21) Kim and I went to Kyoto one the weekend
with a couple of teachers from uni. I'm
still processing the age of the place, over a year later; we went to a temple that
was five times older than my country, and while I know that's a stupid thing to
worry about, it does take a bit to deal with.
I'm used to living on a thin, recent crust applied to a deep, ancient
land. Kyoto
seemed more a part of the landscape than anywhere else I've been before--even London, since at least here you could still see the landscape...
Anyway, the trip was a great break from the grind in Nagoya. I bought pressies for people back home,
tittered at spelling mistakes (the "Gourumet"
Guide to Kyoto
was a favourite, as was the "Bottole" Selection
at a fancy restaurant), walked heaps, and didn't see a single Totoro toy. There were plenty more gaijin in Kyoto than
in Nagoya, even with the Expo in town, so I felt less special and generally
suffered less from giantism than normal.
There was much spotting of Nagoya
girls, with their distinctive Bardot-esque curls, and
speculation about geisha.
To kick things off: I figured there are plenty of pictures of the Shinkansen online already, so I didn't even try to take
one. Here instead are some shots of the
interior of Kyoto's
central train station and shopping complex.
The roof just goes on and on, like the escalators. I'm not sure which way up the first shot is
supposed to go, so this will have to do.
It's all very sci-fi, hence the second shot of Kim looking boldly into
the future. Or something.
22) Coming out of the
station we discovered that some big movie theatre was having a retro anime
festival of some kind (my inability to read Japanese became increasingly
irksome, the longer I was there). Life
sized statues of some of the characters filled the lobby. Kim liked the dude with the outrageous hair,
naturally.
23) On the 25th of every
month, a massive market is held at Kitano Tenmangu
shrine, where I spent an amazing morning that weekend away. Below: sweets, jewellery, and bugs. Giant light bulbs, working muskets and miles
of kimono fabric were also on offer.
24) Here's a shot from under the roof of a visitors' rest area, among
dozens of time-faded paintings, of a priest's bottom, which I found (and still
find) tiresomely amusing. Hee hee.
25) Shrines and temples
are compulsory in any photo record of Kyoto. The two below were very different. The first was about two feet across and
tucked into a wall opposite the market.
The white blobs on the stones were faces and the outfits they were
wearing looked exactly like aprons, so I could only assume them to be
representations of a Shinto dishwasher spirit.
The bottom one I literally stumbled across in Gion. Big and old and wonderful, just like the rest
of Kyoto.
(continue)