Global artist has been enjoying in Japan

She is our guest from Wales.
She is an artist and belongs to The Llanarth Group(England).
She came to Japan to have a workshop with Japanese theatrical company "Gekidan AMI".
The Llanarth Group is an association of theater artists dedicated to producing international theater of the highest quality through in-depth psycho-physical training of actors from all cultures.
She explained me about what she does, but what i only understood was she does contemporary dance. I have to study about theater artists more.......

Well, after she finished workshop in Tokyo, she traveled around Japan and she was impressed by Japanese artists and constructions such as temple, Japanese garden.
I think she will bring the impressed things back to her group and put them to good account.
If i have a chance to go to England, i would like to see her performance.

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Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
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Potosi Bolivia

I got to the Potosi for the mine sightseeing. On the way to Potosi.

 I saw this sign. Be careful for Alpaca. I thought there is no Alpaca. But I saw some wild Alpaca then. In Potosi, I joined the mine tour.

 Mine is in 4000m place. It's so high. And I enter the mine. It will be more cold. This is the entrance. I was worried about this mine. Because there are some water on the ground. And there is no light. I walk to the dead end. But this way was so long. It spent about 1 hour for the walking. At last I saw the worker.

 They were working for finding the silver. By the way you can buy the right for dig. Then I saw the festival.

 It's a dancing one. This day, everybody dance whenever. At first in my trip, I didn't want to come here. But I recommend all of my friends here.

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Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
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Sweet Taste of Autumn

This is a present from our Japanese guest.
The wrapping paper says "Nakamura-Ken(中村軒)".
Nakamura-Ken is a Japanese confectioner in Kyoto.


The inside is...

Daifuku!!


Daifuku is a Japanese confection consisting of a small round glutinous rice cake stuffed with anko.
(Anko is sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans.)


These daifukus are not ordinary ones.
They have ginkgo nuts inside as well as anko.


Autumn is the best season for ginkgo nuts.
In Japan we use ginkgo nuts for Japanese cuisines, but usually we do not use them for sweet stuffs.
However in those daifukus ginkgo beans match anko very well.
The taste is unique in a good way.


We enjoyed special autumn sweets.

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Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
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Nice present from our guest and the autumn leaves at Eikan-dou(永観堂）

We had a nice present from our guest.

It's a shaomai(焼売）which is Chinese steam meat dumpling.
The shaomai she gave is very famous in YOkohama(横浜）. 
Actually when i go to Yokohama, i always buy the shaomai bento box(焼売弁当） and eat it on the train. So it is one of my favorite food. I really glad to have them. Thank you!! I look forward to eating them later.

The above photo is the autumn leaves at Eikan-dou(永観堂） in Kyoto.
Our staff went there this Monday. It's very beautiful, isn't it?
The autumn leaves are at their best now.
If you come to Japan in this season, you can enjoy seeing the very beautiful autumn leaves.

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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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Relaxing Mascot Dolls

In the last part of November, I took the photo on Shijo-O-hashi bridge.  The sunset were coming and the cloud reflected the color of the orange sun.


When you look at the right side of the photo, you will find colored leaves. It was deep red. So the season of colored leaves was just in middle.



By the way, do you know her? Actually this is her. She is a so called relaxing mascot doll. Looks nice, right?


Of course, she is very popular.


She cant't move quickly and her hands are just to wave. But, nice.

When you come to the city, Kyoto, or other prefectures, you will find them they're not all cute. Some of them look like monsters.

You can check them all in the following URL.
Japan relaxing mascot grand prize

Yeah, strange, yet NICE!

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We Love Ramen!!

I've never seen a Japanese who don't like ramen noodle somehow. I don't know why. Maybe the food taste is very suit to the tongue of Japanese. Yeah, me too!!


This is my favorite ramen restarurant. The name is "Taku-mi".


They have just the counter seats.


The layout of their ramen is special! It looks like a flower. And of course the taste if so good!! 

When you come to Japan, you will find so many ramen restaurant. Some of them have special ramens. Every ramen master has their own tastes. At first why don't you choose your favorite soup taste? Soy source, pork source, or salty one. 

Sure, I love ramen!

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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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Our guest has been travelling with Koala

He is our guest from Australia.
Look at his bag!!

Cute Koala with wearing hat is showing his body.

Our guest said he normally stays in his pocket.
But when he saw our small koalas of the above photo at A-yado, he was showing his body from the pocket.
I think he was surprised that other koalas were in Japan.
Our guests has been travelling with this koala in more than 25 countries.This koala was given to him by his friend when he left in Australia.
Nice friend, isn't it?
He will go back to Australia after Japan.so when he goes back home, he will tell her about nice trip with koala. Also the koala will tell his fiends that he met other koalas at A-yado.

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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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Being Geisha Girl Experience

When you'd like to be a geisha girl, of course you can. But, it takes so many years to be real one. So why don't you try a trial one for Being Geisha Experience.


She has experienced being geisha girl. 

She was wondering if she could be a good geisha or not. The following photo is the answer.




Right! She's been a good geisha!! The photos are fantastic. 

She bring the photos and also great memories of geisha experience! Both are nice present to her family and friend. For sure, the talk with her must be a special present, when she come back to the country! 

