“It’s closed!” My friends Luke, Carly, and I stood outside a vegetarian café in Kyoto. We’d spent two hours trying to find the place. Our legs were sore from walking and our bellies were empty. This is the danger of traveling with vegetarians. Finding a meal they can eat in Japan is difficult. I was about to complain when I remembered one of my favorite lines.
“The best travel stories are when something goes wrong,” said Tim Cahill, a famous American travel writer. I always try to remember those words when I’m on the road. That way, when something goes wrong, I can keep my eyes open to the interesting things that I might otherwise miss.
According to polls, about 6% of Americans are vegetarians. A vegetarian is someone who does not eat any animals or seafood, but will eat food that comes from animals like eggs, cheese, or milk. When vegetarians come to Japan, they are surprised by how hard it is to find a vegetarian meal.
Even though Japanese people do not each much meat, it seems like every dish has some fish flakes, or chicken stock, or a sliver of meat hiding somewhere. Those little bits can ruin a vegetarian’s dinner.
There are many reasons to be a vegetarian; some do it for their health. Some eat only vegetables because it’s better for the environment, and others believe that it is cruel to eat animals.
So there we were, in Kyoto, hunting for tofu-only restaurants. The good news was that when we did finally find a place, the food was delicious. I had no idea that a five-course dinner of tofu and vegetables could be so good, but it was one of the best meals I’ve had in Japan.
With our tanks full of tofu, we walked around the Gion district. Before us was the giant gate of a temple. We stood underneath it and felt the power of the ancient building. It reminded Luke of something he read by a famous scholar named Joseph Campbell.
“Religious buildings are enormous to recreate the sense of awe that we get from nature,” Luke said. Campbell wrote about many of the world’s religions. He found common themes in their stories, from the story of the Buddha, to the story of Jesus. He wrote about these stories and it is said that his theories about mythological heroes inspired George Lucas to write Star Wars.
Luke suggested that religious architects made churches and temples big to make ordinary people feel small. This is where he and I disagreed. “I don’t think they wanted to make us feel small, I think we need to be reminded that we are small,” I said. Luke shook his head. “It is about power,” he said. “It’s about humility,” I countered.
We walked the grounds of the temple debating the meaning of it all until we both stopped and took in the view before us. In our silence, we found something we could agree on. The temple was beautiful, and the gate was awesome.
Good post! That gate and steps are amazing. Miss you, think of you often. If I don't get laid off, I'm'a start saving money for a Japan trip...
Posted by: David Orlowski | April 30, 2009 at 06:28 AM