5/12/24: From One End of Kyoto to Another!

Steven and I discovered there was a multitude of options for getting around Kyoto - we'd already hoofed it through the Gion Quarter, taken buses out to Sanjusangendo Hall and the Nishijin Textiles Center, hopped on the subway from the Nijo Castle to the Nanzen-ji Temple. On May 12th, we took a bus and then a commuter train an hour west to reach Kyoto's Arashiyama District to walk through the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, one of the most photographed sights in the city.

No doubt, hardy rickshaw drivers got hot and sweaty pulling their bundled passengers along Arashiyama's streets but I envied them their cozy blankets on that chilly day!

The easiest access to the bamboo grove was through Tenryu-ji Temple, ranked first among Kyoto's five great Zen temples and also a World Heritage Site. Known in English as the Temple of the Heavenly Dragon, Tenryu-ji was established in 1339 by Shogun Ashikaga Takaugi on the site of the first Zen temple in Japan which was founded in the 13th century. The temple was dedicated to Emperor Go-Daigo, his former ally until Takaugi turned against him in a struggle for the country's supremacy. After the Emperor passed away, Takauji built Tenryu-ji in the hope of appeasing Go-Daigo's spirit.

After most of the temple's buildings were repeatedly ravaged by fires and wars, they only date from the relatively recent Meiji Era, 1868-1912. Unlike the temple buildings, Tenryuji's garden, created in the 14th century by the famous garden designer Muso Soseki, has survived in its original form. Soseki also served as Tenryuji's first head priest. One of the oldest gardens in Japan, it was selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The exquisite landscape garden featured a central pond surrounded by rocks, pine trees, and the forested Arashiyama mountains. 

No pictures of the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove we'd seen could possibly capture the feeling of standing in the middle of the sprawling 500-meter-long grove just beyond the temple. A paved walkway slowly wended its way uphill through the mesmerizing grove of thousands of bamboo plants.

In case you're wondering, there is no meaning or purpose to the bamboo grove, simply decoration. From the days of classical Japan's Heian Period from 794 to 1195, bamboo was a popular element in the gardens of the imperial and noble villas in the Arashiyama area. It was also cultivated during the Edo Period for crafts and to eat as bamboo shoots, a feature of Japanese menus. Economic changes in the modern era resulted in many bamboo groves being abandoned or turning into residential areas but, fortunately in 1967, the government protected this grove for all to enjoy.
    

The rickshaw alley:

We exited Bamboo Alley via another short alley to briefly visit Nonomiya-jinja (Shinto) Shrine, the former home of imperial princesses so they could purify themselves and serve at Ise Shrine.

Emperors for generations sent their unmarried daughters to serve at Ise where they were known as Saigu for at least one year undergoing purification before moving to Nonomiya-jinja. After a further three years of purification there, each princess was taken in procession to Ise.

Wishes and prayers were written on small wooden boards and hung up.

This could well have been our mantra!

Only in immaculately clean Japan would you find a Rubbish Bin Map!

The Arashiyama district was centered around the Katsura River, a popular spot for tourists. In the background was Togetsukyō Bridge described as a classic symbol of the area. People looked like they were having fun taking a leisurely boat ride down the river. I remember thinking we spent a long strolling along the river and not really 'seeing' much. Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, it was the journey and not the destination that mattered!

Statues lined the entrance to Hogon-in Temple, another temple in Arashiyama.

A tram took us back to eastern Kyoto and Koryu-ji Temple which belonged to the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Likely founded in 603, it was one of seven Japanese temples constructed by Prince Shotoku who lived from 573 to 621. Fires destroyed the temple in 818 and 1150 but it was restored each time according to the original plans.

At the entrance, the deity guarded the oldest temple in Kyoto.

Once again, there were no English language signs to give us a clue what any of the buildings were nor even their names which I found frustrating. On the positive side, though, it was blissfully empty compared to the hordes of people in the Arashiyama area. 

This may have been the present-day lecture hall, Kodo, and the oldest building in Kyoto, constructed in 1165 - I just can't be sure without any signage.

Koryuji is best known for its wooden image of Bodhisattva called Miroku-Bosatsu-Hanka-Shii-zo, which is thought to have been a gift to Shotoku from the Korean court. Taishi, who promoted Buddhism early on in Japan, gave the image to Hatano Kawakatsu in 603. The latter built Koryu-ji to enshrine the image, the first registered national treasure in Japan and is now located in a temple building called the Reihoden or Treasure House.

According to Buddhist belief, Miroku Bosatsu is destined to appear on Earth in the far-off future to save those unable to achieve enlightenment. The image of the serene Buddha of the Future is thought to date from the Asuka Period, 552-645. Possibly the most captivating ethereal Buddhist image in Kyoto, Bosatsu is seen sitting in a half-lotus position, perhaps pondering the future of mankind. The Buddha was probably gilded originally. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

In the same hall were beautiful wooden images of the Twelve Deities from the 10th century.

