Honestly, I was less excited to go to Japan than I have been to go anywhere else. Being a Canadian, 1 in 4 people I have met have been to Japan including a large chunk of my own family. It just seemed like a marginally more exotic Mexico, for all the people who have been. I know, its not a competition for who can go to the least visited place, and that the Japanese culture is both exotic and impenetrable for most westerners, but I feel that Japan has become so modernised, so westernized and frankly overexposed in the last 40 years, that much of the mystique of the place has been replaced by flashing lights, ninja and robot themed restaurants, manga and japanimation. It just feels like it has a major vein of artificially pumping its lifeblood. I am certain that if the surface is scratched, the tale changes, but there is just not the time or money to do anything but the most cursory of walkthroughs.
The city of Kyoto, former capital city of Japan and still capital city of geisha (or geiko) culture holds much of the mystery and allure that I find missing from other major cities.The architecture is a mixture of the old, venerable temple and the ultramodern. The area we stayed in is called Gion, which is one of the oldest sections of the city, and as the allies decided to give Kyoto a miss with their bombing campaigns in WWII, Gion still retains much of the feel of old world Japan. Many guides will tell you that if enough time and watchfulness is invested in the little backstreets of Gion, geiko and their maiko (the colourful trainees to the geiko) will furtively skitter by between schools and appointments. They will not pose for pictures and they will not welcome the appearance of a camera. In order to spend anytime in their proximity, one of several methods may be employed, and I do mean employed, as every method involves an expensive trip to a tea house or private back room where executives are entertained be geiko, maiko and an older woman who plays the shamisen while the alcohol evaporates faster than the contents of their wallets. The geiko are charming, witty and most of all patient, to the point where they applaud the childish antics of the exceptionally well paid and badly behaved CEOs and their VIPs. If a geiko does slow down and smile for a picture in the street, they are very likely tourists who have been dressed and made up like geiko. There are some give aways, like the way certain makeup accompanies certain hairstyles and hair decorations, and whether they look vaguely Kansas-esque are indicative of their veracity, but to the untrained eye, they are still fantastically well done and beautifully made up. At this time I should like to say that my last statement was not in any way racist. Yes, I know, people of Asian descent are born in Americas breadbasket daily, but as tourists will want to be stopped and posed with because of the transformative efforts of the company who has supplied them with this opportunity to play geisha, they are instantly recognisable as not-geisha. Stop waving the racist red card. Its dull.
Another way to see real geiko and meiko is to go to the theatre and see them performing the annual spring and autumn dances. These dances are traditionally performed by geiko, maiko and an all female Kabuki troupe, and accompanied by older geiko on various traditional instruments, and many times their musical instructors. A kabuki performance begins the show, in this instance the story of Son Goku, the monkey god who is based on the Chinese character Sun Wukong, and whom many feel is further based upon the Hindu character, Hanuman. The cast is again all female, in fact the only male I saw on stage was a man who knelt down by the side of the stage and used two blocks of wood cracked together to make fight noises. The geiko and maiko come next, their movements intricate and make up exquisite. The meiko come first, their geiko next and then the elders of the house come on last. Eventually 17 or 18 dancers are on at once, all performing the finale to loud but respectful applause. A real geiko has been seen entering the performance, so her attempts to leave were well marked by the audience. She never showed fear or annoyance as the crowd gathered around, clamoring for photos, and as soon as she saw a window in the crowd she quickly and gracefully made her exit.
The food in Kyoto really is quite wonderful I'm told, but as the budget allowed us to either grocery shop and buy premade food from 7-11 (also very good and inexpensive), or relatively inexpensive noodle bars and places that locals frequent, so I really can't speak to the quality or flavour of the local cuisine.
Kyoto is also well known for the absurd number of shrines and temples. Most are pretty, all are calm and serene, but samey as temples go. There are a few that really stand out. Kinkaku-ji, or the Golden Pavillion, is a temple founded initially in the14th century, destroyed in 1950 by a monk who burned it down, then rebuilt by 1955. Aside from the amazing sight of this revered temple reflected in the pond in which it is situated, the most remarkable thing is the fact that the whole structure is covered in gold leaf, which to be perfectly honest, appeared like cheap paint. The knowledge of the gold leaf is what makes it remarkable, not the sight. To-ji is a very cool old wood temple that just happens to have a 5 storey pagoda parked right next to it, and Chion-in, chief site among the Jodo sect of Zen Buddhists.
