Ninomaru Palace at Nijo Castle.

Sunday, November 27, 2005, part 2

The next stop was Nijo Castle, which had been the Kyoto headquarters of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. We were only able to see a portion of Nijo Castle during our visit, though I believe portions of the grounds were closed to the public. We were, however, able to see Ninomaru Palace, which is a designated national treasure. Apparently, more than twenty other areas of Nijo have been designed as "Important Cultural Property," though I don't remember if that is a national or international reference.

Stepping onto the grounds of Nijo Castle was a bit like stepping onto the grounds at Disneyland. Much like the Magic Kingdom is surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Anaheim city roads, Nijo Castle's moats are framed by the streets and buildings of of modern Kyoto. However, once inside, little of the outside world can be seen, and it's almost as if the rest of the city did not exist at all.

I rather liked the efforts made to preserve Ninomaru while still sharing it with the world. For example, all doorways and windows that directly faced into rooms were closed to preserve the artwork on the walls and doorways. This meant that the inside of the palace was rather dark (I assume this is why the place closed at sunset). Naturally, this also meant no flash photography was allowed. Just enough light was let through so that visitors could glimpse into the rooms and admire the intricacies of the work. This made viewing difficult - especially since we walked through the hallways and weren't allowed into the rooms themselves - but it was still easy to appreciate its grandeur.

Autumn in the gardens of Nijo Castle.

All visitors were required to remove their shoes before entering the building, and they were all placed into shelves and cubbyholes just outside the entrance. The removal of the shoes was important for more reasons than simple preservation or even tradition. Walking around in my socks was actually quite interesting, as I could feel the grooves in the wooden floorboards as I walked. It was fascinating simply to know that thousands of people had walked upon those boards before me, eroding the wood and creating the grooves I felt.

The best part of the floorboards, however, was the sound they made. The palace had been built with "nightingale floors," which were basically long planks of wood with loose and half-driven nails placed in specfic areas of the underside. The boards squeaked at the slightest pressure, producing a sound similar to the chirp of a nightingale. The nightingale flooring was a defense mechanism created so that nobody could sneak up on the inhabitants of the palace and execute a surprise attack. (Take that, ninjas!)

Afterwards, we were able to wander through some of the castle's beautiful gardens. I suggest taking a few minutes to peruse the ones I have uploaded but do not show on this page. The fall colors only make the grounds more beautiful. Again, we ran out of time and we were reluctant to leave, but the castle was closing and we had a long drive ahead of us.
[more photos from Nijo Castle]

Rex and Mom in their yukatas.

Hot Springs and Warm Butts

The last stop of the day was to our hot spring hotel. For this, the group was divided onto two buses: the Mandarin speakers and the Cantonese speakers. Each bus was headed for a different hotel. As it turns out, a Korean politician decided he wanted to stay at the hotel the tour agency had booked for us. Instead of reserving a few rooms for himself, however, he apparently bought out the entire hotel and had our group booted. Of course, this meant that we had to go elsewhere, and the agency decided that instead of putting us in any ol' resort that could accompany us all, they would split us into two groups and find two good hotels for us.

The Cantonese speaking tour bus had to drive more than two hours to get to the resort. The place was in rural area near another city. The hotel itself was not ritzy by any means, but it was very nice. Unlike the five star hotels we stayed in the other nights, this one was more traditionally Japanese. Our suite looked like a hot spring hotel room straight out of an anime such "Tenchi Muyo," both in layout and in furniture. One entire room in our suite was empty, awaiting the futons that would be laid out over the tatami mats later in the evening.

A little karaoke song and dance.

The W.C. was particularly interesting, as it consisting only of a toilet...but oh, what a toilet! On top of the tank was a small faucet that automatically poured water whenever the toilet was flushed. The handle to flush was also interesting, as it could turn both ways and was labeled "big" and "little," so that the water flow would be appropriate for going either "number one" or "number two." However, the best part of the toilet was discovered by Rex, who used the toilet first and, while still inside the W.C., shouted, "Oh my god, the toilet seat has a butt warmer!" It was, quite possibly, the greatest toilet ever! Never mind the fact that my friend Justin told me the next day that such toilets are very common in Japanese households.

After settling into the room, we put on our yukatas (simple Japanese cotton robes, more or less), slid into the slippers that had been provided for us, and headed down to the bathing area to have a quick soak before dinner. Basically, hot springs are what they sound like: small pools of water that are hot. Think of it as a really nice communal bath featuring a large hot tub. Before getting into the water, sits at one of the showering areas and cleans up. Soap, shampoo, and conditioner were all provided. After cleaning off, it's time for the bath.

Little Samantha chasing big Samantha around the room while others sang.

The one thing that freaks out foreigners is that the hot spring baths are communal baths, which means having to be naked. Not even swimsuits are allowed. Of course, bathing areas are divided by gender, but many people are still freaked out. I think the key for tourists who are first timers is knowing three things: 1) that nobody is looking, 2) that they will never see those other people again, and 3) that they'd be even more embarrassed when somebody sees them acting timid and starts asking what's wrong. The more timid can cover their private parts with the towel that is brought into the showering and bathing areas, but the towel is not supposed to go into the hot bath water. I rather enjoyed copying the animes I'd seen by folding my towel into a little rectangle and placing it on my head.

This particular hot spring had two indoor pools and one outdoor spring fashioned around rocks. The hot spring baths are extremely relaxing, though the temperatures are so high, one can only stay in them for a few minutes at a time or risk becoming lightheaded. The outdoor spring is warmer than the indoor ones because of the temperature, and I hear that they are especially popular in the winter, when one can watch the snow fall while relaxing in the bath.

After the bath, we met with the rest of our group for a Kaiseki dinner, which consisted of many, many small dishes served to us while we sat on cushions. The food was delicious, but it just kept coming and coming, and it was more than most of us could eat. Afterwards, a karaoke machine was pulled out. Jonathan and Caleb were so tuckered out that they passed out on their cusions. Caleb's dad, however, got up and danced while Rex sang "New York, New York." Later, Rex and David sang "You've Lost That Loving Feeling." I didn't sing, though I noticed that Maroon 5 had a song in the karaoke book and was mildly surprised to discover that they even followed me to Japan.

The two Samanthas played, though most of the playing consisted of running around the room many times in their child-sized yukatas. Eventually, they were sat down to sing "The Alphabet Song" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." After a while, I wandered back to the baths to get another soak in before bed.
[more photos from the hot springs]

Next page: Monday, November 28