Day 3 - Family Japan - "Dying Workshop and Ninja/Samurai Experience"

Day 3 (Japan date: December 16, 2018)

Waking up at a nearly normal time (6AM), I was surprised the jet leg wasn’t as bad as I remembered it being during our last trip.  Perhaps the exercising and proper diet prior to this trip were paying off? The tea and herbals were having an effect? Or maybe I am just more put together than I was in 2010?  Any way you look at it, I wasn’t going to argue.  I made a small breakfast made in our tiny kitchen (eggs, awesome Japanese white bread, sausages) and got ready for the day.  First on the agenda was our reservation at the traditional kyo-yuzen dyeing workshop called Marumasu-Nishimuraya at 9AM. I wasn’t 100% sure how we would get there and how long it would take, so we left with plenty of time to spare.

We arrived slightly early, around 8:45AM and were a bit confused, we saw a storefront and a very small shop from the street, but it was dark with no activity.  Luckily there was a bench, so we had a seat and waited.  I double-check my information and reservation during this time to ensure we are at the right location (it seemed we were).  At 9:05AM I started to get nervous, luckily a nice 20-something foreigner (I believe it turned out she was from Australia) popped out from the long alley next to the building we were in front of and showed us to the back entrance, where we were supposed to be (a much larger factory sort of building).  She explained that was just the storefront where they sold previously made goods and it turned out nearly everyone makes the same mistake we did, it was all good and we were quickly shown the ropes on how to pick out our project (choosing from fans, bags, scrolls, picture frames and more), stencils and finally how to apply the paint and complete the dyeing process.  It was simple, yet complex, just what I would expect from such an activity.

We really enjoyed and took our time here.  There were several workers that spoke at least some English, along with the bilingual lady that showed us how to use everything initially.  Additionally there were several other groups of Japanese crafters that entered and got enjoyment out of seeing Terra concentrate on her traditional Japanese craft.  I was able to have a short simple conversation with an older Japanese man, which I presumed to be the boss/owner of the establishment. He was mighty impressed at my attempt, so that amused me.  It was a very enjoyable experience.

During the process we carefully applied thin layers of paint through the stencils until all of our
pictures were complete. In the end we emerged with 3 very nice looking items (a scroll, a bag and a picture frame), only costing around 9,000 yen total for the experience, crafts and time.  It was well worth the 2 ½ hours spent here, highly recommended. Upon exiting the shop it was time to go towards the next destination, but I was surprised we were so close to a castle and grounds, I felt as though I should've known about it and if I had it would've been on the itinerary. Later research turned up that it was Nijo-jo Castle and I would have, in fact, had it on our list if I had known about it and how close we would be.  No time for it now though, so we hop on a train at the nearest station (Nijojo-mae Station) and disembark as close to the old Nintendo HQ as we could get. Matt regretted not taking a look at this old building during our first trip to Kyoto, so we weren’t about to make the same mistake again.

Being we were sitting most of the morning, it was time for a walk in the crisp air to see more of Kyoto. It was a gorgeous walk, one of the most memorable of the trip.  Going over canal bridges, seeing still blooming flowers and taking in the landscape around us.  I love the canal areas of Kyoto and fondly remember them from our first trip. but after about 45 minutes of walking, we arrive at the old Nintendo building.

Taking some obligatory photos (there was literally nothing else there), it was time to find and eat some lunch. For the life of me, I cannot remember where we stopped, but it was somewhere along the way. Since the first leg of our walk was so nice, it was decided to just continue in the direction of the next destination: The Samurai and Ninja Museum of Kyoto. Google told us it was under a mile/30 minutes to get there by foot, so walking seemed to be our chosen method for the day.

A little background on how we ended up here. Initially, I wanted to make a 2 hour trip to Iga during this vacation, which is basically an entire ninja village with a castle, ninja shows, museums and experiences.  However, after facing the truth that we wouldn’t make it there due to how long everything was actually taking, yet still successfully get everything else checked off our priorities list, I quickly backpedaled and did some early morning research into other options. I came across The Samurai and Ninja Museum in Kyoto, it was top in Google search results and panned out that we could make a reservation for the ninja experience at 3PM the next day, I concluded it was a good way to get the "Terra required" ninja training in without throwing an entire day out the window.  Flashing back now to our walk, along the route we start noticing cute little Pokemon banners hanging from the lamp posts, most of them with a countdown or arrows (you can barely see the one here in white). We look at each other all confused “is there a Pokemon Center in Kyoto?"  The only one my research ever found outside of Tokyo before this trip was in Osaka, so seeing banners in the middle of Kyoto was a surprise.  A few taps on the Google machine and it turned out the Pokemon Center of Kyoto was located less that half a KM away from our destination.  Well, didn't take long to find out where our night would end!

