Risei

It was a wet, gloomy December. Hung over and hungry, we walked in the rain to Risei. The café is not so much surrounded by as it is composed of Korean antiques.　The earthen walls have this ability to suck in all the hustle and noise from the outside.　You can hear the bubbling of a kettle on the gas stove, the ticking of old clocks, the muted sounds of cooking. It’s like stepping into another dimension.

There are only 3 things on the menu for lunch: bibimbap, nangmyun noodles, or soup. All of it centers around a generous amount of organic vegetables grown in Miyama, Kyoto. All of it is delicious, but my fav. is the bibimbap set that comes with soup and pickles and later tea or coffee.

Risei is about 100 meteres East on a little side street south of Imadegawa. Open Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 6pm.

Friends in Different Places

They say it's good having friends in high places, but I say it's good having friends in different places. You can might be lucky enough to crash at their place and get the insider's scoop on the city. Lonely Planet is good for starters but one gets a funny feeling that everyone is doing the same thing. Surely, there must be more to this place than this!

So big warm thank you to my good pal from way back when for showing me around Seoul. Heated floors, mind-blowing noodles, glasses shopping, tea drinking, and night-time sit-ups.

The plane ride is a mere 2 hours from KIX and tickets are decent.

45rpm

Outside the 45rpm store was a hand-written sign that read, 4545 Omatsuri (festival)...

I wonder if that means they've started their sale...
Ooo look at this! I tried on a big fluffy coat and it was love at first wear.
Oh no, but I want this too and this and this and this!!!
Desires are endless!

Turns out the omatsuri was a mochi-making party. Out in the little back yard, the staff were pounding away and rolling the gooey mass into little balls.
I was served warm tea and a piece with kinAko (soybean powder) dusted on top. Yummy! Thank you!

45rpm's clothes have a worn, warm look and feel to them. Attention is payed to material and process.
You can read more about the production process here, and also go in and have a look for yourself.

The store is located in a beautiful two-story building on the south side of Sanjo between Takakura and Sakaimachi. Upstairs is the Hernri Cuir shop. Two peas in a pod.

Tofukuji Flying Temple

Tofukuji is a one of the "Five Great Zen Temples in Kyoto" The sanmon (main gate) is the oldest in Japan. It's so enormous and perfectly joined together it really is breathtaking. This one is a National Treasure for sure.
When you go into the main hall, you can see four gardens that surround each side. My fav. is the pixellated one that was designed in the 30's by landscape artist Mirei Shigemori. For something from dacades ago, it still looks so futuristic and modern.

The blazing momiji (maple leaves) are a big draw so like any seasonal attraction here, it gets crowded. Shoot for a weekday.



You will see plenty of this action everywhere. It's like a hall of mirrors.

Moment After Moment

This is my favorite spot in Kyoto. A little path between Nashinoki jinja and the Imperial Palace. I bike along it in the morning on the way to work, but the way back is more special somehow. Maybe it's because it's dusk, and the slight decline makes you go zooom. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm headed home instead of to work.

This one minute stretch. We are so small and the trees make a leafy canopy overhead. They inhale our carbon dioxide and we inhale their oxygen!

If you're in the neighborhood, bike along it. You'll feel it too I bet.

Midnight Munchies is the Name of My New Band

Got the midnight munchies? Craving some greasy gyoza and maybe takoyaki octopus balls for round 2? Even if its late night you're still in luck because you are about to venture into the Gion district.

Senmonten has gyoza that taste garlicky as hell but supposedly has 0 garlic in them. They are said to be bite-size so that maiko and geiko don't have to open their mouths so wide to eat them. So spoiled they are! The menu is simple: Gyoza, pickles, rice, and a selection of bevies. They come all crispy and stuck together in block like you just want to pick the whole chunk with your chopsticks and put it in your mouth. On the wall are names of people who ate an extraordinary amount of gyozas and the time in which they ate them. If you break 100 or something you get some free gyoza next time or some gyoza to take home with you. Oh joy. Would you really want more?

OK so you ate like 20 gyozas and had some beer, and you could still use some extra umph, so just go down the street a bit to ---, where some good-looking men with muscular forearms are busy squirting batter into the circular molds and turning and flipping with the metal sticks. Hands down, these are the best takoyaki EVER. They be crispy on the outside and hot and steamy on the inside, and the octopus tastes super fresh and not rubbery or fishy. I personally like the regular sauce ones but the twice fried ones are pretty excellent.

There. That should be no more munchies for you!

Pssst...

