Japan Tour Day 4

We got up very early this morning and had another lovely complimentary breakfast at our hotel before setting off to Kyoto. The shinkansen ride was great! I took a nice nap since we left at 9:39 and arrived at 11 something. We promptly met our new guide and got on our shuttle bus to get tempura soba at a lovely establishment in a Gion district. After our meal, we watched a traditional Japanese Maiko dance. It was very interesting because the movements seem quite simple, but it is clear that lots of precision and skill are required. Maiko are the apprentices of Geisha, who were traditionally performers. Maiko used to be anywhere from 9-15. Now they are usually about 15-22. Our Maiko was only 17 years old! The only giveaway to me was that her voice was very high. Her name is Kimisora. Kimi comes from her Geisha “mom,” and “sora” comes from her hometown, which is also home to Japan’s NASA, _____. “Sora” means “universe,” which actually makes a lot of sense because R and L share one sound in Japanese , so it also sounds very close to the English word “solar.”

After the tea ceremony, we went to see the Yasaka pagoda, which is very famous. The street we went down is so picturesque, especially because there are no power lines! We got up close to it, but I think it was honestly prettier from far away with the framing of the Gion streets.

After seeing the pagoda, we went back to our van and headed off to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is another widely known landmark of Japan. This is where you can find the seemingly infinite rows of red Tori gates. Unfortunately, due to traffic, we got there at dark and it was very hard to take pictures. The train station was even made to look like the shrine! It was also hard for my mom to see since she doesn’t have great depth perception and I was a bit worried. She made it through though and we all had a great time. It was very peaceful at night, and I wish I got to see it during the day time, but that’s life. I was also excited to get inari sushi—one of my all-time favourites—at the shrine, but there weren’t many vendors left.

Finally, we headed to our ryokan and checked into the hotel. I was really excited to sleep in a futon again! The room was very nice and spacious, and our dinner was exceptional. We had even more plates than the lunch I had in Hakone! Everything was so exquisite and well-thought-out. They had ginko leaf shrimp chips that went along with the cooked ginko seeds as well as a maple leaf shrimp chip! The ginko seeds were marvelously threaded onto pine needles too.

After our lovely meal, my mom and I went in the onsen. I forgot to cover my tattoos, so I tried very hard to keep them hidden as I washed my body. Eventually, the other women got out and I could move around a bit more in the pool. We waited for them to finish getting changed before we got out to avoid any issues. Once I got back to the room, I called Camden, but the wifi was bad and it was super frustrating. It was still really lovely to talk to him to end my day and I went to bed feeling really happy and refreshed.