Up early this morning and energized knowing that our Ace Camp begins later today. To start the day, Gypsy and I headed out on a brisk morning walk around 6:30 ... complete with winter hat and gloves!
Our route bisected the Nichiki Market to a main roadway with monorails raised above the sidewalks on both sides of the street. At this early morning hour, there is virtually no one on the streets, shops are still closed, and there is no traffic. After crossing the Kamogawa River, we headed down a flight of stairs to an established path that runs on both sides of the river. Incidentally, the river was completely devoid of trash. In fact, so are the streets with no public trash cans in sight. People are expected to carry their trash with them or politely ask shopkeepers if they can dispose of something in their waste basket.
Near the stairway, there is a striking statue of Izumi no Okuni, who is considered to be the founder of kabuki. At this site on the dry riverbed alongside the Kamogawa River, in 1603, she presented her Kabuki dance. Signage next to the statue tells the story of how at that time Kyoto was in disarray after the Battle of Sekigahara. Okuni, dressed for the performance wearing a flamboyant men's costume that delighted and caught the imagination of the people to tremendous acclaim. After having first gained fame in Kyoto, she and her troupe toured around. Later, in the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1668), onna kabuki, which was performed by women was banned as a corrupting influence on social morals. Men then took over, including playing the female roles and the resulting shows developed into the kabuki of today.
Near the stairway, there is a striking statue of Izumi no Okuni, who is considered to be the founder of kabuki. At this site on the dry riverbed alongside the Kamogawa River, in 1603, she presented her Kabuki dance. Signage next to the statue tells the story of how at that time Kyoto was in disarray after the Battle of Sekigahara. Okuni, dressed for the performance wearing a flamboyant men's costume that delighted and caught the imagination of the people to tremendous acclaim. After having first gained fame in Kyoto, she and her troupe toured around. Later, in the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1668), onna kabuki, which was performed by women was banned as a corrupting influence on social morals. Men then took over, including playing the female roles and the resulting shows developed into the kabuki of today.
Back at Hotel Rings, we discovered three things during breakfast: 1) this mornings breakfast is not the same as yesterday's; 2) we met two couples on our ACE Camp program, who are friends traveling from Virginia; and 3) being their first breakfast, they were served what we had yesterday. Made us wonder if each day would be different or at some point we will repeat ... |
Before heading out on our day's adventure, we decided to get our Covid testing out of the way. One of the things I especially liked about the Ace Camp program was that it required all participants to test before coming together later today. Not having had Covid for the past almost 4 years, I am not willing to become slack now. Too much traveling to be done and adventures to experience! Both Gypsy and I tested negative. |
We arranged at the front desk for a taxi to take us to Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavilion), whose official name is Jisho-ji, is located along Kyoto's eastern mountains. It was so named in the Edo Period. Ashikaga Yoshimasa (8th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate) built his Higashiyama-den palace in 1482. It was modeled after his grandfather's retirement villa (Golden Pavilion), which is situated at the base of Kyoto's northern mountains. |
Yoshimasa became the head of his family at age 9 and shogun at 15. He spent his lifetime pursuing aesthetic beauty. Art obsessed, Ginkaku-ji became a center of contemporary culture known Higashiyama Culture — refined simplicity — which had a broad impact on the entire country. The arts developed and refined during this time included the tea ceremony, flower arranging, noh theater, poetry, garden design and architecture. His palace reflected the essence of this style. After his death (1490), the palace became a Zen Rinzai School temple named after his posthumous Buddhist name of "Josh-in."
Ginkaku-ji consists of the Silver Pavilion, six other temple buildings, a moss garden and a unique dry sand garden. Gypsy and I followed the circular route around the grounds.
Our first encounter is a glimpse of the Silver Pavilion and a massive sand cone called the "Moon Viewing Platform". Just past this is a large, meticulously maintained dry sand garden known as the "Sea of Silver Sand."
Behind the "Sea of Silver Sand" are the only other temple buildings that date back to its beginning — Hondo and Togudo. The latter is considered to be the oldest existing example of Shoin architecture — the architectural style that most contemporary tatami rooms are still based upon today. |
Togudo contains a study room with 4.5 tatami mats, which are thick, woven straw mats that measure about 1 x 2 meters in size. Tatami mats have become so integral to Japanese homes that the size of rooms are commonly measured by the number of mats that would fit.