Recently I was introduced to some covert establishments in this maze of basements, multiple floors, and alleyways. Elephant Factory Coffee is for a day when you want to explore by yourself and dig into that book in your bag. The simple décor is the backdrop to help you notice all the enlightened details- the grain of the wood tables, the green of the plants in the window, the glass of the display cases, the shine of the coffee pot, the depth of the coffee and, the perfectly square slightly lemony of the cheesecake. And Black Ark Records is for you serious reggae-loving, 45-collecting, spend-10,000-yen-on-a-record persons. A whole different flavor from afore mentioned coffee shop. It’s homegrown and hand-drawn. Graffiti and dust, kooky but endearing ornaments, and cardboard box after cardboard fishburger box of 7 inches in their white paper sleeves.

If you seek, you shall find. Or have a friend take you, and pass it on. But in a whisper ‘k?

New, Fresh, Simple, Clean

Dining on soup, sandwiches, bread, and salad almost daily in Europe makes a Japanese person want some Japanese food. I think it's wired into my DNA because no doubt in my mind, Japanese food is the most superior food on the planet. Also, I had been sick, and this flu virus was not letting me go so easily. My body only yearned for plain, basic nourishment.

So for lunch we went to Tohru Soba, which I've mentioned only in passing in a previous entry. "We have new crop soba" announced a memo on the door. What does that mean, exactly? Well, according to the owner/soba-maker, it's soba noodles made from a freshly picked buckwheat crop- lighter in flavor, but very fragrant. Some people like it, and some people would say that the older soba gets, the better. Like Beaujolais nouveau? I said, not knowing what I was talking about. Yeah, sorta like that.

But anyway, I like this hidden lunch spot because not only is the food healthy and delicious, the interior is also nice; a corridor with stepping stones and tiny pebbles leading to a clean long wooden counter. The dishes and bowls each have their own personality but all are very simple. Food, interior, tableware- they all go together in their understated but hearty vibe.

Tohru soba serves hand-made soba and is only open for lunch from 11:30 ~ 3pm, after which it turns into a sake bar run by a different man in the evenings. It's on Nijo x Higashinotoin. Closed Wednesdays and 1st Thursdays of the month. Sometimes, they run out, so call ahead if you're going late.

Kora Kapda @ Cafe Hello

Lovely Cafe Hello's gallery, Halo Galo is hosting Kora Kapda, Tokyo-based design team speicializing in stoles and clothing made from Indian Kadi cotton.

At this point, Kora Kapda only has an online shop, so this is a great chance to see these exquisite pieces in person. Feel how soft and smooth they are on the skin, take in the colors, and wrap them around your shoulders and have a look in the mirror. Just draping them on makes anyone look ten times more stylish. It's a no-brainer! To top it all off, prices are quite reasonable considering the quality.

Kadi is a small city in India, the epicenter of cotton ginning and production. The cotton used for these stoles is hand spun and woven in a tradition passed down from long ago, often used for makinig Saris. Absorbant and quick-drying, the fabric keeps one cool in summer and warm in winter. The hand-spun cotton thread is so fine, a machine is unable to produce the same delicate results.

This mini shop runs until November 27th. Cafe Bibliotic Hello is on Nijo between Tominokoji and Yanaginobamba

Coffee House Jittoku/Niplets

Back from my whirlwind European tour, recovering from illness and jetlag.
Ring ring, i got a call to go out on a Wednesday night. "C'mon...It's my favorite band, it's psychadelic rock-ish," my friend said. Shoooot. Aw, OK.

"A bit north on Oomiya/Marutamachi" I told the cab driver. I arrived at a funny building- an old sake brewery. Coffee House Jittoku is supposedly the oldest live venue in all of Japan??? You can have a seat against the wall on tatami, or sit on barrels at big round wooden tables. Large spherical paper lanterns dimly illuminate the room. There were very few people there.

Food, drinks, and alcohol on the menu. My liver, or is it my kidneys? or my spleen? felt week from a full week of meds. I ordered a tomato juice. Niplets was the band he was talking about. What a groupie. He apparently goes to all their shows. But actually, I don't blame him. They are really good- Experieced musicianship, and definitely no pretention.

Their next show is in Osaka on December 21st at Musica Japonica.
The event is titled Hiroshi Matsuri, the leader of the Niplets being a Hiroshi. All the bands he's in will play. All people named Hiroshi get in free.

Niplets needs more fans and groupies. Come out and support.

Peace to Kanazawa

I met up with my auntie and uncle in Kanazawa last weekend. They greeted me with a big sign that read, WELCOME NNCOOLJ! KANAZAWA YOU! Boy, did I feel VIP! I got to take a sneak peak into my uncle's father's Maki-e studio. The intricate details were a sight to behold! This craft takes serious prowess.

Lunch at "Grill Otsuka" which is serves up a huh-uge! hanton rice. A Kanazawa speicalty, hanton rice is basically omurice with fried fish scattered on top, then covered with tar-tar sauce. That's some Japanese soul food; it stays in your gut alll day. But ooo it was tasty.

