Oideyasu! Please take off your shoes.
I've never seen a smoke alarm for sale in any of the home centers I've been to, so I finally "got around to it" and imported a box of six of these Kidde combination smoke/fire alarms. Mine are already in place, and I'm going install 3 of them at my mother-in-law's house. I figured I was going to get a customs hassle of some kind, but no. They have some cheaper ones at The Flying Pig, which I suppose means they have them at Costco for you Tokyoites. I recently heard that Costco opened a branch in Amagasaki (between Osaka and Kobe).
A couple weeks ago we bought a DeLonghi ice cream maker to go with our Delonghi espresso machine, bought last autumn. (I'd owned a steam espresso machine for 10 years without knowing that a real pump espresso unit will deliver coffee as good as the best coffee house can make it.) Anyway, this week the espresso maker started pumping out this electrical smoke. Did you ever see the wiring in a FIAT? If you buy something Italian, you know this day is coming. Who knows how much longer it will last? DeLonghi is an entry-level machine, though. Anyone know where I can get a Rancilio Silvia or Saeco Classico at a decent price in Japan?
Third generation of yamori (gecko) family confirmed on our kitchen window. Unfortunately, Carla seems to have moved on and bequeathed our window to her descendants. What a Mom.
In the past two weeks all the Surutto Kansai prepaid train passes I've bought have Kyoto themes, so I scanned them for you. The orange glow of paper lanterns through the koshimado (slatted windows) in machiya in Gion is really lovely. Kyoto vegetables like kamonasu are really important in Kyoto cooking like kaiseki-ryori or shojin-ryori. Kyoto was considered far from the sea in centuries past, so meals usually did not feature fresh fish from the sea, but rather dried ones carried over the mountains from the Maizuru coast in the north and river fish. Thus, sushi is not really Kyoto cuisine, but people do go out for sushi when they come to Kyoto, I suppose because it feels traditional and it has that "special occasion" feel.
I have a question for anyone in Japan who gets BBC on SkyPerfect satellite TV. Does everything on BBC have a slightly greenish tint to it? it does on mine, only on BBC. Relplies appreciated.
ZOOOooom! Japanese only, from the ubergeeks at Digital Hollywood (computer school). The intro and most of the site is Flash. If you don't have Cult3D it is still enjoyable and informative.
Yoshiko's dog Leigh is getting on in years (15), but she just can't miss the festival that passes by their house every year. Mama carried her out front to watch the action, and she had a good time.
Nothing beats the heat like Ramune when you've been hauling that mikoshi up and down the block for an hour or so.
Oh, yeah, For all you do, this Ramune's for you.
Who knew? Not me.
www.nils.jp
Japan's first urban railway was in Kyoto, starting in 1895, and one of the cars (not one of the 1895 ones, but a later version) is preserved in a corner of the garden at Heian Shrine which, truth be told, is barely older than the streetcar. The train was powered by the first hydroelectric plant in Japan (you can visit it across the street from the International Community Center). Japan's first elementary school, first movie showing (on a Lumiere projector) and first symphony orchestra were all in Kyoto. It's not all tea and incense.
This image means nothing, but everyone likes to photograph chrome in black and white.
An "interesting" new shop which somehow seems to fit in and offer a break from souvenir stands on Sannenzaka in Kyoto, Oto Kinoko claims to be the first store selling sounds. The mushroom-shaped consoles can be navigated with a big knob and touch screen. Videos of jungle rivers, icebergs and all manner of natural environs accompany the soundtracks, which are the star of the show. these are ultra-enhanced stereo recordings of animals living it up and chowing down. Like something? The moderately priced CD beckons. Their domain at www.otokinoko.com remains undeveloped, with only a pageholder. This had better catch on fast, against all odds, because I don't know how you can unload sound mushrooms at a liquidation sale.
By request, this is a 1024 X 768 image (about 170kb) of the main pavilion at Kiyomizu-dera.
How much is this?
Standard Japanese: Sumimasen, kore ikura desu ka?
