Spring Break - Part One - Kyoto

I’ve found that most people in Japan get a fair number of paid vacation days per year, but it is a definite faux-pas to take a day off from work, even if you are disgustingly sick. I’ve done my best to behave like a good Japanese employee and not miss any school, but this means that when a school break rolls around, I feel like I’ve got to make the most of it. During spring break last year, my parents came for a sightseeing tour-de-force that spanned all the way from Tokyo to Gotsu and back again. This year wasn’t quite as epic, but I really wanted to see Kyoto and Okinawa, and somehow ended up doing both.

My first stop was Kyoto.

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for centuries, and as a result, the city is full of places that have great historic and cultural significance. There are numerous world heritage sites, and Japanese people still widely regard it as the cultural capital of Japan. Kyoto has well over 1500 shrines and temples, which is a bit mind boggling for tourists. How do you decide which ones to see? I had two places that I really wanted to go, so after that I just surrendered myself to wandering around and going anywhere that interested me, and I ended up in some neat places.



The first item on my agenda was Kinkaku-ji, or “The Golden Pavilion”. I had to stand for the 45 minute bus ride to get there, and the viewing area that everyone takes pictures from strongly reminded me of a mosh-pit (though mostly full of old people) but was worth it to get a peek at Japan’s shiniest temple. Like so many things in Japan, it is a recreation, as the previous one was burned down in the 1950s by a disgruntled monk.

The other place that I really wanted to see was the Fushimi Inari Shrine. There are Inari Shrines all over Japan, but this is the biggest and best of them all. The hike up the mountain was pretty tiring, but I was distracted by the thousands of vermillion toriis that flank the path. My reward for my hike was a great view down over the city, a series of closed shops and refreshment stands, and lanterns that began to glow spookily as evening fell and I made my way back down the mountain.

Cities always boast if they have the number one anything. Apparently I saw the largest wooden structure in Japan (the massive temple next to my hotel) and I went to the tallest 5 story pagoda in Japan at Toji Temple . I also visited Sanjusangendo Hall at Rengeoin Temple, which houses 1001 bronze Buddha statues (cool looking but creepy as Hell, standing in rows like an army of bronze soldiers, not remotely peaceful), Kyoto National Museum was conveniently across the street, and somehow I walked all the way to Gion.


I’m not sure that I made it to the famous bit of Gion that everyone talks about. I saw Minamiza Theater (the oldest theater in Japan) but I didn’t see any Geishas. Then again, perhaps 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon is not prime geisha time. I settled for shopping instead, since the buildings in “old Kyoto” actually looked much newer than anything around where I live. I guess the architecture in Gotsu hasn’t changed much in the last couple of centuries.

Escaping the Kotatsu

There is another method of surviving the Japanese winter that is more expensive than the kotatsu, but also a lot more interesting; just go somewhere warmer. You don’t even have to leave Japan, just go to a different bit that has better weather than where you live. Traveling in Japan is pricey, but it’s nowhere near as expensive as attempting to leave Japan for a vacation. Gotsu is near the Sea of Japan, so while it’s at the southern end of Honshu, it’s also on the northern coast. The southern, Inland Sea coast is a much more sheltered and temperate area, making it a great day-trip destination, even in the winter.

Some Japanese friends took me to Hiroshima a few months back, and while it was cold and snowing in Gotsu, it was gorgeous once we got through the mountains and down to Hiroshima. It got even better once we made our way over to Miyajima, an island just off the coast of the city that boasts the largest torii gate in Japan.

It is actually part of a shrine called Itsukushima-jinja, a scenic place connected by multiple wooden boardwalks, and surrounded by water when the tide is in. From there, the gate appears to be far out in the water, and the whole place is aptly called "the floating shrine". Tough luck for me the tide was mostly out, so I visited the land-locked shrine and the standing-in-the-shallows torii, but it was still nice. It snowed on us all the way home again that evening, but for the few hours we were there we could stroll around in the sunshine with our coats open, feeling warmer than we usually did in our homes.

I escaped again in March, this time to Yokohama. It was a business trip, so I didn’t get to do much sight-seeing, but it was nice to get out of the conference center and be able to walk around in the evening. Spring obviously arrives early there, as it was much warmer than Gotsu, and many trees were in bloom.

My big hotel by the big ferris wheel.

The even bigger Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan.

I’m not really sure what this is but it looks neat.

Despite being part of Tokyo, Yokohama actually reminded me of a nicer version of Vancouver. The tall, shiny office buildings, shopping malls and hotels make it feel like a big city, but it is also full of parks, trees, and is on the waterfront. And since it’s in Japan, it’s perfectly safe, with attractive, well-lit, tree-lined streets completely devoid of homeless people and rubbish. Well, I saw one piece of litter during my four days there, so I took a picture of it. My kind of place.