Lunamania

Here's the first of maybe several entries on Japan. Please welcome the addition of pictures to this hack job site.
Two weeks felt way too short. There really is too much to eat, do, and see. Highlights include:

Sukiyaki at Mishima-tei: The beef is so perfectly marbled with fat that two slices filled my tummy and induced serious reflection on coronary well-being.

Gion Matsuri: One of the largest and oldest festivals in Japan takes place in the Shijo district of Kyoto, a.k.a my father’s backyard. We were amongst 450,000 people crammed into an 8 block radius to admire the ginormous hoko. About 1000 yrs ago, the emperor ordered the building of the hoko (which are mobile shrines) as a way to extend divine protection from the plague to specific neighborhoods without established shrines. Each hoko is about 3 stories high and have platforms where local residents play gion music which goes a little sumthin’ sumthin’ like…kon kon chiki chin. Anyway, each year for the last 900 and some years, these divine interventions on wheels have been assembled and dis-assembled--without using a single nail. (That last small, but noteworthy detail is for Alba’s amusement.) The highlight of the weeklong festival is a parade of the hoko along the streets of Kyoto. Seeing that this involves using ropes to pull the equivalent of a large house through the narrow streets of Kyoto in 100 plus degree weather, it’s a tad painful to watch. I much prefer roaming around the festival stalls, catching yo-yo water balloons, eating sugar coated strawberries, and wondering how to make more room in my stomach for some okonomiyaki.

Arashiyama Monkey Park: In addition to the tourist Must-Sees (the Golden Pavillion, the stone gardens of Ryoanji, Ninen zaka, Kiyomizu temple, beautiful gardens, little Boddhisatvas everywhere.) My Monkey travel mate had researched opportunities to see her brethren on the other side of the Pacific. On a random mountain top in the western part of Kyoto lies a monkey refuge populated by what my conservative estimates tell me were five bajillion monkeys. A short hike brought us to spectacular views of Kyoto cradled by dense green mountains, and confinement in a cage where extended monkey families clamor on the grating to gawk at the enclosed humans. It was weird. I noticed that monkeys have fingerprints and nails just like we do. Creepy.

Hotter than New Dheli: Tokyo was on its way to breaking the national record of 37 consecutive days above 30 degrees celsius. (That's roughly 90 farenheit for the celsius challenged.) We had several days that hit 40. We joined 10 million Tokyo-ites in the national past time of planning one's day around air conditioning, shaved ice, and roof top beer gardens.