Elemental Kyoto

Kyoto is an incredibly special place, and truly the Yin to Tokyo’s Yang. Well, more appropriately, Kyoto is the “in’yō” to Tokyo’s “onmyō”, which is the rough Japanese equivalent to the classic Chinese philosophy of universal balance. Historically, in Japan the practice is called Onmyōdō, which literally translates to “Way of the Ying and the Yang”, and became a component of Shintoism, and evidence of this doctrine is still seen throughout Japanese practices today. A key component of this philosophy, directly brought from its Chinese roots, are the 5 elements balanced in harmony, reflected in much of our living world: Water, Earth, Metal, Wood, and Fire.

Kyoto, with its traditional Japanese aesthetic, exemplifies a harmonious balance between these various natural elements, creating an immersive experience for those who wander its streets and temples. The city is adorned with water features: ponds, waterfalls, and numerous rivers and canals. The interplay of deep wood tones and dark metals fosters a connection with nature even in the more urban environments, and is further enriched by the surrounding network of pathways, forests, and mountains.

Fire, the wildcard Keith Moon 5th member of the elemental band, which is often seen as a disruptive force, also symbolizes rebirth and transformation. This element reflects Japan's history of overcoming challenges and evolving, contributing to its unique identity today.

Even in relatively quaint Kyoto, with a population of 1.4 million, the same rules apply about the crowds. Get up and out there early, and you will have a significantly better time. Though of course don’t expect any businesses to be open.

Tanuki - Everyone’s favourite good luck racoon with oversized scrotum representing “financial luck” for businesses, found all over Japan.

We started our Kyoto explorations in Gion, the beautiful Geisha district, with beautiful traditional buildings and canals. Much of this area is forbidden for photography, as apparently there were too many tourists harassing the Geishas. We did walk past the Ichiriki Chaya Tea House, famously frequented by a group of Samurai in the 18th century known as the 47 Ronin, and the source of one of Japanese history’s more brutal tales of Samurai lore:

The tale begins when Asano Naganori, Lord of the southwest town of ‘Ako’, gets into a spat with Edo official, Kira Kozuke-no-suke Yoshinaka, and unsuccessfully tries to kill him. Naturally, due to his failures, Asano is to forced to commit the savage Japanese ritual suicide of seppuku, which typically involves an initial self-disembowelment by sword, and then generally some assistance is needed at that point to complete the ceremony with a final beheading.

With Asano dead, this left behind his master-less samurai (“Ronin”) to plot their revenge.

The Ronin frequently met at Ichiriki Chaya, concealing their revenge plot by acting despaired, and often feigning drunkenness. After one year of patient waiting and secretive planning, they stormed Kira's mansion, assassinated him, and placed his severed head at Asano's grave. The tale concludes dramatically with the Shogun mandating that all the Ronin perform ritual seppuku.

The Way of the Samurai, or “Bushido”, was some gnarly stuff!

The Teahouse is still running almost 300 years later as an invitation-only establishment, where you can spend an evening sipping green tea and entertained by Geisha for 500,000-800,000 yen ($5-8000 CAD).

Wandering along one of the smaller canals, Shirakawa, with beautiful cobblestone streets and pretty bridges. With the cherry blossoms in, it must be spectacular.

Kenninji Temple

We had a recommendation for a popular tea house, Tsujiri, who have been making their own tea for over 160 years, in central Gion. We had to take the opportunity to try out what passes for a complete breakfast in Japan, and ordered one of their ridiculous layered parfaits. It tasted as epic as it looks!

East of Gion your start to climb up into a hillside area full of a variety of temples, large graveyards, and a maze of pathways. Some areas were extremely busy, but many remained peaceful and serene, often just a block away.

Yasaka, Kiyomizu-dera, and the road leading up the Kiyomizu were packed. Most of the surrounding area was relatively quiet.

Tourists loved to dress up in rented traditional kimonos and walk around for photos. Selfie sticks outnumbered the temples 2:1, and there were a hell of a lot of temples!

The super busy climbing street up to Kiyomizu-dera temple, filled with tourist shops

Kiyomizu-dera temple

We’d put in a lot of walking by this point, so it was time to chow down. Mary’s food goals for the trip was to eat as much Okonomiyaki as she could find, and we managed to track some down eventually. Finding food on the go was a bit of a challenge throughout the trip, as Google was often out of date or wrong about the hours, and often if you did find a place you were excited to check out, there was a crazy long line.

This one was worth the wait, as these Japanese flour and cabbage pancakes really hit the spot. So much cuisine in Japan is absolute comfort food; simple yet rich flavours, plenty of layered sauces and textures, and the Okonomiyaki and side Yakisoba noodles was kept nice and hot as it is often served on a heated surface at your table.

You’ve gone too far Japan… “American Dog Parfait”…? wtf mate.

We ate a couple of terrific meals in Kyoto, the first being a bit of a fancier Izakaya (small plates). We had some of the best sashimi of the trip, including some variety of squid that was insane (just buttery smooth and not rubbery like you’d expect), and a number of other delicious treats like fried mushrooms, and chicken karage.

Our other terrific restaurant experience was at a kaiseki, which are higher end set menu establishments, offering seemingly endless courses of what really is culinary art. Each dish was beautifully prepared and plated, and we got to try some more wild and exotic fare, including the poisonous pufferfish, fugo, served in a gelatin, served inside an orange peel. The exciting part was that even though this was a fairly high end restaurant, the servers spoke barely any English, and so the descriptions of the dishes only came through in bits and pieces, and usually involved a lot of random guessing on our part like a game of poisonous pufferfish charades.

The experience definitely captured the essence of Onmyōdō, striking a tasteful equilibrium among the diverse elements. The visual appeal of the dishware, the thoughtful selection of accessories, and the broad spectrum of flavors created a harmony for the senses.

On our final day in Kyoto, we popped back onto some rental Luups, and headed out towards the popular Arashiyama bamboo forest area. The cycling alone was a highlight, and though there aren’t really bike lanes or suggested routes (at least not on Google Maps), we just picked a rough direction and fortunately most of the 10km ride snaked along quiet residential laneways, where a masterclass in Japanese landscaping was on display framing beautiful townhomes.

Photo: Giles

Once again, due to the New Years Eve holidays, a few of the main sites in our area like the Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle were closed, but we definitely didn’t run out of things to do. Kyoto was a wonderful place, and one I’m excited to come back and visit at a different time of the year to experience sakura (cherry blossoms) or the autumn colours: new natural elements added to the already rich palate.

We were off to the Osaka airport the next day to catch a flight to Hokkaido. Meticulous weather tracking suggested that the renowned skiing conditions in northern Japan were shaping up well for the next leg of our journey.