Just a few minutes’ spin of the bicycle wheel from our little place here in Kyoto stands a World Heritage Site, “a place of exceptional and universal value; a cultural heritage site worthy of preservation for the benefit of mankind”.
This astonishing city actually has 17 sites deemed this magnificent. Today I wanted to share Nijo Castle with you.
The A-bomb Dome – this was a trade hall when the bomb was dropped almost directly above it, and it was one of the few buildings left standing after the blast
We took ourselves on a little trip West last week. Our first stop was Hiroshima, the city where, on this day back in 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped. Since that horrific day Hiroshima has become a beacon for peace, and is home to a museum that hit me harder than almost any other place I have ever visited.
Summer in Japan brings lively festivals, tempting street stalls, kimono-clad strollers and lights in the trees. It brings fireworks and sparklers, stripey tents and trickles of laughter. It keeps children out late, fishing for plastic toys in puffy round paddling pools, and proudly bouncing home with bags of goldfish in their pudgy little hands.
This sweet little find in Nishijin is not far from my house and serves the best coffee for miles. The characters used in its name ‘Togenkyo’ mean ‘escape from reality’, and the friendly café owner tells me that was essentially what he was trying to do when he set up his café. One wall is stacked floor to ceiling with old LPs, which get cranked out on the crackling record player all day long, and no one is ever in a hurry.
On the second floor of the gorgeous tea house Iyemon Salon on Sanjo Dori, tucked away behind the Sohya Tas kimono fabric products store, is a gallery of kimono design. It is always deserted and you can soak up the intricacies of stunning kimono designs up close. ‘Kimono’ literally means ‘something to wear’ in Japanese, but this style of dress is far from just something to wear – it is a display of tradition, beauty and story.
Beautiful stone shop sign
Just thought I’d share a glimpse of a couple of the lovely shops around here – this handmade wooden stamp shop and gorgeous washi paper shop in the Teramachi arcade have had a few of my Y1000 notes recently…
A few weeks back I shared a peek into my time at Kawashima Textile School. The school was set up by Kawashima, one of the most respected textile companies in Japan. For decades Kawashima has been entrusted with creating some of the country’s most precious fabrics, including the interior of the Emperor’s train carriage. As a student of the school I was lucky to be given a peek behind the doors of the factory, including the secret room where they make drapes for some of country’s most important shrines.
I just had to introduce you to this little gem… Infinity Café is tucked away down a leafy lane off a residential street not too far from Sanjo Market.
Just a few minutes from a very busy road, it is like you step into some kind of bubble as you enter through the wooden sliding doors into what is essentially someone’s house.
You are greeted with a tinkling bell and the nutty aroma of freshly baked bread. This is both a local bakery and a front room café which holds no more than six customers at a time, sat around a low Japanese-style table with a view over the luscious garden. That’s what I call close to my kind of perfect.
