Midaregami

Shortly after Julia left for Tokyo, I trucked down to Kyoto to meet up with Bianca. We then made for that shining Kyoto landmark, Kinkakuji, which is precisely as beautiful as it’s reputed to be. After meeting Chris, Junko, and Denzel there, we circumambulated the golden pavilion.

After that we visited Ryouanji and saw its famous rock garden, which actually is as beautiful and puzzling as it’s rumored to be.

Later in the day, we ate, drank, and were merry. It was wonderful to be in the company of friends old and new. Some kind of strange convergence has resulted in many of my closest friends being suddenly in my corner of Japan, and it’s been nothing short of miraculous to see them all again.

After bidding farewell to Bianca, we stayed the night in Takarazuka at the Nishida clan castle, and it was fun to see Mrs. Nishida again. She’s a sweetheart.

The next day we took the early train to Yoka. It was strange to have such old friends in my isolated little Japanese hometown, but wonderful at the same time.

I unleashed Chris on the new Shena Ringo DVD (or perhaps it was the other way around) and then got Jake to take Denzel and me to the onsen. I wanted to give Denzel a quintessentially Japanese experience, and the hot springs seemed like a good bet. This payed off better than I expected, though, when a guy sporting a full-body yakuza-style tattoo entered the bath.

I should’ve said “hi.”

This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2004 at 10:03 am and is filed under Photos and Sights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.