# Day 11 - A day of zen ## The god of rice Having had a later night than expected on our first night in Kyoto, we decided to set our alarms for a somewhat more reasonable hour than originally planned. Waking up at 6:30am meant we were able to arrive at Fushimi Inari Taisha—the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice—by 8am. We had been advised that arriving as early as possible would be a must if we wanted to avoid insane crowds at this immensely popular site. While the bright vermilion shrine itself is gorgeous, the real draw is its long tunnel of consecutive torii gates creating a path through the forest of the sacred Mt. Inari. The area, which is dotted with countless smaller shrines, contains several thousand torii as well as myriad statues of foxes (some dressed in cute little outfits), who are said to be the messengers of Inari. The trek through the torii was actually quite peaceful in spite of sharing the way with many other visitors, and since a large percentage of people bail before making it to the top, we even eventually got to enjoy having a few stretches of trail all to ourselves. The three hours we spent exploring this one-of-a-kind destination were truly special. ![[day 11 - 2.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 3.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 1.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 5.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 6.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 4.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 7.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 8.jpg]] ## Bamboo crowds Our plans next carried us a small way out of town to the area of the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, but before we were ready to take in the forest on foot, we were in need of some lunch. Situated just outside of the super-crowded main tourist area, Musubi Cafe was the perfect quiet retreat. We both loved our lunch sets, which featured a variety of fresh nourishing dishes. We finished our meal by splitting two desserts, including a decadent fig and nut tart that Sophia can’t wait to hunt down a similar recipe for. ![[day 11 - 9.jpg]]![[day 11 - 12.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 10.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 11.jpg]] ## Outlook for tomorrow: splashy We ended up spending only a short amount of time in the bamboo grove itself. The forest is beautiful but simply too crowded, and it was disturbing and disheartening to see how many people had defaced and destroyed the plants by carving their names into them. All was not in vain, however, as we found a park up the hill that was covered in cherry blossoms, and had a stunning viewpoint overlooking the Katsura River (more on that tomorrow) that really blew us away. ![[day 11 - 13.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 14.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 15.jpg]] ## In which we learn the meaning of zen In the evening we had booked a very special dinner at Daitokuji Ikkyu, a shojin ryori (vegan Japanese Buddhist monk cuisine) restaurant. We arrived early and spent a little time walking around Daitokuji—the temple with which the restaurant is associated. Unlike every other temple we’ve visited, the grounds were essentially deserted. We were completely alone, save one other woman passing through. The soft warm light of golden hour shone through architectural pines, and the sound of a gong rang out in the distance creating an atmosphere that brought greater context to the word “zen”. ![[day 11 - 16.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 17.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 18.jpg]] At over 500 years old, Daitokuji Ikkyu is the oldest existing shojin ryori restaurant in Kyoto. A bubbly woman in a kimono greeted us at the entrance, and after instructing us to remove our shoes, led us to a private tatami mat room. She opened the shoji (traditional Japanese sliding doors made of wooden lattice work and paper) revealing a beautiful garden for us to admire while we ate. The following meal included a wide variety of deceptively simple dishes honoring local seasonal produce that were packed with the five flavor pillars of Zen cooking: hot, sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. We were particularly enamored by mustard greens in wasabi cream and a mochi dumpling served with yuzu miso. The meal concluded with a slice of dried persimmon that was as beautiful to look at as it was to eat, a single bean of Daitokuji natto (a specialty specific to the temple, made of cured fermented soybeans), and a bowl of fresh hot matcha. Just as memorable as the food was the service. Our hostess was incredibly kind and attentive, and offered us the deepest most formal version of the Japanese bow on hands and knees, which we had never before experienced. It was a truly unforgettable evening. ![[day 11 - 22.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 19.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 20.jpg]] ![[day 11 - 21.jpg]]