Upon arrival at the museum, I was a little concerned. It was located on the 3rd (and later, the 5th) floor of a winding shopping building, located inside a huge shopping district, not exactly what I had imagined. The front desk clerk also seemed a little disorganized and confused (for Japan, this was rare), but we were not the only foreign family visiting.  After the tour time started there must have been 6 families and 2 couples, all English speaking with us.  It started with a brief overview of Samurai history (down the hall seen here), though it was barely compelling enough to keep the kids engaged. It was a museum-style lecture, very informative, but nothing I would recommend to put kids through and it took up the first 30 minutes.


We were then treated to a samurai/sword demonstration by masters of the art (sorry, I don’t recall which style/discipline), which reengaged and woke the children back up.  After that, it was our turn, and little did I realize when I bought the ninja package, I bought it for all three of us and not just Terra.
That meant we were “forced” into ninja gear and got to throw ninja stars and practice blow darts too!  I do not regret this, but also have no intention of sharing the picture. It was fun to get dressed up and have contests on which of us was the worst at getting the throwing stars and darts to stick to the board. This portion probably lasted an additional 30 minutes before we gave up and eventually led upstairs to the samurai room.

Here we could tour at our own leisure some of the artifacts they had on display and the kids got to try on samurai outfits too, overall they had a blast and the freedom was refreshing.  Getting hungry (and late), I realized we had been here 2 hours at this point.  Trying to get it all wrapped up, we had one last thing to do: an origami throwing star. Finishing the craft and grabbing a few souvenirs we were finally ready to leave for dinner and the Pokemon Center! Another two thumbs up experience.  With little to no effort put into finding the place, I think it turned out to be fun and would recommend it. Just make sure you set enough time aside, as we were there a solid 2 1/2 hours, it was already 5:30PM and the Pokemon Center closed earlier, at 8PM, on Sundays so we headed straight there next.

We made our way into a giant mall Google led us to, following the map as we were unsure of exactly where this place was.  After deciphering we needed to head to the 4th floor (which was a kids floor, filled with $200 size 2 toddler dresses!) we found him.

Our first Pokemon Center of the trip and our first exposure to the famed Pokemon statues.  Turned out each center has its own mascot/Pikachu up front, Kyoto here is obviously Ho-oh. You will see more on our Pokemon Center ventures as this blog continues, but being the first, Kyoto holds a special place for me.  Also, see those Pikachu plushes in the background?  Yeah, those are Kyoto Center exclusives.  Something I would come to learn the hard way, each Center has an exclusive set of merchandise and it is all marked as such (in Japanese, with cute little images), they also mark sale and new merchandise.  During our 1 hour trip around the store, I come to realize they have an insane amount of really cool things, but also why they were in this location.  None of it was cheap!  Pens and Pencils at 400 yen each, stationary sets 2,000 yen, mugs 2,000 yen, plushes ranged from 1,000 yen (mini) to 6,000 yen (regular) and even 20,000 yen for large ones, basically you are in a Disney Store… it is all Disney prices and Disney quality.  It all turned out to be a little much, but we walk out with an assortment of really cool things and spent something like $200USD total.  Actually, not that bad for our first trip to a Pokemon Center with a 6 year old!  It was fun.

Being hungry and not wanting a debate over which food Terra would most likely accept and eat quickly, we end up at McDonald's for dinner.  I opt for just some fries and to hold off for a grocery store bento when we get back to the apartment. After grabbing this quick bit, we head back to the apartment via taxi, which turned out to only be about 5KM if you can straight-shot it (10 minutes via car vs 45 minutes trying to connect train stations or over an hour walking), we pay the 2,000 yen or so fare for the convenience to get Terra to bed at a decent time.  As what became my routine in Kyoto, I ran over to the mall/grocery store by myself to browse and get some food stuffs and return to the apartment with an assortment of goodies for the night and next morning. Oh, how I miss the discounted bento’s.  And never once, during this week stay, did I ever get that feeling of being watched, followed or in danger.  Going to a mall AND walking home ALONE in the dark in the U.S. is not something I would do.  In Kyoto?  Perfectly normal.  I keep my usual watchful eye out, but never once did I felt like I was in danger.