christmas in kyoto

The reason I'm in Kyoto for Christmas is this guy:

This is Kenshin Himura, the title character of one of my favorite anime series, Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心 ) Although the show starts out in Tokyo, its biggest arc takes place in Kyoto. It's symbolic, in that Tokyo is the new capital of Japan, and represents the present as well as the future. Kyoto, however, is the place where memories of the past reside, both good and bad, and in travelling to Kyoto, Kenshin and his friends battle a foe who emerges from the ashes of the old revolution.

It's because of Rurouni Kenshin that I wanted to visit Japan. It's also because of Rurouni Kenshin that I longed to see Kyoto. So, with careful planning and meticulous saving, I made my trip to Kyoto just in time for Christmas.

Nowadays, Kyoto is still historical. It's choc full of  temples, shrines, and famous old landmarks. One of the most famous is Kiyomizu-dera (Kiyomizu Temple). I'm staying in a hostel just around the corner from Kiyomizu, so today I made the temple my first stop.

Naturally, construction is taking place in a big way on the entire area. I had to laugh when I saw the pylons, hard hats, roped off areas, and giant plastic sheeting covering entire buildings while repairs were done. Of course the one time I come, the whole place is a construction zone! There were hammers and drills echoing all over the place. What was left uncovered, however, was still quiet beautiful, and the road leading up to the temple is lined with shops selling all kinds of interesting souvenirs. I love souvenir shops, as the items for sale give you an idea of what's considered noteworthy about the area. People were eating green tea ice cream left and right. There were also several tourists in full-blown kimono--including some Chinese tourists! It gave me a start the first time I passed by a group of kimono-clad women and heard Mandarin.

After Kiyomizu, I had lunch and took the bus to Gion, which is a famous shopping area with stores and teahouses where geiko ("geisha"in the Kyoto dialect) and maiko (apprentice geiko) entertain guests. The teahouses are exclusive and expensive, and not for the average tourist off the street. Occasionally you will see a geiko or maiko walking between buildings or down the street, but it's considered rude to photograph them without their permission.

Note: these are not geiko or maiko. I saw a few in the back streets

but I didn't ask for pictures because they looked busy and I didn't 

want to be rude.

Along Gion's main shopping street, you'll come across a cramped side street called Pontocho. This is a 600 meter street whose buildings are reminiscent of mid-1900s Japan, mostly full of exclusive teahouses and expensive restaurants. It's a tight space, but absolutely gorgeous and makes for excellent photography. I had a blast walking along it and taking pictures. It wasn't very busy, so I got a lot of pictures that were nearly empty of tourists.

After Gion and Pontocho, I went back to the Kiyomizu area and found a restaurant in which I finally ate dinner. I was extremely hungry by that time and devoured a bowl of rice, cabbage, pork and onion, along with a small bowl of miso soup.

Now I'm back at the hostel and my feet are killing me, but my SD card is stuffed with pictures and I'm feeling really pleased with myself. I didn't think I'd get through three of the things on my "to see" list in one day, much less my first, but here we are. Tomorrow is up in the air; I may try to knock at least one of the "famous photos" pics off my list, which consists of two: the tori gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine, and the bamboo forest at Arashiyama. Both are locations that most people will recognize as being in Japan, and are often used in promotional material (such as the Lonely Planet travel guide for Japan). 

Tonight, though, I've got a Google Chat date with my family, where we'll come together from three continents and three time zones to finally celebrate Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone!