Blogs from Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 2

In den letzten Tagen ging ich sehr früh ins Bett und stand auch sehr früh auf (was weder japanischer noch deutscher Zeit entspricht), aber auch heute hatte ich im Zimmer nach Ostseite keinen schönen Sonnenaufgang zwischen der Skyline. Dafür war es nicht ganz so heiß. Nach dem Frühstück und Auschecken fuhr ich problemlos zum Hauptbahnhof von Tokio und bestieg meinen Shinkansen nach Kyoto. Eigentlich hatte ich einen Fensterplatz auf der Seite des Berg Fuji, aber auch hier verhinderten die Wolken ein sinnvolles Foto. In der alten Kaiserstadt angekommen erreichte ich mein Hotel und wollte für alle vier Tage das normale japanische Restaurant meines 5-Sterne-Hotels buchen (es gibt auch ein chinesisches und zwei europäische). Für heute ging das aber nicht mehr und ich reservierte nichtsahnend das Teppanyaki-Restaurant, welches es auch gab. Aber der Reihe nach. Nach kurzem ... read more

From 2010. Unfortunately, all my Aunts who know how to prepare Shogatsu are getting too old to do all of the preparation and cooking. But the memory will always stay with us. From 2022, my 90 year Aunt in SoCal will prepare a modified shogatsu meal for her family!!! If you should ever get invited to a Japanese family on January 1, you MUST go! It is a life-changing experience, and ensures you will be invited into perpetuity!! The three-day New Year holiday is a very special time in Japan, a time of solemn prayers and joyous greetings. While New Year's Day is a holiday in many parts of the world, the occasion has a unique significance to the Japanese, who take the opportunity to begin anew many aspects of their lives. New Years is regarded ... read more

Over two billion people worldwide rely on rice as their primary food. According to new study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, increasing levels of carbon dioxide are not only warming the planet, but also severely lowering the nutritional value of key crops like rice. CO2-exposed rice has dramatically less iron, zinc, and B vitamins. Speaking of rice and Japan: Did you know there are over 30,000 certified sommeliers in Japan, 13k of whom are women? A modest 26.5% of all Japanese sommelier candidates pass the exams as sommelier training is quite rigorous there. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Japan’s induction into the International Association of Sommeliers. Japan also boasts countless wine schools and a flourishing wine b... read more

One of the first train tickets we reserved when we arrived in Tokyo was our ticket to Kyoto; at nearly a week out we got some of the last seats on the right side of the train (it’s essential to get a window seat on the correct side of the train in order to view Mount Fuiji). Fortunately, we had already seen Mount Fuji earlier in our trip as this time it was shrouded in fog. After an early and still-amazing (if Fuji-san less) bullet train ride we arrived in Kyoto, the pinnacle city of Japanese culture and tradition. Full of thousands of temples and gardens and hundreds of teahouses it was a highlight of our trip and even after a week there is much I want to return to see. Our first sight was Nijo ... read more

On 4 September we were off travelling, first stop Kyoto, taking the Shinkansen which departed from Tokyo station. It was a journey of about four hours and, as we'd booked a room at the Kyoto Tower Hotel which was just opposite Kyoto Station, as soon as we arrived it was a case of leave our luggage in our room and head off to the Kyoto subway where we'd organised to meet up with Keiko Kiriyama who I last saw at the Dickens International Conference in Eastbourne, UK. Keiko is an Associate Professor at Kyoto University who gave a talk at the Eastbourne Conference on 'Dickens and Dance' so it was lovely to see her again. With the skies darkening the three of us headed off to the Shokokuji Jotenkaka Museum which entailed walking through a garden ... read more