Author: Ella

Lots of reminders about the rules.

I am fascinated by the Japanese love of cartoon representations rather than boring old stick figures. That last photo brings up another subject. Japanese cleanliness and fastidiousness. Every car shines like new. No dents or dings. No side view mirrors duct taped on or cardboard-taped broken windows. In museums, if one touches a glass case,…

After exploring Eikan-do temple yesterday we needed refreshment. I mean I just had my whole concept of the structure of Buddhism exploded (sure, sure…maybe I’m being a little dramatic).  Just outside the entrance to the temple was a place advertising coffee. You know who (and it wasn’t me) made a beeline. On the menu was…

There are hundreds of temples and shrines in Kyoto, its hard to chose which to visit. I had stumbled across a website called  preparetravelplans.com with an article  “10 Hidden Gems in Kyoto” which is how we found the Kimono Forest the other day. Of course, the skeptics among you will be rolling your eyes and thinking “hey,…

Friends of ours (Charlie and Wynette) now on their 13th or 14th year of walking the Caminos in Spain and Portugal, were offered umeshu at a Spanish bar the other day. (Kanpai you two). I’ve recently developed a taste for umeshu here in Japan so I thought I’d say more about it. Umeshu has been…

Designed by Sakugen Shuryo, a Zen master, poet and diplomat in the 1500’s, the Lion’s Roar gardens of the Zen Buddhist Hogon-in temple is breathtaking. Using the principle of “borrowed scenery”, this garden folds itself into the surrounding forest using Mt. Arashiyama as a backdrop.  if ever there was a place to let zen into…

Arashiyama is an area just west of Kyoto city. Arashiyama  means “the storm mountain” and comes from the wind known as “Atago Oroshi,” which sweeps down Mt. Atago and blows away all the cherry blossoms and maple leaves at the end of their seasons. Nature’s air blower using wind power.  From our place, a city bus…

First thing we did in Kyoto yesterday when we arrived was to take a stroll to the national gardens. I was excited to see a small sign in front of a tiny temple describing a 600 year old camphor tree that stood on the temple grounds. We went in to investigate. What we found…

Kyoto.  Once the imperial capital, famous for its many shrines (Shinto), temples (Buddhist), gardens, and palaces. Now draws upwards of 75 million tourists a year.  As Grubb mentioned, from Naoshima we ferried to Uno Port, took a local train (stops at every single little village) to Okayama, rode the Shinkansen to Kyoto and then a final…

We’ve moved on to Kyoto but I wanted to give a mention to this great restaurant back in Naoshima. Our second night we tried the New Olympia, a tiny sushi restaurant. By small I mean 5 seats at the counter , two western style tables and one tatami mat table. WOW. Out of this world…

I’ve been wanting to try these. Lots of hype about this street food. Finally tried it today at a little place at the port. Takoyaki, often called “octopus balls” by us foreigners, are kind of like fried dumplings. A wheat-based batter fried with a piece of octopus meat inside. Seasoning and sauces vary. They were…

Best thing we saw yesterday, sandwiched among abandoned houses. The Can Art Shop.

Visiting Naoshima that is. An island dedicated to art. Gotta be good, right? After checking into Sparky’s House, we set out to walk a pleasant 25 minutes from Sparky’s to the village of Honmura where several abandoned homes have been repurposed as contemporary art spaces.  Grubb will describe the installations  in more descriptive prose but let…

10 yen to the first person to guess the full meaning of the sign without translating the Japanese words.

Yesterday we boarded an early morning Shinkansen bound for Okayama, then transferred to a local train to Chaymachi, another local train to Uno port, and a ferry crossing to Naoshima. All told, about 5 hours from Hiroshima apartment to our room at Sparkys House. Hiroshima Station is another huge megaplex. Below is just one small…