Nanzen-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part III

The final installment of Nanzen-ji and the last of our adventures in Kyoto.

Having waited out the pouring rain in the pond garden of Nanzen-in, we moved on to the Hojo next (方丈, head priest's living quarter).

Nanzen-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part II

Here's a quick detour to Tenju-an, a sub-temple at Nanzen-ji. The original Tenju-an's completion date was 1337, but it was burned down some 110 years later along with most of Nanzen-ji in a great fire of 1447. 

Nanzen-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto

After Kiyomizu-dera, hubby and I headed over to Nanzen-ji with our friends C. and A. Again they didn't quite fit this gigantic temple complex into their schedule during the week before we all met up, so we went together instead. The current temple dated to 1597 but the original temple was founded in 1291 and burned down a few times since in 1393, 1447, and 1467.

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, Kyoto

On the second day in Kyoto, after breakfast and checking out of Seikoro Ryokan, our first destination was Kiyomizu-dera. Both hubby and I have been to the temple, but C. and A. didn't quite make it there by themselves during the week. And it was just about a mile from the ryokan anyway.

Niomon (仁王門), then main entrance of the temple.

Nishiki Market, Nishiki Tenmangu, and Teramachi Shotengai, Kyoto, Kyoto

We left Tofuku-ji at 4:30pm and we decided to grab a cab over for a quick peek at Kyoto's popular Nishiki Market that intersects with Teramachi Shotengai and Shinkyogoku Shotengai (didn't get to this one, sadly), and the famous Nishiki Tenmangu (錦天満宮) that nestled in between the two paralleling shotengais.

Why take a cab for only a quick peek? Because the Nishiki Market closed at 5pm daily. Now what kind of market closes at 5pm, folks?!? The kind in Kyoto, that's what! Argh! Although the two shotengais stayed open slightly later, we had to be back at Seikoro Ryokan by 6:30pm for dinner.

At least the taxi ride was interesting. First we passed by this go (圍棋) school. Then as he was weaving through a neighborhood alley, the taxi driver suddenly turned to his side window. "Oh, a geiko," he mumbled to himself in Japanese.

No, not that geico. This geiko. And not the particular geiko pictured (who, by the way, is geiko Tsunemomo of Gion Higashi), but a geiko.

***Stock photo courtesy of the interweb, and geiko photo  courtesy of this website.

Tofuku-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part II

Continuing on with the other half of this vast Tofuku-ji in Kyoto, this time going beyond Tsuten-kyo (通天橋) to Kaizan-do (開山堂, founder's hall).

But first we wandered through this gorgeous garden.

Tofuku-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto

Immediately after leaving Fushimi Inari Taisha, we headed over to the second destination of the day: Tofuku-ji, the fourth of Kyoto's Five Great Zen Temples within the system of Kyoto Gozan. If that sounds familiar, that's because not too long ago I posted about Kenjo-ji of Kamakura Gozan. 

Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part II

Second and final installment of Fushimi Inari Taisha. Having reached the mountain top and rested for all of 3 minutes, we immediately began our descend. We'd seen the shopping streets leading up to the shrine entrance and we wanted to have time to browse and snack some.

Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto, Kyoto

During our in-room breakfast at Seikoro Ryokan, C., A., hubby, and I'd discussed our Kyoto Day 1 to-see list. We all agreed to only focus on just two sites for the day and try for a third if time permits. Yes, we're a bunch of underachiever tourists, but there was much more to that.

C. and A. had already spent a whole week by themselves in Kyoto before meeting up with us at the ryokan on Friday. During that time, they'd learned Kyoto had quite a different pace than Tokyo. For example, hubby and I noticed as soon as we arrived into Kyoto that trains and buses there didn't run as frequently as those in Tokyo, which meant longer transit time. Places also close earlier in Kyoto, some as early as 4pm! We had to be realistic and strategic with our time, hitting sites that are closer together, skipping lunch and just snack along the way, things like that. It was for this very reason that we picked Seikoro Ryokan to begin with, for its convenient location.


Anyway, the first destination of the day was Fushimi Inari Taisha, the iconic, picturesque shrine with thousands of red torii gates. It would be a 4km (2.48 miles, ~2hrs. walk) one-way up and then down the mountain, so it was best to go in the morning after breakfast before it got bloody hot, which it did =.="

Seikoro Ryokan, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part III

This last installment of Seikoro Ryokan is just for all the food ^.^ Two complete kaiseki meals and breakfasts are featured, because we'd spent two nights there. All the meals were served in-room.

After the kimono trying and photographing session, we were all starving and looking forward to dinner. This was when we got ourselves another cultural lesson, and one that's perhaps a bit more jarring than learning about the junihitoe. Earlier in the later afternoon, hubby and I'd arrived to Seikoro before C. and A. did. The table was still empty then, so we just sat down wherever we saw fit. I was in hubby's seat, and he was in mine. Apparently that was a no-no, and to be honest, we knew but didn't think they'd make a big deal out of it. Well, we were wrong.

Seikoro Ryokan, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part II

With just one hour before dinner was served, two Seikoro Ryokan staff ushered me, hubby, C., and A. upstairs for the kimono trying and photographing session. I'd no idea we'd get to try on the Karaginu Mo aka junihitoe, the twelve-layer robes the court ladies once wore. Wow!

Seikoro Ryokan, Kyoto, Kyoto

One week after our overnight stay at Katsuragi no Sato and subsequent afternoon at Matsumoto Castle, hubby and I met up C. and A. again at Seikoro Ryokan in Kyoto City, Kyoto.

Two months prior, we had combed through out little book on onsen ryokans, hoping to find one in Kyoto on the same quality level as Iwanoyu and Katsuragi no Sato. The book had served us so well and we'd loved the two places we found. Crazy enough, of all the hundreds of ryokans in Kyoto, none made the cut in the book, probably because their onsens weren't natural hot spring water, an important criteria. Ack, what to do?!

The small side street where Seikoro is situated. Some of the houses there were really traditional and old-looking.