We had a bit of a mix-up on the way to the train station to get our train to Kyoto. We had to take two taxis (because there are six of us, and Tokyo taxis are these antiquated 1970s style vehicles). In the confusion of deciding who was travelling with who, we forgot to allocate out the train tickets and rail passes. So I had all six rail passes and tickets on me in my taxi, and DW had none in hers.

So I ended up arriving at the train station first with Eldest Girl and The Boy, and to no sign of the others. And then thought, well that was dumb! And then thought, we’re going to miss our train. Tokyo station is huge and the chances that the others had been dropped at a completely different entrance seemed high. As DW still hasn’t gotten her phone fixed, we would have been struggling to find each other for quite some time. I figured that she would eventually find a pay phone and call me, but that might take some time. Luckily, they appeared at the same entrance a few minutes later. Phew!

To get to Kyoto, we were due to travel by the bullet train (Shinkansen). We were very much looking forward to travelling on the world’s fastest train. We took a photo before we boarded:

The journey was (as billed) super-fast, but also super-smooth. It was also a direct train (no changes along the way), so very straightforward. It was a lovely clear day, so we were fortunate enough to get some great views of Mt Fuji along the way:

After settling in to our hotel, we took it easy for the afternoon. We did venture out for dinner, heading to a place where you cook your own food on mini gas stoves set into the tables. The kids loved it.

We had a guide booked for our second day in Kyoto, so for our first day we set off by ourselves. We had tickets booked for one of the geisha dances in the afternoon (these only occur on certain dates each year, but luckily April is one of the main times), so in the morning we visited Nijo castle. This was built 400 years ago and is right in the middle of the city. One of the things it is famous for is its “nightingale floors.” The shogun was worried about others sneaking up on him to kill him, so he had the hall floors designed such that they squeak when walked on, in a manner that sounds like nightingales singing. It’s quite something to hear them.

At the castle gate:

There were loads and loads of school tours there as well, which led to yet more requests for photos with the white kids!!

Afterwards, we headed over towards the theatre for the geisha dance show. We had time beforehand to explore the nearby Kennin-Ji temple. This temple is famous for its zen rock and gravel garden (which is indeed splendid), and also for a painting on one of the ceilings of two dragons. The Boy really liked this – he thought it was the good dragon fighting the bad one. And maybe it is…

Then we headed to the geisha dance. There was some confusion when we were organising the tickets for this. Trailfinders thought we wanted a private dinner with a geisha. This is incredibly expensive, and involves a translator so you can converse with your geisha, and also seems to involve Japanese drinking games. For a different sort of client I think!

The geisha dances are totally different. They are held several times a day for several weeks at a time at different times in the year, April being one of them. We ditched Trailfinders on this one, and arranged the tickets directly through our hotel concierge. The ladies of the family were especially looking forward to this hour-long spectacle of traditional dance and music.

Before the performance itself, we got to attend two of the geishas carrying out the traditional tea ceremony. This involved being herded into a room with 60 others to watch said geishas do their thing:

We did at least each get a bowl of the traditional thick green tea for this event (same colour and consistency as puréed peas), and a kind of mushy bun designed to mask the harsh taste of the tea. I kid you not, that is the purpose of the bun. Which begs the question as to why you drink the tea at all then. Anyway, we all gave it a go, including the kids:

The Boy was not amused:

The ladies even less so. Look for the reaction of Thing One here:

After three minutes (yes, three minutes), they herded us out to let in the next lot, so we took our seats, but only after visiting the tuck shop. The attendance was about 95% female and mostly middle aged or older, with hardly any other kids. So the shop didn’t know what hit them when we put in our order for multiple soft drinks and assorted sweets. I think we were the only ones actually eating anything in the theatre…

I’ll be honest here. This show was not my thing. It got better towards the end, but the first 20 minutes consisted of a few ladies playing out of tune instruments to the “tune” of a dead cat’s wail, with the occasional confusing whoop thrown in, while 20-odd (indeed, odd) ladies did some very slow, stylised moves on stage. Towards the end the scenery and colour brightened up, and there was one stage where the music threatened towards harmony (though they quickly backed away from that). The Boy was equally unimpressed. The ladies though apparently loved every minute of it. Which just goes to show that the fairer sex are truly patient in having to put up with us philistines.

