TokyoTomo Travel Guide

April is the very season to enjoy sakura in Kyoto. While many tourists visit Kyoto from inside and outside Japan, Kyoto actively hosts spring festivals in various places. This time, I participated in two festivals held in the middle of April.

Many shrines and temples in Kyoto are famous for its cherry blossoms, but in this article I would like to focus on Hirano Shrine. The shrine is located in Kita Ward in Kyoto City, usually in tranquility except for sakura season when it becomes crowded with tons of tourists. Four hundred cherry blossoms of about 55 species are planted in the precincts, famous for its “Night Sakura in Hirano.” Various types of cherry blossoms can be enjoyed from late March until early May. Every year, “Sakura Matsuri” is held on 10 April, which derives from the provisional imperial festival by Emperor Kazan of the Heian era first held in the year 985. From the afternoon, parades of people dressed in Heian costumes, horse soldiers, and Orihime (weaver princess) visit the areas where shrine parishioner lives. Among them, I was overwhelmed by the knights on the horses. The charm of the parade is we get to walk right beside the parade and take an up close look at the participants in different costumes.

In the precincts, there is a Japanese sweets only available in this season. “Hirano-ouro,” a sweets made of a ball of red bean paste coated with sugar, is served with “Sakura-yu,”a hot water with “Kaiun-zakura,” i.e., salted sakura that has been used for prayers. From late March to mid April, classic music and ancient court music are performed in the worship hall. You can take a break appreciating the sakura and enjoying the music with a sense of spring in Kyoto.

The following day, I participated in “Yasurai-matsuri,” one of the three unusual festivals of Kyoto. This is a festival that continues from Heian era with various theories of its origin. In the past, it was said that deities of plague and evil spirits come down together when spring flowers fall; the festival is a “Hana-shizume-no-matsuri (flower calming festival)” to appease these deities. During the festival, parade of people with red or black devil costumes walk and dance around the parishioner’s area with flutes, bells, drums and calls. At the same time, a huge red “hana-gasa (literally translated as flower-umbrella)” decorated with flowers is carried along together. By the dances in the parade, the deities of plague and evil spirits will be sealed off inside the umbrella, and it is said that you will be healthy with no disease for the year if you go under the hana-gasa. Sometimes, I saw people rushing into the umbrella in the middle of the festival.

Currently, Yasurai-matsuri is hosted by four organizations in Kita Ward in Kyoto City; Imamiya Shrine, Genbu Shrine, Kawakami-daijingu, Ota Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine. The parade from Ota Shrine to Kamigamo Shrine is the only one held in May, but other shrines have the festival on the second Sunday of April.

“If the weather in Yasurai-matsuri is fine, all events in Kyoto will be sunny for the year,” goes the legend, but unfortunately this year was a bad weather. There are two parts in the festival, a dance within the shrine precincts and a parade in parishioner’s area, but many parades were called off this year due to drizzling weather. However, I got to chase after Genbu Shrine’s parade as I heard that they will still have them on though it will be a simplified version. The town was soon filled with devils in scarlet costumes, fiercely bouncing around with the rhythm of flutes, drums and calls. The children dressed up as little devils were adorable, greeted by the locals with a smile on their face.

Yasurai-matsuri in Imamiya Shrine started from the precinct with a little devil’s dance performed by children, followed by eight big devils in two groups forming a large circle dedicating their yasurai-dance to the deities. Ringing the bells and beating the drums, the devils overwhelmed me by changing its movement from vibrant jumping movement to slow circular dances that seemed vibrant enough to chase away the deities of plague. The dancers also received applause by the observing tourists.

