Bottom biting deer

Yesterday was a good day. I had a tour scheduled around Kyoto in the morning and Nara in the afternoon. The nearest pick up point was a hotel about 10 minutes walk away (there were about 10 pick ups, all outside hotels) and I made my way down there about 10 minutes later than I had planned (of course!) which was OK as you were asked to be there 15 minutes early. I arrived at 8.22am for the 8.25am pick up and, standing outside, could see any sign of a bus. So after a couple of minutes, I decided to walk down to the next hotel, 2 minutes walk away, which had a pick up 10 minutes later. In between the two hotels a woman literally ran up to me on the pavement and asked if I was there for the tour. So that was easy... my Japanese travel luck continues!


The morning consisted of Nishi Honganji first - this was actually the amazing temple I had looked around the afternoon before. It was supposed to be the Imperial Palace, but it is apparently closed on the weekends and they substitute this temple instead. I didn`t mind too much, although I kept wanting to correct the guide - after 3 hours including a very comprehensive talk all about the temple, the history and the religion I already knew more than her about it!

We continued to Nijo-jo (Nijo Castle) which was just astounding (as well!). It was a shogun castle built in 1603 and had the most beautiful buildings as well as incredible gardens. The whole castle was built with security in mind - apparently if you`re a shogun people are forever trying to kill you. It has a series of 5 large rooms, situated diagonally and upwards from each other to form a zig zag line and connected by corridors. Each room had a different purpose, from receiving an imperial messenger, to receiving feudal lords (one room for those you didn`t trust and another for those you did), and finally his inner quarters, where only women were allowed with him. 

The security measures were ingenious. There are wooden corridors around every room which have metal nails attached under every floorboard. When you walk on them they squeak and sound exactly like Nightingales! So you couldn`t ever sneak in unnoticed. Every single room, even his personal quarters, had a secret compartment behind which bodyguards were hiding, ready to leap out if he clapped his hands. The room where he received feudal lords he didn`t trust was the biggest, meaning he was able to sit very far away from them. He had a young boy at his side with his sword ready (a young boy not old enough to use it effectively himself). He had created a uniform that had to be worn by all lords in his presence - it had long pleated trousers that restricted movement. They had to kneel at all times, facing him. They usually carried two swords - one long one for attacking and a short one for self defense - they were only allowed to carry the short one in, and were also required to hold a fan in their right hands at all times (their sword hand). In addition to this, the special clothes they wore had their family crest all over it, so if someone did attack the shogun he would know who it was and seek retribution on their family.


After this we went to Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavilion). It is a three storey building with the two upper floors covered in gold leaf and again it is in gorgeous grounds.

The afternoon was spent at Nara, which was the capital city for 70 years from 710. It has an enormous temple with the worlds largest bronze Buddha inside and also a beautiful Shinto shrine. But actually, the thing I was most excited about were the deer which roam freely about all over the town. Although still wild animals they are very used to people and get fed a lot (you can buy special biscuits to feed them) so they are quite bold. They don`t flinch if you go up and stroke them and get very feisty when you have food on you, sometimes giving you a gentle bite on the bottom to hurry you up! They also tend to eat any paper they can see and occasionally clothing too... so you have to feed them quickly. The most amazing thing though is that they have been taught to bow their heads twice if you hold the biscuits up high. I tried it and they really do!!!

When I got back to the hostel I went out to dinner with a new friend I made, Lisa from Taiwan) if you remember, I was meant to go out to dinner with a new friend in Tokyo as well, but unfortunately she didn`t show up due to the fact that she got lost in a forest in Nikko - that was the carbonara night). WE went to a real Japanese place and I had a set meal of Teriyake chicken which was delicious, and I even tried some of her sashimi. Yes, RAW FISH!! And I didn`t mind it (it was tuna I think) but to be fair all I could taste was wasabi and soy sauce. And we had some sake, and some interesting conversation. We decided that boys everywhere are the same, I am very lucky to have Western parents who are supportive and not terribly strict and I explained what sausages are. Well, probably not quite, I just said they are long pork meat things... didn`t mention what else can go into them.


So all in all, a very nice day.