A little later than I had hoped, but better late than never. Part two of the very difficult to narrow down list of my favourite places to visit in Tokyo and Kyoto. Gion and Ponto-cho Gion is the most famous of the 花街 hanamachi, the geisha districts of Kyoto. (Although in Kyoto they are called geiko … Continue reading Top 15 Things to see in Tokyo and Kyoto Part TWO
I am always torn when people ask me for my advice on what is unmissable in both Tokyo and Kyoto. It is a really hard question to answer. There are so many amazing things to see in both places. However, as I am currently planning a trip with my mum and step-dad (their first time), … Continue reading Top 15 Things to See in Tokyo and Kyoto Part ONE
I am not sure how old I was the first time I watched Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, but I remember being entranced by the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Quite young, I think. I was traumatised by the scene where David Bowie is buried in sand up to his neck. Dad loves David Bowie, music, and … Continue reading Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA
Jizo are ubiquitous in Japan. They are lovely little statues, usually made of stone, and many have knitted bonnets and shawls of red wool. In Japan it is believed that when a baby is miscarried or dies early it has not had an opportunity to build the good karma required to enter the afterlife. In … Continue reading Japanese Jizo
On my recent trip to Japan, my fourth, I finally tried an onsen. We stayed in a traditional, and very beautiful ryokan on Lake Chuzenji, just out of Nikko. We spent three nights eating, sleeping and bathing in the traditional way. All the traditional ways of living in Japan are surrounded with layers of etiquette … Continue reading The Only Gaijin in the Village (Or, How the Onsen Changed my Life)
Friday morning we woke early, again, and decided to take a walk before breakfast to the local falls. Kegon Falls was literally a 10 minutes walk from the ryokan, which was good. It was pretty chilly in the morning. The falls height is around 97 metres, but the ferocity of the water falling made it … Continue reading Autumn beauty, Tokugawas, Jizo and The Abyss….. Nikko
Thursday morning we woke up really early. We lounged around a bit, waiting for our designated breakfast time. Breakfast was kaiseki set menu, and very traditional Japanese. Rice, miso, grilled mackerel, pickles, tomagoyaki (omelette) and hojicha tea. I like Japanese breakfast, and this was very yummy. The yuzu juice accompaniment was particularly delicious. We then … Continue reading Edo Wonderland, at last.
Wednesday morning we were up, a little worse for wear after our sake day, and a little hard to motivate (me), which is always the case when leaving Kyoto. As much as I feel I am coming home when I arrive, I feel I'm being dragged away from a friend when I leave. A reasonably … Continue reading All the Tradition…..
Tuesday morning we woke up early..... no reference to pensioners allowed.... don't want to upset my Dad. We had a hearty bacon, egg and sausage breakfast, with some really good, Maki coffee, and headed off early to Fushimi. Kyoto's famous sake precinct. We thought we would pop into the National Museum on our way past, … Continue reading Super Sake Saturation
On Monday we woke up super early again, pensioner hour.... and got ready quite quickly. We were out the door and on our way into the city before 8am. This was a bizarre experience, as the last time we were in Kyoto we had four children to wrangle out the door, and it would never … Continue reading Historical Heaven