Quite a few peculiarities are evident; no one ever jaywalks. Ever.
Perfectly sensible people will stand at a crosswalk at 2 am waiting for a light to go green, even though not a single vehicle, motorised or otherwise, crosses their path. A non-conformist, rebellious few look twitchy as they seriously consider doing the unthinkable, but they take so long to make up their minds that the light changes, easing their consciences and they carry on their way, safe in the knowledge that If they really wanted, they could be masters of their own fates. A great deal is made of the number and variety of vending machines. This may be true in Tokyo (I haven't been yet, I don't know), but in Kyoto there ARE an awful lot of vending machines, but 95% of them are drinks machines. I didn't see any of the wacky things that are supposedly for sale to the unsuspecting passer-by. Just drinks. Coffee, tea, beer, juice and soda, all cold, all in cans, no live crabs, no plutonium, no bondage-in-a-box kits, just drinks.
This is, without a shade of sarcasm, the cleanest city I have ever seen. I mean so clean, I had to actually visually scour the streets to find gum dried on to the pavement. This is down to two factors: cleanliness and shame. Its true that the Japanese are a tidy lot, there's really no space for slovenliness, but most importantly there are things that the Japanese simply don't do, as it is embarrassing or shameful, bad mannered things that only westerners do. Eating and drinking as you walk down the street is not done, so as there is no refuse being made on the go, there is nothing to throw on the streets, therefore a shame-assisted cleanliness is maintained.
Sadly, we missed the iconic cherry blossoms by about 3 weeks. I'm sure it would have been a truly breathtaking sight, but there are so many pictures out there already, I don't have to think too hard to conjure an image.
We are also stunned by how sedate the whole Japanese experience is. We are now so used to jarring sounds, bright clashing, flashing colours, taking your life in your hands crossing the street, hawkers, touts and souvenir shops, that we find ourselves getting bored of the whole thing pretty quickly. I am actually shocked by my reaction to it all. I would have thought that the calm and "Zen" of it all would be a refreshing change, but I am simply bored by the calm and the brown and greenness of it all. The fact that it costs a mint to be this bored doesn't go a long way to easing this malaise. I do wonder if Kyoto was the place to start this part of the trip. We decide that the combination of loss of interest and loss of finance is a vacation killer, and it's time to move on. We knew it would be expensive, and the expense was budgeted for, but we just can't justify paying that much for the boredom. We decide to leave Japan after a short trip to Nara, mostly because we have trouble believing that we would just leave because we are bored, and want to see one more place. Maybe next year we will have our heads in a place appropriate for a trip to Japan. I hope it will get more interesting in the next former capital, Nara.
The city of Kyoto, former capital city of Japan and still capital city of geisha (or geiko) culture holds much of the mystery and allure that I find missing from other major cities.The architecture is a mixture of the old, venerable temple and the ultramodern. The area we stayed in is called Gion, which is one of the oldest sections of the city, and as the allies decided to give Kyoto a miss with their bombing campaigns in WWII, Gion still retains much of the feel of old world Japan. Many guides will tell you that if enough time and watchfulness is invested in the little backstreets of Gion, geiko and their maiko (the colourful trainees to the geiko) will furtively skitter by between schools and appointments. They will not pose for pictures and they will not welcome the appearance of a camera. In order to spend anytime in their proximity, one of several methods may be employed, and I do mean employed, as every method involves an expensive trip to a tea house or private back room where executives are entertained be geiko, maiko and an older woman who plays the shamisen while the alcohol evaporates faster than the contents of their wallets. The geiko are charming, witty and most of all patient, to the point where they applaud the childish antics of the exceptionally well paid and badly behaved CEOs and their VIPs. If a geiko does slow down and smile for a picture in the street, they are very likely tourists who have been dressed and made up like geiko. There are some give aways, like the way certain makeup accompanies certain hairstyles and hair decorations, and whether they look vaguely Kansas-esque are indicative of their veracity, but to the untrained eye, they are still fantastically well done and beautifully made up. At this time I should like to say that my last statement was not in any way racist. Yes, I know, people of Asian descent are born in Americas breadbasket daily, but as tourists will want to be stopped and posed with because of the transformative efforts of the company who has supplied them with this opportunity to play geisha, they are instantly recognisable as not-geisha. Stop waving the racist red card. Its dull.
