"Gion Odori: Maple Dance"

"We're fools, whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."
-Japanese Proverb

The leaves are dancing,
like butterflies in the wind,
showing their reds and golds.

We humans mirror them,
using the wind in our flutes,
dancing in our autumn wardrobes.

Kat & I went to Gion on Wednesday,
and caught the shichi-go-san,
the Seven-Five-Three Ages festival for children.
{Want your heart melted? Watch toddlers run around in kimonos.}

Our real purpose, though,
was to see the geisha and maiko dance.

In all my trips to Kyoto,
I'd never seen a real geisha before.

I don't think I blinked once
the entire performance.

Gion Odori (lit. Gion Dance)
tells the story of a woman
whose life is spared by a demon,
and she must fetch him a gift in return for his "kindness".

There was a live orchestra
of shamisen players
and tayu (chanters).

My favorite character,
the demon Ibaraki
{played by a woman}.

Demon Ibaraki
and his minions,
the stolen maiko children.

A maiko is an apprentice geisha.
You can differentiate between them from
the maiko's long sleeves,
tail-like obi belts,
high geta shoes,
forked nape makeup,
and elaborate hair ornamentation
{not to mention their hair styles & color schemes}.
Maikos are more decorated than their geisha masters,
like adolescents and adults.

I get to visit Kyoto
two more times
before I leave Japan.
If I don't make it back to America this December...
...it's because I'm in training to be a geisha.

{Music via Kat-Tun & Eri}

"Gion Matsuri"

"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving." -Doctrine & Covenants 136:28

Light the lanterns, friends!
Summer has arrived,
and so have the festivals!

Of course,
Japan parties all-year-round,
but summertime is the height of it all.
ヘ(^_^ヘ)(ノ^_^)ノ☆

There's just
SO MUCH CULTURE
everywhere you look.

And even though Japan
is slightly overrun with foreigners...

the Japanese stay true to their culture
every blessed year.

...For the most part, atleast.

Staying in a Japanese-style inn {a ryokan}
was a fantastic experience.

It really got us into the
"Japanese mood"
and prepped us for the festival.

The costumes were so outstanding to look at.

...Especially the miniature-sized ones.

The boy in blue is a kappa {turtle} demon.
The boy in green is a lilypad.

The parade lasted all morning.
The sun was hot,
the costumes heavy.
These kiddies deserved bucket-loads of ice cream.

Some of the floats
were so tall,
they had to have men
steady the swaying tops with ropes.

Young musicians sat in the floats
and played as the parade moved along,
filling the streets with traditional folk music.

Some of the floats
can weigh over 26,000 pounds
and need over 35 attendants to pull/push them.

Each float
was pulled down the street,
across the river {there's a bridge},
and onto the sacred grounds of Yasaka Shrine
to purify against pestilence and disasters for another year.

We crossed the river as well,
and spotted the Minami-za,
the Kabuki theater of Kyoto.

We also found the statue of Izumo no Okuni,
a woman who danced and sang in dry riverbeds
and developed the art of kabuki.

To escape the crowds,

we turned down the by-night-Geisha-street

and found the Kennin-ji,

the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto.

It was incredibly peaceful,

with its raked pebble gardens,

nightingale floorboards

and quiet atmosphere.

And at the end of the path,
we found two beautiful dragons
twisting magnificently on the ceiling
in an eternal black-and-white dance.

After eating a ton of festival food
{karage: fried chicken, kakikoori: snow cones, sushi, Godiva chocolates...}
we decided to dine at a little Italian restaurant
across the street from our ryokan.

We wanted to stay forever,
just eating the chef's handmade lasagna for the rest of eternity,
but the clock reminded us
we had to go home.

Kyoto is so gorgeous,
and so overflowing with culture,
if you're ever feeling whimsical,

come to Japan.

Let's have a sleepover... in Kyoto!

{Music via Kiyoshi Yoshida}

"Living Among the Geisha"

"We learn from history that we learn nothing from history."

-George Bernard Shaw

We did a couple of flying ninja kicks

into Japan's samurai

and geisha world,

inside the city called
Kyoto.

We consumed delicious
{over-expensive}
delicacies
and almost ate each other
for dessert.

Taking a bus west,

we somersaulted into a fairy book,
and were dwarfed by shadowy bamboo forests.

The gargoyles loved Liz's face so much,

they imitated it,

and now they may be stuck that way

forever.

In Nara,

we made deer friends of all sorts.

Sleepy ones.

Blind ones.

Curious ones.

And amorous ones.

Celestia loved our new friends so much,
she tried to join them.
But they knew how much we'd miss her,
so they gave her a hat to remember them by
and sent her on her way.
The dears.

Sembei crackers
are good to eat,
but only the people-kind.
Just in case you were tempted.

The beauty of Nara.
We're sorta cute too.

Though Japan has no holy day,
Sunday seems to be the favorite
for sacred, traditional rituals,
such as this one.
Doesn't the bride just glow?
So lovely.

Japanese houses are tiny

{in general}

thus, smaller dogs are popular,

resulting in pup packs.

What a happy little guy.

Utah has churches on every corner;
Kyoto has archaic shrines.

And, also, temples.
Right, Brooke?

I-I-I...

looked out the window

and what did I see?

Popcorn popping

on the sakura tree.

I'm seriously entertaining the thought
that the owners of this club
put up this sign
just to see tourists pose for silly pictures
like this.

Together,
we learned how traditional Japanese sweets are made...

...and even got to make some
ourselves.

Hitting the main streets,

we were dazzled by sparkly-haired boys

who either idolize David Bowie

or Mr. Cullen himself.

Perhaps both.

Though we loved our new deer friends,
we decided human ones were pretty nice, too.
Meet Leon,
a tri-lingual, Japanese-German
with a British accent.

And Leon's friend,
Hiroki,
a bi-lingual Japanese
visiting from a university in Tokyo.

Camera tag!

If you've been following previous posts,
you'll know Japan goes all out
on their sweets.
Crepes included.

Of all the shrines we patronized,
the Fushimi-Inari-Taisha
{1,000 gates}
was my absolute favorite.
Mainly because the guardians were
gigantic stone foxes,
but also because
the gates went up the mountain forever,
much more than 1,000.
So incredible.

The three fountains of Kiyomizu-Dera:
one for your education/career,
one for your longevity,
and one for love.
You're allowed only a single drink,
so, which one would you choose?




{Music via Caro Emerald}