After a morning at the market, it was time for another adventure;sold to she who must be obeyed on the basis it had the word “shopping” in the title. The target was Hagashiyama, an area with preserved streets containing assorted shops. It was quite a walk through a park and past a couple of temples before we finally stumbled across it:
As the afternoon progressed, it became clear that our three days in Kyoto clashing with a long weekend in Japan was going to result in a load of people:
Still, in spite of the crowds, it was fun to mingle with the Japanese at play. One thing that stood out were the people dressing up in kimonos; not only during weekend outings, we even spotted some in town doing their shopping during the week; most charming:
We also glimpsed a passing Geisha or two during our search for food in the evening, but in the afternoon there were a couple who had donned the full regalia for the purpose of being photographed:
Down a quiet side street there was a chance to examine Japanese traditional construction techniques. Every single nail in this wooden wall stood proud from the wood at exactly the same distance, presumably to ensure the wood would not be marked by the nail being hammered into place.
Then there was a wooden construction against the side of the wall which seemed to feature on a number of houses. I have no idea to the purpose, but Andrew will be along to enlighten us:
After a couple of hours of wandering, too much of it uphill, we found ourselves at Kiyomizudera Temple:
By this time we had been on our feet for many hours and it was a relief to head back down the hill to seek out a passing bus. But the day was not over; the next step would be to walk into the Gion area in search of dinner. But that’s another post.
Comments 🔗
2013-10-02| Andrew saysand here I is….I was also intrigued by the bamboo grate/fence type structures against the wall - the best answer I could get was that although it is still used in traditional architecture it is left over from the days when horses were on the streets and was there to prevent them getting close to the wall of the house and deciding to put a hoof through it…glad to see you got to Kiyomizu - it’s a nice area - Tetsugaku no Michi (Philosopher’s Walk ) a fair bit north of there is worth a stroll as well..as an aside, I am just now starting to scan all the slides I took when I first lived there and became interested in photography - few temple pics though as I mostly wandered the back streets for days on end……just got through the black and white stuff from there and SE Asia but not upped yet…will send you a link when I finally get them done…Cheers
2013-10-03| Tic saysLooked like a peaceful and enjoyable trip. Will plan for a visit to Japan next year.
2013-10-03| Spike saysMy original plan was to continue up to the Philosopher’s walk, but we ran out of light and energy. My accommodation for the next trip is very close to the Philosopher’s walk, good for visiting there; not so good for the rest of the city. Looking forward to seeing your photos.
2013-10-03| Spike saysIt’s OK for pushchairs….
2013-10-03| ChristianPFC saysThese wooden structures might serve to prevent people from peeing on the wall. In Paris, there are some corners on houses filled with concrete of similar dimensions for that very purpose (no joke, I read about it in a book and saw several of them).
First, you can’t get close to the wall to pee on it, second your pee will splash back on your legs and third it will run down on your shoes. They should use something similar in Thailand!
2013-10-04| Spike saysI don’t think peeing on walls is a feature of Japanese culture. But I can understand that the French would need such defenses.
2013-10-04| Andrew saysyes, one should always void the bladder before surrendering….
2013-10-08| ChristianPFC saysI saw an almost identical construction in Soi Thaniya (Bangkok), made of stainless steel. It was not attached to the building and they were storing stuff behind it (althoug it did not look like it was meant for that purpose).