December 15, 2023

Saihō-ji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple. It is famous for its moss garden and is commonly referred to as “Koke-dera,” meaning “moss temple”.

Before entering the temple, one is required to sit in contemplation in the main hall and copy a very small part of a Buddhist Sutra in kanji. The sutra I was given was the Life-Extending Ten-Line Kannon Sutra or Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo. I have put the sutra at the end of this post.

According to temple legend, Saihō-ji was constructed during the Nara period. Over time, the temple fell into disrepair, and in 1339, the chief priest of a nearby shrine summoned the famous Japanese gardener Musō Soseki to help him revive Saihō-ji as a Zen temple.

The garden is arranged as a circular promenade centered on Golden Pond (ōgonchi). The pond is shaped like the Chinese character for “heart” or “mind” (心, Kokoro) and contains three small islands.

The area around the pond is said to be covered with more than 120 varieties of moss, which is believed to have started growing after the flood of the temple grounds in the Edo Period.

Until 1977, Saihō-ji was open to the general public on a walk-up basis. Now, it is open to the public by appointment only. It allows a very limited number of visitors and for only 90 minutes. It is said that these regulations were put into place to protect the delicate moss from the hordes of tourists that plagued the temple before 1977.

In 1994, Saihō-ji was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The tea house was rebuilt during the Toyotomi Period (16th century). It is known for its moon-watching area. It is also said that Sen-no-Rikyu (a tea master) had used the building as a temporary hideout when Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered a hara-kiri. Iwakur Tomoi also used this teahouse and succeeded in hiding from the shogunates during the Meiji Restoration.

The front of the tea house

Walking the path around the pond is awe-inspiring. A short bus ride from Tokyo Station it is absolutely worth the effort to get a reservation and hop on a bus.

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I apologize.  I truly hate blogs that just photo-dump, but I just could not help it. This place is so amazing.

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A sacred stone tied with a Shimenawa, a rope used to demarcate the boundary between the sacred and the profane.

The bridge leads to the main gate, which is no longer in use.

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It started to rain just as my visit was over.

The Kanzeon,

December 2o23

The Chuman or Middle Gate

While the Bamboo Forest and other attractions of Arashiyama are jam-packed, Okochi Sanso is a serene oasis and a must-visit for a mere $7.00.

Ōkōchi Sansō Villa is the former residence of Japanese film star Ōkōchi Denjirō (1898-1962). A period actor from the film “The Tale of Genji”, he was part of the golden era of Japanese Film. Ōkōchi’s Villa includes a traditional home, tea house, and Buddhist halls amidst a carefully planned and cultivated Japanese-style garden. The villa employs classic architecture despite its rather recent construction.

A glimpse of the house

Jibutsu-dō

A Meiji Era building, the Jibutsu-dō was moved to its current location at Denjirō’s request.  During work, it’s said he would come to the Jibutsu-dō to meditate and gather his thoughts, and the rest of the estate was founded gradually outwards from there.

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Tea garden in front of the tekisuian (tea house)

Just one of the many places on the property to glimpse the mountains that surround Kyoto

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When the actor passed away in 1962 at the age of 64, the estate passed to his wife, Taeka, who continued to manage the villa and eventually decided to open the garden to the public.  The family continues to maintain the estate.

December 3, 2023

A rainbow forms over the Palace as I head towards it.

You can not enter any of the buildings on the Palace grounds, but you can stroll to your heart’s content.  Years ago, I was struck by two things at the Imperial Palace: the architectural elements and the garden.  Those are the two things that struck me as I walked through again fifteen years later.

One of the six palace gates

Hawadabuki

The roof often constitutes half the size of the whole edifice. The slightly curved eaves extend far beyond the walls, covering verandas. Their weight must, therefore, be supported by complex bracket systems called tokyō.

The palace was once the home of the Royal Family as well as the Emperor of Japan and dates back to 794, when it was originally constructed. Thanks to fires and wars, the current palace dates from 1855. Architecturally speaking, the Kyoto Imperial Palace resembles the Heian Period Palaces (794 to 1185) as well as Chinese Tang Dynasty models.

The separation between inside and outside is itself, in some measure, not absolute as entire walls can be removed, opening the structure to visitors.

