First days in Kyoto

Monday, April 14 I took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto. The weather was mostly clear, so I got a good view of Mt. Fuji.

On arriving in Kyoto I noticed the temperature was quite a bit cooler, despite being farther south. There a LOT of tourists in Kyoto, much more noticeable than Tokyo. A lot are from China, and when walking around I often more Mandarin spoken around me than Japanese. 

From a craft beer place in Tokyo I had picked up a postcard advertising a place in Kyoto, called Kyoto Beer Lab. After settling into the hotel I looked it up. I took a subway to the river and then it was about a half hour walk down the river. I found it OK, and had a beer and something to eat. It started to rain and I found a bus back to the hotel.

The next day I had free, before the calligraphy lessons started, so I took the train to Nara. Even though I've been to Kyoto a few times, I have not been to Nara since my first trip to Japan in 1990.

Nara was a former capital and a center of Buddhism in Japan, form around the 600's, so there are several large, important temples and shrines there. 

I first went to Gangoji Temple, just outside of Nara Park. It says it is the oldest temple in Japan, with some of the materials dating back to the 600's, although the main hall was build in the 1300's. Since it is a bit off the main track, it was nice and quiet.

Next I walked back to Nara Park and to the huge Kasuga Taisha Shrine complex. There are several shrine buildings, and walkways lined with lanterns.

There are also trees that are a thousand years old. So old that  they are mentioned in Japanese literature from hundreds of years ago.

From there I walked over to the large Buddhist complex, Todaiji Temple, which has one of the largest Buddha statues.

Another thing that Nara is famous for is the large number of deer that wander freely around the park.

 Next I made my way to the train station, just as it started pouring rain. I took the train to Uji, between Kyoto and Nara, which in the tea growing region. There is a traditional teahouse there that is supposed to be the oldest in Japan. Unfortunately when I got there, there was a sign saying 'closed today'.

I had dinner at a small traditional ramen place in Uji, then continued back to Kyoto and my hotel.