Oideyasu! Please take off your shoes.
Typhoon No. 16 blew things around a lot, but didn't exert nearly its full force when it went out to the Japan Sea far west of us.
Kyoto style cooking. More vegetarian, with dried and salted fish and river fish, as Kyoto is far from the sea; Less seasoned than Tokyo style, and emphasis on seasonal foods so that featured vegetables change almost monthly. Typhoon No. 16 is mercifully going out to sea and not aiming at Kyoto, but it is so powerful that it is still very windy and raining in sheets here.
I have no doubt that Yasaka will win again, against super Typhoon 16 that is about to hit Kyushu and perhaps veer toward us. Most recently rebuilt in 1440, Yasaka-no-to and other 5-story pagodas like this, despite looking unstable, actually have exceptional strength and rigidity from the central pillar, and can withstand calamities like earthquakes and typhoons admirably. I've been inside up to the second level. (It doesn't have "floors" to speak of, just mostly structural elements inside.)
I love this view looking toward Higashiyama from the Gion area, this view which must have been quite similar and breathtaking 400 years ago.
Up to 1280 X 968 background (300k) of genkan (entryway) in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. This view reminds me of what I read in Marc Keane's book about flat elements and elements that project upward from the flatness.
Because you asked for it, I humbly present more older-issue uncancelled Japanese postage stamps.
We met Yoshiko's ex-coworkers for dinner and drinks tonight at Shogetsu-an restaurant on Ponto-cho overlooking the Kamo River. I like the double barstools with cushions. Good food, surprisingly affordable. Go back to the root level of their needlessly frame-based site and dig around to find the prices and their other locations.
Elijah Craig bourbon and Gekkeikan retro sake made the old-fashioned way. It's food week.
This tsukemomo shop in the seventeenth century Nishiki-koji shopping arcade is often featured on TV programs in Japan.
The line of salivating women outside this shop on Shijo Street never seems to be shorter than 10 meters on weekends.
(188kb)Superimposed on a Kyoto satellite map, with other rail lines and major landmarks for reference. In November, a new section of the Tozai line will open, extending the service southeast to Rokujizo in Uji City.
Update: A few different people have emailed me about acquiring these commemorative four seasons in Kyoto stamps. I begged off before, but I went back and they did still have some. Thus, I have a couple full uncut sheets of 4 X 5 of these 80 yen stamps (see second image), US$7 per row or $30 (by Paypal) for the whole sheet, including airmail with cardboard backing.
In the Daimonji Fire Festival fires are lit in the shape of symbols or kanji characters on six mountains around town every August 16 since the 1600s. Which one(s) should I photograph this year?
You've seen the movie, here's the background:
Once upon a time, before it became known as Kyoto, this city was Heian-kyo, the "Capital of Peace and Tranquility" (as with any capital, this turned out not to be true). From the Heian Imperial Palace (which was northwest of where Nijo Castle is now) the main avenue, Suzaku-oji, 80 meters wide, ran down the center of town (basically, where Senbon-dori is now), dividing it, ending at the gate that was the entrance to the city and its Arc de Triomphe, Rajomon (later pronounced as Rashomon). Temples on either side of the gate (Saiji and Toji) guarded the city, spiritually speaking, but only Toji survives, with it's huge 5-storied pagoda that stands as one of the symbols of the city. All were built soon after the founding of the capital in 794, but the huge Rajomon, two stories tall and 35 meters wide, did not last long.
It my have fallen over due to wind in the early 9th century, or just rotted from neglect, as the whole complex was quite a bit south of any inhabited part of the city. The ruins did become a hangout for thieves by the 1100s, according to the record, and as depicted in opening scene of the movie. Saiji went soon after, in the fires of war.
Below, L to R: Mound and foundation stone ruins of Saiji (West Temple), 1895 signpost marking historical location of Rashomon/Rajomon (that's all that's left, now in a little neighborhood park), Toji (East Temple).
