Saturday, November 13, 2010

Images of Kyoto

A sampling of photos, text to follow:
Lake Biwa canal

Nanzen-ji

The garden at Ten juan, part of Nanzen-ji, this footpath was laid down in 1338

Traditionally dressed couple under the aqueduct at Nanzen-ji

San mon bell

Koi, Ten juan

Stepping stones across the Kamo River

Detail of a door at the Imperial palace

door to Dantei at Imperial Palace

Oikeniwa garden Imperial Palace

Monday, November 8, 2010

Kanko desu ka?

It took us a day or two, but we finally found the rhythm that works for us in Kyoto;  John and I get up early and do what we need to do, the kids sleep in till about 8, John goes to work and the kids and I go off sightseeing. One of the first phrases we learned in Japanese was “Kanko desu ka?” which means “Are you sightseeing?” This seemed hilariously useless in Hamamatsu, but we dutifully repeated it after the nice lady on the computer, and fortunately, it stuck. Here, it is the first question we are asked.

Sightseeing in Kyoto is unlike anywhere else I have been. Not only is the city interesting in and of itself, but the encircling hills, five with great symbols cut into the sides that are lit for the Gozan Okuribi festival in August, make it dramatic. My guide book says there are 1600 Buddhist Temples, more than 400 Shinto shrines, and 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites. For a city of a million and a half people, it is fairly compact, and because they see (and depend upon) so many tourists, the transportation system is easy to navigate, and people are kind. 

We didn’t come here with a plan, or a list of places we must see. We tend to travel in a less structured way, and see what we see, and find what we find. When traveling with kids, this is a much less stressful proposition than getting all fussed about having to make the next bus or have your day ruined. In Kyoto, there is always another bus, and it likely goes to another ‘must see’ place.

It has worked out well for my kids to have lunch at home and a little down time after a morning out. Then they are ready for another adventure in the afternoon.  I try to come up with interesting alternatives, so they have a choice in what we do, and give each child a chance to pick an activity on alternative days. There is so much to do here, it hardly matters what you do, you will see something amazing and learn about something you didn’t know before. We’ve gone to temples and shrines, gardens, and the zoo. We climbed a mountain and fed snow monkeys.  We accidentally went to 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites.  And we haven’t yet felt overwhelmed or over tired. We have one week to go, though, so we will see how we do!
Here are the pictures of what we have seen and where we have been, Imperial Palace Park, Nijo Castle, Kikakuju, Tenryu-ji. Google tells me I am out of storage, and I need to figure out how to deal with that, but it is 4 AM, so that is a problem for later. More pictures if I figure it out. 



Giant Ginko in the Imperial
Palace Garden

Imperial Palace Park

Making a fall boquet

South gate, Imperial Palace

Imperial Palace park
walking in the gardens at Nijo castle

Here are the pictures of what we have seen and where we have been: 



Kara-mon, Nijo castle
Ninomaru Garden, Nijo Castle

Outer moat, Nijo castle
Tenryu-ji

Special Autumn market, Nijo castle

Dragon detail, Kara-mon, Nijo castle

Garden at Tenryu-ji

Frog pool shrine at Tenryu-ji

Dragon mural, Tenryu-ji

Garden at Tenryu-ji

covered walkway between halls, Tenryu-ji
Kikakuju, the Golden Pavilion

Phoenix







Sunday, November 7, 2010

Coffee Origami


Jane K. this is just for you- as a coffee drinker I thought you would appreciate it.

I was a little worried that we might have a hard time finding coffee in Japan. I’d been warned that it isn’t as common, and doesn’t always taste like coffee back home. Over the last year, I’ve become a coffee drinker: at least one cup in the morning, usually two, sometimes one in the middle of the day.  I’d gone ten years without it, and thought I would be fine if I had to switch to tea. And then I arrived in Japan and found that they have coffee origami.

Starbucks invaded Japan sometime ago, so coffee is fashionable. In Hamamatsu, the Starbucks at the train station is beyond the barrier to the Shin-kansen lines, the ultra pricy bullet trains that whisk people from one city to the next. Do only people who can afford a ticket drink high priced coffee? I think it is an image thing. There is also a Starbucks in Hama down the street from the station, in a hip shopping district. Sadly, these are far from where we live, a 600 Yen bus ride, too pricy for everyday visits. But like I said, we have coffee origami.

So, what IS coffee origami? John discovered these at the grocery store.  They are individual servings of coffee, in a little pouch, that hang from a paper structure over your cup. You pour the water through it.  Brilliance!  We have found that each brand of coffee has a different structure, some require folding, some hang completely over the cup, some rest inside. We are on a quest for the most functional combined with the best tasting coffee.  When we find it, we will bring some back for you!

Here in Japan, they have plug in hot water makers. I think they would be illegal to sell in the US as the water is heated to 98 C (you can change that to 80C or 60 C if you just want warm). It stays in the insulated pot and you push a button to get it to come out. It means that you always have hot water available for coffee, tea, ramen, what ever.  You refill it when necessary, and it takes about 5 minutes to heat up from cold. I think we will buy one to bring home. Japan used the same plugs and current that we do in the states.

So, for all you coffee aficionados, this is how they do it in Japan.  

Friday, November 5, 2010

Kyoto

Kyoto, Japan November, 2010


The children are stirring in their futons. Though the sliding door to their room is still closed, I hear muttering and giggling.  A good start to a day in Kyoto.

