June 8th
The weather-bureau announced today that rainy season [Tsuyu] has started
in North Kyushu, Shikoku and Chugoku-area! Well, our office is located
almost right in the middle of Japan’s main island and Chugoku area is
right next to our area, Kinki-area. (It sounds like kinky-area. Funny,
eh?) So this mean s that Tsuyu is going to start in our area anytime soon!!!
I hate Tsuyu! It rains a lot and it’s always dark. Good thing though is
it lasts only like 3 weeks, (They say it lasts about a month but I like
to think it’s shorter.) and of course there are some sunny days in between.
The best thing about Tsuyu is that when Tsuyu is over, it’ll be HOT, HOT
summer!!! I just love summer so Tsuyu excites me in a way. (Junko)
June 9th
After
Junko wrote the news yesterday, rainy season has set in here too. I also hate
Tsuyu…wet and grey weather…I hope summer is coming very soon!
I tell you a good restaurant near our office today. In the middle of Nishiki
food market (a famous covered shopping street), the so-called ‘kitchen
of Kyoto’, there is a luxurious vegetable shop. For example, it costs
800 yen for an eggplant! The Kanematsu specializes in the sale of Kyoto
vegetables and has a restaurant. Its name is [Yaoya no Nikai] which literary
means [the second floor of vegetable shop]. They serve dishes made with
these special vegetables. The shop and restaurant attract a lot of tourists
and a quite a few of them are foreigners because of an article in the New
York Times. The restaurant has a daily lunch set that is made with 15-20
of vegetables sold in the shop. All the dishes are made according to traditional
Kyoto home-style recipes. If you are not sure what to eat while you are
in Kyoto, try this restaurant. Reservation recommended as the restaurant
is soooooo popular! (Risa)
June 14th
I
talked about a shopping street named [Shinkyogoku] at the beginning of June. In
the bustling Shinkyogoku Arcade, there is a small temple called Seishin-in. The
temple is the home of the famous writer, Izumi Shikibu. She was one of the
finest poetesses in the Heian Period (794-1185). Her most poems are about
passionate love. She is also very famous for her romance stories. By the gate
of the Seishin-in, there is a unique stone known as [Suzunari guruma].
On
a stone stand, there is a black ball-shaped stone on which a Buddhist sutra is
inscribed. When the ball is turned, it causes a small bell to make a lovely
sound. This is a place that people have been coming to for hundreds of years to
make their wishes come true. If you have a special wish (even if you don’t have
a certain wish), this is a great place to come. (Risa)
June 16th
Have you heard of Ukai? U (pronounced like oo but shorter) is a Japanese
word for cormorant. I don’t know how much these birds are known in other
countries but in Japan, they are well known because of the traditional
finishing, Ukai. Ukai is an ancient fishing method catching Japanese trout
by using tamed cormorants. The commander controls several cormorants at
the same time. The cormorants are tied around the necks and they go under
the water to catch trout and come above the water…then the commander does
some trick with the rope and make the cormorant spit the fish out!!! That’s
how their fishing is done!!! Ukai can be seen in Arashiyama and Uji in
Kyoto. (Arashiyama: from Jul. 1 ? Sep 15, Uji: Jun 24 ? Sep. 24) I haven’t
seen it in real life yet but I would love to see it, hopefully this year.
Some people may think it’s mean to make the birds spit their fish out
but the commanders take really good care of their birdies, so please do
not worry!!! (Junko)
June 19th
I saw a beautiful full moon a week ago. And, I accidentally found an article
about nice full moon spots in Kyoto. Some of the best places here in Kyoto
to experience full moon,
1) The west bank of the Kamogawa River to bridges north of Imadegawa Street
is one of the best places to watch the moon come up;
2) The grounds of the Kyoto Imperial Palace
3) Large temple compounds, where there are few lights, are among the most
interesting and beautiful on moonlit nights: Daitokuji Temple, Kurodani
Temple, Myoshinji Temple. As there are so many temples and shrines in Kyoto,
let’s find your favourite place! (Risa)
June 21st
According to the weather report, the temperature will go up to 32 degrees.
