Sunday 15 October 2023

Yokohama to Kyoto

I have been very busy these past two days, Sunday (yesterday) and Monday (today), and I have much to report.

On Sunday

Although I enjoyed wonderful weather during the last four days of the cruise, the Westerdam's arrival in Yokohama is greeted with pelting rain. Of course, that makes transferring from the ship to the Shinkansen station at 8:15am a rather wet and humid journey--not to mention expensive, since the taxi ride costs over $50. The port and the station are practically on opposite sides of the city.

Once inside this very large and bustling station, it takes me about 30 minutes to exchange my voucher for a seven-day first class JR rail pass. 

The train leaves promptly at 10:21am, and although I have a window seat on the right side of the car, the weather is too poor to get a view of Fuji-san as the train literally flies past. 

But the weather gods are ultimately with me and within 30 minutes some blue appears behind the low clouds and soon the sky is bright and the sun is shining--and there is still one more hour on this two hour 11 minute ride.

In Kyoto, It's a short taxi ride to the Mercure Hotel, where I enjoy lunch in the hotel's Italian restaurant before checking in at 2pm. I'm not yet used to paying for my meals (I just ate them on the ship), but I really enjoy the best lasagna I have had for a long time.

Like most every space in Japan, the hotel room is small and compact. This is a 4-star hotel, but there is no closet, just a rack with a few hangers, and no drawer space at all. However, there is a wonderful walk-in shower (most Japanese hotels, even 5-star, have only a bathtub with a tube and nozzle), a wonderful view looking north over several temples (I'm on the 9th of ten floors), a safe, small refrigerator, coffee and tea making supplies, bathrobes, slippers, and a large-screen tv with one English-language station, BBC News. I can't post a photo of the room right now, because it is almost time for sleep and the room is a mess.

But back to lunch and check in and it's already mid-afternoon and the temples (Buddhist) and shrines (Shinto) close at 4 or 5pm. I do have time to visit three very old ones close to the hotel before I decide the eight miles I have walked today are quite enough and it's time to call it quits.

On Sunday Afternoon

The first temple I visit is one I can see from my room window. While it is not important enough to get a mention in the Michelin Guide, it is still quite remarkable. The Kosho-Ji Temple (1876), houses a remarkable Amida Buddha in its central hall.

View of Kosho-Ji Temple from My Hotel Room

Two Views of Amida Buddha

The Second Temple I visit, Nishi Tongan-ji (1591), immediately north of Kosho-ji, is much larger and more important. The Founder's Hall (1636), is one of the largest wooden structures in Japan. And the smaller detail work is as interesting as the larger structures.

My final visit of the day is the Higashi Tongan-ji Temple (1602), the guardian of the east and counterpart of the Nishi Temple, above, guardian of the west. This is the most ornate and magnificent of the the three temples.