Kyoto at a meander

The luxury of time in a place like Japan is a beautiful thing. We’ve previously done it at a see-all-the-things pace which is exhilarating, exhausting, and doable only when you’re going back home to recover from your vacation.

Slow is nice and rewarding in its own, less thrilling way. Japanese gardens are made to sit and contemplate; our favorite coffee shops make each cup meticulously. It’s good to sit and wait and look.

We have a number of new favorite places in Kyoto. Writing about them all would strain both of our attention spans, so I’ll just tell you about the one place we’d most like to return to, Saihō-ji, the moss garden.

Saihō-ji requires a reservation, which is now thankfully online rather than by post, but it still requires a couple of months’ lead-time. It’s also rather expensive relative to the other temples we visited, $25 vs just a couple of bucks anywhere else; plus it’s a decently long bus ride from the center of Kyoto. If I’m feeling charitable, I’d say the added effort means crowds are small and attentive, if I’m not, it’s for keeping the riff-raff out. In any event, we saw no influencers.

This is a place of worship, not a tourist attraction. Upon entering, you’re given sheets of paper and a felt tip brush pen. First stop is the temple, where you sit silently and copy a sutra. It’s not a calligraphy challenge, you’re tracing the characters. No photographs are allowed at this stage of the visit. It sets a quiet, contemplative mood for the rest your time there. You’re free to walk the paths afterwards until closing. This isn’t a guided tour.

There are some 140 species of moss here and the setting is magical.

I’m happy we chose February to visit Kyoto. Tourism is as low as it gets, and the temperatures are largely cool but pleasant. It is however, not the best time for photography as the light is often flat and dull. I have very few images from Saihō-ji because the discrepancy was too great between what I was seeing and what could be recorded. Pick your poison and your priorities.

Cheers,

Maer