We woke up from a good night’s sleep to the sound of children walking to school and motorbikes speeding along the tiny stretch of road in the neighborhood. We’re staying in four houses off Sanjo-dori in Higashiyama and the places couldn’t be nice. The host is a kind man who was eager to meet us all and provide us with all of the details we needed to have a good stay.
Our first piece of business was trying to find the best combination of sleeping arrangements for everyone. It did not go well. We tried to group people based on their personal connections and then allow some flexibility in where people stayed. Ultimately we miscalculated because one adult was short a bed instead of a futon. The futons are lovely, and we wanted the adults to have the western style beds if they wanted them. THat’s when things went south; people had to move and the tension was palpable. In the hour or so of the jostling around, no one was happy. We settled into the places and I think things will smooth over and it was a challenging transition from people staying in pairs to staying in larger groups. At least now we know what these places are like and can plan accordingly in the future.
Today, the plan was to walk the Path of Philosophy. I absolutely love this short walk to Gingaku-ji temple and this day was perfect for it. No rain in the AM, a cloudy day and a little less heat.
As we walked the Path, I told student about a man who often made little leaf boats and floated them down the canal. That was five years ago when I last saw him. Today, he was out helping students make their boats and was absolutely joyous when they worked. It was simply magical.
As wel walked, we read from Basho’s haikus in A Walk into the Interior. We stopped at a small bridge every so often and then read from the book. We talked a bit about Basho and his travels. We talked about Haikus and their creation. Finally, we spend some time thinking about what we might say in our own haikus. The moment was pretty perfect.
We headed up the hill to the temple and wandered the grounds. This temple is my personal favorite for the grounds around the pavilion and the reconstruction of Mt. Fuji in sand. We all followed the trails and saw the sites, some of us deep in contemplation about the place and the beauty of it all.
Once we left the temple we found places to eat and then headed back to the houses for a brief rest before climbing the hill to Kiyomizu-dera. This heavily trafficked temple is one of the most photographed in Japan, and the area is beautiful. It doesn’t help that the tourist streets below funnel people into the grounds of the temple. Still the bright red pagoda stands out in the city and seeing it up close is remarkable. The steps heading up into the main area are filled with people and on a hot day, this place is exposed.
Still, we walked the paths and photographed the area. From there it was down into Gion to see the sights at night. Gion is lit up at night with lanterns along the overhanging portals (that’s the only word I know for them!)
After our visit we walked back the houses, about 9:00PM and then settled into a rainy night.
Tomorrow we’re facing a rainy day and so it’s the Manga Museum, Nishiki Market, Pokeman Center, and then Karaoke!
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