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Little Edo – Part 2

acase — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:52:09 +0000

Toki no kane (時の鐘) is the name of Kawagoe’s original bell tower, which is still used four times a day. We heard the noon ringing. The original is about 400 years old. This one was built in 1893, after the great fire that burned most of the town. If you look closely at the bottom, right part of this picture you can see some newlyweds having their pictures taken.

The bell and tower are also featured on Kawagoe’s manhole drain covers. (Kawagoeshi = かわごえし = 川越市 and shi means “city” in Japanese) (おすい = 汚水 and osui means “sewage” in Japanese)

There are all kinds of interesting shops and restaurants in Kawagoe. The one pictured above is called the Garden Cafe, run completely out of an old VW van, which I’m guessing isn’t from the Edo Period.

Japanese wedding

acase — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:16:38 +0000

While in Kyoto I happened to catch this wedding party coming down the street in a rickshaw. The bride doesn’t seem to be enjoying the occasion as much as the groom. Maybe the expressions would be reversed if he was wearing the hat instead.

Maiko?

acase — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 15:27:00 +0000

I’m not sure if these were real Maiko or just a couple of young ladies pretending to be such. You can tell they are not Geisha (Geiko since we were in Kyoto) because of their hair ornamentation. We saw lots more during the day rooming around Gion and the area east of Gion. I’ll show you some more pictures later. Again, I have no idea which were “real” and which were made up for the day.

We did see a real Maiko in the evening while roaming the streets of Gion. She hustled from her okiya to a tea house (ochaya). I’ll have a photograph of her and some nice, night shots from Gion in a future entry.