of a Miyajima delicacy.

Traditional art and culture on display in Miyajima.

Three young ladies of Miyajima.

Recycling drink cans into wind decorations.

Many of 500 beanied figures at Daishoin Temple.

Fearsome demon-repelling guardian at the Daishaoin Temple.

Just another delightful water fountain, this one near Daishoin Temple.

Misty view of the Tahoto Pagoda.

Upper levels of the magnificent five storey pagoda.

Australia can't match this. The world's biggest rice paddle.

Miyajima's theme product (apart from rice paddles) seems to be Maple Leaf cookies, manufactured in many shops by these machines, and sold to every visitor.

Some intrepid visitors climb Mount Misen and do a number of so-called nature walks, but we didn't find the time or the energy to attempt these feats.

Bucketing rain for our evening cruise to O-torii Gate, with the Itsukushima Shrine in the background.

At high enough tides, boats can navigate the gate, but we never saw this happen in daytime.

Sodden tourists alighting from our night-time cruise vessel.

On Miyajima, we had our first experience of a ryokan, traditional Japanese style accommodation. We stayed at Ryokan Makoto as per Alan Gibson's recommendation. As per Alan's instructions, we rang the Makoto from the ferry terminal, and within 2 minutes they were there to pick us up. The Makoto proved to be a six storey inn, but the culture was traditional enough. We took our shoes off to enter our room and other places. Flooring was tatami matting made of woven rush grass which has a distinctive, pleasant smell. Our room had no beds, but futons were laid on the floor while we were at dinner. Old folks like us find it quite difficult to get out of a bed on the floor in the morning!

Our room at the top of the Ryokan Makoto, Miyajima.

Gorgeous decoration in the lobby of the Makoto.

Before we cluttered it up, this is our room at the Ryokan Makoto, in daytime mode.

Each of our three nights at the Makoto, we enjoyed a traditional Japanese kaiseki meal, a multi-course dinner where considerable effort is taken to make each course visually appealing. The front desk manager told us these meals were "expensive", but we don't know how much because they were included in our package. Anyway, they were delicious and varied, and looked very pretty. They featured local delicacies, so we had plenty of fish and oysters!

One course in one of our three kaiseki meals at Makoto.

Enjoying Alan Gibson's surprise ice-cream deliveries in our ryokan.

The ryokan had segregated public baths which we made good use of. We had been well briefed on bathhouse rules, in summary: (a) be naked, (b) wash thoroughly in the showers before you get in, (c) no soap or washing in the bath, (d) no towels or cloths in the water. The bathhouses at Makoto were spacious and not crowded, so easy and fun to use. And the bathroom in our room was excellent too - fabulous hot water and pressure - and the Japanese approach of sealing off the immediate shower/bath area is a great design strategy.

The Miyajima Museum of History and Folklore was a worthwhile visit.

Ancient well preserved at the Miyajima History and Folklore Museum.

Old photograph of a summer ritual, men cooperating to recover a prize on a wooden structure near the gate.

Historical engraving showing the Itsukushima Shrine and O-torii Gate.

Graphic depictions of the "Battle of Miyajima" in 1555, at the History & Folklore Museum.

Complex roofing detailing on old buildings.

Typical old house and furniture of Miyajima.

We leave Miyajima with fond memories and some reluctance. We could have spent more time here, and done a few of the obviously popular nature walks. A great place to relax, an entrancing tori gate that changes its appearance daily, and, we saw, everything from sunshine to heavy rain, clear skies to heavy fog. A tourist trap indeed, but no wonder it is so popular, and has been for so long.

Miyajima triptych in one of the Makoto banquet halls.

This rickshaw puller is not looking forward to the uphill sections with these two passengers.

Looking from Miyajima to Miyajimaguchi, we couldn't actually establish waht this most notable and modern looking edifice is.