Shitomi, also called hajitomi are square-lattice shutters or doors and are characteristic of the Shinden style and the Heian Period (794-1185).

They are usually split and hinged horizontally; when open, the upper shutter is held up at 90 degrees to the wall with hooks, and the lower half could either be lifted out or folded parallel to the upper shutter. This makes it possible to remove the entire wall and leave just the pillars.

The Shishen-den

The main hall, called the Shishin-den, surrounded by a corridor of white walls and vermillion-red colored pillars, is the most formal hall of the palace. This is where important ceremonies such as ceremonies of the Accession to the Throne were held. The roof was constructed using the traditional method “hiwadabuki.”

The Seiryo-den

The Seiryo-den is a reconstruction in the Heian period style, with a gabled, cypress-thatched roof and shinden-zukuri layout. The main characteristics of the shinden-zukuri are the special symmetry of the group of buildings and the undeveloped space between them. the Seiryo-den was used by the emperor for living quarters.

Even the smallest detail is turned into a work of art.

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The Imperial Palace sits on an immense piece of property that, in turn, sits inside a giant public park.  It is the perfect place to escape Kyoto’s hustle, bustle, and crowds.

December 2, 2023

The one thing you can get overwhelmed with and then exhausted from is the vast amount of temples in Kyoto.

Over 1600 Buddhist temples are scattered throughout the Kyoto Prefecture, as well as 400 Shinto shrines.  Those are the ones big enough to count. There are countless other small ones.

How do I approach writing about them without boring even myself?  We shall see.

Kennin-ji

Kenninji was founded by Eisai, the Buddhist monk who introduced both Zen Buddhism and tea cultivation to Japan upon returning from study trips to China. The temple was constructed in 1202 and is considered to be the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto.

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Zenkyo-an is a small temple inside the Kennin-ji complex. It dates from 1327 and was founded by the monk Seisetsu. Zenkyo-an is noted for its female deity, Marishiten.

Marishiten-do enshrines the Indian Goddess of Light, Marici, known as Marishiten in Japanese. She is often depicted as either riding on a boar or in a chariot being pulled by boars.

Hallway in Kyushu-in Temple, a part of the Kenyan-ji complex

Sho-ren-in

Shōrenin is one of the city’s monzeki temples, which are temples whose head priests were traditionally members of the imperial family.

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It was nice to get away from the crowds running from “must do” to “must do” on the tourist lists and visit some temples the way they were intended, with quiet and the ability to reflect.

December 2, 2023

I have discussed the fact that it is Momiji-gari season in Japan.  I have attributed a large portion of the crowds to this since the lesser temples appear to be quiet and peaceful.

Today was so bad that it gave even this seasoned traveler pause.  I do not travel to be a part of a horde of people clicking off destinations.  Even worse, hordes that are rude and disrespectful of the local culture.

Today, I wondered why I was here.  But I am not alone. The Japanese actually have a word for what I am seeing: Kankō kōgai, or tourism pollution.

In January of 2023, the Japanese Tourism Board predicted a 450%  year-on-year increase in inbound tourism, and they were probably spot on.  They also predicted an 8.6% increase in domestic travel.

I will grant you, it is a Saturday and a glorious one at that, but this was the crowd in just one small sliver of the vast Kiyomizu-Dera Temple. Yes, Kiyomizu-Dera is best known for this very wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, but who wants to enjoy the view amongst that?

If you are worrying about the safety of being on an ancient platform with a crowd like that, here are the underpinnings of the structure.

Kiyomizu-dera was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa Waterfall and derives its name from the fall’s pure waters. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have wish-granting powers.

The Koyasu is an impressive three-story pagoda complete with a spire, which was designed to house sacred texts and relics. Built between 1607 and 1633 CE, it is an excellent example of Momoyama architecture.

These crowds were just a small sample of what covered the streets of the Higashiyama and Gion Districts.

The area feels more like a movie set or Disneyland than a city.  The streets hawk cheap tourist wares and lots and lots of food.  They are also filled with people who have rented kimonos for the day and stop in the middle of the street, with no respect for anyone around them to shoot a selfie or pose ad nauseam for their friends.

This is a HUGE business in this part of Kyoto, with hundreds of places to rent outfits for the day.

She was a delight to capture and a true reason to stop and rent a kimono.

