Friday, Oct 9

Today, we explored the shrines and temples of Nara. Our day began with a late (for us) breakfast at 8am – the earliest they will serve at this ryokan. Our first stop of the day was Horyuji Temple which contains the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures. We stopped at a tourist information booth on the way out of the train station and the older gentleman (in his 70s) working behind the counter volunteered to come with us on our trip through the grounds of Horyuji. We saw lots of old buildings and ancient artifacts, most of which you can read about in various guide books. Once again, I don’t understand much of the religious/historical significance of this place, but I very much enjoyed being there. Even with the throngs of (extremely well-behaved) Japanese school kids touring the grounds at the same time as us.

After walking through Saiin Garan, our host took us down a tiny alley on the other side of a gate to the left (as you’re facing the entrance) of Saiin Garan. This street was just outside the temple and he was search for a memorial to Langdon Warner. Who is Langdon Warner, you might ask? Well, according to Wikipedia, he was one of the models for Steven Spielburg’s Indiana Jones, but that’s not why there is a memorial to him here. He was a Harvard professor during World War II who urged the U.S. military to spare the cities of Nara and Kyoto from the bombings that happened in just about every other major Japanese city during the war. The people of this area revered him as a hero who saved places like Horyuji from certain destruction. When our host heard we were from Boston, he wanted to make sure he showed us this memorial. Based on the fact that it took him a little while to find it, I don’t think very many tourists get to see this rather simple, but still interesting memorial. I also think the fact that we were from Boston and our host had a special connection to Boston (in part because of Langdon Warner) was one of the reasons he came with us today.

After the memorial, we went through a museum of Temple Treasures, which included some writings on pieces of paper from the 700s. Kind of neat. We then went through the Toin Garan, stopped to pick up a few souvenirs and then started to head back towards the train station. Along the way, our host told us that he was actually the director of the very nice tourist information center along the road to Horyuji. He also volunteered to show us a cheap place where we could have lunch. It turned out the place he had in mind was essentially the cafeteria of the tourist information center. He very graciously translated and helped us order lunch. It was indeed cheap, but very tasty food.

As we were finishing up lunch, our host told us this was a very lucky day since the mayor of the town had just come in to have lunch. The mayor was indeed a true politician – he went around, shook everyone’s hand and gave each of us his business card. His name was Toshishige Kojo and Ikaruga is the town that he is mayor of. Very interesting. As we were leaving, David told us these were the neat kind of things that occasionally happen to you in Japan. You have no idea when or where they will occur, but you should just enjoy them when they do. All of us enjoyed this one.

After lunch, we headed into the center of Nara to see the temples there. Our first stop was the Todaiji Temple which is the largest wooden building in the world. The centerpiece is a massive statue of Buddha, but there were quite a few other statues scattered throughout the building. Back in one corner, there was a long line of kids waiting to do something. It turned out they were trying to crawl through a small hole that had been carved out of one of the support pillars for the building. The hole couldn’t have been much more than 18 inches on a side and about 3 feet to get through. A couple members of our group climbed through and didn’t seem to have any trouble. Someone standing nearby told us the hole was the same size as the nose of the Buddha statue in the building. Interesting.

After this massive (and very nice) temple, David suggested that we head to the top of a nearby hill. David, Eric, Greg and I headed in the direction of Wakakusayama Hill, stopping at a few places along the way. One of them was Shoro which is a huge bell. Surprise, surprise, the others were a couple of temples/shrines/halls or whatever. By this point, I was starting to get a little bit “templed out” and was happy to do something a little bit different.

Wakakusayama Hill is 342m/1122ft so it’s not quite like the hikes in the Japanese Alps we just finished. Also unlike those hikes: they actually charge you to climb this. It’s only 150 yen (< $2), but the Japanese Alps trails were all free. With quite a few stops for pictures along the way, it took us about 40 minutes to finally reach the top. I say finally because, in spite of its less than impressive height, there were actually 3 or 4 “false summits” along the way. All of them had great views of Nara and the rest of the valley below. As we were getting near the top, we ran into what must have been a group of people in town for a conference. Most of them were non-Japanese and some were wearing badges. At the top, a man wearing a nice suite literally came running towards us trying to get us back on the bus. Kind of funny, but he headed off in search of other lost conference attendees.

Back at the bottom, we spent some time watching the deer. I haven’t mentioned the deer of Nara yet. They are quite tame and freely roam the streets and parks of the city. They will come right up to you in search of food and locals sell “deer crackers” that you are free to feed the deer. Mike L bought some and was immediately surrounded by animals, including all of the members of our group snapping photos! These deer are much smaller than the ones back home (goat sized or about waist high) so it was kind of amusing seeing Mike surrounded like that. While we were up on the hill, one of the deer apparently stole a map right out of Mark’s hand. Even more amusing, though I wasn’t there to see it.

Next up: dinner. David had found a place online that he wanted to try. It was in one of the pedestrian arcardes downtown so the four of us went searching for it. Greg was the one who actually spotted it (Ocanu, I believe). This place serves “pancake like” things that they stuff with lots of things (hamburger, vegetables, seafood, etc). The wait staff actually cooks them for you on a griddle right in the center of your table. The four people at my table split three pancakes and two other dishes. All of them were quite tasty.

After dinner, we headed back to the ryokan where Brett had arranged a Sake tasting for us from the Yougendo Bar. For 2,000 yen, we sampled 5 different varieties of Sake. Sake is much like wine – it can vary from really dry, clear stuff to ultra-sweet varieties that various fruits have been added to. There is something like 10,000 different types of Sake made in Japan and we were sampling stuff from some of the local Nara Sake makers. Most of the group (including me), tended to like the fruit sweetened types – especially the lemon one. All-in-all, this was a great way to end an action packed day in Nara.

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