Hello there! 👋
Summer break is in full swing, and so we are taking advantage of a break in school to make some trips, and get out of the heat of Kyoto (which clocked 42ºC in RealFeel today). At the beginning of the month we escaped northward, to Tohoku, where it was a balmy 22ºC and dry. Lovely!
However, summer also means matsuri time, and one of the major three festivals in Japan is Gion Matsuri here in Kyoto and we couldn't miss it (and neither did the 150,000 visitors we had this year!). This festival has been warding off disease and pestilence since 869. A few dozen neighbourhood floats, each weighing tons, are hauled around the city over the period of a month. It has a very distinct type of festival music, very konchiki kon. This year we were able to go into the Ōfune-hoko, a large boat float, while they were playing! It was crazy loud. Photos and videos linked below.
Last week my wife took our kids over to Korea for a week. I stayed home to work, but it also gave me the time to finish off some blog posts linked below.
Now I am scrambling to get to bed. It is almost midnight but I have to get up at 5:45am and get on the Shinkansen headed for Kyushu. The second part of our summer holidays starts this week, this time in the south by a cool sea breeze — we are returning to Iki!
Will send pictures…
/ck
🖋 From the Blog
Driving Iwate: The 3/11 tsunami 12 years later
Learning about the destruction and seeing the reconstruction
Driving Fukushima: The 3/11 nuclear disaster 12 years later
Second part of the trip where I learn about the Banana Equivalent Dose radiation
Sights from traveling northern Japan
Quick round-up of our summer trip besides the two places above, with links to some photo galleries.
🧭 Elsewhere
I have powered through all of my other podcasts clearing the decks to take the next week and listen to The Santiago Boys, Evgeny Morozov’s latest opus. Link →
Check the design on this unique coffee maker. Satisfying? Link →
2 numbers for your consideration Link →
Some pics of the floats of Gion Matsuri 🎐🏮🪈 Link →
📖 What I’m Reading
Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan's Premodern Capital by Matthew Stavros
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Some friends are coming from Canada to tour Kyoto. So I am finally reading this book that I have wanted to read for a long time and boning up on some good trivia about the city I live in.
Connect with me on GoodReads → or on Bookwyrm →