Kyoto - Day 14

Bamboo Forest. Out morning trip was to Arashimi where the famed bamboo forest is. Another beautiful day, and we really enjoyed walking around the forest and the small town at the subway station.

Lunch at Nishiki Market. We returned to the market for a festive lunch of absolutely fresh oysters with salmon roe and uni and, separately, unagi spears.

Shopping at a lacquer store. We zipped over to Zohiko Lacquer Shop, and then the wood block print shop, Art Gallery Ezoshi. Several people had recommended the laquer shop and it was truly astounding because the lacquer was mostly very simple and just perfectly done. With the aid of my daughters and wife, I purchased six perfect, red soup bowls. As shown in the pictures, the process of hollowing out a piece of wood before lacquering it is a very intense process (which we also saw at the craft museum).

Sarah and Matt had previously spent a long afternoon picking out wood block prints, and they concluded their purchases with the acquisition of two prints. Margot and Ben, to our great surprise, picked out two of their own. One of the prints is from the same artist whose print I have back at home.

Ben went shopping at vintage clothing store and came back with a Dave Matthews jersey.

Dinner was a fascinating omakese marl at Washoku Toku, where we had courses of fish, steak, tempura and two soups (one veggie and one miso). The restaurant was really tiny with a six person bar and a back room with two tables, one for us. The chef came at the end of the meal and greeted us.Read more