Another way to see real geiko and meiko is to go to the theatre and see them performing the annual spring and autumn dances. These dances are traditionally performed by geiko, maiko and an all female Kabuki troupe, and accompanied by older geiko on various traditional instruments, and many times their musical instructors. A kabuki performance begins the show, in this instance the story of Son Goku, the monkey god who is based on the Chinese character Sun Wukong, and whom many feel is further based upon the Hindu character, Hanuman. The cast is again all female, in fact the only male I saw on stage was a man who knelt down by the side of the stage and used two blocks of wood cracked together to make fight noises. The geiko and maiko come next, their movements intricate and make up exquisite. The meiko come first, their geiko next and then the elders of the house come on last. Eventually 17 or 18 dancers are on at once, all performing the finale to loud but respectful applause. A real geiko has been seen entering the performance, so her attempts to leave were well marked by the audience. She never showed fear or annoyance as the crowd gathered around, clamoring for photos, and as soon as she saw a window in the crowd she quickly and gracefully made her exit.
The food in Kyoto really is quite wonderful I'm told, but as the budget allowed us to either grocery shop and buy premade food from 7-11 (also very good and inexpensive), or relatively inexpensive noodle bars and places that locals frequent, so I really can't speak to the quality or flavour of the local cuisine.
Kyoto is also well known for the absurd number of shrines and temples. Most are pretty, all are calm and serene, but samey as temples go. There are a few that really stand out. Kinkaku-ji, or the Golden Pavillion, is a temple founded initially in the14th century, destroyed in 1950 by a monk who burned it down, then rebuilt by 1955. Aside from the amazing sight of this revered temple reflected in the pond in which it is situated, the most remarkable thing is the fact that the whole structure is covered in gold leaf, which to be perfectly honest, appeared like cheap paint. The knowledge of the gold leaf is what makes it remarkable, not the sight. To-ji is a very cool old wood temple that just happens to have a 5 storey pagoda parked right next to it, and Chion-in, chief site among the Jodo sect of Zen Buddhists.
Quite a few peculiarities are evident; no one ever jaywalks. Ever.
Perfectly sensible people will stand at a crosswalk at 2 am waiting for a light to go green, even though not a single vehicle, motorised or otherwise, crosses their path. A non-conformist, rebellious few look twitchy as they seriously consider doing the unthinkable, but they take so long to make up their minds that the light changes, easing their consciences and they carry on their way, safe in the knowledge that If they really wanted, they could be masters of their own fates. A great deal is made of the number and variety of vending machines. This may be true in Tokyo (I haven't been yet, I don't know), but in Kyoto there ARE an awful lot of vending machines, but 95% of them are drinks machines. I didn't see any of the wacky things that are supposedly for sale to the unsuspecting passer-by. Just drinks. Coffee, tea, beer, juice and soda, all cold, all in cans, no live crabs, no plutonium, no bondage-in-a-box kits, just drinks.
This is, without a shade of sarcasm, the cleanest city I have ever seen. I mean so clean, I had to actually visually scour the streets to find gum dried on to the pavement. This is down to two factors: cleanliness and shame. Its true that the Japanese are a tidy lot, there's really no space for slovenliness, but most importantly there are things that the Japanese simply don't do, as it is embarrassing or shameful, bad mannered things that only westerners do. Eating and drinking as you walk down the street is not done, so as there is no refuse being made on the go, there is nothing to throw on the streets, therefore a shame-assisted cleanliness is maintained.
Sadly, we missed the iconic cherry blossoms by about 3 weeks. I'm sure it would have been a truly breathtaking sight, but there are so many pictures out there already, I don't have to think too hard to conjure an image.
We are also stunned by how sedate the whole Japanese experience is. We are now so used to jarring sounds, bright clashing, flashing colours, taking your life in your hands crossing the street, hawkers, touts and souvenir shops, that we find ourselves getting bored of the whole thing pretty quickly. I am actually shocked by my reaction to it all. I would have thought that the calm and "Zen" of it all would be a refreshing change, but I am simply bored by the calm and the brown and greenness of it all. The fact that it costs a mint to be this bored doesn't go a long way to easing this malaise. I do wonder if Kyoto was the place to start this part of the trip. We decide that the combination of loss of interest and loss of finance is a vacation killer, and it's time to move on. We knew it would be expensive, and the expense was budgeted for, but we just can't justify paying that much for the boredom. We decide to leave Japan after a short trip to Nara, mostly because we have trouble believing that we would just leave because we are bored, and want to see one more place. Maybe next year we will have our heads in a place appropriate for a trip to Japan. I hope it will get more interesting in the next former capital, Nara.
