Japan 4 - Kyoto

Hello and welcome to our last post on our trip to Japan in 2004. As in the previous post, we are staying in Nara, but took a 20 minute train ride into Kyoto for a daytrip. Not on the train below, which was the latest bullet train (Shinkansen) that Japan had at that time. We had a little commuter train which looked alot like an older subway train.

First off, a little history and language lesson. Kyoto became the capital of Japan in 794, when the capital was moved from Nara to get away from an increasingly powerful Buddhist clergy. Kyo-to means "Capital City". Kyoto remained the capital city of Japan until 1868, when the capital was moved to Tokyo (Eastern Capital). Even during the Edo period, Kyoto remained the home of the Imperial Family even though the political power center was Edo (the former name of Tokyo).

The railway station in Kyoto is simply stunning as you can see in the picture above. We walked around for an hour just looking at the architecture.

I can't decide which of these pictures of the bamboo forest I like better, so I put them both in. There are not many places left in Japan where these large bamboo forests are still thriving. Kyoto has several small forests around the city. Some of these bamboo are 8 to 10 inches in diameter!

I'm not really sure how many people today remember James Clavell's "Shogun", but it really is a very good book about Japanese history and culture. In the book, the chief Japanese protagonist was Lord Toranaga, who conquered all the other clans and became Shogun of Japan. In real life, the Japanese chief was named Tokugawa. He maintained a castle known as Nijo-jo in Kyoto (you can see the entry gate into his castle below).

We toured around the castle and it was fantastic. It had "nightingale" floors, which are designed to squeak loudly if any is trying to sneak around. Almost everyone in the tour group - Japanese and Western - tried their best to walk across the floors without making a sound and it was impossible. No way a ninja could make it across that floor without being heard! Here's a link with a little more information on Nijo-jo.

Behind the castle was the water gardens, which were as beautiful as any Japanese gardens. The design of the gardens makes you think you are out in an unspoiled countryside, not in the middle of a huge metropolitan city.

So after our day trip to Kyoto, we headed back to Nara, then took a train back to Tokyo to fly home. Annie took the picture below as we flashed by all of these beautiful little farms. According to different things I have read, these farmers occupy some extraordinarily valuable land that there are always political arguments over. Some say that it would be better to use the land for housing and cities, but the farmers are very powerful politically. I would hate to see these farms destroyed, as they really add to the beauty of Japan.

Thanks for reading through all of these posts on Japan. I'll have to think a bit to see what pictures to post next. Maybe we will have to post something from Europe next.

Take care!

John & Annie