Kyoto-ben: Occhan, kore nanbo?
Congratulations!
Standard Japanese: Omedetou gozaimasu!
Kyoto-ben: Omedetou-san-dosu!
Please
Standard Japanese: kudasai
Kyoto-ben: o-kure-yasu
The front of the Museum of Kyoto (not to be confused with the Kyoto Municipal Museum) is this turn of the 20th Century bank building on Sanjo Street. Nearby is the similarly beautiful Nakagyo-ku central post office. this part of Sanjo Street is really the trendiest part of town, nowadays, with cafes and boutiques opening up in old machiya. I went into the museum gift shop yesterday to buy some washi (handmade paper) for an art project I've wanted to do for a long time, but I chickened out.
I think has some kind of stamp card. "Overrun 3 countries and install puppet governments, and the fourth one is free!" Watch out, France.
Remeber the other day when you were wondering what was missing from your life, and you just couldn't figure it out?
I figured it out for you. I know what you need.
JAWS wine
I made it!
We had an enjoyable afternoon making kakejiku (hanging scrolls) at a workshop near Nijo Castle called Marumasu Nishimura Yuzen Kobo Their website has a Flash demo and all the particulars, in English or Japanese. I put together three elements (setting sun, dragonflies, tall grass) with "summer evening" as the theme in my mind, and followed Nishimura-sensei's directions to transfer the design to the blank scroll. In this picture, the wooden backing is still inserted to protect the background from stray dye.
The shop is back behind a machiya (kyoto townhouse) just about 5 minutes on foot from Nijo-jo mae Station.
Sorry to have bothered you (said when leaving someone's home)
(standard Japanese) O-jama shimashita
(Kyoto-ben) O-yakamassan doshita
You'll find a thick-walled (fireproof earthen walls, sheathed in wood in this example) storehouse behind many old, traditional houses in Japan. Ask the owner what's in there. I've only been in a few, but I've never heard any interesting stories about the contents, and I've heard people say they don't know what's in theirs.
Update: Finally got home just before midnight. It seems there was a suicide in Takarazuka.
One thing that I really miss about the U.S. is Sunday mornings with the big fat L.A. Times and a cup of coffee on a lounge chair on the balcony ($400/month for a clifftop apartment hanging over the Pacific Ocean in San Clemente), listening to NPR and going through much of the newspaper. I guess the Japanese equivalent would be a summer evening post-onsen seaside stroll in yukata with beer in hand.
Today's L.A. Times Column One feature (registration required) by Mark Magnier is about omamori, so you Japanophiles overseas who don't know about omamori can study up. I have about 5 of them I think, but the only one I carry (oops, not true, there is a tiny one in the change pocket of my wallet) is the one I just scanned, which I couldn't resist buying at the shrine inside Kiyomizu Temple.
From early spring through late summer, you can take part in one of Kyoto's pleasures, dining on the yuka (temporary verandas) erected behind restaurants facing the Kamo River between Gojo and Nijo Streets. This is at Shijo, so the fronts of these restaurants are on the famous Ponto-cho alley. When the heat of summer sets in, the couples on the riverbank will be packed in much closer together, while college-age boys shoot off fireworks in every direction.
This guy wants to be on Tante Knight Scoop, and he's not shy about letting people know it. He frequently comes to this spot by the river at Demachiyanagi Station in Kyoto, and when he arrives, the isagi (egrets) obviously recognize him, come right up to him and eat fish out of his hand, even though they usually fly away if you get within 20 meters. [I think these are isagi, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.]
Tante Knight Scoop is my favorite Japanese TV show. One of the only ones I watch, actually.
(note: edited to correct name of fish)
Although I come from a place where fish is routinely eaten, I was not prepared for something like this when I arrived, but now it sets my mouth to watering. This is 鰺 (aji), a kind of mackerel. 