Unfortunately, though only one of the temple's three buildings, the Treasure House, was open to visitors when we were there, staff neglected to mention that when we purchased the hefty-priced admission tickets. What a difference English-language signs would have made to our enjoyment of, and appreciation for Koryu-ji, especially since it took a valuable amount of travel time to see the magical Buddha.

So, it was back on another tram, this time heading northeast toward Ryoan-ji Temple but we were happily sidetracked by a street market taking place on the narrow streets en route to the temple.

The map displayed a panoramic view of Ryoan-ji which covered about 120 acres including scenic mountains. I included this map to show how utterly vast many of Kyotos's temples are and how easy it was to walk many, many miles a day getting from one to another!

Kyoyochi Pond was built on temple grounds in the 12th century and was home to Mandarin ducks until the end of the Meiji Period, thus earning the name of Oshidoridera, the Temple of Mandarin Ducks. 

The temple, originally a country home belonging to the Tokidaji Clan, was acquired by Hosokawa Katsumoto in 1450 to use as a Zen training temple. Like so many of the city's temples, it, too, was destroyed by fire but was rebuilt in 1499. UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site in 1994. The temple flourished with a succession of famous priests living at Ryoanji and donations of land so, that at its peak, there were 23 sub-temples on the grounds. 

Ryoan-ji is known for having probably the most famous Zen rock garden in Japan, laid out at the end of the 15th century by a highly respected Zen monk. The remarkable, yet infinitely simple, garden measures just 25 meters west to east and 10 meters north to south. The rectangular garden is so famous because it was wildly different from other gardens constructed for court nobles in the Middle Ages. No trees marred the fifteen rocks laid out in small groups on patches of moss and the waves of raked, white pebbles surrounded by a low wall on three sides made of clay boiled in oil.

A fascinating feature of the garden's design was that one of the rocks is always hidden regardless of one's vantage point. We viewed the garden from the wooden veranda of the Hojo, the head priest's former residence. There, we wondered what the artist was trying to communicate with the rock placement. Were they mountains above the clouds or islands in the oceans as some have surmised? 

The Hojo featured some paintings on the fusama or sliding doors of its tatami rooms. There was no overt religious significance to the temple I was aware of.

To the rear of the building were a couple of smaller gardens, ideal for quiet reflection before facing the city's madding crowds once more.

On the 30-minute trek to Kinkaku-ji, our last temple of the day in northern Kyoto, we couldn't help but smile at the wild exterior of what could only be the Kyoto Prefectural Museum of Modern Art!

If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you'll see the baby soft moss at the entrance to Kinkaku-ji, a Zen temple whose top two floors are covered with gold leaf, so it's known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. It was constructed in the 1390s as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, but, per his will, it became a Zen temple after he died in 1408. Do you recall my recent post on the similarly named Ginkakuji or Silver Pavilion built by Yoshimitsu's grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, on the other side of the city? 

Although Kinkaku-ji is one of Kyoto's most crowded attractions, Steven and I were lucky not to be besieged by crowds as we had been at some other temples. Another blessing in my mind was not having to run the gauntlet of a thousand and one stores, restaurants, and vendors while walking from the entrance to the temple as we'd also witnessed (and I deplored!) previously with so many other temples.

Perhaps the gentle rain had dissuaded visitors to this glorious site? Making Kinkaku-ji our last stop of the day wasn't happenstance - fortunately, we'd read that the perfect time to capture the Golden Pavilion and its reflection in the large pond was the late afternoon.

The three-story building was the only one left of Yoshimitsu's former retirement complex which had burned down numerous times throughout its history including twice during the Onin War, a civil war that destroyed much of Kyoto. It was again destroyed in 1950 when it was set on fire by a disturbed student monk. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955 and was recovered in gold leaf that was five times thicker in 1987.

The roof was topped with a bronze phoenix.

One of the most famous pine trees in Kyoto was the Rikushu Pine, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's beloved pine tree at the temple.

A final look at the resplendent Kinkaku-ji that will forever be etched in my mind:

What a day this had been traveling hither, thither, and yon all over Kyoto on all sorts of transportation as we explored the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and just a few of the city's magnificent temples!

Next post: Kyoto's incomparable Fushimi Inari Shrine and ...!

Posted on July 8th, 2024 from home where we're already up to our ears planning an almost two-month-long trip this fall to all sorts of exciting destinations on two continents and places in between. I hope you and your loved ones are well and happy. Please take care as Covid is rearing its ugly head again for too many people.