the writings, musings, and photography of a dream smith
is for Uji, one of the most famous places in Japan for green tea, and especially matcha. As I promised during my R is for ラリー post this month, I'm going to talk a bit about the green tea store we went to while we were there for the stamp rally. It was truly amazing - the shop…
is for tera, or the Japanese word for temple. If you can say nothing else of Kyoto, it's that there is no shortage of temples. There are at least 1,600 in the vicinity of the city and its suburbs, serving several sects of Buddhism and Taoism. Naturally, I haven't been to them all, but I…
is for jinja, or the Japanese word for shrine. Kyoto has literally hundreds of shrines within the city limits, but today I want to talk about one of the most famous (and voted #1 attraction in all of Japan last year): Fushimi Inari Shrine. Fushimi Inari is one of the most famous and recognizable shrines in…
is for rari, or the Japanese word for rally. Japan has many unique ways it entertains its populace, and one of these ways is the stamp rally. They're basically scavenger hunts, with the object of the game being to collect a number of stamps from stations situated across a complex, or city, or train line.…
is for kannon, or the Japanese name for Quan-yin. She is a familiar sight all across Japan, gracing most temples, and in some areas, has statues large enough to be their own landmark. Kyoto actually has a statue of Quan-yin so large that, even though I've never seen it up close, I can always spot it…