Wednesday, May 21 (Kyodo News Service ) - Japan has found no cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in a thorough survey of people who visited places in western Japan at the same time as a SARS-infected Taiwanese doctor earlier this month, the health ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry has almost completed the survey, having checked 2,478 people and leaving only 139 who stayed at the Miyako Hotel Osaka on May 8 or 9 and some others unchecked, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
Of those checked, 10 were showing symptoms of a cold, but the likelihood they are infected with the deadly virus is very low, it said.
For comparison with the exponentially more entertaining terms at Cerebral Soup. People actually send me emails pleading for help with jungle rot. I only quoted a Simpson's line, and suddenly I'm an authority. The last time I checked I was the No. 1 search return for "wall plaster," based on ONE photo. The Internet is goofy.
As far as I know, this is the only place you can get a decent salad in Kyoto, and it has to be "to go". Is there such a thing as a Souplantation or Soup Exchange-type salad restaurant in Japan?
SARS in Asia as of May 15. So far, there have been no confirmed cases in Japan related to the Taiwanese doctor with SARS who traveled in Japan.
Once you get past the sex shops there is some nice scenery. The Takasegawa is the river that runs through Kiyamachi, which used to have lots of lumber companies (hence the name), running their supplies back and forth in flat-bottom boats through this artificial river. Now it has lots of snack bars. On the right is a restaurant entrance near the recently-restored River Oriental Ryokan.
It's just not practical to get around by horse these days.
Happi coat and Ramune. The kids were pulling the mikoshi (portable shrine) from Kyoto Ebisu Shrine on Sunday. My mother-in-law's house is the designated break area, where everyone rests and drinks a bottle of Ramune.
My mother-in-law gathers momiji (maple) leaves from the garden in the autumn, and dries them out, then sandwiches them into the shoji near the handholds. She is in the middle of repapering the shoji now. It's a big job in her house.
Has anyone else noticed that CNN has had this headline on its front page for the past couple days?:
"It's cherry blossom time in Japan"
I thought it was a hook for some feature, but no, they think it's o-hanami season. I sent a heads-up to spike it, but I guess I didn't impress them as an authority.
Photos taken this afternoon in Matsubara, Kyoto.
She looks happy, doesn't she. Ooki-ni!
Maiko on their day off. If you were a 15-year-old girl who had to entertain stinky drunken oyaji for a living, you'd need some down time.
For the past two weeks, the only SARS in Japan news has been about Japan sending aid (drugs, protective wear) to China, working on a vaccine, designating isolation wards and organizing mock treatment drills. But Japan has a bona-fide SARS news item now.
It seems a Taiwanese doctor came to Japan after contracting SARS, then took a little tour of Kansai (including Kyoto) as symptoms appeared. He traveled by charter bus, so there was limited public contact, but news outlets have been going ga-ga mapping his itinerary.
The tour bus driver since came down with a fever, but it broke without developing into flu-like symptoms, and he had a chronic condition presenting with fever, anyway.
Two guests at hotels where the doctor stayed also got fevers, but they also have begun to recover. The bottom line is that Japan still has no SARS problem, other than the economic impact of the fear of SARS.
It seems my blackout is over. Two and a half days offline because of a registrar misunderstanding.
In the spirit of Tokyo-Ouja, a papercraft project from the Kyoto Shimbun
follow the English
Here is a convenient (if ugly) resource for budget ryokan in kyoto, usually ¥4,000-6,000 yen/night. This type of lodging is one step from hostels. No frills, as in more expensive ryokan. Usually they have an extra charge for meals, if offered.
I've gotten several requests recently for info on cheap places to stay in kyoto, so here are some no frills hostel-type places, known locally as gaijin houses; about ¥2,000 per night, or monthly ¥26,000 (dorm) - ¥45,000 (private room) :
Aoi-so Inn
I stayed here in northern kyoto when I was house hunting, it's the only one I've personally inspected, near subway kuramaguchi; tel 075-431-0788; here's their useless one-page web site. Hint: Praise the owner's dyed-pink poodle "Chibi-chan" to get favorable treatment.
