Jewels in the Stacks

One rainy day I made up my mind to make my way to Kyoto International Manga Museum, finally. Rainy days are good for these sorts of things, and tis the season to be rainy. Walking east from Nijo-jo castle, the rain got so heavy I had to take refuge in front of a konbini at one point. And I passed that Oike Koto building again...the one with the amazing window.

Love that building.

Kyoto International Manga Museum is essentially a combination museum and library, in what looks like was an old school building. (The inside of the building felt and looked similar to many of the old 19th c. school buildings I've been in before...Saint Mary's campus buildings are the first which come to mind. My guess is this was built sometime in the mid to late 1800s and modeled after Western-style school buildings.) Except for the collection which is in chronological order, the manga in the stacks are actually organized by author, unlike in Japanese bookstores which primarily order books by the publisher. I've never quite figured out how they are categorized after publisher, because it's certainly not by author, and doesn't seem to follow an "alphabetical" ordering system or anything similar.

If you're a manga lover, you could probably get lost in the stacks for a full day. I limited myself to looking up what CLAMP and Naoko Takeuchi manga they had in their collection, and was happy to discover a couple of volumes from Takeuchi's less well-known manga Codename wa Sailor V, The Cherry Project, and Miss Rain. In addition to the library and museum set-ups, their gallery is currently filled with Range Murata's illustrations, and they have an exhibition of 100 maiko illustrations, each from a different manga artist. They also have rooms for illustration demonstrations, picture-story shows, workshops, and research.

Continuing down Karasuma-dori in the general direction of Kyoto Art Center, I walked through some more heavy torrents and puddles...I never did find Kyoto Art Center--even following the signs--but I did come across another jewel, not to overuse the metaphor...(Ha! Of course I'm overusing it.)
Half-hidden from the street by a Starbucks, sandwiched between a hotel and some business high-rises, Rokakkudo's entrance is just a little ways down a side street off of Karasuma-dori. Founded by Prince Shotoku in 587, Shiunzanchohoji's common name derives from the hexagonal shape of its main hall; rokakku means "six-sided" and -dou is a suffix for a hall or temple. One of the buildings surrounding the Rokakkudo courtyard is actually Ikenobo, the birthplace and headquarters of ikebana.

Jizo statues with bib and hat offerings.

The rather modern fountain behind the main hall is filled with koi...

...and swans

Really whiny swans...

And continuing on around behind the main hall...another fountain

Hidden up some stairs behind the above fountain...

Very intriguing sculpture...the face is so realistic

A Miroku Nyorai, slightly different in style

'

Inside the main hall

Detail of the incense urn

I want these guys. I seriously want these little guys.

This carving sits outside the temple office side entrance, closest to Rokakkudo's main gate.

The front gate...peppered with stickers as usual

Rokakkudo's bell tower, outside the small temple grounds and just across the street:

a small, odd piece of old surrounded by the urban

Further south down Karasuma-dori, just before Kyoto Station, is Higashi Hongangi,

and the beautiful lotus fountain in the median of the road in front of its front gate

I managed to take a small peek inside the temple a few minutes before it closed.

(Although, they were closing up at least fifteen minutes earlier than their official hours said they would, grr.)

Some details of the metal and woodwork inside the front gate

Very draconic tortoises on the roof corners of the Hondo

A very mossy-roofed side gate

On the way back, I stopped by and walked through the Teramachi area.

Came across this INCREDIBLY PINK store which I hadn't seen before.

I didn't peek my head in the door, but I think they probably sell modern kimono,
yukata and fashion accessories...

And speaking of fashion, while looking for that Art Center earlier, I came across a kimono/hakama rental store. I actually stepped in, partly to get out of the rain, and asked the lady working there a bunch of questions about furisode, yukata, and hakama,
mostly as an excuse to look at the amazingly gorgeous hakama whose rental prices make my Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers wallet cry tears of imaginary pain...

~~~

Engrish of the Day:

"Made in Only"