A Night in the Temple...With Kids

On the train to Koya yesterday, there was a precocious 10-year-old boy—half Japanese and half Thai (he lives mostly in Thailand)—traveling with his parents and a South African English teacher. The teacher said he was a bit of a genius, three years ahead of his grade-level. He spoke excellent English and was friendly and jolly as he chatted with Scott. When we told him we were going to Koya, he said it was a place for “old men,” not for children. He and his family were headed for Universal Studios in Osaka!

After a night spent in Koya, I see what the precocious boy means! Koya is a place of peaceful contemplation. At our beautiful temple-lodging (already described by Scott), the paper walls required us to speak at no more than a whisper – a challenge for Liv. Even during meals, there was almost no talking among the guests.

Scott and I attended the meditation ceremony before supper, leaving the kids in the room. We had to just hope that they behaved or that everyone else was at the ceremony, so the kids’ rambunctiousness wouldn’t disturb anyone.

Yet despite the peaceful atmosphere, or perhaps because of it, I think it was a great experience for us all. Liv practiced her meditation posture (she does a perfect lotus pose) and made a sign for her lap that said “No Photos or Video,” such as she has seen in front of many Buddhist sculptures during the trip. And she went to the evening bath with me—a traditional Japanese bathing experience.

Tor kept his nose in the Kindle, continuing to report on his progress through “Shogun.” But it was impossible not to soak up some of the calming energy of the monks and the gardens. He seems to be in a good place.

Today we strolled through the cemetery, which is more than 1300 years old and contains the graves of many famous people. It was a picturesque place, and also calming.

Now we’re on the train to Osaka airport, heading home. We’re all ready. I grabbed a dark chocolate bar in the station—the first chocolate we’ve had all trip. It tasted great. And Livia already has plans for waffles and pizza when we get home.

All in all, I think it has been a good trip, with lots to remember. Sayonara Japan!

On Temples and Shrines

By Scott—Our last night in Japan, and we are on a mountain called Koya, or “Koya-san,” staying at a seven hundred year-old temple. Our room is beautiful, with sliding- door walls painted with scenes of ancient Japan, a tatami floor, gorgeous carved-wood screens above the doors, and, in one corner, a small television. Our room looks out onto a Zen-style (although the temple is not Zen, but Shingon, or “esoteric” as the hosts here refer to it) raked rock garden. It is cold up here, but there are electric heaters. We just finished dinner, eaten communally with the other guests, most of them German tonight. The food is special “monk food,” prepared without meat, onions, or garlic, and was actually very good. Even Tor liked it quite a bit. Quite a contrast to last night’s dinner. Tonight there was tofu several different ways, beans that tasted like Boston baked, cold tempura vegetables, rice noodles, rice, several kinds of pickled vegetables, some odd spongy tofu, a pot of hot sukiyaki-like stuff on top of sterno, and then some apple slices and mystery-flavored jello for dessert. At the end of the dinner a tiny 90-year old woman came into the small hall and squatted on a cushion and, with a microphone, told us her story and Koya’s story—at length. She grew up on the mountain, then somehow was sent to Tokyo, before the war, and chose to study English, instead of “domestics,” which was what she was urged to study. Then just before the war she was criticized for having studied the “enemy” language. Later, and I forget why, her English came in handy—she did some translation for the Japanese navy?—and she was praised for having studied English. Not sure how the Germans tonight felt her going on at some length about her English studies. She eventually married the former chief priest of this temple, and it has stayed in the family. She was very sweet, really, but seemed not to have much sense of just how long she was going on, and people were getting visibly impatient, worrying about how to blow out their sterno, or, in Tor’s case, suppressing giggles. She told the story of the monk who went to China and came back to found Shingon in Japan. And of the “implement” that he threw—either all the way from China, or from the boat that he was coming back on—at the coast of Japan in order to determine where it was that he was going to establish his monastery. The very same implement, supposedly, is kept in one of the sanctums up the road. There are 53 temples in this area. There were once up to 2,000, though they were quite small. Just the big ones, apparently, have survived. I’ve been impressed in Japan by the apparent wealth of shrines and temples. They can be very big landholders, and seem to have a steady stream of devotees throwing coins into their offering boxes. Our room tonight is by far the most expensive we’ve had in Japan—nearly twice as much as we paid for two hotel rooms, total, in Tokyo (though we did get a relative bargain there). This corresponds to what the Zen monastery I’ve stayed in in California charges—it’s not cheap. Anyway, religion and big business—what’s new?

Nouvelle Kaiseki

For our final dinner in Kyoto, we made reservations at “Giro Giro,” a restaurant that has a second branch in Paris. That tells you how incredibly COOL his place was. It reminded me of Coi in San Francisco – an unusual restaurant that gives you lots of little tastes of unusual flavors. Giro Giro provides an eight course feast, a contemporary version of the traditional Japanese feast known as kaiseki. But with an 8 pm reservation for four – including two children – we knew there was a high risk that this dinner could be disastrous. In fact, it was fabulous… for two of us…and a disastrous for the other two! Of the eight tiny courses, there was perhaps one that the kids were willing to consume (a poached salmon). And the meal lasted for nearly three hours! They were reasonably good sports about the whole thing. And Scott and I got to eat double portions of most of the feast (except the salmon, which we donated to the kids’ stomachs!).

