possibly our last post from the road

Too much to go into, I may have to be brief here.
Three days ago (Was that Thursday? Is this Sunday in Japan?) we took the train to Osaka, a 30 minute ride. We treated Dan and Toshiko to lunch at a cafe that belongs to a friend of Dan. The owner is interesting - his parents are Korean; he and his relatives are considered second class citizens. He has been involved in getting civil rights for Koreans in Japan - not totally successfully. The cafe is art and peace oriented and the site of music, art shows and community discussions. The owner is also a great cook.

After that Dan and Toshiko treated us to a Bunruku puppet performance. It was totally amazing. The puppets are almost life size and very real looking. A master puppeteer manipulates the faces and expressive right hand; two assistants work the rest of the puppet. At first the puppeteers are distracting but you spoon forget about them. There is also a narrator who handles all the dialogue and descriptions of actions, and musicians. We watched a couple of seasonal stories, a complex tale of a samurai and his master and a tragic love story with a happy ending. It was enthralling - you forget you are watching puppets!

Yesterday we walked around Kyoto - it is a fascinating walking town. We discovered narrow streets that cars can't use but that are great for walkers and bikers. Great neighborhoods! WE discovered temples and shrines and a wonderful wooded park. Nice last day for that city.


We are in Nikko for our last day in Japan. It is a lovely but very cold mountain town with a huge temple complex. The Shoguns built these here to separate their center of religion and culture from the Kyoto nobility. They are the most ornate temples we have seen, quite beautiful. WE hoped to hike in the hills but spent more time than we expected at the temples and couldn't find the hiking trails. We will have to come back.

Dinner is being served so I gotta end. I will try to post tomorrow AM from this hotel or the airport - if I don't have a chance I will post from home Monday night or Tuesday. We fly from
Tokyo Monday evening - because of different time zones and the International Date Line we arrive Monday afternoon. I will figure all this out someday. PG