Old Japan

Temple building in Daitoku-ji complex

Yesterday (Jan. 18), we had a late breakfast at the Starbucks in our hotel lobby, then set out for the Daitoku-ji Buddhist temple complex in northwest Kyoto. This large area includes 24 different temples, many of which are not open to the public. We visited two that are open, Daisen-in and Koto-in. Both are more than 400 years old, and each is beautiful in its own way. Daisen-in is known for its small, but lovely garden—with rocks and gravel symbolizing water features, and trees and stones representing mountains and islands.

"Trained" tree in front of Daisen-in (no photos were allowed inside the garden)

We viewed the garden as we walked around the temple on a veranda, including a “nightingale floor”—a wooden floor deliberately built so that it squeaks when one walks on it. This was a common feature of temples, designed as a warning signal to protect against intruders. Following our walk around Daisen-in, we had a cup of tea and a traditional Japanese sweet while seated at a low table in a small tearoom. As we were leaving, the temple priest called us over to ask our help; he was trying to sing “Oh Susannah,” but was having difficulty with a couple of lines. C helped him get it right, and he praised her as a “good teacher.”



Lane leading to Koto-in



Snow-covered garden at Koto-in


When we left Daisen-in, we wandered along the temple walkways until we came to the shady grove of large bamboo trees that surround Koto-in. The entrance meanders through the trees via several twists and turns, eventually ending up at the temple building. The garden is less spectacular than that of Daisen-in, but the building itself was interesting, and the setting, in the midst of the bamboo grove, makes it a special place.

After leaving Koto-in, we went in search of Izusen, a traditional Buddhist vegetarian restaurant. After pursuing a couple of deadends, we eventually figured out that it is within the walls of one of the temples, Daiji-in. The dining rooms are tatami-matted, with windows looking out to the trees and garden surrounding the building. This place is no doubt jammed with visitors at lunch time in the tourist season, but at 2:00 on a weekday in January, we had it all to ourselves. The food, although expensive, was wonderful, not only in flavor, but also in its presentation—numerous courses of delightful vegetables, tempura, tofu, pickles, soup, rice, and other traditional Japanese dishes. Each time we thought we were finished, the young woman server would bring another dish. Eventually we did in fact finish, and after finding our way back out to the street, we got a taxi for the ride back to the Kita-Oji subway station, where we had begun. After a little shopping at the department store above the station, and picking up a couple of cream puffs at the bakery there, we headed back to the hotel. After a late lunch and the cream puffs, we didn’t really feel like a big dinner, so in the late evening we walked out to a nearby convenience store where we bought o-bento (small Japanese boxed meals) and took them back to our room.

This morning (Jan. 19) we went to the Kyoto Handicraft Center, a 7-story aggregation of shops selling all kinds of Japanese arts, crafts, gifts, trinkets, and jewelry from all over the country. The Center also serves a buffet lunch of a variety of Japanese foods. Our taxi dropped us at the front door just before opening time, and we spent the rest of the morning shopping—some gifts, and some things we wanted, including a woodblock print to add to our collection. We arranged to have the print and a couple of other items shipped home, then went to lunch at the buffet. We finished our shopping after lunch, then returned to the hotel to rest a bit before setting out for Kobe for dinner with our friends Yoshiharu and Yoko.



For the trip to Kobe we caught a Hankyu Railway train (underground just a block from our hotel) to Osaka, where we changed trains for the trip to Kobe. Our friends met us at a station there, and we all walked through a neighborhood shopping area to an old restaurant where Yoshiharu and Yoko know the owners. The place specializes in Kobe beef, but also had delicious vegetables, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, and fresh fruit for dessert. It is also apparently a place where some well-known Sumo wrestlers and Hanshin Tigers baseball players have hung out from time to time. We spent the evening laughing, talking, and remembering good times past. One of Yoshiharu’s worries had been the fact that the restaurant had always had old traditional Japanese toilets, and he was afraid that might be a problem for us (It wouldn’t have been, but it concerned him)—He even suggested we use the bathroom at the station before we set out walking. When he discovered that the restaurant had installed new high-tech toilets, he announced to us all that he had “good news!” It turned out that the wife of the restaurant owner had won some money (we couldn’t figure out exactly how much) in the lottery, and they apparently used some of it to upgrade the restaurant toilets.

After dinner we continued our conversation as we walked back to the station, where we all headed for home. We were back in our room by 10:00, exhausted but pleased to have had yet another wonderful, satisfying day in Japan—we keep reminding ourselves how privileged we are to know these people and to be able to keep in touch with them over the years.