Japanese Ice Cream (和風アイス)

A Low-calorie, healthy sweet treat.

Japanese ice cream is a delightful, delicate harmony between the traditional flavors of Japanese Western sweets.
It draws out the natural sweetness of the ingredients without using too much sugar or cream, making this ice cream a low-calorie treat.
That's why it's also popular with the maiko of the Gion distinct.

Art Complex 1928 (アートコンプレックス1928)

Histric building new a magnet for artists

This was once the Kyoto office of The Mainichi Newspapers. On the balconies and walls, the company logo with its star motif can still be seen. The building has a stylish design; in fact, it was created under the influence of Art Deco and is a treasure of modern architecture.

Today it is filled with performing arts halls, galleries and shops, and serves as a focal point of Kyoto's arts scene, so there's always something new.

Station Footbath (駅の足湯)

How about a trip to the footbath

Arashiyama wasn't an onsen locate in the old days; it got a hot spring only in 2004: a footbath right inside Keifuku-Arashiyama Station!
Before heading on to your next destination, why not relax a bit by soaking your tired feet? It's popular with the local old-timers as well as tourists.

French Food (町家でフレンチ)

French cuisine combined with traditional Kyoto culture

Once an o-chaya-san, this establishment has been reborn as a French restaurant. It looks like an old-fashioned machiya from the outside, but step in and you enter a different world, full of the aromas of French cuisine.

The chef, born in the south of France, was amazed by the variety of vegitables used in Kyoto, and decided to use these ingredients in French cooking. French food in a Kyoto machiya...a great way to appreciate today's Kyoto!

Kyocera (京セラ)

Pioneer Venture company from Kyoto

Kyocera was founded in 1959 as venture company named "Kyoto Ceramic Corp." (京都セラミック株式会社) at Chugyo-ku, Kyoto-city. At its early stage, the product was only electrical parts based on thier distinguished fine ceramic technology, while Kyocera currently have variety of business areas, from final electrical products such as, mobile phone, digital camera and copy machines to original electrical part area. The founder Kazuo Inamori is very famous as his leadership to build the venture company into one of the global excellent companies. He also established Kyoto prize in 1984 to annually recognize the outstanding  contribution of basic sciences, advanced technology, arts and philosophy.

Machiya Accomodation(町家ステイ)

Why not stay the night in one?

Using machiya for their original purpose, as housing, is also becoming more popular. But actually living in one is much more inconvenient than you'd think, and in fact many are now being converted to short-term accomodations.
The experience is supposed to replicate that of a real machiya dweller, so you have to do the cleaning and take out the trash too!

Machiya (町家)

Machiya's nickname is "Eel beds".

Machiya are traditional Kyoto residences. Their narrow street frantages and deep lots have given them the nickname  "eel beds". Distinguished by windows with black wooden lattices and minuscule gardens, they have been vanishing along with Kyoto's traditional urban culture.
Having become aware fo this danger over the past few years, Kyoto's citizens have launched a revitalization initiative to turn machiya into commercial establishments. 

Machiya Cafe (町家カフェ)

How about tea at a machiya cafe?

Sitting on an antique sofa, sipping a cafe aulait. Wouldn't the former residents of the house be surprised to see that! While the lattice windows, postage-stamp gardens, tatami mats and other quintessential machiya ele,emts have been retained, the interiors have been fully updated. That's the recent machiya trend.

Shinkansen (新幹線)

This is the bullet train!

Zipping along at up to 300km/h as it travels all the way from Tohoku in the north to Kyushu in the southwest, the shinkansen bullet train also passes through Kyoto. It made its debut in 1964 for the Tokyo Olympics. It is one of the safest means of mass transportation in the world.

Kyoto Station (京都駅)

Kyoto Station is one of Japan's largest train stations. Don't get lost.

Kyoto's gateway, this station is served by train lines extending throughout Japan, including the shinkansen bullet train. One of the architectural masterpieces of the 1990s, it boasts a huge glass facade, a grand staircase rising toward the sky, an aerial walkway offering a magnificent view of the city, and much, much more. Kyoto station is so vast, rumor has it that people have become lost  there! If you lose way, let the grand staircase by your landmark.

続きを読む "Kyoto Station (京都駅)"

Hydromancy at Kifune-jinja(貴船神社の水占みくじ)

Let the water god's holy water tell your fortune.

