Kinosaki

In order to reward myself for working eight weeks without a break, I took a short trip to Kinosaki Onsen, on the Japan Sea coast, a bit over two hours north of Kyoto by express train. The town is famous for its onsen and winter crabs.

Here is a picture of some crab legs that I enjoyed. They were simple and delicious:


Here are the crabs for sale:


Here are some pictures from my last trip to Kinosaki, when a good friend invited my wife and I up to Nishimura-ya Honkan, the best onsen-ryokan in the town:

Snow in Kyoto

It snowed a bit last night here in Kyoto and I took a walk this morning around Shinyodo. Here's a picture of the approach to the temple:


Here's a picture of the pagoda:


Here's a small garden up on Yoshida-yama:

Setsubun Matsuri at Yoshida-jinja

A few nights ago, I went to the Setsubun Matsuri at Yoshida-jinja. Setsubun is the old lunar New Year that roughly corresponds to the Chinese New Year. People bring their old amulets and charms from the previous year and the shrine burns them in a giant bonfire.

Here is the mountain of amulets and charms ready to be set alight:


Here is a close-up of the amulets and charms:


Here's the fire: