KYOTO – THE CULTURAL GEM OF THE ORIENT

Kyoto has more UNESCO World Heritage listings than any other metropolis in the world.  This beautiful city is a treasure trove of Japanese history, cultural delight, and Oriental mystique.  It has over 1400 shrines, temples, and churches within its greater confines.  For this reason, it was the only major city spared by the United States Army-Air Force during World War II from systematic carpet bombing.

It is about a three and one-half hour bullet train ride west and slightly south of Tokyo.  But Kyoto is populated by affable people in direct contrast to the gloomy denizens of Tokyo.  They appear almost to be from a different planet.  These cheerful folk are friendly in the extremis, ultra-polite, deferential, and beyond orderly.  They would never think of cutting in line on you.  Or jaywalking.  Or raising their voice.  They have this knowing smile always, as if imbued with knowledge you don’t have access to that they won’t share but will not lord over you all the same.

Meals and hotels can be reasonably priced but entertainment in Kyoto is generally very expensive.  Meals are served in tiny portions.  Emphasis is heavy on packaging, showmanship and presentation.  Delivery of the food is often very slow.  Since English proficiency is not as prevalent as expected for a major travel destination, sometimes there are … misunderstandings ... between what is ordered and what is served.  One thing the traveler can always be assured of however, is a servant’s heart on the part of the wait staff.

Two examples of tradition sharing which can lead to great expense come to mind in Kyoto: the Japanese haute cuisine experience known as kaiseki-ryōri, and geisha entertainment.  Sometimes the two are combined.

The origins of today's geisha women can be traced back to around 1600.  Their greatest level of popularity was said to be 1912 to 1926. Though often considered specialized streetwalkers by visiting military personnel due to extra-curricular activities engaged in during times of hardship, these highly cultured creatures are decidedly not prostitutes.

Rather, geisha are highly skilled professional companions who entertain guests at private parties and dinners. In many ways, geisha are living embodiments of traditional Japanese  culture: each one is well versed in classic dancing, singing, musical instruments and  other arts such as tea ceremony and flower arranging (ikebana).

Catching a glimpse of a geisha demurely padding between buildings in the narrow streets of Kyoto's Gion entertainment district is a memorable moment. Their ghostly white facepaint and brilliant kimono traditional dress are momentarily startling, appearing as if bit players from a horror movie.  They seem part specter and part sorcerer.  Despite the shock from first impressions, many of these women are quite lovely.

According to recent estimates, there are about 1,000 geisha in Japan.  Many of them live and work in Kyoto (where they are known as geiko) due to its standing as the cultural capitol of Japan. Kyoto is also home to maiko (apprentices), who are girls between the ages of 16 and 20 in the process of completing the four to five years of study it takes to become a fully fledged geisha. It's easy to tell the difference between the two: maiko wear their own hair with elaborate hairpins and colorful kimono, while geiko surprisingly wear wigs with only basic ornamentation and much simpler kimonos.

An evening of geisha entertainment often begins with an exquisite meal of kaiseki (Japanese haute-cuisine). During the meal, the geisha will chat with guests, pour drinks and light cigarettes. Following dinner, the geisha may dance to music played by a jikata musician. Geisha also engage the guests in a variety of drinking games at which they unfairly excel – which usually results in guests getting heavily snockered.

Taking into account costs of a geisha's training and wardrobe, it's not unexpected that geisha entertainment is quite expensive: dinner for two guests with one geisha runs about $700, and parties with a jikata and two or more geisha easily tops $1,000 (making geisha entertainment more affordable for groups than individuals).  Occasionally some hotels and ryokan (inns) in Kyoto offer geisha events for guests – including geisha dances in the spring and fall.

With its origins stemming from delicacies offered to the imperial court, kaiseki-ryōri dining combines some of the best Japanese values: harmony, balance and an appreciation for the moment. While that might sound pretentious, a kaiseki- ryōri meal with or without geisha accompaniment is truly intended to appeal to all of the senses.  As such it offers up a unique Japanese experience that can not really be replicated abroad.

