Tokyo to Kyoto - Day 8

Today we took the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto! It was surprisingly easy to get a ticket, pretty much like the subway, but expectedly complicated to figure out exactly what to do when we obtained said ticket, as the ticket didn't have a time, destination or platform number on it. After a bit of half-English, half hand-waving with someone at the counter, we finally realized that the trains come about every 15 minutes, and we could hop on any one of them. We bought "non-reserved" because it was cheaper, not realizing that this meant finding a seat was a free-for-all in one of the first two cars. But we were then able to grab an extra seat for our suitcases, so it all worked out.

Once we got settled on the train, it was a smooth and quick ride to Kyoto. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't see much good scenery, you're literally moving too fast to watch anything without getting a headache.

In Kyoto, we chose to stay at Ryokan, which is a fancy word for "sleeping on the floor".

It was very peaceful - no TV or radio, and we had our own little Japanese garden ouside the sitting room. Other than the bathroom (it was a little too much like the size of the one in my dad's camper) the place was great. Especially the super friendly Japanese lady at the front desk, who seemed to know anything and everything about Kyoto.

Our first stop for the evening was the Kyoto National Museum, which I can't reccomend because it was tiny and nothing was in English. Afterward, we wandered around the covered mall:

No, it's not the Dollar Store, it's the 100 Yen Store!

There's some great pedestrian alleyways, packed with restraunts:

Which also overlook the river in Kyoto:

And that evening we visited our first shrine in Kyoto. This one was free and open 24-7, which is nice. Oh, and by the way, if it's a "shrine", it's Shinto, and if it's a "temple", it's Buddist. No, I have no idea what the "Shinto" religion is about. I'd better Google it.

This is the Yasaka Shinto Shrine, where Susanoono-mikoto (the god and prosperity and good health - also known for his defeat of a serpent with eight heads by getting it drunk and chopping off all the heads in one swoop), Kushiinada himeno-mikoto (she was saved by Susanoono from the eight headed snake by being turned into a comb and stuck in his hair) and Yahashirano-mikogami (I couldn't find any information whatsoever) are deified. Here's a picture of Susanoono:

The foundation dates back to 656, and one of the most famous festivals in Kyoto, The Gion Festival, is held here every July. It has been held every year since 869. That's a really long time. Here's what it looks like when its during the day and crowded:

Here's David inside the shrine grounds, contemplating who-knows-what.

Mythology lesson: In Japanese mythology, Susanoono, the powerful storm of Summer, is the brother of Amateraus, the goddess of the sun, and Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon. All three were spawned from Izanagi, when he washed his face clean of the pollutants of Yomi, the underworld. Amaterasu was born when Izanagi washed out his left eye, Tsukuyomi was born from the washing of the right eye, and Susano-o from the washing of the nose. I can just heat the teasing when they were growing up: "Yeah? Well at least I didn't come out of dad's nose...!"