Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is one of my very favorite cities, and I was fortunate enough to visit it for the third time in 2008. Once again, I went with other American members of the Ikenobo Ikebana school for 4 days of intensive flower arranging workshops followed 5 days later by an exhibit of arrangements. I stayed at one of the Ikenobo-designated hotels, the very comfortable and well-located Rihga Royal. For lodging during our 5 day break, I booked some terrific hotels through Japanican.com, travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/ and japaneseguesthouses.com.

I found that enough people speak English (sort of) and there is enough English signage now so that Japan is relatively easy to navigate via its ultra-dependable, ultra-clean public transportation system. People will bend over backwards to help you if you ask (and even if you don’t), and at each city’s main train/bus station there are very helpful English-speaking guides with a wealth of maps and brochures. Nonetheless, beware of trying to find any given address (say, of a restaurant) in a big city – the street numbering system is unfathomable even to the Japanese. It may help to have someone write out the address in kanji, but even then don’t count on finding it. Immaculate public toilets are everywhere, but be sure to bring a handkerchief to dry your hands on. And when it comes to Western toilets, be prepared for surprises.

Our classes, which were very instructive, started almost immediately. The exhibit at the end of our visit, held simultaneously at Headquarters and at Takashimaya Department Store, was pure inspiration. It was especially fascinating to see how trends in Ikenobo have changed since I was last there 4 years ago.

The classes were held at Ikenobo International Headquarters, located on the grounds of Rokkakudo Temple, founded by Prince Shotoku himself shortly after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 6^th century A.D.  It’s a temple complex I love, captivating from its unique hexagonal main hall (said to mark the center of ancient Kyoto) to its swan pond and various shrines and statues.The Headquarters building is also striking, but completely modern. The temple reflects off its mirrored glass windows much the way Trinity Church reflects off the Hancock building in Kyoto’s sister city of Boston.

For our first day there, we decided to take it easy and joined Johnnie Hillwalker’s walking tour of Kyoto (http://web.kyoto-inet.) What a great choice! Aside from the massive Higashi Honganji temple, Johnnie sticks to small shrines, quaint back alleys, and workshops – in his own inimitable style filling us in on everything Kyoto. Definitely a side of the city I’d never seen before.

On my last trip, I discovered the indispensable Kyoto Visitor’s Guide, published monthly. Be sure to ask your concierge for it -- this is the only English source I found that lists not only current exhibits in museums but also all the festivals of Kyoto’s many temples and shrines. Fushimi had its annual Rice Harvest Festival while I was there, during which 100,000 wooden sticks with prayers written on them are offered up on three huge bonfires. And at Arashiyama, boats with court musicians, kabuki actors and Noh plays floated along the river in celebration of the Maple Leaf Festival. Both were riveting, colorful, and quite an experience.

One of  my favorite memories of this trip was a return visit with Haruko Kataoka, my MFA friend Anita Poss’s AFS “elder sister”. Once again, I was a privileged guest. She greeted me wearing a kimono and performed a tea ceremony. She is  a teacher of ikebana (although a different school than the one I study) and had created 2 sublime seasonal arrangements, one of which was in the tokonoma along with a scroll painting and 2 dolls from her collection. (The last time I visited her, her whole collection of dolls, which she’d inherited from her parents, was on display for the Doll Festival.  Most of her collection is now on loan to a museum in Kyoto.) Although her English is rusty and my Japanese non-existent, we exchanged news about the Poss family and ourselves and had a good laugh over the fact that I had to enlist a policeman to help me find the house. We ended our evening with a delicious dinner in a tiny Chinese restaurant I could never find again.

Japan never ceases to surprise me with the variety of its cuisine. I had some incomparable dining experiences there. Our welcome dinner was interesting, to say the least.  Held in a traditional Japanese restaurant, complete with geisha and maiko servers and entertainment, we dined on Italian food.  Very good, but certainly not what I was expecting.
In Kyoto, our hands-down favorite fall-back place was the revolving sushi restaurant in Kyoto Station, on the Hachijo side. Fun, cheap, and you can eat as much or as little as you want – you’re charged by the plate (about $1.50/plate of 2 pieces.). Also in Kyoto, we had a 15-course meal at Omeohana, an all-tofu restaurant in the Headquarters complex.  It really is astounding what can be done with tofu – each course was delicious. One night, after much difficulty, we located Manzara-tei on Pontocho (recommended by Betsy Davis.) I’m so glad we persisted in finding it– we had a Japanese tapas-type meal, each dish to-die-for. And the atmosphere was unsurpassed. Another night I grabbed a bento box from the food court in the basement of Isetan Department store – you can get almost anything you want (foodwise) there.

I had another unforgettable meal the night I spent at Izuyasu Ryokan in Kyoto. Ryokans are classic Japanese inns which usually serve multi-course meals known as kaiseki – again, many small servings of delectable food. After dinner, I donned my yukata and parted the shoji doors that opened onto my private garden so I could read while listening to crickets chirp. My idea of heaven.

For lunch, I often grabbed street food, which many times ended up being mochi (a glutinous rice cake) in all its different guises. I learned to love mochi with mugwort. I also discovered that fish paste often takes the form of a rectangle on a skewer. Another time I ended up with a banana and Cool Whip sandwich. I had a fabulous lunch in Fushimi at a tiny place called Ten-Ten. You’d never know what an exceptional restaurant this was from the exterior; people I met at the Harvest Festival clued me in. The restaurant only serves okonomiyaki, a pancake topped with beef (or whatever you choose). noodles, cabbage, onions, scallions and spices; then wrapped in an egg crepe and topped with miso. Outstanding!!!

I do hope someday I’ll get back to Kyoto. Incredible as it may seem, there are still many places there I’ve yet to visit.  What an amazing city!

Mimi Santini-Ritt 2008