Mountain Climbing in Kyoto: Climbing Daimonji

While I don’t necessarily take up mountain hiking as a hobby, it is quite obvious that Japan has quite a few mountains. As a matter of fact, historically, most major cities in Japan were built in areas surrounded by mountains. The mountains were said to be able to help ward off evil (perhaps it has a real-life correlation to preventing invasions or something, I don’t specifically know), so the obvious result of this tendency is that most cities that were founded in olden times have mountains surrounding them, Tokyo and Kyoto being no different.

With that being said, with so many mountains around, there was bound to be some event where I’d end up climbing one of these things, so what better way than to climb at 10PM at night while lugging along some snacks and a few cans of sake and beer?

To be more specific, in this case, I was climbing Daimonji, a mountain on the east side of Kyoto that is famous for it’s giant burning 大that is lit up every summertime. It’s a grand spectacle that I, sadly, won’t be able to see due to leaving Japan before it happens. Nevertheless, some of my crazy Japanese friends from Kyoto University (京都大学) decided to try and climb this mountain late at night in the middle of winter, and drink some alcohol at the top. Just a heads up, Japanese people LOVE to drink. Seriously, I feel like there are drinking parties every other week here, and they are all always dominated by beer. At least, that’s the general trend I’ve noticed amongst Japanese college students. Don’t let that anime fool ya, Japanese people love their beer.

Anyways, seriously speaking, the idea of drinking at the top sounded pretty damn awesome; I mean, come on, climbing to the top of a mountain when it’s pitch black, and drinking some sake under the dazzling stars while looking over the brilliant cityscape at night? That’s a real adventure right there, even if you realize that it’s probably stupid to climb down a mountain while intoxicated on a semi-dangerous mountain trail.

What I can guarantee you right off the bat is that the trek up the mountain will be a huge annoyance. Climbing up a mountain is no easy task when the mountain trail is all beat-up and windy, but what made this even more difficult is the complete and utter darkness there at night. I’m warning you in advance, make sure you bring proper equipment (flashlights, etc), and do NOT go alone. While the mountain trail isn’t the most difficult path to follow, if you’re not careful and didn’t prepare, the potential to fall to your doom is definitely there. And yes, of course we were prepared; we bought some cheap flashlights at the 100 yen store. :3

It took a good hour or so to reach the top of the giant 大 symbol, and by that point, we were completely and utterly exhausted. One poor girl showed up in some really nice, expensive looking high heels, which I’m sure got ruined from this hike. But hey, once we got there, all the cursing and whining about the climb instantly came to a stop. To put it simple, the view from the top is absolutely breathtaking. Words nor pictures can do the view justice; while I tried to take some good pictures, it just wasn’t doable without a proper camera for nighttime photography. The only half-decent photo I managed to take is the one near the beginning of this post, where a bunch of my buddies are banzai-ing towards Kyoto.

To give you a general image of the scene, imagine sitting atop a mountain that is several hundred meters tall. The air is pristine and clean, it is pitch black and cold, you are surrounded by trees and nature, all with a steady cool wind softly blowing at your face. From where you are sitting, you turn your head left and right, and all you see are lights. Storefronts, buildings, cars, lights from the city. No matter how far ahead you look, it’s all lights, dazzling lights. And if you went on a cold winter night, the skies should be fairly clear as well; when you look up, you see the dazzling stars and moon peeking through the sky, staring you down. The lights from the city blot out some of the stars, but you still get a beautiful view of the night sky. And while admiring this amazing view, you crack open a few snacks and some drinks, and chatter away with some friends, all while admiring this view.

A sort-of-terrible picture taken from a different point on the mountain. The spots that aren’t lit up tend to be other shrines, or in the case of Kyoto, the former Imperial Palace

Honestly speaking, this was an experience I ended up enjoying infinitely more than I expected to; I mean, come on, mountain climbing doesn’t exactly sound enthralling or anything, does it? Rather, it sounds like something old men might enjoy as exercise. But going at night was really a breathtaking experience that I’ll never forget, and yes, we did safely climb down the mountain afterwards. Mountain climbing at night certainly is an unconventional (and potentially dangerous if you’re not prepared) activity, but the rewards are definitely worth it. And after all that, I ended up buying a strawberry chocolate cream crepe. Delicious stuff Japan, delicious stuff.

This series of posts, Adventures Abroad in Japan, was all possible in part due to the generous scholarship from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. For anybody that is interested in Studying Abroad, do make sure to check them out!

Koyo in Kyoto: the Advent of Fall, and a traditional temple of Japan

Kyoto, Japan, is known as the ancient capital of Japan (the Miyako, 都). In particular, the city is famous for it’s vast array of traditional temples and it’s scenic views of nature during the four seasons. Sakura flowers in springtime, snow-covered temples in winter, the festivals of summertime, and the brilliantly colorful leaves of Fall. While these are all similar in many cities of Japan, traditional Kyoto is especially well known for it’s beauty during these seasons.

