Where’s Johnnie?

The Walk In Kyoto, Talk In English tour been privately operated since 1996 by Mr. Hajime Hirooka, better known as Johnnie Hillwalker. He is considered one of the best tour guides in Japan, with 48 years of tour guide experience. His walk has been acclaimed worldwide as one of the most unique tours in the world. With all this positive publicity surrounding the Johnnie Hillwalker tour, Aimee and I thought taking one his tours would be the best way to start our holiday in Kyoto, Japan. Once we arrived at the meeting place we knew we were in the correct location when we saw a horde of non-Japanese people standing around looking confused. Johnnie showed up and the tour began:

If you’re thinking, ‘Wow, Johnnie looks pretty young for someone with 48 years of touring experience. What’s his secret?’ Well, the secret is simply this: this man isn’t Johnnie. We arrived on the day, the only day, that Johnnie decided to take a day off. Talk about bad timing. I mean, Johnnie has been doing this particular tour for 13 years and of all the days he decided to take off it happens to be the day, the only day, that Aimee and I are able to take the tour. Talk about the unfairness of life! After I got used to the idea of taking a Johnnie Hillwalker tour with a non-Johnnie I found the tour to be quite interesting and educational.

The tour visits:

Higashi-Honganji, the biggest Buddhist temple.

3 Shinto shrines, Ayako Tenman-gu, Ichihime shrine and Toyokuni shrine.

Shinto shrines are places of worship and the dwellings of the kami, the Shinto gods. Sacred objects of worship that represent the kami are stored in the innermost chamber of the shrine where they cannot be seen by anybody.

People visit shrines in order to pay respect to the kami or to pray for good fortune. New born babies are traditionally brought to a shrine a few days after birth, and many couples hold their wedding ceremonies there.

The purification trough is found near the entrance, the water of these fountains is used for purification (I assume you guessed that already given the name…). You are supposed to clean your hands and mouth before approaching the main hall.

Shrine visitors write their wishes on these wooden plates and then leave them at the shrine in the hope that their wishes come true. Most people wish for good health, success in business, passing entrance exams, love or wealth.

Different shrines offer ‘good fortune’ for different things in life. This particular shrine specialized in good luck charms for school kids who want to do well in their classes. If you spend 500 yen on one of these good luck charms you’re guaranteed to ace your final exams in school – well, at least that’s the theory. Aimee and I bought two good luck charms: one for the safe delivery of our baby, and another for the long and happy life for our baby. We don’t necessarily believe in good luck charms but it can’t hurt right?

Johnnie, the real Johnnie and not our replacement Johnnie, donated money to this shrine so he was given a lantern out front in his honor.

We also visited a former geisha area, Gojo rakuen which Replacement Johnnie told us, in a whisper, is now a prostitution area. REAL geisha’s still exist in Japan. Aimee and I saw a few but they’re incredibly difficult to take a picture of. Ever since that movie/book Memoirs of a Geisha Japan has had an increase of foreigners camping outside geisha houses trying to get a photograph. Because of this, all geisha now have bodyguards and personal chauffeurs who quickly pick them up and race them away before any pictures can be taken. There was even an article in the local newspaper pleading foreigners to leave the geisha alone. Man, it really makes me hate those damn tourists … but, of course, I became one those annoying tourists when I saw my first geisha. I pulled out my camera but she was super fast. She zipped passed me using her magical geisha powers and I missed out on getting a shot of her. Anyway, enough about geisha.

We visited graveyards in Renkoji and Chokodo Temples. Those long slender boards you see in the photos are, in a way, a guestbook signing of who visited the grave and when they came. Many of these boards were old suggesting no one has visited most of the graves recently. Monks visits the graveyards almost everyday but they don’t leave the boards.

The tour was good because it took us into areas normal guide books never tell you about. We went to four workshops in private homes and along back alleys where such things as Buddhist prayer beads, paper fans, tofu, paper lanterns, rope decorations, green tea containers, Japanese pastries and pottery are made.

We spent ten minutes watching these two make paper fans by hand.

It was a great tour and an awesome way to start off our Kyoto holiday. I often wonder though how different an actual Johnnie Hillwalker tour would have been. Replacement Johnnie was great but you’re always left wondering what you missed right? Below are some additional pictures I took during the tour: