Our Neighborhood

This is basically our front yard

 It’s our first day in Kyoto that I don’t feel like wearing my hat and coat inside the house. The windows in our upstairs sitting room are open and we can see and hear our river across the street.  I’ll take our freezing cold machiya (old-style Japanese house) with circa Edo period (1603-1868) heating infrastructure anyday if it means we can live right here.  

Right here being the banks of the Kamogawa River, one of the two main rivers running north-south through the city and converging several km downstream from us at a beautiful little delta park and the Shimogamo shrine. Paths run along either side of the Kamo and on a sunny almost-spring day like today, they are filled with people running, walking dogs, biking (often with a baby in front and back), and birding. Herons, cormorants, egrets, plovers, beautiful brown ducks with light blue beaks – the Kamo is home to so many birds! And raptors! The other day we saw what must have been over 20 black-eared kites swooping and screeching – there are signs warning people “Don’t feed the kites! You’ll be scratched by their talons!” 

In the photos of birds I've taken you can barely see them - they are too small or blend in to the brown grasses. Here is a photo of an informational kiosk that does a much better job and you can learn their Japanese names!

I love love love that we can step out of our house, cross our little one-way street with not much traffic and be on the river. Looking north we see the mountains and looking south the river and paths go on as far as we can see, into downtown and beyond. Bridges connect the two sides of the city every half km or so, steps and ramps making the crossings easy for bikers and walkers. 

Looking south along the path outside our house - it's lined with cherry trees so we'll be sure to share
photos once the blossoms arrive! 

A 5 minute walk north along the path from our house leads to Kamigamo Jinja, our local UNESCO World Heritage shrine known for a white horse that brings good luck. We haven’t met the horse yet – maybe he is wintering somewhere warm? The bright vermillion gates characteristic of all the city’s shrines mark the boundary between the sacred and the mundane. A slight bow before entering the gate a sign of respect upon entering the spirit-filled space. 

Looking toward town from inside the Kamigamo shrine gate. 

 

Kamigamo in the snow. 

Crossing the river leads to our closest shopping area along Misonobashi street: 2 grocery stores, including a branch of the fabulous Kyoto Coop (!), our bike repair shop, a Lawson’s (one of the 3 main ubiquitous konbini or convenience stores), our neighborhood teppanyaki joint, and a handful of cafes and izakayas (small restaurants).  One of our favorites so far being the Chinese ramen and dumpling fast food spot (who knew we’d get great Chinese food in Japan??). Iago and Zadi have found a little cafe that they adore for their scientifically prepared brew and egg and toast breakfast – I’ll let them elaborate in a future post. 

To the south, one bridge down is our favorite Asano bakery – with familiar delights like chocolate croissants and new delicious treats like curry buns and milk bread. One more bridge leads to our local mall with a vast underground bicycle parking lot and ramen filled food court and several streets over, our local sento (bathhouse). I’m sure Bo will write in detail about our weekly sento routine at some point – he’s a big fan and that’s good because it means that he’ll happily bathe at least once a week.  

One more southern view of the Kamo from our Misonobashi bridge with the marathon runners heading back downtown today. 

And a gratuitous family selfie from one of the many hikes we've squeezed in to our first 2 weeks - this one looking West over the city from the Eastern slopes.