Kyoto Green Peace
Kitayama (northern) area; tel 075-791-9890
ISE Dorm
Author Pico Iyer stayed here in eastern Kyoto when writing "Four Seasons in Kyoto". Ask for his room, see what happens; tel 075-771-0566
Yuraku-so
In the north near botanical gardens; tel 070-6688-6815; web site
A drawing by Mom that hung just inside the front door since I was a kid. I always liked it, and I took it back home with me last year. A year gone by already, I miss her so much.
My accidental Cartier-Bresson moment: I just looked back and took a picture as a guy I didn't see happened to jump off the cliff into the river. This is a gorgeous river sliding through a long canyon from Kameoka city to Arashiyama. You can start in Arashiyama and take the old-fashioned "Romantic Train" up to the starting point of the river ride, which is not an adventure ride but rather a scenery ride. Hint: Do the "gaijin trick" at the boat landing to get front-row seats on the next boat leaving without waiting your turn.
I went to the optometrist today because I needed new contacts, and the doctor prescribed some vitamin drops. I went to the nearest pharmacy, which happened to be this old-fashioned place smack in the middle of the entertainment district. Four elderly clerks saluted my entrance, and after I registered as a "member" of the pharmacy, the old guy sat me down and proceeded to give me a long interactive lesson about how to use the drops, how not to use them, contra-indications, storage, how to open and close the bottle, the use-by date, possible side effects, and then printed out the little medicine notebook pages that seem to be standardized in japan. I liked this bag that the medicine came in. And you should have seen the polite well-wishing that I got on the way out from these folks. Positively embarrassing. All for a ¥290 purchase (thank you national health insurance).
The northwest shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga-ken is beautiful like this, with a canopy of trees and green light filtering through. There seemed to be a lot of company villas around this area. This photo was taken on our trip around the lake, about 400km in 5 days, including to and from Osaka (this was before we were married).
More than a little exaggeration, but a very pleasant place to go for a walk when it's not thronged with tourists. Other "zaka" around here that I can recall offhand are kitsune-zaka (fox slope) up north (not sure about the reason for the name) and onna-zaka (slope of women) in the southeast, leading up to the women's university.
I got my mama a set of watercolor paints and the necessary accessories (I can't spell accoutrements) and asked her to paint me a picture, although I've never seend her draw anything.
Question: Is "okan" only a kansai-ben (dialect) word for okaasan, or is that used elsewhere in Japan? In Osaka it's ubiquitous.
Which reminds me of "akan", which means dame desu/ikenai.
I just remembered a page with some audio samples of Kyoto dialect. Oideyasu!
One year ago we were hastily getting on a plane back to California. I miss her all the time, but she is finally getting the rest that having four boys never gave her. Today I'll celebrate my other Mom, as we didn't a year ago. I hope your Mom knows how much you love and appreciate her. Mine sure did.
Before the yakiniku photo was taken in our neighborhood yakiniku joint, Yoshiko and I went to a string concert in Ibaraki city (Osaka), which was stunningly good. Violin, viola and cello in every combination with and without piano accompaniment. These 4 young ladies tore the roof off the sucka! I'm ashamed to admit I know basically zero about classical music, but this concert made me want to learn. I was invited by the violinist, Okamura Hana, who performed at a wedding I did recently. Her playing was amazing, and I would buy stock in this woman if I could.
Originally a way to keep dogs from peeing on your house, now a good place to hide gas meters and a/c pumps.
standard Japanese
Kyoto dialect
Welcome (informal)
Irasshai!
Oide-yasu (at the top of this page)
Welcome (somewhat polite)
Irasshaimase!
O-koshi-yasu
Thank you (polite)
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita
Ooki-ni arigatou-san doshita
Good morning
Ohayou gozaimasu
Ohayou-san dosu
Goodbye
Sayonara
Sainara
Good luck / keep up the good work
Ganbatte kudasai!
O-kibari-yasu!
Please
kudasai
o-kure-yasu
(after a meal)
Gochisou-sama-deshita.
Gochisou-san-doshita. Reply: Yoroshuu-agari
If you are reading this it means that things have gone as I hope and either Diana or my cousin has posted to the blog...
