Allow me to attempt to describe the room I stayed in, in Kyoto. We stayed at BJ guest house, a family house that rents out rooms for the night. Our booking was for two people (there were four of us), and they were sold out for other rooms. We finally convinced the proprietress to let us all stay in one room for an extra 2000 Yen, not too bad. We were led to our room, which is literally a six foot by four foot room, with no furniture. Yes, it was that small, and we all slept on futons on the floor. It was probably one of the best nights of sleep I had in Japan, or possibly while traveling.
The next day we met one of my friends Professors from home whose PhD was in Japanese Religion. He took us around Kyoto to different Shrines and Temples in the area. The first temple we visited was a Buddhist temple dedicated to a particular god (whose name slips my mind). The temple had over 1000 statues of this god, all full sized, to show dedication. It was incredible. The next temple we visited was another Buddhist temple, the Temple of Pure Water. It had sprung up around a spring on the side of the mountain. Finally, later that day we visited a Shinto Shrine which had been used by the Imperial Palace for centuries before it was moved to Tokyo.
For lunch that day we ate at Sushi-Go-Round! Sushi-Go-Round is brilliant. I’m sure most of you have seen it at some point in popular media, or something in the states. It isn’t all that different from the image of it you have in your heads, but it’s amazing none the less. You take what you want, and when you’re finished they count your plates and pay for whatever you ate. Delightful… At the end of the day we caught the JR to Kobe.
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