The Rabenstranger

Teru invited Justin and I to take a trip to Kyoto and we eagerly accepted. We left Saturday morning and it took about five hours of driving before we arrived in Japan’s former capital. The city of Kyoto is rich with history. It contains many of the oldest shrines, temples and castles in Japan. Culturally, the city has a more traditional Japanese feel than does Tokyo.

Saturday night we arrived after most of the temples etc. were closed. We were however able to visit the Kyoto Tower. From the tower we could see a brightly lit city panorama stretching out as far as the eye could see in every direction. Later that night at the hotel Justin and I introduced Teru to Worms World Party.

Sunday we crisscrossed all over Kyoto visiting historical buildings and places of interest. First, we visited Rokuon-ji Temple, featuring a golden pagoda. The site of this temple and the pagoda originally served as the retirement villa of Yoshimitsu the 3rd Shogun of Ashikaga around the turn of the 15th century and was converted into a temple after his death. Next we went to Ryoan-ji Temple, site of one of the oldest Zen rock gardens. The garden was laid out about 1500. From there we went to Kyoto Studio Land. This is a movie set reproduction of a large number of Edo era buildings. In addition to serving as the filming site of a large number of popular TV series, Studio Land is a kind of theme park. Next we went to Nijo Castle. The original castle was built in 1603 for the use of the First Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu. Additional buildings were constructed in the following centuries. Upon finishing our tour we headed back to get some food.

After a nice lunch back at the hotel, we drove to the Kamigamo Shrine. Originally constructed in 678, this shrine is the oldest surviving shrine in Japan. It ranks number 2 in the hierarchy of most important shrines in Shinto. The ancient buildings are very beautiful and just recently, in the last couple years, the inner courtyard has been opened to the public. The shrine was built to honor a spirit that the practitioners of Shinto believe controls the weather. Apparently, our visit displeased him because as soon as we walked out the sky opened up and it began pouring rain.

Fortunately, the rain quickly subsided and we continued our tour to the Kiyomizu Temple. The Temple is built on a hillside overlooking Kyoto. Outlooks around the temple provide a stunning view over the city. The buildings of the temple themselves are also quite spectacular. The site features a couple of pagodas and several temple buildings.

Finally, after a full day of sightseeing we headed back to Tokyo. On the way, we passed through a ferocious storm with rain so thick that it almost completely obscured the windshield despite the best efforts of the wipers. Fortunately, like most Japanese storms it didn’t last too long and we didn’t lose a lot of time. Nevertheless we didn’t arrive back at the apartment until after midnight. Overall, probably the best day of tourism I’ve yet had in Japan.