Yesterday's journey took us to Fushimi Inari and Tofuku-ji. Glimpsing these names in Hiking in Japan, I had visions of shrines made of inari sushi and tofu, or at the very least selling them as snacks. Instead we got a 4K hike through an endless tunnel of red torii, winding through a dark wood filled with stone foxes. It's nearly December, but the autumn colors are still incandescent in Kyoto, perhaps due to a late summer. In any case, it was so lovely I didn't even mind all the steps, of which there are even more than torii.
We exited Fushimi Inari through a ritzy residential neighborhood and wandered over to Tofuku-ji, whose etymology isn't related to any kind of food. They do have a small snack stand inside, though. Despite their beauty, temples don't really move me. What human creation can beat the spectrum of color and structure evoked in a single leaf?
After our hike, I demanded some tofu, for real. I got my wish at Sosoan, a tofu shop which also serves kaiseki tofu dinners. The first course of six, nigashi(?) tofu. Underneath that beautiful roe was some aburaage and cubes of silken tofu.
My favorite: yuba (skins made from skimming boiling soy milk), bearing only the slightest resemblance to the yuba in the US, with some fresh wasabi, no relation in smell or taste to powdered wasabi.
Only another two days in Kyoto.
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