Kyoto in Autumn, Day 2: Autumn Leaves at Kurama and Kifune, Sweets and Sukiyaki

The tunnel of autumn leaves#

Where the maple leaves were at their best, the train (the Eizan Railway) slowed right down for us.

Watching the reds and yellows drift past was beautiful!

To Kurama-dera#

Kurama-dera temple is apparently famous for tengu (long-nosed mountain spirits from Japanese folklore).

Who was it that grew up here, someone from the Taira clan or the Minamoto clan?
I think we learned it in elementary school. (It was Minamoto no Yoshitsune, famous by his childhood name, Ushiwakamaru.)

The cable car was really crowded, so we decided to hike up for about 20 minutes. The slope was so steep that I wondered whether this was a temple or a mountain. The views were gorgeous, though!!!

(The mountains peeking through the trees were beautiful)

Since I’d climbed all the way up, I wish I’d gotten a goshuin (a temple’s handwritten seal, collected in a special book). After the climb, I decided to buy a goshuin book next year.

By the way, isn’t it hard to have the right coins when you visit a shrine or temple?
I used up my coins on the cable car and couldn’t draw an omikuji (a paper fortune) 💦
Then someone told me, “Apparently some shrines let you pay with your phone these days.”
Hmm, where’s the charm in that? Customs like offering a mix of different-colored 50-, 10- and 5-yen coins, or choosing coins with a hole like the 5-yen coin, would disappear.

We took the cable car back down.
It took us 20 minutes to climb up, and only a few minutes to come back.

Kifune Shrine#

Kifune Shrine is famous for love.
Apparently the poet Izumi Shikibu prayed here and made up with her husband.

The shadows of maple leaves on the red pillars were beautiful.

The red of the lanterns goes so well with the red of the leaves.

Mizu-ura, where you dip your fortune in water to read it, was so much fun.

As it soaks in the water, the words appear.

Even nature here has ties to love: two cedars that grew up side by side.
A thousand years old!! They’re said to stand for a husband and wife both living long lives, but if they grew from the same root, wouldn’t they be siblings rather than a married couple…?

Unusual Japanese sweets at Ichijoji Nakatani#

I once had their zaru warabi (chewy, chilled warabimochi topped with lots of whipped cream) and loved it, so I’m a fan.
This time I had the silken matcha tiramisu.
Under the cream topped with beans was a silky green tea tiramisu,
layered like a mille-feuille.

The parfait I got to share was delicious too.

I bought lots of Japanese sweets that keep well as souvenirs.

They had so many different sweets that I want to go back and eat more.

Wobbly warabimochi at Hosen#

Warabimochi two days in a row.
As you’d expect from a popular shop, it was really busy. When I went, some of the sweets, like their fine seasonal wagashi, had already sold out.

Apparently you only get this wobbly texture when it’s freshly made. It firms up as time passes.
I slurped it down before it had any chance to firm up.

Sukiyaki#

Someone who lives in Kyoto told me about a long-established sukiyaki restaurant.

Sukiyaki is so good.
They coated the meat and vegetables in sugar first, cooked them, and then added the warishita sauce. It’s a little different from how it’s made in the Kanto region (around Tokyo).
Next time I want to have Kanto-style sukiyaki and compare!

The person who served us was from overseas, and I could feel how international Kyoto has become.
When I said, “Oh, shungiku!”, she corrected me: “It’s kikuna ☺️” Ha. (In the Kansai region, they apparently call garland chrysanthemum “kikuna”, not “shungiku”.)