O-mikuji are paper fortunes. In ancient times they were used to make decisions of state and family succession. At the shrine Kifune-jinja, when an o-mikuji is set afloat on the waters of the spring, the result stands out. Some say that this mysterious phenomenon happens only with the holy waters of this shrine.

tea, the way of tea (茶道)

Encounters: the true essence of tea.

The tea ceremony is one of the quintessential expressions of Japanese esthetics. It is a comprehensive art, encompassing not just the serving and drinking of tea, but the protocol of tea preparation, tea implements, the decoration of the tea room with objects of beauty, and more. The tea ceremony is a discipline for sharing time with one's guest and fostering communion with one's own soul.

Senbon-Torii (千本鳥居)

Go through the gate and you may get your wish!

The slope of the hill Inariyama are lined with roughly 5000torii, sacred gates. They were erected at Fushimi Inari Taisha as offerings by those seeking the favor of the Shinto deity Inari. According to custom, as one "passes" through a gate, so one's request "passes." The seemingly endless ranks of vermillion torii are an amazing sight.

Sake (お酒)

How about a sip of sake?

Sake, Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting rice. Sake is 80% water, so the water used is a key factor in determining how delicious the final product will taste. Under Kyoto is bountiful supply of high-qulity water that has supported a long sake-brewing tradition. Recently sake has become a popular aperitif outside Japan.

Shojin cuisine (精進料理)

The ultimate in healthy vegitarian eating.

Shojin cuisine is made with vegitagles, beans and grains. Forbidden to eat meat and fish, Buddhist monks developed shojin cuisine using  limited ingredients. Eating no more than the basic requirement to sustain life was a spiritual discipline. Now Shojin dishes are seen as a gourmet experience, both sophisticated and healthy. Many foreign visitors seek out this cuisine.

Uguisubari (鴬張りの廊下)

Walk down a corridor and hear it sing like a nightingale.

When you tread on a nightingale floor, it produces a sound like a nightingale's song. The original purpose of a nightingale floor was to warn that an intruder was approaching. The floor warbles at the softest step, so that even the stealthiest ninja cannot escape detection. The floors of the castle Nijojo and the temple Chionin have famous nightingale floors, but there are others that sing as well.

[Reference] Nijo-jo Uguisubari (flickr)

Sushi (寿司)

Sushi isn't just a food, it's an art form.

Sushi is a style of Japanese cuisine that pairs morsels of seafood and vegetables with vinegared rice. There are regional varieties: Kansai is traditionally famous for its rolled (maki) and pressed (hako) sushi, while the region around old Edo was the home of nigiri-zushi, a slice of fish laid atop a small chunk of sushi rice. But now you can get any type of sushi wherever you go. Sushi has became popular outside Japan too, and today there are sushi restaurants all over the world.

Saba-zushi

Salted mackerel, soaked in vinegar and used to top sushi rice. Because Kyoto is far from the sea, fresh fish was hard to come by in the old days. So mackerel caught in the Sea of Japan was processed in this way to keep it from spoiling during the trip to Kyoto.

Saiku-zushi

Saiku-zushi is the art of shaping sushi into decorative forms that evoke seasonal themes, such as flowers. It probably began as a custom at weddings; such sushi may have been used as a feature of gifts handed to guests.

Zazen (座禅)

meditation for self-knowledge

Zazen is a central practice of Zen Buddhism, a way to achieve tranquility of mind. The goal is to gain fresh perspective on yourself and focus your thoughts in a certain way. Sitting still, breathing through your nose, and taking repeated deep breaths creates the sensation of purifying the mind. Various temples offer the opportunity to try zazen.

[Reference] Rinzai-Obaku zen

Yuka (川床)

Summertime dining by the river.

Between May and September, restaurants and o-chaya-san (Traditional eating and entertainment establishments) overlooking the river's western bank from Nijo-dori to Gojo-dori set up open-air dining areas called yuka to catch the cool river breezes, providing a waterfront delight during the hot Kyoto summer.

[Reference] Noryo-Yuka Kamogawa River

Kamogawa (鴨川)

Kamogawa...where Kyoto goes to relax.

Kyoto, city of waterways. The river that flows through the city from north to south is called the Kamogawa. For Kyoto denizens, it provides a refleshing haven for strolling and enjoying the cool of the evening. It's a popular date spot. As couples sit down on its banks, they always seem to space themselves at equal intervals, and as it gets darker they always seems to draw nearer to each other. That's exactly what makes the Kamogawa such a famous romantic locale.