Sunday, October 4, 2009

Textile, Fleas and Geishas


Today was quite a different day from yesterday. I ventured out on my own and boy, did I walk a lot! It was a gorgeous summer day and so a perfect time to explore more of Kyoto.
I started out at the textile centre. It is truly an amazing place where you can see how silk is developed (really, they have silk worms in boxes...), how the patterns are drawn, how the material is woven and then what they make of it. Amazing!
Well, then I found a flea market. Let's just say that I only have 1 suitcase...... So much to see and check out. A lot of fun agianst the backdrop of a beautiful shrine.
After a break at .... Starbucks, I walked through the back streets in the hopes of meeting some geishas. They are called Geiko in Kyoto and young women in training to become a Geiko are called Maiko. They start at 16 and can be distinguished by a long Obi or sash. At 21 they can become a geiko. Orginially the word geisha in old Kyoto referred to male entertainers. In Tokyo and Osaka it came to mean women.
I finally made it to the train station where I took the shinkansen train to Osaka, 300k/hr and it took 15 minutes to reach Osaka! Work tomorrow...

1 comments:

Irene said...

I write in envy yet again. I'm so gland you are there and are our eyes.

Post a Comment