Japan: Day 6- Kyoto

Kyoto is a special place. It took me only 30 minutes after arriving at Kyoto Station to come to this realization. It is an old city and has too much character to describe adequately in writing. It was once the capital of Japan for over a thousand years. There’s shrines and temples scattered all around the city’s winding streets, with local craft artisan shops and restaurants lining them. There’s a large spiritual presence here. Many of the temples and shrines are Buddhist and as you walk the crowded streets you can hear chanting and drums. Incense burns and wafts into the air and cinnamon and lylac fill your nose as you walk under clear and sunny skies. 

It was a nice sunny day and we spent the better part of it walking from one temple and shrine to another. Women in kimono dresses posed for pictures underneath the cherry blossoms. Their pedals now falling to make room for the bright green leaves of summer. 

Tourists filled the streets once more taking in the sights. It seems there is a crowd of epic magnitude everywhere you go in Japan. But today it didn’t bother me so much. We were away from concrete blocks and instead strolling through masterfully manicured landscapes. The shrines stick up into the air out of the spring trees, serving as beacons for you to follow. We passed a large mausoleum with hundreds of tombstones etched into a valley, protected by gently rolling green hills just beyond them. 

Kyoto is peaceful and quiet. It is an old friend that talks to you softly, like an old grandmother, slow and polite, endearing and fragile, making sure you hear every soft word she has to say. Each sentence is special and holy, and you have to listen carefully, lest you miss some word within a word, some secret you cannot hear again.