More Autumn

Remember this shot from the Kyoto entry a while back? Slightly more colourful this time around. I wish i could go back again in about 2 weeks or so. And then again in winter... and spring...

Last entry saw us staying at Watanabe Onsen in Toyohashi.


The finest onsen west of Fuji, Watanabe Onsen's cooked breakfasts were very special times - though on one occasion, I decided to eat leftover handrolled sushi from the night before - something Nobuko's mum, Hamako, found a bit strange, but I had no problem dealing with :)



Evenings at the Onsen were even better - dinner, then waiting for the bathtub to sing its "I'm ready, and my temerature has stabilised at 42 degrees" song, a wonderful soak in the healthy, lifegiving water, followed by a relaxing massage in the Massage-O-Matic Chair (which put anything I've seen in Australia to shame, including many human masseurs).

Watanabe Onsen's heating needs are taken care of by a Mark IV Ion Plasmacluster, whose radiant blue glow we all bathed happily in.



One of my missions while in Japan was to obtain a pair of kimono for two young friends, and Hamako proved to be an extremely willing and helpful resource - taking us all to the local department store, and getting the kimono department jumping to assist us. It was decided that yukatta (summer kimono) would be the go, and after examining every suitable sized yukatta in the store, two were purchased, along with simple obi (waist belts). Above and beyond the call of duty, Hamako then proceeded to tailor the kimono to the exact measurements provided, and turned the rather plain obi into something special, by tying appropriate bows and knots, and stitching them so they wouldnt come undone. I have complete instructional video footage of how to dress, and tie the obi properly. I wont provide photos, as the friends in question may just happen to read this, and I wouldnt want to spoil the surprise.

Instead, heres a picture of a gorgeous Autumn kimono we saw on the next part of our voyage, which saw me return to Kyoto.



We had some kind of deal that enabled us to stay in a rather nice hotel in Kyoto for very little money. The only catch was that Nobuko had to pretend to be her sister, which was fine, but Andrew doesnt look terribly much like a Japanese husband, and I look even less like Japanese Granddad. So we waited outside while she checked in.




We visited a kimono museum, which was also a studio where they dyed and hand-painted kimono silk. Watching the painters paint extraordinarily beautiful and delicate designs onto hand dyed silk, with rock steady hands and extraordinary accuracy was really special.



From there, we checked out the Nishijin Textile Centre, where we got to see people weaving silk on 150 year old Jaquard looms, and met a very friendly fellow, whose business is painting the family crests onto kimonos.



We chatted to him for ages, and he ended up doing designs for us on bits of scrap silk. He uses incredibly fine brushes, scarcely more than a hair, and has the steadiest hands ive ever seen. As he pointed out, when painting a crest onto someones mega-yen hand made kimono, you only get one chance, and it has to be perfect. He painted Andrew a very cool butterfly design, and I got him to paint my little cloud logo.








Next day, we headed straight for Koto-in. The grounds of Daitokuji were extremely quiet - much more than when I was there last time - a real bonus. Koto-in was cemented as my favourite place in Japan. The wonderful trees and beautiful buildings I've already shown plenty of, but here are a few of the other reasons...





Ahh ok, I couldnt resist just a few more trees and buldings...










Kyoto was a bit of a gift shopping bonanza this time, with Nobuko and I proving to be dangerous company for each other, while Andrew observed with amusement. Lacquered bowls, a hand-felted bag, wooden things, ceramics, fabric, books, magazines. The familiar cry of "Argh! How am I going to get all this home!"

After Kyoto, it was back to Toyohashi for the night, and then A&N wanted to show me a little of Nagoya, where they lived and worked before coming back to Australia. I really liked the feel of Nagoya, possibly because I was in good company with local knowledge, but even so, it seemed to be a nice city.

We found a wonderful bookshop, called Mountain-Route, which appears to be part of a small chain of maybe half a dozen shops in Japan. It was a wonderful place though - full of life and the effort of the staff (and patrons) to make it something more than your average bookshop. the place was laid out beautifully, with nooks to sit and read (there was even a teeny room under the stairs, no more than a metre an a bit high, complete with bookshelves and cushions. Their stock seemed very carefully selected, by people with very interesting taste, and consisted mostly of wonderful kids books, art books, poetry, and art-picture-story books for kids and adults. A lot of very accessable but incredibly deep and moving works. I bought a few books that seemed to be perfect for various people, but really didnt want to leave the shop. They had a 'tree' with flat perspex branch/shelves, and when you bought a book, you got to write something on a coloured leaf and add it to the tree. the perspex shelves meant the colours of the leaves were visible, and you could also read what people had written (tho mostly in Japanese, of course)


King Kong in a baseball cap above wasnt part of anything - just a weird bit of public sculpture, or obscure advertising maybe. Not uncommon in Japan. King Kong, I mean. Or obscure advertising for that matter... Take the Zen Mall in Harajuku (Tokyo) for instance...

After wandering around Nagoya a bit, it was dinner time, and Andrew had major plans for visiting a strange Nagoya chicken-wing chain, run by some crazy guy who in Australia would be on telly advertising two dollar shops.




The wings were seriously addicive however. Some of A&N's friends from Nagoya came along, but I had to leave, despite very much wanting to stay. The shinkansen waits for noone. I was getting Nobuko to write down a basic translation of the storyline of one of the books I had bought however, and this meant a last minute dash for the train. I literally stepped onto it, and the door closed behind me, and off back to Tokyo it was.

Here is a photo of Fuji-san I took on the way over, just because Fuji is so nice.


Japan continues to show me its best side. Everyone assures me its rare to see Fuji, but every time I've gone past, the view has been great. Even driving into Tokyo today with the crew, we saw Fuji, poking up to the west. It really is an impressive mountain. Much much larger than anything else around, and it's shape is beautiful - no wonder its so revered, and features large in the minds and arts of the Japanese.

And one last detail, just to remind you... Autumn...