A third of my holiday gone already!!

That's right - this is the post of day 6 and I am only here for a total of 17 nights - but that is about 18 full days as I fly out very late!

As I indicated yesterday there was a bit of need for more sleep so I treated myself to a bit of a lay in - expecting the weather to be as bad as yesterday. However it was pretty dull till about 4p.m. but no rain - I think the buckets were all empty after the deluges last night!

I have decided to go to the area around Mount Fuji tomorrow for 2 or 3 days so my first task today was to sort out the train journey and connections etc. I still have no bed to go to when I get there, but hopefully I will find one before I need it tomorrow night! The forecast is for sunshine but cool so keep those fingers crossed for me.

Anyway the arrangement making etc all took time and I didn't get to my first experience until lunch-time-ish - it took a bit of finding partly because very few places actually tell you what they are in English outside the door (excluding most temples!). 

En route to my first destination I spotted these lovely shutters....and then stopped to read a poster about a museum I was passing and tried to make out what it was a museum of - the answer is it was a museum of metal work......I decided to give this one a miss! See below! There isn't enough time for every museum, shrine or temple Kyoto has to offer - you would need several months for that!

My adventure actually started with the kaleidoscope museum. I have always loved these sorts of patterns and still remember playing with a 'real' kaleidoscope when I was a kid. Today I know you can do it all with a computer but that doesn't excite to the same level as playing with  the real deal! Sadly for all of you, photography wasn't allowed - and it shows their lack of trust as you had to lock up all your gear to go into the museum. Mostly you needed two hands though so maybe that was why! 

Sorry if the font is changing size - don't know how to fix it and haven't time to worry about it now!

If I get time later I will tell you more about the Kaleidoscopes but for now I will continue my day. 

While sorting out the travel arrangements, the guy at the agency told me about an embroidery place to go to and it was right near to the Kaleidoscope museum - although I didn't realise I had found it at first  - was just about to ask at the tea room where it was when spotted asign on the window saying the entrance was via tea rooms!

Sadly again there was no photography but it was worth looking for. Helen you would have been like me - gaping at the gold work as it was so neat and even...ah well!! There were 22 kimono here to gasp at - all either just yuzen dyed or yuzen and embroidery over the top - some of it just awe inspiring...I was disappointed tehre were no postcards or similar but luckily I have the advert!

As I was in the location I decided to also go to the Yuzen/shibori museum and was able to do a hands on session. Really it was all a bit pricey for what you ended up with but the experience itself was well worthwhile and I have learned a few extra bits along the way.....if I want to do any at home I now have a little more tricks up my sleeve!

This is my piece of silk clamped and ready to go in the first dye vat....

 ...and after....next you reposition the clamps either using the same or by changing shapes etc if you so desire...sorry about the flash flare!

I will show you the finished article on my return - but the boss man who had given me a tour of the showroom was very impressed....don't think they have that many people who have done it before! I tried to explain to the girl who was my tutor that I wanted to do something a bit different to the standard way of folding lengthwise then concertina fashion widthways. She was happy for me to try a few diagonal folds too  (sorry to those who have no interest in dyeing!!).  The important thing is that the result will be wearable - looks a bit more patriotic than I intended - I was after blues and purples with a flash of red....still not bad even if I say so myself.

The boss man put on an English DVD clip to explain the process and he allowed me to video it so hopefully we will be able to watch and learn!  You would be amazed at the wonderful shibori pictures and garments that are made at the studio - a picture can take so long the time is measured in months or years. (Photography is not allowed but I asked for special permission to just have one or two as they were so fabulous. Because he understood that I was into textile stuff (business card actually came in handy here!) he allowed me to take two but with no flash.

 Look hard (zoom in!) at the white bits of silk. They are tied into such small parcels ready for dyeing that you can hardly see the fabric that is left to be dyed...

 This above is some of the kit used....

And this is the sort of stunning kimono that he produces (the second photo I was allowed to take) - it takes over 18 months to make one of these so I didn't bother asking the price - just a tad out of my budget range! the colours were wonderful and the clarity astonishing...I would have loved one or one of his pictures!  Time to put my shoes back on and hit the trail!

Again I tend to look down as well as up while I am navigating the streets so to speak.....another drain cover/pavement sign for you.  I was on my way back to the subway when  I spotted this one - I think it was to denote a cycle lane as I nearly got run over by the thronging hoards of pedal pushers making their way home.

And some stunning reflections - one of the benefits of modern high rise buildings interspersed with all the old narrow streets.....I liked this crane - this time a mechanical one not the flying sort!

This is the final picture for today - it shows the vast size of the roads as well as some more reflections - and for once no annoying pedestrians in the immediate foreground.

 

Then it was time to get back to the adobe for some food,  rest and to pack a bag for my upcoming escapade.  I won't be taking the laptop I don't think as have no idea if there will be any wifi so near to the mountains....you will all have to check back on Thursday or Friday to find out how I get on...if I find a computer I will endeavour to post before this but don't be too worried - hopefully I will find a bed - don't fancy camping out in a bus stop or similar! I am joking  (I hope!!)  Back in touch asap....ttfn!