After a slightly disappointing meal, the first place I headed to was the two Hongan-ji temples. Two famous temples, Nishi Hongan-ji and Higashi Hongan-ji, stand not far from the station. They’re easy to reach from the station, but I’d never been, so I took this chance to go. Next time I might head out to the outskirts rather than central Kyoto, you see.
I went in order of distance from the station, starting with Higashi Hongan-ji.
The monks were holding a Buddhist service. Maybe it was a special event, because a crowd of Kyoto women’s college students in black suits had gathered in front of the temple. Seeing several hundred female college students at once for the first time in ages – maybe the first time in my life – took me a bit by surprise.
On to Nishi Hongan-ji..
Just a tiny part of the students made it into this photo. I try to keep people out of my photos as much as possible, so I deliberately shot around them.
The view inside
The service was spectacular. Dozens of monks kept chanting sutras for dozens of minutes in that low, reverent voice only men have, and it felt like listening to a grand orchestra from the best seats in the house. I couldn’t make out whether it was Sanskrit or Japanese, yet it was so moving that I felt a faith I never had welling up in me. For a trip I set off on without any plan at all, it was quite a haul right from the start ^_^
Next I moved on to Sanjusangendo. It’s about the only major sight in central Kyoto I’d never visited. Once I’ve been here, I’ll have no more reason to stop in central Kyoto..
The Buddha statues of Sanjusangendo
Called Sanjusangendo, the ‘hall of thirty-three bays’, because of its long corridor, the building is filled wall to wall with Buddha statues – the hall of a thousand Kannon. Photography is banned, so I sneaked a shot; not sure if it’ll give you much of an idea. The majesty of these thousand-armed Kannon statues can’t really be conveyed unless you see them in person. A place like this is worth visiting no matter how steep the admission.
Cherry blossoms at Sanjusangendo
Mustn’t forget: the whole point of this trip was cherry-blossom viewing.. But it was raining, which made taking photos really difficult.
The corridor of Sanjusangendo
As you can see, it’s seriously long.. The whole length of the corridor is filled with Buddha statues, with a large Buddha in the middle. Because it’s such an unusual corridor, it apparently appeared in novels and films about Miyamoto Musashi back in the day, though Musashi never actually fought a duel here.
After Sanjusangendo, what with the rain and being tired, I went straight to dinner at Imobo Hiranoya Honke, a restaurant specializing in local Kyoto cuisine. After resting a bit over the meal, I went to the hotel, dropped off my bags, and headed out again to wander around central Kyoto. My travel schedules can be tougher than ordinary people can imagine. ^_^
Cherry blossoms at night
Central Kyoto.. well, Gion, really. It’s been prettily decorated for tourists.
I was a little peckish, and while I was wondering whether to grab something before calling it a night, I spotted a place called Kamogawa Ramen and went in. The owner apparently used to work at a Japanese ryotei. Even so, I didn’t expect much..
Kamogawa Ramen
Yep.. old-style chuka soba topped with pork back fat. The flavor sits somewhere between new-wave and traditional ramen. I feel like this one bowl tells me all I need to know about the level of ramen in Kyoto. Kyoto people do like ramen, but they don’t seem to go after new styles. Once again I’m reminded that Tokyo is the best for ramen.
The beer was canned..
Day one seems to have been a bit of a failure, gourmet-wise. The imobo was good, but I’d been there once before.. On the other hand, the sightseeing went fairly well, so I’ll have to be happy with that..