This is sort of a catch-all post before we move on to our last Kyoto post! At left is a very cool but very unphotogenic temple, Sanjusangen-do. It's really a big wooden barn with not much garden or anything surrounding it. But inside (the cool part where you can't take pictures) is a big statue surrounded by 1,000 smaller statues standing guard, each unique. You're supposed to come here and look for resemblances between the statues and recently departed loved ones. This could take a very long time with so many statues, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't find a match so it was a pretty quick stop. In the evening, we had an elaborate Japanese meal called kaiseki. Kaiseki is famous throughout Japan, but Kyoto is the most famous place for it. As expected, it consists of large numbers of microscopic dishes, served with a very elaborate ritual. It's a set menu, and it has to change with the seasons, and, uneconomically, all the silverware and plates have to change each time and be exactly matched to each course. So a restaurant has to have huge numbers of specially made china and utensils each season, then throw them out every three months. It was interesting, although after the twelfth hour of ritual eating, interest waned a bit.

Oh, I've been saving the close up photo of the cherry blossom this whole time, figuring I'd use it at the end as a bit of a dramatically Zen finish to my Kyoto writing, but I've lost patience so decided to chuck it in now.