Wednesday Ben was in the lead. In the morning he took us to see the Kyoto Budo Center, where various martial arts schools, groups, and circles go to practice, do demonstrations, or hold their tests/promotions. The grounds were quiet, but not empty--a couple of cars were going in and out. We didn't enter the building, but through the front doors we could see the enormous practice room inside. There was actually a group inside, women of various ages practicing naginatajutsu, a Japanese polearm martial art (which happens to be studied predominantly by women these days.)
On the way to the Kampo Museum (of calligraphy), we made several pit-stops. First was at the Kyoto Handicrafts Center, another building with 7 stories of awesomeness. It's almost as if a museum were made into a shop. One of the floors is "by reservation only"--it's actually a classroom, for groups to come and do workshops probably. Most of the floors have displays of various traditional Japanese and specifically Kyoto-based crafts: swords, fans, statuettes, damascene and cloisonne, wood block printing, sumi-e paintings, kimono, dolls, and ceramics. A couple of the shops also sold kitschy Japanese souvenirs, but even those were very fun.
Robert found his "ichiban" headband there--they also had "dragon" and "success for exams", or something of the like. I, uh, impulse-bought a solar maiko. It wasn't expensive or anything...and very kitch. Little sun-powered wobbly-headed apprentice geisha doll. The handicrafts center is a really fun place to go, even if it's just to look around and admire the work. And drool over the hideously expensive but devastatingly beautiful wedding and vintage kimono. Also, it's duty free when you bring your passport.
Just across and down the street from the Handicrafts Center is a martial arts supply and sword shop. They have some gi, supplies for schools and groups, and some really expensive swords and samurai armor replicas. Robert bought a new top and hakama for Iaido. I wanted very badly to buy one of the umbrellas they were selling, but they were a little too expensive. Black umbrellas with katana tsuka as the handles are exceedingly geeky, but awesome at the same time. I'm just hoping to pick up a pretty umbrella somewhere in the range of 500-1000 yen though...Instead of 6000 yen.
We also passed and took a peek at the Heian-Jingu shrine on the way to the museum. It had begun to rain a little, so everyone visiting there had out umbrellas. Good thing we brought the ones we borrowed from the guesthouse, because it was raining harder by the time we reached the Kampo museum.
The museum has a great collection of Kampo Harada's calligraphy work, basically. Master Kampo founded the Japan Calligraphy Education Foundation, and so is very responsible for the preservation of calligraphy in today's Japanese education system. What's really interesting about Kampo is that he's considered a father of calligraphy, even though he's a modern figure (1912-1995.) It's also probably the reason this museum allows pictures: all the work was done in the last 50 years or so, and preservation isn't a huge concern yet. Although, they keep small glasses of water in the display cases to moderate humidity I think...Several of the pieces on the scrolls are actually replications of ancient Chinese calligraphy that was carved onto large stone slabs.
This was a really HUGE inkstone. For a REALLY big brush. Love the entwined dragon carvings.
A portrait of Master Kampo--it doesn't quite do his beard justice, though.
Afterwards we feasted at a ramen and friend chicken place. I ordered just the fried chicken, because Ben told us we had to eat everything, even though it was a big meal, because the server didn't think we could do it. Everything was delicious, but no one really needed to eat for the rest of the day...Yeah, that rumor that portions are smaller in Japan...It really does depend on where you go. Many of the restaurants and holes-in-the-wall places we ate at actually served decently-sized portions. Although you are expected to finish everything; there's no such thing as taking home leftovers in Japan. Also, eating large pieces of friend chicken with chopsticks is very awkward, but you don't really have a choice unless you bring your own napkins--Japan doesn't really do the napkin thing either. Just some restaurants will provide moist towelettes to wipe your hands before eating.
I think there was some serous mental preparation for this meal...
Gion, Take 2:
After that enormous meal, Gerry, Robert, and I took a bus to Yasaka-Jinja, the guardian shrine of Gion, to walk off all that fried goodness. Yasaka-Jinja was pretty busy as well, even with it raining on and off all day. Part of it, I suppose, besides the nearby shopping district, is Maruyama-kouen (koen being the suffix for "park".)
Maruyama-kouen is a gorgeous place, with several sakura groves, stone paths, streams, and a carp pond. That day it wasn't too crowded--it can apparently get really packed during hanami season, but the sakura was only just beginning to bloom in some places. After a nice muddy wandering around, we headed back towards the guesthouse, even though it was the middle of the afternoon, and prayed for better weather for next few days. (Ok, part of the reason we left early was because the damp weather broke our souvenir bag and Robert was having to carry around quite a bit in his arms.) We also went to sleep pretty early that evening...I don't know whether to blame it on jet lag or the rain. Maybe both.
And this is the centerpiece shidarezakura, or weeping cherry tree
