Come to Kyoto, please enjoy a temple of 2000

From the mountains, I went to Kyoto to experience traditional Japan in what some would call Japan`s true capital (not sure that I would agree). The amazing, yet scary thing about Kyoto is the quantity of temples. There are Buddhist temples, Shinto temples, Imperial shrines and even a temple dedicated to crazy Japanese haircuts, the central statue here has a feathered mullet, in case you were wondering. If you like temples, this is the place for you. Fortunately, I`m open to being inspired by a temple or two now and gain and I receive a cheat sheet listing the 10-15 temples I should visit.

I tried to take my time and pace myself at a rate of two to three per day, but at the end of the week, I was saturated and fairly templed out. I had my favorites. In truth, with a couple of exceptions, each of the temples would easily stand out on its own. The proximity to all the other great sites makes comparison easy and rather unfortunate. Invariably, my favorite temples were the ones experienced in proper conditions- not surrounded by tourists or overwhelmed with distractions.

Tori Tori Tori
One of my favorite places in Kyoto was the Fushimi Inari shrine in the SE part of the city. It certainly wasn`t the nicest temples, others were more elegant, dramatic and thoughtfully constructed. This shrine had a rather blunt approach. Build as many toris (red gates) as possible along a mountain path. It seemed to work just fine for me. I planned to arrive at dusk and the shrine was nearly deserted, which meant I was free to prance along the mountain paths undisturbed.

As I walked up the path, lit only by lanterns, I could hear crickets, cicadas, the flow of a stream and even my own breath. Climbing up this dark path had an almost spooky feel to it, as the shrine was filled with very traditional cemeteries. Then out of nowhere, perhaps out of the rising mist, I heard loud, really bad Spanish pop music. Stupid Spanish kids from Majorca-it seemed they were half expecting a club at the summit. I quickly ditched them and then I was back to crickets, spirits and ghost. The next time I have a date in Kyoto we`re going here. I just have to be sure to remind her not to wear heels.

Sometimes it`s the journey that matters most, and that`s true of this shrine. At the top, after all your hard work climbing up, you are rewarded with..... more toris and cemeteries. Each tori has an inscription written in Kanji (also known as intelligible character). While I`m not exactly sure what they say, I`m pretty sure the inscriptions are names of people who miraculously disappeared at the shrine or at the very least sacrificed monks to appeased the mountain spirits. I`m sure the shrines can be visited and enjoyed during the day, but the seclusion and the quiet are really what made this place special.

Nara, by Deer
Nara, about a 45 train from Kyoto is a strange place. It has what must be one of the nicest temples in all of Japan-Todai-ji, complete with a wonderfully transcendent Buddha. But the town is also filled with over 1,000 deer. I`m not talking about cute little bambis, these deer are some of the mangiest, domesticated, rudest deer you will ever meet. The locals claim the spirits of the deer protect the temples. I guess that`s possible, but I only noticed the constant smell of shit.

At Todai-ji there were hoards of kids, tour groups and deer. Vendors were selling special deer treats, which delighted both tourist and deer alike. As you approach the temple you hear laughter, exclamations of joy and shouts of fear as the deer get a little bit too friendly. But once you cross the main gate the focus is only on the temple. The two story gate itself is a sight to see, as its a magnificent wooden structure. Of course, few people notice the structure, most are concerned only with the smelly deer. I won`t bore you with details about this impressive temple of the fantastic Buddha within. Believe when I say it`s worth a visit.

As in the Byodin temple in Uji-about twenty min from Kyoto. Maybe I was just buttered up by the other temples I had seen up to this point, but I was particularly struck by this temple. Built as a conduit to the afterlife and as a place for reincarnation, which of course would be necessary after the expected apocalypse (don`t worry, I think they were planning for some 13th century apocalypse, so I think we`re in the clear), this templed is designed to resemble a phoenix. It has a nice Buddha and a modern museum on its grounds. If all the temples in Kyoto were presented with such elegance, and equally free from the ever present crowds, the temple experiences would have been even that much more powerful.