July 17, 2010

Today we took the Thunderbird train. It's not as fast as the Bullet Train but it's still faster than the subway and the bus. I decided to dress in a Yukata which is traditional Japanese clothing. The summer kimono is made of cotton (rather than silk) so although it was hot, it was still not as bad as I thought it would be. Look at Mirin, isn't she the cutest! Thank you to Stacey for helping me tie my Yukata and obi! I don't think I could have done it on my own. I'm going to practice though, just in case I'd like to wear it again for a Bon Dance in Honolulu or maybe for my next trip to Japan!

We made our way back to Kyoto to attend the Gion Festival. This annual festival has been practiced for over 1900 years. It is held in July and is one of the three largest festivals in Kyoto. The beautiful Hoko floats are huge and the people have continued the tradition of pulling and turning the floats without any mechanical help.

These floats are decorated with tapestries which have been associated with this Festival for 100's of years and the people who ride on top of the float play traditional Japanese music. The men chant "yoi, yoi, yoi" when they are turning the float in the intersection and when they are successful the crowd reacts with joy and excitement. To my delight, there are many people wearing tradtional clothing, so I don't feel out of place.

What a wonderful experience!

After the parade we caught the taxi to The Toei Eiga Mura Movie Studio.

These are characters on display

as we entered the park.

These are part of a movie set.

Although it's just a movie set, look at the detail in the workmanship; isn't it beautifully done?

This movie set is heavily visited by tourists. They maintain the "old town" buildings. You really feel like you're walking in a different world.

This ninja adds to the parks' ambience. I wonder if he was part of the Ninja show we enjoyed that day.

This is a scene from

the Ninja show.

This gentleman was the main character in the Ninja play and he came up to me and asked me where I was from. Do you see his shaka and my peace sign? hahaha We were both acknowledging each others culture. Neat!

This is a scene from an actual filming on set.

It was interesting how the finished product

came out. It looked totally different from the scene on set.

Very interesting as well!



As we made our way back to the front of the park, we came across a Samurai and a Japanese woman both in costume who were willing to take pictures with us.

I really enjoyed the Ninja show and the actual filming we viewed. I found this park interesting in that it's theme seemed to be about preserving the Japanese culture in the movie sets, the costuming and the shows. And guess what, because we wore our Yukata we were given a 50% discount on our tickets.....Wonderful!

Half of our group went shopping and the other half went to The Gion Red light District which turned out to be a "special" treat.

We witnessed the Gion Matsuri closing ceremonies. The Shinto Shrine was carried through town giving blessings to the town and its people. It was so crowded! It's so awesome how, even today, the Japanese people continue to practice their culture hundreds of years later. Look at the crowd! We were in that crowd. What an experience!

Eventually, we found a safe place to relax and watch the festivities.

Blessing abound!

We were fortunate enough to see Geisha that day! They're beautiful, graceful and seemed to be floating over the ground. People are in awe of them and believe it or not, they command the utmost respect as they move through the crowd. I'm so thankful for this experience. It was well worth the wait!

As the crowds thinned we decided to walk through the Gion District.

I was in awe of everything, the buildings, the tile work and I guess it was just the excitement that we may have the chance to see another Geisha...and we did!

What bothered me though was the crowds of people outside a residence hounding the Geisha for pictures. It was obvious that they have little privacy.

We caught the taxi back to JR Kyoto station and took the Thunderbird back to Osaka. So much excitement in one day.

The Geisha sightings were definitely a highlight for me because it is an art still practiced in the 20th century in the same manner it has been practiced for centuries prior and that's incredible to me. It's a topic we read about in books or see in movies and I never dreamed that I would see a real live Geisha in my lifetime. Thank you, Dr. J for these experiences that I could not have in a classroom setting. I'm relishing every moment in Japan and I truly thank you.

We meet in the lobby at 11:30am tomorrow. I need to get some much needed rest tonight. I didn't count our steps today because I wore my Yukata. I'm sure it was a lot as well because my feet are starting to hurt.