back in London looking back...

I came back in London yesterday.

I felt really relieved to be away from the heat and humidity in Japan, (It was 35℃ when I left there!) but I was missing all those nice things already...

Yuka terraces sticking out on the river is the scene of Kyoto in summer.

When I wasn't updating the blog, I was travelling in Osaka and Kyoto for a week. Kyoto has a lot of histories and beauties compacted in a small area, which is so hard to find anywhere else. It is the city I always go back when being in Japan as it has a lot of histories and ceramic shops for me too.

Funny enough when I was living in Kyoto I didn't see much of these precious historical things, but I appreciate them a lot now. This time I did get to see the place I'd been wanting to go for a long time: Katsura imperial village.

This is a view from one of the four tea houses in the village. These houses were designed to see the moon and you can guess how much they enjoyed the beautiful views from these houses.

They use precious materials but not obvious way. That is 'cool' in Japan always.

Although it's not only the gold leaf that is precious in this case but also the velvet that is making check pattern on the wall under the window.

The gold has been a symbol of power and wealth in a lot of cultures. And we also have golden temples and had a golden tea house made by powerful people of the time. However, they are very rare examples of having it so front.

I still have some pictures taken in Japan. I will show them when possible.

ロンドンに戻ってきました。日本の暑さと湿度から解放され、すごく気持ちよかったです。14時間のフライトで全く違う景色の土地に移動してしまう訳ですが、どちらの国に来ても、帰ってきたという感じがするのはとても不思議です。

日本国内2度目の旅は大阪、京都です。大阪では、東洋陶磁美術館で浅川兄弟の展覧会を見て、下町新世界と大阪城を回ったり、ベタに観光してきました。友人がヨドバシカメラでSLRのアップグレードをしたので、まだ購入して1年も経っていないというEosを格安で譲り受けました！また写真を撮るのが楽しくなりそうです。

京都では念願の桂離宮に行ってきました。前日に京都御所で申し込みをしたのですが、すんなり参加させてもらえました。昔は外人でも連れていないと、前日でもなかなか場所がとれないなどと聞いたものですが、閑散期だったのも良かったのでしょうか、なんだか拍子抜けしてしまう程でした。できれば、また違う季節に訪れたいとても美しい場所です。

ちなみに、今まで京都で一番好きな場所は、アプローチと庭が素朴でぽっこりしている詩仙堂だったのですが、桂離宮が断トツで出ます。表具も建具もバリエーションがあってかわいいのです。