Maiko Henshin

Our first day in Kyoto was very rainy. We managed to get in quite a bit of sightseeing - and got VERY wet. (Busho busho ブショブショ as they say in Japanese!)

BUT, the highlight of the day was the Maiko Henshin that we did. We went to a studio in one of the touristy areas and became a maiko (apprentice geisha - me!) and samurai (Yui!). Maiko henshin means transformation into maiko. It took about an hour in total to get make-up and dressed - there was an assembly line of girls, it was very cool!

Enough talk though - this can only be explain in pictures!

Today's pictures!

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A Family Visit

In Kanazawa, on our way to the station, Aunt Yoshiko took us to the family gravesite where some members of the Futaki family are buried. (The Futaki family is Yui's mother's family). Near the gravesite is the family home. It's an old Japanese traditional house that is still used by members of the Futaki family. Aunt Yoshiko drove by it to show it to us and saw that there was someone in the yard. She called over to the lady and explained who Yui and I were - the lady invited us into the house. There we met a cousin of Yoshiko's and their granddaughter!

It was a truly unique experience for Yui and I to be welcomed so readily into a stranger's home. Aunt Yoshiko had a good chat with her cousin and his wife, catching up on years and years of history. I was touched to be welcomed so readily into their home.

Today's photos

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Our Own Personal Tour Guide

Kayo-chan (Yui’s cousin) acted as our guide and showing us around Kanazawa. We went to many of the most famous places such as 兼六園 (Ken-roku-en). This is one of the “big three” most famous gardens in Japan. It was gorgeous, and of all the places we visited, I think we spent the most time there. It wasn’t the stereotypical calm Japanese garden that we always see, especially with all the tourists, but it was full of trees, which are a lot less common in Japan than in Canada. It was there that Kayo and Yui realized that they have the same camera - right down to the lens!
We also visited the castle and an old samurai town that has been redone to look like it did in the past. Now it looks like one of the pricier places to live in Kanazawa. It’s very nice! We also walked through the old geisha sector and Starbucks. The geisha sector is very similar to those in Kyoto, but with fewer tourists. In Kanazawa, you can imagine that you have been transported back in time, unlike in Kyoto. With a personal tour guide we also learned about cool things; such as the path that the workers from the shrine used to take to get to the geisha sector so that no one would see them!
I’m sure the highlight of the day for Yui was seeing me in the market where fruits, vegetables, meat and seafood in various states of “aliveness” are sold. :S It’s amazing how disgusting yummy shrimp look in their natural state. And did you know that crabs blow bubbles when they are drowning? :P
That night we went to an izakaya (いざかや) or a Japanese pub. We ate yakitori (chicken on a stick), korokke (Japanese croquettes...mmmmm...), kimchi, sashimi (raw fish), beef sashimi (raw beef - Yui did, I couldn’t help but think of crazy cows!) and others. It was so yummy! おいしかった！And we’re pretty sure that one of the staff was trying to hit on me, but since his only English phrase was “maple syrup,” I think our marriage is safe.
One of the highlights of the day was spending time with Kayo herself. She is so easy-going and a bit sarcastic, even. We had a lot of fun with her and even though I didn’t speak her language, we were able to communicate and make jokes.

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大阪 Osaka

MARCH 13, 2008

Our second day in Japan was spent exploring Namba, the area where our hotel was. Neither of us was willing to take on the daunting task of making our way to the station and trying to figure our the crazy train system! We tried to find Den Den town - the huge electronics district which is apparently only second to Akihabara in Tokyo. We’re pretty sure we never found it, but we did find many electronics stores. They are so much better stocked than the stores here in Canada. Want a hair dryer? There are over 30 models. Want a TV? Be prepared to spend a day looking at the different models. And speaking of looking...they make it easy because the stores are SO bright! And hot...we never figured that out.
In our meanderings, we stumbled on many different things all in that little area. We find a restaurant supply district (a bunch of tiny shops in a covered pedestrian street which is very common in Japan), the Sumo gym (there were Sumo wrestlers walking around the area in their traditional clothes. We later found out that there was a big tournament going on!), an enka theatre (traditional Japanese music) and a very futuristic, expensive mall.
We were greeting by comforting memories such as the shop clerks’ cries of いらっしゃいませ！(Welcome customers’ money!) and the constant background noise of announcements, ads and mysterious chiming. (We later figured out that was for the blind to indicate where doorways were.) Yui was surprised at how different the big city was from his hometown. People in Osaka are quite accustomed to 外国人 (foreigners), so I didn’t get the staring that I remembered so well from my time in Kasaoka. :(
In the evening we continued our meanderings throughout Namba and came across Dotombori, which may be the most flamboyant street in Osaka. It’s loud, crowded and epitomizes what many consider modern Japanese culture. Yui and I stared in awe as people weaved their way through the craziness, all forms of life represented, from respectable looking middle-aged folks to fame seeking teenagers each dressed just a bit more ridiculously than the previous.
One of my favourite memories from this day was getting up and out quite early, before any of the stores were open. The city was abuzz with men cleaning the streets and shopkeepers getting their stores ready for the influx of customers that would soon begin. It was not the type of thing you usually see as a tourist, or pay attention to as a citizen. There was a such a feeling of comfort watching people go about their daily business; business that happened before we got there and that is still going on now that we are gone.

Find more pictures of today at my flickr page!


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