The courses: (1) steamed squid with bamboo in a green sauce (vegetable); (2) tuna nigiri with a tiny potato salad and a slice of egg; (3) snapper soup (really good!) (4) poached salmon with pureed cauliflower, eggplant, and cherry blossom jelly; (6) bean ice cream with oranges and pepper; (7) rice with some kind of crunchy fish thing in it, with a bowl of bean broth following it; (8) some odd Japanese sweets, including “soda” jelly with oranges, some mochi, sweet tofu with sesame seeds, and other unknown items!

It helped that Scott and I shared three pitchers of delicious cold sake. We tried two kinds: Tatsuya (dry) and Desai (medium). We really loved the Desai. We need to figure out how to find this in the U.S. Tor drank a bit of sake as well… I think he had his first sensation of slight drunkness. Not sure if he liked it!

Kyoto Shopping with Livia

Shopping with Livia

After a full day of sight-seeing in Kyoto during which we (somewhat stupidly) visited sites in the South, North, and West parts of the city, Livia still had energy for a shopping trip – which I had been promising to her. So we stopped off at Teramachi Dori, a major shopping “arcade” (sort of a covered pedestrian street/mall) in Kyoto. We started with a big hug to celebrate being away from the boys. Then we walked and browsed various shops, including a kimono shop (where the owner looked at us suspiciously when we dared to touch one of the expensive silk kimonos). After a while, Livia pointed out that we had been walking for a while but hadn’t purchased anything, and she wanted this to be a REAL shopping trip, not just a window-shopping trip. So we stopped and bought her a pretty pink headband with a ribbon on it. Next, she spotted a “Mister Donut.” She knows I never go to places like that, so she said “I know you won’t buy me a donut,” but I said, “Sure, let’s get you a donut.” She was amazed! I let her do the choosing and paying, and she was very comfortable with that. Finally we found a souvenir shop with nice Japanese fans—one of the things she really wanted to get. We bought one with a classic Japanese painting on it – a beautiful wave of water with Mt. Fuji in the background. We also got Tor a T-shirt with the same painting on it. After more walking that took us further and further from our machiya, we grabbed a cab. Again, I let her handle the yen to pay the driver. She really liked having some responsibility, and pointed out that she can make really good decisions and be responsible if we just listen to her! I guess I learned a lesson from that!

Wild Monkey Chase

by Scott--One of our stops in Kyoto today was the so-called wild monkey park in the hills northwest of the city. We trudged up a hillside that had a great view of the city, to a spot where a small colony of Japanese snow monkeys live in the open. The setting wasn't quite as wild as I imagined it would be, but the monkeys aren't penned up. They roam around, fight, mothers pick nits off the young. There is a feeding spot where you can stick apple pieces or peanuts through a chicken-wire fence; Liv and Tor did this. I thought the whole thing was questionably worth getting there and then up the hill, but the kids liked it. We've seen several humorous sign translations in Japan, and it's kind of a cheap shot to make fun of them because Lord knows I've butchered their language, but the Monkey Park had a couple of them: "Monkey Park is not only monkey. It is bird and deer look for."
And at the top of the hill: "Let's look down at Kyoto. Do you see the known place?"
We started the day with a trip to a shrine called Fushimi Inari. You can probably google it (we'll try to post one) and get the image of hundreds of vermilion "torii" over a pathway up a hill. We saw and heard a Shinto priest chanting a ceremony, and watched as a few dozen devotees in some kind of ceremonial dress (and one New York Yankee baseball cap--we called him Hideki Matsui) hauled out a very heavy mini-shrine onto a large truck, to ready for moving to a festival. The grunting and groaning were impressive.

We've taken a few taxicabs in Kyoto. Their costume is impressive, kind of a cross between a naval captain and a Park Avenue doorman. They wear white gloves and black suits, and round, stiff-brimmed caps with some cheap gold brocade. We had a screw-up with one the day we arrived, but otherwise they've been crisply polite and efficient.

Kyoto's womb

The hit of today's tourist attractions was the "womb" at Kyomizu Dera. For 100 yen, we descended the stairs into a pitch black hallway. Following the "buddhist beads" that served as a handrail along the wall, we turned multiple corners, restraining our giggles, before seeing a glowing round stone with a Japanese character inscribed in its surface. We each spun the stone once clockwise and made a single wish. Then we followed the beaded handrail back to the surface, leaving the dark womb forever.

Japanese Toirets

In our hotels and now in our rental machiya in Kyoto, the toilets are a wonder to behold. The seats heat up as soon as you sit down. And there are multiple electronic buttons that will rinse your bottom with different levels of water pressure.

Public toilets for women are another matter entirely. Typically, they are "Japanese style" squatters, often without any paper provided. Livia can't seem to manage these. So on more than one occasion she and I have invaded restaurants in search of the squatters' warm-seated cousins. Ahhh, the relief of finding these jewels! Liv wants us to buy one and ship it to Palo Alto for her personal bathroom!