Himeji Castle at dusk.
We were to late for entry so thought we'd spite them by standing outside and acting like tourists.
Stunning. This main castle has two fish on its top roof, barely visible, that were supposed to protect it against fire. Seems to have worked.
Old Kiln (24 hour firing, wood burning, 4 fires a year)
New Kiln (6 hour firing, kerosene, limitless fires a year)
If you look closely everything is lined with cracks from being smashed, then glued back together. There's patience.
The shrine. It has some important meaning to do with full moons and a pilgrimage.
Massive. Note the mother at the bottom.
Boats harvesting nori, the seaweed used for sushi. Thats a boat pulling the nets over it, rather than in, ingenius,
Two of moms friends from the 70's.
A fine place for lunch. The bridge to the left rivals San Fran no doubt.
The kiln mom did pottery at 30 some odd years ago. She has pictures of that and it literally hasn't changed one bit. The shelves are rearranged due to the 1996 earthquake that rocked the area (5,000+ killed), but besides that everythings the same. Creepy.
So cool!
Awesome!!! 300km/h!! Super duper!!
Temple in an epic food market downtown Kyoto.
Who needs McD's? Bento's to go!
You thought heels were hard?
Excuse the randomized order of these photos. Today we hit up moms old stomping grounds in Asakusa, where she spent most of her time in her early 20's making pottery. It was eerily the same as the photos she brought. She got to see some people she hadn't seen for 20 years exactly, which makes me wonder who Im going to travel across the globe to see in 20+ years. How about you come visit me.
We also moved hostels from old, cheap and disgusting to new, cheap and gorgeous. Wireless net helps to. There's actually a ridiculous amount to say and tell. So much in fact that Im going to go to bed.
But from what I can salvage from my sleep starved brain is that this trip is spectacular. I absolutely love travelling, and I highly recommend you stand up from you computer immediately. Now go to the airport. Now buy a plane ticket. Stop reading you should be on the plane by now.
Glad we've got that settled.
We'll be in Kyoto until at least the 10th doing day trips around everything fantastic this massive area has to offer, so don't touch that remote folks! In next episode we may see the shrine of 1000 Tora's, one of Japan's top 3 sights, more people from the 70's, some deers in a park, crazy shrines and maybe even... I lost my train of thought.
Oh!!! We saw a Geisha! Supposedly this is big news as their in high decline, and it was pretty dang cool. Geisha are similar to courtesans without prostitution. They get upwards for $3000 for a night of entertainment involving music, dance, excessive drink, and I dont know what else, as I clearly don't have 300,000 Yen. They dress in traditional Kimono's and are painted up much like a porcelain doll with their most attractive feature (in Japanese culture) being the back of their neck, so this s strongly emphasized in dress and make up. Wild.
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