Traveling in Japan: Kyoto

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By Jennifer Trend

For two weeks, eight other students and I from the Japanese 3 class went with Japanese teacher, Saori Tanaka, to Japan. We went to Tokyo for two days, had a week of homestay in Nagoya, and then three days in Kyoto. I can say that it was probably the best two weeks of my life. Part three in the series.

Kyoto

Somehow, we were blessed with clear skies and barely any rain, despite the fact that it was the rainy season. One thing that stood out to me was the amount of tourists there– enough that there were sometimes more tourists than Japanese people. But nevertheless, I loved Kyoto and enjoyed everything.

Kiyomizu dera

We’d just dropped our stuff down at the hotel when suddenly, we headed to Kiyomizu dera. It was pretty and had an old Japanese town vibe to it while being modern and the nature that surrounded it was amazing. The inside of the temple was under construction, but nonetheless, the beauty and sheer culture of the surrounding area made up for it. 

Fushimi inari 

I still can’t believe we climbed the thousand steps on the first day of Kyoto. It was insane. There’s a bit of preliminary walking and climbing before you get to the official start of the thousand steps. Oh, and the steps were built by hand so they were uneven, some were taller than others and that some were spaced out while others were close together (to be honest, the stairs weren’t all that bad and it felt like I climbed four hundred or so instead of a thousand). All of us made it to the top–Tanaka said that this was the first year the whole group has been able to make it all the way, so accomplishment achieved! 

Tsutenkaku Tower

This tower was kinda boring. I mean the inside was interesting with all the Japanese themed items that decorated the place, but the view wasn’t all that exciting. Though we did eat at a really good Kushi katsu place near the tower for lunch. 

Dotonbori 

We went here for a river cruise, but honestly, it was probably the most boring thing we did on the trip. We went down the river for five minutes, did a U-turn, went straight for another twenty or so minutes and then headed back to where we were. But afterwards, we were able to explore the city on our own (in our little groups) and that was the fun part. (I was exhausted to the point where I couldn’t talk when we went, so if I was feeling my normal self, I’m confident that I would enjoy the city.) 

Arashiyama

The. Most. Beautiful. Place. Ever. Period!

I can’t begin to describe Arashiyama, and the pictures I took are unworthy of doing the area justice. The beauty of the surrounding nature was unreal, and combined with the shops and restaurants that were in an old style… absolutely gorgeous that I’m running out of words. The Bamboo Forest, Tenryuji, and Monkey Park were all in the surrounding area, so they were, of course, just as beautiful. 

Bamboo Forest

The bamboo here were really tall (dare I say tall as redwoods or almost as tall is that?), and the only downside was that all the spiderwebs and mosquitoes that were in the area. The forest was peaceful and quiet, and it was a surreal experience to be surrounded by bamboo, something I’ve seen in pictures (and in minecraft), but never in real life. 

Tenryuji

By far my favorite temple. It was such a beautiful and peaceful place and I loved every moment of it (okay, I feel like I’m saying this over and over again, but this place wins). It was filled with multiple flowers and plants– you name it, the temple probably had that plant growing somewhere. This temple also had a rock garden and a path that led around the gardens. 

Monkey Park

The Monkey Park was on top of a mountain, but the climb up there was so worth it. It was a very steep climb with no stairs, just a rocky trail that was anything but even. When we got to the top of the mountain, there were Japanese macaque monkeys roaming freely. There were both adults and baby monkeys, and they were the cutest animals you’ve ever seen. A few of us were able to feed them fruit and peanuts but it was interesting watching the monkeys interact with each other and with other humans. 

Tea ceremony 

When we left the Monkey Park, we were barely going to make it to the tea ceremony on time (it was a reservation, and they couldn’t start late if we showed up late). Then, the bus came later than we thought, and then we were suddenly ten minutes late. So, I ended up running ahead to tell the people running the tea ceremony if they ‘could please wait a moment; we’re here we just got held up a bit’ and yeah we barely made it. Running up a hill and having multiple people stare at you was… an experience but we made it, nonetheless. As for the tea ceremony, it was really interesting– I would recommend going to one yourself or at least watching it on YouTube (just look up ‘Japanese tea ceremony and videos will pop up!). I was never much of a tea or matcha person before this, but after drinking the tea they (and later we) made, I have to say, I’ve been craving tea lately.