Posts from — October 2005

Shisen-do is a 17th-century zen temple of the Soto sect rather than the Rinzai type more common in Kyoto.

Most people like to cut the crusts off their tatami before eating.

Hanshin Tigers coach’s gravestone. Better luck next year, pal. Somebody get this guy a drink.

Looking north over the Kamo (duck) River; just beyond that bridge (kamo oohashi) the river branches in a perfect “V” with the Kamo continuing up to the left and the Takano River to the right. In the middle is Shimogamo forest and Shimogamo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the background are the Kitayama mountains. It’s mountainous like this for more than a hundred kilometers all the way to the Japan Sea in northern Kyoto Prefecture.

After visiting Kyoto City’s childproofing house of horrors, showing all the ways that babies can get maimed or killed around the house, we tried to implement some of the suggestions, including putting safety latches on cupboards. Here, Greg (age 1 year, 8 months) shows how much respect he has for safety latches. Halfway through I mumbled “It’s tough, isn’t it?” And then he popped the latch. At the end I say “o-yatsu power!” o-yatsu just means “snacks” in Japanes. He knew there were cookies in that drawer. Taken with a Vodafone phonecam (Toshiba V-603T)

View this clip on Vimeo

The building which has the principal Buddha image at a Japanese temple usually has a circular dragon painting on the ceiling. I believe it’s there as a protector spirit.

That’s why there is sometimes a flashlight (torch) next to the altar. It’s not provided so you can check out how much money is in the collection box, it’s there so you can get a look at the ceiling dragon. Such buildings are typically quite dark, and you may not be able to see the ceiling at all without the flashlight.

I couldn’t even get a decent strobe-less photograph of this ceiling with an 8-second exposure.

the Kurama Hi-matsuri fire festival is this Saturday night. One of Kyoto’s most wildly spectacular festivals, the Kurama townsfolk carry torches ranging from big to huge to immense. This follows the Jidai matsuri the same morning, a more spectator-friendly parade in costumes of Kyoto’s history.


If you are going to either one, go early. for the Jidai festival, I recommend the southern gate of the Imperial Palace, where they exit the palace park grounds and head out onto city streets. If you show up 2 hours to 90 minutes early, you can stake out a spot with the huge gate as your background for photos.

If you go to the Kurama Hi-matsuri, be aware that you and everything you wear/bring will absolutely reek of smoke for days afterward. Even cameras. try to get there by 5 (Eizan train to last station Kurama) so you can get a good look at the constructed torches before it gets dark. Don’t bring small children, it’s too wild and they might get trampled/separated from you. Be aware that the Eizan train is so crowded for this festival that you might have to wait in line to get there, and on the way back you may have to wait 2 hours to get on a train.