7/3/14 Trains, Temples and things

Friday 7^th March – Pottering around

Nice sunny start to the day today.

Took the train down to Fushima Inari Temple.  This subway train had heated seats with warm air blowing out at your calf muscles.  Bliss. The temple was fascinating not so much because of the flared pagodas and stonework but for the hundreds of metres of pathways that stretched all over the side of a steep hill to the East of Kyoto. These are almost totally enclosed in wooden poles topped by elaborate crossbeams, spaced almost next to one another . . . and painted my favourite colour -  Rescue ORANGE.

 Business erect the gate for good luck

 Not sure if these are prayers or people names.  Rows or them along the lower pathway.

 She was begging near the entrance

 

The steps were very comfortable – you could just lean into them and climb comfortably, without overheating or feeling puffed. I could have done with some of those in the Himalayas last month. Coming downwards, you could easily slip into a rhythm that might edge into a goosestep if you were that way inclined. The pathways wound through acres of gravestones and monuments heaped over one another. There was a small cleared patch at the very top which offered good views of much of Kyoto.

Inari is the God of rice, sake and prosperity.

The fox is his representative on earth and there are hundreds of them at this temple.

 

It was another clear day, which made for occasional chilly spells, which contributed to an eerie atmosphere permeating the area because of the gloom from the overlaying forest, the strident calls of large black birds piercing the silence, the mystic symbolism of the tumble of thousands of stone slabs and monuments, creating something of a feeling of being in a maze, and the bizarre and blatant multiplicity of the orange poles. I half expected The Dark Lord himself to appear, wand in hand.

Isn't she cute

 

Another train to the city. We gratefully realised that the seats are heated! Then a looong bus ride out to the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-Ji). The pavilion itself was not particularly impressive, being smaller than a lot of the canal homes round our way. Just that this one was clad in gold leaf. What captures attention is the landscaping, with the building being shown off to best advantage behind an ornamental lake with islands supporting very elegantly sculpted bushes and trees and stone work. Most of all, the designer had mastered the knack of what the Japanese call a “borrowed background”, being the Hidari-Daimonji hill. In the right weather, there is also the reflection of the golden image in the water.

 

It didn’t take long but the trip was worthwhile. We bussed back to the city, watching the school kids doing their very tame impression of school bus antics at home.

A 50-ish lady sitting next to me suddenly tapped my elbow and passed me a little trinket consisting of finger ring-sized loops joined together by 3” of string, each containing a tiny figure clad in Japanese traditional dress. Evidently this was a kind gift – the lady spoke no English and disembarked soon afterwards. Back at the hostel, the staff were intrigued – evidently it is a tiny hand-made example of Hinamatsuri. These are a pair of dolls that a grandmother would buy for a new girl child. Apparently there is an annual festival of these dolls on March 3^rd. Just another example of the extraordinary kindness of the Japanese people to complete strangers.

It didn’t take long to get back to the city and we jumped out early to find a food shop, and also a pair of gloves for someone who was too precious (and Awesome) to let her fingy wingers get chilly billy J At this stage, the weather was undecided between rain, snow and hail but it laid off long enough for us to regain the warmth of the hostel.

At the risk of allowing this travel blog to lapse into a comparative review of porcelain privvies (and Herself has dwelt on that far more than I have) I could not help noticing the difference between the facilities offered to male and female guests. I refer not only to the greater variety of directional control over the water jets (heated) which the dunny will fire at you, but also to the buttons which create diversionary noise which sounds like water flushing (without actually wasting water) and release “powerful deodorizer”. The overall effect is that nobody would ever suspect what you went in there to do. There – no more gratuitous toilet references. (There may be more pictures though *wink*)