The 5th of July was a very long day. Blake, Tatsuro and I had just returned from Hokkaido the night before. Tatsuro was going to be busy writing an essay for school so Blake and I decided to go to Kyoto, the historic old capital of Japan. Blake told me he wanted to ride the bullet train and visit some temples so Kyoto was a perfect opportunity for both. We left very early, waking up at 5 to make a bullet train at 7 am. Blake and I were exhausted, with only a few hours asleep a piece, but also very excited. We arrived in Kyoto Station around 9 and knew the wisdom of using the rather expensive but fast Shinkansen.

     A group of two Buddhist temples and a nearby garden were first on our list to visit. One of the temples was huge. The largest wooden structure in the world. Inside a group of monks were chanting and we went in to sit on on the tatami mats and listen. The next temple we visited also had a group of monks in chanting and we were lucky enough to experience both within the intricately decorated places of worship. The garden connected to one of the temples was also on our list to visit and we enjoyed lazily walking through its grounds and seeing its large pond with koi. After the temples and garden we headed for Nijo castle, the Kyoto home of the Shogun. We saw ancient door panels with subjects of tigers, hawks, landscapes and trees. The floor of the main building had something called nightingale floors, which “sang” when you walked on them letting those inside know someone was coming. 

     We finished our day in Kyoto with a visit to the Bamboo path which is a pathway on the outskirts of the center of town lined with huge forests of bamboo. It was a relaxing way to spend the end of a very hot and busy day. By the time we got home that night we were beyond exhausted and I think this counts as our most ambitious day in Japan. We will see what we do on Friday but if time permits we might visit Lake Hakone.