Outside the morning traffic is heavy, but luckily there isn’t someone yelling through a megaphone like yesterday.  We are living in a rental apartment at the corner of Marutamachi-dori and Kitashirakawa-dori, on the East side of the city, north of the center. It is a reasonable walking distance to Kyoto University where John is working, and smack dab in the middle of about 50 major temples and historic sights.  Through a remarkable stroke of good fortune, this is also a crossing for 6 of the major city bus lines, making it simple to get anywhere in the city from the bus stop right outside our door. The only downside is that John has to work all day- from 9am to 7pm at the office, then he puts in hours at home in the morning and evening, too.  The kids and I are left to explore the city on our own, and there is a huge feeling of guilt (for me at least) that we are experiencing Kyoto leisurely, while John is slaving away to make that possible.  Luckily, there are weekends, and the Japanese work ethic doesn’t seem to apply to working at home after hours or working on weekends. I think this is because you need to be seen working for it to count towards your status.  Work at home or on weekends or holidays, doesn’t count for anything, so, no one does it. Yea to that!

Oh, megaphone woman is back, but since the windows are all frosted over (not from cold, but for privacy), so I can’t tell where she is or what she wants. Not that I could anyway. Yesterday, when walking through a neighborhood, we heard delightful wooden flute music and wondered where it was coming from. As we approached, we realized it was a speaker, and it was coming from a  truck driving slowly down the narrow streets collecting cardboard for recycling, like an inverse ice cream man.

Kyoto is a modern city; cultured, refined, yet surviving on tourists who come here for its ancient treasures. One could quickly get jaded at the fees charged for entering the temples, for purchasing good fortune, to ring the temple bell.  And yet, you don’t. It is lovely, and they are doing their best to keep it all intact and functioning.  We love that you can buy pastry at a French bakery, coffee at Starbucks, and enjoy it while sitting in a 12th century Zen garden. Very civilized.

After arriving on Monday via the Shin-kansen from Hamamatsu, we met John’s colleague, Teji Sota, an eminent biologist at Kyoto University.  Kyoto Station is a modern steel and glass structure that can only be described as soaring. And, a novelty for those of us that come from a land with winter, it is open to the elements. Teji whisked us an a quick drive through the city, past our apartment, up to the University, to his office (cluttered, and packed to the gills. Academics are the same everywhere). John had to fill out loads of paperwork for the apartment, promising all kinds of things that he nodded and pretended to understand.  I spent my time trying to jolly up sagging, apprehensive, hungry kids. Anxiety manifests it self differently in us all, and a large part of traveling as a parent is understanding that, and learning how to cope. 
After a quick lunch at a family style chain restaurant (think Friendlys) Teji drove us past the Kyoto International Convention Center. Kyoto is trying hard to promote itself as a place for conventions and conferences.  Architecturally, this large complex is trying to mimic the temples and shines that make the city famous, but redefined in raw concrete.  Kind of freaky, but the setting and gardens are nice. We drove to a nearby park to kill time until the rental office opened, and the kids loved the giant colorful carp in the pond.

Finally, after a long stop at the rental office while John sorted out the internet access, we arrived at out new apartment. It is smaller than our apartment in Hamamatsu, but far nicer, and came with an equipped kitchen. Yea!  The children get their own Japanese style room with tatamai mats and futons, we adults are stuck with two twin beds, sigh. We went for walk to find a grocery store, then a quick dinner and bed. 

Tuesday, John went off to work and the kids and I went exploring. The night before we has walked by two shrines and the Kyoto Handicraft Center. We set off to see what we could find. The shrine closest to are apartment, and not on my map, was deserted and the kids found it kind of creepy in its solitude. We did like the black bunny, but I haven't been able to find who or what he symbolizes. Anyone know? 

The Kyoto Handicraft Center is an artist cooperative, of sorts. Seven floors of Kyoto crafts, a few souvenir shops, Kimono shops, a restaurant and on the top floor, a do-it-yourself craft area. This looked like fun, so we checked out what we could do, but decided that Jane might not be up to an hour of it, so we looked into a souvenir shop on the second floor where we found a huge variety of cool erasers. The kids love these and they will make great gifts when we return home. I would have loved to explore the other floors, see the vast selection of woodblock prints or hand dyed scarves, but after Jane made a dash behind the counter of $30,000 pearls, I figured we'd better not push our luck.  Better to come home for lunch. After eating, I decided that I had to get these kids out to run somewhere. The easiest place to get to was the Imperial Palace Garden. That meant taking a bus, but we had to do it sooner or later. Of course, the busses work differently here than in Hamamatsu. In the main city area, there is a flat fee, and lots of signs in English telling people how to manage. I noticed lots of people on the bus looking furtively at the bus maps they give out at the Tourist Information Centers. This is a city that survives on tourism, and they make it easy for Japanese, Chinese and English speaking tourists to manage. Made it to the Park and had a good romp. Found out that the Imperial Palace is closed, but that foreigners can apply and usually get granted same day admittance. We have yet to do that, but likely will next week. We've decided it is good to be the Emperor. The park is huge, with venerable old trees including the biggest Ginkos we have ever seen. Teji tells us that the Japanese eat the seeds. 

We made it back home, after taking the wrong bus and having to walk quite a bit, tired, but feeling like we could manage here and come up with a way of spending our time that would make everyone happy and no one crazy.