Posted in Art, History, Kyoto, Museums on Jun 25th, 2008 No Comments »
Visitors to Kyoto’s Heian Shrine may have noted a building with Chinese style yellow glazed roof tiles standing just to the left of the great torii gate. This is the roof of a small tower that sits on top of a huge storehouse of Chinese collectibles, ranging from Shang bronzes to Buddhist statues, furniture, paintings […]
Posted in Food, Kyoto, Temples, Travel on May 16th, 2008 No Comments »
In Kyoto there exist certain “nodes,” a sort of starting points that bring you to all kinds of interesting destinations while also being worthwhile in their own right. Demachiyanagi is, perhaps unexpectedly, one of those nodes.
[The wedge between the Kamo (left) and Takano (right) rivers, with Kamogawa Park and behind that the Tadasu forest of […]
Posted in Culture, Kyoto on May 1st, 2008 No Comments »
Which of the five Flower Towns (kagai) or geisha districts in Kyoto is your favorite one?
Gion Kobu - the foremost of Kyoto’s Flower Districts, named after the Yasaka Shrine (”Gion-san”). The most traditional of the five. Dance and music training is in the classical Inoue-school. The major public performance is the Miyako Odori in April.
Gion […]
Posted in Culture, Kyoto, Society on Apr 30th, 2008 1 Comment »
Good news for Kyoto’s Flower Towns: the profession of Maiko is again popular under young women! As Asahi.com reports:
The number of maiko has bounced back to 100, the highest in more than four decades, thanks to the growing interest in Kyoto’s traditional geisha culture.
I do not know if this surge in interest is attributable to […]
Posted in Gardens, Kyoto, Nature, Temples on Apr 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
[Weeping cherry in the Kamigamo Shrine, Kyoto. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
This magnificent weeping cherry (shidare-zakura) called “Gosho-zakura” stands in the grounds of the Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto. When I saw it last Monday, it was almost fully in bloom, so this week you can still enjoy it!
Read more about the Kamigamo Shrine in my […]
Posted in Festivals, Gardens, Japan, Kyoto, Nature, Tokyo on Mar 26th, 2008 1 Comment »
What is this year’s sakura timetable? You will find the best English guide here, at the Japan Metereological Agency!
But don’t leave just yet, as here are some more interesting sakura links:
Stories from Japan Navigator:
Sakura, sakura - some literary associations from the cherry front
One of the best sakura viewing spots in Kyoto: Nishiyama
An even better […]
Posted in Food, Japan, Kyoto, Museums, Sake on Mar 23rd, 2008 1 Comment »
I am starting a new series where I will look into the regional varieties of Japanese sake. The first one is Kyoto!
[Fushimi sake district, Kyoto]
Kyoto Prefecture is in volume the second sake producing prefecture in Japan - after Hyogo’s Nada district. That is all thanks to the breweries in the southern part of the prefecture, […]
Posted in Festivals, Kyoto, Religion, Temples on Mar 11th, 2008 No Comments »
Everybody dies, even for the Buddha the Great Transformation was inescapable.
According to the tradition, the Buddha entered Nirvana at the age of eighty. But as he had reached Enlightenment, his was not an ordinary death. By his enlightenment, he had already extinguished the fires of attachment and passion, thus creating a state of Nirvana. However, […]
Posted in Kyoto, Temples on Mar 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
The best place to see Hina dolls in Kyoto in March is without a doubt Hokyoji Temple in the Nishijin district. It is beautifully solemn and peaceful place.
[Hokyoji Temple, Kyoto]
The Imperial Convent Hokyoji carries on the teachings of Keiaiji, one of the great five Zen nunneries that prospered in Kyoto in medieval times. The […]
Posted in Kyoto, Religion, Temples, Travel on Feb 17th, 2008 No Comments »
When writing about Sei Shonagon and her poem stone in Sennyuji, I discovered I still had an unpublished article about a visit to that temple. It is one of the pieces that still has to go in the “108 Temple Pilgrimage,” but I will first post it here.
Located at the foot of Mt. […]
Posted in History, Kyoto, Temples, Writing on Feb 16th, 2008 1 Comment »
Sei Shonagon is in the first place famous for her Pillow Book, but she did also write poetry and was even counted among the “Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.”
One of her poems has been included in the Hyakunin Isshu collection - it is a piece that demonstrates her quick wit, something that was expected […]
Posted in Kyoto, Religion, Temples on Feb 9th, 2008 2 Comments »
Kyoto, the old capital, is full of graves. When you walk through Shinkyogoku, the popular shopping street between Shijo and Sanjo that is almost a Harajuku look-alike, you are in the midst of a huge graveyard. Nobody notices, young people are on shopping sprees as if there were no other things in the world. […]
Posted in Culture, Kyoto on Feb 9th, 2008 No Comments »
Kyoto Kentei or the “Kyoto Tourist and Culture Certification Test” was held for the fourth time on December 9 last year. I took part as a newbie in the Third Level test. Last week the results came out - I passed! I did not have much time for studying, but was certainly helped by my […]
Posted in Kyoto, Photography, Temples on Feb 5th, 2008 No Comments »
Was the outside of the Golden Pavilion originally clad in thick gold, as it is today?
