Girl on Bike Kyoto

自転車乗る京女

A perfect montage.

Beautiful woman on her "mama chari" bicycle in downtown Kyoto.

She is about to pass a slower moving middle aged man - foreground right - and is blithely cruising through an intersection.

Clueless. Helmetless.

Chatting away on her cell phone.

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Kyoto to Nara Bicycle Path Sign

八幡木津自転車道線

It doesn't take much imagination to hate Japan's Ministry of Construction.

In several post-War decades, the Ministry managed to concrete over and dam up the landscape and rivers of what was a beautiful country.

The solution to every problem seemed to be: throw a lot of money at it, let the major construction firms run wild in the countryside and earn enormous sums (of which the yazuka took a sweet cut), and buildbuildbuild. The result was a Soviet style landscape. Bleak. Hard. Ugly. Concrete.

However, as cyclists, we must also take our hats off to the Ministry. The Men of Concrete have built a series of wonderful bike paths around the country. One of the best runs from Arashiyama, in western Kyoto, to Kizu, which is just outside of Nara.

The path is three meters wide and is for use for cyclists and pedestrians. In other words, there are no cars, trucks, or motorcycles for the 45 km of the route.

The path follows the Katsura River out of Kyoto, and then joins the Kizu River.

We will be making the ride in late March and will blog it.

Information in Japanese.

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New Jintan Street Signs Kyoto

仁丹の標識の復活

The number of Jintan signs in Kyoto is set to go up.

Jintan, a pharmaceutical company still based in Osaka, in the past posted these ads cum street address signs on houses in the early part of the 20th century.

Perhaps the greatest concentration of the signs can be found in the city's "Gothic Quarter," west of Horikawa Dori.

However, the number of signs has declined as old houses are torn down.

To combat that, if only a bit, 18 brand new signs were sent from Osaka to Kyoto on February 10th.

The signs will be posted in 12 neighborhoods.

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Kyoto Police Car

京都パトカー

Not far from Takaragaike, in northern Kyoto, this police car sped by.

The cops were maintaining order during the annual Daimonji Ekiden race.

The race is held in early February and is run by teams from 50 of the public schools in the city.

Each team of sixth graders is made up of 10 runners, 5 girls and 5 boys.

The course winds its way through the city, beginning near the Golden Pavilion and ending near Heian Shrine.

Each leg of the race is about 1.5 - 2 km, and to maintain safety for the participants the cops were out on motorbikes and in patrol cars.

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Urasenke Chado Research Center

裏千家茶道資料館

On Horikawa Dori north of Imadegawa is the Urasenke Chado Research Center.

For an uber Kyoto organization, the Urasenke building is remarkably unattractive and bland. It could just as easily house a medium size plastics firm in suburban Osaka.

The neighborhood though - particularly behind the building - is worth a visit.

There are several beautiful Urasenke held buildings done in the most refined Kyoto style. The area moreover is dotted with temples:

Honpoji, Myokenji, Hokyoji, and across Horikawa Dori Myorenji Temple

The narrow streets of the area are often well preserved, particularly Ogawa Dori.

Information

Urasenke Chado Research Center
Horikawa Teranouchi agaru
Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 692-8688
Tel: 075 431 6474

Entrance Fee: 500 yen (which allows to see the galleries and the opportunity to drink tea prepared in front of you)

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Cycling Valentines Day Kyoto

バレンタインディー京都寺町カフェ

On the day before Valentine's Day, we made a quick run into town on the bike to pick up a bit of chocolate.

We parked in front of Bal on Kawaramachi, picked up a paper on the 7th floor, and then walked down to the Takashiyamaya department store.

We are normally inclined to head towards Daimaru, but the 12-year-old had other ideas.

A Parisian macaroon maker had set up shop in town - only at Takashimaya, and only until the 14th.

To continue in that vein, we stopped off at a cafe on Teramachi before riding home.


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Kyoto Takaragaike Sidewalk Bicycle Pedestrian Symbols

京都宝ケ池歩道にある自転車シンボル

On a ride near Kitayama, we peeled off to head up towards Takaragaike and its beautiful park.

En route, we noticed odd symbols on the sidewalk denoting "lanes" for pedestrians and cyclists.

We were riding in the street - hugging the left, keeping clear of car traffic - and only noticed the last set of symbols before the street climbed up a stretch known as "kitsune zaka" (fox slope).

The two bollards present an additional obstacle.

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