Japan

[Drunk Monk]

Yesterday we planned to be a chill day. But it wasn’t. We slept in, then had breakfast at a pancake house (Japanese pancakes are soufflé style making the like an inch think and super fluffy). I had the cream cheese stuffed ones and a bit of a disappointed cafe mocha. 

We visited some random temple which was empty because it was early. It was nice. There are so many temples in this area - dozens. We only poked into this one to warm up and passed many of the others by.

We went to the bunny temple which was tiny and sweet. Not many people there so we hung out for a while to savor the vibe. 

We visited Tozando - the leading distributor of Iaido, Kendo, & Myudo gear. It reminded me of AFS back in the day, cluttered piles mysteriously organized and a mildly uninterested staff. Upstairs there was a display of antiques for sale, swords & armor. The most expensive one was ¥4m. I got their new book on sword, one for me and one for my sensei, and a sageo that is bright orange (it was cheaper and a lot of temples are orange). 

We peeked into budoken, a historic martial school. Gorgeous dojo, the finest ever.

Stopped in a guitar shop because Tara was looking for a gift but we don’t know anything about guitars so we just ogled the nice ones. There was like over a hundred guitars in there.

We made a brutally hot trek to the imperial palace, which was even more walking, all on pea rock. It was like a sauna. I haven’t sweated so much in my life. It was nice, commanding but sterile. There was a designated path.

Then we had lunch at yet another vegan cafe that overlooked the river. Tara had a Buddha bowl and I went for the curry. It was a hearty meal.

We hopped the train to the torii temple, which was kitune themed, which delighted us both. That was impressive. So many torii, winding up the mountain trails. We didn’t go to the top, just the first loop. 

We returned to the hotel to recoup, then when out for more shopping and dinner. I bought these dragon dress shoes from an artisan maker that I just could not resist. Then we had dinner at that place that we didn’t get into last night, a gourmet vegan place that was tiny (only seated 7 at a bar). Japan has a tradition of Shojin ryori (sp?) which promotes the vegan diet. It was an incredible meal, served in multiple courses. 

After that we did a little more shopping, then back to the hotel to crash.

12.6 miles

Today we move to a guest house on the other side of Kyoto.