Category: Silently in Japan

My navigation skills took a hit today. If there is one thing I am good at (just like Grubb prides himself on distinguishing sweets from soap) it’s being able to get us where we need to go.  Unfortunately today, instead of arriving at Byodo-in Temple expecting to see a fabulous Amida Buddha, carved gold phoenixes on the…

I’ve always been fascinated with the tiny Japanese sculpture they call Netsuke. Carved out of a single piece of wood or stone, they have a unique rounded shape and are small enough to fit in one’s hand. Today we went to the Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum.  At 5000, it has the largest collection of netsuke…

We felt a bit of a culture shock watching Miyako Odori.  The mimed story (with chorus narration) was universal.  (Fisherman nets a ghostly spirit who leaves him with a child he presents to an emperor.  The child grows to fight an enemy and both die.  Behind this tale the stage design goes from spring to spring.)  But the twanging whine…

For something new and different, we attended the Miyako Odori yesterday at the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo (theater) in the famous Gion district of Kyoto.  The Miyako Odori is a performance, maybe one could call dance, or maybe stylized choreographed movements. A traditional spring occurrence, specifically April, every year since 1872. The very first performance was…

Did I mention Kyoto Prefecture (kind of like a state) gets 75 million visitors a year and 50 million of those come to the city of Kyoto.

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…

Ella’s talked about the tea house in the Lion’s Roar Garden, but what she didn’t mention was the little “traditional Japanese sweet” that, when we were staying in Sparky’s Place back in Naoshima, I confused with a bar of soap that had the same shape and color.  On our way out the door to tour the…

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…

When we were visiting the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art this afternoon, I came across a painting that made me pause then do a double take.  It was part of an exhibition of mostly 19th century Polish artwork.  The painter was Jan Matejko and the subject was Stańczyk, a famous Polish court jester (1480-1560) employed by…

This morning we took a bus to a train to the Arishiyama district of Kyoto where our first stop was the Kimono Forest. Our second stop was devoted to averting the army of tourists swarming towards the large Tenryu-ji Temple.  (Size makes a difference when it comes to attracting crowds in World Heritage sites.)   Slipping away…