These girls were lovely and probably having a wonderful time, however, in Japan, drinking coffee and or eating while walking is generally considered impolite and disrespectful. This action even has a name in Japan: Tabearuki (食べ歩き) “eating while walking”. The word is a combination of two Japanese verbs: 食べる (taberu), which means “to eat”, and 歩き (aruki), which means “to walk”.

But why is it disrespectful? One reason Japanese people often give for not eating while walking is that there is a time and place for everything. It is important to develop an appreciation and respect for the seasonality and the geographical origins of flavors and ingredients. Eating while walking is seen as disrespectful to the food and the person preparing it.  If you delve far enough, you may even be able to attribute it to the Shinto Religion, which feels that quiet while eating is imperative, something that is not possible if you are eating in the streets.

This is not a new thing. In the Edo period (1603-1868), the ruling shogunate enforced strict rules regarding behavior and etiquette. These rules included not eating or drinking outside of designated areas, such as inns and tea houses. This was done to prevent people from disturbing the peace or creating a mess on the streets.

Even if the food is displayed on the street, it is not to be eaten on the street. Find a bench or sit inside to consume your treat.

Prior to Covid, Kyoto had been buckling under the strain of over-tourism, with congestion and bad behavior. With etiquette problems becoming so widely reported in the news, some Japanese avoided going to Kyoto.

Kyoto has once again been receiving record numbers of foreign tourists. China lifted its three-year ban on group tours to Japan, and Kyoto is now flooded with Chinese tour groups (along with Korean, Taiwanese, Thai, and others). Western visitors are also coming in record numbers, attracted by the affordability of Japan due to the weak yen.

The result is that Kyoto is now filled to capacity with tourists.

To top it off, Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel signed a memorandum of cooperation to designate 2024 as a year to promote tourism between the two countries.

The number of U.S. visitors to Japan has been steadily increasing, as I said, aided by the depreciation of the yen against the dollar. The monthly figure totaled some 210,000 in October, up by 40% from the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.

I LOVE Kyoto, and this is not a rant against the city or its citizens but against the ridiculous amount of tourists and their bad behavior. I am a firm believer in knowing the culture before you hop on an airplane and respecting it once you get there.  Look but don’t touch, and enjoy the experience – the hell with the Instagram photo. Also, try to learn a few polite phrases in the language of the country you are visiting.  I have attempted to go beyond please, thank you, and good morning in Japan. I am trying hard to learn the language.  I believe I will finally begin to form an entire sentence in 2200.

Kyoto was on the verge of bankruptcy due to covid, as they rely solely on tourism, so this influx is making it profitable for the local businesses, but it is truly turning some parts of Kyoto into a vast phony environment of costumes and tourist traps. Something many Japanese businesses most likely feel isn’t worth the extra profit.

I will avoid the more popular locations as best as possible, and from here forward, I will write about the lesser-known, lesser-trodden parts of Kyoto. (I hope)

December 1, 2023

The tourists are rather overwhelming in Kyoto at present, and the reason is Momiji-gari. Momiji-gari literally means “hunting red leaves’. It derives from momiji (red leaves or maple tree) and kari (hunting).

I visited three major temples today, and once you realize there is nothing you can do with the teems of people and that this is not a time to visit the temple to see it, but a time to visit the temple to view the changing of the colors, you can sort of just go with the flow.  Sort of being the operative word, it is impossible to describe how many people are here for Momiji-gari.

Nanzenji

The first temple on my list today was Nanzenji.  Nanzenji is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temples in all of Japan. The history of Nanzenji dates back to the mid-13th century when the Emperor Kameyama built his retirement villa at the temple’s present location and later converted it into a Zen temple. All of the buildings were destroyed during the civil wars of the late Muromachi Period (1333-1573)—the oldest of the buildings that stand today dates to after the war.

Your first encounter is the massive Sanmon entrance gate. The gate was constructed in 1628 by the ruling Tokugawa clan for soldiers who died in the siege of Osaka Castle in 1615.

Oddly running through a portion of the grounds is a large brick aqueduct that goes by the name Suirokaku Water Bridge and is part of the Lake Biwa Canal. The Canal was built in the late 1800s during the early part of the Meiji period. The purpose of the Lake Biwa Canal was to help in Kyoto’s development by moving water from the lake to the city. The waterway was used for drinking water, power generators, and transportation. Today, the water from the canal is used for general water supply and firefighting.

