Day Three: Temple, Castle, Museum, and Festival!

Hello there! You found the compass!


      As is usual, today was busy but VERY fun! I think it is my favorite day so far. We got to see some beautiful places and try yummy things, and I want to tell you all about them!

      After our usual early-morning breakfast, we headed to the bus stop to catch a ride to Kiyomizu Temple. Dr. Huang told us that Kiyomizu means "pure (kiyo) water (mizu)", though he didn't explain the meaning behind the name. We found that out when we got there. BUT I am getting ahead of myself.

      Just as a side note and fun fact: Most temples and shrines in Japan are guarded by either dogs or lions. Kiyomizu is guarded by lions. Here is one:

      Upon arrival at Kiyomizu, we found out that it is a Buddhist temple. There were Buddha statues inside, along with burning incense and other artifacts. It had a place to toss in a few yen and say a prayer. It also had a large central room (no shoes or photography allowed) where there was a massive, beautiful lantern hanging from the ceiling and some more statues and artifacts. The view from Kiyomizu (it was built fairly high up on a hill) was gorgeous. We could see mountains and much of Kyoto as well.

Kiyomizu Temple. Note the mountains in the back.

      Behind Kiyomizu Temple (sort of to the right, out of picture) is a Shinto shrine called Kyoto Jishu Shrine. Apparently it is "the Cupid of Japan" because it is the dwelling of the god of love and matchmaking. There are two "love stones" in front of the main building. They are about ten meters apart, and it is said that if a person walks safely from one to the other with their eyes closed then their love will be realized, or they will find true love, etc. However, should they fail, then love will evade them for years. When we were there, I watched a girl walking toward a stone with her eyes closed. Her feet gently bumped into it and she sort of jumped and gasped. Then, when she realized that she had done it, she held out an arm and cheered and laughed. It was very cute!

      After our visit to the Shinto shrine, we continued our walk along the Kiyomizu grounds. It was then that Dr. Huang told us why the temple is called Pure Water. There is a place where three streams of pure water pour down and visitors to the shrine can take cups attached to long rods, stick them under the water, pour water into their hand, and drink. It is said that the water grants you health and that a prayer made at the temple will definitely be answered after drinking the water. One of the chaperones took pictures of us doing it, but unfortunately I don't have them. The water was delicious though!

      To get to Kiyomizu, we had to walk up a narrow street that was lined with shops. After we left the temple, we were allowed to investigate the shops for about an hour. I bought some postcards and looked at intricate sake cups (far beyond my price range). I had decided that I wanted ice cream when walking down the street, and several other people did as well. We went into an ice cream place when we saw that they offered "ice cream puffs", which were basically pastries with a custard-y ice cream in the middle. One of the flavors was Cherry Blossom. What with the whole "being in Japan" thing, we all had to try a Cherry Blossom ice cream puff. Let me tell you, it was delicious! The pastry itself was flaky and yummy, and the ice cream had a very subtle flavor that I can't really describe. It wasn't very cherry-like, or flowery, or even strawberry-ish, but it was really, really good.

There it is! The ice cream was more pink-colored than the picture makes it seem.

    Tess and I also bought massive dumplings because they reminded us of the ones in Spirited Away. I liked the Cherry Blossom ice cream puff much more.

It was about as round as the palm of my hand, and roughly an inch thick.

 
       Our next stop got me very excited: Nijo Castle. It was built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence for the first Tokugawa Shogun. It was finished by 1626, by the third Tokugawa Shogun. The symbol for the Shogun is a common sight in Japan. Here it is:

      If you ever visit the Shogun's castle, you will see that everywhere. However, you will also notice a flower symbol. That is the symbol of the Tokugawa Imperial family. The Shogun held more power than the Emperor, so you may wonder why the flower is there. Well, in 1867, the fifteenth Tokugawa Shogun had to give up his power and gave his castle over to the Imperial family. They did a bit of redecorating.

Nijo Castle

  
      We got to see the inside of the castle (no photography allowed) as well as the gardens and where the castle tower used to be. (It burned down years ago and they never rebuilt it.) I can't describe how awesome it was to walk through that building, especially after reading Shogun. If any of you ever take a trip to Japan, definitely put Nijo Castle on your itinerary. The wall paintings on the inside are beautiful, as well as the gardens and rivers with koi.


      Next on our list of places to see was the Kyoto Anime and Manga Museum. It has a huge collection of manga, mostly in Japanese, that spans three floors. Visitors are allowed to go and read manga or attend various manga-drawing workshops.

The manga museum's mascot.

      I am not a huge anime/manga watcher/reader, so I didn't spend a whole lot of time in the museum. I did check out the gift shop and pick up two little things, but that was about it. By then I was hungry again, and so Becky, Tess, and I went next door to the manga museum's cafe. There, we discovered the first place in Japan where we had to get tickets for our meal. (They are fairly common, so I was surprised that it took us even three days to find one.) Basically you walk in, look at the menu, put money in a vending machine, and press the number that corresponds with the dish you want. A ticket pops out and you give it to the waiter/waitress and they bring the food to your table. It was a fun time!

    After a break for a couple of hours, we all met back in the hotel lobby at 5PM to take a bus to a Lantern Festival. We knew we were going to walk along lantern-lit paths, but we did not expect to get to see a show. It turns out there were two maiko performing a dance routine while a geisha played an instrument and sang for them. The maiko were absolutely beautiful, as were their kimonos. They performed two dances for the audience. I got a few pictures, but they aren't too great. One maiko was in a green kimono and the other wore blue. We were closest to the blue-kimono maiko. She was great at what she did. Her face looked round and innocent, but when she cast her eyes to the audience it felt like she was staring right into me with a colossal intensity. As Tess said, she was "eerily beautiful" and completely entrancing. I wish they had performed more, because it was one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

      There she is, being a wonderful performer and entertainer.

      Before heading back, we took a walk and looked at more lanterns. We came across some children in what looked like a dance troupe performing. They were good!

      That's about it for tonight. I took a minute-long video of the maiko dancing, but it looks like videos won't upload on here. Oh well. I'll show it to you sometime!

     More adventures will be posted tomorrow. Oyasuminasai!