Month: April 2025

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…

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…

Left Sparky’s Place early this morning to catch the 6:40 AM ferry.  Not many people were leaving the island at that time.   We practically had the ferry to ourselves.  When it docked, we crossed the street to the train station and caught the one going straight to  Okayama just as it was leaving.  So, great, we got to…

Naoshima is a beautiful island noted for its attempt at being one big art exhibit.  To get visitors primed, outside the main port is a large red pumpkin people can crawl in and out of. A long block away from the big pumpkin is a bunraku statue.  Or at least that’s how the Portuguese sculptor describes it.  Bunraku…

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…

Staying at Sparky’s Place on Naoshima island it follows that we should have a little bounce to our step heading out to the village of Honmura where it’s a custom to get a ticket to the five art houses.  Art houses are abandoned houses and office space that have been converted into venues for installation…

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…

Before we got on the train this morning, Ella bought a bento box with eel laid out on a bed of rice.  While we were heading to Okayama (to transfer trains to Naoshima), she opened the box and dined.  It was the best meal we had all day.