Kyoto Round Two

November 10

Golden Balls. Many Asian businesses or residences will display symbolic figurines to bring a specific type of luck. For example, you may have seen the cat with its left hand  aised (brings in customers, or drinking accomplishments), the cat with its right hand raised (good luck and wealth), and the cat with both hands raised (desperation…please buy my goods!). At this particular train station, they displayed a unique figurine called the Tanuki. The animal figure looked similar to a raccoon but its most unique feature was more in the southern region of its body. He had huge scrotum, or more properly known as Golden Balls. They are so big, they rest on the floor. There were several figurines with this same physique at this station. This raccoon type animal is mainly placed outside of businesses or shops because it is supposed to bring the shops a lot of wealth—hence the golden balls. I tried taking several pictures of myself holding up its balls from afar. I asked a random man to take this picture for me.  It was slightly awkward asking a stranger to position my hand so I can pretend to cup the raccoons’ balls.

Tofu. Before Kyoto became more of a touristy town, it was a region in which many monks would reside. Since monks are vegetarian, they were not able to have many milk products. In effect, the town started to cater towards the monks’ eating habits and substituted milk products for soybean or tofu products. This change included ice cream. Kyoto now has become the famous spot in which tourists try the famous tofu ice cream. After walking through a breathtaking and scenic nature spot called the Bamboo Forest, I arrived at a simple market. I heard the tofu ice cream was here but I just didn’t know which shop provided it. Japan also sells their famous soft cream, which is supposed to be even softer than typical ice cream. Many of these shops were unintentionally discreet about which one they sold (at least to me, since I couldn’t read or speak the Japanese language). I approached one shop and kept on pointing to one of the ice cream cones saying, “Tofu? Tofu?” The shop owner became very excited and started nodding her head, “Hai!” (yes in Japanese). I was excited when she handed me my very first tofu ice cream from Japan. The touristy thing to do when receiving this ice cream is holding it upside down. When doing this, since tofu ice cream is thicker than soft cream, it doesn’t fall even if you wiggle it around and sway it back and forth. So I tried it. I found out that it definitely wasn’t tofu ice cream as the ice cream started to fall out of my cone.

I was still determined to get my tofu ice cream so I went to the shop over. Here, the ice cream man was actually waving around the ice cream he handed to his customers. It was really bizarre watching ice cream move that way. It moved like Jello, but was much thicker in consistency. I finally got my tofu ice cream for 350 yen (about $4) in both regular tofu flavor and sesame flavor. It was alright. It left a bad aftertaste in my mouth but at least I was able to hold it upside down and take a touristy photo.

Driving in Japan. Because of previous influences by England, Japan’s cars drive on the left side of the road. Cars are typically small, as the biggest car now in Japan is the Honda Accord. They used to make bigger ones but now they want to focus more on efficiency and environment. Many of their cars are also being made to be hybrids. Getting your license in Japan is supposed to be pretty tough. Along with it costing a few thousand dollars just to attain a license, there are rigorous written and driving tests. The driving lanes are also significantly small compared to the States so getting accustomed may be difficult. Many people fail it a couple of time before just barely passing. One person I met failed it five times.

The Golden Temple. I went to see the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku or Rokuon-Ji Temple) is a beautiful three-tiered temple layered with gold leaves, and surrounded by a small lake and a large elaborate, majestic garden. It served as a Zen temple for the Japanese shoguns. Currently, it is just a tourist site that can only be viewed from the outside. The temple resides in a small lake in which there are several cherry blossom trees and land fixtures. The three floors were significant in different ways. The first floor of the temple has an imperial style (Ho-sui-in) and very detailed in color. The second floor has a samurai style (Buke-zukuri). Lastly, the third floor has a Zen temple style. The second and third floors are the parts of the building covered in gold leaves. The garden was just as amazing. It makes me jealous that I can’t see the garden at its peak, during the cherry blossom season, but I still get to see the unique look of red, purple, and orange autumn leaves filling in garden environment.

 



















Smoking. After leaving the site, I walked over to the bus station and walked straight into a thick fog. I walked right into a smoking group, accidently inhaling their intense cloud of smoke. Several men, in their fashionable sleek black suits, were huddled around smoking cigarettes in just one particular area. I later learned that Japan does not allow smoking on the streets anymore. Rather, the government has designated spots for smokers to huff and puff. As my trip went along, I did notice many situations in which dozens of people would be gathered around smoking and talking. It all looks pretty sickening to be honest. It was so cloudy around these men and women sometimes that it was harder to see the details in their faces. I don’t know why people would even invest money into buying cigarettes when you can just stand next to these smoking groups and inhale. Second hand smoke is supposed to be just as effective, at least for the whole cancer thing.

Kimonos. I was lucky enough to go to a kimono factory, in which they make traditional kimonos and advertise their products with a special fashion show. Kimonos were the essential wear in the Japanese past time. Geishas, men, and even servants wore these elaborate robes (some more elaborate and silk based than others). You can tell if someone is much wealthier based on their kimono. If the kimonos are made of silk, you can also determine their age or wealth. Kimonos are very difficult to put on as they usually take a couple others to put it on. It requires at least two layers of underwear, the kimono gown, obi sash, and rope, all of which is complicated and rigid. It may even be compared to the old English corset undergarment and dress wear. One important fact is when you put on a kimono, you wrap the left collar over the right collar for traditional wear. Doing the opposite (right over left) is how people dress the dead. I definitely saw a couple of foreigners accidently do this. Kimonos aren’t really popular anymore especially since Japan opened their doors to Western influences. But they are worn in special occasions (like weddings or funerals) or they are worn by hipster teenagers since it is starting to become part of the young generation’s fashion trend. Usually when you view a woman wearing a kimono, you can tell if she is single or married just by looking at her sleeves. If they are long and flowing, she is a single gal. If the sleeves are short, she is off the market!

It was definitely amazing to see men and women to work on these kimonos. The amount of detail they put in their designs and the way they maneuvered with silk displayed their great talent and attention to detail. Watching the models fashion the kimonos made me really hopefully that I would be able to wear one. I was fortunate enough to wear a summer kimono but I wanted the official dress. So I decided that during my shopping ventures, I would find a way to try on a real official kimono (without being sucked into buying them since they can run into the 800 USD range).

Weather Effects. The weather in Japan is pretty cold at this time of year. Japan’s temperature usually ranges from 45 degrees to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This is very cold for me since my teeth intensely chatter even when standing in room temperature. My skin has not reacted to well to the significant change. Most of my face is now covered in scales of dry skin, cracking and scabbing at some spots. I can barely touch my face without being in pain. So I can’t successfully use face wash or lotion. I do touch my face a lot (I know bad habit). Any raised skin or scabs on my face, I’ll pick it off. I think it’s a stress-related habit. Or maybe I don’t like any sort of irregularity on my face. So I rip it off instead, causing it to scab again thus the whole process starts all over. My lips are even worse. Every crevice in my lip has a small cut, which is a reason I briefly stopped taking pictures of myself with Japanese sites. I can’t smile anymore so it just looks like I’m scowling. Instead of laughing, I respond to a joke by saying, “Oh, that’s funny.” Unfortunately, it ends up sounding sarcastic and I have been called out for this response already. When will my skin heal already?!? At this point, I think I prefer the oily, acne-ridden skin instead. Well, maybe.

This is similar to what my skin looks like...