Torri-ng it up in Japan!

July 28, 2018

After another full day of travel, we finally made it to Japan! It was pretty late by the time we made it to Kyoto but we could immediately tell how clean and orderly it is here! We got in line for train tickets and notices everyone lined up on set lines, nobody pushed in front of each other, and the trains were impeccable. We were at the end of the line so we watched them clean between rides and rotate the seats-at every stop, all the seats can be rotated so you can always ride facing forward-such a minor detail, that we loved. We also immediately noticed vending machines are everywhere and can’t wait to try some of those out.

Our first night and meal in Japan, it was a great start!

We grabbed dinner at one of the local spots that was still open and it turned out to be an izakaya bar. This is something we decided Chicago needs more of. It is small bites and good drinks and we ordered a bunch of skewers of grilled meats and deep fried tempura vegetables, and now there is no other way to eat vegetables.

Our first full day, we woke up ready to explore Kyoto. Of course we are here during a heatwave and it is incredibly hot, although we were told this is actually cooler than it’s been recently! We took the subway to Nijo Castle. This castle was completed in 1626, and like so many other places we have visited, we continue to be blown away with how these buildings pre-date the creation of the United States. We walked past the first moat through the first gates, through another set of gates, and could tell this was built to defend. At the corners we could see two of the guard towers that still stand. We then walked through the main palace, which is 5 buildings put together. Apparently from overhead it was designed to look like a flock of birds.

In the palace we could see the walls and sliding doors were covered in gold leaf and then painted with beautiful murals. Each room had a different mural to align with it’s purpose. Some were dedicated to seasons, tigers, various birds, etc. It is obvious that nature is a central part of the culture here. It was also interesting that the floors in the corridors are called “nightingale floors” that squeak like birds when walked on. We had heard and later read that this was to prevent against attacks and assassination of the shogun, but there was a sign saying that it was something that happened over time as the building weakened. We aren’t sure which is true, but continue to find more that it was intentional. Next, we walked through the gardens, which are beautifully cared for and everything seems to be very purposefully placed.

After a very hot walk through the palace, we found a local noodle spot and grabbed some delicious udon noodles.

Next, we went to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. This shrine is famous for it’s thousands of Torii gates leading up the mountain. We washed our hands in the water purification area, luckily there were signs directing us how to do so, and then made our way through the incredible gates. These gates are found at the entrance of shrines and are thought to the the barrier between earth and the heavens. They were all wooden and painted orange and black, with the names of the donors of them on the back along with their wishes. Despite the crowds, it was pretty powerful to walk up this never ending path under the gates.

For dinner, we found another local specialty-okonomiyaki. We ordered one of these savory pancakes made of noodles and squid and it was incredible.