Served in small courses in restaurants and ryokan, each dish is prepared with the freshest seasonally-available ingredients.  The small plates and bowls are appreciated not only for their balance of flavors and textures but also for their visual presentation and   opportunity to suspend time and judgment to savor the total experience of the moment.

Prior to food being introduced to the palette, diners are encouraged to first admire the stylized and artistic manner in which the meal was arranged.  This includes specially prepared wrappers lining typical woven bamboo dishes. The experience includes taking in the minimalist qualities and quiet beauty of the dining space itself, and between bites taking time to reflect on views of the traditional garden outside.

As each course is finished with deliberation and cleared, the next is presented in turn.  The kaiseki meal is a pageant of contrasts, measuring tastes against feel, smell, and appearance. Lifting the cover of a lacquer bowl might reveal a clear broth with a tiny cube of silky tofu and shreds of chive and citron, followed by a charcoal brazier bearing a single small grilled fish.  This might be followed by an assortment of colored dumplings and local wild vegetables.  And of course … sake … the traditional Japanese hard liquor.

The meal is often finished with traditional wagashi sweets-- such as a sticky rice cake, mochi ice cream (made from pounded sticky rice), dango or mangu dumplings, red or mung bean paste with sugar, steam cakes, sugar candies, and coffee jelly.

Touring in Kyoto can be very intense.  There are so many attractions of historic interest in the former national capitol, one can literally walk across the street from one to the other as long as your legs and budget can manage: like dashing from one E-ticket ride in Disneyland to the next.  Three days in-city resulted in these favorites:

Nijo Castle – This former shogun capitol of all Nippon is classic Japanese.  It is surrounded by broad, beautiful and masonry-enclosed  twin moats.  A keep area called Ninomaru Palace dominates the center (lacking fortification and presenting instead 3300 square meters of administrative and living quarters for the Shogun during Japan’s Samurai Period, ending in 1868).  The cedar wooden architecture is simple, clean, and impeccable in its construction and maintenance. 

Its decorations include lavish quantities of gold leaf and elaborate wood carvings, intended to impress visitors with the power and wealth of the shoguns. The sliding doors and walls of each room are decorated with some of Japan’s most lavish and prized wall paintings.

The palace is an excellent example of social control exercised in architectural space. Low-ranking visitors were received in the outer regions of the Ninomaru.  Higher ranking visitors were allowed the more subtle inner sanctum of the Shogun. Rather than attempt to conceal room entrances for security purposes (as was done in many castles), the rulers who resided here chose to display doors prominently. Thus, the construction lent itself to expressing boldness and power to visitors.

The building houses multiple linked reception chambers, offices and living quarters of the shogun.  Usually only bodyguards and female attendants were allowed inside. One of the most unique features of the 33-room Palace is "nightingale floors” on the corridors. To protect occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, palace builders constructed the flooring in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walked on them.

Kinkaku-ji Temple – This wonderful garden complex is one of the best examples in Japan of the classical age of Japanese garden design, integrating buildings with their settings in an artistic way.  The garden designs were characterized by a reduction in scale, a simplified purpose, and a distinct setting. This minimalist approach was brought to the garden design by recreating larger landscapes in a smaller scale around a specific structure.

That structure is its photogenic three-story Golden Pavilion, sitting astride a large mirror pond in an exquisitely manicured landscape that features rock gardens, mini-waterfalls, natural stone bridges, reflecting pools, and lovers’ benches with stunning views of the peaceful surroundings.  The Garden and Pavilion are yet another UNESCO World Heritage sites in Kyoto -- and one of the most popular visitor sites in all of Japan.

The top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a shariden, housing relics of the Buddha (including ashes). The pavilion successfully meshes three architectural styles: shinden, samurai, and zen respectively on each floor. The first floor, called The Chamber of Dharma Waters, is designed as an open space with projecting verandas and uses unpainted wood and white plaster to contrast with the surrounding landscape.

