Kyoto/Osaka

More updates from Japan, or just some random photos. We had a few meetings, but in and around that, we visited a few of the touristy markets where we tested out some expensive street food. Caleb is the most adventurous of us, always having his eye out to try something that looks interesting.

Only having a few days in each made for a hectic pace of travel, in particular since we powered through jet lag when we first landed in Osaka. These two cities are both heavily touristed, which I had read about but was not totally prepared for. I wonder what it’s like to live in a city that is so dense with visitors, and what it means to be a local there.

Aside from the few things we had scheduled in advance, we only had a loose list of things to explore, both because of the chaotic several weeks before departure, and also because I’m terrible at planning. In hindsight, it seems travelers to these two cities would do well to do a bit of research beforehand.

I’ve always thought of it as an interesting and unusual and exciting way to travel, meeting vendors who show us around the intimate parts of a neighbourhood, or teach us what to order, finding our way on public transit to out of the way stationery shops or factories. I love riding the train! Reading while zooming, what could be more satisfying.

And yet as the kids get older, I feel like we’re all feeling a bit silly when we get back and people ask the kids about major tourist attractions or activities, and the kids shrug and have no idea what they’re talking about. We’re travelling around the world (or maybe just a few hours out of Toronto), and we’re missing out on meaningful cultural experiences or popular tourist activities (traps?) that might help them connect with other people when they talk about their travels. Fushimi Inari Shrine? Osaka Castle? No—we went to a stationery shop that has specialty fountain pen ink colours.

Well, you can’t do it all! Ho ho. It’s always a balance, and we’re always tipping and teetering one way or another. We are grateful for this shop as a means to being able to explore this magnificent and interesting and deeply flawed world, and bear some responsibility to our continued fiscal existence—and also we continue contemplating how and why and what we do when we travel, when we walk into someone else’s country and culture and look around at what there is to see. You only get so many chances to visit one place or another; you only get so many chances at life.

We’re lucky enough to peek behind a few curtains, and also lucky that sometimes a bit of serendipity and getting lost on Google maps leads us to a few beautiful surprises, or maybe just a good bowl of udon noodles.

Kyukyodo, a stunning stationery shop in Kyoto.