a snowy morning

We hardly ever have snow in central Kyoto nowadays, it might lie briefly a couple of times a year. I seem to remember it used to be more often when I first started living here. Global warming? It could be.
I went out to take photos when I saw the snow on the neighbour’s roof. It wasn’t enough to cover the ground, but it gave slight colour to the scenery.

I went to Nijo Castle and Shinsen-en.


At Nijo Castle only a little snow remained.

the basic rules of taking Japanese bath

Most Japanese families have a bath (generally bath tub and space next to it to wash). In general bath and toilet are in separated rooms. A long time ago most families, especially in the city, didn’t have their own bath and people went to a public bath(sento/銭湯). In the country more family had baths, usually a detached building next to the toilet in the garden.

Let’s talk about the present day.

Japanese baths can generally be divided into 3 types: the private family bath, the public bath(sento/銭湯) and the hot spring bath(Onsen/温泉).
In all three types people share the same bath tub water, unlike a western bath, therefore you wash yourself before jumping into the water. Considering others and trying not to make the water dirty for those taking a bath later is very, very important. So the bath tub is not a place to wash your body but to soak and relax after getting clean.


Public baths and hot spring baths are usually bigger and communal. Some might even look like pool to you, but I advise you not to swim or splash unless you are all alone in the bath. I also advise not to wear swim suites even if you are embarrassed to be naked with strangers – the others are naked as well. Most baths are separated by gender. Unfortunately only a Japanese sign indicates which is which in most places, 男(male) usually blue or a dark colour sign and 女(female) usually red or pink.

Usually take a small towel or flannel to wash your body before getting into the bath, avoid dipping it into bath water, especially at hot springs, because it causes the water to get cloudy.


There might be other rules that I can’t think of right now because I take them for granted. I would be very happy if you let me know anything you think I’ve forgotten or ought to mention as well as anything you’d like to check or find out about.

Masks have disappeared from shelves lately

People all over the world worried about the news of the recent swine flu. The first patient, a 10 years old boy, in Kyoto was found last week. Disposable masks have disappeared from shelves sometime ago. I heard that it almost impossible to buy them anywhere around here. I personally rather doubt whether they are effective against the flu, but precaution might be a wise man’s thought.

a day trip to Shiga: a party with local specialities

Our original plan was having a barbecue at our friend’s garden and later visiting Kaigake-dani(鎌掛谷) which is a valley full of rhododendron(ホンシャクナゲ). Unfortunately the weather didn’t let us follow our plan, it started raining.

We had to put off visiting Kaigake-dani till next year and instead of having had barbecue in her garden we enjoyed local foods inside.

The old name of Shiga prefecture is “Omi” (近江). The region neighbours Kyoto and its population has increased as the commuting time to Osaka and Kyoto has decreased. Some of the area is still heavily cultivated and is the home of “Omi beef” (近江牛) which is one of the best known brands of marbled beef as well as “Omi-mai” a well-known type of rice.

I’m personally not a fan of beef, especially the marbled beef which I think too fatty, but I thought I should try what the locals recommended, usually they know best. Unexpectedly the beef was good and made me realise that it isn’t as bad as I thought. This area is also well-know for pork. We had miso marinated pork grilled on a charcoal fire, which was delicious.

Our friend had served us many local delicacies. This is one of them. This is a once a year festival dish from her area, but she was kind enough to have made it especially for us out of season. The fish is a sea bream with “somen”, thin noodles. We have somen in my area, but it’s never served with seafood.

We also had a pork “shabu-shabu” hot pot. I don’t know how we managed to finish it all.

"Gochisosama-deshita."