Day 7: Temples, Shrines, Pork Cutlets, and Conversations over Japanese Whiskey

We started our morning with breakfast at the hotel.  Andy went for the western breakfast and myself for the soy pancake.  Again it was quite the production with beakers of smoothies, appetzers of salad, fish, and cheese, then onto the main that included soy banana pancakes, eggs, and bacon for me and omlette and more for Andy.  Thank goodness we have tons of walking on the itenerary for today. Quickly upstairs to grab our bag we would meet our guide, Sayuri-san.  We were excited to learn she would be with us today as well as our half-day in Osaka.

We started right across the street at Nijo-jo Castle, a place that gives you a glimpse into Japan’s samurai past. Built in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Nijo Castle was the Kyoto residence of the shoguns. More than 250 years later, it would also play a role in the end of the shogunate when political power was returned to the emperor in 1867.

One of our favorite details was the castle’s famous “nightingale floors.” As you walk through Ninomaru Palace, without shoes of course, the wooden floors chirp and squeak beneath your feet. Whether they were intentionally designed as an early warning system or simply became known for their distinctive sound over time, they certainly make it nearly impossible to sneak through a shogun’s palace unnoticed!

From the world of shoguns at this World Heritage Site, we moved into a much quieter side of Kyoto at Nanzen-ji. Nanzen-ji is one of Kyoto’s most important Zen Buddhist temples, with origins dating to the 13th century. The grounds, gardens and temple buildings feel wonderfully peaceful, especially after the grandeur of Nijo Castle. It was one of those places that encouraged us to slow down, wander and simply take everything in.  We would learn later that the Zen temples are intentionally nestled in the hustle and bustle of the city as to encourage locals to visit and slow down. Literally at one point I wanted to lay and nap in one of the gardens and sure enough there was a sign forbidding it, so aparently I was not the only one who felt this way.  This is also the location where we got a glimpse into why fall is a high season as the Japanese maples are begining to turn color.  So while we will miss the vibrancy we also have about 1/4 of the crowds that will arrive starting next month. Kyoto is a city of about 1.5 million residents but see 13 million tourists a year.

And then, of course, it was time to eat - again and we headed toward Nishiki Market.  We had asked our guide to again take us to a local favorite versus where the tourists would go. Where we stopped was a place known for their Japanese pork cutlets — crispy on the outside, tender on the inside called Katsukura. Andy remarked every single cooked item we have had has been prepared to perfection. We would grind sesame seeds in a bowl and add sauces to create our dipping sauce for our cutlets.  We had a large pile of angel hair shredded cabbage with a wonderful dressing.  And by the way they walked around with a basket refilling as you needed.  Also the meal came with miso and rice. There is something particularly satisfying about a plate of tonkatsu after a morning of walking!  We opted to just peek at the market and return tomorrow with our free half day to wander and do some shoppping

So next we were off to Sanjusangen-do. The temple is famous for its extraordinarily long wooden hall filled with 1,001 statues of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The original temple dates to 1164, although the present hall was rebuilt in the 13th century after a fire. Walking into the hall and seeing row after row after row of golden figures is almost impossible to describe. No photographs are allowed inside so you simply have to stand there and take it all in. Another interesting thing about this temple is on the outside and the fact there is a hundreds of year old archery tournament that is still held here annually.

We saved one of Kyoto’s most iconic sights for last: Fushimi Inari Taisha. Dedicated to Inari, the Shinto deity associated with rice, agriculture and prosperity, the shrine is best known for the seemingly endless tunnels of brilliant vermilion torii gates climbing up Mount Inari. Many of the gates have been donated by individuals and businesses. This was our busiest location thus far with all sorts of languages and faiths converging.

By this point in the day our feet had definitely logged some miles.  For most of the day we relied on a combination of walking and taxis, which worked beautifully for getting between Kyoto’s scattered sights without spending too much time figuring out transportation. By the end of the day, however, we were ready to give our feet a break and finished our journey back by train. We popped into a convenience store and bought some cold drinks which I was able to use my IC (transit) card to pay with, then after a couple of stops we parted ways with our guide who had been wonderful so she could start her hour-long trek home by mass transit.

Back at our hotel, we ended up spending a wonderful evening chatting with the hotel manager and learning more about the hotel and Kyoto. Andy took the opportunity to sample several Japanese whiskies, while I went for a Japanese white wine. We also remarked on the 40 year old bonsai adorning the bar and would learn the artist was also our waiter at our morning breakfast.  He says it is a "hobby," but then presented me with business cards when I asked him about it the following morning.

After a day filled with shoguns, Zen gardens, pork cutlets, a thousand golden statues and thousands of red torii gates, sitting down with a glass of wine and nowhere else we needed to be felt pretty perfect.