We began the day by eating at a place everyone around the world is familiar with - McDonalds! Yes, I know, I can have that here, but a McDonalds was on the corner of our Airbnb and next to the subway station so we figured we'd give it a shot.
To begin with, McDonald's here are super fast, efficient, and the food is very different. For example, your breakfast sandwich comes with chicken nuggets. It was pretty neat. The best part about it - it was super cheap! Josh and I ate two meals for about $7. You can't beat that in the US!
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| Cute ad in McDonalds |
After breakfast, we made our way to the Imperial Palace. Now one of the reasons why I'm having a hard time keeping up with this blog (besides my crazy and hectic schedule) is that I keep debating between how to describe all of our visits. Part of me wants to dedicate a whole post to each castle and shrine we visited, but I know that will be so long. So I'll stay with the day for now, and stay tuned for more in depth posts on the castles and shrines we visited!
Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan. The capital moved to Tokyo after the Emperor and the Last Shogun made an agreement that unified Japan. That agreement was made in Kyoto, but called for the capital to move. The Japanese have great respect for this agreement, and the Last Shogun's family is still alive to this day - obviously very wealthy. In the view of the Japanese, they saw how European powers were ripping apart China and Korea. They did not want European powers to rip Japan apart (as the French were backing the Shogun and the British backing the Emperor). Thus, they agreed to a unification to save Japan and keep European powers out.
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| Tori Gates to the Coronation Area |
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| Courtyard for Coronation Ceremonies |
Every Emperor has held their coronation ceremony in Kyoto, even after the move to Tokyo. The only exception is the current Emperor who held his ceremony in Tokyo. It is expected that the next coronation will be in Tokyo as well.
However, this Imperial Palace is still considered a sacred spot for many Japanese. It has survived earthquakes, fires, and raids. It is nestled in the mountains so it is well protected. Oddly, when the US was bombing Japan during WWII Kyoto was mostly spared as the US did not see much military significance in Kyoto. Also, Kyoto was considered a target for when the US dropped the first atomic bomb, however the US ultimately ended up with Hiroshima.
The beauty of the palace is hard to describe, so much detail in every corner. We signed up for an English guided tour (it was free after all). Our tour guide was awesome, and we got to speak with some Europeans (other quick note - we hardly met any other Americans).
Our guided tour was simply amazing. So much history was covered and discussed, and our tour was pretty funny. Her English was great, and she helped put things in context by comparing Japanese history to the history of our home countries.
My favorite part was seeing the Throne Room. Unlike the Thorne Rooms you see in TV or that you'd imagine a King/Queen to sit on, this is very different. It faces the outside, and almost looks like a large pillow. It is so that the Emperor can look out onto his garden as he contemplated the big decisions he was going to make. He had a little tent he could retreat to if he got tired or wished to eat a meal.
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| The Throne Room |
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| The tent for him to retreat to |
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| Some of the encased artwork from the palace. |
It was so magnificent to see.
Following the Imperial Palace we walked a bit and found a place to eat. I had some lemon fried chicken plate with rice that made my taste buds explode. Oh my goodness, I still dream about that chicken!!
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| Chicken, come back! |
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| The food was sooooo goooooood! |
Anyways, after our lunch we went to Nijo-jo castle. This castle is the home of the Last Shogun. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is here where the Last Shogun left, to meet the Emperor and unify Japan.
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| Josh at the Gate of Nijo-jo Castle |
As this castle is a World Heritage Site, it gets some money from the UN to pay for up keep and renovations. A lot of the castle was under renovation as Japan prepares for the 2020 Olympics.
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| UNESCO Stamp of Approval |
The castle is enormous. While the Imperial Palace was very wide, this castle was very tall. The walls were very hight - to protect the Shogun of course - and it was surrounded by a moat. This castle did allow you to walk through the halls to see how life was like for the Shogun. It was really interesting to see some of the original paintwork was still there. Most of it was in a special room, where you can see it, and the replicas where just as beautiful.
The views from the castle were so cool. Especially when you were high up on the tower, the breeze helped keep the summer heat from getting to ya.
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| Another Gate |
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| The detail is amazing! |
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| The view from the tower |
Again, I'll post more on the castle another time. Sadly, I don't have much pictures as photography was not allowed to preserve the artwork.
Following the castle, we went back to the apartment to rest a bit. However, we took a brief detour on our way back. We found the floats from the Gion festival!
The Gion festival is a two week festival in Kyoto where all the main shrines bring their Deities out for worship and celebration. The major religion in Japan is Shinto, however this was a mix of Shinto and Buddhist Shrines. Many Deities were represented - power, love, wealth, etc.
The shrines and floats were really cool to see. Sadly we could not stay for the full festival as it was on the day we flew back to the US. However, it was still awesome to see some of the floats up front.
After that, we walked through the Nishiki again and it started to rain. It was pouring down rain and it felt amazing. As the Nishiki is semi-outdoor, you had a roof over your head but you could feel the now cool breeze thanks to the rain.
We ate at a dumpling place this time. They were so good, and they came out so fast. I wish there were places like this dumpling place here in Dallas (I bet I could find them in LA or NYC).
We also stopped at a little shrine in the middle of the Nishiki. It was pretty cool. Kyoto is such a spiritual place, it is very inspiring to be there - it's like it reawakens the soul.
Afterwards, we went back to visit our friends at Beer Bar Miyama 162. We had a number of drinks, and we gave one of our "thank you" gifts to our good friends. We had such a blast, the local beer they offer is amazing.
What I also love about the bar is that it brings in so many people. We heard British, Australian, French, and many other accents. Some Australians even invited us to go to a music festival with them. Even cooler was that we spoke with some of the Japanese locals that liked to go to the bar.
One man we spoke with, it was a farewell drink as he was leaving the next morning to begin a new job as a worker for a politician in Osaka. We all wished him the best of luck, and we had a toast in his honor.
Finally, it was our time to go home. We thanked Nao and Mami for being such awesome hosts, and recommending great beer. There is one other thing to note.
The night before, we were talking about Lincoln Park and how great of band they were. That morning is when news broke of Chester passing away. That night, Nao played Lincoln Park all night and we spoke about his music, how the songs impacted us, and where we were in life when Lincoln Park first made the scene.
It was a very beautiful moment - two Japanese and two Latino Americans bonding over music. Grieving together over the loss of a talented individual. If more folks could bond like that, I believe our world would be in a much better place.
We went back to the apartment, and rested for tomorrow as another big day of site seeing.
Finally, I took this picture while the sun was setting. It captures the rows of mountains that surround Kyoto. It was so beautiful, and I loved how they managed to keep nature in tune with the city.
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