Day 13 - Monday November 6, 2017 - Himeji
Ryoan-ji & Spicy Tan Tan
Posted on Sunday November 5, 2017
Today is a ‘free’ day in that we’re not committed to anything and have no particular agenda.
We’ve done most of the specific items on our Kyoto to-do list for this trip though, given that Kyoto has 1,700+ temples and shrines, there’s never any shortage of places to go. One that’s on the list and to which we haven’t been before is Ryoan-ji so we decided to go there today.
Not perhaps the easiest of places to get to, it’s generally suggested that you get there by bus but it seemed possible to also do it by train, albeit in a somewhat less than obvious manner. The bus stops outside Kyoto Station have buses going to all the major temples and shrines but our experience has suggested that the lines can be long and the buses crowded (not that the trains aren’t crowded).
There is a station at Ryoanji, about 15 minutes walk from Ryoan-ji but it’s on the Kitano line which one might view (if one was being uncharitable) as going from nowhere to nowhere – that is, it doesn’t really connect (at least directly) to anything else. However, it appeared that, if we took a JR Sagano line train from Kyoto Station and got off at Uzumasa station, it was only a short walk from there to Satsueisho-mae station on the Kitano line.
After the obligatory stop at Starbucks, we headed over to the station to catch the 9.32 JR Sagano line train. There were long lines at all the bus stops outside the Station (perhaps not surprising at 9.30 on a Sunday morning) so we were glad we had eschewed that option. However, even though the trains run every 15 – 20 minutes, the platform was packed when we got there – I’d forgotten this line goes to Arashiyama, the jumping off point for Tenryu-ji, the Bamboo Grove etc. The train was standing room only but it’s only 13 minutes to Uzumasa so no real problem. We walked over to the Kitano line station and waited for the train, which arrived in a few minutes. A single carriage, already somewhat full and standing room only. We stood by the front door, right behind the driver, so an interesting view as we trundled along. I’m not sure how many trains they run on the line but they obviously go back and forth, with a train about every 10 minutes. Some of it was single-track so we had to wait a couple of times for the train coming the other way to pass before we could proceed. Even so, it only took eight minutes despite there being six stops (we got on at stop ‘B1’ and off at stop ‘B7’).
From the station, it was about a 15 minute walk up through a largely residential area and across the main road to get to the approach to Ryoan-ji. It can be described thus -
Ryoanji Temple is the site of Japan’s most famous rock garden. Originally an aristocrat’s villa during the Heian Period, the site was converted into a Zen temple in 1450. As for the history of Ryoanji’s famous rock garden, the facts are less certain. The garden’s date of construction is unknown and there are a number of speculations regarding its designer. The garden consists of a rectangular plot of pebbles surrounded by low earthen walls, with 15 rocks laid out in small groups on patches of moss. Along with its origins, the meaning of the garden is unclear. Some believe that the garden represents the common theme of a tiger carrying cubs across a pond or of islands in a sea, while others claim that the garden represents an abstract concept like infinity. Because the garden’s meaning has not been made explicit, it is up to each viewer to find the meaning for him/herself. Ryoanji’s garden is viewed from the Hojo, the head priest’s former residence. Ryoanji’s temple grounds also include a relatively spacious park area with pond, located below the temple’s main buildings. The pond dates back to the time when the site still served as an aristocrat’s villa.
The enigma of the rock garden is that, no matter where you stand, you cannot see all 15 stones at the same time. The rocks are in five clumps of 5-2-3-2-3 stones – change position and you can see all the (separate) stones in each clump but no matter how hard you try, you can’t see all 15 at the same time.
We walked round the gardens and the pond – lots of lilies growing on the pond but obviously the wrong time of year for them to be in bloom. We then went in search of the tea room – surely there has to be one here somewhere? We followed the sign to the ‘shop’ and, sure enough, there was a cafe/restaurant, though it was somewhat unclear as to which part might be the ‘cafe’ and which was the ‘restaurant’. While we pondered that, we wandered over to an adjacent kiosk, really just to see what it was. The ladies there proffered small bowls of tea, which I initially declined but which A-M tried but then – hey, it’s free, so I might as well have some. It was very distinctive and quite unlike any tea we’d had before. A-M bought some (so their pitch of free samples worked) – we’ll see if it tastes as good when we make it.
Tea time over, we re-traced our steps and caught the trains back to Kyoto Station.
As it was now lunch time, we headed up to the tenth floor to the ramen restaurants – Spicy Tan Tan noodles for lunch – yumm!
Lunch over, we headed for the apartment, stopping as usual for evening/breakfast supplies on the way.