Kyoto-- Archery Competition, Temples....
When I got to Kyoto, I noticed a girl carrying a long, wrapped object on her back. The first thought that popped into my head: Bushido (Japanese form of archery). The second thought: Where did she practice? The next thing I knew, I was on a train where there was a lovely ad for what seemed to be a gathering of kick-ass women dressed in kimonos, aiming arrows, and I could figure out that something was happening on January 15th. I sent the poster to one of my friends and asked what the link went to, and she said it seemed to go to an old temple, Sansunjendo. A quick google search and I realized that this was the Ohmato Taikai, a Bushido competition held (usually) on the 2nd sunday of January, where about 2,000 20-year-olds gather from all around the country to shoot at least 2 arrows (and at most 6). (This competition was based off of the Toshiya, an event that ended in the 1800s after being held for over 200 years.) I decided I would go watch the event, and set out from my hotel to do so.
Except I got lost, and it had snowed pretty heavily during the night. Landed up at this other temple, Toji, and a lot of other people were taking pictures like i was too! I later learned that Kyoto only gets snow that sticks about once a year, so I guess that may have been the reason why so many people were there.
I later found out that this was Toji Temple, one of the few temple complexes with a pagoda in central Kyoto.
Buses are stressful because I don't know exactly what stop to get off at, and Google Maps lists bus directions in Japanese. So far, I've made it to all my destinations just fine! (Thank goodness there's GPS to help guide me around the area and figure out if I'm going in the wrong direction.)
But really, that Bushido competition was incredible. If I didn't have to go warm my feet back up I'd have stayed longer. It was a really beautiful temple, and the costumes were amazing.
Really nice garden and pretty cool to walk through as well. There's a lot of detailed history written down inside the temple. You can't wear your shoes inside, and it's not heated, so it can be quite chilly.
If my feet were cold, I wonder how these girls survived the day!!
Each competitor only gets two shots, and then they have to rotate out.
Unbelievable outfits.
Went to Honen-in temple and the Philosopher's Path-- Honen-in was closed, unfortunately, so I could only see the outside grounds. (Still pretty, though. Apparently, this temple is really nice in the fall and during cherry blossom time.) The Philosopher's Path was quite pretty-- in fact, all the canals in Kyoto I came across were quite pretty!
Honen-In Temple still had a beautiful garden. Worth going if you're in the area.
Went to the other side of town, Arashiyama, since it seemed that some other temples in the Higashima area might also be closed. Walking through the town reminded me a bit of the same feel you get at most ski resort towns, and walked up to the Tenryu-ji temple to see the garden, and the bamboo grove (which, I got lost several times trying to get to it because I was reading the signs, which only one sign said "bamboo forest" out of the three I was looking at, including the map). Be prepared for lots of people (therefore, the bamboo forest feels less calm than you might think). There is a pretty steep incline, so if you go in the winter be careful. It didn't seem like plows were common in Kyoto, so chances are you'll be slipping on ice....
Tenryu-ji is famous for its gardens (it's even a UNESCO site).
There are so many tourists that the Arashiyama bamboo grove feels overrated.
Went back to Kyoto Station and ventured out to the Yodobashi (about a block away from the bus terminal). Found some awesome gloves (Kenkon Grip Hot Shot) that have magnetically flappable pointer and thumb finger tips. (After a few days of walking around with one nice mitten on the left hand (Yay swany toaster mittens) and a nice fingerless mitten on the right hand (yay babazuzuu mittens)-- the right hand fingers were a bit tired of being so coooold. Hopefully these help.... But Yodobashi was amazing. I found their camera displays to be more impressive than Bic Camera's. They had so many of the amazing high-end lenses I was curious about for the micro four thirds sensor size, and they had many of the newer models (it's always exciting to pick a camera up and see how it compares to your current setup). Plus, they have everything else you might need (like soap, appliances, etc).
I could stay there all day. Playing with cameras was the best way to fight jetlag!
The supermarket though.... strawberries, a bento, 3 eggs, tofu, and a salad-- all for about 10 bucks. That's a lot cheaper than eating out! There were so many wonderful things... I think I'm going to end up just wandering around supermarkets in Kyoto instead of seeing more tourist attractions/shrines.