The path then took us through the moss garden, which features islands, bridges over little streams and trees and plants. Though I had researched the fall foliage timeline for Kyoto, I was unprepared for the stunning display of yellows and red!
The path then took us through the moss garden, which features islands, bridges over little streams and trees and plants. Though I had researched the fall foliage timeline for Kyoto, I was unprepared for the stunning display of yellows and red!
Winding upwards on the path, there are wonderful views of the entire temple grounds and the city and mountains beyond. As the path descends, we were afforded better views of the Silver Pavilion, formally named Kannonden (Kannon Hall). The two-storied pavilion is constructed in two different architectural styles and houses a statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. Sadly, the interior is not open to the public. |
Never having been covered with silver, it is believed the Silver Pavilion was so nicknamed more than 100 years after it was constructed to contrast with the Golden Pavilion. It is also claimed that moon light reflecting on the building's dark exterior, which once was covered in black lacquer, age it a silvery appearance ... a much more romantic explanation!
Leaving the temple grounds, we wound our way through narrow streets of the northern part of the Higashiyama district to connect to the Philosopher's Path. The path's name is due to one of Japan's most famous philosophers — Nishida Kitaro — who was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University. |
The stone path follows a canal lined with hundreds of cherry trees that are said to be spectacular during their spring bloom. The canal is part of the Lake Biwa Canal system that was built during the Meiji Period (1868-1912) to enhance transportation and provide Kyoto with more water.
Today, the path was lined with mostly bare limbed trees and few people. Restaurants, cafés, artist studios and boutiques are easily accessed along the path, as well as a number of smaller temples and shrines we did not visit. We did, however, pop into several artist studios and made a couple of gift purchases. Feeling peckish and chilly from a growing number of clouds moving in, we settled into a lovely café — Green Terrace — spending many minutes trying to figure out how to order online and then ate our warm and filling lunch staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the patio dining area adjacent to the Philosopher's Path.
At the terminus of the Path, we followed Google Map directions to Hotel Rings ... past the Eikan-dō Temple; skirted the Kyoto City Zoo; walked past the entrance to the Kyoto City Museum of Art; took a detour to look into a small pocket park with lovely statues; crossed back over the Kamogawa River; took another detour through the Sanjo Meitengai shopping complex where Gypsy bought some more lovely clothes. It would be easy to come to Kyoto — probably anywhere in Japan — and shop for fabulous clothes!
At the terminus of the Path, we followed Google Map directions to Hotel Rings ... past the Eikan-dō Temple; skirted the Kyoto City Zoo; walked past the entrance to the Kyoto City Museum of Art; took a detour to look into a small pocket park with lovely statues; crossed back over the Kamogawa River; took another detour through the Sanjo Meitengai shopping complex where Gypsy bought some more lovely clothes. It would be easy to come to Kyoto — probably anywhere in Japan — and shop for fabulous clothes!
Back at the hotel as the sun was sinking lower in the sky. We had less than 30 minutes to freshen up and grab our new Merph coats and be down in the hotel lounge to meet our fellow adventurers and group leaders. It probably goes without saying, we were a few minutes late and the last to arrive — great first impression on our parts!
Our group is small and made up of our workshop leader Prairie Stuart-Wolff, ACE Camp coordinator Jessica Steward-Crump and seven others — two couples, who are long-time friends (Virginia); a woman whose daughter works in collections at the SB Museum of Art; a woman from Brooklyn and another from Toronto. After briefly introducing ourselves and sharing a bit about why we were attracted to this workshop, we bundled up and walked to dinner at Dig the Line Bottle + Bar. |
While Prairie and Jessica ordered a number of dishes for us to share, we placed our orders for Japanese beers and got to know each other a bit more. First impressions ... this is a great group of people to spend the next several days getting to know.
It was a fun filled day ... lots of miles walked, gorgeous sights new experiences, and the start of our ACE Camp ... I'm ready for sleep!