Tea Ceremony

After returning to the trolley station, we walked the 30 or so minutes back to the home of the woman who fitted Nancy with her Kimono. I'm impressed with how Nancy could walk in all of these tight layers and wear an elegant silk gown while still being able to cover at least 2 miles altogether! In the heat and some rain! But we were having so much fun in a once in a lifetime experience.

Christopher Michel [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

We had a surprise waiting. Before Nancy changed back to everyday clothes we were given seats of honor and had conversation with several women who were there preparing green tea--a genuine Zen Tea Ceremony. It would have been disrespectful and clumsy to take any photos whilst the tea was being prepared but it was very nice to watch. We were served tea, which had been prepared with a whisk and in a wooden bucket as to tradition. 

delicious

enjoy

After Nancy changed back to her regular clothes we sat for a group photo with the women who had come to meet us and offer us the Tea Ceremony. What a great honor and so nice to see the traditions being kept alive!

The woman at front left prepared the tea and the woman to my left designed and made the Kimono that Nancy wore all day. This group of women meet and work regularly to study and keep ancient Japan culture alive.

Enryaku-ji 延暦寺

Another shout out to our wonderful host Huizhen for suggesting we visit Enryaku-ji. It was a cloudy and wet day and being on top of the mountain put us more in the clouds. It was wonderful for the soft lighting and fog and made for great photography conditions. Nancy and I had walked to the trolley and then took a ride up the mountain in Japan's longest cable car run. click for a video of the Cable Sakomantoro ride. The trolley run is over 2000 meters (more than a mile) with a gorgeous view of the mountain and city of Kyoto beneath us. Eleven minutes to ride up and around twenty to walk to the main temple compound.

one of many garden shrines on the mountain

So peaceful and a soft quiet in the air. The mountain side is old growth pine and everything is kept in tip-top shape.

the old growth trees are well groomed
and living in the perfect environment

Stones, shrines and pavilions all around us. This spectacular place was started in the 8th century by the Tendai Sect of Mahayana Buddhism. https://www.hieizan.or.jp/ 

We spent a couple of hours just walking around, dodged a little rain, and checked out the visitor center. We also went into a large shrine and left prayer and offerings, and bought a few gifts for family back in the USA.

I think the cool and wet weather kept the crowd size down and really enhanced the experience for us.

Next: Returning the kimono and a special Tea ceremony for us!

garden1

We had to return to this wonderful garden after our Kimono shoot to take more time for photos of the beautiful gardens and waterfalls. They even brush and groom the moss.

chopstick tips

Kimono Day~photo shoot at (Former) Chikurin-in Temple~旧竹林院

After we spent about an hour preparing Nancy with the layering on of clothes and decorative garments we hiked about a half mile, about a third of the way up the mountain, to the Chikurin-in Temple. Nancy is a real sport, the weather was warm and slightly damp, and she walked here with funny shoes and socks and all of those layers. 

a lovely walk to the temple,
to the left is fast moving run-off
from Shugendo Mountain

Entering for a garden walk and photo shoot

The overcast weather provided perfect lighting conditions which allowed us to get plenty of nice shots in the soft light. The Temple and gardens are nestled in the "Senbon" or middle area of the mountain. Nancy proved to be a patient model who thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.   

During this visit, there was a crew of gardeners cleaning and preening the trees and moss carpeting the garden area. I've never seen anything quite like it; the workers were master gardeners who pruned all of the evergreen trees and cleaned the moss as if it was a carpet in your home. Right down to the level of plucking off pine needles. I would have loved to photograph this process, but was focussed on my main task and did not wish to intrude upon the workers going about their jobs. We found this garden to be so peaceful and beautiful that we decided to make a return so that I could experience the peace and beauty again and photograph the beautiful grounds. 

check out my youtube video here:https://youtu.be/xGWbhXqV2fI

Kimono Day~part 1

gardens and beautiful foliage everywhere

Our awesome host is studying ancient Japanese culture, including tea ceremony and the making of Kimonos. She made arrangements for her mentor and teacher to fit Nancy with a Kimono so that I could do a photo shoot. This was the real deal and not some in-city tourist trap--where we later saw young women wearing Kimonos that weren't much better than cheap halloween costumes as opposed to real silk and fine tailoring...

this is part of the layering of undergarment, like an elaborate slip

After Nancy selected the Kimono she would be wearing, the women took her to a private dressing room where she put on the three layers of undergarment...on a hot day!

this time lapse speeds up the fitting and dressing process!

