My last day in Japan. As usual my room in the Ryokan was converted from a bedroom to a living room and breakfast was served. The traditional Japanese breakfast with rice, fish, miso soup, pickles, and an egg. It was time to say good by to the very nice Izuyasu Ryokan and start the 48 hour day that was going to bring me back home. I walked, under light rain, to the train station and left my luggage in a coin locker. Then, I bought a bus day pass and headed to Kinkakuji Temple.
Kinkakuji, also known as the Golden Temple, was built in 1397 by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as his retirement village. Even in an overcast and rainy day, the temple, covered in gold leaf, shines under the sun and creates a beautiful reflection in the pond in front of it.
The teahouse next to the temple was closed (it's being renovated), but the gardens were open. A little uphill from the temple, there is a second pond, An-min-taku, with a small stone pagoda on an island. Following the one-way trail, I ended in a shrine dedicated to the God of Fire and the exit of the complex.
From Kinkakuji Temple, I started the 20 minute walk to Ryoanji Temple. However, the light rain from the morning started to turn into heavy rain. My rain jacket was not really keeping me dry, so at one moment I was seriously considering just taking the bus back to the train station. However, just before turning back, a Japanese woman approached me and gave me an umbrella. She told me that she was in front of her house and that I needed more than her. I told her that I wasn't going to be able to return it, but she said that it was fine and just handed it to me. This random act of kindness allowed me to continue to Ryoanji and tour this fantastic temple.
Ryonaji is a Zen Buddhist temple that it's well known for its rock garden. Zen Buddhism is a popular version of Buddhism in Japan that it's based on the principle that enlightenment comes from within and it can be achieved through meditation (normally done with the legs crossed, a flat back, and semi-open eyes). To support meditation, temples are quiet, simple places with no many distractions.
The rock garden is really a disappointment when you see it for the first time. It's very small, a rectangle, 25 by 10 meters containing white gravel and fifteen rocks. It's very different than the elaborated Japanese gardens in other temples and palaces and it's consider the quintessence of Zen art. At the nice wooden veranda, you are encouraged to sit down and just gaze at the garden. Very quickly, my imagination started running wild: the rocks started to take shape... one looked like a frog, another like a turtle, another like a dog. A group of rocks looked like a giant swimming on the white gravel. Then, the moss on the rocks starting appearing as little people trying to climb at the top of an island. I kept staring and stories started to unfold. The people were helping the giant to get rid of the frog by stabbing it with long spears... And then I had a brief moment of enlightenment: this is exactly what Zen Buddhism (and most other religions for that instance) are made of. But at the end, the garden just have white gravel and fifteen rocks covered with moss.
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From Ryonaji, I walked to the bus stop and headed back to the train station. I had some extra time when I got there, so I decided to give Mr. Donuts, a place that Peisun recommended, a try and bought a couple of donuts. She is right. No donuts like that are sold in the states...
More donuts in hand, I boarded the bullet train back to Tokyo. And then boarded the Narita Express to the airport. After a short wait there, I boarded at 6pm my flight back to the states which was schedule to arrived at 11:16am of the same day... Thanks to crossing the date line in the way back, I was arriving hours before I left. I managed to sleep in the plane, so the 9 hour flight actually felt pretty short and in no time I was in SFO.
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