Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!

Today is Halloween, isn't it?
Are you going to the Halloween party with nice costume?

When i check our blog of last year, i found the article about Halloween which our staff wrote.
When i saw the photo of it, it looked very fun.
Everyone was wearing several kinds of costume like Jason, Santa Claus, green body tights....

Nowadays Halloween is getting famous in Japan.
There are many Halloween party everywhere and everyone enjoy it.

Our guests of above photo went to the Halloween party tonight.
Actually they checked in this evening and went to the party soon.
Every time i think our guests are very tough.
I hope they will enjoy the party and meet the people wearing nice costume.
Also when they come back, i look forward to hearing the funny story about the party.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Short Trip to Mie Part 1

This summer I went on a short trip to Mie in Japan.
On the first day i visited Toba city in Mie.
It took about 2 and a half hours to Toba from Kyoto by Train.


Toba is right close to the sea.
So sea food in Toba is so nice. 

This photo is the lunch there.

The fish are fresh and I ate raw ones.
They are too delicious to describe.


Toba has a big aquarium.

It is one of the biggest ones in Japan so there are lots of marine lives.

I will introduce most impressive ones.
The first one is the performance show of a sea lion.

The sea lion catches the soccer ball which the trainer kicked with his nose.
Moreover he played the piano with his nose.
He was so handy and the show was interesting.

The second one is sea otters.

I saw them being fed.
The way of feeding was unique.

First, the breeder throw squid against the glass.
Then the sea otters jump to get the squid.
The way the sea otters hunt their food was exciting.


I enjoyed the first day of my trip in Toba.

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

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Travel for the Fine Art! --Impressed by Things in a Travel--

Always travel gives you so nice inspirations. We meet a lot of artists under their travels. They are sometimes looking for something good like the inspiration and materials. 


She is smiling and she shows her great work in her phone. She comes to Japan for some exhibitions and meeting friends. And she was looking for a good materials for her fine arts.


This is her great work! It's SUPER!!

I said "Wow! What's the material of your work?".
"It's made from ceramics, you see?"
"Yeah, I watched it carefully. It's really beautiful"
"Thank you. Actually I'm looking for a material in Japan. I've heard about Origami artist. Is there something special to fold Origami?"
"I think so. Why don't you try Wa-shi, which is Japanese paper"
"Oh, I know some. But what's the good Japanese paper? I really want it"

And I've searched the information about so many types of Japanese papers. There looks some good ones for her works.

I let know her them. 

"Thanks! I will try. Oh, but this year, maybe, I won't have enough time. So next year!!"
"Yeah, when you come back to Japan"
"Definitely I will!"

Nice meeting with materials, and nice conversation! 

Thank you for letting me see your great work!! 
We hope your travel in Japan goes well! Of course, hope you will complete your SUPER great works!!

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Our guest's travel diary

When i went to our living room, our guest was drawing on the long paper like a scroll.
I was very interested in it and asked him "What are you making?".
He said "i'm making the diary with illustrations".
He diary is great!! Needless to say, his drawing is very good. Also he is making the diary on the piece of long paper. I think he could publish it. If he publish it, i will definitely buy it.

If you would like to see his work, check this homepage.

http://www.chasewinkel.com/

You will be a fan of his work!!

He is going to Naoshima island(直島） which is renowned for its collection of contemporary art galleries and exhibits.
I think he will put his new diary of Naoshima on his homepage soon.
I look forward to seeing it!!

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Super Nice Cafe in Kyoto

In a cafe I found a lamp and a sculpture of a cat, maybe it's a cat, and something like a ball in a rope. Well, looks strange, but, really interesting.




It's really chic.



On the wall the art painting.




And the ceiling is also nice. 




If you're a detective, the view of windows are really helpful. Anyway I'm not. I enjoy the scenery.



And of course coffee and cake.


So nice relaxing place. They serve also lunch and dinner. If I relax too much, the time flies too fast. 

In that case I can eat dinner here. Of course, which is very tasty. In foreign countries, you will find some favorite cafes or restaurants. Yeah, please find your own one! That's also nice joy in your travel!!

