{"id":61382,"date":"2023-11-21T11:54:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T00:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/?p=61382"},"modified":"2023-11-21T11:54:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T00:54:15","slug":"kyoto-report-2023-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/?p=61382","title":{"rendered":"Kyoto Report 2023 \u2013 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is my last Report from Kyoto for 2023. I will be returning to my work there in 2024 and there are still lots of things to report on. I seem to discover more as I learn more, which is always a good thing. Anyway, our bikes are back in storage, our cases packed and by the time this comes out I will be back down South with mixed feelings about that. Life goes on though. Stay tuned for the Kyoto Report 2024 series – starting sometime next year.
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Shosei-en garden<\/h2>\n

The other day, I was riding my bike after work down here the main station in Kyoto and decided to call in to visit the famous – Shosei-en Garden<\/a> – which dates back to the – Edo Period<\/a> (1603 to 1868).<\/p>\n

The garden was created from land ceded by the Higashi Hongan-ji Temple in 1653, upon the retirement of the temple’s head abbot.<\/p>\n

It is a magical place.<\/p>\n

When one walks through the gate a large rather strange but beautiful wall, which is made of all sorts of rocks including old mill stones.<\/p>\n

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It immediately sets the expectation that this is a special place to visit.<\/p>\n

The garden is superb.<\/p>\n

This wooden bridge takes the stroller across a pond and the woodwork is really interesting.<\/p>\n

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Here is the profile of the roof, which layers of birch forming the main cover.<\/p>\n

Amazing from my eyes anyway.<\/p>\n

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It was late afternoon and the dappled light through the trees as the sun was going down was a sight to behold.<\/p>\n

All sorts of shades.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, I rode down to the Kamo River via a shop that makes brass tea caddies, which are exceptional.<\/p>\n

The long ride North back home along the River finished off a great expedition.<\/p>\n

A special Obento lunch<\/h2>\n

Last week, I also was able to have a nice lunch with a friend in Kyoto and she went to so much trouble to produce a Special Vegan >\u30aa\u30d9\u30f3\u30c8 (Obento or lunch) in a beautiful old \u304a\u30d9\u30f3\u30c8\u30fc\u7bb1 (obento-bako or obento lunch box) that came from her grandmother.<\/p>\n

Just the appearance of it is a work of art and that was before we sampled the food.<\/p>\n

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Rice is a necessity and she mixed some purple Japanese basil into the rice balls which were – oishi (delicious).<\/p>\n

There was a spinach bowl, some fried lotus root with eggplant and plenty of tofu.<\/p>\n

Last came the persimmon.<\/p>\n

It was a great lunch and we talked MMT, progressive politics in Japan and the state of the educational system and more.<\/p>\n

A really nice day.<\/p>\n

Autumn leaves<\/h2>\n

The leaves are falling now in Kyoto – very late in the season though because of the record heat that Japan has endured over the last few months.<\/p>\n

It was only in the last week that the cold is setting in and we went from shorts to coats and scarfs and gloves overnight.<\/p>\n

Here is the entrance to the building at the University where I have meetings and attend\/give seminars (Research Building 19).<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I am leaving before all the colour in the mountains with the foliage is revealed.<\/p>\n

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On the lookout for gardens<\/h2>\n

Yes, I often stop on my bike and peer into gardens to get inspiration for a little – Tsubo-niwa<\/a> – courtyard garden we are working on at our house in Victoria.<\/p>\n

There are so many variations and beautiful ideas around the suburbs of Kyoto.<\/p>\n

The other day, I rode across town to store my bike in a university store room for next year and came across this.<\/p>\n

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Tokyo<\/h2>\n

Then came Tokyo.<\/p>\n

I spent a few days in Tokyo where last Friday we launched my latest book – Fiscal Policy in the Age of Inflation – co-authored with Professor Satoshi Fujii.<\/p>\n