Yes, it is really hot and humid today. Kyoto, which is surrounded by mountains
that keep the humidity high, has always been the perfect place for moss
garden. Traditionally, Japanese poets have compared moss in June velvet
and sea waves. Here are a few places where you are sure to find the wonders
of moss waiting for you.
1) Saiho-ji Temple: It is known as a moss temple, Saiho-ji is undoubtedly
the best place to experience the wonders of moss. This temple is said to
have 120 varieties, and all of them grow there naturally.
2) Rokuo-in Temple: Rokuo-in, a Zen temple which dates back to the Muromachi
period (1333-1568) has an exquisite Zen garden, much of it covered in moss.
3) Zuiho-in: The modern moss garden at this temple, designed in 1961 by
Shigemori Mirei, is a fine example of a Zen landscape garden. It is located
in Daitoku-ji Temple. There are a lot more moss gardens in Kyoto, but I
can’t tell you all of them here…maybe next time! (Risa)
June 2nd
According
to the weather report, the rainy season will set in next week. Yep, it is grey
as expected…I hope it won’t rain this weekend.
Today’s topic is ‘shopping streets in Kyoto’. Any tourist will quickly
notice that Kyoto, like many other big cities in the world, isn’t designed
for cars. Wherever you go these days, whether it’s New York, Paris or
Rome, cars have become a problem and walking along busy streets is often
tiring. But, in Kyoto, you can escape the stress and see something different
by strolling along covered shopping streets. There is a quite famous covered
shopping street near our office called [Shinkyogoku]. It literally means
the new edge of Kyoto. It was created in 1872 as a place to showcase modern
Western business. Today, the street is a popular destination for young
people. Also, as Kyoto gets so many students on school trips from all over
Japan, I see lots of them on the street. (Risa)
Anyway,
after the lunch/dinner, I and my mom went to sit by the river. And we found the
cutest street music performers there!!! Here’s the picture of them.
The
guitar player is the big sister and she is only a first grader of junior high
school, so she should be 12 or 13 years old. The drummer is in the third grade
of elementary school, so that makes him 8 or 9 years old. The drum seemed to be
an old speaker box…he has a great sense of rhythm and his big sis was an
amazing player and singer!!! I so want them to be on TV or something because
they are so cute and super talented! I hope to find them again soon by the
river! (Junko)
June 6th
It has steadily warming up here in Kyoto. The temperature went up to 30
degrees yesterday…it was really hot outside.
One of the famous events in early summer in Japan is to watch fireflies
(Hotaru in Japanese) in the beautiful country side. There are some recommended
spots in Kyoto too. Hotaru festival is held on June 17th in Ayabe city
which is 2 hour drive from Kyoto city. Fireflies will be released in the
night sky. You will be amazed at the beautiful view! Also, you can take
part in an overnight fireflies photo tour in Miyama town, which is known
as a breathtaking view of its thatched roof houses. It is a bit closer
to Kyoto city, but it still takes 1.5 hours by car… If you are interested
in this tour, we will get more information for you. Please let us know!
(Risa)
June 13th
All the staff from our office
went out for dinner last Friday after work. We never had a proper welcome party
for our new staff, Oishi-kun. (kun is a word we put after man’s last name to
show respect), our new co-worker! Anyway, we went to a great Japanese
restaurant. They serve really, really fresh seafood there. I will tell you lots
about this place but for now, let me just show you a picture of gigantic
oyster!!!
Isn’t
it gigantic??? It was served as [Fresh oyster] so we ate it fresh…do you want
to see the cut surface of the oyster??? Here you go!
It
was so exciting to see this jumbo oyster for the first time in my life but as
taste goes, I like the regular kind better! (Junko)
June 20th
How have you been enjoying the World Cup? Ahhh, I am talking about soccer
(football) World Cup in case you have no idea what I am talking about.
(I doubt it though.) Well, soccer is pretty popular in Japan. We have professional
leagues too…but not even close to how popular baseball is. (The reason
why people say soccer is not as popular as baseball is that they don’t
show the professional soccer games on regular TV stations anymore. On the
other hand, there usually are one or more baseball games on TV everyday.)