The second floor, called The Tower of Sound Waves,  is built in the preferred style of warrior aristocrats. There is an aura of transience that is given off on this level as suggested by its airiness and lightweight sliding wooden doors and latticed windows. The third floor is built in traditional zen style, and is called the Cupola of the Ultimate. The thatched roof is in the shape of a pyramid, and topped with a bronze phoenix ornament.

Kyoto Botanical Gardens – This well groomed plant reserve was a target for me initially due to its large bonsai exhibit.  I was disappointed to find the 75 or so samples were somewhat oversized, not well trimmed or trained, and did not display traditional bonsai characteristics of asymmetry, cascading branches, inclined trunks, or progressive diminuation of branches as you approach the tip of the deliberately stunted tree.

However … six different gardens from English to Italian in style, some creative walking paths, the finest lily pond I’ve ever seen, and a monstrous combination of  greenhouse and arboretum combined to make up for the shortcoming.  As usual, more Japanese tricks were at play re: entry fees.  In this version, you pay at the entry gate, then pay at each inside feature worth seeing on top of that (once again, without prior notice of added fees).

Fushimi-Inari Shrine – This 8^th century marvel is a bit mysterious.  The purpose of its primary attraction is not really known – merely that it is dedicated to the goddess of rice.  There is no other place like this on the planet.  The UNESCO World Heritage site has over 10,000 torii gates spaced every half meter or so extending over 4 kilometers in length, forming a curving and ascending vermillion pathway that takes the mind on flights of fanciful projection.  The gates are covered with Japanese symbols and quotes, so that – given enough time – the wanderer would have a journey of immense insight and inspiration.

Toji Temple – This imposing five-level wooden pagoda tower and UNESCO World Heritage site has been claimed by fire and rebuilt at least four times.  It was originally built in 826 and its most “current” version was rebuilt in 1644.  The interior is inaccessible at present, and houses three-dimensional images of Buddha and his followers. The temple rises to a height of 60 meters.

Other buildings on the grounds house various representations of the Buddha, whether in sculpture or art.  They are known throughout Japan as treasure houses of esoteric Buddhist art for their religious statues, carvings, paintings, and handicrafts.  Yet another permutation on a wide array of Japanese entry fee tricks is enacted here: in this one, you pay coming in at the exterior gate, but are not allowed to take photos once inside.  There is no prior notice of this, a courtesy which might allow you to make an educated choice as to whether a visit is worth the time and expense or not.

Ryōan-Ji Temple Zen Garden – The most famous meditation garden in the world. The garden is considered the finest surviving examples of "dry landscape," a refined type of Japanese Zen temple garden design featuring unique large rock formations arranged amidst a swirl of smooth pebbles raked into linear patterns. The temple and its gardens are listed as yet another Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage site (one of 17 total).

Controversy over who built the garden and when prevails. Most sources date the garden to the second half of the 15th century. There is also controversy over whether the garden was built by monks, or by professional gardeners or a combination of the two. The garden is a simple rectangle of 248 square meters. Placed within it are fifteen stones of different sizes, carefully composed in five groups; one group of five stones, two groups of three, and two groups of two stones each.

The stones are surrounded by white gravel, which is carefully raked each day by the monks. The only vegetation in the garden is some moss around the stones. The rocks are arranged so that when looking at the garden from any angle (other than from above) only fourteen of them are visible at any one time. Kyoto legend says that only through attaining enlightenment would one be then able to view the fifteenth stone.

Like any work of art, the artistic garden of Ryōan-ji is open to interpretation as to possible meanings. Many different theories have been put forth both inside and outside Japan about what the garden is meant to represent. Garden historian Gunter Nitschke wrote however: "The garden at Ryōan-ji does not symbolize anything … I consider it to be an abstract composition of ‘natural’ objects in space, a composition whose function is to incite meditation."