Kyoto

We are now in Tokyo. It was a good transition to go from the henro michi to Tokushima City, to Kyoto, and then to Tokyo, a gradual descent into chaos. I realize now that I'm not a jet setter, high energy mover, social swinger, yada-yada-yada. I love the arts and culture that city life offers but the hustle and bustle in cities can easily offset the benefits. The crush of humanity in its very existence takes away from the preciousness of life. One of the treasures of being a henro is the direct opposite of city living, the solitude, the quiet, the occasional meeting of a resident that through ossetai, a greeting, information, or a bow validates the goodness of man. I spent 15 minutes standing in a corner of Tokyo train station and watched the endless parade of people pass by me, and with each minute the vast number of people started to merge like bits of sand to create one long stretch of beach, no longer separate grains, just one big entity called a beach, called a population.

In retrospect let me say a few words about Kyoto. First of all, it is a city, no ifs and buts. In the fullest context it is a city with noise, congestion, pollution, you name it, but within the turmoil there are locations of utmost beauty and even serenity. The congestion is inevitable; there are so many people living in such a limited space. A plethora of cars, scooters, bikes, and people try to move in the same area whether they be wide boulevards or narrow alleys. For the visitor to move safely through the city, he must be equipped with 360 degree radar or some kind of psychic power. At any one time you can be run over. I saw 2 gaijin woman cross a small intersection completely oblivious to their surroundings, actually talking while walking side by side. A woman on her bike had to slam on her brakes to keep from hitting them. They weren't even aware of the near collision, but the biker was clearly vexed by the dumb gaijins. I don't blame the gaijins completely for I don't walk the streets at home in a state of paranoia, as if any second I'm going to be knocked over but this is not Kansas; here you are going to be hit if you're not careful. The situation is maddening. I don't know how the residents tolerate the situation. I think it's the saying, “The inmates don't even know the asylum they live in”, and then there's Tokyo, a real life set from the movie, “Blade Runner.”

The first day in Kyoto we had the afternoon and we walked the central area of Kyoto looking for small shops that had some charm and maybe affordable antiques. That was when we learned that Kyoto was a city. Had a couple of drinks with our yakitori dinner that night , I can tell you. The next day we took a subway to the Northwest section of town to walk the way back to our hotel. This was going to be our 12 mile walk day. We first followed the philosopher's path until it ended and then switched to a recommended walk of interest. The “path” was nice. It paralleled a small stream lined with cherry trees and where every once in a while you could see a large carp lazily swim upstream. Now and then a small restaurant, trendy store, or gallery would appear. It was all so chic...and calming. The number of people were low and so it made the walk tranquil. Along the route there were temples and shrines. They were as plentiful as trees in a park. Some of them were big , famous, and crowded others small, deserted, and thus quiet. Kyoto is the city of temples. They are not all free. The famous ones charge. While we were walking we came so close to the Ginkakuji (the silver temple) that we decided to go to it. Neither of us had been there and hey, we were there. We would have been a bit foolish not to have gone. The kick in the head was that the temple was being repaired and barely visible, further it's not really silver in material or color, but the garden was beautiful, sort of a moss garden. Well worth it. We walked into a few other temples. One can easily be templed out, and we limited the number to 3 and kept it there. As we walked we could identify areas that were like Fisherman's Wharf (Gion), Union Street, the Financial Area, Market Street. They were all crowded. There were only a few moments when we were alone in our surroundings. When they occurred it was only then I could say that I could truly appreciate the beauty that abounds in Kyoto.

The last day in Kyoto, we had the morning to walk over to famous Kiyomizu Temple. In the early morning it was quiet, a treat to walk the quaint and beautiful narrow streets and then as if the clock struck midnight when Cinderella turned back into a servant, the street was filled with yelling school children. Over 50 buses crammed into the parking lots unloading their cargo into the once calm area. Can you imagine being confined in narrow streets crammed with a sea of high school kids? It was a struggle just to get out. We disparately turned into a deserted alley to get away while we were still sane. Just a short distance in there was a small Kyoto version of a kissaten (coffee shop). We staggered in. The decor was of a ocha (tea) room and in fact there was a real tea area elevated from the few tables that the owner had for customers. The music was koto. The owner was kimono garbed and brought cold tea before we ordered. Emi had zenzai (sweet red bean soup with mochi); I had coffee. It was amazing how a minute away chaos reigned and yet in her small store there was only calm. Kyoto and Japan has this contrast everywhere. The juxtaposition is striking and when I am aware of it I try to take a picture of it, so enamored am I of the scene. I like things that don't jive, make sense, or fits. It 's so like my life.

One of my treats while in Kyoto was a TV show that we saw in the hotel. Imagine that. It was an old Okawa Hashizo movie. Okawa san was big when I was in high school. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBJubVPftQo
He did samurai movies and I went all over San Francisco to watch them, the old Rio Theater, Kinmon Gakuen, Sokoji, Buddhist Church, and the one located at Webster and Post (I forget the name.). He was one of my favorites. It may be on every Tuesday night. I will see. If so, it will be a treat.

A funny incident occurred while I was walking the streets of Kyoto. As it is my habit I try to read the Japanese signs when I have the time and inclination and thus a sign caught my eye in particular because it was in romanji (English letters). It read “nalu.” I know nalu I thought to myself. It means wave...in Hawaiian. But in Japanese I don't know what it means. As it turned out mt first thought was correct for underneath it read “longboard magazine.” So much for Japanese.

We have a number of days to stay in Tokyo. I wonder if it will compel me to write.