I tend to disappear from Monday to Wednesday, consumed with class prep and teaching. Still we did grab a few hours Wednesday morning and biked over to Heian-jingu Shrine. The shrine, marked with huge orange (vermillion) gates, was erected in 1895 to commemorate Kyoto's 1,100 anniversary and is a replica of the original Kyoto Imperial Palace that was built in 794 (when they say "centuries" around here, they really mean it!). Much of the shrine on Wednesday was roped off in preparation for the evening's Noh performance, one of the most spectacular in Kyoto. But the main attraction, as far as we were concerned, is the garden. The irises were in bloom (which made me a little nostalgic for my Lake Michigan garden). Again, I defer to silence and let the pictures speak for me.
Afterwards, we browsed the seven floors of the Kyoto Craft Center that is across the street from the shrine. Want a kimono (old or new), a samurai sword, laquered tray, Japanese paper, pearls, Hello Kitty lunchbox, woodblock print, etc . etc. etc? Get your orders in. It's all thereExhausted and over-stimulated with all those possible purchases, we relaxed in a wonderful noodle retaurant that we found on a little back street just south of the Imperial Palace. It's called Honke Owariya and, according to the English menu blurb, has been loved by the people of Kyoto since 1465 (when they say "centuries" here....). It has been, and still is, patronized by the Emperor's family and the odd monk or two. In the Edo period, Owaiya's noodles were actually served in the Imperial Palace.
PR hype notwithstanding, the noodles were amazing. Here is Bill negotiating soba with chopsticks, no mean feat. Owariya is not exactly "local" for us, but it just might become our local noodle place.
And here, at last, is a picture of the lovely Natsumi, my assistant at the Law School . A Kyoto native, Natsumi lived in Seattle about ten years ago, married an "Amerika-jin," and had a son, who is now eight. She is now divorced and lives in Kyoto next door to her mother and father. She is fluent in English and has good-naturedly accomplished my every request from renting "Runaway Jury" for "Movie Night" for the students, to finding out if we can have pizza while watching the movie (we can't), to helping me reigister for an alien registration card.
After each Wednesday class, I have dinner in the law school cafeteria and invite students to join me. Here we are last night, chatting about Japanese sweets and peremptory challenges.
So, one more gorgeous day here in Kyoto with a beautiful light that seems to deepen everything, especially the greens in the gardens. The contrasts in colors and shades are spectacular and always changing. There is always an abrupt transition from the silence and the colors back out onto the bikes and the streets. A very modern city that has managed to sustain a tradition of reflection.
PR hype notwithstanding, the noodles were amazing. Here is Bill negotiating soba with chopsticks, no mean feat. Owariya is not exactly "local" for us, but it just might become our local noodle place.
And here, at last, is a picture of the lovely Natsumi, my assistant at the Law School . A Kyoto native, Natsumi lived in Seattle about ten years ago, married an "Amerika-jin," and had a son, who is now eight. She is now divorced and lives in Kyoto next door to her mother and father. She is fluent in English and has good-naturedly accomplished my every request from renting "Runaway Jury" for "Movie Night" for the students, to finding out if we can have pizza while watching the movie (we can't), to helping me reigister for an alien registration card.
After each Wednesday class, I have dinner in the law school cafeteria and invite students to join me. Here we are last night, chatting about Japanese sweets and peremptory challenges.
So, one more gorgeous day here in Kyoto with a beautiful light that seems to deepen everything, especially the greens in the gardens. The contrasts in colors and shades are spectacular and always changing. There is always an abrupt transition from the silence and the colors back out onto the bikes and the streets. A very modern city that has managed to sustain a tradition of reflection.
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