Started the day right with a crappy long black from a local cafe. Won’t be going back there – but it did at least help us get through the epic bus trip (38 stops) from central Kyoto to the eastern edge of town to Arishyama. Arishyama was crawling with tourists so we changed buses there and went further up into the hills to visit the Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple. Jules had read about this place, which is quirky and strange and well off the main tourist trail. The site is covered with hundreds of strange carvings of Buddha engaged in activities ranging from the traditional (praying) to the (almost) contemporary (listening to his walkman). The experience was soured a little by that fact that we had to share the small site with a loud, overbearing, rude Buddhist “expert” who was dragging a couple of people along with him. His distinctive American twang rang out across the site the whole time we were there. At one point he physically pushed us out of the way to get closer to the shrine. On second thoughts maybe he wasn’t a buddhist.
From there we bussed it back down the hill to join the tourist hordes in Arishyama. The temperature was well into the high 30s by this point so it was a relief to wander through the famous Arishyama Bamboo Grove (was this maybe where they shot House of Flying Daggers?). We also visited the very beautiful Tenryui-Ji (Heavenly Dragon) Shrine. Again the gardens were very Zen and the lake by the main hall was exquisite – complete with a crane that stood before us, wings spread, drying out.
By far the best part of Arishyama was Okochi Sanso. A huge estate that was established by the famous Japanese Film Star of the 30s 40s and 50s Okochi Denjiro. The gardens and the view were probably among the most beautiful I have ever seen – not that I’m a garden fan or anything – but sheesh! At the end of our visit we sipped some matcha green tea (even Lou drank it) and a matcha based sweet. How Japanese are we?
Back once more into the tourist throngs at Arishyama station for a quick frozen beer cocktail before tramming and training it back to our accommodation for a little lie down.
From there the day/night just got better. Lou forced us to visit Hachi – a super cool record store/bar where we tried a bunch of local craft beers and sakes. We met a friendly English couple, one of whom worked as marketing manager for Lush and we chatted to Sentoko San behind the bar. Turns out she plays in a new wave band (Viva Sherry) and was able to make some suggestions about live music venues in Kyoto (Live House Taku Taku). It was cool to talk about music and play records – the beer was choice as well.
For dinner we tried a great sushi train place in central Kyoto recommended by Sentoko, then Lou peeled off and Julie and I headed over to Taku Taku with hopes of catching local band “Aux” who were playing that night. Sadly they had finished by the time we got there – apparently bands finish by 9 pm in the city owing to nearby apartments, noise complaints etc etc. Luckily the bar was cool and the people were friendly. I bought a copy of the Aux record for sale at the bar and before I knew it we were chatting to Yow – the guitarist and singer for the band. He was a little younger than us – with a mohawk and impressive dental work – and super friendly. We talked music and geography and I promised to play his stuff on the radio in Hobart. Now we’re even friends on Facebook – naaawwww.
flyeelookee 