Choosing to study in Kyoto was one of the best choices I made. Even after 10 years since I graduated, I can not think of any regrets choosing the city to spend my 4 year college years.
It helped me to strive for living in the now with contentment, to be humble, to struggle to be better, and put trust first, not money.
One reason comes from being able to study the city through the guiding club I participated in, and today I want to talk about what I learned!
So...What really makes Kyoto so special?
Not only is it our ancient capital, there is a great combination of nature and temples/shrines.
A lot of our traditional stories, food, ceremonies originate in Kyoto. Many of our temples has its headquarters in Kyoto.
We constantly see and hear about Kyoto on local TV and textbooks in school. I think Japanese people are naturally drawn to the city, and the more you get older the more you're drawn to the city. The city reminds us of who we are, what we continue to value, and how to move on.
Nature brings Japan 4 very distinct seasons, and the temples change outfits, which is nature. While other cities do have some of those traits, Kyoto has more of it. There are just too many beautiful places...
This is already a reason to visit Kyoto. I have my favorite destinations which I will always want
to be back to, while I have other places I have never been to that I am dying to go to. It becomes a totally different scenery depending on which season you go.
But I think there is a little more than just a great tourist destination.
My Shocking experience in Gion
When I had just moved into Kyoto, I had the opportunity to hear a talk from a geisha. She was senior and was introduced that she manages the geishas and maikos. Dressed in very dark colored but elegant kimono, she gave us a short talk. We were a group of volunteer guides consisted of 3 major universities in Kyoto.
One of her final lines was something like this, "The tradition of Kyoto is under threat. We need the help of people like you. Please provide what you can to protect the city" and bowed.
And this was a very shocking experience and have stuck with me til now. My peers would tell me Kyoto people have a lot of pride and will never really rely on an outsider.
But I found out that Kyoto is actually very warm to the students. Kansai region that mainly consists of Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Nara, the Kansai people are energetic and like being funny. Students can be pretty crazy and "funny" in a sense that they are lovable.
This is a big privilege that locals trust you and are more open to talking with you from the very beginning.
What made me inspired to be better everyday
I used to study at Ritsumeikan University for 4 years. University students in Japan usually would join a club activity called circle, and I joined a volunteer English tour guide club, Good Samaritan Club to help foreign tourists. I went to a few others to try, like cycling, watching the stars, futsal, but I chose the guiding club because I thought it was something I could do only in Kyoto.
So this is why I was able to meet one of the top people managing the Gion area, and how she took the time to give a talk.
I was inspired. I did what I could.
I've guided probably about 50 groups over the 4 years, and I'm still in touch with some of them.
Good Samaritan Club members will give you free tour guides in English in exchange for any kind of lunch fee.
One of the tourists was very wealthy, and they told me they stayed in only 5 star hotels, but they had trouble communicating.
"Ryu, we are so glad we have you, we had so many questions!" and I would be happy to share what I know. And I have the guiding club or the locals to ask if I did not know the answer, and I will email them back with a response.
That was how I might be able to commit to Kyoto. And most importantly, I grow along the way so definitely a win-win.
Kyoto is a “trust” city
I can say that I did try to cover as much as I can to experience Kyoto to the fullest while I was a student. But I think I might only be 5 percent finished experiencing all the richness of history, culture, and charm of our ancient capital.
I’ve come back to live for a year when I was granted working remote, and I even come by for a holiday visit occasionally.
It was a privilege to be a student of a major university from the city. This helped me to access special places more easily, and it is hard to do without staying in Kyoto long term.
Many people in Japan complain how Kyoto is expensive, unfriendly, and unwelcoming. Which is in a sense true, but being nice to everyone sometimes end up being making everyone unhappy.
So the fact that they know you, and they know that you will have no harm to what and who they value is very important.
They actually treasure relationships a lot. That is why they try to avoid risk of being invaded.
An example of the conservative and protective mindset is the ichigensan okotowari culture. Signs are put up in ryotei or high end restaurants or Gion areas that means "First comers will not be served." You need to come with a regular to be served.
People complain a lot about this culture and I heard that some places have to give up this tradition to survive. But I am generally pro to the tradition.
The purpose is to protect the dignity and privacy of their regular customers. So this relationship of trust does not come instantly, but put time, effort, and patience for it to grow.
In such a materialistic world, I think it is ok to have things that money cannot buy. Japanese used to be very poor, we did not care too much about money but valued dignity and improving ourselves through life.
After the World War, the Americans changed our culture and we strived economically. But Kyoto face a paradox of keeping tradition and opening up to people that have money, which sometimes badly contradicts with each other.
So for me, I enjoy trying to improve as a person. You grow your value, you are so good they cannot ignore you!
What I learned living in Kyoto
I became more engaged in striving to be a more valuable person, living in Kyoto. There is a lot I learned, but if I try to narrow it down to one thing, then this is the answer.
In Japan, money is not really the answer to success. It is more about struggling to be able to commit to society and creating value. Creating value will eventually bring in money which is a staple to live. This mindset probably originates from the spirit of samurai 侍, best explained in a book "Bushido"武士道 by Nitobe Inazo.
I was inspired by how the locals go through uneasy discipline to keep its brand of Kyoto. They earn a lot of respect by just being born in Kyoto, but also struggle with our "shame" culture. It is a shame if you are not disciplined, which also comes from Bushido.
Our spirit of Bushido is definitely most left in Kyoto. Our shame culture is hard to understand, still a challenge for me, too. To know more about our shame culture, "The chrysanthemum and the sword" 菊と刀 by Ruth Benedict is a great book.
Unfortunately, it is a chaos right now in Kyoto, with flooding tourists, and Kyoto is actually a huge student town. So the Kyoto people are always challenged to cope with what might kill their tradition and brand, while they contradict treasuring tradition in such a modernizing society.
I want to conclude with my favorite quote from Kyoto
If I talk about Kyoto it will be endless, so I want to stop after concluding with what I am going to do from what I learned in Kyoto.
First, let me share with you a quote from a temple I love, Ryuanji 龍安寺. Yes, the temple just across the street from the department where I studied. Students actually go to Ryuanji to walk for breaks in between classes. Ryuanji means "the temple where the dragon rests." "Ryu"龍 is dragon, "an"安 is rest, and "ji"寺 is temple. Perfect place for me, Ryu isnt it!
The founder of Apple Steve Jobs is famous for being inspired by few temples in Kyoto. I recently found out it was Ryuanji and Kokedera, or moss temple near Arashiyama area.
Anyways, Ryuanji is mainly famous for its rock garden but my favorite is the tsukubai, shown in the picture above. In the tsukubai there is a Chinese Character we use kanji that says,
吾唯足るを知る。Ware tada taru wo shiru means "I know how to be contented." This tsukubai is where you can read the quote, each character sharing a 口 at the bottom of the 吾, the left of 唯, the top of 足, and the right of 知.
This is it. I will be content with my life and engage in every situation. But I will have a routine that makes me more valuable than I am now to have a little more to contribute to the city.
Follow Ryu Aomi for more to come :)
In this blog, I post my food trips worldwide, as insights into Japanese food in comparison to all the different cuisines I encounter through my journey. I also try to share information from Japan that fills our hearts or might help us think about how to better the world!
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