BUT we are going crazy about the World Cup! I think it can be because a
big event like this is like a festival for us. We Japanese love festivals!
We’ve always enjoyed festivals since long, long time ago…lots of them
are very traditional.
Anyway, Japanese team is pushed into a corner now. We have to win against
Brazil the next game or we are not going to make it to the next stage.
Yes, Brazil is one of the best team in the whole world! Well, the thing
is Japanese team always play really good when they have nothing to lose,
so I am really excited to see the next game and I believe it will be a
great game! (They are playing on the 23rd, 4am Japan Time.)
GO
SAMURAI BLUE!!! (Junko)
June 26th
Early last week, I was walking on Shijo Street after work and I heard Ohayashi
from the House of Naginataboko. Ohayashi is traditional music for festivals.
What is Naginataboko? Well it’s one of the most famous floats of Gion
Festival. Gion Matsuri (Gion Festival) is one of the Three Greatest Festivals
of Japan. (It started in 869. That’s 1,137 years ago….unbelievable, eh?)
Lots of people think the festival goes on from Yoi-yoi-yama ([yoi] means
a night before…so [yoi-yoi-yama] means two nights before the festival)
which is July 15th
to the big parade of the floats on July 17th, but the festival
actually starts on July 1st and goes on for the whole month. This festival is a great deal for people
in Kyoto, especially those people whose families have lived in the center
of Kyoto city from long, long time ago. The reason why it’s a big deal
for them is because they are the ones who carry the gigantic floats. The
floats belong to each town/area of the city and it’s their tradition to
take parts in the festival. I am not from Kyoto but I can imagine how important
it is for the boys/guys there…why only guys??? Well, because girls are
banned from carrying or being on the floats. Not very nice, huh? Oh well,
it’s the tradition.
Anyway, I just wanted to share a hint of summer and a hint of the great
festival. They have already started the practice of Ohayashi (the people
from the float-towns must be very excited!!!) When we hear Ohayashi in
Kyoto, we can feel that the summer is just around the corner. (Junko)
June 27th
People called June [Minazuki] in the old days. The word Minazuki means [month of no water]. June is the rainy season here in Japan, so what’s going on? If you check the lunar calendar, the wonder clears. The no water month was today’s July, the post-tsuyu month of increasing dryness. (If you wonder what the tsuyu is, check the news on June 9th). June 30th was called Ice Day back then. It was the day when natural ice, stored
since winter, was delivered to the homes of the aristocrats.Apparently, it was believed that eating ice on this day guaranteed getting through a hot summer with a minimum of sweat. A man thought it was a good business opportunity, and started to sell a jelly like sweet out of rice flour in the shape of ice. This idea was well received, and people are still eating Minazuki on June 30th. If you have a chance to have a tea break in Kyoto this month, try some Minazuki! You might forget the heat and the humidity…(Risa)
June 30th
I guess lots of people who come to Japan have an interest in experiencing
some of the traditional Japanese culture: tea ceremony, flower arrangement,
origami..etc. So, I found useful information for you. COSMOS, a volunteer
group, provides foreign visitors with an inexpensive, convenient way to
experiencing these things. For example, you can try ink painting or carve
stone to make a name seal. Or you can learn how to play the Japanese board
game, Igo. All the events (Look at the list below) will be held at the
Kyoto International Community House. You can get information about Kyoto
there too. Available in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean and Portuguese…great,
isn’t it? (Risa)
*
1st & 3rd Saturday
10:00-12:00
Shogi Club (Free), Handicraft (Free)
12:30-14:30
Origami Folding Paper (100 yen)
15:00-16:45
Calligraphy(50 yen), Japanese Writing (50 yen)
* 2nd & 4th Saturday
10:00-12:00
Igo Club (Free)
12:30-14:30
Flower Arrangement (Free), Ink Art (200 yen)
15:00-16:45
Fan Throwing Game(Free), Green Tea manners (1000 yen)
