Japan

KYOTO

15-17 July : Gion Matsuri

[One of the 3 Greatest Local Festivals in Japan]

Origin of the Festival: While Kyoto was the capital of Japan in 869, the whole city was sticken with plague. The Emperor dispatched his special messenger to Yasaka Shrine to pray for the immediate end of the terrible plague. 66 Halberds were erected to represent the 66 provinces in the country. It was generally believed that the spirit of the Brother of the Sun goddess in Japanese Mythology was enshrined in Yasaka Shrine. This spirit was said to have unusual powers to combat the plague. The spirit was transferred to several sacred carriages and carried in the middle of kyoto. As a result the terrible plague disappeared and since 970, the people of Kyoto made it a rule to celebrate this festival every year.


Day 6

We booked an apartment from Japan Stay Club. Before I decided to use that agent, I searched the net for reviews about that company. However I hardly found any! Here is my review about the agent. Many of us are often worry about the Reliability of the agent which we want to book our accomodation from. This is heightened by the highly publicised online credit card scams. We are often wary when a full pre-payment is necessary to secure the apartment!

In order to secure an apartment by JSC, full payment by credit card is needed prior to arrival. Above the rental fees advertised on the website, there are additional fees(cleaning,insurance and misc). After Booking two apartments from JSC, I can safely say that the company is 100% Reliable. The apartments I rented were clean and spacious (it beats staying in a squeezy hotel room) Their locations were very convenient and easy to locate. Interior was exactly like the photos featured on their website. Maybe we were just lucky, leave a tag if you disagree!

Here are some interesting features in the apartment. It came equipped with a butt washing toilet, a mini tv in the bathroom and an underground freezer. I loved how the apartment was structured so as to achieve maximum space maximisation.



We decided to explore our neighbourhood and we stumbled upon this shop. Drawn by the newspaper write up outside the shop, we decided to give it a shot.




This Restaurant specialises in Pork! It is a small family business, with only about 7-10 tables. We tried the sliced ginger pork, pork katsudon and deep fried mince pork in mash potato balls. Each set came with a bowl of rice, pickles, miso soup and above that warm hospitality by the owner. Despite his limited English, he used the plastic replicas in the showcase to explain the dishes offered in his shop. He made an effort to strike a conversation with us, while we waited for our food. Our conversations were often halted by our limited knowledge of each other's native tongue and our self consciousness concealed behind laughter. He came round occasionally to check whether the food was to our liking and bid us farewell with numerous bows. His personalised approach in dealing with customers and yummy food was what made this restaurant worth mentioning. Website:www.tonkatsu-yamanaka.com [it is in Japanese] however the map, the address and directions can be obtained from it. At Kyoto Station, you can show the details to the staff at the Tourist Information Centre and they will readily translate it for you.

Opening Hours: Lunch: 1130-1430 & Dinner: 1700-20:45


We headed to Yasaka Shrine to enjoy various traditional japanese performances from 3pm onwards.










The Japanese are proud of their culture and costumes! The summer heat did not deter the Japanese from wearing their Yukatas. Majority of the Young and the Old came dressed in it, which added colour, excitement and ambience to the festival. It was a common sight to see members from the same family coming in similar prints. This is unlike our Chinese Festivals(CNY/Mid Autumn Festival/Dumpling Festival...) in Singapore! Hardly anyone wears our traditional costumes back home! Many youngster find the traditional garments too hot and unfashionable. Those who still wear them are a rare but dying breed!

I am guilty too as I do not have a traditional chinese costume! I have 3 kimonos and a set of Nonya Kebaya in my cupboard but not a Qi Pao or Cheong Sum inside! Maybe it is time to get a Cheong Sum ?





While on display, some of the floats can be entered by tourists.





one of my favourite picture - the reflection of the lighted latterns at the front of the float through a mirror along the road side!






Byobu Matsuri: Screen festival 14-16 July



It involves houses along the route of the procession. Local residents open their front doors to the public who can view family heirlooms on display. These items have been handed down through generations.










Gion Bayashi : 14-16 July




In the evenings from 6pm-11pm, the streets are close to traffic and the area is swarmed by locals and tourists. Gion Matsuri Chant from the floats fill the air and food stalls, drink vendors and game stands line the roads. At dark the floats decorated with festival latterns are lighted up.













A Beetle is no longer low maintenance creatures !




I spotted an interesting game stall. For a price, a lot could be drawn from an enclosed box and the number on the lot indicated the number of beetles that you will get! What attracted my attention was that the beetles were fed jelly! At the bottom left corner, is a picture of a beetle eating jelly! FYI the jelly can be purchased from Daiso at 100 yen/packet. They come in a single flavour or mixed fruit flavour.








