Kyoto

Last Sunday I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto.  It took about 2.5 hours and was luxury all the way.  I was very surprised at how smooth it was and for the first time in days I had time to sit and research what I was going to do in Kyoto.  My main goal was to find more vintage kimono and I had heard that Kyoto was THE place to find some treasures as it has a culture of wearing kimono everyday .

I arrived at my hotel in Gion later that afternoon and this is how my room looked.  Where's the bed you say?  In the cupboard of course!  The bed was a futon mattress, like what we had in Tokyo, that was mysteriously there when I got back later that night.  Silly me forgot to take a picture though.

That night I went on a walking tour through Gion which cost 1000 yen, about $12, for 1.5 hours.  It was fantastic and I highly recommend it.  The tour guide, Emi, was very knowledgable about Geiko and Maiko and we were fortunate to see 5 in total. Here's a picture of me on the bridge that was made famous in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha.  But as I explain below there aren't any Geisha in Kyoto.  See the red Kanzashi flower on my dress - I think I wore it just about every day.

Geiko and Maiko and like Geisha in Tokyo but in Gion they are called Geiko and Maiko.  A Geiko is an apprentice aged from 16 years to 20 years.  A Maiko is aged 21 years and up and has completed her five years of training.  Emi told us so much and my head was spinning with all the new information I was learning.  We were asked not approach the Geiko/Maiko as they are working and have a strict schedule.  This picture below is a bit blurry as this Maiko was walking very fast and my iPhone didn't really have time to focus!  You can tell this lady is a young Maiko as she is wearing Kanzashi (fabric flowers) in her hair.  Geiko don't wear Kanzashi....unless they're performing a dance.

As well as Geiko/Maiko stalking watching we walked through the beautiful paved streets of Gion.  There were so many tea houses and restaurants and of course a steady throng of tourists.  Below is a restaurant and I love the decorative 'noren' door curtain that the Japanese use.  I'm going to make one for home from some fabric I bought here.

The photo below shows that this house has 13 Geiko/Maiko residing inside.  I think the top 5 wooden blocks are Geiko and the bottom 8 are apprentice Maiko.  The panel on the right hand side means that this residence is also a tea house.  When I was taking this photo I heard a lot of happy laughter so I'm guessing there was a party inside.

The next day was devoted to vintage kimono shopping.  Emi, the tour guide from the night before, told me where the best place was, so I headed there first thing in the morning.  Unfortunately it didn't open until 11.30am so I had a few hours to waste window shopping.  I found this 'engrish' sign at the front of the store amusing.

This store had so many kimono - must have been a thousand or more - but the prices weren't as good as they were in Tokyo. I bought 4 kimono and posted them home as I didn't want to take them back to Tokyo.

I then visited another three kimono stores which took me the rest of the day but didn't find anymore.  All up a sad day of shopping.  I did, however, find some exquisite Kanzashi.  I stood in front of these for ages admiring their beauty.  The prices - way out of my budget!!  But you get what you pay for and this shop supplies the Geiko/Maiko in the area and they are traditionally made by Kanzashi experts.  The technique has been handed down generation to generation and the craftmanship shows.

Later that night I attended a cultural show at Gion Corner where I saw a traditional tea ceremony (Chado), Japanese harp playing (Koto), a flower arranging demonstration (Kado), some court music (Gaguku), an ancient comic play (Kyogen), Geiko dancing (Kyomai) and a puppet play (Bunraku) that was incredibly realistic even though you could see the men on stage doing the puppeteering.

On the way out of the show I found some more Kanzashi.  The double petal on the large flower looks great and the small flowers are so teeny tiny, the maker must have used tweezers!

Here's a flower similar to what I make but haven't put out for sale as yet.  Instead of being rounded, the petals are pointed.  Expect to see my version of these in the coming months.

My short time in Kyoto came to an end so I took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo, met Anna at our hotel then we were on the train to the airport.  We needed to spend a little bit of leftover yen in our wallets and we found this - a green tea Kit Kat!  Surprisingly good.

The flight from Tokyo departed at 8.30pm and we arrived home at 6.30am.  I was dreading the red eye but managed to sleep about 6 hours.  Home sweet home, here's the sunrise that greeted us as we woke up and flew into Queensland. 

What an amazing trip to Japan.  Can't wait to go back one day!!!