3 Days Trip to Kyoto

Monday, May 14, we left for Kyoto. Kyoto is located in Kansai province which means “Western province”. We went there to visit an external supplier. That was a great opportunity for me since I’ve never been there. And, by the way, we took the Shinkansen which is the Japanese “TGV” (Train Grande Vitesse: high speed train).

We arrived in Kyoto around 6:00 PM, and our hosts were waiting for us. So, we dropped our luggage at the hotel (I was able to enjoy the To-ji Temple pagoda from my room!) and went to Gion (downtown Kyoto) in probably one of the finest restaurant in town. We were sitting in front of the kitchen where 7 cooks were preparing our food. 12 dishes! That was great, very good cuisine! But that was just the beginning!

Walking down the streets of Kyoto, we were able to meet some “Maiko”. A Maiko isn’t a Geisha, but the difference isn’t that clear. Generally speaking though, Maiko are considered to be apprentice Geisha. And, in Kyoto, Geisha are called “Geiko”.
Kyoto is a very nice city, somehow Japanese managed to preserve Kyoto, and you can really feel a different atmosphere hanging around.
Anyway, then before returning back to the hotel, we stopped by several bars to visit “Mama-San”. “Mama-San” is a nickname for the owner of Japanese bars. We finished at 2:00 AM… No comments!

The next day, our hosts picked us up at the hotel to go to the factory. Hangover… And we worked until 7:30 PM! Just a normal day, here in Japan!

The third day was the most interesting one; we had time to visit a little bit. First, we went to see the biggest lake here in Japan (of which I forgot the name). And then, we went to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

The Kiyomizu-dera Temple is located in the wooded foothills of Higashiyama. Such a wonderful place! So nice! The temple, established in 798, is dedicated to the 11-faced Buddhist deity Kannon. The current buildings were erected by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1633. The main hall is perched ingeniously atop a cliff on a massive framework incorporating 139 colossal wooden pillars.
If you look at the picture below, you’ll see some visitors catching water from the sacred fall for luck, and longevity. We didn’t have time to queue so we left. Actually, right before we left, a young kid, who was probably no more than 12 years old, was looking at me with insistence. He was really cute, smiling, shaking his hand to say hello! So, I told him: “Watashi wa Furansu-jin desu!” (I’m French). He laughed, and answered something which I didn’t understand since I don’t speak Japanese… But anyway, it was nice. That kid was so funny, polite, and curious at the same time! And, I’m wondering now if it’s kind of common here in Japan since a little girl took my hand today in the supermarket while shopping with her mother!

The last attraction we did was to go to the Theater. We went to the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theater at the northern end of Pontocho (Pontocho is one of the two great centers for traditional, geisha-oriented Kyoto nightlife; the other is Gion). Actually, we were very lucky since the theater stages dances by Maiko only twice annually as it has since the 1870s. So, we were able to enjoy the 170th Kamogawa Odori which they perform from May 1st to May 24, 2007. We saw 2 performances: “The Cherry Garden” and the “Travel along Tokaido”. Even if I don’t understand what they were saying, it was really fun and interesting! And, to be honest, my colleagues confessed me that they couldn’t understand 60% of the dialogues because it was old Japanese! Hahaha! I felt much better by then!

To conclude, we went back to Tokyo with the Shinkansen. That was the end of a very nice trip!

Sources: National Geographic, Traveler Japan 2nd Edition.