Northwest Kyoto stroll

Today we decided to go for a long walk through the northwest corner of Kyoto.  This part of the city traditionally was famous for it's vegetable and rice fields.  In the years since WWII more and more  people have gotten tired of the crowded and noisy sections of the city and have moved into this area.  However it still retains a "countryside" feel with small fields throughout the area containing vegetable gardens and even small rice fields.


 The plants in the foreground are okra
- very popular in Kyoto.

.  Several neighborhood farmers had planted new fall crops especially onions and cabbage.

As we walked we found a family putting a cover over their greenhouse frame

Click on any photo to see it larger.

Ohara scenes

We were hoping to get to Ohara before the rice was harvested to see the fields of grain.  Too late!  The same fields I had taken photos of last May were now cut.

All over Japan the farmers have varieties of methods of hanging the rice to dry.

  We walked out into the gardens and fields to get photos.

Traditional Dyeing

While we were staying in central Kyoto we decided to visit Aizen Kobo.  One hundred years ago the Utsuki family made brocade obi - the sash around the middle of kimono.  After the jacquard loom was introduced to Japan and the kimono became less popular for every day wear, the family joined the Japan Folk Art movement and learned the old way of making natural indigo dye - or aizome.   This is the only shop in Kyoto, and one of very few left in Japan that makes and sells handwoven, hand dyed, hand embroidered garments of true indigo.

We spent an hour with Mr. Utsuki.  He is the second generation of this craft and his son is following in the family business as well.  He showed us the 140 year old house and walked us through the entire dyeing process.  He uses plants to make indigo,  putting them through a fermentation process.  He also uses persimmons and the rose madder root for colors others than the deep blue indigo.

He is pictured above stirring the fermenting indigo and (right) showing us an antique fire fighter's coat and hat. In addition to the fact that indigo does not burn, the coat is stuffed with paper which is soaked with water to keep the fire fighter from burning.  Both the house and Mr. Utsuki are considered national treasures of Japan.

Undoki

The church we attend in Kyoto has a preschool. They held their annual sports day (undoki) at a local nearby elementary school.  9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. including bento lunches. Lots of races and fun contests for both the children and their parents. 

One of the events was a wheelbarrow race

 - another  included assembly of "animals" created out of large boxes.

When it was all over David helped with the take-down.

Most everyone there picked up some of the equipment and carried it the 3 blocks back to the church from the school.

Small World

The local church we attend here in Kyoto is a delight to come back to.  Warm and welcoming.  At the lunch time after worship we sat with a couple who are hoping to go to the US so the husband can work on a research project.  The place they want to go to is WWU in Bellingham!  Small world.   Several years ago they lived in Pullman to attend school and had one visit to Seattle.  (They had seen the movie  Sleepless in Seattle and wanted to see the fish tossing at Pike Street Market)    David stayed after church and attended the council meeting - just to be supportive.  After more than 30 years of church council meetings I decided to miss this meeting and go for a walk!

School Matsuri

Spent much of the afternoon at a matsuri (festival) at the local grade school. Several parents from our local church in Kyoto have children at this school. Similar in many ways to a grade school fair in the US. There were games (Fish pond, races, golf), food booths (hot dogs, chicken wings, mochi dango (sweet sticky rice flour balls roasted on a stick and coated with a sweet sauce) teriyaki, and the kids favorite – a cracker shaped like an octopus with a thick soy sauce and mayonnaise on top, and drink booths with water, juice , soda and beer.

In the middle of the playground was a stage - performers included singing moms from the PTA, a group of hula dancers, and children Taiko drummers. (Especially notice the little girl who takes her turn at the left-hand drum below.)

Click the button on the bottom-right of the video to see it full screen (much better). Then click your keyboard's "Esc" button to return here.

First Breakfast

Went to Royal Host (looks a little like Denny's) for my favorite Japanese breakfast but they were not open yet. Walked around the neighborhood and discovered a tiny coffee shop (2 tables and a few stools) run by an elderly man who made yummy pancakes for David and a very good egg sandwich for me. A good find that we will most likely return to again.

David spent much of the afternoon trying to to straighten out the problem we are having with getting wi-fi. (The service provider will no longer take foreign credit card) Not connected yet at the house however David found a very temporary solution to get a few e-mails by using some live wi-fi he found floating around in the sky above  one corner of the playground across the street.

Not as tired on the first day as we have been in past trips. Don't know if it is because we flew at a different time or if we are just getting used to 22 hours of travel before we arrive.

Time Warp

We left Kyoto at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday and landed in San Francisco on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.! Sort of a Thursday that never ends.

We did the entire trip on public transportation. Walked to the bus in Kyoto (I love bus #9) then took the train to Osaka airport. Plane to San Francisco, plane to Seattle, light rail to downtown, the Sounder train to Mukilteo, Ferry to the Island, bus to the stop near our street, walked to our house!

