Japan on my mind

I’m in Kyoto now, back at the Palace Side Hotel. I will be here for the next 10 days, and I just found out they have a place in the lobby where I can go online with my own computer. It makes me happy, but not as happy as when I could work from my own room. I left Hiroshima this morning, taking this streetcar from in front of my hotel and going to the train station. I had arranged for a reserved seat on the 9:10 Shikansen. Arriving at the station about 8:15 I found I could take an 8:45 train in the unreserved car. That worked well, today there wasn’t much competition for the unreserved seats. I like it because I’m not tied to a specific time. The trains along the Tokaido route, Tokyo to Hakata, run frequently.

At Himeji, after I photographed this wonderful Mikoshi, I put my overnight case and my coat into one of those wonderful coin lockers and set off for Himeji Castle, one of the great sights of Japan. Once beyond the entrance I found a crowd gathered around a man and woman dressed in old-time clothing and a sign saying you could take their picture for free. Another man was helping take pictures of people seated next to the woman. I don’t usually take pictures of myself, but I couldn’t resist this one.

Going up into Himeji Castle required a lot of stair climbing, some of it very difficult. I took one of Arvin’s collapsible canes from Carol for just this kind of thing. I’ve only used it twice before, and I really hate it. I feel very old when I am using it. Coming up these stairs was a terrifying experience for me. And I couldn’t imagine how I was going to get down. As I left I found out I could have gone a different way, much easier. It was a good thing; I would have had to go down those stairs on my bottom.

Outside of the castle a great street fair was going on. There was food, music, performances, games of chance, and probably other things I couldn’t fathom. I had street food for lunch, a kind of shish ka bob, and was most impressed with these people who were making sure the trash was properly sorted and recycled.

Next to Himeji Castle is a beautiful Edo style garden. I think these men are part of a photography club that hired models to pose for them. They were all over the garden. There was much more to see but I was worn out, so back to the station and home to my hotel in Kyoto.

One last picture: Halloween at Himeji