Geisha Celebrity Sightings

If you judge by our growing collection of photos of the back of various maikos that we have spotted in Kyoto, one thing is clear: we have become shameless "geisha" stalkers. How embarrassing. But what is perhaps more embarrassing is that there is a mini-industry in Kyoto for women who harbor geisha fantasies and pay to dress up and walk through the Gion district wearing full kimono, makeup, and wigs. Here's the cultural challenge for tourists: Can you spot the "real" geisha from the "fake"? It's entirely possible that we've been stalking fake geishas all along.

Attack of the deer at Nara & Skylar declines enlightenment

Skylar, Grandma Chiyohi, and I joined our neighbor Y for a Saturday outing to the famous and nearby historical city of Nara. Our destination: The magnificent Todai-ji temple (which includes the Daibutsuden, a.k.a., "the Great
Buddha Hall"--the largest wooden structure in the world--which houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha in Japan--created in 752AD).

Nara is also famous both as the "birth place" of Japanese culture and for the hundreds of deer which roam freely and under protection as a sacred animal in this ancient city.The sacred deer, however, are so badly spoiled by all the tourists who feed them sacred biscuits (which you can conveniently purchase on the spot for 150 yen) as well as anything else people might be munching on from the many vendors surrounding the temple. As a result, the deer act more like badly behaved ponies with antlers as they beg, follow, and dive bomb anything that looks remotely like food in your hand. One deer ate grandma's paper admission ticket to the temple (right out of her handbag when she wasn't looking), another clenched my teeshirt between its teeth in a vicious tug-of-war, and another nipped me in the stomach. Skylar thought all of this was quite hilarious and definitely more entertaining than anything going in inside the temple.


Speaking of which, behind the great bronze Buddha, there is a famous wooden support column with a small hole carved into its base. It is said that whoever can squeeze through the hole will receive enlightenment. After watching countless toddlers shimmy through the hole (and at least one very skinny female high school student do the same), Skylar declined the invitation to crawl through. Besides, he reminded us, he already squeezed through the opening seven years ago and has been receiving the benefits every since.
Outside the Daibutsuden there is also an 18th century wooden statue of Binzuru (one of the disciples of Buddha). Many believe that if you rub any part of Binzuru's body and then touch the corresponding ailing part on your own, you will be healed. I tried to persuade Grandma to rub Binzuru's aching legs and then touch her own, but she said there was no way she was going to touch something that one million people had already rubbed this year. It just wasn't sanitary.

Believe it: May Pole Dance on Unicycles

Skylar's class at the Kyoto International School said they were going to perform the English May Pole dance while riding unicycles and by golly they did just that. Every year, the K.I.S. May Pole dance becomes more ambitious.

Question: What will they do next year?

All aboard the sushi train

Last night, Skylar and I made our way to Kappa Zushi--a "kaiten sushi" bar that my students recommended. Kaiten sushi bars are famous for their conveyor belt delivery of sushi to all the tables in the sushi bar. At Y100 a piece, it's cheap too. We happily stuffed ourselves on rotating sashimi and rolls. The best part though is if you order any "special dishes" on your personal electronic video screen, a cute little shinkansen train zooms up to your table to make the delivery. Dinner for two (including one chocolate mousse cake): $9. Kappa Zushi is on Sanjo-dori near the Ponto-cho--the beautiful, narrow alley in the heart of the old "floating world." It was wonderful to get out on a Saturday night to see all the revelers: street performers, folk singers, sidewalk artists, and young couples hanging out by the Kamo river.


Here is a short clip from Youtube of the shinkansen at Kappa Zushi

How many Japanese hairdressers does it take to do one's hair?

In my case: Four. One to spray water on my head, one to cover me up with towels and put mini-shower caps on my ears, one to mix my color, and one to stand around and watch in horror at my double-wide load of hair (Kyoto rain and humidity will give you big hair whether you want it or not).

My colleague sent me to her favorite salon--where no one speaks a word of English. She was supposed to tell them I wanted a simple color and a trim. At the salon, I tried to tell all four of my stylists that I didn't want them to make me a redhead ("Iie, chapatsu dozo") and that I didn't want a haircut that made me look like one of the Bay City Rollers--a Scottish pop band in the 1980s known for their bad shaggy hairdos--"Iie, Bay City Rollers karikomi." Towards the end of my makeover, one of the four made me lie back in a chair with my head in his sink, and then proceeded to put a towel over my face. My first thought was that he did this so he wouldn't have to look at my unsightly mug. Or perhaps this was a Japanese salon technique to make your tense client relax during the process?

My guy then lathered, rinsed, and slapped my wet hair the way you'd spank a baby's bottom. Afterwards, he threw in a head and neck massage. While not exactly relaxing, I was grateful that my face was covered so he couldn't see all the faces I ended up making.

Three favorite things about Japan

1. We love Ozeki Kootooshu. He is the hairy 25 year old, 270lb Bulgarian sumo wrestler who just won the Emperor's Cup. He is the first westerner to achieve this honor. We adore him.


2. We love all the vending machines that sell drinks with funny names like "Pocari Sweat" and "Cal Pis." [Skylar says, "it's a good thing 'Pocari' doesn't have an apostrophe 's' at the end"]

3. From the land that gave us, "Everyone Poops," we now have the totally adorable "unchi." Unchis are cute little poops that adorn everything from stickers, key chains, to silly hats.

Takaragaike Children's Park

"Everything looks smaller when you get older."

This is Skylar's critical observation. The Kyoto International School spent last Saturday engaged in a fierce competition of tug-of-war, the human chain, and everyone's perennial favorite, the ping-pong ball in a spoon race. All this took place at Takaragaike Children's Park--which is about 10 minutes from our house. This is the very same playground we dubbed "the playground of death" in 2001 when Skylar was three--and the slides looked like they were 30 feet off the ground (without rails), and the climbing structures all looked like personal invitations to broken bones, and the wooden maze felt like it had no exit. Seven years later, Skylar can't believe how much smaller (not to mention harmless) the "playground of death" now seems. Judge for yourself.

Unable to decide upon a team name, Skylar's team dubbed themselves the "Unknowns." The Unknowns included kids from the 1st grade all the way to the 8th and should have been unbeatable during the competition because of their secret weapon: They had the biggest, strongest kid in the 8th grade. Alas, during the human chain race visualize ten kids running around with linked arms trying to scoop up teammates into the "chain." Now visualize excessive speed, gravity, and the biggest 8th grader slipping on the wet grass and taking down all his younger, smaller teammates and you can see how The Unknowns ended up in 4th place.

Ode to the Musubi

Musubi. (moose-a-bee. Noun). A sticky triangle of rice filled with either a plum pickle, cooked salmon, or any other favorite stuffing, then wrapped with dark green seaweed.

Musubis for breakfast,
lunch and dinner too.
My mom can't cook in Kyoto,
so what's a boy to do?