Today we visited Nijo Castle, and I found some of the buildings and gardens even more impressive than those we saw at the Imperial Palace yesterday. That may reflect the fact that the Japanese shogunates were extraordinarily powerful.
Month: May 2017
Evening Doorways
After a 90 degree day, a brief walk around the neighborhood after the sun goes down is refreshing. The many carefully composed doorway scenes pull our eyes away from watching for cars and mopeds and delight our senses...
The Emperor’s Gardens
The former Imperial Palace buildings in Kyoto are spectacular, but I preferred to spend my time admiring the gardens...
Hiking Mt Hiei, in Reverse
The funicular cable car ride up Mt Hiei is a popular Kyoto attraction. It goes up and down the mountain over twenty times a day. And almost everyone takes it up. We only took it down...
Rocks, Sand, and Moss: Ginkaku-ji
The Temple of the Silver Pavilion, Ginkaku-ji, features a remarkable garden, famous for its molded sand representation of Mt Fuji. I was more attracted to the rocks, raked sand, and moss...
Pruning a Pine
A pleasant walking route to our local bus station and railway line is through the Kennin-ji temple complex, which is filled with carefully tended pine trees. Studying their form was a learning experience...
Kamibentencho, Our Neighborhood
The machiya we are renting is in a neighborhood called Kamibetencho, adjacent to the well known Gion district. Many tourists stay here, but many Japanese live here side-by-side with the hotels and rental units...
Japan’s Civilized Toilet Revolution, Ignored in America
Up until two days ago, like the vast majority of Americans I had never used a bidet. Our machiya in Kyoto has two modern-style integrated bidet toilets and I am now an obsessed fan...
Renewal: Mixing Old and New
The machiya we are staying in for our Kyoto visit was thoughtfully remodeled several years ago by the current owner, retaining some original timbers and doors...
Our Kyoto Machiya
Since our first brief visit to Kyoto, over two decades ago, Rosemary has spoken of wanting to return for an extended stay in that alluring city. On AirBnB we found the perfect place to stay...
Electric Travels 