There was a large audience at the event in central Tokyo and afterwards we signed copies for seemingly everyone (around 185 people).<\/p>\n

The signature started to resemble a straight horizontal line with some dots on top after a while.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that was a nice event.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, I went to the famous – Shinjuku Gyo-en<\/a> – which is a large park and traditional Japanese garden just before you get to the Shinjuku City area.<\/p>\n

The contrast between the park and the – Shinjuku City<\/a> – area is massive.<\/p>\n

There was the annual Chrysanthemum Festival in the garden which was fantastic.<\/p>\n

All sort of different types and arrangements.<\/p>\n

Each arrangement had an explanatory board – detailing how the gardeners coaxed the plants and stems in this way and that.<\/p>\n

Here are just a few of the arrangements.<\/p>\n

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And, I love traditional Japanese lanterns and this grand example caught my eye guarding or illuminating the south pond in the garden.<\/p>\n

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Afterwards, I walked to the Shinjuku City shopping district, only because I wanted to visit the – Omoide Yokoch\u014d (Memory Lane) – area which is a few very narrow lanes full of food shops.<\/p>\n

I went there because the fabulous Japanese TV series – Midnight Diner<\/a> – was based on this area although filmed in a studio.<\/p>\n

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Not a place for vegans though!<\/p>\n

Even the ‘vegetarian’ Ramen is suspicious because they tend to use meat-based stocks or put bonito in the broth.<\/p>\n

I have acute antennas for this sort of thing.<\/p>\n

If you are vegetarian then to be safe in Japan you should always choose the vegan options – if you can find them.<\/p>\n

In Kyoto you have more chance of such a discovery than elsewhere because of their Buddhist traditions there.<\/p>\n

My favourite vegan cafe, by the way, is called Ren Horikawa, just west of the Imperial Gardens (Address: \u4eac\u90fd\u5e02\u4e0a\u4eac\u533a\u685d\u5c4b\u753a1\u3000\u5800\u5ddd\u4e0b\u9577\u8005\u901a\u308a\u4e0b\u308b).<\/p>\n

We often ride our bikes over there for lunch (it closes at 19:00).<\/p>\n

Anyway, a long walk on my last day in Tokyo after a long run earlier in the morning and a really chilled out time in the garden.<\/p>\n

And, central Tokyo is a great place to run in the mornings believe it or not.<\/p>\n

The loop around the Imperial Palace is about 5kms in distance and has a long uphill stretch around the back of the Palace that tests how you are feeling.<\/p>\n

From my accommodation I can easily turn it into a 10 km run and the surface is great as are the views.<\/p>\n

There is a real sense of a community of runners there.<\/p>\n

At one point, as you reach the city side (Marunouchi business district), you run across the moat and through two really large gates which are a feature in themselves.<\/p>\n

Every time I am in Tokyo, this is where I head with my running shoes on.<\/p>\n

That’s it for 2023.<\/p>\n

Each year I learn more about Japanese history and culture, which helps me understand all sorts of things that I might have normally missed, not the least being their economic policy choices.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, they are heavily influenced by American economists to their detriment.<\/p>\n

But having said that they still come up with a unique blend that defies the logic deployed by the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

My Japanese is improving and I hope to be able read fluently by next year.<\/p>\n

Which will come around sooner than I can say \u014ckini, which is local dialect to express gratitude.<\/p>\n

The fact that I am now picking up and using Kansai-ben (Kansai dialect) in addition to standard Japanese makes me happy.<\/p>\n

For example, I started to use Honma instead of Hontou for very much.<\/p>\n

And, Ee instead of Ii for good.<\/p>\n

And more – almost a local.<\/p>\n

That is enough for today!<\/p>\n

(c) Copyright 2023 William Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is my last Report from Kyoto for 2023. I will be returning to my work there in 2024 and there are still lots of things to report on. I seem to discover more as I learn more, which is always a good thing. Anyway, our bikes are back in storage, our cases packed and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan","entry","no-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}