The Tenjuan Temple is a small sub-temple dedicated to the Zen master who served Emperor Kameyama in his religious studies. Dating to the 17th century, it is noted for karesansui (dry garden). The garden was named Toranokowatashi (young dragons crossing the water) after the shape of the rocks.  This garden is said to have been designed by a renowned landscape architect, Kobori Enshu, around 1600.

Standing on the second floor of the Sanmon, looking down on one of the many sub-temples.

A piece of broken pottery on the ground near the rock garden

I have always loved the woodwork under the eaves of Japanese temples

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A gentleman sweeping leaves off the roof of a building at the approach to Nanzenji Temple

December 1, 2023

Walking the Philosopher’s Path between Eikando Zenrin-ji Temple and The Silver Pavillion

The Philosophers Path

The Philosophers Path follows a canal which is lined by hundreds of cherry trees. It must be spectacular when the cherry blossoms bloom.  It is one of the city’s most popular hanami (cherry blossom viewing) spots.  It was lovely today as well.

The path got its name due to Nishida Kitaro, one of Japan’s most famous philosophers, who was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University.

I have mentioned the canal before with regard to the aqueduct that runs through Nanzen-ji.

According to a sign along the canal several blocks away: The canal was a huge undertaking for the economic revitalization of Kyoto. This project began following the transfer of the imperial capital to Edo (now Tokyo) as a result of the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Sakuro Tanabe (1861-1944) was the individual responsible for the oversight of this sink-or-swim enterprise for the former capital.  Born in Edo as the son of a swordsman towards the last days of the shogunate, young Tanabe proposed the Kyoto-Lake Biwa canalization project in his graduate thesis from the Imperial College.  Kunimichi Kigagaki, the third governor of Kyoto Prefecture, adopted the ambitious plan and put the 23-year-old Tanabe in charge.

The construction of the Kyoto-Lake Biwa canal was almost beyond the limits of Japanese technology at the time.  The project was realized by 4 million workers and funds of 1.25 million yen (1 trillion yen today).  Furthermore, the first appearance in Japan of the shaft boring method in which pits were dug down to the canal route for faster excavation and the combined zeal of Tanabe and the many others involved led to the completion of the project in 1890 after five years of grueling efforts.

After its construction, the canal began to be used for transporting a variety of goods from Lake Biwa to Kyoto, then onward to Osaka, for agricultural irrigation as well as for electricity at Keage, where the first electric train service started in Japan.

The Keage Incline is a former railway line converted into a gently sloping pedestrian trail lined with cherry trees that links the Lake Biwa Canal to Kyoto’s Kamo River.

A class of schoolchildren walking the Kiege Incline

Ojizo-sama along the Philosphers Path

Ginkakuji – the Silver Pavilion

After two temples of Momiji-gari, Ginkakuji was a breath of fresh air.  It was nowhere near as crowded, but for me, it ticked off a lot of the things I look for in a zen garden—water, sand, moss, and peace.

Ginkakuji is a Zen temple. In 1482, shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa built his retirement villa on the grounds of today’s temple, modeled after Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), his grandfather’s retirement villa. The villa was converted into a Zen temple after Yoshimasa’s death in 1490.

Despite its name, the Silver Pavilion was never covered in silver. Instead, it is believed that the name arose as a nickname more than a century after the building’s construction to contrast it with the Golden Pavilion. Alternatively, it is explained that moonlight reflecting on the building’s dark exterior (which used to be covered in black lacquer) gave it a silvery appearance.

This meticulously maintained dry sand garden is known as the “Sea of Silver Sand”, with its massive sand cone (kogetsudai) named “Moon Viewing Platform”.

The Ginkakuji kogetsudai, whose practical purpose is nonexistent and whose aesthetic purpose can only really be guessed at, is an example of a “contemplative” use of the Zen garden, i.e., the labor-intensive construction and maintenance of the garden itself.

More of the sand garden at Ginkakuji

Ginkakuji is also known for its moss garden

A stone path climbs a hill where you can see the entire temple grounds and the city beyond.

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The slowly fading sun in the swaying bamboo

It has been an exhausting day, but a stunningly beautiful one as well.