Much Ado About Everything

The Kyoto part of the trip started with arrival at the Kyoto train station. It is a very impressive piece of architecture. Very massive piece, too.

The station is just too big to be captured by one or two pictures. There’s a train station – both Shinkansen and local trains, subway station, big department store as well as an underground mall.

It’s very hard to choose a favourite photo of the station. Still, I think I will choose this one.

In front of the station there’s a hotel (I think) and it has a tower with the observatory. We haven’t gone up though.

Old imperial palace – Nijo-jo or Nijo castle – was one of my highlights of the trip. Incredible. Rightfully a word heritage site. Built 1573-1614. It has the Nightingale floor – the floor squeaks not unlike a bird when you walk over it, no matter how slow, quiet or careful you try to be. This was made so by paranoid shoguns so that no assassins could sneak up on them while they sleep. It’s very cool to experience. You can go in but you must take off your shoes and walk in socks, the experience is well worth it.

As great as the palace itself is, its gardens are positively amazing.

This is the entrance to the Honmaru (inner palace and its garden).

Another photo from the garden.

The fairly new (1965) Seiryu-en garden, of which one part is Japanese style and one part Western style is one of my Japan trip favourites, including some of my favourite photos from this trip. The composition of different materials is amazing.

This is the grainery of the palace.

This is a photo of the outside of the palace – on a day before, when we came just a bit too late for a visit. The subway station entrance is right across the street – this is what you’d see when you exit, from a different angle.

If you only had one day it Kyoto, you are supposed to walk the Philosopher’s Path. It’s a kilometre (or two) long shaded path, next to a shallow canal. In summer it is far more bearable place to be than the rest of the city.

Steven can be seen in appropriate mood here.

We visited only one temple on this path – Ginkakuji temple. It is famous for its Zen rock garden. No, this isn’t just a nice well kept garden. It’s a Zen rock garden.

It’s amazing how well the grounds are kept. But then, the whole experience is supposed to induce Zen state so it’s like saying that an old European church has nice frescoes inside.

There’s a cemetery here, like in Christian churches. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen cemeteries in any other Japanese shrine I’ve been to. Perhaps the most famous shrines don’t typically have cemeteries?