As improbable as this may sound, we attended a brief kimono fashion show during our second day in Kyoto. Kyoto is known for, among other things, its textiles, and there’s a center that has displays of looms, antique fabrics, descriptions of fabric-making processes, and so on. Much of this was familiar to Tracie and myself, her from direct experience, me from watching my mom spin and weave when I was a kid. (Weaving-geek info: Jacquard looms were imported to Japan, after which the Japanese put a good deal of effort into refining and improving them. We’re talking about automated but non-electric looms with 3000 to 8000 warp threads!) read more

Quick entry: there are two new sets of photos up: one set here of a small number of photos taken during the day we traveled from Tokyo to Kyoto, most notably including some shots of Mt. Fuji; and one set here of a large number of photos taken in and near Kyoto.

We spent most of our last day in Tokyo shopping. For the second time, Tracie managed to wear out a pair of boots while traipsing around Japan, and I needed some socks. (Tactical packing error: black pants, black shoes, white socks. Oops.) We went to the Matsuya Asakusa department store, the nearby-and-not-as-posh Rox complex, and a couple of smaller shops. Photos are here.

Incidentally, I never fail to be amazed by the grace, patience, and friendliness exhibited by store clerks here when they’re dealing with foreigners with no command of their language such as myself. Imagine someone who speaks only Japanese trying to buy a pair of shoes in an upscale department store in a large city in the U.S. It just wouldn’t be pretty. Here they’ll literally run back and forth to assist you, even though the only things you can say in their language are “please” and “thank you” (and awkwardly at that). read more

We spent yesterday with our guide Sid Makino. Sid has guided us to places in and near Kyoto during our previous visits to Japan; it was good to see him again. We stopped at a small restaurant for lunch, partly so that I could sample a local dish that consists of rice wrapped in a thin layer of fried tofu. The restaurant turned out to not have an English menu, so perhaps to expedite matters Sid asked whether it was okay for him to choose for me. I said “yes, of course,” and then about 1.5 seconds later wish I’d appended the caveat “…as long as you don’t order anything too weird.” There are limits to my sense of adventure when it comes to food, and obviously I couldn’t expect Sid (or anyone else) to know those limits. read more

See, I said I wasn’t going to blog much this time. Don’t think that the lack of activity here suggests that we’re not having a good time–we’re having a great time.

I just uploaded a bunch of photos. There is a set here of photos taken during our second day in Tokyo, mostly at Tokyo Tower and the nearby Zojoji Temple. The next day we went to Kamakura; photos from that day, including sevaral of the Big Bronze Guy, are here. The day after that (which was Tuesday the 7th) we went to Akihabara (mecca for computer/electronics/anime geeks) and did some shopping in Asakusa, stopping for lunch at the same Noodle Lady’s booth I wrote about two years ago. (She wasn’t here last year; apparently she’s only here during the cherry-blossom-viewing season. It makes me wonder what does does during the rest of the year.) Photos from that day are here. I’m not putting in many captions so if you have any questions about the photos leave a comment here or write to me. read more

If I decided to be a writer, I’d spend time in Tokyo for inspiration. There are so many things that seem like scenes from a novel; a book would almost write itself. Today we stopped at a coffee shop in the small mall underneath the Tokyo Tower. As I approached the counter I realized that the menu on the wall was in Japanese, except for a few headings in English. One of the proprietors observed my confusion and cheerfully presented a large photographic menu with added captions in English. Tracie ordered a hot cocoa and I ordered what I thought was a coffee latte sprinkled with matcha (ground green tea). At the table, while Sarah McLaughlin’s “Building a Mystery” played on cafe speakers, I discovered that I’d ordered a matcha latte. It was deep green and slightly bitter, and looked fairly odd as I stirred the whipped cream into it. I’m not entirely sure that I’d order another one. read more

Japan is a society in which it has not been forgotten that courtesy and simple pleasantries require almost no additional effort, and yet make everyone’s day a little more pleasant.

Japanese cuisine has no fear of chewy things. I had something in my soup at lunch today (visible in the center bowl) which I think was slices of mushroom. It was surprisingly chewy–not unpleasantly so, but more resistant to being chewed than anything commonly found in American food that I can think of off the top of my head. read more

We arrived at the hotel about an hour ago. We got up over 24 hours ago. We managed to grab an hour or so of sleep on the plane, not that it helps much. Here’s the view from the hotel:

I love this city.