Back to the Past (7/3/10, 7/4/10)

July 3rd, 2010: Since we missed out on going to the Osaka Museum of History last weekend we decided to go earlier in the day this weekend to check it out. Although we planned on leaving early and checking out the Umeda Sky Building after lunch, we didn't end up leaving the house until about lunch time. We took the same train route to the museum as we did last week and were able to get a student discount using our ISIC cards (¥400 instead of ¥600).

In order to view the museum in the intended manner, you first take an elevator to the 10th floor and make your way down the building. The museum itself only occupies the 7th to the 10th floors, with some of the lower floors reserved for special exhibits. We were able to view the museum in its entirety in about two hours, taking lots of pictures along the way. Although I couldn't read most of the descriptions of what was showcased, I enjoyed the miniature buildings and towns and the view of Osaka Castle from the corner windows of the museum.

By the time we left the museum and got back to Umeda, it was already 4:30PM and very rainy. We decided to find our way to the Sky Building some other time when it was earlier in the day and not raining. From Umeda, Jared I., Paul, and I decided to stop at Ishibashi and get McDonald's for dinner. It was my first American meal since I've been in the country and it was delicious! I got a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries, and a Coke and it filled me up for the rest of the night. It tasted exactly the same as an American McDonald's (not surprisingly) but looked much better.

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July 4th, 2010: For our first major sightseeing trip, we traveled to Kyoto for a whole day. We left at around 8:15AM and took the train(s) to Kyoto (about an hour of travel time). Once there, we walked down a busy city street, stopping by a small store to pick up snacks. After crossing a bridge over a river, we walked through a small side street of traditionally decorated Japanese buildings. At the end of the street we emerged at a somewhat sketchy looking area of town but it was fairly empty, probably due to the fact that it was still pretty early in the morning. We walked down the streets for quite a bit, not really knowing where we were going or where Khoa was taking us because there wasn't anything particularly historic about where we were. Eventually we followed a street to the top of a hill and were greeted by a large temple! Finally, our sightseeing could begin!

Past the gates of the temple was a large set of stairs that led to an area of even more temples and shrines. There was one big temple where some sort of ritual with chanting and percussion was going on, and several paths to smaller shrines and a graveyard. We first walked over a small footbridge that was over a pond with many lily pads and some large fish, possibly carp, at the surface of the water. This path led to a small wooded area with a shrine, a small stream, and a tall monolith. After observing this area, we decided to take a look inside the large temple in the center that was emitting the sounds of a traditional type of worship. The signs outside the temple informed us that we had to take off our shoes, and that there were no pictures allowed inside. We sat down on the tatami floor and listened to the men in robes chant, hum, and perform this traditional service. It was a rather relaxing experience, although I had no idea what was going on. When we were done inside the temple, we exited the building and started for another large set of stairs to the side of the temple.

At the top of the set of stairs there were three paths that led to several more temples. Unfortunately, the paths in front of us and to the right of us were off-limits, so we took the left path, the only path we could, to see what we could see. This path led to a small area with a traditional hand-washing area, a bell, and two more paths! The first path we took was the one directly in front of us, which brought us to a large area that was completely filled with graves, or merely stones that represented those that have passed away (I'm still not sure if there were actually people buried there since the graves were so close together). We wandered around and took a bunch of pictures, and then walked up the second path. This set of stairs led to another building where a man was working something or performing some traditional form of worship. We only stopped for a second to take a look, and then descended the large set of stairs we entered from back to the main temple area. Everything we saw was weathered by time; the steps and stones were worn with moss growing on them, the metal bells and fountains were rusted and dull, and the engraving on the graves was faded.

Having seen mostly everything that this area had to offer, we descended a second set of stairs back to the main entrance of the temple-filled area. Taking a small road off to the side of where we started led us to a park area that was filled with trees, a large pond, and many many pigeons. We stopped by a small food stand to get snacks; some of use purchased hot dogs from the American-type food stand and some of us bought crepes next door. I got a strawberry cheesecake crepe that was very delicious, although not very filling. I would have followed it up with a hot dog, but I decided to become friends with the pigeons instead. From a distance, you could see the pigeons congregating around people who were tossing food to them, and they even jumped up onto the rocks besides the people who were feeding them and on the people themselves! I couldn't pass up an offer to feed the local fowl, so I took out a bag of Cheeze-Itz that I had since before the plane ride to Japan, sat down on one of the stone blocks, and began dropping crumbs for the birds. At first only a few came by, but soon they were standing next to me and even jumping on my lap. When I was done, I walked over to where everyone else was, casually tossing pieces onto the floor to the group of pigeons that were on the ground. Then, out of nowhere, three of them flew up and landed on my arms! I wasn't the only one who was taken by surprise, and the people passing by seemed to enjoy it. I was able to take one picture of one on my arm, and I believe someone else in the group got one of all the birds on me.

