The 100 Bus

Note to self: do not take the number 100 bus along Higashioji-dori on a Sunday afternoon at the peak of the autumn tourist season.

I generally don't take the bus - anywhere - Kyoto, New York, Paris, Los Angeles.  It is a silly and fairly unpleasant way to travel.  The whole point of using mass transit is to arrive at your destination quickly and efficiently.  A bus cannot avoid or bypass traffic snarls.  So while you may not have the stress of driving, your forward progress is nonetheless halted.

I got on the 100 bus around Heian-jingū Gate hoping to dash across town to the Kyoto National Museum.  The bus was completely full when it arrived at the stop, but somehow, disregarding convention and safety, we packed at least another dozen people on board.  Buses in Japan are very small compared to those you find in the US, so this is a real claustrophobic nightmare.

Everyone is wearing winter coats including me.  It's hot.  There is no air-conditioning and the windows are all shut tight.  I didn't want to violate some Japanese code of conduct by opening a window, perhaps sacrificing the comfort of others for my own needs.  I suffer thinking that at each approaching stop everyone will get off.  They don't.  In fact, a few new people manage to stuff themselves onto the bus.

Meanwhile, outside on the street the traffic is crawling along like a stoned tortoise.  I could literally walk faster.  I wrestle with the idea of getting off and hoofing it, but the distance to the museum is pretty great.

I finally arrive at the Kyoto National Museum completely frazzled and sweating.  And what greets me just past the entrance?  A 90-minute queue to get into the special exhibition.  My whole reason for going to the museum was because I had a free ticket which was expiring.

I skip the special exhibition and head for the permanent collection.  This too was packed, visitors slinking slowly past each display in an orderly line as if on a conveyor belt.  This is no way to see art.  I refuse.  I search in vain for the one gallery that is if not empty, at least not thronged with these art zombies.  In the end I set a new personal record for quickest museum visit, blazing through the whole building in less than 20 minutes.

I must thank Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi for saving my afternoon.  Once outside the museum I sat in the garden contemplating the new Heisei Chishinkan wing of the museum, the amazing modernist structure which he designed.  I was already a fan of his without realizing it.  He also designed MoMA in New York and the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures in Tokyo.