Day 6
Golden Temple, Clear Water, and Musical Exchange
Part 1:
Today in the morning we saw two temples: the Golden Pavillion, or Kinkaku-ji, and the Kiyomizu-Dera temple. In both places there were massive crowds; the walkways surrounding the temples were packed with tourists and prayers alike. The gold leaf layered on the outside of Kinkaku-ji gave the building a distinctive shine- even in the cloudy overcast weather of the day, one could still see the limited sunlight sparkling off the flawlessly maintained walls. The phoenix placed at the apex of the temple gave the surroundings a sense of peacefulness despite the crowds- there was even a heron sitting on the banks of the small pond surrounding the temple. After a short bus ride, we arrived at the Kiyomizu-Dera temple, Kiyomizu-Dera meaning clean water. The pagoda sitting at the entrance to the complex towered above us, painted in brilliant shades of red and yellow. Flanked by a statue of a dragon, there was a definite aura of power surrounding the temple. However, the main attraction of the temple was the six-story high stage which rose above the surrounding trees. Apparently, there was a tradition in the Edo period to jump off the stage onto the surrounding grounds, a jump which 85% of jumpers survived. Having been up onto the stage, I can't say I would like to attempt it myself- it was a long way down! Afterwards, we all grabbed lunch at the various stalls lining the long winding road to the temple, settling in for the long bus ride ahead of us to our first musical exchange.
- Yash
Part 2:
Back
Today in the morning we saw two temples: the Golden Pavillion, or Kinkaku-ji, and the Kiyomizu-Dera temple. In both places there were massive crowds; the walkways surrounding the temples were packed with tourists and prayers alike. The gold leaf layered on the outside of Kinkaku-ji gave the building a distinctive shine- even in the cloudy overcast weather of the day, one could still see the limited sunlight sparkling off the flawlessly maintained walls. The phoenix placed at the apex of the temple gave the surroundings a sense of peacefulness despite the crowds- there was even a heron sitting on the banks of the small pond surrounding the temple. After a short bus ride, we arrived at the Kiyomizu-Dera temple, Kiyomizu-Dera meaning clean water. The pagoda sitting at the entrance to the complex towered above us, painted in brilliant shades of red and yellow. Flanked by a statue of a dragon, there was a definite aura of power surrounding the temple. However, the main attraction of the temple was the six-story high stage which rose above the surrounding trees. Apparently, there was a tradition in the Edo period to jump off the stage onto the surrounding grounds, a jump which 85% of jumpers survived. Having been up onto the stage, I can't say I would like to attempt it myself- it was a long way down! Afterwards, we all grabbed lunch at the various stalls lining the long winding road to the temple, settling in for the long bus ride ahead of us to our first musical exchange.
- Yash
Part 2:
After spending the first part of the day sightseeing we set out on a bus ride to a high school an hour and a half away from Kyoto. Upon arrival we were greeted by Mambou, the school’s shark mascot, and messages left from member of the school on a whiteboard. We were the first American school to ever visit the high school so the local newspaper had come to take pictures of us and document the moment. After a brief conversation with the school principal, we went into their school gym, where we had to off our own shoes and put on slippers they gave us. We then practiced with their school jazz band and we held a concert for their community. It was lots of fun playing for them, and they loved hearing us play. They got especially excited when Bensen and Ebun sang. After out performance, their jazz band, the Mambou jazz band, played for us. They were really good! It was cool because they play some of the same songs that we do, such as Sing, Sing, Sing and the Heat’s On. They had a full and booming sound! After they performed, we played two joint pieces together, Sunny and I Got Rhythm. I really enjoyed getting to play with their band, and everyone had a great time meeting people who played the same instrument as them. After the concert, everyone introduced themselves to one another. We took pictures together and exchanged social media accounts. They didn’t speak very much English. Although there was a language disconnect between us that didn’t stop us from having a good time together. They were so excited to meet us, and we were so excited to meet them. After saying goodbye to them we left to go back to Kyoto. We had dinner at a restaurant which served us yoshoku. The food was hamburg steak and various tempura chicken and shrimp. We all talked about our favorite moments at the musical exchange. After that we headed back to hotel and arrived at around 10 pm, exhausted after a long day.
Vivan & Bensen
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