Three months later, and I’m still writing about Japan! Woohoo!
Okay. Day two in Kyoto started off with a ridiculously thorough, Japanese-style breakfast.
We savored that breakfast real good, let me tell you, and it was a lovely way to fuel the full day ahead!
And then we made it to the main event of the day – Fushimi Inari! This shrine is famous for its thousands of vermillion torii gates. Yes. You heard that right – I said THOUSANDS.
As we wandered the main buildings of the shrine, Matt and Cassie broke off to park Matt’s knee scooter. Poor Matt tore his Achilles tendon about a month before the trip, but he was determined to make it to Japan! With a knee scooter, crutches, and a healthy dose of patience, he made it work. Cray cray.
Once the scooter was parked and the crutches deployed, we set off into the trail of gates. The gates were installed at different times because they are all installed by donation, so some were much more faded than others.
And now for a little culture lesson: this shrine reminded me a lot of the Sasuke Inari Shrine that I saw a few days back in Kamakura. Well, it turns out that Inari (ie: Sasuke Inari, Fushimi Inari) is the Shinto god of rice. The fox is thought to be Inari’s messenger, so that is why all of the foxes are present at these two shrines. Neat!
After a little bit of an uphill slope, we came to Senbon Torii, the official start to the hiking trail and the official start to picture mayhem! We came to a true standstill here as people crowded for pictures at the start of the gates.
It was dizzyingly orange in here. So magical.
When I turned around to snap a pic of Cassie and Remy, I was shocked to see writing on the back of the gates – I found out later that these were the names of the donors and the dates of donation. I thought it looked much cooler facing this way, so after this, I kept awkwardly walking backwards every once in a while.
As we emerged from the first stretch of torii gates and entered another crowded spot, Katie, Lea, Remy, and I ventured off to get away from the crowds for a bit and were met with a lovely bamboo grove on our way to a small shrine.
Another lesson: see the rope wound around the top of that stone? This is a shimenawa, and it is meant to mark the boundary to something sacred. I’ve seen them hanging on gates and trees, as well.
After our little excursion, we returned to the main hiking trail. Cassie and Matt returned to the main shrine area while the rest of us continued up through more gates. Many pictures were taken.
We came to another small shrine with hundreds of much smaller torii gates littered among the buildings and stones. They were so cute! These are for donors with a smaller budget, as the larger gates that we walked through can cost up to ten thousand dollars.
After this shrine, the incline became less gradual, and the sloping pavement was replaced with stairs.
The light was so beautiful up here among the torii gates! The vermillion paint reflected off of everything around us and gave the sunlight a shimmery, golden quality. The crowds were also practically nonexistent here because most hikers turn around before the stairs.
We soon reached the Yotsutsuji intersection with lovely views over Kyoto.
And then more stairs, more shrines, and more foxes!
It took us just shy of an hour from where we split off from the rest of the group to reach the summit. Another shrine was waiting for us at the top of the mountain, and this one was also populated with hundreds (if not thousands) of the mini torii gates. There were so many gates here that there were piles of them stacked together like chairs after a party.
And then the descent!
I enjoyed this part of the hike because it was downhill and we got to see all of the beautiful donor inscriptions on the backs of the gates!
When we reached the Yotsutsuji intersection again, I veered off from the other three to climb up to one last viewpoint. I knew it would haunt me if I didn’t.
The view was worth it, of course!
And then I had a bit of a solo hike back down.
At some point, I came to a little café. It was here that I realized I hadn’t heard from the group on where to meet up, and then I discovered this was because my WiFi device had gone to sleep. For some reason, people prefer to use personal WiFi emitters to data-sucking SIM cards in Japan, and my friend Chris lent me his while he was away on his business trip to Taiwan, so I had WiFi with me all the time!
When I woke up my WiFi device, a small trickle of messages floated in from the twins notifying me that they had stopped at a café. I looked up and was delighted to see that it was the very café in front of me. Such luck!
The group was nibbling on little treats and sipping coffees, but Obsessed With Matcha Katie was indulging in a matcha latte and a matcha torte. She let me have a few tastes. Soooooo yummy. I might have to do some experimenting with matcha in my own kitchen soon.
Our walk back to the main shrine area brought us past a small reservoir that screamed GREEN.
And that concluded our visit to the most famous Inari shrine in Japan! Such an eventful morning!
The group made plans to return home, shower, and get some lunch before heading out, but I was planning to leave Kyoto before the rest of the group, so my time seemed too limited for civilized things such as showers and sit-down lunches. For me, it was go! Go! GO!
To Arashiyama!
I started at Otagi Nenbutsuji, a temple famous for its over 1200 stone raken statues.
