Arashimaya is in the west of Kyoto, located at the the base of Arashimaya Mountains (Storm Mountains). During Autumn the Maple trees on Mount Arashi will display a glorious burst colours of yellow, red and greens.

We chose our 2 day Ryokan accommodation in Arashimaya as it was just 5-10 minutes away from the Main Street in Arashimya, and we planned to see the sights of the Arashimaya Bamboo Groove and visit the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto, the Tenryu-Ji Temple.

Despite walking through the Bamboo Forest once on the first day, we took a 30 minutes ride on the Rickshaw on our 2nd day which went along Main Street Arashiyama and back to the Bamboo Forest.

Sagano Bamboo Forest

The Bamboo is the fastest growing grass (it is not categorised as a fruit or tree but as grass!) and can grow up to one meter a day and due to its sturdy root structure and being a strong plant, it is a symbol of prosperity in Japan. It is also a symbol of purity and innocence in the Japanese culture. 

The Sagano Bamboo Forest has an interesting feature that comes from the sound which the wind makes when it blows amongst the bamboo. Also, the railings at the side of the path in the Bamboo Forest is made out of old, dry parts of the bamboo.  

The bamboo is featured in one of the most well-loved tales in Japan, from the oldest narrative in Kana Script, “The Tale of the Bamboo cutter” or “Kaguya-hime” (The Princess Kaguya). K and I watched the Studio Ghibli version when we were back to Singapore, the folklore was depicted so beautifully (but not so good ending) in the animated watercolored art. 

Tenryu-ji Shrine 

Despite having little interest in visiting Japanese Shrines, a trip to Kyoto isn’t complete without visiting a Shrine. Naturally we went for the key shrine attraction in Arashimaya, the Tenryu-ji Shrine; one of the oldest Zen shrines in Japan. It has manicured gardens and a nice view of Mount Arashi. 

Tenryu-ji Shrine is a registered World Heritage site, which was founded in 1339. The gardens in Tenryu-ji Shrine has one of the best borrowed scenery or otherwise known as ‘shakkei’, a concept of incorporating background landscape into the composition of a garden. 

With a Zen Shrine, there will be a rock garden which include a sandy ground with raked sand, with its neat and uniformed lines on the ground. Despite it looking aesthetically pleasing, the true purpose in raking sand in Zen Buddhism is to train the thoughts, which is a form of moving meditation for the monks. 

The Tanuki

Walking out of the gardens of Tenryu-ji, I spotted a Tanuki, a raccoon dog. Statues of Tanuki are often placed outside the front door of homes, food establishments and shops. 

The Tanuki of ancient Japanese Folklore is a toothy, mischievous fella, who carries a walking stick, wears a straw hat, and has a bottle of sake. This statue is intended to encourage customers to be free-spending like the Tanuki, to eat and drink and not to be stingy with money 😁 

The best known feature of this Tanuki is his enormous moneybags (translated as testicles 😝). In some statues, it is so oversized that he carries it over his shoulder like a sack, his kinbukuro is a symbolism of ‘increasing prosperity’ or ‘increasing luck’ for homes. The Tanuki was also featured in another Studio Ghlibi animation; Ponpoko, where there was a scene in the animation with the elder Tanuki addressing younger members of the tribe seated in front of him. He made a mat big enough (with his testicles) for all of them to sit on, but when he retracts it, they tumbled over! 

Once we noticed and understand what role does the Tanuki statues play in Japanese culture, we started spotting them in many places in Kyoto and Tokyo.

Apart from the shopping, eating and sightseeing in Japan, there is really so much in Japanese culture, myth and pop culture that is so intriguing to learn. Having observed some of these intricacies from our trips, really make the trip much more interesting.  

Other posts from this trip;

• A Ryokan Experience in Kyoto

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I have always wanted to visit Japan and after the Fukushima incident in 2011, I felt that my hopes of ever visiting the country was dashed and never really considered Japan on the list of places I could ever visit.

