Walking in Kyoto｜It is a philosophy of life to do small things that are not important.

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🤗 The way of philosophy

The highlight of my visit to Kyoto was the “Philosophy Trail”, a poetic path that runs from Ginkaku-ji Temple in the north to Eikando Hall in the south, named after the famous Japanese philosopher Kitaro Nishida, who used to walk and think here. The trail follows the Wakaoji River, a tributary of Lake Biwa, and its banks are covered with cherry blossoms and maple trees, with cherry blossoms flying in the spring and red leaves scattering down the stream in the fall.

When I arrived a while ago, it was still the height of summer, but a lot of life was spreading out in the silence and bright sunshine. There are not many tourists here, so it is more suitable for walking than the popular places of Kamogawa and Gion. There are occasional strollers, each with their own rhythm, and after a few moments of interplay, the tranquility is restored. There is more space to feel the light in front of you, the weather is calm, and the scenery is beautiful.

According to Kotaro Nishida, philosophy is a way of life, not just a way of thinking. His philosophical thinking often explores how self-awareness can achieve oneness with the universe through introspection and Zen practice. Perhaps this sounds too advanced a realm to resist, but start with an aimless stroll. When you are attracted by the cicadas singing around you, and you are mesmerized by the posture of a big fish swimming upstream in a shallow river, you have already forgotten yourself and become a living room, on the same wavelength as nature.

🤗 The desire of man that cannot be extinguished.

Inside and outside of Kyoto, there are many large and small temples, and the temples themselves are religious attributes of the sense of asceticism, so it is difficult not to think of Mishima Yukio's burning of the Golden Pavilion Temple, coupled with just retraced his steps in the West, that fire shines in the chapter of the black clouds of the Guanyin Zen Temple, which is also difficult to escape a fire. One for the pursuit of beauty, the fire of jealousy will not hesitate to burn the Golden Pavilion Temple to reach eternity, a practice for hundreds of years nearly fruitful, a glimpse of the robe to break the torch. Two monks desire to eventually ignite and also destroyed in a fire at the same time, all are false.

Visiting temples is a very popular thing to do today, whether it is to seek psychological solace from the reality of hardship, or to see traditional culture in the black monkey wind, or to visit as a famous attraction. The attributes of religion are structured by contemporary contexts, and everyone can get something from different perspectives. For example, the architectural structure of Kiyomizu Temple, the philosophical nature of Kinkakuji Temple, the aesthetics of Japanese gardens and withered landscapes of Zenrinji Temple, and the stunning craftsmanship of the 1,001 statues of the thousand-handed Goddess of Mercy in the Sanjusangendo.

🤗 Some good places.

A pleasant afternoon stroll along the Kamogawa River, followed by a stroll through Higashiyama Ninenzaka or Gion, the quaint old streets of Waya, where aimlessness is the order of the day. The French poet Charles Baudelaire also mentioned in “The Painter of Modern Life” that it is a great joy for a total wanderer, a passionate observer, to live among the multitudes, among the capricious, the changeable, the ephemeral and the eternal.

To see the world, and yet to be unknown to it, are a few of the subtle pleasures of these independent, enthusiastic, and impartial people, which language can only clumsily characterize, and the observer is a monarch who everywhere enjoys the convenience of a slight walk.

Mitsui Luxury Collection Hotel

This time, we stayed at a hotel that was formerly converted from the 300-year-old residence of Chief Mitsui, across the street from the World Heritage Site of Nijo Castle. Passing through the Yakushimen-style Kajii Palace Gate, the entire mansion is built around a huge Japanese-style garden.

Brick by brick, grass by grass, paper lamps by logs, the traditional craftsmanship of Kyoto in a modern approach, the whole hotel will be the Japanese vegetarian beauty, presented in a very poetic and simple look. This is the only hotel in Kyoto that has its own natural hot spring.

🤗 Eat and drink as much as one likes

Higashiyama Ogata

There are hundreds of Michelin restaurants in Kyoto, so you have to try them all. This two-star restaurant is said to have been famous for a long time, with seating in front of the sakamae facing the Japanese garden, and a menu that changes with the seasons, just like the scenery in the garden. In the fall, the theme of matsutake mushrooms and chrysanthemums caught on, and the overall taste of the food was above par, half unexpected and half surprising.

One of my favorites is the Chrysanthemum Soup Shabu Shabu, mainly because the soup is really tasty, sweet, moist and full of sweetness. The three entrees of kettle rice, rice with three kinds of fish roe and udon noodle, you can choose from all of them and they are all good.

Mizuki

This tempura restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton is also recommended by many friends. We also recommend sitting at Sakamae. The fried shrimp and shiso wagyu beef were delicious, especially the shrimp heads which were incredibly crispy without the greasiness of fried food, but the fried fish was slightly bland.

Instead, the fried peppers were amazing, with extreme heat retaining maximum moisture and sweetness, and it's been a long time since I've had such a rich garden flavor.

Wild Vegetable Bistro

This 100+ per person izakaya is much more approachable than the last two Michelin's, which require a sit-down and are expensive. The sashimi is flavored with seaweed, shredded sesame shallots and sauce, and is delicious with the signature hand-pounded whole pickled tomato sake. The final pot of kettle-scallion fish and rice is also delicious. There's room for three, and you can even pack up a few cute little rice balls to take away.

K36 Terrace Bar

Wandering into Dongshan on a 35 degree day, I was planning to have a drink at the Park Hyatt's fiery Bar, but after being turned away for not wearing long pants, I accidentally found another one of the most beautiful bars in town.

Located on the roof of the Aoryu Kyoto Kiyomizu Hotel, which is part of the Tachidenshi Hotel Group, this bar is located in a converted 80-year-old elementary school building next to the Yasaka Tower overlooking Kyoto Castle, and it's a wonderful place to enjoy a drink in the evening with a beautiful sunset.

松ヶ枝

Tofu is a favorite among monks and is said to have Buddhist qualities, and is mostly derived from monastic cuisine. In the morning, before the dew disappears, they pick a charcoal stove and iron pot, put a piece of air-dried kombu, scoop up the stream and cook it, and then go to the bamboo forest on top of the mountain and cut the tender bamboo shoots that have just shown their tips to cook green bamboo shoots and tofu soup, which does not have a heavy flavor, but the sweetness of the misty taste has already seduced their souls.

In addition to the maple and cherry blossom temples in the western suburb of Arashiyama, there is also a tofu store hidden in a century-old garden. Hundreds of years old pine and maple trees are interspersed with stone steps, and with this tranquil Zen garden, the entire menu is filled with tofu recipes, which is not too boring. A green and a white boiled tofu is the main course, accompanied by tofu with rotting skin, sticky tofu with bean paste, and a flavorful tofu ice cream, which is quite Zen-like.