Arashiyama

Ararshiyama is a small town on the western edge of Kyoto that is surrounded by forests and tucked into a crook in the Katsura River. We traveled to this beautiful little spot by train on a wintry day in late December. When we arrived at the little train station we walked out to see mist crawling through the forested mountains. The many maple and cherry trees on the mountainsides were bare and stood out amongst the evergreens and more tightfisted leafing trees. To get to the town we walked across a small bridge onto a little sandbar island. We made our way across this island, happy to stretch our legs and move in the cool air. M and S played follow the leader. The wide shallow river had many little islands and grassy sandbars. There were herons, egrets, and mandarin ducks feeding. It was so beautiful and wide open.

We crossed the Tegetsu-kyo Bridge and entered the town. The town itself is old and is layed out inside the elbow on the flat eastern shore of the river. On the outside of the river's bend, on the western shore, mountains rise up steeply, straight from the water's edge. As we crossed the Katsura and stood on the eastern shore, I kept watching the mist climb up and crawl along the mountains. A bit of Vermont danced in my memory.

It was mid-day and K had spotted a restaurant overlooking the river while I was mooning at the misty mountains. We walked along the river's edge and found an old riverside house that had been converted into a traditional soba house. Soba is buckwheat, a very popular grain here in Japan. We entered through an old wooden gate into a courtyard. Leaving our shoes at the entrance, we went upstairs and were shown a private little room with a low table and a sunken floor closed off from the rest by sliding screens . The tatami mats and simple wooden walls and screens were serene. We enjoyed a feast of soba tea, daikon salad, hot and cold soba noodles, tempura, soba porridge, soba dumplings, and some soba ice cream for dessert. Rice is not served at soba houses, but E and S are more than happy with plates heaped with cold soba noodles. They even sprinkle on the scallions these days! Despite all the soba dishes, at no point did the soba seem overdone. Each dish had a different temperature, flavor, or texture. The Japanese have invented many different foods to make from this grain that is not really a grain. It was a great meal that warmed us on this chilly December day. The special little room, the view of the mountains across the river, the red pine with gnarly pruned branches outside the window, the happy eaters all made it a special meal to remember.

We then walked northwards along the riverbank. Arashiyama can be packed with visitors during the fall foliage and spring cherry seasons. We enjoyed the empty quiet of the low season. We walked and ran among the non-existent crowds along the river. M saw a flock of white birds take off from the water and seem to magically double their number when their reflection appeared just as they emerged from the water. They balleted back and forth and around in front of their mountain backdrop. The mandarin ducks dabbled, furiously paddling to keep their heads down.

We climbed the wide wet steps up to a park and hiked up a hill to bamboo forest. The sun had come out and the afternoon was light. The bamboo grew thickly. Just a few feet in from the edge of the path it became quite dark. None of the bamboo were thicker than a man's leg, but there were so many, so close together that it would be difficult to pass through without a cut path. The forest was a deep green and oh so quiet when we weren't talking or stomping.

We hiked down through the forests past some temples and on to the train station. We found seats and took the train back to Kobe through Kyoto Station carrying the peace of Arashiyama in the winter with us among the monochromatic crowds of tired salary men and housewives heading home for dinner on the train.