Travelling to Japan is a risk. You can call me kiasee all you want, but there is a lot of ignorance about the truth state of the country waterways or soil condition as a result of the Fukushima incident, we might never know until decades down the road, when we see a higher percentage of Japanese people who are living near the state suffering from illnesses from the result of it.

Despite the lack of coverage from the media about the aftermath of the Fukushima incident. I did not want to be irresponsible to bring my child along and expose him to the risks.

K shared the same interest for Japan and we both sought God separately in prayer to see if we could or should visit the country. Reading this, some of u might consider it ridiculous that even for leisure travel we are praying, but our family believe in committing all our plans to God, to ensure that we are walking in His will for us. 

K and I both had the confirmation to go ahead way back in January, and we were excited to confirm our travel plans to Japan all 6 months before we travelled in June.

One of the key highlights from this trip was the Ryokan (Japanese Inn) experience in Kyoto. After watching countless of Ryokan experiences on Japan Hour on Channel News Asia, I was very keen to experience staying in the Ryokan, experience a traditional Japanese meal and  soaking in the Onsen.

Our Experience in Arashimaya Benkei

The Ryokan was situated right at the riverside and is touted to be one of the best riverside Ryokan in Arashimaya. We choose this Ryokan as it is short walking distance away from the main street of Arashimaya, and near the Bamboo Forest.

Our first look at the Ryokan and our room;

The garden view from inside the room

Full board at this Ryokan includes free use of the public onsen (hot spring bath) and a Kaiseki meal, which is a traditional Japanese multicourse meal.

Before we had our first Kaiseki dinner, we went to check out the male and female onsen which was located just a few doors down our room. I made sure that the onsen was deserted to take the video (as video taking isn’t allowed, just don’t share that you saw it here on this blog :))

After the onsen, we got ready for our Kaiseki dinner…

In the Kaiseki dinner meal that we had for 2 dinners at the Ryokan, there were about 10-12 different dishes that included an appetiser, sashimi, a simmered dish, a grilled dish and a steamed course, finished off with rice, miso soup and preserved radish and dessert.

The first dish revealed; A Sesame seed bean curd with simmered plum, a vineyard quick boiled octopus, topped with plum pulp. Together with vinegar mozuku seaweed with cucumber. With a conger eel sushi. Served with Skewered prawn, Japanese pumpkin and red konjac with miso paste.  

The other dishes ensuing…

That ended off with steamed rice, miso soup, pickled radish and then dessert…

It was such an aesthetically-pleasing meal, and the ingredients were not common to my regular palate. Hb was gamed to try everything, even though he usually does not eat anything raw or preserved in Japanese cuisine.

Our second Kaiseki the following night was just as interesting and tasty.

Overall we enjoyed our Ryokan stay in Arashiyama for the Kaiseki meals and Japanese breakfast, and I recommend it for a once-in-a-lifetime experience (simply because it falls in the ‘luxury’ travel experience category due to the price 😌) and I don’t think I will be giving it another try again as I didn’t really enjoy the Onsen nor the hard futons in the room that gave me a backache the next morning when I woke up!

Japanese Breakfast for 2 mornings

Hb review of this Ryokan sums it quite nicely in Trip Advisor;

‘As a family of 3, we stayed 2 nights in the first week of June. The first thing you will notice is the impeccable service on the ryokan situated in a spot with a stunning view of the Arashiyama Mountains and lake. One also cannot help but notice the amount of detailed effort that went into the renovation and modernisation of the property while retaining a traditional facade. What results is a top class Ryokan that exudes traditional whilst offering the modern comforts welcomed by its guests. 

The best part? A 12 course Kaiseki dinner included in your stay that very competently showcases the many different Japanese culinary styles tempting even the most unadventurous (talking about himself likely 😜) visitor to indulge. 

The separate male and female indoor and outdoor onsen made accessible only to the Ryokan guests are also a definite and unique treat! All combined to offer a very memorable experience. A must stay.’

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