Tea ceremony and Silver pavillion on a beautiful autumn day

As I wrote before, a typical tea room is in the garden, and stepping stones lead you to the room, which consists of a few tatami mats. Its window-like square door is very small. Of course, it has a reason why it is so small. Actually I hit my head against the upper frame of the door when I got out of the room. It seems too small for me... probably...





Entoku-in temple we visited on that day serves tea for tea ceremony in the typical tea room in the garden. It is a simplified ceremony, but you can enjoy it at ease.
The experience of having traditional tea in the traditional room counts so much. In this temple, tea was brought by a woman from out of the room. In the traditional way, of course tea is made in front of you and the way of making tea has a rule to be followed. But with just 500 yen for tea, I think it sufficient to have a slight touch of Japanese culture.
I told them how to have the served tea. The girls seemed to have a little knowledge of tea ceremony, and fully enjoyed it. After having tea, the host came and explained to us the meaning of hanging scroll, and of the flowers in the alcove, which made us feel the season we were in.


On the way to Yasaka shrine, I usually take a course walking along Sanneizaka and Nineizaka to Nenenomichi and Ishibekoji. This part has an old Japanese atmosphere and these streets have tiny shops and restaurants on the road sides. Just walking is much fun. Among them, especially for young girls, Totoro of Miyazaki animations draws their attention. In the shop, there are a lot of goods of Miyazaki animation films' characters, though they are a bit expensive for me...

The last leg of our tour was Ginkakuji temple, or Silver Pavillion. It was in late afternoon that we visited there. The sunlight shone directly to the leaves as if it were a spot light.

That was the most beautiful scene of this temple I have ever seen. I recommend you to visit in late afternoon on an autumn sunny day.

The conbination of green of the pine trees and red or yellow of the Japanese maple leaves made a beautiful contrast.

Date ; November 18th

Tourist/ girls from Singapore and a French couple from Singapore

Tour : Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu temple, Sanneizaka Nineizaka, Entokuin temple( tea ceremony), Ishibekoji, (Okonomiyaki), Nishiki food market, Silver pavillion

Shaven Bonito and sea weeds, autumn leaves

As this was the first time for them to visit Kyoto, I made a typical tour plan. The tour date was Novemeber 1oth, when leaves started to change their color. This time , I was a guide of a family from Malaysia. I found she took a photo of red or orange leaves in every place. I was wondering why she stopped so often because autumn leaves can be seen every place. Some of them are so beautiful but others are just show us their beauty alone. She said that was the first time to see the colored leaves. Yes, I understand why. They came from the country with a warm climate.


Thank you for reading my blog. When I asked them what they wanted to have for lunch, they said "OKONOMIYAKI" That's because of this blog. I took them to the OKONOMIYAKI restaurant near Nishiki Market.





Then we enjoyed Nishiki food market. Look at the price of Matsutake mashroom. Yes, that was the highest price I have seen in my life. It is said that Matsutake produced in Kyoto has a high quality with a nice matsutake smell. Even after it is cooked, we can still enjoy its smell along with its light resilient texture. Anyway, the price was surprising. ...







Asian people sometimes know very much about Japanese food. They are not an exception. She said the price of sheven bonito was cheaper than that sold in her country. She bought sea weeds and shaven bonito there.





A baby boy was so cute. I sometimes played with him during the tour. Just before I had to say good bye to them, he called me antie! That's the way they call a woman. Still now, when he sees me in the photos, he calls me "Antie" , of course, which pleases me a lot.













Date : Nov. 10th
Tourist : a family from Malaysia
Tour : Fushimi Inari shrine, Kiyomizu temple, ( OKONOMIYAKI )Nishiki food market, Golden Pavillion ( later they visited Ryoanji rock garden by themselves)

KENDO - Japanese fencing style

Are you interested in martial arts or Samurai? If so, taking a look at Kendo practice may be interesting. Butokuden is the traditional training center. Sometimes, high-ranked kendoists practice there in the DOJO or training hall.

When we stood in front of the door, I felt intense atmosphere. One of them walked to us and talked to me with a smile. He explained a little about them . Most of the kendoists we saw on the day were high-ranked. Especially three of them are ranked in the 8th grade. He said just 1% of 7th grade applicants can pass the so-called promoted test.


Actually the opponent of the 8th grade kendoist could not move due to his strong consentration giving no chance for attack. It was very impressing and I just did sit and stare them fogetting time to tick away.

In front of the Kendoists in the picture above is the place for Emperor when he came to see the match. A few decades ago, then Emperor came there and saw the matches held there.

If you have further interest in swords or Samurai, visiting the sword shop near the training center is also fun. You can see a suit of feudal arm and sword guards or dogi ( Aikido or Kendo outfits ) The swords in the picture are the ones for practicing Iaido or sword drawing.


This time, I was a guide of a couple from Canada. They showed many interests and I had made a plan for them before their visiting Japan. On the first day, I took them to Arashiyama, Bamboo forest and what they call a small moss garden/ Gioji temple. At night we went to see Kendo practice. It was a long day, and we made the most of the time we had.

The next day another guide helped me for a part of the 2nd day tour. A lady of them got dressed as a Maiko or an apprentice of Geisha and enjoyed tea ceremony in a typical tea room . Later, I took them to Nijo castle and talked about the story of Samurai concerning to this historic castle.


Date : Nov. 4th and 5th
Tourists ; a couple from Canada
Tour ; 1st day =Gioji temple, Bamboo forest, Ninnaji temple, Golden Pavillion, Nishiki food market, Gion, Budoku den ( kendo practice)
2nd day = Kiyomizu temple, Maiko dressing, Entokuin tea ceremony, Sannenzaka Ninenzaka Ishibekoji, Pontocho, (by Ririko) Nijo castle, sword shop ( by Tomoko)

Autumn in Kyoto

The other day, I went to Arashiyama not as a guide, but as a woman who loves taking photos. The leaves in Arashiyama were at their best. Although there are so many people from inside and outside of the country walking everywhere, the vivid and bright colors in the scenery still impressed me so much!

Enjoying Jidai Matsuri(festival)

Jidai matsuri or Jidai festival is annually held on Oct. 22nd. The date of our tour was happenly on the day of 22nd. There is no choice but to go and enjoy the festival, isn't there? Jidai matsuri does not have a long history. Its origin dates back to 1895. Heian shrine was constructed to commemorate Kyoto's 1,100th anniversary as Japan's capital. At the same time, the festival started.
The date of Oct. 22nd is the day when Emperor Kanmu relocated the capital from Nagaoka to Kyoto in 794. The festival's main attraction is the parade of the people dressed in authentic costumes representing in various periods. You can give a glance at characters in Japanese fuedal history.


The 2 kilometer costume procession starts in the afternoon with about 2,000 comstume preformers dressed as a samurai, and common people from the earliest eras to the Meiji era ( which started in 1868). This is one of the three largest festivals in Kyoto.




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We started the tour from Fushimi Inari, and visited Kiyomizu temple, along with enjoying walking along the path from the temple to Yasaka shrine. Then we headed for Sanjo street to see the festival.
After that we visited Nijo castle. Walking in the castle and feeling atmosphere of those days after seeing the festival gave us something enough to imagine those days in the castle.







Tour date : Oct. 22nd
Tour : Fushimi Inari, Yasaka Pagoda, Kiyomizu temple,
Sanneizaka Nineizaka, Ishibekoji,
Jidai festival, Nijo castle.
Tourist : a family from Israel