We arrived in a Kyoto basking in warm sunshine; I'd forgotten that it is surrounded by hills, and it seemed so provincial compared to Tokyo (in a good way). We walked with our heavy load for about 20 minutes to our hotel. It was in a great location, close to the river and midway up the grid of streets. Central Kyoto is laid out on two main north-south roads cut with ten east-west streets, and the plan was based on X'ian (then Chang'an) in China. We were really pleased with Hotel Shuhoukaku, which is more a ryokan as it has communal baths and the cuisine is kaiseki-ryori (Japanese haute-cuisine). As it was too early to check in we fed Emily then left our bags. Nick had planned an afternoon visit to the Fushimi district, which was a short train ride south-east out of the city centre. I was amused and a little concerned to see some sort of religious icon mounted on the wall of the carriage.
From the station we strolled through a covered market. Emily attracted plenty of attention as we were off the beaten tourist track and the only foreigners. We ate at a restaurant with tatami, so that Emily could crawl on the mats; she was also climbing up onto the low tables to try to get the pots of toothpicks. At the end of the alley was the quaint teashop (by which I mean a shop that sells dry tea) run by the parents of Nick's friend Masahiko.
It was founded in 1872, just after Japan opened its doors to the rest of the world with the start of the Meiji period. It was very atmospheric, with old wooden drawers full of tea and artefacts related to the enjoyment and ritual of tea. They gave us a free cup of bitter, somehow smooth green tea, then we bought a small cone of green tea ice cream each. Emily indicated that she wanted some so I offered her a slurp; she made the funniest face, but despite grimacing she soon decided that she liked it and demanded more. Meanwhile, they had tracked down Masahiko on the phone (though a Saturday, like a lot of Japanese he was at work). Nick felt terrible for not mentioning that we'd be in Kyoto, but he lives quite a long way from the city, and we'd have had to change our plans in order to meet him and his family.
We carried on through the attractive narrow streets, past a famous sake brewery with its symbolic ball of cedar hanging outside. Nearby was an old inn, Teradaya, where there was a gunfight in 1867 that resulted in the death of Sakamoto, a politicial figure who helped shape the Meiji Restoration of the following year. We walked beside a small canal running through a residential area that Nick used to cycle along as a student
and came to a little temple, Chokenji, which is 300 years old.
An old chap sprang out of the bushes and addressed us in very good English, telling us all about the place then railroading us into buying a lucky amulet associated with the resident goddess, Benzaiten. The amulet has an image 'modelled after the female anatomy' (or, more innocently, a cowrie shell) on one side, and if you keep it with you it is supposed to give birth to good fortune!
We got a bit lost trying to find our way to the station, so the sun was already a fiery orange ball low in the sky as the train neared the centre of the city. As darkness fell we settled into our very nice Japanese room and admired the vibrant sky behind Kyoto Tower, which is apparently resembles a candle though I think it's more like a lighthouse. Emily hadn't slept for 7 hours but at first was very jolly. We'd worried that she would not get any walking practice while away, but she solved that problem by starting to push a legless chair around on the tatami.
After she'd eaten she had a small bump and was suddenly inconsolable; we put her in the tiny but deep bath but she was beside herself, so we quickly gave her the bottle and laid her down on the futon where she went out like the proverbial light. That enabled us to go down to the dining room in good time for our meal (as with most Japanese hotels and ryokan, latest serving time being 7pm). Crab featured very heavily, being integrated into most courses. The sashimi was cut too think for me, so I surreptitiously cooked it briefly on my miniature stove. There were all sorts of odd little seasonal delicacies, some unidentifiable - one looked for all the world like rabbit droppings on a stick.
After eating we had time to kill, so went down to the bar. For some reason it only opened at 10pm, though they said we were welcome to sit in there. Unfortunately the heating wasn't on yet and it was freezing. Later we tried out the baths. This was the best I've tried so far, the whole room lined with cypress wood and the bath also made of hinoki. The lighting was dim and the music (plinky-plonk shamizen) restful. There were even a pair of shallow mini-baths where you could lie down on a wooden bed, immersed, and what with the food, drink and warm water I found it very soporific. We were back to the room later than planned, but on our futons by 11pm.
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