Patrick: Typhoon and festival hit Kyoto

Ok, let's see.. it was quite a weekend this time and I've got a lot of ground to cover. Things began on Thursday night when Rio came back to Kyoto for dinner and a movie. I heard from Yoshiko that there was a restaurant at the top of Takashimaya that was famous for its hamburgers. So Megan, Rio, and I went and indeed those hamburgers were bunless and delicious. Although for the price, I would much rather have those wonderfully thick burgers in Sausalito that are every bit as juicy and satisfying. In any case, Michael would be happy to know that this restaurant that we went to had an all-you-can-eat bread set option.

07122007

The next day, Jean came back to Kyoto and I met her and her friend, Lindsay, for dinner after they finished the fourth installment of Die Hard. Lindsay is currently working on her doctoral degree at Stanford which came to me as a huge surprise because she appeared way younger than I would have expected. In fact she looked around Jean's age if not younger (must be the Hawaiian sun). Apparently she took Japanese with Jean, Brian, Jason, Stephanie, Jeff, Nick, etc. back at Stanford. Dinner was originally going to be a well-known ramen restaurant somewhere in Daimaru but I failed to lead us there (probably didn't listen to the directions carefully enough, sigh, I know...). Over dinner, we got to talking about the funny little idiosyncrasies belonging to people in their Japanese class. Good thing I took second-year Japanese the year before. Although I must say, class seems like it would have been a whole lot more interesting with them.

07132007

On Saturday, Jean and I went sight-seeing in Kobe. She had never been and I still harbored this dream to see the highly acclaimed Kobe night scape. Our first stop was Nunobiki Falls (布引の滝) a little north of Shin-Kobe station. The rain was unfortunate but I guess inevitable during typhoon season. After a steep climb, we got to an observation platform that overlooked the city. I bet the place would have been beautiful at night. We then continued on to the waterfalls almost getting lost on a trail that led to nowhere we wanted to be. The waterfalls themselves were fascinating. The recent downpour amplified the power and ferocity with which the torrents fell into muddy ponds from which the water continued into rivers flowing down the mountain. It was actually a series of waterfalls, each with its own name. The closeness with which we got to see them and the absence of other tourists (thank you typhoon) allowed for a rather peaceful and rewarding experience.

After the hike, we took the train back to Sannomiya station and had omu-rice, one of my favorite menu items in Japanese cuisine. This was the same store that specialized in omu-rice introduced to me by Shoko and Mariko the last time I was here. Following lunch, I took Jean on a requisite tour of Kobe's shopping arcade that dropped us off in Motomachi where the touristy nanking-town is located. We continued from there to Merikan Park and circled around Kobe's Port Tower to the Mosaic shopping center on the other side. This area, known as Harborland, was a first for me and was where we set about killing time for the next few hours. We shopped around, saw some cute stuff in a store full of expensive Miyazaki items and figurines, stared with glazed eyes at a complex contraption moving balls up and down in a whirl of metal and colors, and sampled sauces and crackers sold by a winery that Jean had coincidentally been to in Nagano. We then enjoyed a fabulous sukiyaki dinner in a quiet restaurant facing the Kobe skyline in anticipation of nightfall. And I would say that the wait was well worth it. Kobe, in my humble opinion, looks better at night than during the day. I guess the rain and the cloudy skies unfairly paint a dismal picture of daytime Kobe in my mind but at night, the place is transformed to an amusement park of light and wonder.

07142007

The next morning, Jean and I woke up early to see the floats that had been set up in Kyoto for the prominent Gion Festival (祇園祭). There are 32 of them scattered about the city around Shijo and Karasuma-dori. I wanted to collect each of the individual stamps belonging to the floats but the number of floats and the distances by which they were separated resulted in me giving up in the face of such a daunting task. There are two main types of floats: the mountains (山) which are shorter and have trees on them and the hokos (鉾) which are taller and look like boats with a tall mast jutting skyward from their centers. Along the streets, vendors open up the machiyas (traditional Kyoto merchant shop-residence hybrid houses) for the tourists to tour while selling souvenir items. There was a break in the rain and the bright colors stood out against a cloudy sky. Souvenirs of all types were being sold, from traditional fans, to umbrellas, to yukatas, to miniature float models, etc. Stalls were also setup selling fried chicken, cooked yams, shaved ice, hot dogs, bbq meat, much like the Dontaku affair with the Dontaku prices. Nick, Raunaq, and I have reached the conclusion that the prices are elevated because all the stalls are sponsored by the yakuza stifling the spirit of free market, laissez faire capitalism.