Many scholars doubt this. Is it not rather just a fanciful name, like the Silver Pavilion, about which we know for certain that it never was coated with silver (something which would anyway have been insane considering the wet […]
Posted in Festivals, Japan, Kyoto on Feb 4th, 2008 No Comments »
Yesterday was Setsubun in Japan, the early spring festival where bad influences are cleansed from the soul. Or are the dark spririts of winter chased from the house? At least, via various strategies care is taken that devilish forces do not enter your abode: you may place thorny holly leaves under the gate, or, even […]
Posted in Kyoto, Religion, Temples on Jan 23rd, 2008 1 Comment »
As a Sinologist myself, I have always been fond of Sugawara no Michizane, the greatest Sinologue (and writer of poetry in Chinese) from ancient Japan. For the same reason, I have a weakness for the Tenmangu Shrines dedicated to him.
Michizane (9th c.) died in exile, after a frustrated career, and as an angry ghost […]
Posted in Fun, Kyoto on Jan 22nd, 2008 No Comments »
In the fight for yen from tourists - not to speak of the many highschool excursions that make Kyoto unsafe - competition can drive the minds of some business owners over the top.
[Restaurant off Shijo-dori (near Gion) in Kyoto]
Will a funny display in front of your restaurant help and bring in the tourists? Or […]
Posted in Art, Kyoto on Jan 21st, 2008 2 Comments »
When walking through Kyoto, I always keep my eyes open and camera (or camera-mobile) in readiness… there are so many small things worthy of attention!
Take this antique doll, which I saw in a small antique shop in central Kyoto, south of Shijo (near Rokuhara). I never saw this type of doll before - […]
Posted in Food, Kyoto, Temples on Jan 20th, 2008 No Comments »
In my post “Temples and Sweets in Kyoto” I wrote amongst others about the Inari Sembei (fox rice biscuits) of the Inariya shop near the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Yesterday, when evening was already falling, I was again in the Inari Shrine. A round moon was hanging above the vermillion buildings, slightly hazy. The air was […]
Posted in Architecture, History, Kyoto, Religion on Jan 19th, 2008 No Comments »
Do old superstitions still influence our modern lives? Are you afraid of the Devil Gate?
In ancient Japan (and even to some extent in modern Japan) certain directions were considered as negative and especially the northeast - called Devil Gate - was seen as a quarter from which demons could assault you.
We are in the realm […]
Posted in Culture, Kyoto on Jan 12th, 2008 No Comments »
A Kannon statue stands next to a number of traditional grave monuments. But I wonder who would put the owls on his grave, or the big black tire?
Posted in Food, Kyoto on Jan 11th, 2008 No Comments »
Futaba in Demachi-yanagi, near the Masugata shopping arcade, is one of the most popular wagashi (Japanese sweets) shops in Kyoto. It was established in 1896 (Meiji 26).
They sell “mame-mochi,” rice cakes with a filling of azuki beans (both whole ones and a paste inside) - nothing fancy, a sturdy snack loved by ordinary Kyotoites.
There are […]
Posted in Kyoto, Temples, Writing on Jan 7th, 2008 No Comments »
The Shimogamo Shrine has Kamo no Chomei as famous resident poet, but also the Kamigamo Shrine with its deep forest and clear streams often was the subject of poetic effusions in former times.
In the grounds stands a monument to Poem No 98 of the Hyakunin Isshu anthology that is situated here in the rustling woods, […]
Posted in Festivals, Kyoto, Religion, Temples on Jan 5th, 2008 No Comments »
Last year it was the Shimogamo Shrine we selected for our Hatsumode, this year we opted for its “sibling”, the Kamigamo Shrine in northern Kyoto. January 1 was a dark and overcast day, with some sleet raining down, but New Year’s day would not be complete without a shrine visit.
The Kamigamo Shrine is dedicated to […]
Posted in Kyoto, Travel on Dec 27th, 2007 1 Comment »
What do you do when you are sitting alone in the Shinkansen (the Kodama, so empty) and feeling bored?
You take out your cellphone and start taking pictures.
A nice, gloomy winter day.
This is Kyoto’s Yamashina flashing past.
Stategically placed fences prevent travellers from seeing the dark secrets harbored in the local dwellings.
I am still looking for a […]
