Twenty-first day in Japan

Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shintō Shrine

This day's itinerary was entirely left up to the girl, and she decided we should spend all of it in Kyōto 京都, starting things off at the city's most iconic sight, the Kiyomizu-dera 清水寺 Buddhist temple. We arrived in a steady rain, and Amber struggled with an initial test of strength:

The verandah of the Hondō (Main Hall) is the iconic temple's most iconic sight:

Looking at the Hondo from the opposite side of the basin:

Otowa-no-taki, where a line of visitors waited to drink the sacred waters that bestow health and longevity:

Kiyomizu-dera and the streets leading up to and away from it have always been popular with visitors, but if you need evidence of just how popular a destination Japan has become in the last decade or so, the Ninen-zaka 二年坂 and Sannen-zaka 三年坂 areas should be your starting points:

Taking a dangō break from the crowds and the weather. The Japanese dumpling sweet has become a firm favorite of my daughter's:

Approaching Yasaka-jinja 八坂神社, the guardian shrine of the nearby Gion 祇園 entertainment district:

Saturday's lunch in the Gion district:

The Minamiza 南座 performing arts theater:

Izumo no Okuni, 出雲阿国 an entertainer and shrine maiden credited with inventing kabuki 歌舞伎 (which ironically is now an all-male theatrical art form):

The next stop following lunch was to a pilgrimage spot of sorts for my daughter - the Kyoto International Manga Museum 京都国際マンガミュージアム. The special exhibits while we were there included spotlights on comics dealing with a modern-day neurosurgeon who travels back in time to the Edo period 江戸時代 (Jin 仁)…:

 

...and Fuichi-san 不いちさん, by the female manga artist Toshiko Ueda 上田トシコ, and set in early 20th century Manchuria:

The permanent collection has examples of manga 漫画 going back to 1945, and includes classics such as Golgo 13 ゴルゴ13...:

…The Rose of Versailles ベルサイユのばら (a favorite of my wife's when she was growing up)...:

…the groundbreaking Akira AKIRA...:

…and Ashita no Joe あしたのジョー:

Hikaru no Go ヒカルの碁, the anime of which spurred Amber's interest in the game of Go 囲碁:

I grew up on Godzilla movies and Speed Racer cartoons. Here I'm perusing an early manga of what I knew as Gigantor 鉄人28号:

The big three アニメ during the years I was living in Tōkyō 東京: Chibi Maruko-chan ちびまる子ちゃん; Doraemon ドラえもん; and Crayon Shin-chan クレヨンしんちゃん:

The museum is housed in an old elementary school building:

By this point the girl had earned a well-deserved shaved ice かき氷 break:

Outside Nijō-jō 二条城. At this point it was around 1630 hours, meaning we would've had less than 30 minutes to explore the castle before closing time, and so didn't go inside, but at least Amber can see she's been there, sort of:

A poster promoting Kaohsiung 高雄 seen at a train station while on our way to our final destination on my daughter's itinerary:

It took three weeks of searching, but I finally found a vending machine...:

…that contained one of my all-time favorite canned drinks, UCC Milk Coffee:

That last stop would be Fushimi Inari Taisha 伏見稲荷大社, famous for its tunnels of torii 鳥居 shrine gates:

The stone fox holds the key to a rice granary in its mouth. The shrine was dedicated to the kami of rice and sake 日本酒 back in the 8th century:

The shrine wasn't well-known at the time I first visited, back in the late 1990's, but Instagram has turned it into a must-see stop on the Kyoto gaijin 外人 trail:

As impressive as the tunnels are, the sub-shrines are what really give the shrine its mysterious atmosphere, especially in the fading light of the day:

Due mainly to the fact I'm not handling ascending trails too well these days, we didn't go all the way to the top, but the views we had were still nice:

Dinner at a restaurant inside the Isetan Department Store 伊勢丹デパート at Kyoto Station 京都駅 at the end of a long but enjoyable day:

More "Amber Days" to follow...