But of course

What exactly are you celebrating?

来年を運ぶ馬、作りました。

Grilled delights

And to finish it all off, okonomiyaki!

Just turning

Mr and Mrs Matsumoto took me up the cable car to Mount Shosa, where the scenery is so good films and TV series keep using it as a backdrop. We also visited the beautiful Engyo Temple with its venerable wooden buildings and maple trees, followed by a fantastic pottery museum.

Tea in a biscuit

Couldn't resist - Kyoto special edition Kit-Kat with houjicha roasted tea. There's also a matcha version, and one with pieces of the local crunchy biscuits, Yatsuhashi (biscuit-in-biscuit?).

We meet again

Hikari 461, my chariot from from Kyoto to Himeji.

The tree must have been there first

This house is across the road from my homestay family's local station, so I must have seen it any number of times, but only noticed the tree today.

Nothing nothing nothing

We were gently scolded and encouraged by a Zen priest at a sub-temple of Daitoku Temple (I have to check the name). He reminded us that we own nothing, not even our own bodies, and that realising this and throwing all those extraneous things away would leave us with the only thing we really were, 'kokoro' ('heart' or 'spirit'). The sun came out while he was talking, and he also reminded us to breathe deeply and appreciate that everything we ate and drank and used was nature's bounty, and to be grateful for it.

The next temple we visited was associated with Daruma and had a very different message, about not becoming discouraged, or angry, and being mindful of others. We also had an amazing shojin ryori (vegan cuisine served to monks) bento, including a fabulous tempura umeboshi, which Nobuko assured me was preserved in sugar rather than salt.

The Imperial Household Agency commands you

A bridge over time

Nobuko took me on a bus tour on Friday as the forecast was rain. We even got into the Imperial palace, which normally takes ages to apply for.

The temple and the golden plum

Amazing plum tea with gold flakes (it's not just Kanazawa that puts gold flakes in food)at Toji, Kyoto's 'eastern temple'.

Choices

Most of the bentos at Hakata were sold out. This was one of the remaining ones, a lemon chicken breast on a bed of rice and finely shredded omelette. I would have preferred a little bit of everything, but it was pretty good.

Box dinner

All my meals today have been out of a box.

Lunch box

Lunch with fellow S205: The molecular world student, Yuuko.

We meet again

Another day, another Hikari! Up with the birds and on my way to Fukuoka.

Looks can be deceiving

Beyond the boumdary

I went to Kohata station to get a reserved seat to go to Kagoshima/Hakata tomorrow. The train I wanted was full. So was the next one. And the next one. So I'm now going at the break of dawn and will be there two hours early...

I'd noticed this place outside the station cefore, but assumed it was a small animation school or something. Turns out it's a bona fide studio, and I've actually seen some of their current series, Kyokai no kanata/Beyond the boundary, and quite enjoyed it.

Uji City drainage cover

Uji City water access cover