Rainy Day Activities in Kyoto

Today's activities were a little more laid back than the last couple of days. It was still sprinkling so we looked for indoor activities. My sister, Bridget and I went to the Kyoto Handy Craft Center to try our hand at making something resembling art. We tried the woodblock painting and in spite of good instruction, I must say that our attempts make the commercial block prints look phenomenal.

We then walked towards the downtown area and passed over the Kyoto version of a river. It looks a lot like the concrete channels I grew up with in southern California. We attempted to use the bus/subway/train system but was thwarted by the confusing transportation system. All of the systems are private and you need different passes for each one. We had a Japan Rail pass and had purchased subway/bus passes yesterday. There was an underground train that headed toward where we were headed but our passes didn't work.

I've seen a lot of these little three wheeled scooters around everywhere and they seem to be used mostly for food delivery vehicles. An insulated box fits on the rear rack and they aren't much wider than a normal scooter. In Kyoto, there seems to be quite a few more scooters and motorcycles than in Tokyo but bicycles outnumber any other form of wheeled transport.

In the downtown core, they even charge for bicycle parking. Scooter and motorcycle parking is on the street but bicycles get to go right next to the buildings.

That particular parking area happened to be in front of the capitol building. Kind of a dreary looking building compared to many of the other buildings in this town. But the grounds were very well kept and spotlessly clean. In fact, I have yet to see any litter along the street and even fewer trash cans. The American habit of eating and drinking while walking along isn't evident. If you stop at Starbucks, then you would stay there until you are finished.

These bikes are very common for carrying multiple kids or a lot of groceries. The really wide sidewalk in this area of town is for both pedestrians and bicycles with clearly marked lanes for each. Even the sidewalks are divided. The bicyclists are almost fearless as they navigate their way through traffic (always on the correct side of the street, going with the flow of traffic).

Here is where we were headed this afternoon after lunch. The Manga Museum where you could find everything related to manga. Something else that I didn't really know much about. I used to watch the cartoons while growing up but never knew it had a name. The whole manga/anime/cosplay thing is extremely popular and it isn't unusual to see girls dressed up as characters walking down the street. I guess that's one way to not conform and stand out in a crowd.