The changing of colors in particular, called Koyo (紅葉), is peculiar to Kyoto due to the presence of oft-visted temples such as Kiyomizudera (with it’s famous view over a stunningly beautiful forest along the side of a mountain). Here, though, I’m going to focus on a temple a little less mainstream than the likes of Kiyomizudera; a Buddhist temple called Daitokuji.

While I can’t quite claim that Daitokuji isn’t famous, it certainly isn’t the first temple that comes to mind amongst people (especially those from outside Japan) whom wish to explore the Koyo. I personally had no idea the temple even existed until I went there on a school trip, and while we ended up going there on a rainy day, it ended up that the rain was a blessing in disguise. The rain made the scenery, and the plant life in the garden, burst to life with lush colors that you would rarely encounter otherwise.

The temple itself may seem rather normal and plain at first, with the likes of your everyday Buddhist temple as seen above. Since many major shrines and temples were actually supported and built by the privileged classes of premodern Japan, many temples of the same time periods are similar; thus, it naturally isn’t a surprise to see many similarities architecture wise. In that sense, Daitokuji isn’t particularly special compared to other temples in terms of visual aesthetics.

During the koyo season, however, Daitokuji’s meticulously maintained zen garden easily becomes the most awe inspiring, the most beautiful aspect to the entire temple. The leaves of trees around the temple slowly transform into a brilliant golden-red color, and if you sit within the confounds of the temple while peeking outside at the leaves, the scene is truly breathtaking.

A panoramic photo I took of a part of the garden at Daitokuji. Click on it to zoom and see more of it.

The trees are absolutely gorgeous in Daitokuji’s garden around Koyo season, but that doesn’t mean the garden doesn’t have it’s other charm points. The garden has a very traditional feel and aesthetic to it, filled with the likes of moss-coated wells and solemn yet beautiful tombstones coated with green.

And of course, as I already mentioned, the greenery around the temple comes to life with lush colors, all courtesy of the rain. The temple’s garden is quite the beauty, and while it might not have the particular grandeur of the more famous attractions of Kyoto during the Koyo season, it is still worth visiting. It has a sense of tranquility and beauty that I certainly appreciated when I visited, whether it be the meticulously curated Zen rock gardens, the beautiful fall leaves, or the lush greenery surrounding the temple.

This series of posts, Adventures Abroad in Japan, was all possible in part due to the generous scholarship from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. For anybody that is interested in Studying Abroad, do make sure to check them out!

Food in Kyoto, Japan

…I swear, at this rate, I might end much fatter when I leave for America, something which I thought would be impossible considering how much “healthier” Japanese food is supposed to be. Seriously, the Japanese seem to really love their sweets and fried foods! And it all looks so, soo tasty. o_o

The Ancient art of Kyuudou… is quite tough!

…Not that I was expecting it to be a cakewalk or anything, but Kyuudou (Japanese archery) requires a lot of discipline and strength. I’ve barely started and I’m already quite exhausted (though perhaps that just speaks volumes about how physically unfit I currently am >_>).

Long story short, my study abroad program here in Kyoto requires that I participate in a “community activity”. While it’s called a “community activity”, the actual gist of the idea is that you get involved outside of class somehow (so you don’t need to volunteer at a hospital or anything… though you can if you want). Activities you could try include anything from “english teacher assistant”, to “manga museum assistant (which sounds awesome)”, to even something as simple as joining the frisbee team.

The big thing here, though, is that you need to go about this all by yourself, with little to no help from teachers or anything. So yea, this pretty much means you need to look up addresses and phone numbers, call people and ask questions in Japanese, arrange times to potentially meet with whomever necessary, etc. All this pretty much meant, to me, is that I would have to talk to Japanese people with my own horribly broken “mastery” of the Japanese language, all while embarassing myself the entire way. Fun, fun… >__>

Well, people do say the best way to learn is to go out there and do crazy things, and thus, I figured I might as well try something interesting while I’m in Japan. And after all, it would be a shame to come all the way to Japan just for to wimp out and decide to “play Frisbee”, though I guess having Japanese team members is a big plus here. Anyways…. and so, I ventured out to the dojo (武道センター) near Heian Jingu with a few friends, and mustered up the courage to meet the sensei face-to-face.

Apartments, 100 yen stores, and Grocery Shopping in Kyoto

Now that I finally have a good, stable internet connection, it looks like I can finally post up some of the pictures that I’ve been taking after landing here in Kyoto. One thing I learned here is that Japan, unlike America, does not have free wifi in almost every other restaurant or bookstore. Kind of a shame, I liked my free wifi. On the plus side, you could totally tell that Kyoto is a very historical city. Heck, I went grocery shopping earlier today, but ended up taking dozens of detours to take pictures like the one above. There are a ton of old, traditional Japanese buildings in Kyoto, so much so that you will probably run into one on at least every other block. But yea, three hour grocery run with detours? Heck yea 😛