Blogs from Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 5

Today we head to Kyoto. As we wait for our taxi, a group of five school children approach me, and read to me from a very carefully prepared script. They tell me that they are from the Niko Junior High School English Club, and want to know if it would be alright if they asked me a few questions about Japanese music. I sense that this might be quite a short conversation. They show me some laminated pictures of what I assume are Japanese pop stars, and then ask me the second question on their script, which is whether I know who these people are. I tell them that I don’t. They giggle, which I think is more in disbelief than anything else. They tell me that these people are all very famous. I start to ... read more

We have arrived in beautiful Japan early morning to the sounds of a welcoming brass band and young children singing a Japanese welcome. The Japanese customs however were not so welcoming! They wanted everyone ashore, off the ship whether they were going on a shore excursion or not so that took ages, lucky we had a trip ashore planned and got through a little quicker, but they were most precise in their examination of all passengers and crew. The locals however are very friendly and welcoming, we took a trip to palace to see magnificent gardens, Fiona you would have been in raptures! They have double blossomed (if there is such a word) cherry trees, magnificent however our guide told us it has been an early season and most trees are shedding their blooms. hump! But ... read more

Haïku du jour A la surface de l'eau des sillons de soie pluie de printemps (Ryokan) Sur le chemin des Philosophes où les moines des temples environnants viennent méditer depuis des siècles, les fleurs de cerisier perdent déjà leurs pétales qui tombent dans la rivière et sont emportés par le courant. Ils s'accumulent jusqu'à la recouvrir complètement d'un tapis rose pâle qui sert d'écrin au jeunes filles en kimono venues se promener, admirer l'effet et prendre des photos... read more

My random observation the day I arrived in Kyoto was that "Tokyo" and "Kyoto" are anagrams in roman script, but their kanji characters ("東京" and "京都", respectively) are not. I knew from my limited Mandarin that Tokyo meant "Eastern Capital". I researched Kyoto and learned it meant "Imperial Capital". I also learned that Tokyo is traditionally called Tokyoto (東京都), meaning "Eastern Imperial Capital"). So, connection drawn. Rather fittingly for an imperial capital, Kyoto turned out to be a sizeable city with lots of cultural sites. Before arriving in Kyoto, I was somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer number of sites listed on the Lonely Planet, as well as the effort it would take to cover the distance between them. Fortunately, our ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Kyoto provided resources to help us whittle down our list and ... read more

Demain à l'aéroport du Kansaï formation du club des sept samouraïs. En attendant ce moment, voici un aperçu de Kyoto by night. Au programme pour commencer trois jours à Kyoto, puis vendredi départ pour la côte de la mer du Japon au petit port de Sakaiminato.... read more