Today we're in Uji, a city between Nara and Kyoto, two old capitals of Japan.
It is known for its superb tea (Uji Matcha is from Uji) and its Buddhist temple Byodo-in, so important it is even featured on the 10 yen coin and some postal stamps.
It is known for its superb tea (Uji Matcha is from Uji) and its Buddhist temple Byodo-in, so important it is even featured on the 10 yen coin and some postal stamps.
It looks really rad, supposedly - we didn't go
there, because there was a 2 hour long queue at the entrance. Photos
from Wikipedia.
Besides, that's not why we came here. And not even for the Nintendo museum (btw make sure to book it 3 months in advance!). No no 🙂
Besides, that's not why we came here. And not even for the Nintendo museum (btw make sure to book it 3 months in advance!). No no 🙂
You arrive to the Uji station, and you immediately see Sound! Euphonium collaboration with the Uji municipal government.
That's why we're here. Uji is a stage for Sound! Euphonium. The touristy things are less interesting than being able to see somewhat regular neighborhoods featured in Kyoto Animation's hit.
That's why we're here. Uji is a stage for Sound! Euphonium. The touristy things are less interesting than being able to see somewhat regular neighborhoods featured in Kyoto Animation's hit.
Most people come here for the temples and the
tea. There are still plenty of weirdos like us who are here for the
Eupho, that's reassuring.
The station also reminds that the city is
connected to lady Murasaki Shikibu, a writer from the tenth century who
wrote, arguably, the first modern-style novel in the world. Murasaki to
Japan = Shakespeare to England.
The Uji bridge and the view to the Nara JR railroad is the first thing you see when you get out of the station.
The bridge is also the beginning of a hiking route around the local mountains leading to a huge dam.
Local shops have some small references to KyoAni
There's pretty wisteria trellis outside of the temple
A heron! It startled a couple of women having a picnic on the side of the river
The central park spreads across two islands and has at least three bridges
The bridges are, supposedly, very pretty at night
What do you think this could be? 🤔
A water pump station, and...
"I want to get good!!!" bench
This must be one of Kumiko's friends~
(We asked the permission of the cosplayer to take the photo)
(We asked the permission of the cosplayer to take the photo)
Uji shrine is really ancient
A path between the shrines and the temples and
the Tale of Genji museum is so beautiful we forgot to take any photos.
There was also an event in the Ujigami shrine (it's also 1000 years
old!), where kids were carrying a huge taiko drum, and other kids were
wearing dragon costumes and had a carriage, probably with some shinto
relics?
(it was an annual festival, says Twitter)
The Tale of Genji museum also features characters from the Eupho.
The museum is relatively small, and has two
sections: Heian history, to give you the context of the era of The Tale,
and The Tale section, covering the story, the characters, and the
author
A picture-perfect life in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto or holiday palace in Uji
The palaces of Heian era were huge...
A 2015 guidebook on Euphonium in Uji spotted
And a newer 2017 guidebook.
One thing that I've read in a blog about Euphonium pilgrimage:
when Kyoto Animation directors go for reference shots, they don't just
take photos, they try to capture the vibe, and often incorporate what
they learn about the place into the show. The area around Uji river
isn't just beautiful, it has lots of bugs! Here Kumiko runs through a
cloud of gnats.
When you're there during the day, you could hear the sound of the bug-killing devices attached to the poles around, zapping the bugs!
When you're there during the day, you could hear the sound of the bug-killing devices attached to the poles around, zapping the bugs!
We're about to climb Daikichiyama, "Mountain of Great Luck". It is one of the small hiking routes around here.
It is the date spot Reina chose for the local festival to avoid the crowds
The mountain is quite steep
There is a wide path, but still
The sign in three languages begs the visitors not to climb the mountain at night as it is dangerous. Be gay do crimes?
The observation deck is full of people taking
their rest. It seems at least some of them are here exactly for the same
reason as us.
The view from the observation deck is breathtaking.
It must be even better at night (when it's very dangerous to climb the mountain!)
You can even see the Ten Yen Temple! For free! Without waiting in the queue!
...Time to leave our bags at the hotel. Well, it's less of a hotel and more of an inn.
The room has a pleasant feeling about it, and
tatami smells nice, too. It gets a bit loud when people are jumping
upstairs, though. Futon is very soft. The sliding doors are doing
"gatagatagata" sound when you move them.
There's an old corridor (it's called "rouka") outside of the room. The corridor is all ours, too
There's a little garden outside of the
corridor. In theory we could get out, but we couldn't figure out how to
open the sliding doors. It's fine.
The room has a pillar that looks a lot like a pretzel stick. I've seen those in anime and Japanese games before. It's real!
The area around is anything but touristy. There are tea factories, home improvement centres, and Shimamura fast fashion.
Fun trivia: you probably know that many signs with Japanese or Chinese text sold in the West are actually full of gibberish; sometimes that spills into T-shirt designs, too. But did you know that Japanese people proudly wear T-shirts with broken English on them? And Shimamura is one of the places where you could buy one!
Fun trivia: you probably know that many signs with Japanese or Chinese text sold in the West are actually full of gibberish; sometimes that spills into T-shirt designs, too. But did you know that Japanese people proudly wear T-shirts with broken English on them? And Shimamura is one of the places where you could buy one!
Like, uh, this is supposed to be the official merchandise
Why
The shortest way to the konbini is through some fields and farms. I swear, it's a 20 minute drive to the centre of Kyoto.
There's a tiny river by the road, and the local kappa warns everyone about the dangers of it
Something something the second largest metropolitan area in Japan, tenth largest in the world.
The peas are almost ripe. The cabbage is going to be harvest-ready in a few weeks.
The peas are almost ripe. The cabbage is going to be harvest-ready in a few weeks.
A local turtle said hi to us. What a lovely place.