I wish I could figure out a way to go without any luggage but we've gotten it down to two carry-on rolling bags and two back packs and a small duffel. Not bad for a month away.

Re-entry feels like we've walked through some time warp door into another world. Comfortable on both sides - but they are two very very different places.

Back to Langley Life!

Doshisha High School and Middle School

Doshisha High School and Middle School are on the edge of town and are on the same property. All new buildings have been constructed in the past few years and now it is all finished. We have had the opportunity to watch the progression over the 3 years we have come to Kyoto. This week the Principal showed us all around. It includes a new chapel. The students will share facilities for Science, athletics, shop, arts (including practical arts like home-ec), but are separated into H.S. and Middle School for Homeroom and other classes. The Elementary School is nearby. The whole campus is on about 20 acres of land.
The Science building has an observatory. Because the school is on the edge of town the night sky is more visible that in Kyoto proper.
The students begin the school year April 1 and get August off and March off and some days around the New Year plus a few other short holidays.

Most students attend school 6 days a week.

Mr. Kimura is now the Principal for both the Middle School and High School and it was fun to watch him interact with both staff and students. He writes a special birthday postcard to each student on their birthday and delivers it himself while the student is in class. Click on photos for larger view.

Karen and Asahi visit too

While David's sister Ruth and cousin Patricia visited we had an opportunity to have a short visit with Ruth and Zen's daughter's Karen and Asahi. They are both college students in Tokyo. We walked to 2 Shrines and then had dinner together before they all left to go back to their respective towns. (Double click on photos for larger view)

Visit from Family

David's sister Ruth and his cousin Patricia are staying with us for a couple of days. They live in Matsuyama so are tourists in Kyoto. We had fun walking through the neighborhood and visiting Kamigamo shrine. David, Ruth and Patricia.

It is common to see wedding parties at the shrine. Today was no exception.

After we walked around the Shrine grounds we went down the street to the old pickle store. It is in a 200year old Kyoto Machiya (house) and under the hanging tea kettle there are bowls full of pickles for tasting.

I bought my favorite pumpkin rind pickles.

On our walk we passed a bicycle outfitted with an illegal but very popular umbrella holder.

Ohara countryside

A small village named Ohara is actually in the Kyoto city limits but is a 40 minute bus ride from downtown Koyto. We had learned about it from a T.V. show we watch in the U.S. on the Japanese cable channel that we subscribe to.We decided to see for ourselves and found it to be a lovely area.
We walked along a stream and many small shops to a Temple.

We decided to save the Temple for another day and went to a restaurant / gift shop for lunch .

The lunch was beautiful and delicious. It came in lacquered boxes and included fish, soup, pickles, tofu, rice, tempera and more. What a fun feast.

Gion and Kiyomizudera Temple

There are thousands of temples and shrines in Kyoto. Some very close to where we live, others a long bus ride away. Some are fairly plain, others park-like, some have amazing and very old sand gardens, one is covered in gold, some small others huge.

On Tuesday we went to one that we have been to before. Two bus rides and quite a climb up steps. Yet worth it for the view. It is called Kiyomizudera.
We thought there would be fewer people on a weekday - but it seems several schools had field trips on the day we visited.





I am always amazed at the size of the floor boards in these ancient buildings.

It is fun for some to rent Geisha outfits - including face paint in the area called Gion near the temple. Click on the photo to see the geisha costumed youth.











On the way down from the temple we ate soba noodles at low tables in a little place that is built to hang over a small valley.

Philippine Lunch with Church Women

We gathered at the Bazaar Cafe. It is a church-run cafe housed in an old missionary house near the Doshisha University campus.

Today the cook was a Philippine woman so the menu choices were specialties from her country. Very tasty! This has become an annual gathering for the church women to get to practice English, for David and I to ask questions and to just have fun together.

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Kyoto Black Butterfly

A large black butterfly with red stripped under body is making its usual spring appearance all over Kyoto. On our walk in the mountain one appeared on a rhododendron right in front of us so I took a couple of quick photos.

Very long walk -uphill and down

After we viewed the Iris garden we saw a path and decided to follow it. It soon turned into a trail up a mountain. When we got to the top we could see a golf course down below on one side and the city on the other side. Along the way there were signs warning us to watch out for monkeys. We saw none.

The forest had quite a variety of trees - cedar, pine, maple and also bamboo. Pink rhododendron in bloom everywhere.

When we came off the mountain we walked along a lovely bamboo lined quiet road.

Iris garden

The lovely spring iris garden is in bloom. It is not easy to find but is within walking distance of Kamigamo shrine and about 2 miles from our house. I learned that many years ago the first iris plants were brought to Japan from China and planted in this very garden.