They had held a sign up before the show started to say no photographs. DW saw that and said to me, oh yes, good reminder, please pass me your phone so I can take a couple of photos during the show. Yep. The Japanese, being very good at following rules, didn’t quite know what to make of it when she actually started taking photos, but they quickly intervened to nicely ask her to stop. She had her photos by then though 🙂

For dinner that evening we had intended to go to a yakitori restaurant (grilled chicken skewers basically), but it was full so we ended up in a nearby Italian. This proved popular.

First decent meal I’ve had in days:

The next morning we met up with our guide for the day. She was a lovely lady and had arranged a great day for us, at a good pace for the kids. First stop was a temple called Tenryu-ji. This is (another!) world heritage site, and is very beautiful, with spectacular gardens. I learnt also that if it’s a temple it’s Buddhist, whereas if it’s a shrine it’s Shinto. So now you know.

After Tenryu-Ji, we walked to the nearby bamboo forest, and from there back down a mountainside to a beautiful riverside area and to lunch. It was a glorious sunny morning and a lovely walk.

For lunch, she brought us to a local soba noodle bar. DW and I absolutely loved it. I had delicious noodles in a light broth with chicken, vegetables and an egg mixed through. You use your chopsticks to eat the chicken, veg, and egg strands, and then lift the bowl in your hands to drink the broth. Delicious, and very nutritious! The kids hated it though, so we ended up bringing them to an American style coffee shop in the train station there, which luckily had hotdogs. Everyone happy, eventually!

After lunch she brought us to Fushimi Inari shrine. You’ll have already spotted so that this is a Shinto site. “Inari” shrines are dedicated to the white fox, which is believed to aid in gaining and keeping prosperity. There are 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan, and this is the main one. At this shrine, you can donate to have a red torii gate erected. This is believed to bring you much help in achieving/keeping prosperity.

The resulting donated gates have created “tunnels” stretching all over the mountain at the shrine. Each gate is made of cedar wood, and decays and needs to be replaced after about fifteen years. If you were the donor, you can choose to donate again or not. If you don’t, then someone else gets your slot. There’s a two year waiting list apparently.

They have different size gates. The largest cost about $100,000 and are mainly from companies. There are lots of companies who do this apparently, and indeed there was a ceremony going on for one company the day we were there. Here are some of these largest gates:

The next size is a lot cheaper – about $3,000. These form the bulk of the site. It’s really cool to walk through the tunnels. From the front (as you head up the mountain) they are blank, while on the back as you head downwards it lists the donor, their address, and (in Japanese) the date of the donation:

The actual shrine itself is at the bottom of the mountain before you come to these tunnels, and is gorgeous too. There’s also a side shrine where people go to pray for good results in exams. As part of this, you can make and leave behind an elaborate and colourful origami paper chain. At the shrine itself, you’re supposed to throw in a small coin, pull a rope to ring a bell twice, bow twice, clap your hands twice, make your prayer silently, and bow once again (at least, I think that’s the order). The girls each had a go. Anything involving ringing bells and clapping hands also attracted the attention of The Boy, so he did it too!

The kids were shattered by the time we got back to the hotel, so they mutinied and demanded room service. Fair enough!

For our last day in Kyoto, we had to take it easy as poor Thing One was not feeling at all well. Some insect bites she had gotten in Vietnam were swelling up and she had a high temperature, so DW took her to the doctor. Nothing serious, thankfully, but rest for the remainder of the day was called for. She’s much better now thankfully.

While DW and Thing One went off the the doctor, I took the others to the big park in the middle of the city to just run around and have fun. There were lots of cherry blossom still out here, so we did the Japanese thing and picnicked underneath some. The Boy discovered that if he shook the branches or blew on the flowers then he would be showered with petals. I don’t know if this was a serious etiquette breach or not, but he liked it anyway.

At the playground, he also found a little mound where he could do his own zen meditation. At least, I think that’s what it was….

For our last evening in Kyoto, we made it back to the yakitori place, this time with a reservation. The tables were low-down, but with a hole in the floor underneath, so you could choose to sit Japanese style on the mat, or western style with your legs under the table as normal, as you preferred. The food was lovely!