After enjoying Yasurai-matsuri, fill in your stomach with “Aburi-mochi” in front of the shrine. This is a baked rice cake sprinkled with soya bean powder in small skewers, tasted with white miso paste. Two aburi-mochi stores are in front of the shrine, and surprisingly, one of it has been in business since Heian era. It is also nice to try both stores as the taste is slightly different between the two.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

NHK period drama on Sundays is on air throughout the year, and naturally, the regions highlighted in the drama has high chance to gain nationwide attention. Last year, Niigata and Yamagata came under the spotlight as the leading role of the drama was Kanetsugu Naoe, the warlord who showed presence in the area. Ryoma Sakamoto is featured for this year; his birthplace Kochi Prefecture, and the associated places such as Edo (Tokyo), Kyoto, and Nagasaki, will be the center of attraction. Many historical incidents took place in Kyoto during the transition from Edo to Meiji period, and it is interesting to walk around the town taking a glance at the history of the last days of Tokugawa Shogunate. Kyoto has been an inevitable place for Japan’s history since the transfer of the capital to Kyoto 1200 years ago, with many architectural and cultural heritage from those days, but thanks to Ryoma Sakamoto, this year people are giving more than a passing thought to the history merely 150 years ago.

This winter, Kyoto holds special exhibition of unpublicized cultural properties for a limited time until the end of March around the spring holidays, with array of cultural assets from the late Edo period. This time, I visited Sokushuin and Taikoan in Tofuku-ji Temple where it is famous for its autumn foliage. Sokushuin was established about 620 years ago as a temple for Satsuma clan (current Kagoshima Prefecture), and it is said that Atsuhime, a princess featured in the period drama two years ago, had stopped by on the way to Edo before she got married to the shogun in the late Edo period. It was also a place where Takamori Saigo, the clan member of Satsuma, and Gessho, a monk in Kiyomizu-dera Temple, discussed the plan to overthrow Tokugawa Shogunate. After that, during his six-month stay in Sokushuin, Takamori Saigo built a monument to commemorate the souls of 524 clan members killed in the battle of Toba-Fushimi. The monument faces westward to the far land of Satsuma, but just as if it represents the Satsumas losing power in the central government after Seinan War, the gravestone is ruined as if it is showing how mortified they have been. This area is usually not opened to public, and this was my first time I noticed a contrasting spot in the colorful Kyoto; this may be one of the place where the history of modern Japan really started.

Taikouan is another cultural asset seen in Tofuku-ji. There is a rock garden covered with hair moss, and tea house where Juji (leader monk of the temple) Ankokuiji Eikei and Mitsunari Ishida conspired to defeat Tokugawa before the battle of Sekigahara. During the battle of Toba-Fushimi, this area was the headquarters of Choshu clan, another leading party of Satsuma-Choshu alliance. Tofuku-ji was a site where the drama took place at that time by becoming the temple supporting the clan members. Though it looks as if it completely has nothing to do with the conspiracy and conflicts, the rock garden is actually the witness of the history. Ostensibly, the garden silently express the world of zen with wabi-sabi; the seriousness of the history can be sought deep inside the tranquility of the garden.

Less than five minutes by car from Tofuku-ji is Sennyu-ji, a temple where Emperor Komei rests in peace. He was the 121st emperor who was tossed about in the turbulent days of the end of Edo period when the anti-foreigner movement was on the rise. The temple is famous for being the family temple for the imperial family, entombing emperors of Edo period from Gomizunoo to Komei. Even nowadays the temple is visited by the imperial family, and the rooms are decorated with screen paintings that reminds us of the court life back then. The temple edifice impresses the visitors with its magnificence being the royal temple. Not many people visit the temple as it is located southeast away from the center of Kyoto. I also wouldn’t drop by unless there is a chance like this, but Kyoto has witnesses of history here and there around the town.

After being exposed to the upheaval of the late Edo period, for a change I took a stroll to view plum blossoms. End of February is the season of plums, indicating the coming of early spring in the ancient capital. Kitano-Tenmangu Shrine is the very spot to view Kyoto’s plum blossoms, about 30 minutes northwest by car from Sennyu-ji. Enshrining Michizane Sugawara, the god of academic achievements, many young students visit the shrine around this time of the year during the entrance exam season, but on the other hand, the precinct is filled with beautiful plum blossoms of white and red. I feel plum blossom is a suitable forerunner before the time of cherry blossoms when Kyoto bear a resplendent atmosphere. Plum blossoms is a perfect flower to enjoy in early spring, signifying the coming of spring to the old capital.

