Kyoto Retrospective

Wonderful, surprising things about Kyoto

Cabs have immaculate white lace seat covers. The driver and steering wheel are on the right side of the car!

The view from Starbucks is a Shinto Shrine

Our hotel had a chapel in the lobby. This is not a model. There were two weddings held inside while we were there.

Menu choices are re-created in plastic

Bamboo forests are beautiful 

Shrine doors with glass reflect the visitors

Japanese gardens are beautiful

Fushimi Inari Shrine is visually arresting with its thousands of vermillion torii gates. It is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. 

Fushimi Inari fox statue

Young women wear boots, short skirts/shorts and anything in-between

McDonalds had an "Idaho Burger"

Every year on March 3rd, Japan celebrates the Doll Festival (Japanese, Hina Matsuri). On this day every year, families set up a special step-altar on which to arrange their Emperor and Empress dolls, called "hina" in Japanese. They decorate this altar with boughs of peach blossoms and make offerings to the hina dolls of freshly made rice cakes (mochi), either flavored with a wild herb or colored and cut into festive diamond shapes

Obento box on the Shinkansen ("bullet") train. Thanks Masa for  the recommendation; the box (contents) was wonderfully delicious

The Monterey Kyoto Hotel clock. Time 9:44

Cabs have interesting logos on their roofs. "MK" in a heart was my favorite

Yummy! The green flavor (not shown) is "Green Tea"

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