In Kyoto we stayed in 2 hotels. First the JR (Japan Railways) directly over Kyoto station which is extremely convenient when you want to go somewhere; and afterwards the Anteroom which is an art & design hotel (yet at a very reasonable price). Here you can always find nice picks of art like:

And more special issues as well…

Ok, this is strange I admit

They are cool…

We were even lucky enough to glimpse a Japanese R&B singer who was really good.

The audience was hip and chic as well. Being in Japan this means everything is neat, tidy, clean and well washed, of course So no crumpled shirts, torn jeans, dope in the air, …

The mood was very nice as they run a very reasonable bar with loads of nice whiskey from Scotland, Japan (yes, they produce quite some good whiskey here!) and all over the world

Censored!

For – well too obvious – reasons

Stone figures

That’s what I call “getting a shot”

ET’s cousin…

Marvellous way to present a crumpled and heated plastic bag

This is Japan – an illuminated beauty mirror…

Besides – we were quite lucky as there seems to be a stream of real old wines (1995, 1997, …) coming in from Europe which are at the end of their life, but really, really good and extremely affordable So we enjoyed quite some French drops otherwise far beyond our budget

Sweet dreams…

In Japan many filling stations (especially in the cities where space is a premium) have the nozzles coming from the top

There was an exhibition “Parasophia” going on about contemporary lifestyles and this was part of the exhibition

A place to express yourself and participate

Anything is allowed…

In general it was very contemporary…

But this is needed, too! Development not always has to be progress – and who defines what progress is anyhow…

Bamboo tower

Nice pieces

And others… Honestly sometimes you have no clue what it’s about and it doesn’t even look too good.

This one was great indeed!!!

Just like floating

Absolutely gorgeous

Broken porcelain grenades

the never-ending judge with imprisonment

And a diagram artist – looks pretty much like a business meeting diagram; the content is even similar (very often…)

On our last day in Kyoto we headed for the flee market (always on the 25th of a month next to a specific temple) which used to be very unique but now turned (like most things tend to do) into a tourist attraction. So the usual sellers are still there but more and more commercial stuff is coming in.

Food is ever-present in Japanese life, so here as well

Flower pots of all sizes and kinds

And another food speciality (which we only sampled once and that is enough…) – Okonomiyaki. In principle it’s an omelette with cabbage, noodles, and any leftover you find in the fridge… Cooked with loads of fat and fish / meat this is just very, very heave food (but very cheap – thus the popularity).

Being a temple women pray for fertility and men as well – just touching / rubbing different parts

Yakinuki – anything which can be smouldered

Prayers are written on wooded cedar sticks and then sometimes burned, sometimes just discarded. To collect them these boxes are there… Last year’s prayers

You can tell your fortune here for 200 Yen by shaking the metal tubes and taking out 3 sticks with sayings on them. Usually these sayings are not very precise and it takes another authority to interpret them correctly

Having some time before our train departure we stepped into the historical museum of Kyoto and found the right historic display… It was not meant to be in the exhibition but just standing around – yet fitted the context so perfectly

Oh yes – elections are coming up. Mr. Abe for sure tries to imply the big leadership… Horrible style & pictures

Our journey finally went on and took as from Kyoto to Shikoku (the smallest of the 4 main islands of Japan – Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku) with the Shinkansen (high-speed train)

Truly high-speed. Always running on it’s own tracks most of the time elevated some 15 m above ground with something between 270 – 350 km/h.