A jaunt to the Old Capitol

There has been a lot going on lately, and I have been very busy lately. I am looking for a new place to live, studying a lot more, and my computer has had problems, again, so I have not been able to post as much as I like, but I intend to rectify that soon. The lastest happenings is that last week, I met up with two of my Baltimorian friends, and their sister/in-law. RL and SL had come in the last week from Shanghai, which I hope to visit, myself, in a few months. They were staying in Kyoto, so I decided to come up for part of a day and visit too. I love going to the old capitol of Japan. The pace is different from Osaka, less hurried, more sure of itself. Kyoto-jin, according to my conversation partner, K, are much like Bostonians, whereas she believes Osaka more like New York City (minus need for rope).

We headed over to Tou-ji temple, which is the largest wooden temple in Japan. Now, in Japan, there are a lot of "biggest this" and "largest that." Each temple, to drum up tourism, boasts that their particular structure has the largest Buddha, of a certain type. Touji need not do this, as it has the distinction of being one of the oldest temples in Japan, or, rather, the oldest site for temples, being that the wooden structures have burnt down several times due to war or ill luck. However, if you get there on the 21st of the month, you are sure of a good time, because it has its temple fair every month on this day. A temple fair in Japan is a huge collection of vendors, selling everything from vegetables to junk, to clothing and hats to really rare valuable, maybe for a good price. A really savvy Japanophile cruises these fairs for good deals on antiques. I saw reproduction (well, I think they were repros, anyway) of old guns. Maybe they were the real thing, who knows. You can even find a katana or good tanto, if you look hard enough. Due to time constriants, that of me being with people who wanted to get a lot done that day and me having to go back to work, I was only able be there for an hour, but to really do this thing, you need a half day. Next month, I plan on going again. I will be just after pay day, on my day off and any excuse to go to Kyoto is a good excuse for me. I am actually getting to know the rail system of that city well enough to get around fast, which is good, because I refuse to take the bus again. Well, "refuse" is much too strong, let's just say that if given options, I will not take the rickety, poxy bus. The bus in Kyoto, like any bus, anywhere, is crowded and slow, and always going in the wrong direction from where you want to go. I am a subway person, and, having had lived in Baltimore, have developed a pathological hatred of busses anyway. And, it is true: you get on in the back, and pay to get off; it is this way in China as well. But, it is true, if you can navigate a bus system, you have become a true native of a place, and people tend to give you your props. Case in point, in old, crusty Kyoto, where forein resisdents are none too common, two old ladies, in succession, had the courage to sit next to me. Now, this happens often enough in Osaka, because O-town people don't care about anthing. However, Kyoto is far more representative of Japan,in the sense that they are wary of the gaijin (with good reason, prolly). To my credit, I was also well dressed, as I needed to earn my daily bread later that afternoon, but nonetheless I felt like there was no one who did not want me there.

However, I still will ride the rails in the future, if I can.

It will be fun to visit the fair when I have time to stroll around. I hope that I can find an Osaka fair, so that if I go there for an hour, I donot feel so rushed. More on that, because it will be good to compare.