Kyoto (9/1/11) and daytrip to Takayama

We have been in Kyoto for the last 2 days. Tomorrow is the day when the 20 year olds dress up and go to the shrine. We saw some of the girls today (maybe they can't get time off work tomorrow) wearing the brightest kimono (garish really) with their hair in an 'up-do', tons of makeup and with white fake fur draped around their shoulders. I didn't like to take a photo. Maybe tomorrow when there are more of them.

This is a bit out of sequence but I forgot that one of my sons and I did a day trip up to Takayama from Kyoto to see snow. I have been to Takayama before in Spring but it looks very different at this time of year. No cherry blossom, no hordes of people and man of the shops are closed but it is still lovely, but bitterly cold after dark - I thought my nose might freeze.

Kyoto 10/1/11

t has been a bit hard to update the blog because of a lack of internet access. We had a house to our selves in Kyoto which was great but the internet either wasn't working or when it did work the whole family seemed to get there before me. Anway, now I'll do a bit of a catch up.
We travelled down from Matsumoto to Kyoto and moved away from the snow on the ground but it was still freezing in Kyoto and it did snow on oe of the days although it didn't settle.

One of the highlights of our week in Kyoto was Seijin-no-to, which is 'Coming of Age day' when 20 year olds dress up on kimono for women and traditional outfits or suits for the men. (20 is the age when you can legally drink alcohol and smoke cigarrettes). The women appeared incredibly overdressed and were wearing heaps of makeup, hair extensions, fake fox furs, incredibly bright kimono with furisode sleeves (very long). It reminded me of NZ girls dressed for the school formal.
It was interesting to see them all dressed up in traditional clothes with a ciggie in one hand and talking into the cellphone with the other hand. By the end of the night there were loads or rather 'trashed' 20 year olds all over Kyoto.

The same day, our Japanese friends took us to a shrine in Osaka which is dedicated to the god of commerce - Ebisu. People were being given branches of bamboo then buying charms to hang on the branches. We got swept along with the crowds but didn't managed to get too near the money collection point or the branches. We had to throw our money into the collecting  box over peoples heads!

Above you can see someone with one of the branches getting ready to buy charms to hang on it. The lanterns have pictures of the God Ebisu, my friend says Ebisu, God of Commerce (only in Osaka :-) has poor hearing so you have to shout hard to get his attention.

So many people! About the population of New Zealand goes through this temple during the 3 days of the festival

Finding Textiles in Kyoto, Arimatsu, Osaka, Kurashiki

If you click on the blue words it takes you to the website for each textile place. That is where you will find the address. The tourist information centre at Nishijin will help you find textile workshops and classes.

The Japanese Tourist information people have made this useful tour guide to textiles in Japan. Click here for the PDF

Kyoto
Nishijin 
This is the big Kyoto centre for textiles which the tourist information centre sends everyone to. You can  arrange to do a class. They also have kimono fashion shows at 2 pm each day i think. Best to check on their website by clicking on the word Nishijin (the heading).

Aizenkobo Indigo
Ask at the Tourist Info or at Nishijin for the instructions.  Lovely fabrics.

Kyoto Shibori Kogeikan
A small museum with amazing huge multicoloured shibori panels. Has small silk peices for sale as well as scarves and kimono lengths. Video is in japanese but easy to follow the steps. I think you can arrange to do classes with them but would need to sort this in advance.

Sou-Sou
This group of shops sells clothing items based on traditional Japanese crafts. They sell the most bizarre sneakers which have split toes.




From Kyoto you can get to Nagoya and from there to Arimatsu to see the shibori museum.

Arimatsu
Click the word above to take you to the website for the Arimatsu Shibori museum which does workshops. The website is in English. To get to the shibori area cross the railway and turn pretty much straight left into a really old looking street. If you find yourself climbing up hill you have gone too far.

Osaka
I haven't had a lot of time to explore Osaka itself for fabrics but really enjoyed the Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) which has loads of lovely costumes and textiles and a great gallery which has temporary exhibition, often textiles. You have to walk through the park to get there which is lovely. Go to their website by clicking on the blue writing and then click access on their web page to find public transport to get to the Museum.

Kurashiki
Kurashiki is worth a day trip from Osaka, Kyoto or Hiroshima.
There is a covered shopping street which has 5 shops which sell hand dyed clothes which I really like and which fit me :-)
It also has lots of lovely canals, cherry blossom, galleries, shopping, pretty stuff. I go there every trip as it is a favourite. From the station front entrance - go to your left, cross the road via the pedestrian over bridge, turn left and the entrance to the shopping street is on your right not far away. There is a quilting shop in that covered street too. At the end of the covered street turn right and you get to the old area of town.

Here is Robyn Burch's blog which also discusses Kurashiki
http://robynppblog.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/waikato-quilt-and-craft-fair-projects.html

Kyoto 20th April - 25th April

We went from to Kyoto via Himeji where it rained all day.

Himeji castle is the cutest little castle but it has incredibly steep stairs inside. Probably this kept invaders from getting to the top floors but it is pretty hard to climb up while carrying handbag, raincoat, umbrella and shoes (inside a plastic bag) whilst trying to hold onto the handrail because it is so steep.

Kinkakuji.

Zen temple.

The end of the cherry blossom season in Kyoto.

Well just about the end, we still saw some different varieties which blossomed later. I claim this shot above.

Even samurai go to MCDonalds.

I planned the trip to Kyoto to coincide with both the big flea markets but in the end I went to both but didn't buy anything at either of them as the prices were much higher than I had expected. I found a jacket I liked which was marked at 28,000 yen  (NZ$437) and decided just to take photos rather than bother to shop. There were lots and lots of second hand kimono at around NZ$10-$15 if anyone is looking, in fact the markets were flooded with kimono.  

 J'Hoppers hostel in Kyoto is handy for the Toji temple flea market on the 21st of each month as it is about 15 minutes walk from the hostel.