Yesterday, as we were out walking, we passed a coffee shop with a hoarding out the front that proudly said ‘Melbourne coffee’. We weren’t going to let that one slide. So, early this morning, we hoofed it back, and decided to take up their challenge. I assumed that the owner or the barista would’ve actually been to Melbourne, probably speak a bit of English, and want to bring back the culture to Kyoto. I was wrong! Neither the server nor the barista spoke a word of English, and it didn’t even register when we said we were from Melbourne. I guess it was called a Melbourne coffee shop as it didn’t have an Americano anywhere on the menu. Apart from that it was fairly normal. Coffee was nice, though not very hot. All in all, we won’t be busting ourselves to go back again tomorrow. Oh well.
And we think we’ve got it tough. We were sitting on the bus today watching a young Japanese girl swiping (right to left) through her Instagram feed, and making comments on the photos. We complain if we have to find a special character on our phones, or spell-correct does something wacky, but it’s nothing like what the Japanese have to put up with. As you know, there are basically four different scripts, if you count the one that you and I write in. I had always supposed that people wrote in one or another, just like you would choose to write in French or German, but that’s not the case. If you look at a newspaper, you find all four scripts on the same page and, what’s more, two or three scripts can be used in the same sentence, depending on the words that you were trying to use.
So, as the young girl on the bus was trying to type, she had to find the characters in one of four different scripts, and to do that the top line of her keyboard had about six or eight different menu options to move to the correct keyboard page, because there are too many characters to fit on one page for most character sets. So, to complete a sentence with three different scripts you might go to four or five different menu pages to find them. I guess you get pretty adept at it, and her fingers were certainly flying across the keyboard, but we did reflect on just how easy we have it when we can type anything in the 26 characters of the English language.
Today was our day to head out on the train to Nara, which has the usual assortment of shrines and temples, but is best known for their Deer Park. When we say park, it’s not like Werribee Park or Taronga Park where everything is enclosed. It’s more like Jells Park or Moore Park, where the deer are roaming wild, sometimes down the middle of the road, and hassling the tourists and locals for food, which you can conveniently buy for them at a nearby kiosk. Lots of deer, all shapes and sizes, with and without antlers depending on their temperament. Made trying to eat lunch rather tricky.
We started at the Nigatsu-Do Hall, which is best known for having a huge wooden balcony from which you can overlook the city and other temples nearby. It was then down to Todaiji Temple, the main temple of the city, and one of the main temples in Japan. While it’s been burnt down a couple of times, and they’ve had to rebuild it slightly smaller each time to meet their budget, it was originally built around 750AD, and was the largest wooden building in the world until 1998. There is a huge 15 m bronze buddha inside made from over 14 tons of bronze, and originally covered in gold leaf. Supposedly the largest wooden gates in the country guards the entrance.
Following the catastrophic Notre Dame fire in Paris in 2019, Japanese authorities announced plans to expand fire prevention measures at Tōdai-ji, partly by hiring new, younger employees to replacing ageing temple and shrine staff. Fire extinguishers might have been cheaper.
Then it was down to the Kohfukuji Temple, mainly to see the Goju-no-to 5-storied wooden pagoda, through the deer park once again, and down the tourist road back to the station. A far more relaxed day than yesterday.
Thought we’d be adventurous for tea as we had seen a restaurant with particularly good reviews on Trip Advisor, so we hopped on the bus and took a 40 minute trip out into the suburbs. Certainly worth it. Food is fairly cheap here you recall. Where else can you get a plate of salmon and salad for $15?
Nara Deer Park
Not quite Melbourne coffee
The Great Buddha of Nara
Todai-Ji Temple
Nigatsu-Do Hall with the big wooden deck and view