Let me tell you one thing first. War sucks big time. Don't let yourself ever be talked into having one waged in the name of your freedom. Somehow when the bombs start dropping or you hear the sound of machine guns at the end of your street you don't think about your "imminent liberation"anymore.
2003.05.07 09:53:51 4.65.56.55 Search: query for 'wallpaper'
2003.05.07 09:59:57 4.65.56.55 Search: query for 'sex'
2003.05.07 10:00:56 4.65.56.55 Search: query for 'yachatta'
2003.05.07 10:01:27 4.65.56.55 Search: query for 'girld'
2003.05.07 10:01:31 4.65.56.55 Search: query for 'girls'
2003.05.07 10:01:42 4.65.56.55 Search: query for 'sex girls'
2003.05.07 10:01:47 4.65.56.55 Search: query for 'women'
The "Bridge to Heaven" in the treetops at Tofuku-ji. Tofuku-ji is one of the big zen temples in Kyoto, famous especially for the autumn colors, but you know it will be packed even on weekdays during kouyou (the turning of the leaves). When I went in spring, there were fewer people, and the thing I remember best was the amazing air, so fresh and energetic from the new leaves on the very, very many trees here.
910 years. They've been holdng this event, at this very spot, for 910 years, since the 12th century. that means they WEREN'T doing it for over 400 years before that, however, because Kamigamo shrine is one of the oldest shrines in Japan, built in the 7th century, 670 or so, before Kyoto was founded as the capital in 794.
Unfortunately, I was poorly positioned to get good racing shots, with the action taking place between me and the sun, and one rider in light and the other in shade. I had to tweak the photos to get them even this presentable. I did some good scouting for next year, though. I hope to be back. this event is a lead-up to the May 15 Aoi Festival, which is one of the big 3 festivals of the year in Kyoto.
I would like to announce the opening of my sister site, alive in beijing. Actually, I didn't know about this until reader Gabriel pointed out the existence of this site in the Ryoan-ji stairs thread down below.
Bikkuri shita! (What a surprise!) I have no idea who Vincent is, even though I am standing in for him on his website. I don't mind anyone using my site as a template, but using the same title graphics, and a picture of ME!?? Actually, I'm amused and intrigued, it doesn't upset me at all.
The kanji for "kyoto" in my header translates as "capital district," so it might apply to Beijing, I don't know any Chinese. Can anyone help with that? I want to lurk for awhile and see what's happening. He could be just templating me.
Some people have asked me what camera I use, and others search for it, so I should put it in here. Most of my recent photos have been taken with a Sony Cybershot p-71 3.2 Megapixel digital camera. I highly recommend this camera, it has been good to me, and don't forget to get the 128MB Memory sticks. some 2001-2002 shots were taken with a Sony FD-75 digital camera, which has less than 1 Megapixel resolution. It's good for macro stuff like flowers, not much else anymore. Stuff I've scanned in was from either my Nikon 6006 35mm SLR or a little Nikon APS camera. And last, the little ones are from a J- T-08.
This was the direction I was facing when I picked up the camera, so I shot it.
People keep coming here to look for news about SARS in Japan, so I feel a burden now to provide information.
As of Today, May 1, there are still NO confirmed cases of SARS in Japan. Zero. There are two strongly suspected cases under management. Several potential cases were ruled out under observation. In short, there seems to be no reason to restrict travel to Japan or anywhere in Japan.
Travelers' advisories are in effect for stricken regions of China, but the warning for Toronto has been lifted. Airport checks and quarantines have been tightened, and Japanese returning from infected areas (many companies are recalling employees to Japan for safety reasons) are being checked and instructed to stay home for 10 days and wear masks.
SARS updates from Kyodo News Service
I enjoy this view north from Sanjo bridge, which changes as weather conditions do. We live off to the right of the foremost hills, Takara-ga-ike. There is a haunted lake just in front of the hills toward the left, Midoro-ga-ike. Taxi drivers have reported picking up phantoms there, and many won't pick up passengers there at night, I've heard.
