Kyoto

We are currently in Kyoto Japan.  Kyoto was the capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years before moving to Tokyo.  The shogun period of Japan largely took place in Kyoto.  The city has numerous temples, shrines and gardens.  The homes and stores of the ancient city are very well maintained and look much like they probably did hundreds of years ago.  While the buses and subway system is very good and efficient, Kyoto is also a wonderful walking city.  We walked a scenic trail called the Philosophers’ Path, which begins in the mountains with a temple and ends near the city center at a temple.  The path followed a mountain stream and was very scenic.

The temples typically have traditional Japanese gardens.  The gardens often have a sand and stone feature, as well as the water, rock and bridges we typically associate with Japanese gardens.  The city has numerous mountain springs that are available for drinking water.

We ate at an old style traditional sushi restaurant.  The master sushi chef wears the traditional high heeled wooden sandals and produces sushi and places it on the red bar.  A water stream runs between the sushi serving bar and the bar where we eat. We had the sushi chef captive to us and the meal feature about 15 courses.

The old Kyoto district features theaters, ancient arts and the Geisha are still an important part of the old city.  The Geisha emerge in the early evening for their appointments.

We are enjoying Japan very much and I will post some additional pictures this weekend.