So cute! This guy was probably my favorite:
I loved the vibe here, and I loved looking at all the different little statues. Some were bald, others were covered almost entirely with moss, and some had their features wiped completely away by years in the rain. Fake monkey sounds were also being played by hidden speakers, so that added to the strange, magical ambiance.
It was hard to leave this place, but rain was scheduled to arrive any moment, so I wanted to make sure I could see some more of this charming little town before that happened.
As I wound my way down a long, quiet road, I came to a temple that was not on my itinerary but was too intriguing to pass up: Adashino Nenbutsuji. Like Otagi Nenbutsuji, this temple was full of stone statues, but these were not in the shape of little men, and they are meant to pay respect to the souls of the dead.
Next, I wound my way down Saga-Toriimoto, a lovely preserved street lined with traditional shops, restaurants, and townhouses. Though I had read about this street before my visit, I almost didn’t realize I was on it because it was so deserted and quiet! Why? Well, it was right about this time that the rain finally hit.
Thankfully, the rain was just a light drizzle, but it was also windy, windy, windy. I could hardly hold my umbrella properly without it blowing away or turning inside out. Before my trip started, the forecast had called for ten days of sun with bits of clouds here and there, so I had simply not packed for this weather. My only shoes were canvas Keds and some shower flip flops. So there I was, in borrowed Teva sandals (Thanks, Katie!) with a borrowed umbrella (Thanks, Chris!), hoping that the rain wouldn’t get any worse and that the wind would calm the heck down.
After quite a bit of walking, I finally reached Giogi! This temple is famous for its luscious, green mossy gardens.
The trees overhead helped to stave off the trickling from above, and I had the temple mostly to myself, yet again. The temple grounds really were not very large, but I just wandered around and around, practically in a trance.
When I finally awoke from my trance, I explored the neighboring temples before wandering a long, winding path through the town, poking my head into every small temple, garden, and shrine that was free to the public.
Eventually, I came to the famous bamboo forest.
While I definitely found the random sprinklings of bamboo earlier in my day to be more magical, this was the most densely packed and widely-sprawling grove of bamboo I had yet to cross, so I soaked it all in! The wind was especially lovely as it swished the stalks around and the branches whispered overhead.
I then made it back to the main shopping street in town and picked up the first snack I could find – a barbecued chicken skewer. YUM! My only regret is not getting two of them.
I made it all the way to the river before backtracking to explore Hogonin Temple.
I took a winding back route out of the temple and passed by many statues and several museums.
And then I made it to another park and the bank of the river! This would mark the start of a very long bout of scenic rest.
My first fun sighting was of this beautiful crane. He just stood right in the middle of the pathway, and he is honestly the reason I was inspired to continue down this path at all. He wouldn’t budge, though, so after waiting patiently for several minutes, I finally turned my back to him and carefully inched around him on the side of the walkway.
I then became entranced for the fifth time that day, this time by the mesmerizing green of the water. It was just so calming and alluring; I couldn’t look away!
Even when it started to rain again, I simply popped open my umbrella and popped a squat on the sidewalk.
Ugh. Can you even imagine a prettier view?! I can’t. I sat there for a full hour, just watching the water and waving to the occasional passing boat. I also had a little photo session at one point, because why not?
I was sitting very near a trailhead, and while I originally had no intentions of exploring this, I finally reasoned that if I couldn’t bring myself to leave Arashiyama, I may as well do some more exploring, so off I went!
It was so much more rewarding than I could have possibly imagined. It was hardly a hike at all, and in about ten minutes, I had yet another breathtaking view of the river laid out before me.
Sigh. Unsurprisingly, when I made my way back through the park, I found myself stuck again on the bank of the river. I think I had a sort of mental block that would not allow me to go home before it started getting dark.
It did eventually start to get darker, and at some point I called Jonathan to show him the view and relay my wish that he and a couch would spontaneously appear beside me so we could sit cozily in the rain together until nightfall. (This wish didn’t come to fruition, but it was a nice thought.)
When the sun truly set and dusk began to descend, I finally peeled myself from the riverbank and slowly meandered my way back across the bridge.
This truly was such a magical afternoon in Arashiyama. I can’t imagine much that could have gone differently to make the memory any sweeter in my mind.
When I returned to Kyoto a short train ride later and was hastily thrusted back into the world of covered arcades, I took full advantage of the food options around me. First, my nose brought me to a small stand selling these delightfully puffy buns, and then my desire for even more energy replenishment brought me back to my second bout of ramen.
A full day, indeed. Even looking back on it, this adventure really feels like two full, separate days. I cannot believe I did so much in the span of about twelve hours! Craziness. No wonder this post took over two months to write, right?
Adventures in Japan continue for a few more days, and hopefully you’ll hear about them before 2020 rolls around…. Until then,
私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,
-Lizzy-wa