Japan
Written: Jun 09, 2003
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Hi All,
Only a few days and I’ll be back home in England. Getting
quite excited about it although I know I’ll miss the travelling
life.
This could well be my last travelogue entry after twelve months
away.
I have spent the last week and a half in Japan. Culture shock
hit in when I arrived. Japan was very different to other countries
I had travelled in Asia. The biggest difference is the language.
Very little English is spoken in Japan. There are some English
signs but most are in Japanese script and there are three
of these.
I spent the first few days with my friend Andy who teaches
English in Karatsu, a small town near Fukuoka. Fukuoka is
a fairly large Japanese city. It seemed very modern compared
to Thailand. The pace of life is definitely faster more like
the West than the East.
Pretty much all my impressions of the Japanese agreed with
my expectations. They are very polite. Whenever you go into
a restaurant, you are greeted with cries of arashaimase which
means welcome. There is a lot of bowing, when greeting people.
Even if they speak little English they will try and help you.
It is a male orientated culture in many ways. The salarymen
go to work, for long hours then go to the bar after work.
In Kyoto there is a whole area given over to men’s entertainment.
The women are very feminine and it has to be said very attractive.
Femininity is not seen as something to be hidden as it is
in the West.
We spent a day in Fukuoka hanging out, visiting a temple and
an exhibition of paintings at an art gallery. The painting
was not up to much my friend Andy studied fine art at University
and said he could do better. There was a very good exhibition
of photographs though showing the incredible colours of the
different seasons in Japan. The cherry blossoms which bloom
in spring are revered here.
I travelled on the subway. It was very efficient and always
on time as expected.
Andy showed me around Karatsu the town where he lives and
works. Located either side of a wide river it appears bigger
than the 80,000 people that live there. There’s a beach and
pine forest on one side of the town. The other side is ringed
by green hills.
We got a good view of the town from Karatsu castle. Like many
of the monuments it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt. On
the beach we found a plastic baseball bat and ball and had
a few hits. Baseball is the most popular sport here.
We visited an Onsen which is a Japanese hot bath. You enter
completely naked apart from a tiny towel. You must wash thoroughly
with soap and rinse off before entering the water. There were
several pools to soak in ranging from warm to hot, also a
sauna room.
There are certain Japanese etiquette which one must be aware
of here, for example removing ones shoes before entering a
room. When eating one should not stick chopsticks into a bowl
of rice as this is done in a ceremony for the dead. However
most things are a mixture of politeness and commonsense. The
Japanese are quite tolerant of foreigners and rarely take
offence.
I headed to the city of Kyoto by overnight bus. Japan is very
expensive so I saved a few Yen by travelling this way instead
of by the bullet train or Shinkansen. I will take the Shinkansen
to Tokyo to view Mt. Fiji on the way. The cheapest accommodation
in a dorm costs 2,500 Yen which is about fifteen pounds. It
is difficult to eat cheaply. The cheapest meal of noodles
or curry costs about three pounds. My accommodation in Fukuoka
cost fifteen times what I was paying in Bangkok.
I stayed in J-Hoppers hostel in Kyoto, a very well equipped
and clean place. The owner Aki spent 15 months motorcycling
through Europe and Asia. He has some great photos.
There is a lot to see and do in Kyoto. There are a staggering
number of temples and gardens. It is a large city. The centre
fairly typical of a large city consists of the shopping and
business districts. The streets are laid out in a grid pattern.
Most of the temples are around the edges of the city which
is circled by hills.
I had wanted to meet Japanese people to get more of a feel
for the place so I answered an advert for an English speaker
at the Kyoto International Community Centre. I called Keiko
and we agreed to meet the following day and visit some of
the temples.
Keiki had spent a couple of years as a nanny in England and
was looking to get a job outside Japan. She needed to practice
her English as it was getting a bit rusty.
We entered the huge gate of the Chion-in temple and climbed
the stairs. In the main hall a ceremony was being performed.
There are many Buddhist temples in Kyoto of different schools.
There are also many shrines of the Shinto religion. A religion
that pre dates Buddhism in Japan.
Many of the temples are closed to visitors so we were lucky
to be able to sit on the tatami mat floor and listen to a
monk chanting.
At Chion-in there is a huge bell that supposedly takes 17
monks to ring.
We walked along a small canal, there is a river flowing through
the city and many small waterways. The path along this canal
was called the path of philosophy for some reason, don’t know
why. It was pleasant to stroll under cherry trees with fruit.
In season the blossom must be an impressive sight. Hordes
of people descend at this time however. Even out of season
in June the popular temples have tour groups visiting and
groups of school children on school trips.
We entered Ginkakuji temple. The main attraction of this temple
is the garden. The view of Kyoto from the hill was great.
I visited more temples on successive days. It can be quite
costly as most charge 400 Yen to visit, about 2 pounds. The
rooms and corridors of Nanzen-ji temple were typically wooden
with tatami mats on the floor with minimal or no furniture.
Faded murals on the walls depicted tigers in bamboo forest.
In many of the temples you could sit on the floor and take
tea Japanese style although you had to pay for the pleasure.
In ancient times the tea ceremony was an integral part of
Buddhist training and taken very seriously. There were tea
masters that spent years in training.
I liked the style of the rooms in these old buildings very
much. The walls were often made with paper allowing a little
light through. There was a rustic wooden smell that added
to the atmosphere. Some of the rooms opened out onto beautiful
gardens meticulously kept.
One of the most famous sights in Kyoto is the golden pavilion
of Kinkakuji temple. It was a bit tacky. The pavilion typically
burnt down some years ago and was rebuilt and repainted. Up
close it looks like a Christmas decoration but from a distance
it’s not too bad. I was definitely one of a crowd at this
temple and was swept along the well worn route from entrance
to exit in about 20 minutes.
Gion is the famous entertainment district of Kyoto. I wandered
the backstreets looking at the wooden Geisha houses. Blinds
cover the windows and doors for utmost privacy. They are very
exclusive establishments and hugely expensive to enter, the
reserve of well moneyed Japanese. A foreigner requires a recommendation
to visit these places. I spotted one or two Geisha walking
along the backstreets in their Kimono and clogs. Seems outdated
but it still exists here in Japan.
I must mention the food. I’ve had Yakitori which is like a
kebab of chicken. Ramen or noodles and Yak soba which is fried
noodles with vegetables. No sushi though. Found the food a
bit plain, guess I’ve been spoiled in Thailand.
Well that’s about it. I’m off to Takao today to do some walking
in the country and no temples.
Here’s a poem that was inscribed under a tree at Nanzen-ji
temple.
Summer Saisho-in
The evening bell, solemn and bronze
in the grandfather temple down the hill,
sounds dimly here.
Slow beat of the mountains heart, perhaps,
or determined pulse of pine tree (gift of the birds)
growing out of a crotch of the slippery monkey tree.
All one, perhaps--
bell, mountain, tree...
and steady cicada vibrato
and little white dog
and quiet artist-priest, carver of noh masks,
fashioning a bamboo crutch for the ancient peach tree--
symbol of strength, symbol of concern.
All cool under nodding crowns of the vertical forest,
all seeking in this place,
all finding in this place--
hidden yet open to all--
the spirit in the cedars heart.
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