Next, hopped on our bicycles to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, which was host to the first Ron Mueck exhibit in Japan. HOLY MOLY. I can't (and won't) explain it in words. The show ends in a few days, but keep an eye out for upcoming awesome shows! I especially like what the director has to say.

The next day, we awoke at dawn to hit Wajima's morning market. Here, i smelled a very strong fishy odor not much unlike Thai fish sauce wafting from the stalls, heard the incessant soliciting of the vendor ladies, bought some furry sunflowers, ate dried squid, and petted a 3-pawed dog. We then drove to the water's edge to see the threatening waves of the Sea of Japan, and finished off our morning with a spin on foam mats down the longest slide in Ishikawa.

Oh, I can go on and on about this lovely city. About 13,000 yen round trip on the Thunderbird express, which takes just about 2 hours from Kyoto. Don't miss it.

Yokoo Tadanori Doesn't Sleep

My mother and I went to the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe to see the Tadanori Yokoo exhibit entitled Be Adventurous!

Yes. I came out of there completely satisfied and fulfilled. There’s a lot to digest both for your eyes and brain. Serious and humorous; graphic precise lines and quick brush strokes; small works on paper and huge canvases- the push and pull between these different qualities keeps you engaged throughout.

Mr. Yokoo started out as a graphic designer, and later in the 80s started to make paintings. At 73 years old, he’s still working. The show features an insane-o variety of work from his early advertisement work and designs for magazines in the 60’s to new paintings dated this year. The man doesn’t sleep!

The museum itself is designed by Tadao Ando, one of Japan’s esteemed modern architects. It is beautiful and mazelike, and like many of his buildings, makes wonderful use of natural light. Amid the flat planes of cool concrete and lofty ceilings, you feel protected from the sweltering pavement and bright summer heat outside.

This show runs til August 24th. I think it’s perfect for a date

My Fukui Getaway Adventure

It was a 3-day weekend. Must seize the day; there are none of these long weekends the whole of August.

Destination: Fukui. Not too far, not too close. In fact, only about an hour and a half and one straight shot on the JR train called The Thunderbird.

Mostly, I wanted to visit Eiheiji monastary. I really like this book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, which are recorded lectures by a man named Shunryu Suzuki, who trained at this monastary and later moved to the U.S. to share Zen Buddhism with Americans. He mentions Eiheiji a few times in the book, so I was quite curious and intrugued too have a look.

I also saw that Fukui is home to the most dinosaur remains in Japan, and had a dinosaur museum. Dinosaur Museum!!!

So reading material and camera in tow, off I went on the Thunderbird express.
The results?

At Eiheiji I walked over immaculately polished cool wooden floors, felt the solidness of the beams that held everything together high overhead and all around. I brushed by robed monks shuffling through on their way to lunch and heard the chanting of their practice. It really was as someone pointed out, a living "zen dojo".

Either the dino museum really wasn't all that tight or I'm just not as big a dinosaur enthusiast as I'd like to be. Or I just picked the worst day to go, Monday being a national holiday following the first weekend of summer break for the kids. Screaming children and their exhausted (looking?) parents flocked to the place like ants to a cookie crumb. One thing I have to give them credit for is the architecture. The building itself from a distance looks like a gigantic dinosaur egg jutting out of a green forest of trees. Once inside the egg, you descend down an escalator in the center of the dome which really makes you feel like you are going into the belly of the beast. But that's about it- exhibits, meh; interesting factor- 4.

All tings is what you make of it, seen? Pack light and choose your own adventure.

333

Where is the soul, people?!

Hooray for Vietnamese/Burmese restaurant 333 (say: Bar Bar Bar) which scored mucho dankness points on both the food and the vibe.
It's a hole in the wall place- not too tidy, plastic sheets on the tables, Christmas lights blinking, TV in the back showing sports- but cozy enough when you just want some spicy food. The painted swallow design on the ceiling beams are good.

Named after the Veitnamese beer, 333 also happens to be, fittingly, on the 3rd floor. Go south on Kawarachachi from Oike, and turn left when you see Kyoto Royal Hotel, look for the yellow sign out on the left side of street.

Amalgamation: (noun) a mixture or blend

Coffee, bikes, and art all in one building…but if you want it, you gotta stay alert. Keep your peepers open when walking north on Kawaramachi just before Imadegawa on the east side of the street. It’s a white building open to a hallway lined with bikes. Go up the stairs in back and you’ll see a whole bunch or rooms branching off a narrow corridor. First up is Voice Gallery
and the next offshoot is a curious cafe.

You might find someone sorting a large tray of pale green beans getting ready for roasting at the large wooden table like I did this day. Along the shelf on the left wall- beautiful hand-made glasses heavy when held in hand. Straight ahead, facing the windows, a counter. A woman will hand you the menu which is a map highlighting the countries from which the beans originate. It's more efficient to tell her what kind of coffee you like- bitter or tangy, brewed strong or mild. Your coffee is made in a flannel filter which supposedly reduces the amount of sediment and acids when the water runs through. There's no denying this operation is for serious about coffee down to the bean, and cater to those of the same passion. Each cup is carefully prepared with maximum attention, and you're obliged to drink it black for utmost coffee experience.