In night like this in early springtime, I would recommend a restaurant that serves exquisite Italian food in a Japanese atmosphere. “Higashiyama Sodo,” a private residence of a renowned Japanese-style painter Seiho Takeuchi, was built in early Showa period near Kodai-ji temple in Higashiyama at the east of the Tower of Yasaka. Keeping its original condition, the personal residence has now become the restaurant with a splendid Japanese atmosphere called “The Garden Oriental Kyoto.” After spending a day learning about the twilight years of Edo period, it would be a chic way of enjoying the night in the air of pre-war Japan. Drinking wine touching the aesthetic feeling of Japanese-style artist.

Kyoto always surprises me with its deep insight.
Winter in Kyoto chills me up to the bone, but gives us a luxury to indulge in a historical walk like this.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

You can never miss crabs when you are talking about seafood in winter. Especially, captured only in the Japan Sea, the taste of Zuwai-gani is Exquisite. With its long legs and succulent meat, this type of crab goes well with any recipes. Boil, grill, or nabe (one-pot dish), for example. Interestingly, Zuwai-gani changes its name by region; “Matsuba-gani” in Tango and Sanin, and “Echizen-gani” in Fukui and Ishikawa Prefecture. To distinguish the brands, these days the fishermen’s union in each area put the name of the landing port onto the crabs after they are captured. With these color-codes of the port of origin, you can instantly identify where the crab comes from.

Among the high-brand Zuwai-gani, “Taiza-gani” is a rare and super-deluxe product that costs more than 20 thousand yen per crab. Taiza-gani, with its unfamiliar name, is also known as “a rare Matsuba-gani.” Even among Matsuba-gani, the specialty of Sanin region (Shimane, Tottori, Hyogo, Kyoto), the only crabs entitled to be named “Taiza-gani” are the ones landing in Port Taiza of Tango Peninsula in Northern Kyoto.

They reason of the crab’s rarity is due to the limited haul of the crab, as it is captured using a few number of small boats. Unlike large fishing boat with fishermen staying and operating for each and every day, these small crab boats can be easily affected by stormy weathers and climate change; fishermen may not be able to capture crabs for more than a week if the sea is rough. The fishing ground is off the shore in the northern tip of Kyoto Prefecture. The fish boat cast off from Taiza port before dawn and return in the afternoon, and the crabs captured will be traded on the very day.

Quality of the crab meat goes off even if it is kept alive in an aquarium, so the fishermen prioritize the freshness and the taste rather than the fishery yield. Thanks to those efforts, the freshness and the meat quality is superb, making the crab very rare that can only be savored in classy diners or Japanese restaurants. The density of the meat is also great, and many celebrities and chefs fell in love with the crab, praising “Once tried, you will never forget the taste.”

There are varieties of ways to taste Taiza-gani. Grilled, Kani hotpot, sashimi, porridge, or name any kind of recipes. Don’t worry if you have a limited budget, you can try going over to the local producers to try the crabs. Interestingly, if you order a course meal at restaurants or Japanese-style inns you will always get to see live crabs shown before they are cooked.

The first dish served in the course menu is sashimi. Dipping the prepared meat into ice water, the meat spreads like a flower as the nerves around the legs are still alive. It tastes as if it melts in your mouth. Savoring one whole crab, the course menu continues with boiled, shabu-shabu, grilled, and crabs hot pots, and Japanese porridge is served in the end of the feast. The inn would be quite expensive, ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 per person including the accommodation fee. But the seasonal Taiza-gani is the king of crabs. This crab tastes delicious regardless of the menu, so it is worth trying for at least once if you are fortunate enough to indulge in its taste.

By the way, the origin of the name Taiza dates back to Asuka Period. In the end of sixth century, two ruling families Soga and Mononobe had a conflict, and Aanahobeno-hashiudo, Prince Shotoku’s mother, found shelter with “Ohama-no-Sato” to escape from the disturbance. Taiza was once called Ohama-no-Sato, but after the war was over, the queen gave her name to the area “Hashiudo Village” upon her return to Ikaruga in Yamato. However, the people in Ohama-no-Sato displayed the feeling of awe, avoiding to call the name of the queen and left the village (i.e., “Taiza” is a homonym for the word “to leave the place”). It is said that the area is called “Taiza” from this incident.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.