Being Prepared

One of the things that Karen and I enjoyed doing in Kyoto is staying at a Japanese style Ryokan (Inn). Basically, it is a bed and breakfast. The sinks for getting ready were in a common area, and you had to share toilets (very clean, and they had one for men, one for women). The shower was in a room by itself. It had a little garden area off of it. Taking a camera down to bathe wasn't something I ever did, so there are no shots of that. Our ryokan was run by several generations of women. I believe this picture is 'grandma' and her grand daughter, who do the majority of the work. The youngest was named Karen, and she was only 6.



One thing to be prepared for if you're visiting Japan is the food differences. This breakfast, they tried to do more Western style (eggs, ham slices) for us, as the previous day neither of us touched the natto. It is a rotted bean, and it slime-strings as you pull it out of the bowl. If you can get over the consistency, it does taste good to me. Right up until the after-taste kicks in. And then there's fish for breakfast. Thankfully, Karen loves fish. The first day I did power through the smoked salmon, as it was the only protein along with the cold tofu. Now, I do eat tofu. However, when served a slab of it cold in the morning, I could only get down about a half. It was a big portion.

What I tried a small chunk of, was the Kyoto hata hata fish as seen here. It just wasn't my taste, as the Japanese would say. Every morning does give you miso soup, which I love, and hot tea, so life is good.

Sleeping on a futon on a tatami mat was fun to try. I loved how the covers (which were heavy and quite warm) went into the round hole in the middle, versus being tied or tucked at the end.


The pillows were some sort of heavy commodity in a small pillow. They were heavy, and kind of like sleeping on a sand bag. You had to hollow out (pound down) a spot for your round head, and hope for the best. Karen and I decided that this is the Japanese preparedness program. Since Kyoto is built by a river, and flooding is possible, if it happens in the middle of the night, all Kyoto occupants shall run out and throw down their pillows at the embankment to form a barrier. After sleeping the second night on these, we were sure of it. At least we were doing all we could to save the lives of many in case of a disaster. Even if both of us had stiff necks the following day.