Thank you for letting me see the nice photos! You're super nice geisha girl!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
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"JR RAIL PASS" is very convenient to travel in Japan

When you travel in Japan, i think you will buy  "JR RAIL PASS".
It's really convenient to travel in Japan.
It costs 57700 yen for 21days. You can use any JR line included Shinkansen(新幹線） and JR buses.
If you take Shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo, it costs 12710 yen. so if you use it 5 times from Kyoto to Tokyo, it will pay.
I really envy travelers. Because Japanese people can't buy it.

Our guest from USA has been using this pass many times.
He said he used it about 15 times for 2 weeks.
Also he moves long distance for 1 day with this pass.
He came to our hostel from Yakushima(屋久島） today.
Yakushima is located on the south of Japan. It is very far away from Kyoto.
I can't believe that he moved this distance for 1 day without airplane.
If i were him, i would stay in Hiroshima today.
Every time, i think travelers are very tough.
I hope he will enjoy in Japan with "JR RAIL PASS".

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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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Night Illumination

On the wall beside our reception there is a map about night illumination events in Kyoto.
Our staff made this map.


In autumn some temples illuminate their gardens and buildings.
At this moment six temples are holding their night illumination events.
All of them are close to A-yado.


One of the biggest ones is Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

This is a photo which I took in the last illumination season.
The illumination of Kiyomizu-dera Temple is gorgeous, so many people come to see it every season.


It is cold at night, but I think it is worth seeing the illumination.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
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2 Movies in October and November is Kyoto

Here're 2 movies in October and November is Kyoto. 

One of them is about Kurama Fesitival, one of the most popular fire festivals of Kyoto.

I went there. But, I didn't try to go to the deeper place of the festival site. The torches were in a line. It's amazing. Next year, I definitely go!!


And this movie is for coloered leaves and temple's bell ringing by hitting.

The sound is beautiful. Of course, you can try. 

Sometimes photo is the best way to show something worth seeing. This time the movies has actions and sound. It 's also nice way.

Kyoto has anytime worth seeing! This year will be done in about 40 days. I hope everybody enjoy the whole enjoyable parts of Kyoto!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
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How was Halloween in your town?

Halloween is a very popular event, isn't it? When I went down a street in Kyoto, I found the monster & gate for a pub. That name is "ZAZA Pub" which is famous for foreign people's meeting place.



It looks so scarring to me! So I didn't go in. Yet, it's really fascinating. If I wear a monster costume, it's good. Anyway I didn't this time! 




I passed the pub. And I turn my head behind. Wow, in front the entrance a Super Man is standing. Nice red boots.

Halloween is getting familiar to us, Japanese. Kyoto also has some events. I found so many monsters on 31st of October! Yeah, now it's middle of November. But, I'd like to report about Halloween!

Middle of November, Kyoto is really popular for colored leaves! You can enjoy the red and yellow leaves everywhere!!

Ninja restaurant in Kyoto

I went to Ninja restaurant called "NINJA KYOTO" few days ago.
It is a entertainment restaurant located in Shijyo Shinkyougoku(四条新京極）.
Sometimes our guests visit there.

There is a sign in front of the restaurant.
It is written"Ninja will guide you. please wait here ".
When i waited a bit , the staff, no,no,no...."Ninja" came and took us to the inside.

There is labyrinth attraction before we get to the table.

When we got to the table, Ninja brought us a menu like scroll.

This is a Japanese throwing-knife. No,no,no......it's a cracker.

When we were having a dinner, suddenly "Master  Ninja" came to our table and showed us a special magic performance.
It's a card magic and we all were surprised at his performance.
But he said "This is not a magic, it is the art of Ninja".
Anyway, we enjoyed having a dinner at this  restaurant.

If you come to  Kyoto, try to go this restaurant. 
You will definitely enjoy there!!
It takes 15 mins walk from A-yado.

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Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
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Uyuni Salt Lake

I went to three places in this day. First one is....  

This one. This is the graveyard train. Many trains come here after finished to work. This place is included in Uyuni lake tour. This is amazing view for me. Because I can't see this view in Japan. I took the a lot of picture in here. So I spent the cameras battery. I didn't know, I can see good view after this. I move to small village. This is second place. This village has many gift shop. And they has cheaper gifts. I bought some gifts in here. Then I went to Uyuni salt lake.

 Uyuni salt lake has famous view like millar. But this is not millar. Because this was the dry season. But guide said there are millar view in somewhere. So we tried to find this. We spent long time for finding. Finally We found this.

 Millar view has some face. It's caused by time, wheather and place. And in Uyuni you can see good night view. I saw the milky Way. I recommend you stay one night in here.

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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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Coypu in Japanese River

Here's Kamo-gawa Riv. in Kyoto. It's famous and popular for the beautiful scenery and a good place to run or walk, though the photo is not really nice to let you know about it.



I found something like a brawn ball.



Wow, it's a coypu.



It's stretching.



And personal grooming.



Looking around.



And grooming again.



We, human beings, never understand its feeling, but it was doing something with a small wooden stick.



It went away by swimming. Cool.

They were from oversee. And Japanese government regards them as an invasive foreign specie. 

Well, it happens very frequently in Japan. How about your country? 
It's cute. Yeah, that's my feeling. If it disturbs the ecological system of the river, it must be a problem. Can we get along each other? 

Let's see. We're all selfish. When we recognize it, we, perhaps, can know so many things.

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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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