We Got Super Nice Present! Loving Ice Candy^^

The HUGE typhoon went away without hitting Japan. The name was Francisco. Yeah, another typhoon in this year was so scaring... So I was really worried.

And the temperature was low because of the typhoon and there's strong wind and hard rain. Now everything is fine. And temperature got bit higher than 2 days ago.

We love clean accommodations. So we clean up our hostel really carefully. And we got sweat in the temperature now.




We got ice candy from our guest. Of course it's a good news.





We all love the ice candy like kids. Maybe more than saki. So this present is Great!!



Thank you for the ice candy. I got thirsty.

Itadaki-masu!! Thank you!


Yeah, temperature is getting low. But still hot sometimes. In a half month the fall comes. Then you can enjoy the colored leaves turning red and yellow.

It's one of the best season to come to Kyoto! October is also nice. And November is sort of special!!

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Festival in the Northern Side of Kyoto -The Fire Festival-

Well, after the Jidai matsuri Fesitval on 22nd of October, I went to the local station. So many people there. Everybody was supposed to see the Fire Festival in Kurama at northern Kyoto.

I got on the train quickly, and took a nap briefly.  



I arrived. Wow, of course still so many people.



Less people here. But it's just the begging of the festival. At that time I was not in that festival yet.



Oh, police officers! The were paying attention.




Because of the fire! The big bonfire is really impressive! 




The name of this shrine is Yuki-jinja shrine. The origin of the festival has been set about 1000 years ago. It for the protection of old Kyoto.


I think it's really beautiful.




Guys with torches come out.



This is bigger one.



The train runs fast. And the bonfire flashes.



Wow, it was broken with the BIG sound!




The gate of shrine is so reflecting the fire color. 




Police officers shouted.



Guys fired the torches one by one.



And hold it up.



The next one.


They looked so powerful.

I got confused by the atmosphere. It's too much powerful. Too much energetic.
The movie shows the situation of me. Maybe it's a better way to tell the atmosphere.





I'd like to get equipage... I'm not that powerful.


The 22nd of October is one of the special days of Kyoto. Yeah, it's special I'm going there also next year. Of course, getting equipage.


Hey guys in the festival, thank you for everything. I will definitely try again!!

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Don't Need to Taking Shoes Off!!

It is the photo of the entrance of the lounge in A-yado.
In Japan we usually take off our shoes at entrance hall.
In some hostels you are required to take off you shoes, too.

However at A-yado you do not have to take off your shoes.
You may wear your shoes inside.


I guess somebody misunderstood the rule and took off his/her shoes.
Then others followed it.

They are the owners of the shoes.


I told them that you did not need to take off your shoes.
They answered that they felt at home without shoes inside and they did not wear their shoes finally.
I also feel better without shoes at home.


They are enjoying Japanese way at A-yado.

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Jidai Matsuri Festival on 22nd of October Every Year

If you'd like to enjoy a festival with great parades, why don't you come to Japan on 22nd of October. It was special last year, 2012. And I was very interested in it, because I didn't have enough time to watch the whole part.

This year, I have enough time! Of course, I went there on 22nd of October! For The JIDAI MATSURI FESTIVAL!


It was crowded. Yeah, great but crowded place. The name of the red building is Heianjingu shrine.


Dog doesn't care anything about the festival, maybe.
The parade came! Their costumes are belonging to so many periods of Japan. 100 years ago, 150 years ago, 300 years ago and so on. Some of them are more than 1000 years ago. 
They went into the gate of the shrine.


Big caw vehicle came! Cool! 

He was playing a famous general in Sengoku period, which is samurai war period.



Oh, one good way to watch the parade. Next year, I definitely use the way!

The girl was famous for the samurai girl. So beautiful!


And the weather is fine. 


The show on the parade goes on. Maybe it's vague.Here's the movie. It's better than a photo this time.





The parade shows a parade in Edo period, which is from old Japan.The name of that festival is Jidai Matsuri Festival. I enjoyed it. But, I will do next year.



And I found a cute cat. I played with it for waiting for another festival on 22nd of October. It's at night. Yeah, of course, I went there. Next time to write the article, I will write about another festival, which is the "Fire Festival" in Kurama!

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Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact