Day 8 (Wednesday 13th Oct, 2010)

Last night I planned a route for today, for a bit of a "Bakumatsu Tour".

A bit of a history lesson: The Bakumatsu is the name the Japanese have given to the turbulent end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, commonly referred to in English as the "Meiji Restoration".
Japan had been closed off to the rest of the world, aside from very limited trade, by the Shogunate; as a result, the country was weak.
A man by the name of Sakamoto Ryoma was tired of this government, and saw them as corrupt; and was inspired by the American's belief of "All men are created equal".
He orchestrated what he intended to be a "bloodless revolution", but it in fact turned out to be one of the most violent periods in Japan's history.
On the other side was a very strong, very fierce group of Shogunate loyalists called "Shinsengumi", who were dedicated to the protection of the Shogun, and keeping the peace in Kyoto, the centre of the revolution.

So basically, today I was going around Kyoto visiting various sights related to this period of history.

I started with Mibu-dera, the temple where the Shinsengumi were formed and resided in the beginning. I was surprised at how small it is. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the statue of Kondo Isami, leader and founder of Shinsengumi, which I'd been led to believe was in the garden of this temple. I'll find out more, and go search for it again.

After this is it was a reasonably long ride to the next stop, a statue of Katsura Kogoro. He was the leader of the Choshu clan, and was a key figure in orchestrating the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
It actually took me a while to find the statue; it's kind of just chilling in front of an office building. As a bonus from not be able to find it, I also got to admire the unrelated, but impressive Kyoto City Hall.

A short ride south from there found me at the location of the assassination of Sakamoto Ryoma (and his friend Nakaoka Shintaro). Sakamoto was killed on the spot; Nakaoka lived for two days before succumbing to wounds from the fight, but he wasn't able to identify the assassins.
It's really quite strange; as with the statue of Katsura Kogoro, the monument for this historic site has just held its place while the city develops around it. The monument now stands in front of a convenience store.

After seeing this site, I went east to Maruyama Koen, a very nice park area in the eastern side of Kyoto.
I'm starting to learn my lesson about cycling in Kyoto, and that's that depending on where you're going, it can be VERY hard to find a bike parking. I wandered about for at least half an hour before I found one.
There are a few temples and shrines and the like in Maruyama Koen; but as today was a Bakumatsu Tour, I had a focus: the statues of Ryoma and Shintaro that are located in the park.

After admiring the statues, and also taking in the park itself (and enjoying some tempura udon), I set off for the next stop: the grave of Ryoma and Shintaro.
It proved difficult to find, but eventually I got there.
The entry fee to the graveyard was ￥300, which I was willing to pay because I had to visit the grave. As well as Ryoma/Shintaro, there are also hundreds (thousands?) of other graves of members of the revolution.
I wasn't expecting to find fresh flowers, and other gifts, decorating Ryoma's grave. I guess even 150 years later, the people of Japan still revere this visionary.
I watched some others pay their respects, before I put a lucky Goen (5 yen) piece in the box and paid my own respects. If not for him, perhaps I would not be able to visit this amazing country.

Buy now it was getting late, so I set off towards the last stop on today's pilgrimage: Ikedaya.

Ikedaya was an inn which is famous for being the scene of one of Shinsengumi's most crushing victories over the rebels.
The rebels were staying at this inn, and had a plan to burn the entire city of Kyoto to the ground. Shinsengumi found out about this, and stormed the building and routed the rebel force inside. Almost overnight they became heroes for saving the city; prior to this they were somewhat feared due to the actions of some members abusing their power (who were subsequently killed, and a set of strict regulations for members was drawn up).
For many years this famous location has been home to nothing but a crappy pachinko parlour (which a memorial stone and information sign outside the front), but about 2 years ago or so someone bought the location and turned it into a Shinsengumi themed restaurant, called "Ikedaya" of course!

It was a very nice place; I was sort of expecting a little izakaya type place with some themed decor, but its a very nice restaurant, with said themed decor. All the staff wear Shinsengumi uniforms (which can be bought from any souvenir shop for about $30), and all the placemats/menu/chopstick holder etc are decorated in this theme.
They even have a selection of cocktails, which are named after members of the Shinsengumi!
The food was more expensive than I was expecting (though not expensive, really; ￥1500-2000 for a meal), and I was running low on cash, so I just had some sashimi and German sausage appetisers (odd combo?) and of course, one of these cocktails. I chose Souji Okita, who is perhaps my favourite figure in the group.
The food was good, the atmosphere was great, the cocktail was really nice too.
I'll definitely be back here again before I leave, for a proper meal.