Stepping the World – Japan – Kyoto Vintage Fun with Richard Hall

Kyoto, Japan

Hall invades Kyoto, home of the Japanese film industry… Is Movie Land. The home of the ‘shogun’, ready for our rotund raconteur we ask? The make-up department is for sure!

After a day in Nara, Japans most ancient town, the crew is all templed out but the pictures are stunning.

The Gion Festival is Japan’s biggest. Richard watches nervously as huge floats trundle through the streets with no steering wheels and at least fifty people ringing bells on board. How do they do that? Check out Stepping the World and your man on the spot will reveal all.

now they look so confused you’re not watching an old edition of Shogun you are watching stepping the world and yes I am Richard Hall and this time we’re in Kyoto in Japan more my fancy dress outfit later this time be prepared to be completely templed out well after all you can’t come this far and visit Japan’s most ancient city and not taking the odds reiner pagoda or to Kyoto in fact was once the imperial capital and held that position for over a thousand years but it’s not all temples and stuff as you’ll find out later on I promise but in the meantime one amazing fact about Kyoto is there are over 1600 temples and shrines and the only real way to see it or I should say the best way is to pick up a map and walk around the other best way is to become a volunteer guide like Yuko here’s one I prepared earlier where are we now two years ago Kyoto City was 300 years anniversary of the capital this one was made by the memory of eleven hundred years anniversary of Kyoto capital the color is very important here isn’t it yes good rock had orange pillars and everything – had cherry orange cake with the gate we called torii gate and that was to stop evil forces coming through or something like that was it yes in those days this is just the entrance and this is basically just a huge gateway Buddhism the Pure Land right and presumably you can tell it’s Buddhism because there’s no red paint in it yeah that’s right the volunteer guide schemes been put in place by the Japanese tourist board and you can contact them directly for details yourself but basically the guides are happy to spend time with you on the basis that they’re improving their language skills ah last stop it’s the kiyomizu temple a great entrance again I’m confused this gateway is made of wood or straight wooden unpainted and yet the pagodas orange I didn’t think Buddhism put orange in their buildings not painted orange actually we are open to every kinds of religions Buddhism and Shintoism and in Japan today we are born in Shinto style but we are dying at tile what I find difficult to get my head round is that these marvelous buildings are simply only the gates that lead to one of the most outstanding and imposing temples in Kyoto this curious temple is one of the oldest one in the city and the name of kiyomi’s rain is clean water you can drink cream and sacred water here this temple is also famous it’s a unique veranda that veranda is composed without a single nail just jointing I’ve rammed it without inhales now there’s a thing quite amazing this sign directly translated says just what are you doing and it’s placed by a movement in Kyoto out to curb the development of large buildings before they start to dwarf the ancient heritage that this city boasts and from this vantage point you can clearly see how quickly the town is growing and the urgent need to take some kind of action with that in mind I was amazed to see the construction of this super huge railway station what I found surprising is that the locals are actually quite proud of it I think they’ve all got City fever this is the part of the program that I was dreading and so is the crew because of the weight as boredom set in Lloyd was actually starting to accuse me of losing my radio mic somewhere in my costume my jewelry’s been stripped let’s just see what the transformation is complete it’s a real Fantasyland and when you visit them you should be prepared to see some very odd things going on that is of course aside from the odd acrobatic ninjas going about their daily business standing around in 35 degrees of heat the last thing you’d expect to find is snow on the roofs but then that’s the marvels of film and TV production who says the camera never lies did I forget to mention the monster Kyoto’s where the movie industry began in Japan and this is the TUI movie studio where you can come in and watch films actually being made you can also get dressed like this for around 10,000 yen it’s great fun it takes about 40 minutes and try not to do it in the middle of the summer I’m boiling in case you’re still trying to work it out 10,000 yen is around 50 pound sterling so dressing up in full kit with makeup isn’t cheap but then nothing in Japan is so make sure when you come you bring plenty of plastic movie land itself is set in over 36,000 square meters and this huge area includes many reconstructions of period backgrounds including this Edo town what I really like is the fact that you’re allowed to walk in and out of some of the buildings and it’s amazing what you find inside not only can you get dressed up yourself but you have the opportunity to sit next to girls in the full geisha costume and have your picture taken no another monster don’t worry if you can’t follow the plot and neither could we we have the foggiest what’s going on but it’s the only ninja fight you’ll find a condition if you really want to go back in time and experience the kind of Japan that you imagine sat at home whilst admiring your bridge over a pond ceramic plate does everyone have one of those I’m sure you have somewhere if you haven’t it’s time to get one but anyway a day trip to Nara is a must it takes from 35 minutes to one hour by train depending on how much you want to spend I chose the 45-minute trip it cost around two pound fifty Nara is a city even older than Kyoto indeed it was the first permanent capital of Japan you get an immediate sense of peace and tranquility here while Terrapins bask in the sunshine deer roam peacefully around the park amongst the temples and shrines these deer by the way are regarded as divine messengers and they’re very polite and in fact very quick to give you the nod for a little leafy bribe in nara park is the calf ug complex