Next: touring and photo shoot!

Visit to the Golden Temple 

yes it is really gold!

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺) literally "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" was originally built as the private residence of a powerful Japanese statesman in the 1200's. The present structure seen here was re-built in 1955 after it had been burned down by a Monk who was eventually found to have serious mental illness.

peaceful walking paths with perfect landscaping

A Zen-Buddhist Temple, this is one of 17 World Heritage Sites in Kyoto and was opened to the public in the early 1950's. It was actually re-built in 1955 after a Monk with mental illness burned down the original structure.  One can't walk right up to the Temple; either the pond at it's front, or walkways leading right to the Temple are closed off--very well protected for obvious reasons. The photos below were not taken by me but were part of a display put up by the park. Here you can get a sense of the winter look and what is inside...

The public also can't see the fishing pier at the rear of the pavilion, you can see it if you check out this Wikipedia article:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji  for other images and further background. 

Such a brilliant and beautiful place with very peaceful trails and gardens it's still an awesome and meditative experience. 

this Heron acted more like he's posing

Next Post: A very special Kimono fitting for Nancy!

Kyoto and surroundings day 2/part 1 Nijo-Jo Castle

everywhere in Japan are beautiful flowers and gardens~subject of a later blog and video

Monday July 9th 2019
Clumsy guy summer travel tip: Get up and go early, beat the heat and beat the throngs. It helps to have some jet lag since we had flown first to China from Boston (18 hours) and had only stayed in Shanghai a couple of nights. So the internal body clocks are all whacked. Any way the plan today is to go to Kyoto Central station and have a look around before going to the bus terminal and heading out to castle and temple tours.

It's nice to arrive early before the rush hour begins
Then you get to observe the rush hour and not be caught up in it! In the video below you can see a few high school kids, since school is still in session in July!

You can get a sense from the little peek above that each bus has a specialized queue line on the pavement...quite possibly Japan is the most orderly place on earth. It is a nice experience actually and brings some calm to a crowded place, and I guess safer as well. As opposed to random bumping into people pickpockets etc.

We arrived at Nijo-Jo Castle around 30 minutes prior to opening, which turned out to be perfect, since we were able to buy our admission ticket and tour the gardens and gates of the castle.

worker preparing for the open of Nijo-Jo Castle

This castle was built 400 years ago by the founder and first Shogun of the Tokugawa Shoganite, Tokugawa Ieyasu. This time established a unified government for Japan, ending a long period of civil war and ushered in a era of 260 years of peace and prosperity. 

hand carved finery at the entryway to the castle

Inside is mainly like a museum, with exhibits in the various rooms depicting royal court life in the 17th century. Photographs were not allowed inside...Nijo-Jo Castle is a Unesco World Heritage Site and the City of Kyoto is undergoing major renovation work. You can go to their main website here: http://nijo-jocastle.city.kyoto.lg.jp/

It was definitely worth the visit and check back for the garden videos coming soon!

beautiful wood inlays

school still in session in July

Coming next: The Golden Temple

Arrival in Shiga Prefectore

kyoto central station

You can get a *cheap* flight from Shanghai to Osaka, Japan from Peach Airlines. We wanted to make a short side trip to Japan while we were in Mainland China visiting family and settled on Kyoto, the ancient capitol. Since Kyoto is a bustling modern city of 1.4 million, we decided to stay at an air bnb in the suburb of Otsu, about a 20 minute train ride from the center.  Nancy found us the perfect host, Huizen, who is from the mainland but has lived in Japan with her husband and daughter for many years. Our host was so much more than the nice traditional Japanese bedroom, she was our expert guide for the five days we spent in Japan. As a scholar of ancient Japanese culture, this was perfect for us--we always like to travel and access what a group cannot.

outside the local middle school 

There's a special place in my heart for any school anywhere, and I found the shoes left outside of the gymnasium during a basketball tournament adorable. Looking at the top right, one or two outliers...at the edge of the group and not so orderly as the rest! (that would be me, the clumsy guy).

view from Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake

strolling through the rice and vegetable fields

This section of Otsu is mainly newly developed homes, with some older, more established homes closer to the waterfront. There are community garden plots and rice fields...the rice is considered among Japan's best and was very very good. We brought back some tea which has rice mixed in, very very delicious.  We had found the perfect place to use as home base as we got ready to experience the culture, sights, and food of this part of Japan!