We walked down another path that was decorated with ancient looking buildings, and we were brought to another area with more temples that looked different from the ones we had seen before. These temples were bright orange and looked as if they were recently renovated. There were also many paper lanterns hanging around the temples, including two large ones where we exited. Afterwards we climbed yet another set of steps to a fairly busy summit that was filled with many stalks of bamboo with wish tags on them. Making our way to a less congested area, which ended up being a parking lot, we could see the great view that was provided by our high altitude. Behind us was a gigantic statue in a memorial area which I later learned was a statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara at the Ryozen Kannon. We took a bunch of pictures in this area, and then we headed down to a crowded market street.

Although we visited this street later, we initially just walked through to get to another area with some small temples and the biggest one we'd seen all day. This temple was called Kiyomizudera (Pure water temple). Again, most of the small temples looked newer than the first ones, but they were still quite impressive. We paid ¥400 to get into the temple, which led to even more sights past the initial temple. From the big temple we had another amazing view of the skyline, which included lots of trees, buildings, and mountains in the distance. Moving along, up a set of stairs, led us to a crowded area with a traditionally-dressed man talking to the crowd. There were many stands selling good luck charms, and there were two large stones some distance apart called "The Famous Love Stone(s)". A sign near the second stone said that if you were able to walk from one to the other successfully with your eyes closed, your love wish will be granted soon. I obviously did not need to perform this action, but some guy bumped into me before I learned of this challenge and I wasn't sure why (I'm not sure if he was actually successful, though).

Continuing on, we walked through another path that was surrounded by lots of beautiful foliage and another view of the previous skyline. There were some places to eat along the way, but we didn't stop at any of them. The path we were on made sort of an elongated U-turn that went down to an area much lower than the large temple where we entered. At the end of our path, and at an intersection that led back to the temple, was Otowanotaki Spring, a small fountain-temple and the main attraction of Kiyomizudera, with a large line of people in front of it. At the fountain you can walk up under the roof that the water runs off from and wash your hands and/or take a drink for good luck. Visitors are provided long metal ladles to catch the water and can also purchase a "holy cup" to put in the ladle and keep as a souvenir. The line was deceptively long; the wait was very short and we all took our turn at the fountain. The water was nice and cold, and very pure (just as advertised).

Returning to the market street on which we accessed the temple, we walked back down in the general direction of the restaurant where we would eat dinner. Since it was early, we stopped by a small restaurant and ordered appetizers. I got a melon shaved ice, which is probably the most delicious melon-flavored item I have eaten so far. When we were done, we traveled back to the very start of our trip and walked down another somewhat "dirty" street towards the restaurant. This street wasn't sketchy like the first streets we traveled down, but was populated by some not-so-child-friendly establishments. We didn't investigate these places any further than reading the signs, but doing just that provided some entertainment. The restaurant we ate at was in this area; it was an all-you-can-eat (in 90 minutes) yakiniku place that cost about $20 per person. A grill is installed in the table and customers order raw meat to cook and eat. We decided to order beef items, which included many delicious pieces and some interesting ones (like tongue and heart). No one but Khoa wanted to eat the tongue, and I actually tried a piece of heart (cow heart, not this kind). Everything I ate was very good; the heart was okay once I tried not thinking about what I was eating. I finished my meal with two dishes of plain soft cream (vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles) and then we made the journey back home.

Overall, the trip to Kyoto was very enjoyable. It was dirtier (in many regards) than Osaka, but the historic sights were great. We will be going back soon to check out the Gion Festival, so stay tuned for a bunch of photos and a blog post later this month!

(Check out all 560+ photos of the weekend here, here, here, and here!)