Tofuku-ji and Fushimi-Inari Shrine

 Another early morning to get to the shine before it gets too crowded with tourists. There’s the walk up the hill to the entrance of the shrine. The little street is crowded, mostly with Westerners, anxious to experience the shine. We get to the shine and start walking, up up. I had thought that there were just a small series of the red gates but I was wrong, there were gates going all The way to the top of the mountain and back. In between the gates were rest stops…some had cafés, others were shrines. In spite of the crowds, sometimes we were alone in a series of gates and sometimes we were in a crowd.

Entrance

Kozue in front of gate series

Map. So let me tell you, I was huffing and puffing the whole way. I think I had a cold, or allergies, not sure, But regardless it was a real challenge for me to continue walking up the hill early in the morning. During this time I was resolving to improve my physical Fitness when I get home.

We ran into a kitty cat who looked much like one of my former cats on the way up the hill. She knows this was a good way to collect treats I think

Uninhabited section, Kozue posing.

Hard to see in photo, but the image on the fountain was of a fox. The fox is the symbol of the shrine and there are images everywhere.

After getting just beyond the crossroads, we ended up getting lost in a maze of shrines and ended up on a path that turned out to be wrong. We decided not to finish walking the temple and continued on the wrong path where we encountered a Zen Temple.

If you want to know more, here is the Wikipedia citation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dfuku-ji

So we stumbled upon Tofuku-join the way to the train station. The grounds were completely empty so we decided to give it a try.

ToFuku-ji was a real highlight for me. It is a huge temple complex, found it forever ago, the oldest zen Temple in Japan. We were essentially the only visitors for the first 30 minutes. It was very strange but I suddenly decided that I needed to write haiku, the views and vistas were so inspiring.

The main temple, built in the 700s.

This covered bridge connected the main temple grounds with another section containing gardens and more structures.

The photos below depict some of the lovely gardens we saw. The temple complex left us with the most lovely “zen” feeling, it was quite remarkable.

T

Ine, haiku, snow

 It was a struggle to get from Kyoto to INE. One special train and a bus. Ine is on the coast of Kyoto prefecture ? and is three hours from Kyoto city. As soon as the train was underway, the snow began, so our view was beautiful countryside, fat snowflakes and winter wonderland.

View from train

Next, we changed to a bus in Amonohashidate. Of course, we had to eat, so we went to a cute local place for local crab first.

Before

After

A scene from the restaurant.

The outside view of our restaurant.

We then boarded our very crowded bus (French, Australian, and New Zealand plus locals) and continued along the coastline to INE.

Our room has a lovely view of the water, prompting us to sit and watch the snowflakes fall on the water for hours at a time.

I wrote a bad haiku:

Voluptuous snow

Caresses the Inland Sea

Winter love affair

I learned from Naohiro 

Ine has a "UTAMAKURA", means place that is often written about in Waka poetry.

"Waka poetry" is japanese old style poem. It is Influenced old haiku poets.

A lots Haiku poets visit UTAMAKURA，and they wrote Haiku at the place.

No wonder you want to write haiku.

We hopped a cab to another local restaurant where we enjoyed an elaborate meal….shown here.

Leaving INE was a little challenging.We first stopped at a sake factory, which smelled lovely. I grabbed a small bottle (backpack too heavy already) ane we ended up marching back and forth on the very snowy road, asking directions and getting the wrong answers every time.

Eating at the Counter

Japan has a tradition of eating at the counter, a unique version of fast food. It is a wonderful invention for solo diners because it actually works better if you are alone. Naoko and I tried a SukiYaki counter in the basement of the Tokyu department store in Tokyo. It had only three seats. Naoko  explained that the sukiyaki would have cost a small fortune in the sukiyaki restaurant that is also run by the owners of the three-person counter.

So counter eating can also be a bargain. 

This is the sukiyaki …. made with the finest beef.

Naoko, my lunch companion and the initiator of this fabulous meal.

Of course there are many other ways to do counter eating. We just had dinner in Kyoto at a very informal counter restaurant that served a little but of everything.

Our very informal restaurant with menus on the wall.

Soba noodles with tempura.

Pork Katsu, miso soup, daikon radish, rice.

And another counter in Kamakura, this time hot soba with tempura:

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

 

We got up at 6:30 or so in order to get to the temple before all the tourists arrived.

We grabbed a bus up to the temple site and walked up a rather steep hill to a similarly steep set of stairs which took us to the temple grounds.

Here are shots of me and Kozue posing at the entrance.

Kiyomizu-sera is a Buddhist Temple which initially established in 778. Many of the buildings were added in 1633 by a local Shogun. The site is huge and beautifully situated on a hillside. 

The pagoda

A view inside the main temple. We gave money, then knealt, then banged the gong (on your right) very gently. 

Collecting sacred water for drinking. The ladle is stored in a sterilizing, UV ray chamber, and you pull it out, collect water from one of the three streams, and drink. Of course you return the ladle to the sterilizing chamber.

This is a scene from one of the streets that radiate around the temple complex. We spent a lot of time at a used kimono shop and Kozue bought a beautiful obi.

These are the underpinnings of the main temple. The posts and cross beams are constructed of enormous blocks of wood.

Little statues of unborn?

A lovely view from what I believe to be a secondary temple.

View of the main temple with sprinkling of snow on top.

This impressive pagoda is outside the temple complex. So many temples, Shinto and Buddhist, throughout Kyoto. 

Hakone

I think most tour groups go to Hakone…it’s a hot spring town close to the water but situated in the mountains next to a river. Naoko, Naohiro, Kai, and I stayed at a largish hotel in a traditional tatami room. When you first arrive, you are welcomed into a large tatami room that is a platform and is surrounded by soshi screens. Around the perimeter, where you see the little table and two chairs in the photo is at a lower elevation,  a step down. When you go out at night, they come in and lay out the futons. There were four of us but we paid for three futons… One kid… And the futons were laid out in a row so we all slept essentially in the same bed. Interesting.

Table and chairs on the tatami portion of the room.

Table and chair on outskirts of platform for gazing outside.

Our bed…after a night’s sleep.

We stopped at a 7-11 in the town and I saw more westerners than in all my previous trips to Japan! This is a tourist center for sure. 

The baths were lovely because the hotel was nearly empty. The hotel provides a yukata (cotton kimono), howrie (jacket), and socks for going to the hot springs. When going to the baths, you put your clothes in a locker, and must then scrub yourself to death to make certain you don’t impart any nasty bits into the communal waters. Next you hit the waters. This hotel had an outdoor area among the trees,mand an indoor area. Very nice.

Hawks

 So interesting fact. There are hawks everywhere here. We are near the sea and there are few buildings so the sky is open. I hear, though, that the hawks steal food. Like seagulls at the seashore, only presumably more dangerous. It’s hard to imagine picnicking on the beach while a hock rips the sandwich out of your hand.

Hayama, hot spring, shiatsu

The flight was more miserable than I remembered, I suspect because I was  exhausted from no sleep. It turns out that not sleeping before a flight is not a good jet lag strategy.

Thankfully Naoko picked me up in a car, and we drove directly to a public bathhouse. There, we took hot bath and salt sauna (still have salt in my ears!) 

They also have shiatsu massage, so I booked 40 minutes. Yes! Nothing ever hurt so good. It also got the kinks in my back out that I picked on the flight. The spa also has a family restaurant and you can buy fresh vegetables. This is the life and I met Naoko and Naohiro’s friends who were eating dinner there.

The next day, after fitful but welcome sleep, Naoko and a very wobbly me did a beach walk at Zushi Beach. The views of Mt. Fuji (Fuji-San).