Over in the corner of the room, colorful bike frames hang from the ceiling. At this bike shop the good-natured owner will help build you a bike or repair whatever is wrong with the one you've got. Messengering for a few days of the week, he’s only in from Thursday to Sunday. His hours are very...variable, so if you want to catch him, it's safest to go in the late afternoon.
Even in the smallest of spaces, you make do. Anything is possible.

Speaking of Libraries...

There's also a little-known one at a peculiar place called Kyoto Art Center.

It's a former elementary school rebuilt in the 30s transformed into a maze-like complex dedicated to art (think small-scale P.S.1 in New York) , especially by emerging young artists. It houses 2 gallery spaces, artist studios, a cafe, library, study room, auditorium, and a few other spaces I've never seen.

The halls are made of creaky hardwood floors that echo with your footsteps, and the doors still have the original blown-glass windows that rattle when slid open. It feels a little desolate and spooky, but the chatter and noise leaking out of the cafe keeps it just cheerful enough so you don't get too creeped out.

The humble library has mostly arts-related magazines and books. Show them your ID and score a card (kept for you behind the desk) good for 2 books, 2 weeks at a time. A lot of the books and mags you can't borrow, but can peruse at the table or on one of the large plush black ottoman-benches. There are also few interesting DVDs you can watch with headphones on one of the small TVs in the back.

Basically, this is a neato, creepy-in-a-good-way kind of spot to check out maybe on a lunch break or something. Why not, right?

Make it a Library Day

In the Hemmingway short story there's a lonely old man who goes into a clean, well-lighted place.

While you can't get tipsy at this particular place, you can certainly find respite from any loneliness. It's a magical zone called the library. It's at once quiet and bustling, the cogs in heads rotating, pages on shelves waiting to be turned.

And check out the lights!



See?

There aren't so many books in English, but it's still fun to walk down the aisles or leaf through the magazines. You can just go to sit at the smooth flat desks to study or read... because do you honestly think you can input information into your brain at Starbucks?

If you live in Kyoto and have an alien registration card, you can get yourself a library card and check out up to 5 books for 2 weeks.

Nada nada nada mas decir. Over and out.

Go See Some Art

Museums. What fabulous places. Hushed and spacious and echoey. You feel so small, and it feels so immense! You can go with family, a friend, a date or by yourself. Fitting on a rainy day, a bummed-out day, a day when you need some inspiration.

Museum of Modern Art Kyotohas some good shows. It's also close to Heian Shrine, next-door to the library, and accross the street from the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art.
Currently, there's a German poster exhibit. About 180 Posters from Germany and Japan from the late 1800s into the 30s. The composition and font and use of color was more interesting than the actual image.

By the time some of you read this, this show will be gone, but the museum always comes through with something interesting so check to see what's happening!

Bikes Bikes and Chocolate Records

My bike is complete! Perfecto! Natural Cycle you are the best!
Miah from Oakland is here and we were fed Kishimoto-san’s beef and tamago (egg) soup. Yum! Warm goodness before our ride to the opening of a new bike shop Newton. Styled out bikes filled the block stacked and leaning against eachother across the street. Bike-messengery-looking people flooded the store and tumbled out onto the street. The beer flowed freely and the dj was playing a good mix of everything. A Photo exhibition in one room along the wall was aight. We talked to some artists from San Francisco and Tokyo who wanted to meet up later. Off to Collage to some kind of soul/funk event where they had mini home-made chocolate in the shape of records. They even came in their own sleeves. We got a little free-style rap session from one guy, and later soulful Tami sang while her boyfriend played some instrumental tunes. The SF/Tokyo guys looked really bored and asked stuff like, so isn’t there something else going on? Where the girls at? Sorry dudes, we are not as cool as you.

Natural Cycle

I am getting my new bike (ha~y!) made at Natural Cycle. I went there today to check out what it looked like, but I still wanted some things changed out- the front fork, the handle bars, etc. so I couldn't bring it back home.

The bikes are nice but the unpretentiousness and relaxed vibe are what make this shop so special. NC is about DIY, finding the beauty in humble things, creativity, humanity, generosity, hospitality... and cold chilling.

Every time I go in there, no matter what time of day, the owner, Kishimoto-san is cooking in the back. N-chan, are you hungry? You gotta try this.
between spurts of bike-assembling there's- coffee time! Who's turn to eat? Tea's done! ..and everyone stops what they're doing.

I shoulda taken a photo of my bike for a before and after shot but instead, I got into some photo-taking shenanegans with this regular. He is a riot.