Today is our last full day in Kyoto; tomorrow we start our long journey home just after noon. We didn’t have any specific plans for the day. Perhaps because we ended up with more Japanese cash on hand than we expected, our thoughts turned to shopping. Tracie had seen some bowls in Tokyo which she regretted passing up (mostly because we didn’t have any way to get them home) and I was arriving at the conclusion that plastic Gundam models are harder to obtain in this country than I had expected and hence regretting that I’d passed some up in Tokyo. We seriously considered hopping on a shinkansen, buzzing up to Tokyo, doing some mad shopping, and buzzing back in time for dinner. Ultimately Tracie ruled out this notion on the grounds that she’s “old and crippled”. I don’t think of her as either, but she’s the one who has to walk in her shoes, so to speak.
Instead we took a taxi to the Tojiki Kaikan, a fairly large shop that sells ceramics. Tracie hoped to find bowls that would make up for the absence of the ones seen in Tokyo; it took her all of five minutes to find some. It was a nice shop. We lingered over the tea pots and cups but managed to leave with a bag that is just small enough to be carried on the plane.
Next we went to Takashimaya, one of Kyoto’s most upscale department stores. I had it in mind that their toy department might have plastic figures. Unfortunately it didn’t, but it was still fun to wander around a bit. The place was huge and had sky’s-the-limit shopping, e.g. a Rolex mini-department. The housewares floor looked oddly like its counterparts in American department stores, although on closer inspection I found decidedly non-American offerings like a very well-stocked incense counter. Eventually we made our way to the restaurant floor. Yes, floor; there were around a dozen restaurants, I think. We ended up having lunch at an Italian restaurant which played awful lounge-music covers of old Carpenters songs but had excellent food. We had (among other things) a pizza margherita unlike anything we’ve had outside of Italy and a pair of excellent salads, one of which was the first “green stuff” Tracie’s had since we arrived here.
Photography is frowned upon (at best) in places like this, but we couldn’t resist capturing the odd name of one restaurant:
Tracie also snuck a couple of snapshots in the restroom, one of the completely incomprehensible (to someone who doesn’t read Japanese) toilet controls:
There was also a little seat in the stall to stick your baby in while you’re otherwise occupied:
Note that the sign explicitly forbids putting on makeup while your child vibrates in the seat:
After lunch we decided to wander down Teramachi Street, a long street lined with shops, covered with a high canopy and closed to motor vehicles. The side streets were also crammed with shops. The shop offerings ranged from second-hand clothes and trinkets to antique woodblock prints to expensive jewelry. There were tailors, hairdressers, art galleries, a Mister Donut, ice cream shops, a butcher, a vendor of realistic models of guns and U.S. military surplus clothes, and so on. The selection was vast and dizzying, and we saw only the main street. Here are some photos:
That giant crab’s eyes and legs moved, by the way. There was a small shrine off to one side:
Right near the beginning I hit the jackpot: a shop which specializes in collectible plastic figures. If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon, it’s a little bit hard to fathom. It’s hard to fathom even if you are familiar with it. Imagine that someone created plastic figures for every character in every cartoon series you can think of. Then add figures for all of the characters of major sci-fi movies, like Alien, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. Then add all of the space ships and major artifacts of those movies. Then create different versions for the major cartoons and movies, e.g. R2D2 in several different sizes. Then make all of the cartoons Japanese anime rather than American, but retain the movies. Then put all of these figures in separate little plastic bags and hang them on pegs on the walls, from floor level up to about six feet up. Then add a good number of larger models and kits of various stuff. Then imagine that you have enough of this to completely cover every vertical surface of the walls and three store-length aisles in a store about 30 feet long, and you’re beginning to imagine what this place was like.
I managed to escape with only four of a particular series of posable, collectable, accessory-laden, almost-completely-unavailable-outside-Japan Gundam figures (out of a series of 30 or so), the purchase of which didn’t quite consume our remaining cash. If you need to ask why, you wouldn’t understand the answer anyway. I asked the store owner whether I could take a photograph inside the store. He apologetically declined which didn’t surprise me at all, so I snuck one from the outside:
Tracie, bless her heart, waited for me patiently:
We eventually wore ourselves out wandering around in this shopper’s nirvana. It definitely had the feel of a place frequented at least as much by locals as by tourists. Here are a couple of odd signs we saw. The first seems to forbid smoking in either of two positions:
This one seems to prohibit inserting hot sticks in children’s ears, and cycling towards pedestrians wearing crowns while you are spoken to in Japanese:
In truth, there are somewhat more clear signs telling people not to ride their bikes through the area; sadly, many people ignore those signs. However, this reminds me of another photo of a sign I’ve been meaning to post. It was on a wide sidewalk in Kamakura; I believe it says “Attention Cyclists! Beware of Flatulent Breakdancers”
We returned to the hotel laden with our treasures. The ceramics we’ll carry on the plane, but we had already established that our luggage is completely full. Fortunately the hotel can cheerfully mail parcels back to the States for us.
This is our last night in Japan. It’s been an excellent vacation, and we’ll be sorry to leave. We may wander into one of the hotel’s 14(!) restaurants and bars for a late snack and/or dessert. There will be another entry or two about our trip. Among other things I need to describe the wonderful dinner we had with Sid and his wife night before last.
