Soooooo lucky to see inside of a sake factory!

When I received the list she wanted to visit, I was at a loss to make a plan for her. She told me that she wanted to visit Kinkakuji ( the north west in Kyoto), Arashiyama Bamboo forest ( in the west ) and Fushimi inari shrine( the south ) along with Daigoji temple ( behind the Higashiyama mountains)

Yes, Daigoji temple has a large precinct which has a pagoda, a garden and a museum. It's worth seeing. However, from Daigo station ( subway), we have to walk for at least ten minutes. We surely need a lot of time to get to and come back from there,including the train-ride.
We had to give up going there, instead I suggested visiting Sake museum if she was interested in it.
Leaving her accomodation, a machiya style hostel, we first visited Kingakuji temple. As she had been staying here for 4 days before we met, she saw enough temples, shrines and gardens to feel too much.......a little too much for her.. She wanted to see something different.






Skipping Ryoanji temple and Ninnnaji temple, we headed for Arashiyama. Needless to say, we skipped Tenryuji temple but enjoyed calmness and peacefulness in Bamboo forest. She seems to really like it.




She was interested in the man fishing in the river, and took some pictures of him. After lunch, we walked to the JR station talking a lot and got back to JR Kyoto station. There we changed trains to go to Fushimi Inari.


In Fushimi Inari, we tried so-called OMOKARU stones. After making a wish, lift this stone. If you feel it light, your wish will be realized. But if you feel it heavy, the wish won't come true... And I always feel it heavy. Again, yes, I felt it same as usual, though she felt it light..
I should try it again after I have trained enough to lift it easily!!


Then, we visited GEKKEIKAN SAKE Museum. Luckily, we were mistaken for a member of the tourists who had a reservation of the tour to see inside of the old style factory. We were called and were told to hurry into the factory. The visitors who reserved it were from Canada. Somehow, the woman in the factory mistook me for a translator. She gave an explanation looking at me. Of course, I explained how to make sake to them in English. Anyway, we were very lucky.

Sheila seemed to enjoy visiting here. She said she would never visit there if she had not found a guide. I was happy to hear that despite the accidental good luck..

She sampled three kinds of Sake, which tempted her, and finally she bought one of the three. She said it tasted very soft and light, and the sake sold in UK was not like that.





Tour: Kinkakuji temple, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Fushimi Inari shrine, Gekkeikan sake museum, Nishiki food Market.