Catching Up, Days 7 and 8 in Japan

When we were last heard from, it was Sunday and we were in Mishima. It's actually now Wednesday evening -- we left Mishima for Kyoto on Monday evening, spent Tuesday in Uji and Kyoto, spent Wednesday morning in Kyoto, and we're now in Kurashiki. In this blog, I'll cover Monday and Tuesday.

Monday, June 21, Day 7

The week begins and everyone is up early -- Yuko leaves around 7:30 am to go to the high school where she teaches English. She takes a 15-minute commuter train ride and then rides her bicycle from the station to the school. Jeff usually drives the boys to school around 8:30 am. This is Hewitt's second year in a Japanese nursery school, Jonah just started going to school last month. This morning Nancy and Kate go along to drop them off -- great exitement at school to see more Americans.

Back to the apartment and then we walk into Mishima. We visit the local shrine and see other sights within the city. Then it's back to the apartment to get the car so we can drive to the mall. Lunch is at Mos Burger -- the Japanese chain trying to rival McDonalds. Interesting burger and glass of iced green tea. We look at various shops in the mall -- in the photos you'll see a display of Fire King mugs (not even Jadeite) for about $50 each! At the foreign goods store we see a variety of things we take for granted at extraordinary prices (you'll see them in the photos). Then the regular food store where there are familiar and strange things. And finally we stop at Mr. Donut (check out the green tea cream-filled donuts). Then it's back to school to pick up the boys -- Hewitt's classmates were happy to pose for a photo. Jeff made us a very Japanese dinner -- minced magura (tuna) over rice with Japanese pickles (some made by Yuko's mom), tofu, and Jeff's home-made Japanese omelet. And then it's off to the train station to catch the shinkansen to Kyoto.

We are staying at the Hotel Glanvia (where we stayed last year). It is located above the Kyoto train station and is considered a luxury hotel -- it is lovely. We have a "bell boy" walk us and our suitcase to our room (good thing, the room is quite far from the elevator, for which he apologized profusely). We stay up watching World Cup. In tomorrow's photos you will see the greeting when we first turned on the tv -- very impressive. Day 7 photos.

Tuesday, June 22, Day 8

We sleep late, 8:30 am, a combination of staying up late, having the full curtains shut so we're not woken by the light at 4:30 am, and sleeping on real (and very comfortable) beds rather than futons. The hotel is very proud of its new shower facilities. You will see it in the photos. We managed to master the use of the shower. Showers are not in the bathtubs (though sometimes there is a hand-held faucet in the tub). The shower had a shower head, a hand-held faucet, and "body nozzles" along the pole. There was also a small stool and bowl, so you could sit and wash off before entering the tub (bath tubs are for soaking, not for washing). Then it was down to the breakfast buffet -- a fascinating mix of Japanese, other Asian, and "western" food.

We took the train to Uji, about 20 minutes southeast of Kyoto. In ancient times it flourished as a crossroad that connected Nara and Kyoto over the Uji River. It is also a big tea-growing area. As we walked along the road towards the Byodoin Temple (also known as the Phoenix Temple and pictured on the 10 yen coin), there were many shops featuring green tea and things made from green tea. We bought some tea and some green tea Kit Kat bars. Because we visited the Byodin Temple last year, we didn't go in but strolled along the river. We went to the Taiho-an, Uji City Municipal Tea Ceremony House. After buying tickets, Nancy got to hit the gong to let them know we were there. We of course took off our shoes and sat on the tatami mat watching a lovely older woman prepare the tea. First the bowl is warmed with hot water, then the powdered tea (known as matcha) is put in the bowl, hot water is added, and it is mixed with a bamboo whisk until it's frothy. We each had a bowl of tea and a small jelly-like sweet.

We continued along the river, crossing a bridge to an island in the center where there is a stone pagoda. Although the river was calm between the island and the western bank, on the eastern side the river runs much stronger. We found a large cage of cormorants on the eastern side. They are used for fishing (there are some photos showing posters about this). We stopped at two shrines, the smaller Uji Shrine and the larger (and World Heritage Site) Ujigami Shrine. Note also in the photos some of the houses along the way. Our last stop on the eastern side was at the Tale of Genji Museum. Wikipedia tells us that the Tale of Genji "is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel . . . ." The story consisted of 54 chapters, with the last 10 chapters taking place in and around Uji.

Then it was back across the bridge. We had a lunch at a lovely restaurant on the third floor of a building right by the bridge. We at overlooking the river. And talk about trusting -- we were given a slip of paper showing what we'd ordered which we had to take down to the cashier on the first floor. No one was there, so we had to push the bell button to summon someone so we could pay. Then it was back on the train to Kyoto. We did walk around a little bit in the evening (you'll see photos of the Kyoto Tower lit up).

Photos for Day 8

Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 23, Day 9, we'll spend the morning in Kyoto and then off to Kurashiki.