November, 2014
As a new comer in Japan, particularly in Kyoto, I was thinking how to survive in Kyoto without being lost, yes, being lost should not be understood as a negative way as it is something totally positive for me.
Here, Kyoto is like a pool for every kind of way of living and one can easily lost oneself if s/he doesn not know where to go, how to go, where to search and how to search.
I was thinking to give some time for myself to be lost, as I was believing that being lost for a while can also help me to decide my way in Kyoto.
Then, I started to read, experience, see, travel around Kyoto for months and months. Discovering Buddist Temples, Shinto shrines, examining maikos and geishas, watching transition between season to season, enjoying momijis, ginko trees, zen gardens, tea ceremonies, cycle tours and green times and times!
From the beginning, I was thinking that Kyoto has a secret voice, a voice that is coming from inside, and if you feel that you are outsider, it would be very difficult for you to hear and feel the voice! However, when you feel that in addition to be an outsider, you are also an insider, you start to hear and feel the voices of Kyoto which comes very slowly but deeply. It means that feeling of being an insider makes you to feel the deep voices of Kyoto. You may want to be surrounded by these voices which reminds yourself that it will be a very long journey… Without considering the time you have spent and you will spent here in Kyoto, an insider who would like to be surrounded by the voices of Kyoto should definitely know that it would be a very long journey..
And, now, I feel that, my journey had already started! When days passing, I feel that time spent in Kyoto is not only something enjoyful or something different, but also it is something specific to your way of exploration which should definitely be shared! Based on the identity of the Kyoto, itself, everybody has her/his own story of exploration here and this story may constitute different identities of Kyoto. Here, that I will share, then, will show my own readings of Kyoto with my lost identity within the identities of Kyoto.
Kyoto is a timeless city which involves different types of times without being a part of specific time. One can redefines and reconstructs the perception of time here and face with a timeless Kyoto...
The first book through which I start to discover Kyoto is "Kyoto: A Cultural History" written by John Dougill, who he is a professor of British Studies at Ryukoku University and who is the writer of several Japan books such as "Japan's World Heritage Sites", "In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians" and also writer of one of my favorite Kyoto blogs: Green Shinto (http://www.greenshinto.com/wp/)
I have started to read his Kyoto book, Kyoto: A Cultural History and while discovering Kyoto within my own way of living, his book is one of the guides that I apply especially when I feel I am lost in Kyoto. I will also share my own reading of his book, which I can say, it may be an interpretation of my own reading.
Second, while discovering Kyoto, there are so many words on my mind, sometimes based on a landscape, sometimes based on the history, sometimes based on a feeling of surprise or sometimes just based on a feeling of being lost in some parts of Kyoto. The thing that I would love to do also, to share the pictures which bring these words to my mind at the time of meeting with them, and share the meaning of my own readings again towards these pieces in Kyoto.
Then I feel, these words will constitute my own Kyoto. I am also wondering about this! Let’s start!
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