I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Gold

Priest at Fire Ceremony

The Golden Temple, Kyoto

Entryway to Antique Store

Gion, the Geisha area of Kyoto

Wooden soaking tub in our Bathroom

Shrimp Salad

Rice Mixed with Salmon and Roe

Grilled Amadai

We had been to Paris many times and Cathy had never been up to the top of the Eifel Tower. I knew it would always be there. We finally went there and it was worth the wait. In the same way we have been to Kyoto many times and I had never been to Chishaku-in Temple.

It turns out the Temple is a very short walk from Hyatt Hotel we are staying at. This was my chance. The Buddhist service starts at 6am. I set my alarm for 5:30 and rolled out of bed. I promised Cathy a full report. Tom joined me and walked from the hotel towards the Temple Complex. We could hear the gong of the Bell. The main gates were closed and we went to a side entrance. I saw a woman entering the complex ahead of us and decided to simply follow her. It was a good decision, because I never would have found the entrance to the giant hall. Monks were kneeling and just as we walked in the chanting started up. For 30 minutes, seemingly with out taking a breath, they chanted. Their voices reverberated throughout the building. We of course had taken our shoes off, the sun still hadn’t risen and it was cool. I knew it was supposed to be a fire service but all I saw were two candles burning.

There was a small vessel near the center and all of the visitors were invited to kneel and crawl towards it. There was small incense burning in the middle. Each of us crawled towards the vessel then took some small grains from a plate and placed them on the burning incense. Tom noticed the guy in front of him had holes in his sox. I was wondering why am I crawling around like a baby? They call this a fire? Maybe because it is a wooden temple they have to be careful. The service ended and the monks left the temple; a monk spoke to us in Japanese, which of course I didn’t understand. We retrieved our shoes I was ready to go back to the hotel and take a shower. The rest of the people started walking as a group away from the temple. Luckily Tom insisted we follow them. If I were alone I wouldn’t have.

We entered another Temple and there was the fire. The Abbot had his back to us and in front of him was the fire about 5 feet tall. At least the Abbot was warm. The monks were chanting. I think it translates to “turn up the heat”. One other guy was warm, that was the drummer. He had a big stick and a bigger drum and he was pounding the hell out of it. We were in Spielberg territory: Monks, Fire, Chanting, big banging Drum, darkened Temple. A word about Monkwear: These monks had stylish garments. They were made of vivid colors and interesting pleats (though the head Abbot had a monk that arranged his garment so that when he bent over to pray all was correct from our view). I really enjoyed the entire experience and will probably go back tomorrow morning now that I know what to expect. There is a sign saying no pictures, but I subsequently found out it is ok to take a discreet few.

After returning to the hotel and cleaning up, Cathy and I took a long ride to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple. Scott and Tom had been there yesterday, one look at their picture and I was ready to visit it. This is one of the most photographed places in Japan. The temple has real gold on it (much like the Golden Sikh Temple in Amritsar India). It situated on picturesque grounds with a reflecting lake in front of it. It is one of those places that it is impossible to take a bad picture. The Taj Mahal is another fool proof picture. The pond in front of it acts as reflecting mirror. The site is quite old dating back to 1397. Much of older Japanese structures were built of wood, and fires constantly destroyed them and they were subsequently rebuilt. This Zen Temple is no exception. It has been rebuilt many times. There were hoards of people at this very popular spot, but the site could accommodate them all.

We then taxied to the Gion (the Geisha district) and walked around checking out stores. We selected a lunch place and surprise had excellent noodle soup. By the way the soup is working, I am much better and Cathy is not getting worse. Hopefully this is as bad as her cold will be.

From the Ginza we walked to the Antique District. We went into many small shops and only saw one item that truly we liked it was an incense burner from the 1950’s. At 1,500,000 Yen (about $ 15,000 it was out of our league – but it was very nice).

We returned to our hotel and went across the street to The Kyoto National Museum where there was a show of Rimpa. Rimpa is the name for very highly decorative arts that flourished during the Edo Period of Japanese history (1600 – 1868). The lines for the show were enormous and there was no way that we were getting in. Oh well, we will always have The Broad.

We met Tom and Scott for cocktails in the bar at the Hyatt and then went to Kakyu a traditional Kyoto restaurant for a dinner. The food was excellent and the interaction with the chef / owner was a delight. Scott spoke just enough Japanese to communicate with him. I used hand signals to suggest more wine. It was small course after small course of delicious food.

Tomorrow we take two trains to reach the small city of Kirashki, I wonder if they will have internet. We will all find out. It was great to spend a few days with Tom and Scott here in Kyoto. We look forward to seeing them again in LA.