1) I walked into a temple and I spotted this automated wood figuring in the showcase, with a face and body that closely resembles a cow(i think... correct me if I am wrong). It is a fortune telling machine! Once money is inserted, you will have the chance to select the aspect of your life that you want your fortune to be read. The figure will then pick up a scroll using its mouth and drop it through the chute for you to pick up. 2) If the Mos Burger Promoters back home had to dress like that, I really wonder if anyone will take up the job? Would you? Yes you read correctly, I spotted this power ranger lookalike promoting mos burger! 3) Beer Promotion 4)Queues of teenagers lining up not for Hello Kitty but for the Neo Print Machines! After returning back home, together with 2 of my primary school friends. We blew a total of $16 to take two rounds of Neo Prints! Majority of the shots were thrashy and ugly but fun factor was 100 %! A money wasting not so cheap thrill which we plan to repeat every year!

*Check out our macho men cupcakes :D (tagline thought up by Essy)

Day 7

Headed to Heian Shrine in the Morning and along the way we spotted a petrol kiosk with pumps that hung from the ceiling. To pump petrol the pump attendants will pull down a pump and insert the pump into the petrol tank! Next we visited Kyoto Museum of Tradional crafts (Fureaikan) Opening hours is between 9am-5pm and admission is Free of Charge. The address: Kyoto International Exhibition Hall Miyako Messe 1st Floor Basement, 9-1 Seishoji-cho, Okazaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City. Access: Kyoto City Bus to "Kyoto Kaikan/Bijutsukan-mae"Subway Tozai Line to "Higashiyama".

Our next stop was the Path of Philosophy. We started from the side nearest to Ootoyo -Jinja. The path was extremely difficult to locate and despite repeated attempts of getting directions from the locals we kept getting lost! Fortunately we met a foreigner who guided us to the path! *My advice is that you should first visit the Ginkakuji Temple. Start the Philosophy walk from the side nearest to the Ginkakuji Temple and end at the Ootoyo Jinja. After which you can consider going to Lake Biwa Canal Museum and Kyoto Museum of Traditional Craft (Fureaikan) and lastly to Heian Shrine.

Sights along the path. The houses in Singapore are built from bricks, therefore using wood to construct the exterior of the house was something which I was not familar with. When I saw the wooden structure, it reminded me of the story of the three little pigs:P A painter along the banks of the river. A shrine which you should visit along the path is Otoyo shrine!

Who said only Human Beings can fish? A cute sight, Daddy Bear and Kiddo Bear Fishing!

Ginkakuji Temple

Love at first taste, the first time and I was hooked (:

Bamboo growing at one side of the hill and Pine at the other side. The view from the top!

Headed to Yasaka Shrine to catch the ancient court dance performances!(6-10pm) When we arrived at 5.30, the front seats were all filled even though the first dance started at 7pm. The dances were accompanied by bamboo flutes, small & big drums and cymbals. Most of the stories depicted fights between good and evil and how good often triumphed over evil. One of the story which I watched was a slow dance by a goblin who was used to represent sickness (eg:fever) and how good triumphed over the illness!

The finale dance is a MUST SEE! It is called Big Snake!

A picture of it can be seen below! The snakes represents the river. Heavy Rain caused flooding and the river killed many people.The story shows how the good monk fed the "snakes" wine and thus made them drunk and managed to kill them in the end! Hence putting an end to the flooding.

Day 8

We arrived at the junction of Kawaramachi Dori and Shijo Dori, diagonally across from Hankyu departmental store. It was a fabulous spot to catch the parade. We arrived at 7.30am even though the first float was scheduled to cross the intersection only around 9.45am. Do bring a mat as standing for 2 1/2 hours is not fun! We happily past time by breathing in exhaust fumes from the passing vehicles as we waited for the procession to start! Blame it on our in-built kiasu syndrome!

The Main Float : "Naginata Boko" Float. At the present time it is the only float that features a child. High up the front of the float is a Naginata(long sword) which is a replica of the one made by Munechika. The sword is swept from side to side as the float moves along, sweeping away disease and evil!

The wheels are turned using wood strips, water and human labour.

Lunch at Mikoan : a vegetarian restaurant!

Opening Hours are from 17:00-23:00 on weekdays. 12:00-23:00 on saturdays and 12:00-20:00 on Sundays and Holidays.

To find it go down Teramachi from Shijo, the lane is beside a departmental store. You will pass a Japanese Fruit Shop on the left. Their fruits only come from Japan and their prices are reasonable. If you are looking for fruits in Kyoto, do patronise their shop! Look out for Mikoan on the right

Below are pictures of the exterior of Mikoan! Hopefully with the pictures you are able to locate it as I do not have the address.

The disassembling of the floats after the parade to ensure the spirits of disease that have gathered are not released.

we managed to catch sight of the Mikoshi Procession at Yasaka Shrine at 6pm. Do not worry if you cannot catch it there as the Mikoshi Procession also goes to the town centre and you can catch it there too!