where the main temple was built in the year 710 for the powerful fuji Yarra family but perhaps more striking as the five storied pagoda that stands proudly at 164 feet it is the second largest pagoda in Japan you’ll find spires like these on most pagodas representing water and umbrellas to protect them from fire off again and with a newfound volunteer guide at this time we’re heading for the kasuga taisha shrine considered one of the three great shinto shrines of japan’s Rhines torii gate and torii gate is located at any shrine and it means if he goes through the gate from so some of them they expect to be from a crack 12th century and the newest one is probably one year old too many people don’t need strong lanterns now we come to the main gate of the facility and this is good nun diamond or great Sasuke and I think you notice that the complicated architecture this is the influence of Buddhist architecture the trees are around here amazing on me Oh trees some of them are tall Cedars dates back to 700 and many of them more than 1,000 years old wow the colors splendid last year the building was just repainted and actually they have the custom to repaint the building every 20 years not only repainting also real thing has been done every 20 years but in the past it used to be rebuilt every 20 years yes that’s right but it was always built back to the same specifications same design same scale so the building you see now it’s exactly tell us about the details dates back to 768 yes so this is the inner gate of the kasuga shrine and inside the middle gate inner gate you will see four individual shrines how would you show your respect we first we must bow thrice and then to clapping and then one more bow okay shall we do that this is one of the greatest attractions in the whole of Japan tada joy temple is the largest wooden building in the world inside this great wooden Hall stands a colossal statue of Buddha around this head are 12 small Buddha disciples going out around the world to spread the word the building was actually rebuilt in 1709 and in fact it was only built one third of its original size just imagine that it could have ever been bigger than this if you get time at the end of the day try to visit the gardens behind the temple they’re fantastic using all the three elements water rocks and plants and so it back to Kyoto and just in time to watch the Sun go down theater comes alive at night especially on the eve of one of the many festivals of the year it seems everyone young and old and ready to join in the fun in a time past this whole city surrounded by Hills was known as a natural fortress today as well as its ancient treasures the city is a great commercial center in fact this is the seventh largest city of Japan with a population of around one and a half million the nightlife is tremendous although hugely expensive but you can of course always just stand by and watch the world go past well for that matter you could just stand by and watch cars go up and down quite literally what is he doing the strange thing is I found that quite odd everybody else just seemed to take it in their stride through the summer months Keota has five main festivals they’re completely free of charge so they attract thousands of visitors as well as locals make sure you check dates and book hotels well in advance to avoid any disappointment you can of course get all the information you need from the Japanese tourist office this is a great chance to see traditional costume and dress it’s very best the three main festivals attract the world’s media paparazzi well you can’t fail with pictures like these can you in case you’re wondering what all the fuss is about well this is the Gion festival and it happens here in Kyoto every 17th of July so make sure you plan your trip around that one thing that is slightly confusing is these huge floats don’t actually have any form of steering so they have to turn them round by putting them onto the wood and literally pulling them round with the world’s press around we felt a little bit out in the limelight everyone was filming everybody except nobody was filming us so we thought we’d make up for it watch the amusement of the locals and Lloyd the main festival literally goes right around the town we’ve learnt how to go around major corners but how do they make minor adjustments for those little niggly kinks in the street it is absolutely amazing it’s amazing they don’t fall over to actually be allowed to take part in events like this is extremely difficult however I met one American who managed to sneak in I believe it was his third year he Ben carts around Ben’s so I considered him something of an expert and asked him why so tell me what happens you take the wood out burn it from beneath they’re all quite bonkers most of these celebrations are associated with the changing season this one in particular dates back to the ninth century and is definitely kiotas most popular event maybe there’s something in the translation but see if you can hear them shout oh no just before they turn the cart round blame them basically the procession goes on for the whole day and most of the practicing and rehearsing goes on through the night so by the end of it you’re pretty tired of hearing bells and whistles one event you shouldn’t miss is on October the 22nd which is the Kurama fire festival where they literally take a bonfire around the streets now that is completely bonkers aside from the fact that if you can’t just spot it’s supposed to bring you good luck yeah told you wasn’t all just temples and stuff didn’t I well that’s our program from Kyoto in Japan and if you’re a first-time visitor you must come here first because you really get a taste of what Japan was really like in the olden days now I’ll see you next week that’s if I get the makeup off in time well that’s it that’s your not till the next time see this it’s got whiskey in here and walking to have it paid about one and half year I’ve got a question for the producer how come we’ve done a sunset in the Land of the Rising Sun well that’s our program from Kyoto in Japan and if you’re a first-time visitor you must come here first because you can really feel what it was like in the days of old now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to take my make off they’re making a film around here you’ve been