An Educational Tour in Kyoto & Nara

There are many awesome and justifiably famous sights in Japan, so lots of people wanna see them. This naturally means it's rather unlikely that you find yourself alone in a well-known site of historical interest or a much-photographed shrine. However, you might still be surprised by just how crowded it can get. Some places are simply swamped with school excursions. When we hit the Kyoto and Nara leg of our trip, it often felt like every Japanese school kid was headed to where we were going.

Kyoto Station
We saw a couple of trains that were entirely reserved for schools. Where do they bring these kids?! What happened to trips to the local zoo?!

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Kinkaku Ji, Kyoto
The famous Golden Pavilion. The original medieval structure was burned down by an arsonist in 1950. This is the exact replica in all its glimmering beauty.

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Ready for the calendar close-up.
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If you wanted to see calendar pictures, you didn't have to leave your desk. There are many photographers for hire to take just the perfect picture for your group. Oh, this was the quiet side.
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Japanese school group photo 101: girls on one side, boys on the other. Boys look bored & cool. Girls do the V-sign and flash a kawaii smile. Hai, chiii-zu!
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A crowd buying omamori (amulets) from a booth.
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Nijo-jo, Kyoto
Nijo Castle is a medieval castle in Kyoto famous for its nightingale floors. The floorboards were built such that every step will make them 'sing', making detection of the most stealthy intruder easy. I didn't take any pictures there. All the hallways were packed w/ noisy, boisterous school kids jostling around in socks. A narrow corridor with 200 pairs of socks and recorded commentary playing loudly and repeatedly for every damn painted wall and gilded screen can make even a Zen monk hyperventilate.

Todai Ji, Nara
The Todai Ji complex is a place of superlatives. The Great Buddha Hall, completed in the early 1700s, is still the biggest wooden building in the world. The seated Buddha inside is the world's largest bronze image of the Buddha.

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Begging for the caption: Deer me!
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All the easier to run around.
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The hole in this pillar is the same size as the bronze Buddha's nostril and it is said that those who can crawl through will be blessed with eternal wisdom. There are many kids queueing up to squeeze through the hole. It does beat cramming for exams.
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An entire row of souvenir shops outside the complex.
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Kokufuji Temple, Nara
The chika senbei (deer cracker) sellers in Nara Park do a brisk business selling to kids who want to feed the tame deer. Howie bought around 10 bundles because he enjoys feeding them too. Outside Todai Ji, along the row of souvenir shops, there were about 10 kids to a deer. Does Bambi get indigestion?

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