A day in Japan

I’m travelling with my family (husband, who’s been working here, and two teenagers). We are staying in a small AirBnB apartment in Kyoto (they’re all small!), having arrived yesterday by train. This apartment has two rooms with beds, one of which includes a kitchen in it, and two bathrooms, with a bonus of the use of four bicycles included.

Our appartment has a coffee machine of sorts but we prefer the drip coffee our last AirBnB provided so have bought our own. We start the day with coffee and some cereal we’d bought at a supermarket. My daughter has eggs.

I head out for a brief local neighbourhood walk while the teenagers work to their own rhythms. My husband walks to a supermarket and buys some butter and cherry tomatoes, which will go nicely with some nice bread we are able to buy from the surprisingly common artisan bakeries.

Butter and cherry tomatoes.
603 JPY603 JPY including tax.

After coralling the troops, we head out for a day trip to Osaka to go to the Ichiya Kanjo Festival, a Shinto festival at Sumiyoshi Shrine. I found out about this online and am keen to see what happens, especially any music.

We walk the few minutes to the Hanazono train station and take a JR train in to Kyoto Station, change trains for Osaka, then for Tsukamoto Station. It takes about 1 hour altogether. We see a ‘Hello Kitty’ train in the station but don’t get to ride on it!

Train fare.
990 JPY990 JPY one way, for my husband.
Covered by our JR Rail Pass for the rest of us.

JR (Japan Rail) Pass cost $699 NZD$699 NZD per person for 14 days of travel, including some buses. You have to buy the JR Pass outside of Japan.Unfortunately I’ve forgotten to look up the exact details of how to find the temple and we don’t have data on our phones. My husband uses Google Maps on a borrowed phone with data and we find the place. We are about an hour early but there are some people around preparing including this mother and daughter who then disappear down the road.With an hour to fill, we wander around looking for something to eat, but this is difficult as the area doesn’t offer much, especially for my vegetarian daughter. Using Google Maps again, we eventually locate a bakery but seeing as there’s now only 15 minutes before the festival, I let the others go in search of food and head back to the shrine so as not to miss anything.

The festival starts promptly at 2pm with some ceremonial washing and then a procession leaves the temple grounds. I follow even though the others aren’t back yet. We go through a covered shopping street and out onto a main street where the procession has to wait for traffic lights to get across – an incongruous sight – very traditional costumes juxtaposed against modernity.

Across the road, the procession goes down a small street and around a corner and then disappears into a building. Hangers on like me are milling around outside, though the few other foreigners seem to give up and take off. With no idea what is happening, I figure I’d better get back to the shrine to find the others.

They are waiting and wondering where I am, having eaten the bread and pastries they had found. Luckily I’m not hungry.

Bread and pastries.
570 JPY570 JPY

Can of peach nectar from a vending machine (a favourite).
130 JPY130 JPY

I lead them back to where I left the procession, just in time to see them coming out again. Lucky timing! This time there are more people – including six pairs of mothers and daughters and some musicians playing gagaku instruments.

We follow them as they wend their way through the streets and back to the shrine. They are giving out cups of a hot sweet sake with ginger, called Amazake which my daughter and I try. I really like it.

We are then adopted by a Japanese woman who speaks pretty good English and decides to tell us all about the festival, translating from an information sheet in Japanese. Meanwhile, the procession had entered the main building of the shrine. We go over to take a look and they invite us in “because we are foreigners”. We sit on stools with a small group of people observing the ceremony which goes on for quite a while.

We watch the six little girls who were dressed for the ceremony, sitting on cushions up on a platform throughout the whole thing. They are understandably restless and look about only 5 years old. Their head-dresses keep slipping and even falling apart and they fiddle around with the ceremonial branches they have been given to hold. These are used later in the ceremony, with various representatives of local groups presenting a piece of greenery and bowing and clapping twice. We stand up with others for prayers in Japanese, hear more gagaku music, and see a dance by two women.At the end of the ceremony, we catch the train back to Kyoto to Nijo station as we have located a vegan restaurant online near there where my daughter will be able to have a selection of food instead of either very limited choice, none, or asking to have meat left out. We buy a 324 JPY324 JPY loaf of good looking bread at a bakery near the train station (for later), then walk the 20 minutes to the restaurant.

Train fare.
990 JPY990 JPY for my husband; covered by JR Rail Pass for the rest of us.

Itedaki Zen is on a quiet little street. We are the only customers at first. I have the dinner set which includes three appetizers, homemade pickles, rice, miso soup and a main; I have deep fried tofu with radish sauce. The others have different combinations. All the food is very good.

1700 JPY1700 JPY dinner set.

1300 JPY1300 JPY tofu steak and vegetarian sushi.

1800 JPY1800 JPY vegetarian sushi and ramen.

1500 JPY1500 JPY a spring roll and ramen.

We walk home to the apartment, have a cup of tea while enjoying the free WiFi that comes with the apartment, and the day is over.

Note: “Ichiya Kanzo is a small, local festival held to celebrate the girls who sacrificed themselves to save the village from the disasters of the Yodo river (now the Nakatsu river). It takes place on February 20th every year and maintains the traditional style of the time. It has been designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Asset of Osaka prefecture and is a great small festival to attend.”

Total spent:  ¥7383 JPY¥7383 JPY