For lunch, we met up with Deni and Megan and had ramen near Nishikikoji market. We then marched through the crowds, in the unbearably humid weather, east across the Kamo River to Gion in search of the famous maccha dessert cafe, Tsujiri. But misfortune befell when we arrived as the line that extended from the end of the block into the shop and up the stairs would set us back at least 4 hours. We ended up buying green tea soft serve (me), floats (Megan and Deni), and a cookie sandwich (Jean) and brought them back to the river to be enjoyed. I'm definitely going back for the real deal some day... when the line is shorter and I find someone willing to go with me. Needless to say, the green tea was genuinely delicious. Although thinking back to the dessert Brian and I had in Uji, this stuff was remarkably similar in quality and taste.

Afterwards, we accompanied Megan and Deni to Teramachi where they shopped for flowers to go with their yukatas. The usually crowded shopping arcade was even more inundated by the influx of foreigners and I was glad to be out of there. Deni headed back with Megan to her apartment to change into yukatas and meet the others who were arriving from out of town. Jean and I took a stroll through the area and ended up by the river where we relaxed in the cool breeze and commented on the various yukatas we saw. Some of the yukatas were quite pretty and the color combinations dazzling to behold while others were too understated or clashed despicably. Actually Jean and I disagreed on some because she felt that the bows (obi, 帯) needed to stand out even if it meant wearing a color that couldn't be found on the yukata itself.

That day was Jean's birthday and for dinner, we had made reservations for shabu-shabu tabenomihodai at 風風亭. For the avid readers of this blog, it should be clear that this would entail a night of all-you-can-eat beef hot pot accompanied by all-you-can-drink alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Needless to say, it was a glorious night of revelry. It was great seeing everyone again... though we dearly missed the Tokyo crew. After dinner, we took the fun down to the river where we played with some short-lasting firework wands. And so ended a totally surreal and eventful day. Happy Birthday Jean!

07152007

The next day, after sending Jean off at Kyoto station where she took the shinkansen over to Tokyo, I met up with Raunaq, Deni, Nick, and Megan to see the floats again. This time we went around and bought finger food from the stalls. That day, it was Ocean's Day (海の日) which is apparently a national holiday. Oh I forgot to mention that Tuesday is the main day of the festival with a special parade where the floats are dragged by manpower down the closed off Shijo avenue (as you will see in a moment). The previous night is known as yoiyama (宵山) with an additional yoi added for successive day prior to Tuesday. So Sunday was 宵宵山 and Saturday was 宵宵宵山. The revelry and the people also increase as the main event draws closer.

So we walked around, saw the floats, looked for food, Raunaq bought a coconut, and all in all things were the same as before. A freak rainstorm drenched us through and through and we hastily retreated back to the covered shopping arcade of Teramachi where we ate delicious crepes. Nick and Raunaq left before dinner and Megan, Deni, and I went to see what 宵山 was all about. Shijo was closed off to cars and people walked the streets resulting in a flurry of fast-moving feet, snapping cameras, flowery yukatas, and scrambling children. The floats were lit up by the glow of lanterns and emanated eerie percussion sounds and whistles. It took us a while to walk down to Karasuma on Shijo from Megan's apartment. After that, we called it a night and I sent Deni off as she made her way back to Yokohama from Kyoto station on the shinkansen.

07162007

The events of today finally bring an end this absurdly long post. This morning, I headed for Shijo and Karasuma on the subway at 9 am to see the parade. The skies graced us with a slight breeze and no rain. I waited patiently on the corner of the intersection for the big hoko to move past which took a while since it had to wait for clearance in the front and also obey the traffic lights. Fortunately most of the young people were at school so all that was left were foreigners and old people. Thus the people in front of me were for the most part incredibly short, making it easier for me to take pictures. Every once in a while, an annoying foreigner would get in the way but I would always be able to move to a better location.

The floats were definitely more exciting in motion. They seemed rather easy to pull too because the people pulling them didn't appear to strain much. It took me an hour to walk down to the river to get on the Keihan. Along the way, I became a little jealous of all the people strutting expensive DSLRs. Overall, the festival was definitely much more exciting than any that I have experienced in Japan so far, especially the parade during the Aoi Matsuri. The giant floats, the throngs of people, the eerie flute music, the flowery yukatas, and the delicious finger foods all culminated in a spectacular event that really shouldn't be missed.

07172007