Higashiyama: Grandma Momo

Higashyama has been catering to tourists for centuries. They play a very classy game.

Observations:

Higashiyama is actually a lot longer than many tourists realise since they normally just come from tourist central Gion, then march straight up the Yasaka Pagoda and go straight to the Kiyomizudera temple - or they just get off the bus right outside the temple even.

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Pushy tourists in particular aim straight for Kiyomizudera for the Instagram money shots because they want to get in and out as fast as possible.

But if you start from Higashiyama station and walk the longer route through Maruyama Park and then follow the historic streets all the way to Kiyomizudera, I think you probably get a better experience (though it does mean extra walking).

Japanese people often visit Kyoto themselves in small groups to go full-Edo, get dressed in Kimonos and explore their history. The Japanese have been cosplaying for a really long time...

This longer route to Kiyomizudera is also popular with Japanese couples and newlyweds since Kiyomizudera is also a temple associated with luck and good relationships. The vibe is a bit different in this part.

This was also the part of town that we came across Grandma Momo's little arts and crafts store (I don't actually know her name, I just picked a Japanese name that fit).

Grandma Momo's establishment was your typical ma and pa shop with an attached tiny home. Less frequented by the gaijin trade but still really cool stock - mix of hand crafted and the usual common stuff.

Grandma Momo herself was a lovely woman - didn't speak a word of English but terribly excited we visited her shop, completely over the moon when we decided to buy trinkets since we may have been her first customers that day (it was past lunch).

She liked to talk to herself a lot like a slighlty befuddled yet wizened alchemist from some Miyazaki movie. I'm sure she makes magic charms and has an evil twin sister who might try to trick us later.

Actually that's kinda what her retail style was like - there's a whole magic ritual of service to go through, but she didn't get to do it often. When Beryl from next door for a chat only to hang up without saying anything it threw her off her retail incantations. When some other gaijin walked in she really started to get the performance pressure of alchemy under stress since there was actually a line of customers in her store.

He only wanted to know where the toilet was.

Pretty sure we made Grandma Momo's day based on the money in the till - a lot of Japanese vendors have automated tills that collect and sort money, Grandma Momo is old school.

Alas, I'm not a kid in a small community in Japan, or else I could do deliveries around town for Grandma Momo and she would reward me with a magic broomstick and recruit me into a larger battle against dark forces threatening to take over the townsfolk.

Kaiju Collected:

Magic infused trinkets, a day's worth of income in one purchase for Grandma Momo.Read more